Naruto 1. The Bridge to a Different Path

Hello readers, welcome to my first fan fiction. Before you go any further into the story I would like to make something clear. As you can see this project has gone on for quite some time. The whole point of this story is to improve my creative writing abilities, and while I appreciate feedback of any kind, telling me that chapter 5 is terrible does not do much for me at this point, as there are over 40 chapters in the story and my writing has improved by leaps and bounds since then. Admittedly the first part of the story is rough, even with some small edits, but keep in mind it is my first fiction work ever, and it took some time to get my bearings. If you would like to get a better glimpse of something more current and gauge my skills for yourself, please feel free to check out the one-shot story found in my profile. Hope you all enjoy,

-Operaman

I don't own Naruto, what don't believe me?

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><p>At first glance nothing seemed to be amiss in Nami no Kuni. The morning fog was rolling through and everything was peaceful except for the clanging from Tazuna's bridge. However if someone happened to look underneath the underneath it would become obvious that it wasn't an average morning. The fog at sunrise, which usually added a surreal quality to the morning, was thick and oppressive making it hard to breath. On top of that the mist was like being in a white out, people taking their morning walks or doing errands found themselves lost and were unable to see beyond their noses, and even though mornings were usually the most peaceful time of the day it was far too quiet on the coastline. The animals made no sound and the forest was completely still. It seemed all signs of life were gone except for the racket on the bridge, but that was queer as well. Usually the echo of metal striking metal was accompanied by a cacophony of sounds created by the construction crew. No sounds other than the cold ringing of steel was heard creating a deadly harmony that periodically broke the stillness of that eerie morning.<p>

If by some chance you were able to navigate the fog and end up at the bridge a strange sight awaited. Bodies lay scattered on the bridge, most knocked unconscious with senbon protruding from parts of their bodies, but some met their end by dismemberment or decapitation making parts of the stone slick with blood. Seven people stood tall on the bridge that morning and at the epicenter stood two men, and the air was at its heaviest around them. The taller one had silver hair that defied gravity and stood straight up making him seem that much bigger. He was wearing blue pants and a black shirt with orange swirls on the shoulder underneath a thick green vest. A black mask covered his lower face from prying eyes and a headband rested on his forehead adorned with a swirling leaf. His posture appeared relaxed but his muscles were tense as his mismatched red and charcoal eyes stared coldly at the assassin across from him.

The man was shorter than his counterpart, but more muscular, and it wasn't for show as he casually rested a massive zanbato across his shoulders. He too had cold eyes, black in color, and his lower face was covered, except instead of a mask he had bandages wrapped around his face only leaving those bloodthirsty eyes exposed. He had short brown hair that stuck up randomly and his forehead was also covered with a headband, though his was adorned with four squiggly lines forming a square with a horizontal slash across the middle of it. The sword wielding shinobi wore pinstriped grey pants with a leather strap going diagonally across his chest and had grey camouflage sleeves covering his forearm. About fifty feet behind the two there was a young pink haired girl with emerald green eyes standing in front of a man old enough to be her grandfather with a kunai drawn like she was protecting him from the danger created by the two men.

As absurd as that was it still wasn't the most outlandish thing on the bridge on that eerie day. Farther down the bridge from the four figures was a dome of mirrors floating in midair while rays of sunlight flitting through the fog and reflecting off the polished surfaces. The tension was as thick as the fog and bloodlust permeated the air, all in all a perfect for the deadly dance taking place, "OWW! What the fuck was that? God dammit that hurts"… never mind.

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><p>Uzumaki Naruto was in a lot of pain, perhaps the worst of his young life. You couldn't blame him for crying out because it's not every day a senbon needle gets lodged in your left eye rendering it useless. Knowing now wasn't the time to complain the blonde covered his eye and dodged the next wave of needles, "Suck it up dobe, we've got bigger things to worry about right now."<p>

Turning his head Naruto gave his dark haired teammate an angry glare with his remaining eye, "Let me take this needle out of my eye and shove it into yours teme. Then you can tell me how you like it."

The scoffing black haired youth tried to dodge the next barrage of needles and block as many as he could, though many still managed to get through his guard and pierced his body, though none hit a vital point. The two boys once again ended up back to back after the assault and got a small reprieve from dodging needles, taking advantage of it Sasuke whispered to his blonde teammate, "Listen Naruto, I'm starting to see that guy better as he goes from mirror to mirror. I think he might be slowing down."

Naruto gave the boy an incredulous look, "Slowing down, are you blind Sasuke? If anything he's speeding up. I can't even follow him anymore."

Sasuke deadpanned at his partner, "Well I am a better shinobi than you. That's probably why." Deciding now was the perfect time to take advantage of one of life's little pleasures Sasuke took a moment to enjoy the sound of Naruto's teeth grinding in annoyance, "Or it might be because you just lost one of your eyes idiot, just shut up and distract him."

Seeing there was nothing to be gained from arguing with Sasuke the blonde shrugged and made his trademark seal, "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu." Instantly the dome was filled with a sea of yellow and orange. Their battle cry broke the stillness of the air and the mob of clones rushed towards the gaps in the mirrors trying to escape the death trap.

They were dispelled in seconds leaving nothing but wisps of smoke before the hunter was once again in all the mirrors surrounding the duo, "Such tricks will not work on me. Surrender now and I promise your lives will be spared."

Naruto was boiling with rage and it all exploded at the masked nin, "I'll never give up and let scum like Gato control this island. You want to kill a good man, crush the hope of these people, and destroy the future of this country. I give you my word that I'll stop you and protect Tazuna's dream and bring Nami no Kuni a brighter future. Just remember that I never go back on my word, it's my nindo."

The hunter's voice was hollow but Naruto could still sense the regret hidden in it, "So be it. I gave you a chance to walk away, but now I will harden my heart for my master's dream. Tazuna hired you to protect his dream and I will do anything for Zabuza-sama's. Those two dreams will clash here on this bridge and only one shall continue, that is the true way of shinobi. I take no pleasure in it but I shall have to end your lives."

Having heard enough Sasuke butted in, "Stop chatting with the enemy and get to work dobe."

Naruto paid no attention to the insult and called forth even more Kage Bunshin and sent them forward only for them to be dispelled like the last batch. The blonde didn't give in and kept spamming clones and the masked boy continued decimating them with his senbon until he saw a fireball coming right for him. Abandoning his attack the masked boy tried to dodge but when he appeared in the mirrors once more the bottom of his robe was charred. The teen narrowed his eyes behind his mask as he took in the two trapped in his technique, the black haired one was by far the most dangerous and was the one who needed to be taken care of first. The shinobi stared at the two as they talked and formulated a plan.

Naruto turned to congratulate Sasuke when he gasped in surprise, "Eh teme what's with your eyes. They went all weird and now they look like Kaka-sensei's."

Sasuke stared at his friend in confusion before a cocky smirk formed on his face, "Hmph, I just unlocked the sharingan, now this battle is over."

Naruto felt his hope returning and with it came energy, "Good, you better get him this time bastard, unless those eyes aren't all they're cracked up to be."

Turning away from Sasuke, before he could take in what had to be a priceless expression, Naruto called forth a veritable army of clones, but they were taken out in an instant leaving behind a thick cloud of smoke. Usually the boy would retreat to his mirrors after but this time a wave of senbon burst through the smoke coming straight at Naruto. Knowing there was no way he could react in time the boy closed his eyes and waited for the end. The sound of metal piercing flesh reached the blonde's ears and he felt the warm splatter of blood on his skin, but the pain he expected to follow never came and the genin opened his eyes and gasped, "Sa-Sasuke… why? What did you do?"

Standing in front of the blonde was Sasuke looking like a human porcupine. It seemed like senbon covered every inch of his torso and stuck out in every direction. The last loyal Uchiha turned his head to look at Naruto, "I-I don't know… I used to hate you, but I saw what was happening and my body moved on its own. Just, just don't die Naruto, not before you reach your dream." Sasuke collapsed to his knees then fell face first pushing the needles deeper into his body, but he did not feel or care because he was in a dreamless sleep.

Naruto stood and looked at the body of his comrade and trembled violently. For the first time in his life he didn't know what to do or say. His rival, his begrudging friend, the only person he knew that could understand the pain of loneliness was killed in front of his eyes and all he could do was watch a lifeless corpse fall to the concrete. Part of him wanted to cry, part of him wanted to scream, and part of him wanted to rip the other boy to shreds. Unbeknownst to him that small part of him was being fed by the foul chakra sealed inside him.

The genin kept shaking and started to embrace his growing rage and hatred as red chakra exploded out from his body and the blonde felt a rush of euphoria while the others on the bridge were almost overcome by an animalistic bloodlust. The needles were pushed from his body and his wounds healed as Naruto rose to his feet with a maelstrom of red chakra surrounding him. The blonde looked at his clawed hands with terrible red eyes and gave a menacing smile accentuated by his darkening whisker marks and growing canines. Naruto couldn't explain it but he's never felt better. He was faster and stronger than before, it felt like he could fight Kakashi and Zabuza at the same time and win easily. He was invincible, the avatar of a god. His vision began to bleed red until it was all he could see.

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><p>Naruto felt incredible, he was done playing with his prey and was about to finish the job. Grabbing the fool's sleeve he delivered a jaw shattering punch that sent him flying, and as the boy pushed himself to his feet the mask began to fall to pieces. Naruto began to advance with a smile, now he could see the despair on the wretch's face as he ends his miserable existence, maybe he should kill his precious master in front of him to cause him more pain first. Why stop there, after he finished those two why not go after the silver haired one. Deciding not to count his chickens the foxlike boy turned his attention back to his enemy's exposed face intent on savoring his fear and despair. 'Wait, why does it look so familiar? I can't remember but it seems important.' A part of his mind told him that it wasn't so he shrugged and started his slow advance to the stumbling boy, but as he got closer something started to penetrate the red haze that clouded his mind until a name formed and the haze vanished, "Haku?"<p>

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><p>As the mist cleared Naruto looked up towards the shining sun and smiled, somehow it all managed to work out for his team. Gato was dead and his goons scattered leaving Tazuna to build the bridge without fearing for his life. The icing on the cake was Sakura proclaiming Sasuke was still breathing. Naruto gave Haku's prone form a small smile, 'You couldn't harden your heart after all Haku.' Putting on a foxy grin Naruto began to walk over to his team only for his mood to drop as he got closer and saw the look in his teacher's visible eye. After two months on Team Seven Naruto was confident in his ability to read their sensei based on his eye, and the lack of a celebratory eye-smile created g a feeling of dread formed in the genin's stomach. There was no proud glint or mysterious twinkle in Kakashi's teasing his students with hidden knowledge. No, Kakashi's eye was a hard black, and his brow knitted with concern as he watched Sakura cradle Sasuke's body. He reached into his vest and pulled out a scroll before unrolling it.<p>

The jounin slid his thumb over the horizontal cut across his chest and wiped it down the length of the paper creating a puff of smoke. When it cleared a small bird was perched on Kakashi's shoulder with a blank scroll tied to its leg. The silver haired man undid the knot and unrolled the tiny scroll and wrote a short message in one of ANBU's many codes before sealing it once more. He retied it to the bird's leg and sent it flying towards Konoha. Once the bird was no longer visible Kakashi turned around and let out a long sigh, "Sasuke is in a near death state like Zabuza after our first fight." The copy-nin hesitated and looked like he was thinking on what to say and Naruto got the feeling he didn't want to hear it, "None of Sasuke's vital points were hit, but when he collapsed the senbon were pushed deeper into his body and some pierced his stomach and intestines. If it doesn't get treated quickly Sasuke will get an infection and most likely die."

Sakura stared at her sensei in disbelief, "Then we're going back to Konoha, right Sensei?"

Kakashi could only let out another sigh, "Unfortunately that would only make things worse Sakura. Moving him too much will cause more fluids to leak out and worsen his condition, which is why I sent that message to Konoha requesting medics to come to our location. Now let's make a stretcher and carefully move Sasuke's back to Tazuna's."

Naruto looked over his shoulder at the bodies of Zabuza and Haku as they lay next to one another, "Sensei… after we make the stretcher can I send some shadow clones back with you, I want to bury Zabuza and Haku."

His sensei managed a small smile, "Sure Naruto, but first get some sturdy branches. I have some rope and canvas so when you get back we'll make that stretcher."

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><p>After Naruto returned from his impromptu burial Kakashi set out claiming he had some loose ends to tie up. He returned a couple hours later and Team Seven started playing the waiting game. Kakashi assured his two conscious students that it wouldn't take more than two days for shinobi to arrive from Konohagakure, but it was the third day and the sun was getting lower in the sky and everybody was worrying about Sasuke. Naruto tried to train but his heart wasn't in it and he was just going through the motions. What would motivate him if Sasuke. He was waiting for the day that the Uchiha would acknowledge him as an equal, but he was worrying that it might never come.<p>

Eventually he stopped his half-hearted attempts at training and was now trying to distract himself by playing solitaire at the dining room table. Kakashi took one of the chairs from the table and sat in the corner of the room with his nose buried in the infamous orange book, however if someone paid close enough attention to the jounin they would see that he hadn't turned a page in almost a half hour. Sakura was taking it the worst though. She didn't eat at all the first day and only ate the second because her blonde teammate threatened to force-feed her using his own mouth. She also barely slept and even Naruto, who harbored a huge crush on her, would be hard pressed to say she looked good. The only time she spent away from Sasuke was when it was her turn to guard the house in case any bandits came looking for revenge.

A knock on the door broke everyone out of their melancholy, and before Naruto could even respond Sakura was at the door with a hopeful look on her tired face. The portal opened and behind it were two men wearing the standard yellow medical-nin suit. One had blue hair and green eyes and the other had silver hair with glasses. Naruto arrived just in time to hear Kakashi say, "You're late Yakushi-san."

The silver haired medic stopped fiddling with his pouch and looked up into Kakashi's lone eye, "I never thought I'd hear that from the legendary Kakashi." Seeing his attempt at levity wasn't appreciated he coughed into his hand, "Right, well all the scheduled boats didn't show up at port so we had to make our own and row until we reached the bridge. But we're here now so please show us to the patient."

Kakashi turned to face his female student, "Please show them to Sasuke's room Sakura."

The pinkette nodded her head and quickly led the two healers to her injured teammate before coming back downstairs to join the rest of her team and they waited in silence for any news.

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><p>Kakashi abruptly awoke when he heard footsteps coming down the stairs and looked to see Naruto and Sakura asleep on the couch cheek to cheek. He glanced outside to see the moon was out and the stars were shining bright before he looked back to the stairway to see the silver haired medic coming down the stairs. Kakashi woke his students up while scrutinizing the man's face trying to find out what happened, but all he got was a wave indicating they should follow and a blank face, if there was one thing medics were good at it was poker… well except Tsunade. Knowing there was nothing left to do but go upstairs and find out what happened Kakashi led his students up the stairs. They arrived in Sasuke's room to see that he was still asleep as well as the blue haired medic, which was worrying to the jounin. He didn't think the procedure would be that difficult and extensive. Looking towards the silver haired nin Kakashi bit the bullet, "Well doc?"<p>

The eldest Yakushi sighed and faced the gloomy team, "If Tsunade-sama's policy of a medic-nin per team was implemented a tragedy could've been averted… even if we arrived early yesterday the chances of his survival would've been slim, there was too much stomach acid leaking out. We used all our chakra and ate as many soldier pills as we could without damaging our networks, but the infection would barely respond and it is too late for antibiotics. His organs are slowly failing and his body is shutting down. We put him under for the procedure, and we'll put him to sleep after you talk to him to make it as comfortable as possible, in my estimate he won't make it past noon tomorrow." He bent down and woke up his partner and handed Kakashi a syringe, "He should be waking up any minute, so when you're done talking inject this into one of his veins and he'll go to sleep… I'm sorry."

The two closed the door behind them and waited downstairs for team seven. As their footsteps faded Kakashi looked at his two students. Naruto was staring at the floorboards making it impossible to see his reaction, but Kakashi was an expert at reading body language and he could tell the blonde was in the process of blaming himself, after all he did the same thing when Obito died. Sakura however made no move to hide her tears and she let the salty streams cascade down her face and drop to the floor. Yes, it was Sakura he was most worried about.

Everything he saw up to this point indicated she was in the program for Sasuke and this might break her for good. It was then Kakashi realized that his students needed to learn the hard lessons now, to get their fairytale view of the world broken and leave their innocence behind if their was any left after this. "This is the life of a shinobi. Every time we go on a mission you put your lives on the line. We are tools used to complete missions for the good of the village. I wish I could say this will be the last time you will lose a friend or teammate, but I won't lie. I have had to bury many of my friends and family members over the years and it never gets easier, that is why shinobi must not show emotions."

Sakura seemed to take it well enough, or she couldn't get any more upset than she was now, but Kakashi could feel Naruto's anger rising, "That's bullshit sensei. Shinobi aren't tools, we're human beings and people might look at us like that, but it doesn't make us what they think we are… I'll never embrace that. Maybe more of my friends will die, but it won't be because they were disposable. If that's the way the shinobi world is then I'll change it."

Kakashi was proud of Naruto's resolve and could only smile at his blonde student until he heard a weak groan, "Ugh shut up dobe."

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><p>Sasuke didn't know what to say when he looked up at the other members of team seven. He wasn't very good expressing himself before the massacre and it only got worse after… and the painkillers weren't exactly helping his cause. Ever since the person he loved most in the world took everything away from him Sasuke rejected the world at large and put all his effort and emotion into destroying that man, but these last two months were different. He found himself smiling and having fun for the first time since before the massacre. Sasuke woke up looking forward to the team meetings, even though Kakashi would be late, Naruto would be Naruto, and Sakura would constantly pester him… and he didn't really mind it anymore even if he pretended to be annoyed. Three of the strangest people he knew wormed their way into his icy heart and became his new family, but he was going to lose this one too.<p>

The tear streaked face of his fellow genin and the solemn face on his sensei made Sasuke uncomfortable and he blurted out the first thing that came to mind, "I know I'm dying." Sakura cried harder when he said that, and drops of blood pooled at Naruto's feet as they fell from his hands, 'Damn painkillers.' "I-I know that I won't make it past tomorrow but I don't regret doing what I did. I wanted to protect all of you, if I didn't I would be no different than him."

The raven haired genuine paused for several moments to regain his composure before continuing, "I'm just glad that I can see you all before I go and say goodbye. I know that I'm not the nicest guy around and I can be very arrogant and inconsiderate." The raven haired teen smirked at Naruto's snort, but he did not let it bait him. "I've been alone for so long and kept the world at arms length after my brother killed my family, but I couldn't keep you guys out no matter how hard I tried. You became important people to me . Kakashi-sensei, you tried to teach me important lessons as a ninja and a person and even though I just ignored you, I still learned something. Thank you for guiding me forward despite me pushing backwards the whole time."

Sasuke looked at his pink haired teammate solemnly and she managed to fight back the tears before he addressed her, "Sakura… you're annoying, but in a good way, like my younger cousins used to be… I just wanted to protect you. I'm sorry I couldn't care for you the way you did me, but you were still one of the most precious people in my life." The pinkette could no longer contain her tears and fell to her knees before clutching onto her dying teammates sheets. The Uchiha tried to pat her back comfortingly, but it made the sobs harder so he looked towards the blonde.

"Dobe… Naruto, you were my rival, but more importantly, you were my best friend." Sasuke paused and looked at the usually cheerful genin with tears pouring down the whisker marks on his cheeks, "No you were more than that, you were a brother to me, my real brother. You understood the pain of loneliness too, and even though we never talked when we were younger, I would feel better when I looked at you because I knew there was somebody else like me. You helped pull me from the darkness that was engulfing my heart and helped me see, because of that I want you to take my left sharingan and use it to replace your eye so I can help you see too."

Sasuke weakly raised a hand to stall any of Naruto's protests, he knew the blonde would attempt to reject his offer and resolved to change his mind. The sharingan needed somebody to write a legacy that erased the evils committed by Itachi, "I already talked to the medics and they agreed to perform the procedure when you return to Konoha, so don't say you can't accept it. You were my brother Naruto, and I've got to protect you somehow. Please take my eye and use it to achieve your dream for both of us because I can no longer achieve mine. Become a great Hokage Naruto, open your eyes and find the path you need to walk, and since I always had better vision, I think my eye will help."

Sasuke saw the tears and snot running down Naruto's face as he lifted it to look at the bedridden shinobi, "Thank you Sasuke, I'll take your gift and when I become Hokage I'll make sure the Uchiha clan is never forgotten and their name said with honor." Naruto looked at his brother in all but blood, "It's not fair Sasuke, you're helping me reach my dream and I'm doing nothing to help you. What's your dream Sasuke? I promise to you that I'll try to achieve it in your stead."

The dying Uchiha closed his eyes and gave Naruto a small smile, he figured his dream would die with him and he thought he was okay with it. The raven-haired genin convinced himself that he did not want to burden his teammate with that path, but hearing Naruto request it dashed those thoughts and made the avenger finally feel at peace, "Four years ago my entire clan was killed in one night by a single man. He was my brother, Uchiha Itachi. I vowed that I would avenge the Uchiha clan and restore it to honor, but be warned Naruto, he is incredibly strong."

The Uzumaki's eyes hardened and he thumped his chest with his fist, "Sasuke, I'm giving you the promise of my lifetime, I will find and kill Uchiha Itachi and restore your clans honor, or die trying." The youngest surviving Uchiha wouldn't admit this for the rest of his short life or to anyone in the afterlife, but he was in awe of Naruto at that moment. The usually goofy blonde's lone blue eye was steel and his voice hard and full of conviction. Sasuke had confidence that he would somehow be able to defeat that murderer. He was looking for the words to express himself but Naruto decided to continue, "Sasuke… you were the person I admired and respected most. I wanted for you to acknowledge me as an equal. You were the reason I pushed myself so hard since becoming a genin. I'll never forget you and always uphold your honor. I swear my descendants will always remember you and your sacrifice."

Sasuke's eyelids were drooping and he felt his consciousness slipping away, but he managed smile and say one last thing before darkness overtook his vision for the final time, "You sure are a dobe Naruto… I acknowledged you a long time ago."

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><p>Kakashi gave Sasuke the drug to ensure he would not wake up in pain before gently grabbing his student's shoulders to lead them out of Sasuke's room. Once they were outside he freed up his hands so he could try to enjoy his copy of Icha Icha, signed by Jiraiya-sama himself. Raising the book up to his face Kakashi got ready to address his remaining two students, 'Is this how you felt when Obito died Minato-sensei?' "Get some rest you two because we'll be returning to Konoha tomorrow after lunch. The mission was bumped up to A-rank, but I was talking with Tazuna and he thinks you guys deserve more so on top of the pay you will receive from the village, you shall also receive pay for two solo S-class missions."<p>

His most adorable and intelligent little genin interrupted him, "But sensei, how will they pay? Tazuna said the entire village could barely afford a C-rank mission when we started."

Kakashi eye-smiled for the benefit of his students, "Ah, that was over a week ago Sakura-chan. Relying on outdated information can be fatal to a shinobi. After the ordeal on the bridge I sent some of my nin-dogs to follow the trail Gato and his thugs left behind, and I went to his mansion and cleaned it out before they could. All the money and other liquid funds were given to the people of Nami, minus the pay in your hands. I also managed to gain the codes for his illegitimate bank accounts and sent those back to the village, and most important of all I managed to find a large amount of information on Gato's more illicit business, some in Hi no Kuni. Now go to bed because we have a lot of running to do tomorrow. I'll teach you how to use the tree climbing method to hop through trees easier." Naruto and Sakura trudged to their room as Kakashi put his spare hand into his pouch to fiddle with the bell he used on the day Team Seven became his responsibility, and while he walked to his own room, Obito's eye shed tears for his fallen family from behind the hitai-ate.

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><p>Team seven stood at the bridge and waved farewell to the people of Nami no Kuni as they cheered in gratitude, but their smiles didn't reach their eyes and were for the benefit of the people as they were hurting on the inside because of Sasuke's death. The medics came to them before they left saying the operation was a success and Naruto could receive the eye as soon as he came back to the village. Inari burst through the crowd with tears streaming down his face, "Make sure you come back and visit when I'm bigger. I want to hear all about your adventures Naruto-niichan."<p>

Naruto looked at the young boy with watery eyes of his own, "I will as long as you grow up into someone that protects his precious people instead of a whiny brat." Naruto didn't wait for Inari's answer and turned around to catch up with the retreating forms of his teammates. Naruto felt bad but he was lying to Inari because none of the members of team seven would return to this tragic place.

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><p>Yeah first chapter edited and I'm pretty happy, Sasuke's speech always bugged me and I think that I managed to make it more in character and believable. Before Naruto beat Gaara and Itachi came back Sasuke was on the road to redemption and cared about his team even if he never said it, but when someone is on their deathbed they are usually a little more forthcoming so I still made it kinda sappy, painkillers make you a little chatty too. Anyways onto chapter two<p>

-Operaman Bye Bye


	2. Team 7's Tragic Return

Kakashi hated this feeling, and it seemed he experienced it all to often. Losing a comrade, even one that not well known, was a terrible thing to experience. The pain of losing a treasured student was only magnified by the guilt of failing as a sensei, and to top it all off, he let the last of Obito's kin die despite receiving his friend's sharingan to protect his comrades. Kakashi looked back at his students with a regretful eye, focusing on the sullen face of Naruto and the scarecrow made a silent vow right then to protect the legacy of his sensei and prepare him for the challenges ahead. The copy ninja would protect and prepare his students with all his formidable power.

The enormous gates of Konoha came into view and Kakashi looked at his students for what seemed like the millionth time. Naruto had the same look on his face that he had for the whole trip. His head was slightly bowed and his lips were pushed together into a thin line. It was strange to see someone so bright and cheerful acting so withdrawn and pensive. Sakura looked like her world was crushed. He shoulders were slumped like the world collapsed onto her back and she had to carry it, and though she sniffled occasionally the girl didn't shed a tear the whole way back, and in some strange twisted way Kakashi was proud of her. They travelled in uncomfortable silence, and as the massive gates came closer Kakashi stalled to prolong their trip. Entering the gates would make it all too real for his students, and that was something he learned from personal experience. Slowly the downtrodden team entered the gates one man short, team seven entered the bright village of Konoha grieving for their fallen brother.

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><p>It was a spacious office. Fine oak walls, made from some of the finest trees grown by the Shodaime, were adorned with three pictures. Two were of his sensei and predecessors, and one was of his short-lived successor. There used to be a picture of a younger Sarutobi up there too, but he had it taken down shortly after retaking the office, looking at that picture made the Hokage feel his age. He almost removed the picture of the Yondaime as well because looking at it made the Sandaime wish he sacrificed himself for the sealing. Minato was one of the most talented shinobi that he had the privilege of seeing. His will of fire was slowly stoked into an inferno, and like too many great men it was snuffed out before its time.<p>

The man hadn't reached his peak but his name was already whispered in the same sentence as legends like Hashirama and Madara, two of the strongest shinobi to ever exist. The noble man sacrificed his life and his son's future to save the village from the Kyuubi's wrath, and gazing upon the very boy that helped his father save the village the Sandaime Hokage felt the burden of his lofty position, though he could never show it. Puffing on his pipe Sarutobi Hiruzen allowed himself a moment of weakness and yearned to pass the title to another before crushing that thought as he exhaled smoke and took in the remnants of team seven, another tragedy that should've been avoided.

"Kakashi please explain your reason for continuing the mission after discovering the client lied about the difficulty."

The legendary jounin flinched at his leader's sharp gaze before answering, "Tazuna was a good man trying to save an entire country from a bleak future Hokage-sama. Wasn't it your own sensei who said, 'To abandon your duty is not courageous and below courage there is nothing.'"

Hiruzen acknowledged the point with a nod, "I would expect no less from a student of the Yondaime Hokage, but it seems you forgot your real duty Kakashi. You had green genin who had never seen real combat before. The purpose of C-rank missions is to gradually introduce live combat to genin starting at the level of common thieves. It was not responsible to baptize them in blood, the real duty you should have been paying attention to was your duty as a sensei, to guide and protect the students."

The Sandaime felt like he was kicking a depressed puppy though he knew that Kakashi needed to hear it. The jounin appeared to deflate at the rebuke, but it seemed like the man gathered himself quickly, "I knew that a jounin would be coming after the first failed attempt, but I was, am confident in my ability to protect my students. They are strong and their teamwork was solid. It was Naruto and Sasuke's combined effort that allowed me to defeat Zabuza the first time. Also, Sasuke did not die in combat, but I do not blame the medics. After Gato's death his shipping company fell apart and no boats left or entered Nami no Kuni so they were delayed and had to build a raft, he was another victim of circumstance."

Puffing on his pipe once more Sandaime took another good look at team seven. Naruto was a fighter to his core, it may take time but the boy would bounce back eventually, he had been doing it all his life. Sarutobi would smoke poison ivy if this did not drive the boy to get stronger. Sakura was trying her best to suppress her emotions like the Shinobi Code commanded, but he was the legendary professor, the Hokage of Konohagakure. No genin was able to conceal their emotions from his piercing gaze, not even young Naruto, though the boy still thought he could. Hiruzen could see the sadness rolling off her slender frame and it made his heart ache, no child should have to feel pain like that. After contemplating his options the Sandaime decided, "Team seven will have two weeks of paid leave, and then another two of rehabilitation duty which will consist of a smaller pension supplemented by D-rank missions performed by the three man squad. During the month I will look for a suitable replacement to add to your squad. Dismissed."

* * *

><p>Sakura was never more relieved to leave the Hokage's office, she felt the grief rising even as she followed her sensei and the pinkette tried to crush it reminding herself for the hundredth time in the last ten minutes that shinobi have no emotions. No matter how hard she tried the hidden feelings were simmering in her chest and Sakura didn't know how much longer she could contain it. Her sensei called for a stop and Sakura complied trying to forget anything about Uchiha Sasuke for just one second. Their sensei put away his dirty orange book and faced his two students, "Sasuke's funeral is in one week so I'll give you guys the week off. You may train on you own or seek me out for advice if you want, but the day after the funeral I want you both to meet me at training ground five at nine a.m. dismissed."<p>

Hearing about Sasuke's funeral was too much and Sakura left hurriedly when he was finished talking. The slow simmering turned into a full blown boil and Sakura couldn't keep her sadness contained, she needed to get home now. The pinkette took off running, and as she turned a corner she ran right into her sensei, though he didn't seem too fazed by it. He flipped his book closed and kneeled down so he was eye level with the girl and put a comforting hand on her shoulder, "I remember the first day we met Sakura. You didn't voice your dream, but from the way you looked at Sasuke it became quite apparent what it was. I know that you had a crush on him, and that's fine. I'm glad you have enough normality in your life to have a crush. However, if the sole reason you became a shinobi was to get close to Sasuke, then you should withdraw from the program." Sakura looked anywhere but her sensei's charcoal eye as tears leaked out of her jade ones. "You have a lot of potential Sakura, but you need to train and put effort in to bring it out and become the exceptional kunoichi I know you can be. The ninja world is not a fairytale and I don't want to see you get hurt or killed because you didn't take your training seriously. I'm not trying to discourage you and make you quit Sakura, I want to make sure you don't get hurt… I don't think I could lose another student. I know you can become great and I want to help you get there. Why don't you take this week to decide on the path you want to take and I will support you and do anything in my power to help you, no matter what your choice is."

The tears were streaming down Sakura's face and she was trying to control her sobs that threatened to escape and managed to gather a breath, "Yes sensei, I'll see you later." Not waiting for a reply Sakura rushed towards her house.

Sakura sighed in relief once the door closed. The pinkette couldn't remember the last time she was this happy to be home and just looked around her house trying to soak up the warm atmosphere. The red carpet was threadbare, her maroon couch was torn and tattered in places, the table was dinged and dented, and their chair was permanently stuck in the recline position. In some areas on the wall the paint was peeling and the floor was scratched beyond repair, but her and her mother lived here together so despite the worn and shabby look the house gave off a warm and comforting vibe to the distraught girl. Her mother must've been working because she would've glomped Sakura as soon as she walked in the door even if she was asleep in her room.

The woman may have only been a civilian, but when it came to her daughter she was deadlier than most shinobi. The teen went to the kitchen and opened the refrigerator looking for a snack, but to her disappointment the selection was sparse. The milk expired yesterday and there was very little food. Finding a small bowl of rice and chicken in the back of the fridge Sakura warmed it up and devoured the food despite it being dry and plain. She finished the small meal and put her dishes in the sink before remembering why she ran home and retreated to her bedroom not bothering to hide her tears now that there was no audience, and once Sakura closed the door behind her she threw herself on the bed and cried herself to sleep."

* * *

><p>When Sakura awoke the moon was high in the sky and the stars were twinkling brightly. The kunoichi's eyes were puffy and swollen making it hard to see, and her throat was dry and scratchy so the girl went to the bathroom to freshen up. Once she could see Sakura went downstairs to get something to quench her thirst. The pinkette filled her glass with water and was surprised to see her mom sprawled on the couch snoring softly. Walking over to the sleeping woman Sakura looked down and wiped a stray bang from her mother's forehead, that was eerily similar to her own, and took in her bedraggled appearance. Stress lines creased her forehead and small bags were under her eyes giving her a raccoon like appearance. The woman's dress was wrinkled and her ankles were slightly swollen indicating she was standing most of the day. Her pink hair was greasy and stringy with split ends everywhere, and if Sakura could see her mother's blue eyes she was sure they would have none of the spark that was usually there.<p>

Overall, Haruno Tomo looked like crap, even though she could put a majority of the women in the leaf village to shame most of the time despite working fifteen hours a day. It wasn't the first and certainly wouldn't be the last time Sakura felt guilty for her mother's hard life. She was a beautiful woman of twenty-eight years old, in the prime of her life. At fifteen she met the son of a wealthy merchant and was swept off her feet. After getting pregnant the man left her mother to preserve his wealth. He didn't want to support a child and woman because it would cut into the stipend he got from his family, so like a scumbag he abandoned her without a word, leaving the pregnant teenager on her own to care for a daughter.

Tomo refused to get an abortion like the rest of her family wanted, and Tomo was disowned by her clan and forced to support a child without finishing school. Now instead of hanging out with her friends and meeting handsome rich men, she worked six days a week at two different jobs. Sakura remembered the days in her childhood when she would constantly demand new clothes to stay in fashion, the newest CDs from the boybands who dominated her thoughts, and money to hang out with her friends like a selfish child. Haruno Tomo would never refuse her daughter if she could help it, even though she wouldn't have any money to spend on herself after paying the bills and buying groceries. The pinkette remembered how her mother would eat less so Sakura could have more, it was what inspired her to diet before it became a fad in the academy.

Feeling even worse about herself Sakura retreated to the comfort of the room feeling like a burden to everyone around her and eventually her mind replayed her earlier conversation with Kakashi. 'Kaka-sensei was right, I didn't take my training seriously. I just wanted Sasuke to rescue me, fall for my charms, and then marry me so we could live happily ever after with Naruto as our manservant. Instead I was just deadweight and let my team down. If I tried maybe I could've helped Naruto and Sasuke, maybe Sasuke would be alive.' Sakura broke off of the depressing what if thoughts remembering how Iruka used to say that some shinobi drove themselves crazy thinking what ifs and maybes. Did she really join the academy just to pursue Sasuke, was she really that selfish and foolish. 'Why did I want to become a ninja, why did I like Sasuke?" The questions continued to swirl in Sakura's head as she drifted off to sleep.

**Flashback**

It was a cold November day and a young Sakura shivered and huddled closer to her mother. Even though it rarely snowed in Hi no Kuni the winter months chilled people to the bones. Haruno Tomo was wearing an old green cotton sweater with patches that looked newer than others while her long pink hair cascaded down her back in a ponytail. Sakura loved her mother greatly and was incredible happy that she had her mother's pink hair. She had never seen another person with pink hair, not even her family that she only saw in photos. It was something special that linked mother and daughter.

Tomo let go of young Sakura's hand to look at something in a stand. Looking around Sakura saw a small red ball sitting abandoned near a trashcan. The girl ran excitedly to the ball, hoping she could keep it and add it to her meager toy collection. Her mom couldn't even say no because she found it. The girl picked up the ball and turned around, but she did not see her mother. The girl's sharp eyes began scanning the crowd, and after seeing a flash of pink the small child darted through the crowd. Sakura was so focused on her mother's hair that she didn't even notice the tree trunk like legs in her way so she plowed right into them and fell onto her butt. Looking up she saw a tall man with black hair and brown eyes wearing a blue headband with a plate on it. He looked down at Sakura and his eyes softened, "Are you alright little girl?"

Sakura glanced up at the giant while wondering what to do. He seemed nice enough, but her mother always said not to talk to strangers. He laughed when she looked around shyly and Sakura caught a glimpse of what was in his hand. He had a large roll of ryou tucked in his fingers and it was more money than Sakura has ever seen, it had to be like a bajillion ryou, maybe more. Suddenly Tomo's musical voice reached Sakura's ears, "Sakura-chan you made me worried sick. How many times have I told you not to do that?" Not waiting for a response to her rhetorical question she bowed to the giant, "Thank you Shinobi-san."

Sakura gasped, so that was a ninja. Sakura had heard about the legendary warriors that protected their village. They could walk up walls, breathe fire, disappear, and do all sorts of super cool things. Sakura looked down at her red ball and back at the shinobi's hand stuffed with money and something in her mind clicked, if she became a ninja she could make tons of money and buy all the toys she wanted and buy toys for her mom too, even though she'd have to get Sakura's permission first.

The scene faded and the younger Sakura was in the park with Ino enjoying a nice day when their friendship was still strong, "No, no, no Sakura, if you twist them like that they'll come loose." Sakura laughed when Ino grabbed the daisy chain and showed her the proper way once more while scolding her, "Honestly Sakura, you're super smart and remember everything, but can't do something simple like this."

The pinkette stuck out her tongue and pulled down the skin under her eye, "Even you say I'm smart, so it must be your bad teaching. Ino gave Sakura a furious look before a devious smirk formed on her face and she tackled her friend to the ground and began viciously tickling her sides starting an epic tickle fight. Eventually they both gave up when they lost their breath and flopped into the soft grass looking up at the clouds like a Nara, "Hey Ino, do you thing I could sleep over tonight? Ino, are you even listening to me?" Sakura sat up when she heard a wistful moan and saw Ino was already sitting and looking dreamily at a black haired boy around their age wearing a navy blue shirt and white shorts, "Who are you looking at Ino?"

The blonde managed to break off her stare to give Sakura the 'are you stupid look?' "That's Uchiha Sasuke, he's the youngest son of the Uchiha clan head, and the cutest boy in the village. People also say he's a genius and will be the strongest ninja from our generation. He's pretty much the prince of Konoha and when I marry him I'll be the princess." Ino gave another sigh and her eyes glazed over as she went back into her dreamland leaving Sakura to ponder. If Sasuke was in a famous clan and the prince of Konoha and she was his girlfriend, the princess of Konoha, she can take care of mom. Sakura vowed to make Sasuke hers and hoped Ino wouldn't be too mad at her after.

**Dream Sequence End**

Sakura once again woke with a start except this time the sun was shining and when she looked at the clock it read eleven a.m. The pinkette groaned and shoved her head under her pillow as her weird dreams came back to her, and it looks like she was a gold digger. She was chasing after the dreamboat of Konoha for his money although somewhere along the way she lost sight of that and just pursued Sasuke because… Sakura really couldn't think of a reason, probably because she wanted to fit in and every girl was doing it at that point. The pinkette pushed those thoughts aside and decided it was time to stop dwelling on the past, start living in the present, and look towards the future.

She was hit by a strange urge and grabbed an elastic before putting her hair in a ponytail with the band at the nape of her neck and taking out one of her rarely used kunai Sakura sliced it off just above the elastic and held her locks of hair proudly in front of her as she stared hard at her reflection in the mirror, ready to change it, "I promise on my hair that I'll turn over a new leaf and become a proud kunoichi so I can give my mom a better life like she deserves." As the small rush of adrenaline died down Sakura couldn't help but laugh, "Ha, I sounded like Naruto there." Sakura threw her hair in the trash and stared at herself with confidence, she found her resolve.

* * *

><p>Naruto shivered as he walked towards the hospital in the early morning and a cold breeze blew through the streets. The sun was just peaking over the Hokage Monument and it lit the village with a beautiful orange glow giving the city a surreal appearance. Today was the day he would receive Sasuke's eye in place of his blind one. Kakashi wished him luck the night before and said he would visit after surgery and tell Sakura he would be going under today. The blonde walked into the hospital with a purpose and approached the receptionist's desk and waited for her to finish sorting the patient's medication. She was a mousey looking woman with brown hair pulled back into a bun and dull brown eyes wearing the standard nurses uniform. Finishing her task she looked up and blinked owlishly at Naruto, "Can I help you?"<p>

"Yes, I have an appointment to see Yakushi-sensei."

The woman nodded and began typing and looking at the computer screen and without looking up said, "Name please."

Naruto sat there with a gaping mouth surprised someone in Konoha didn't know who he was on sight and found he actually liked the anonymity. Naruto gave the woman one of his best foxy grins and lit up the dim room, "The name's Uzumaki Naruto nee-chan."

The nurse smiled at his enthusiasm, "Well Naruto-kun, it appears you have an appointment for six forty-five. Go to the elevator and get off at the seventh floor and walk straight out. The waiting room is the last door on the left."

Naruto's grin never faded and he bounded towards the elevator while shouting over his shoulder, "Thanks nee-chan!"

The woman could only stare incredulously at the spot where Naruto just stood and let out a giggle many men would find cute despite her plain appearance, "What an adorable kid, so full of energy."

Naruto rode the elevator to the seventh floor and headed towards the waiting room before dropping into a chair and losing himself in thought… definitely not brooding. 'Here we go Sasuke, I hope you're watching over me up there so nothing goes wrong. I wonder what the villagers will say when they find out the demon has the sharingan. Shit when everybody finds out Sasuke died on our mission they'll just blame me, I'm gonna have to work twice as hard now.'

Naruto was so deep in thought he never noticed when a pretty redheaded nurse opened the door and tapped him on the shoulder, causing him to jump animatedly, "Gah, oh sorry you scared me."

The nurse giggled and Naruto took the time to check her out. She was only half a foot taller than him and very beautiful. Red hair cascaded down her back stopping just below her shoulder blades. It was curly like the pretty sensei of team eight and it framed her slender face perfectly. She had almond shaped green eyes with puffy lips and a small button nose, and despite her stature she was very curvaceous, matching the proportions of his Sexy Jutsu perfectly. She held a chart under her bust before leaning forward slightly and Naruto tried to keep his eyes up, "Hello Uzumaki-san, my name is Aiko and we need to prep you for surgery so please follow me."

Naruto stripped down and changed into the hospital gown they provided then laid on the bed and allowed Aiko to put the I.V. into his arm before leaving. Now the genin was waiting for the doctor anxiously as he fiddled with the ties on his gown. Naruto was nervous as he sat there, this wasn't something he could face head on and get by on guts, he had no control over what happened and that scared the boy. Suddenly the door creaked open and the doctor stepped in followed by a teen several years older than Naruto and the blonde swallowed his fear preparing to get it over with. Both had the same silver hair and glasses, but the similarities ended there. The man's face was rounder and he had a friendly smile with cheery reddish brown eyes. The boy's face was more sharp and angular, and though he too had a smile it didn't quite reach his charcoal eyes or match the warmth of the elders. The man stopped at the foot of Naruto's bed and grabbed the clipboard hanging there before scanning it, "Hello Naruto-kun, it's good to see you again, in case you didn't remember my name is Yakushi Endo and this is my adopted son Kabuto, who is here to observe if that's okay with you."

Naruto fought down the pang of jealously after hearing the boy was adopted and nodded, the silver haired boy gave a slight bow, "Thank you for allowing me to observe Uzumaki-san."

Naruto sheepishly scratched the back of his head, embarrassed that he hated the boy right after meeting him, "No, no, just Naruto is fine Kabuto."

Kabuto gave him a smile and pushed his glasses up his nose causing light to glint off of them, "Alright then Naruto-kun let's get started, I'll explain the procedure while I sedate you." The boy injected a syringe into his arm causing him to go numb before injecting something in the I.V. making Naruto feel loopy almost immediately, "My father will slow down the communications between you neurons and eyeball with a seal and then disconnect the eyeball from the nerve endings in the socket when they are done."

Kabuto's voice was beginning to fade as Naruto looked at the bright fluorescent lights, "After that he will stimulate the nerve endings keeping them active while stimulating the receptors of the donor eye. When both are firing at similar rates he will insert the eye into the socket and encourage your neurons and the receptors to bond. The seal will begin weakening about six hours after surgery after the eyeball and nerves have a good connection and fade completely six to eight days after the surgery once the connections are stable." The last thing Naruto saw was Kabuto leaning over him with a reassuring smile as he strapped a facemask over Naruto's mouth, but the blonde still felt his confidence fading, "Count backwards from one hundred with deep breaths between every number."

Naruto could barely hear anything Kabuto said as blackness began overtaking his vision, but Uzumaki Naruto never gave up, "One hundred, ninety-nine, ninety-eight, ninety-seven, ninety-six, ninety…"

* * *

><p>The sun shone into Naruto's eye when he opened it causing him to shut it once more and groan. He was groggy and had trouble moving his body but managed to reach his hand up and feel the bandages around his eye, 'The surgery was a success, okay Sasuke I'll honor your sacrifice and fulfill both of our dreams. Thank you for this eye, team seven is my family too and I'll protect them for the both of us.'<p>

Naruto was broken from his thoughts by the lazy drawl of his sensei, "Hey Naruto, good to see you're up. The surgery was a success and in a weeks time you'll have a fully functioning sharingan."

Naruto rubbed his lone eye and focused in on the lanky form of his sensei, "Kakashi-sensei… what are you doing here?"

Kakashi walked up to Naruto and eye-smiled at his blonde student over his naughty orange book, "A sensei can't visit his one of his cute students if they're in the hospital?" Anime tears streamed down the left side of his face as he rubbed his left eye with his free hand, "Or is it you don't like your poor old sensei anymore and don't want him bothering you."

Naruto let out a weak chuckle as he stared at the masked face of his teacher, "No sensei that's not it, I was wondering why you were here when I was sleeping, I thought you couldn't visit people when they're unconscious… you weren't perving on the nurses were you?"

Kakashi gave a lazy laugh, "That's a good one Naruto, more like they perv on me, that's why I snuck in the window to check on you before visiting hours began and I got molested."

Naruto sweatdropped at his sensei's antics before sitting up straight, "I was serious yesterday Kaka-sensei, I'll train harder then I ever have in my whole life, so please teach me this month so I can protect my precious people."

Kakashi lowered his book revealing his penetrating stare which Naruto returned with his icy blue eye. Kakashi's eye scanned Naruto before he abruptly eye-smiled once more, "Ok, but I'm not just going to hand over jutsu. You have to work hard and do it the right way. First we'll improve your basic skillset, and I'll reward you with jutsu if you surpass my expectations. Be at training ground eleven at eight tomorrow morning since I'm assuming you'll be released tonight. Now get your rest because the drugs are still in your system, and sleep well tonight because I promise you'll need it."

Kakashi stood and left through the window but Naruto could've swore he heard something about proud father's, dismissing it as the drugs Naruto let his eyes droop and he succumbed to unconsciousness once more.

* * *

><p>Naruto awoke two hours later to pink. Blinking his haze out of his eyes he got a clear view of his bubble-gum haired crush, "Eh, Sakura-chan you came to visit me. That makes me so happy."<p>

It appeared Sakura wasn't paying attention because his voice caused the kunoichi to jump to her feet in surprise. She shook the thoughts from her head and gave Naruto a smile, "Of course I did, we're teammates after all."

Naruto returned her smile with a tentative one of his own before his eye widened, "Sakura-chan you cut her hair."

Sakura turned her head to give the blonde a better look, "Do you like it? I grew it out to impress Sasuke because I heard he liked long hair and be like my mother, so I cut it to show my commitment to becoming a serious kunoichi. Maybe once I reach my goal I'll grow it out again."

A light blush dusted Naruto's cheeks when Sakura modeled her hair before he burst out laughing, "Oh man that's great Sakura-chan. I completely forgot about that. I don't know if Sasuke liked long or short hair but I started that rumor, but Sakura-chan always looked good."

Sakura started laughing and her face began to turn red, "So all the girls grew their hair out for Sasuke, but it was really for your enjoyment."

Naruto started laughing harder, "Yeah I always liked long hair for some reason, that's actually what started my crush on you. You're hair was so pink and beautiful I couldn't stop myself from looking."

Naruto clamped his mouth shut after realizing what he said, for some reason he kept saying the first things that came to his mind and his body was tingly and numb at the same time. He blinked a couple times and realized that his eyes felt funny too. Naruto was so embarrassed and wondering why he was feeling strange that he missed Sakura's blush in response. She squirmed feeling uncomfortable, happy, and embarrassed at the same time. The emotions were swirling inside her and she didn't realize what she was doing until Naruto gasped for breath and she saw her fist in his stomach before guilt overpowered her swirling emotions, "Oh my god I'm so sorry Naruto, I didn't even know what I was doing and you just had surgery. I'm a terrible friend."

Naruto's heart lightened when she said she was his friend and enjoyed watching her worry and fuss over him as she fluffed his pillows. The pain in his stomach was fading as it heated up and he felt happy. "I remember one time after me and teme sparred I asked him why he didn't date any of the girls after him and he said it was because the girls were all frivolous children that spent more time on their hair than becoming a competent kunoichi."

Glad that the subject changed Sakura filled up Naruto's glass and sat in the chair by his bed and smiled sadly, "That sounds like something Sasuke would say. He was always so cold and we all thought he was just being cool… I had no idea how much pain he was in. I'm just glad that we made him a little happier and pulled him out of his loneliness."

Naruto matched her sad smile with a content one, much like Sasuke team seven helped pull him out of the darkness of being alone as well. He looked back at the pinkette to see a confused expression on her face and he realized the last time he smiled like that was at Ichiraku Ramen with Iruka-sensei and Sakura has probably never seen it before. Naruto was a master of smiles, he would smile in defiance of his loneliness to stick it to the villagers, or smile when he was sad or angry to keep people from worrying about him. When he was small he learned that the best defense is a smile and most of them were just that, defenses. Only the Hokage, Iruka, Ayame, Teuchi, and now Sakura saw that smile. Looking at the emerald eyed beauty Naruto had to ask, "Sakura… we're gonna get super strong together right. I'll be able to kick everyone's asses and knock them around with awesome jutsu and you can… what do you wanna do Sakura-chan?"

Sakura paused at the abrupt question, surprised that Naruto asked the very subject she was pondering while waiting for him to wake up. Putting on a contemplative expression-her eyebrows furrowed together and she stuck her tongue out of the right side of her mouth while her nose scrunched up cutely-the girl began to think out loud, "I don't know, I went to the library to look up the different specializations for a bit before I came here. I don't have enough natural chakra or stamina to be a ninjutsu or taijutsu master. I'd have to pick something like assassination, genjutsu, interrogation, medicine, or recon. I don't want to work assassinations or interrogate people, and I don't have the natural skills that most shinobi have when they go into recon. I've really been debating between genjutsu and medical jutsu. I

think genjutsu is a useful skill but specialists are rare because it's really complicated and doesn't leave a lot of time to improve in other areas so most remain chuunin. The one that keeps popping up is medicine though. If I took my training seriously and joined the medical program then I might've been able to save Sasuke in Nami, and I never want to be helpless like that again so I'm going to be a medical ninja to take care of my team and friends." Sakura was surprised, she had no idea what she wanted to do then blurted out she was going to be a medical ninja. Where was all this confidence coming from? Just five minutes ago she was sure she was a pathetic kunoichi, too weak and far behind with a minute chakra supply and no real techniques. Her only redeeming quality was her chakra control, 'Medical ninja… it just sounds right.'

Sakura almost had to shut her eyes when Naruto smiled, "Then I'll become Hokage and you'll be my chief medic. We're going to be so awesome Konoha isn't going to know what hit it. We'll get strong together Sakura-chan, 'ttebayo."

Sakura felt her lips tugging up at the corners and her cheeks were heating up. His enthusiasm was contagious and it was hard not to get infected by his cheerfulness. Sakura uppercut the air and put her left hand over her right elbow, "Cha, we're gonna kick some ass." She was still brandishing her fist as she turned towards Naruto, "Besides, somebody has to keep you in line."


	3. The Week of the Funeral

**Somewhere in Ta no Kuni**

In a room buried under nearly half a mile of earth sat a tall skinny man, but it was hard to make out discerning features because the room was bathed in shadow, broken only by the flickering of a few candles. The man's pale white hand rested lazily on the arm of a carved stone throne as his fingers tapped it in boredom. His wrist was covered by a black spandex sleeve, and as it went up his arm it became covered by the man's flowing black hair. The only other thing that was visible was the man's eyes that glowed in the darkness. They were a terrible gold with slit pupils giving them a predatory gaze, a gaze that would steal hope from even the strongest shinobi. They were the eyes of an apex predator, a beast that would rip you apart at its leisure and enjoy every second of it. Those awful eyes shifted as the sleek black body of a viper slithered in and out of the shadows.

Instead of acknowledging the deadly serpent as a threat, a glint of eagerness flashed in those gold orbs making them even more sinister. The man bent down and lowered his arm revealing that he wore a yellow robe over the spandex and the snake coiled up the offered limb before coming to rest on his shoulder with its tongue flitting in and out next to his ear. The man raised a pale hand and the snake lowered its heart shaped head until its mouth was hanging over it and dislocated its jaw and regurgitated a scroll wider than its body, and the pale man quickly unrolled it and began reading.

_White Snake, your silver mole reaches out from his tunnels after digging into something interesting. The eyes of immortality have closed in permanent sleep. This may change the reunion you planned with old friends, but I took the liberty of sending you a gift to make it more bearable and remember your dream with. Please contact me soon, these tunnels echo with my isolation._

The man took note of the seal at the bottom of the paper and smiled revealing abnormally sharp canines that looked like the fangs of the viper resting on his shoulder. He pierced his thumb on those wicked teeth and swiped it over the symbol creating a puff of smoke. When it cleared he was holding three vials up to the dim candlelight, one contained a sample of blood, the one next to it held a cube of skin and hair, it was the final one that was the strangest though. It was twice as wide as the other two and held what appeared to be a set of human testicles. The man smiled ominously, revealing his deadly teeth once more and scribbled something onto the scroll before resealing it and allowing the snake to swallow it. It slithered down his arm and across the floor leaving the man behind as he laughed diabolically, "Ku, ku, ku, this is an interesting development indeed. I may have to adjust my plans and postpone some actions, but I will wait and play my cards at exactly the right moment. I can bide my time because I have all of it in the world, I am immortal after all."

Even though it was nine in the morning the sun beat down on training ground eleven and its lone inhabitant-a blonde boy in orange. The field was circular with a one hundred meter radius and dotted by small copses of trees at random intervals, but besides these it was a wide-open space. Naruto sat with his back against the tree playing with the knot that held his bandages up, the same wrappings that covered his new sharingan eye, Sasuke's final gift to him. The genin was discharged from the hospital around four-yesterday afternoon and promptly fell asleep as soon as he got back to his apartment. The boy had arrived a half hour ago and expected to wait another half hour for his sensei, needless to say he was surprised when his teacher appeared in a puff of smoke five minutes after the appointed time, "Sorry I'm late but I had to ask a green monster for a favor and before I could escape from his clutches I had to beat him in a challenge."

Naruto stared at the lazy man while sweat-dropping, leave it to Kakashi to use the most unbelievable excuse when he was only five minutes late. Pushing the ridiculous picture created by the lie from his mind he looked up to the jounin, "I'm ready Kaka-sensei, don't take it easy on me."

Giving his student an eye-smile Kakashi reached into his back pouch and pulled out four black bands with weird symbols on them. The silver haired man dripped them in front of Naruto and pulled out Icha Icha Paradise, "These are chakra weights, they absorb your chakra and the seals convert it into weight, they're great for increasing your speed and strength so I want you to put them on and channel chakra into them until I say stop." Naruto listened to his sensei's instructions and put the weights on his ankles and wrists before making the ram sign and channeling chakra into them. He didn't feel much at first and increased the flow of his chakra. It wasn't long until he was struggling to stand, and not long after that he collapsed onto the earth leaving an indent and getting a mouthful of dust. After he finished coughing the blonde looked up to see an amused glint in Kakashi's eye, "Sorry Naruto, I got to a really juicy part and forgot all about you, now pick yourself up and start running around the field until I say stop."

The blonde took off grumbling and Kakashi watched him struggle to lift his feet while he jogged at a laughably slow pace, even for a civilian. The masked jounin didn't forget about his charge, but after watching one of the boy's stab wounds heal Kakashi knew that he had to push the Jinchuuriki hard to get the best results, and if the Kyuubi could heal stab wounds it could probably take care of minor muscle tears and soreness. It appeared the fox already started because Naruto was beginning to adjust to the weight and he kept glancing in Kakashi's direction, "Umm Sensei when can I stop?" The blonde got no answer so he kept running, but something struck the back of his hand, "Ow, son of a bitch."

Naruto looked around for whatever hit him and his eyes settled on his sensei whom was juggling three rocks with one hand while his nose was buried in his little orange book. Sensing his student's eye on him Kakashi looked up and eye-smiled, "Well if you have enough energy to complain it's time to move on to the next step. You are used to having two eyes open at all time, but now you only have one and your vision is cut in half. To get you used to it I'll randomly throw things at your blind spot until you can anticipate and react to them perfectly, now keep running."

The blonde put on another burst of speed at the enjoyment visible in his sensei's eye and desperately tried to avoid the many projectiles thrown his way. When Kakashi ran out of things to throw, or his amusement faded, he called for a halt and the relieved blonde dropped to the ground. Naruto had gotten used to his weights at the end of the two hour dodging session and was able to avoid some projectiles, but he still managed to get hit by more pebbles, a two foot long fish, pinecones, a tree stump, pies, rotten vegetables, random cooking utensils, several spoons, and even a disgusting sink caked with mildew. The genin was black and blue, covered by sweet and sticky pie fillings, the juices of rotten vegetables, and smelled horribly… he did manage to dodge the pile of dog shit though. Naruto saw the amusement in his sensei's eye and vowed to get him back, but before he could make a diabolical plot Kakashi's voice demanded his attention, "Sorry Naruto, I meant I would be throwing random things not things randomly." Kakashi beamed down at his student as he muttered death threats and reached out to touch his sticky hair, but pulled back thinking better of it, "Let's go get some lunch my smelly pupil and we'll do some mental training."

Kakashi led Naruto to a tonkatsu restaurant despite the blonde's hesitance. The genin was confident the owner wouldn't serve him, but apparently he was a retired friend of Kakashi's because he greeted Naruto as politely as the lanky man and showed them to a booth without hesitation. Naruto was pleasantly surprised and found his mood getting better until he remembered Kakashi said mental training and was brought back down to earth. Kakashi put down the menu and got Naruto's attention, "Okay Naruto I'm going to tell you the rest of our training schedule. It's almost noon so after lunch we'll return to the training field and work on your proficiency with Kage Bunshin and different ninja tools. After that I've set it up so you can train with Konoha's foremost expert on taijutsu."

The man smirked behind his mask at the thought of Naruto's face after meeting the eccentric expert. "When that training is complete I would like you to practice chakra control on your own before calling it a day. However, that's later on, for right now we're going to work on your mental fortitude and we'll do that every day during lunch. I'll give you varying situations with some basic information like terrain, squad type, strength, and maybe if I feel sorry for you information on your enemies, however, not everything I give you about the enemy will be accurate. After receiving the information I'll give you five minutes to form a strategy and you will detail it to me step by step while I try to break it apart or add new variables and you will tell me how you would adapt to the situation. If your plan sucks, you take to long to respond to my changes, or the changes aren't very good I'll hit you with this stick." The jounin pulled a "stick" out of nowhere that looked more like a branch and his eye shone with eagerness, "However if you react well and come up with good plans I'll give you some food."

Naruto paled and gave Kakashi a shocked look, "But that's not fair, I need food so I can do my best when I train."

Kakashi gave an evil snicker and answered too cheerfully for the situation, "The ninja world is hardly fair Naruto, and there will be times when you'll be expected to perform at a high level when you're not at your best. Besides the body isn't the only powerful tool of a shinobi, the mind is equally powerful if not more so. You may not be able to overpower everyone you come across so you'll have to use surprise and misdirection to take them down." Kakashi's tone became more serious and somber, "There will be many situations when strength isn't enough Naruto, that's why the Sandaime's philosophy is that a ninja must fine harmony between body and mind to reach their peak."

Kakashi could see traces of confusion in his student's face and decided to use a more recent example as motivation, "Use Nami as an example, if you stayed hidden after hitting Haku with that shuriken or sent out shadow clones into the mirror instead of you then you could've attacked from the outside distracting the hunter and giving Sasuke and opportunity to escape. Instead you announced your presence and location before running into a technique you knew nothing about and trapping yourself inside. Information is the lifeblood of shinobi, sometimes it's better to wait and plan instead of rushing in blindly hoping everything works out. I know there will be times when your conscience pleads with you to run in, but if you run in unprepared and die who else will save the people in danger. As a shinobi you should look for every advantage you can get."

Naruto's head dropped as Kakashi lectured him, he wanted to yell at his sensei, deny everything he just said, except every word of it was true. The blonde may have worked hard and gotten stronger, but he wasn't training to be a real shinobi. Like most boys his age Naruto was distracted by destructive jutsu and ignored the other lessons. The Uzumaki's blue eye gained a steely glint when he raised his head, "Bring it on Kakashi-sensei. I'll ace all the simulations you throw at me, I'll show the world not to fuck with Uzumaki Naruto or his friends."

Naruto's head was spinning and his stomach continued to grumble as he followed his sensei to the training grounds. The genin barely ate anything, only half his rice and a few small pieces of pork, but he was repeatedly bonked on the head with Kakashi's punishment stick. Apparently the boy's plans were filled with holes, in fact his plans were one big hole and he couldn't do anything right by Kakashi's standards. He attacked when he should've ran, zigged when he was supposed to zag, or ran when he should've stayed. It was actually eye opening to the blonde, he had no idea that a squad leader had so much responsibility and realized he had a long way to go before he could handle lead a team, let alone a village.

Naruto was determined to learn and he kept running the situations in his head trying to pick out where he went wrong until the lazy drawl of his sensei broke his train of thought, "That wasn't as bad as I thought it would be Naruto, your tactics are incredible for a genin, but your strategies were usually flawed but that will get better with experience. From now on I want you to think like you were planning a prank, I've seen some of your better ones and they were well planned. If you can harness the creativity that you used in those endeavors I'm sure you'll improve rapidly." Naruto started to tune out his teacher and stared hungrily at the bag of takeout in Kakashi's hands until a book smacked into his face, "Sorry Naruto I thought a ninja would be able to catch that. Anyways, I want you to keep that and read it, it's a book detailing different strategy games. Some days we'll play different games instead of doing simulations." Naruto pocketed the book while grumbling, "For now I want you to make fifteen clones and take five with you and your objective is to create a proper strategy to take out the designated clone. The remaining ten will have to remain within a half mile radius of this spot and no direct combat is allowed. Also you will have no idea which clone is the target so get going."

Naruto was hiding with his five clones and preparing to explain his strategy to his minions when something popped into his head. It looked like the other squad of clones, and one was wearing a bandana tied around its thigh. They were near the small stream that snaked its way through the training field hiding in the trees surrounding the bandana wearing clone. Naruto wasn't sure what was happening but knowing that he had the river to work with gave him some different options, so he changed some points and explained the changes before leading his squad into battle. The ambush went off without a hitch and the clones were taken out quietly. Naruto stood in front of his three remaining clones with a smug smirk and Kakashi walked out of the trees with a proud look in his charcoal eye, "Good job Naruto, your plan worked to perfection. You were able to quickly locate your target, create an effective attack, and were able to easily separate and take out the opposing target despite being outnumbered."

Naruto blushed and bashfully scratched his cheek, "It wasn't that good sensei, I lost a couple of clones in the attack."

Kakashi ruffled the genin's blonde locks, "Don't sell yourself short Naruto, that was a very good strategy and clones are very fragile constructs, those would have been minor wounds if they were real people. But if you don't mind me asking how did you find the clones that fast?"

Naruto stopped scratching his cheek as he thought back to the weird memory flash, "I was actually going to ask you that. I was about to explain my strategy to the clones but I got a sudden flash and saw the other group of clones near the river."

Kakashi deadpanned at Naruto, "You're telling me that you've been using the Kage Bunshin no jutsu for two months and just realized at that now." Naruto looked even more confused and Kakashi sighed before continuing, "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu was originally invented as a spying jutsu, anything the clone sees or learns is transferred to the user after it's dispelled. You're the only person I know that can use the technique like you do, and it looks like you may be able to use them to train."

Naruto blinked owlishly before a cheshire grin spread over his face, "So I don't have to read the stupid book you gave me."

Kakashi slapped Naruto in the back of his head with Icha Icha Paradise before assuming a thinking pose, "I don't think it stops there, all of the clone's memories and experiences are transferred. If you had ten clones do the tree walking exercise for an hour then dispelled them it would be like you did ten hours of tree climbing, but I don't think you would get the physical benefits from the exercise."

Naruto's jaw dropped in disbelief, "You mean I can make as many clones as I want and send them to train? I'll be the Hokage in no time, 'ttebayo."

Kakashi was quick to stomp that line of thinking, "Don't be stupid. If you used to many clones it could overload your brain with information, and it could be worse for you because your brain is still forming connections and developing so don't put too much stress on it. For now I'll let you make twenty-five at a time for training until I talk to the Hokage and we agree on a number. But right now you have to go meet your taijutsu tutor, so make twenty-five clones to leave with me and head to training ground nine." As Naruto walked away his sensei's voice gained an ominous glint, "Oh and so that doesn't happen again you'll be doing this exercise against my clones from now on."

Naruto shivered and waved over his back as he went towards training ground nine, "See you later Kaka-sensei."

Kakashi yelled out for Naruto just as he was disappearing from view, "Come back when you're done, the first time we disperse the clones I want to do it together." The blonde gave a lazy wave over his shoulder showing he heard and Kakashi had a proud smile under his mask, "Maybe I should've trained Naruto when he was younger, it's fun getting payback for all the torture Minato-sensei put me through."

After the discovery he made about the Kage Bunshin Naruto was practically skipping towards training ground nine, confident that he would be able to improve drastically with the new training method. Nothing could break him out of his good mood… until he saw his teacher and training partner, "What the hell is that!" His sensei was around the same height as Kakashi although he had way more muscles, muscles that were clearly visible through his skintight green spandex suit and orange leg warmers. He had a bowlcut that appeared to be coated with so much gel it shone in the light… and the eyebrows… those horrible, bushy, disgusting, wiggling eyebrows. He was so bizarre looking that Naruto thought the flak jacket he wore was fake because nobody that strange could be a jounin. To make matters worse his training partner was a look alike of the green man sans the vest. Naruto was prepared to sneak away silently before they noticed him when it happened. The strange duo hugged each other in a strangely manly way while shouting the other's name.

"LEE"

"GAI-SENSEI"

"LEE"

"GAI-SENSEI"

The two continued their strange ritual and Naruto couldn't pull his eye away, and he would regret it for the rest of his life because he could never erase what happened next from his memory, not even using Yamanaka forbidden techniques. The sun appeared to be setting behind them, even though Naruto could feel the heat on his back, and suddenly the earth around them became sandy as the ocean appeared behind them with waves crashing on the beach. Tallying it as another event on his list of traumatic experiences Naruto walked out from the trees towards the two. Suddenly they broke off the hug and the larger of the two disappeared before reappearing in front of Naruto, "Hello youthful soul, I am the sublime azure beast of Konoha, Maito Gai. You must be the young leaf that Kakashi sent to me so I could stroke your youthful flame into a raging inferno that will devour everything in its path with your passion."

The man finished and entered a nice guy pose as the sun glinted off his teeth almost blinding the poor blonde. Naruto couldn't decide if he wanted to sweat drop or face fault so he said nothing and just stared blankly ahead in a catatonic state. This only seemed to set Gai off more though, "Truly you radiate the same hipness that my eternal rival Kakashi possesses, but my sublime teachings will break through that hip barrier and increase your flames of youth, though they must already be substantial because I wasn't expecting you for another two hours. Well, if you're ready then the flames of youth wait for no man I always say, you can join us on our post-midafternoon-pre-dinner-workout that we do before we begin our afternoon taijutsu."

Naruto's brain kickstarted itself somewhere in Gai's sermon of youth, "Yeah, whatever you say super bushy brows, Kakashi-sensei sent me and said I needed to work on my physical abilities and taijutsu."

Gai rubbed his thumb under his nose and gave a cocky smile, "I see my eternal rival recognizes my prowess in those areas is above his and trusts me to guide his pupil magnificently." The azure beast gave Naruto another once over, "I see you are wearing weights, that is most excellent indeed. You are ready to join me and my youthful pupil in our quest to increase our flaming passion with youthful exercise. LEE, come meet your newest comrade who is also in the springtime of his youth. He has come to me upon learning my magnificence in the marvelous art of taijutsu."

Faster than Naruto could blink the mini-me was standing in front of him with an eager grin on his face, "Hello, my name is Rock Lee, the beautiful crimson beast of Konoha, and it is a pleasure to have a brother pupil under Gai-sensei's youthful guidance." Manly tears began to stream down Lee's face, "Gai-sensei your flames of youth helped ignite… how rude of me, I never learned your name. For that I will do one thousand pushups, and if I cannot do that I'll clean all the garbage up in the streets of Konoha, and if I cannot do that I'll climb up the Hokage Monument with both hands and one foot tied behind my back."

Lee would've continued but Gai's raised hand stopped him, "Lee you are in the springtime of your youth, and sometimes the youthful flames ignite and consume you in a fiery passion. Since I failed in my duty as a sensei I too shall punish myself, I will run to the border of Kaze no Kuni and back on my hands, if I cannot do that I will-"

"STOP IT!" Naruto was breathing hard after yelling over the eccentric duo and Gai and Lee turned to him and appeared to remember there was somebody else there, "Kaka-sensei said to come here to learn taijutsu, so are you going to teach me or what?"

Gai smiled with his hands resting on his hips and when he smiled Naruto was almost blinded once again, "Such youthful passion, you shall indeed do well under my guidance. Yes I shall help your taijutsu reach its peak and your youthful flames will explode ha, ha, ha, ha."

Naruto could only sweat drop at the man as he continued laughing as he wondered if all jounin were this crazy, and if the jounin were batshit crazy how nuts was the old man, who was the strongest ninja in the village. Suddenly Naruto's shoulder dropped as he realized that he wanted to be the Hokage and would undoubtedly be crazy when that happened. Would he even know what was going on at that point, or just be a senile mess? Naruto began crying his own tears of manliness as Lee asked a question, "Gai-sensei what exercises shall we do this youthful day?"

Gai stopped laughing to answer Lee's question, "Well my youthful pupil we shall do some light exercising because we have a new student."

Naruto cut the man off angrily, "I didn't ask you to take it easy for me. I'm going to be Hokage and I can take anything you throw at me."

After his tirade Lee and Gai could no longer contain themselves and were overcome by youth once more, "LEE my new pupil might be able to match your youthfulness some day, and your own flames of youth shall only reach new heights because of it."

"Yosh Gai-sensei, let's get started. My inner passion is ignited because Naruto also has a splendid dream. I must quench these raging fires with youthful exercise."

It seemed the odd pair could no longer stop their explosion of youth as rivers of tears cascaded down their cheeks and the two beasts of Konoha faced each other and celebrated their youthful manliness by embracing each other.

As the two screamed out their names and the beach formed with the sunset and crashing waves formed behind them Naruto vowed to never use his sharingan around the two so he didn't go insane… unfortunately the naive blonde did not realize it was already too late for that.

The two finished their festival of manliness and Gai started listing their exercises, "Okay let's begin. We'll start with twenty laps around Konoha, then do five hundred punches with each hand and five hundred kicks with each leg. After that we'll do one thousand of every type of pushup. Now Lee let's go, EXPLODE."

Naruto's chin fell with every exercise listed until it hit the ground and he saw his training partners disappear leaving nothing in their wakes but twin clouds of dust. Naruto lifted his chin and took after them yelling, "Wait up."

Sakura awoke with a groan when the sunlight streaming through her window shone on her face. After blinking away her haze the pinkette stretched the memories of the past to days came flooding back and she moved with determination. She couldn't talk with her mom and give her the money yesterday but today would be the day that she took the first steps towards becoming a serious kunoichi who could stand on her own two feet. Grabbing the envelope containing her pay the girl ran downstairs to the kitchen only for her mom to engulf her in a suffocating hug and swing her back and forth, "Oh my sweet little baby I haven't seen you in so long. My poor innocent princess I heard about Sasuke, I should've never let you be a ninja. I-I was so worried about you when you were gone."

Sakura managed to pry herself out of her mother's tighter than average grip, "But mom, I want to be a shinobi. I know that it's dangerous but I want to protect the village and as a side bonus I can help you with money."

Sakura held out the envelope and Tomo took it and leafed through the contents making her eyebrows shoot upwards in surprise before handing it back to her daughter, "Sakura I can't accept this. You earned this money and it's yours to spend."

"And I want to spend it on you." Sakura responded while handing the envelope back, "Please mom, I know that it's tough for you because of me. If you didn't have me when you were fifteen then you would've finished school and got a good career. Instead you work two jobs just to keep a roof over our heads and food on the table. I want you to have the life you deserve mom and I can do that by being a shinobi. All this is from my last mission, I still have plenty saved up from the D-ranks we've been doing for the past two months so whenever I have extra money I want you to have it."

Tomo's eyes watered and she embraced her daughter once again, "Don't be silly Sakura-chan, don't think of yourself as a burden. **I **made the mistake, but it gave me the best thing that ever happened in my life and I'll never regret it." The older pinkette put her chin on top of Sakura's head and stroked her now shortened hair, "I love you honey and I want you to know that you don't have to do this, but I also know that you're as stubborn as me so I'll take it because I know you won't change your mind."

Sakura stayed in the hug enjoying the cocoon created by her mother's warmth. She may be able to kill a fully grown man dozens of different ways without him knowing but being in her mother's arms always made Sakura feel safe from all the worries in her life. With her face still buried in her mother's breasts Sakura gave a muffled response, "I love you too mom and I'll be okay so you don't have to worry. Now I have to go to the library, I'll be home for dinner."

Sakura let go of her mother and took off out the door leaving the twenty-eight year old woman staring at her back, "I'm your mother Sakura-chan, I'll always be worried."

Sakura stood in front of the library with a smile on her face as she remembered all the times she spent in here as an academy student. After she proclaimed her _love _for Sasuke and kick stared her rivalry with Ino these four walls became a safe haven for the girl, a second home. This building was her domain, she could probably walk through and find almost any book by memory alone because of all the time she spent increasing her knowledge in an attempt to make herself stand out to Sasuke. She spent almost all her free time in here instead of training because it would make her less feminine and she thought Sasuke would think she was a Neanderthal, though in hindsight the physical training would've elevated her in the Uchiha's eyes.

Sakura shook off the unnecessary thoughts and stepped into the building hoping Hitomi-baasan-the little old lady who was the librarian as long as Sakura could remember. Instead of the kind old woman a teenage girl with purple hair was manning the desk reading some magazine. Sakura strode past the girl without a word, confident she could find any book by herself. She bypassed the fiction section and turned at the general information section before coming to the stairs leading up to the specialized knowledge section in the library. She walked up and quickly located the medical section before going down the first row and picking out any books that looked like they would be useful-basic first aid, anatomy, herbology, poisons and antidotes, and general information about medical shinobi and their duties.

The pinkette found a seat and began perusing the books making sure they were worth reading. It seemed like ten minutes had passed but when Sakura looked out the window it was apparent that she was in the library for several hours. She organized the books and looked through some of the things she wrote while skimming the tomes. Medic-nin used chakra to facilitate the production of cells to increase the rate of healing. They could do many other things but Sakura only skimmed those because even the most basic things were beyond her ability. Also medics were supposed to conserve as much chakra as possible while fighting in order to save it for healing. That was fine with Sakura though because she didn't have much chakra to begin with, 'I'll have to talk to Kaka-sensei about increasing my reserves.'

Sakura tucked the books she wanted in her backpack and put the other ones on the cart for the librarians before checking out the ones she wanted and heading to the last place she wanted to be in the village.

Sakura stood in front of a quaint yellow two-story house situated in the market district of Konoha with Yamanaka Flower Shop painted in sky blue between the windows on the first and second stories. Sakura swallowed her fear and opened the door praying her rival wasn't home, and apparently the gods were on her side because manning the counter was a beautiful blonde woman reading a gardening magazine, though she lowered it as soon as the bell rang revealing sparkling purple eyes that hinted at her intelligence, "Welcome to Yamanaka Flower Shop." It took a moment but recognition flashed in Ino's mom's eyes and a warm smile made its way onto her face, "Sakura what a pleasant surprise. I heard about your teammate, how are you holding up dear?"

Sakura returned the woman's warm smile, she always felt comfortable with Mrs. Yamanaka, she understood that her mother had it hard and would look after a young Sakura for Tomo. Yes Chika Yamanaka was the closest thing Sakura's mom had to a friend in her hectic life and was like a second mother to Sakura, she would often do the pinkette's hair or tell her stories from her ninja career over homemade cookies and the concern evident in the woman's eyes touched the girl, "It's hard, but I'm getting better every day."

Chika's expression dropped, "I can only imagine, Ino has been so depressed these past few days and she wasn't even on Sasuke's team."

Sakura winced at her rival's name though Chika didn't notice. Deciding she didn't want to focus on Sasuke anymore the genin changed the subject, "Actually Chika-san I have a question. I've been thinking about specializing in medical jutsu and I wanted to learn more about poisons so I can fight without using chakra more effectively, but they must be village secrets because all I could find were common ingredients and their side effects."

"You're definitely sharp Sakura, poison mixes are in an archive that only specialized personnel can access." Sakura's expression fell but Chika smiled the same way Ino does when she knew something you didn't, "Lucky for you I'm one of the best apothecaries in Konoha. Come to the flower shop everyday for the next week at twelve and I'll give you some non-lethal recipes and teach you how to properly mix poisons and antidotes."

Sakura beamed at the blonde, "Thanks Mrs. Yamanaka, I won't let you down."

Chika could only laugh at Sakura's face, "I know you won't dear, and it's Chika-sensei now dear."

Tenten let out a bored sigh for the twelfth time in the past ten minutes. The weapon store she worked at was filled with ups and downs. Shinobi would stock up and not need weapons for several weeks unless they went on a mission and depleted their supply, and considering the rush last week these next few promised to be dull. There were dozens of other things she would rather be doing with her time, but she needed the job. Being a Kyuubi orphan-as they were referred to-was a hard lot in life. Many shinobi and civilians lost their lives that night and the orphan population exploded while the orphan budget imploded because it was needed for security reasons. Orphanages became overpopulated and their weren't enough families to take the new influx in so Tenten became just another face in the crowd. The brunette was just one of countless babies nobody could identify and the hospital's records were in shambles making DNA testing worthless because there would be nothing to compare it to. Some orphans took on new last names the orphanage gave them but Tenten shed hers as soon as she was able, it felt like she was forsaking her deceased family.

The only options open to her was going to school and joining the job corps or becoming a shinobi. Tenten heard the stories about what happened to girls in the job corps, so there was really only one choice. She joined the academy, but once again found her options limited. With no family or clan to teach her techniques Tenten didn't learn any ninjutsu, taijutsu, or genjutsu outside of the academy. Her only option was specializing in weapons because those were available to everyone, and eventually she was recognized because of those skills, but it didn't pay the bills. Being a weapon specialists while having to buy groceries, pay rent, and buy materials to patch up your clothes on a genin's salary was next to impossible. She found herself wishing, not for the first time, that Gai entered the team into the chuunin exams last time around. If she was promoted money would be less of an issue, and as a chuunin she would have access to more ninjutsu allowing her to branch out from weapons. Even if she didn't get a promotion, genin that participate in the exams are regarded as a cut above the rest and sent on C-rank missions regularly, and in extraordinary circumstances, B-rank ones as well.

Tenten was so lost in thought she didn't hear the bell ring and the genin didn't know there was anyone else in the store until she saw a flash of pink in the corner of her vision. When she turned her head to get a better look she just scoffed and turned away knowing that the pink haired girl wouldn't need her help. She only had to buy the bare minimum required every couple weeks because she probably did not train as hard as she should, and it pissed the aspiring weapons mistress off. Tenten had to work hard and become a serious kunoichi to support herself while other girls her age could afford to be more worried about boys, clothes, and their hair because they don't know how hard life can be. It was girls like that who give kunoichi a bad name.

Despite her less than complimentary thoughts Tenten gave the girl a sweet smile when she walked up to the counter and politely asked, "Can I help you with anything?"

The girl glanced down at the list in her hands briefly before looking up, "Umm yeah, I need two boxes of standard issue kunai, and I need four boxes of the senbon with the removable poison cartridge."

Tenten reached down and placed the boxes of kunai on the counter while inspecting the girl. She never got more than a box of kunai and shuriken and hadn't bought exploding tags or ninja wire since graduation, but now the pink-haired genin bought as many kunai as she bought since graduating in one day, was asking for senbon specially designed for poison, and it looked like she cut the hair that made her look like a pretty pony princess doll.

Tenten made sure the seals on the box were unbroken and smiled at the girl, "Here are the kunai, and I'll get you the senbon needles from the back."

The weapons mistress felt excitement bubbling in her stomach. It looked like a girl her age might finally be taking this ninja thing seriously, which is quite rare, so rare that Tenten didn't have any girlfriends her own age. Most of the prospective kunoichi in her class drooled over the flavor of the month and only talked about dumb music, clothes, or crappy movies. Tenten didn't bother wasting her time trying to fit in where she wouldn't. Nowadays she only womanned the desk at the store or trained and did missions with her team, but there was only so much time a sane person could be around Gai and Lee without going on a killing spree.

Tenten grabbed the boxes of senbon and walked out front before placing the boxes in front of the pinkette and pulling out the demonstration model of the needle and holding it out so the girl could clearly see it and demonstrated the mechanisms, "This is the model that you got. You pop the capsules in like this and pull it out like so. When the tip pierces the target the capsule gets punctured and the poison leaks out holes near the tip. There are one hundred per box and because I've never seen you throw them before I'll throw in a half box of regular senbon."

Tenten put the items in a bag before handing it to the girl, "Is that all you need miss- I'm sorry I never got your name, mine is Tenten."

Sakura was taken back by the abruptness of the question and it took her a moment to grab the bag and respond, "My name is Sakura, it's nice to meet you Tenten. And yes that's all I need thank you."

The brunette punched the numbers into the register, "That will be 100 ryou." After receiving the money Tenten gave Sakura a real smile, "If you want I can take you out back to our range and give you some pointers on throwing those, people have told me I have a knack for weapons."

Sakura smiled gratefully at the older girl, "Thank you so much, that would be so helpful. I have some scrolls but they aren't as helpful as a real teacher."

Sakura strolled down the street feeling lighter than happier than she had in awhile, even before Sasuke's death. After she declared her intention to pursue Sasuke all the friends the young girl had disappeared and became rivalries. Sakura devoted all her time to pursuing the Uchiha, but part of the obsession was the loneliness Sakura felt when she sat home in her room staring at the blank walls. Now she was taking her first steps towards becoming a competent kunoichi and on top of that made a new friend in Tenten and that was the best thing about the day so far. It may only have been training, but it was the first time Sakura spent time with a girl without arguing in a long time and they scheduled another training session.

The pinkette smiled and looked up at the perfectly clear sky and basked in the beauty of the day until she walked into something. The girl landed on her butt and brought her gaze back down to earth to see bright blonde hair with the bangs hanging over bright blue eyes and whisker marked cheeks were stretched in a sheepish smile. Sakura's eye began twitching as she recognized her teammate and gave him a sickly sweet smile, "NA-RU-TO! Watch where you're going. What are you thinking, running into a lady like that? Honestly, how rude.

Naruto shivered at the threatening glint in Sakura's green eyes and began shifting his weight from foot to foot looking for an escape route if things got ugly and chuckled nervously before responding, "Eh heh, sorry Sakura-chan, I'm exhausted and I wasn't looking where I was going."

Sakura took a closer look at the blonde, "You look like shit Naruto."

And it was true. His usually bright blonde hair was caked with dirt and his face was bruised badly like he was on the wrong end of a sledgehammer. His clothes were tattered and disheveled, and the Uzumaki's lone blue eye-usually filled with energy and life-was drooping in fatigue and lacked the customary spark of life. Sakura just stood up while sighing and dusted the dirt from her backside, "Don't worry about it Naruto, just watch where you're going next time. Most people aren't as even tempered as me."

Naruto deadpanned before replying, "Right, well sorry again Sakura-chan, but I have to go meet Kaka-sensei before I can go home so I'll see you later."

Sakura watched her teammate's back as he got farther and farther away from her and called out before he disappeared, "I know you're training Naruto but you better not think of leaving me behind because I'm going to get stronger too."

Naruto stopped walking and turned around giving Sakura a foxy grin, "Of course not Sakura-chan, I'm training so you don't leave me behind."

Naruto disappeared around the next building and Sakura felt her lips tugging upwards, "Idiot."

Sakura walked the rest of the way home with that small smile on her face and when she opened the door she saw more food on the table than they usually eat in one day. Her mother poked her head out of the kitchen and greeted Sakura with a smile before disappearing. As the pinkette took her place at the table she realized life was looking up and she was excited to see what the next day would bring.

One Week Later

The sun spilled through a window on the outskirts of Konoha making a pair of lazy eyes open and look at the clock on his bedside table, "Eleven A.M., no self-respecting person wakes up at this indecent hour."

The pile of blankets covering the slothful shinobi shuffled for a moment as the boy rolled over and drifted off to sleep. He thought he had ten more minutes of peaceful slumbering, but the tyrant of the house grabbed the mess of blankets and dragged him into the bathroom, "You don't have time for this Shikamaru, the funeral is in an hour and you have to meet Chouji-kun and Ino-chan in twenty minutes."

The Nara was thrown from his blanket cocoon into the bathroom and hit his head on the wall quite hard before the draconian overlord he called mom began nagging him once more, "Now hurry and take a shower so you can eat before leaving."

Shika turned the water on and waited a couple minutes before opening the door to sneak back into his bedroom for more sleep, except his mother's firm hand stopped him before he could exit and shoved him back into the bathroom, slamming the door and locking it from the outside. The genin groaned on the bathroom floor as something soft landed on his face and he lifted it up to see it was his funeral clothes, "Shika if I don't hear you get into that shower in the next ten seconds I'm coming in and washing you myself. You know I will, remember last time?"

Shikamaru groaned and lethargically dragged himself into the shower with a small smile on his face, "Troublesome woman."

Spring was coming early to Hi no Kuni this year, the temperature was uncommonly warm and there wasn't a cloud in the sky to stop the sun from beating down on the villagers bustling through the streets, all in all it was a terrible day to have a funeral. The citizens of Konohagakure no Sato were rushing to the sprawling park created from funds donated by the Uchiha to hold the funeral for the last loyal progeny of the clan. Shikamaru wiped the sweat from his brow cursing the lack of good clouds on his way to the academy to meet with his teammates. He took his time, and it was no surprise that both Ino and Chouji were waiting for him in the shade of the largest tree in front of the academy wearing traditional funeral outfits. Shikamaru mentally prepared himself for Ino's nagging as he approached and he wasn't disappointed, "Geeze Shikamaru, can you move any slower? We're almost late. If we end up being late for Sasuke-kun's funeral I'll make your life a living hell."

Shikamaru just sighed and mumbled, "How would that be any different than any other day of my life?"

Ino's left eyebrow began to twitch dangerously and Shikamaru would've dodged the upcoming blow if it weren't so much effort, besides it's not like Ino hit as hard as Sakura.

The blow never landed because of their pleasantly plump teammate, Akimichi Chouji, restrained the fiery blonde, "Easy there Ino, if you hurt Shikamaru we really will be late."

Ino ripped her arm out of Chouji's gentle grasp and huffed, "Whatever, let's just go. I hope forehead is there so I can give her a piece of my mind. If a real kunoichi like me was on Sasuke-kun's team it would've never happened." The kunoichi tried to walk away but found she couldn't move her body, "What the hell are you doing Shikamaru? Let me go!"

The laziest genin in Konoha released his jutsu and watched as Ino turned around with a scowl marring her face, but he cut her off before she could go on a tirade, "You better not say anything like that to Sakura or Naruto, I overheard my dad telling my mom about the mission report and neither of them are at fault. Besides, they probably feel guilty enough and don't need bothersome woman like you bitching and making it worse." Shikamaru walked past Ino and started towards the park, "They are our comrades, and as troublesome as it is, we watch out for our comrades."

Ino's anger left her and her shoulders sagged as she watched Shikamaru lazily stroll towards the funeral, "Alright let's just hurry up."

Uchiwa Park was crowded with villagers that came to pay their last respects to the fallen scion of one of the founding clans of the village. With the death of Uchiha Sasuke, the once great clan and their powerful bloodline was now just an entry in the history books and lost to Konoha forever, though Shikamaru knew that Kakashi had a sharingan. The Nara stood next to his teammates among the crowd staring up at the stage that held the closed casket, Team Seven, the Hokage, several high-ranking shinobi, and a priest performing the ceremony. Shikamaru wished he had some sort of box that would let the reverend know it was time to wrap it up while zoning out the incredibly long sermon that had dragged on for the better part of an hour already and showed no signs of slowing down, and as the priest's voice faded into the background, snippets of the crowds conversation made it to his ear, "heard he threw Uchiha-sama in front of the attack knowing it would kill him' 'he killed poor Sasuke-sama while his back was turned for fun' 'I heard he slaughtered the enemies then turned on his teammates because his bloodlust wasn't slated.' 'That little monster did it to harvest the sharingan, we're doomed now that it has that power."

Shikamaru's mind was moving a mile a minute as he tried to figure out what they were talking about. They said something about a demon, but Shikamaru knew they weren't talking about Zabuza. The only reason the closet genius knew is because his dad got some of the details in a council meeting and the infamous 'Demon of the Mist' didn't even kill Sasuke. Also they talked about the sharingan… something didn't add up to Shikamaru and he was going to find out what was missing.

The genin pushed his thoughts to the side and looked back up to the stage, which caused his face to take on an expression of shock and a gasp escaped his lips. He was looking at something he never thought he'd see in his lifetime, Uzumaki Naruto crying. When other kids at the academy or playground got hurt or bullied they would bawl like babies, but never Naruto. He'd shake it off and bounce right back. He'd seen the blonde take hits that would make some more experienced ninja wince, hell Naruto was ostracized more than anyone in their class but he never cried or complained even once. Shikamaru felt his stomach knotting in guilt as he remembered how lonely his classmate used to be and how little he did about it, and the boy also knew Naruto would be depressed after one of his few friends died but the lazy shinobi was always quick to dismiss the thought because then he'd have to go visit the blonde even if it wouldn't have taken that much effort. The blonde lost one of his few friends and his so called other ones didn't even go visit him once, Shikamaru felt like scum. "Troublesome."

Shika was shaken from his guilt trip as he overheard a conversation in the crowd, "Can you believe that, that, thing is crying?"

"He's really… crying?"

"Yeah, it's definitely fake. Creatures like him can't shed tears."

"Demons don't… demons can't cry."

"Yeah that's my point."

"Weren't you listening to what we're saying?"

"But look at him, that doesn't look fake. He looks so… anguished."

"Don't tell me you're buying that crap, it's all an act, a trick."

"Yeah being a trickster is its nature, remember all the pranks."

"I don't know, other kids pull pranks too, and most of theirs are pretty cruel. All of Naruto's were harmless and definitely not as bad as some other ones by imitation pranksters trying to steal his crown."

"W-What are you saying?"

"Have you gone mad?"

"No… maybe I'm finally sane."

Shikamaru couldn't hear anything else because the priest reached a high point in his sermon and raised his voice trying to increase the emotion. The lazy genin just used an ancient Nara technique to block noise so they could sleep in any situation as he wondered why they were talking about Naruto like that. That guy also said demon in a conversation that was clearly about Naruto, and apparently Sasuke jumped in front of the genin. Shikamaru then noticed that Naruto was wearing his headband like his sensei and his eyes widened as he realized that the blonde may have the sharingan and people were blaming him for Sasuke's death. Shikamaru sighed and looked up at the sky trying to figure out why. His thoughts weren't going anywhere and he started to look down cursing the lack of clouds but his head stopped when he saw a lump in the shadow of a tree. The shinobi peered closer only to end up staring at the white mask worn by ANBU operatives.

Uchiha Itachi sat in the shadowy canopy of a tree overlooking his little brother's funeral when the hairs on the back of his neck tingled. The S-class missing nin glanced around and saw what looked to be a young Nara staring at him. Itachi looked away and resumed watching the preacher drone on without worry. Nobody would recognize him under his borrowed ANBU gear, and the Akatsuki member was smart enough to hide at the level of an average ANBU operative so the elites scattered throughout the clearing wouldn't suspect anything. It was nowhere near Itachi's best, but a genin shouldn't have spotted him so easily, even by accident. The double-agent smiled slightly under his mask, proud that his little brother's generation had such potential. Itachi grew tired of the boorish priest droned on and thought about the week he had since the person he loved most in the world died.

**Flashback**

Itachi was on watch and sat motionless by the campfire on the border of Ta and Hi no Kuni. Kisame had finally fallen asleep and Itachi flared his chakra letting, his raven know it could show itself. The large black bird landed on his outstretched arm and turned its head so the sharingan that was implanted looked into Itachi's. After finding Shisui's corpse Itachi removed his best friend's eye and implanted it into his nin-bird. He wanted to remove the other one too but there wasn't enough time and Kotoamatsukami was far more dangerous than the subtle mind twisting powers of the other one, despite it's long recharge time. The undercover agent's eyes widened as the telepathic link was made and he fought back the tears knowing there would be time for grief later. His little brother, his light, his hope for the future was gone from this world. All of Itachi's carefully laid and formulated plans hinged on Sasuke. Now that he was gone they were shattered and with the illness ravaging his body the chances of accomplishing his goals all but disappeared.

The last surviving Uchiha cursed as his mind raced to salvage anything he could. The most normal Akatsuki member rose and silently packed up knowing he would have to return to his village. After making sure he had everything Itachi made preparations to deal with Kisame. His partner was skilled in battle, almost unbeatable because of his sword, but he failed as a ninja. His moniker of the tailless tailed beast was a good description. The blue ninja thought Samehada was an absolute defense against genjutsu and he was right to an extent, but there were no absolutes in the world of shinobi. Someone that he was fighting would have no chance of putting him under a genjutsu. Samehada had a completely different chakra network than Kisame, so whenever it detected foreign chakra invading its wielder the sword would isolate it and absorb it rendering genjutsu useless. Someone Kisame was fighting would never have a chance, but Itachi was his long time partner and the sword was used to his signature he could inject trace amounts of chakra into the sword and place it in a genjutsu, which makes Kisame vulnerable to genjutsu, but how do you put a sword in a genjutsu?

Samehada was sentient and had some awareness and interaction with the world, faux senses if you will. It was a matter of finding out how those senses worked and altering them. The sword senses and tastes chakra so Itachi made it remember the most delicious chakras that it devoured and the sword was lost in its own little world. After making sure it was affecting the weapon Itachi placed Kisame in a genjutsu that would have them meet in a week in a small town near the Kusa Ame border.

Itachi made good time and when he arrived at Konoha the missing-nin snuck in through one of the small gaps in the barrier that was used for black op missions. It took little effort for Itachi to make his way to the Hokage tower unseen, and he took up a hidden vantage point and waited for his opportunity. One came only a day later when the two elders and Danzo walked down the street towards the entrance with two ANBU behind them. The former Konoha-nin knew they would be ROOT and waited for a moment of weakness. They were approaching the last turn before the Hokage Tower and Itachi blended into the crowd and moved into position. As they went around the corner he placed the ANBU on the outside in a sleeping genjutsu and simultaneously put the other one in a different one so he wouldn't notice. Itachi donned the mask and cloak before hiding the body with a genjutsu and followed the elders into the building.

Itachi sat silently and tuned out the meeting, he was to busy completing his next task. The Uchiha found all the hidden members of the ANBU in the room and placed them in a subtle genjutsu loop where they heard what they thought the elders would say from past experience. He finished the task efficiently and threw the cloak and mask to the side.

Homura, Koharu, and Danzo all appeared to be surprised by his dramatic unveiling, but the Sandaime sat there calmly with a sad smile on his face, "Ah Itachi-kun I was wondering when you would be visiting. I was hoping it would be before the funeral." Itachi cocked an eyebrow in confusion and Sarutobi smiled, "Of course I knew you were keeping tabs on Sasuke."

Itachi ignored the Hokage's advisors and focused on the venerable old man, "Very astute, what gave it away?"

The Sandaime smiled, "There was no hard evidence, but you loved Sasuke like I love Konoha, and if there was a way I would watch over every corner of it."

Itachi was amused and a smile cracked his stoic mask for the first time in years, but before he could respond Danzo tensed and interrupted, "Why have you come Itachi, to reveal the truth of the massacre now that Sasuke is dead?"

Itachi ignored the warhawk and continued to look at the Sandaime, though he did answer the question, "I have come for two reasons. The first is to see Sasuke's funeral, but the second is more serious and unpleasant. I have come to warn you that Uchiha Madara is still alive and still looking for revenge. I have joined an organization that is bathed in shadows. We are hunting Jinchuuriki for their bijuu, though I don't know the real reason. I had a plan to deal with the man, but it fell apart when Sasuke died. I will still do everything in my power to stop him, but heed my warning, Madara covets the Kyuubi more than any other bijuu, so prepare Naruto-kun well for I will come after him and if he can't defeat me I will kill him to stall Madara's plans. If I fail, a man with the eyes of the sage will take be the next. I'd tell you more but if I gave you too much information it could compromise my position." With his warning delivered Itachi burst into a flock of ravens that dissolved into nothingness

**Flashback End**

Itachi knew that the man wasn't really Madara, he just used the name to inspire fear into his enemies, but Itachi decided to play along for the same reasons. Dropping the name of one of the boogiemen of the shinobi world was a great way to make the Hokage and the elders take the situation seriously, especially because they knew him as children. The young Uchiha turned his attention back to the funeral as it neared the end. The priest finally finished his eulogy and the people were lining up to place their flowers on the basket. The Hokage and high-ranking shinobi went first followed by Kakashi then Sakura. His target was the next to approach the casket and Itachi eyed him with interest.

He used to watch the blonde as a rookie ANBU and another smile made its way onto his face as he thought about how much the boy grew, though he was still rather short. Itachi paid extra attention to the bandages around his left eye covered by his headband. He was proud that his little brother rose above the hatred that cursed the Uchiha clan. Itachi was about to leave and took one last glance at the Yondaime's legacy and gasped. Naruto's was crying even harder than before. Tears still streamed out from his right eye, his left eye was crying tears of blood. Itachi stared at the trails of blood wondering if it was even possible, but after overcoming the shock he realized that his plan was still salvageable and like a true shinobi he would adapt to the situation. Itachi made his way towards the meeting spot and wondered how that man would fare against the combined power of the Uchiha and the Senju.

Hiruzen Sarutobi was a worried mess as he frantically rushed to the hospital,. The old man wanted to accompany his adopted grandson to the hospital but his duties as the Hokage dictated he would have to stay until the end of the funeral, but as soon as it was over he took off running. The man remembered the last time he was this worried and moved this fast, it was when his daughter-in-law gave birth to Konohamaru. Suddenly the old man remembered something else about that day and stopped running, "Shit I'm a shinobi, I can just shunshin. Why do I do this every time?"

The Hokage appeared in front of the hospital in a puff of smoke and walked passed the receptionist and focused on Naruto's chakra signature. As he hurried through the hallways the old man felt his worries hit him full force. What if it was the Kyuubi? The beast hates the sharingan and it wouldn't be a surprise if it did everything in its power to keep Naruto from having one. The Shiki Fuujin should stop the bijuu from carrying out its will, but it was completely different from the previous seal that Mito and Kushina used and everything was theoretical. What if it was already failing?

The Sandaime was about to burst through the door when it slowly opened and the head medic stepped out. The Hokage sucked in a breath and asked the dreaded question, "Yakushi-san what's going on."

The silver haired medic looked at the panicking Hokage and tried to explain, "Well the thing is… I have no idea. I've never seen anything like this before. His eye works perfectly, actually all the tests say his sharingan functions better than an actual Uchiha's would, but I don't even know if it's still the sharingan. It appears to have mutated, it's possible exposure to the Kyuubi's chakra-"

The Hokage began to get a better idea of what was happening during the medic's explanation and raised a hand to cut him off and prayed to god that it wasn't what he thought it was. "I'd like to see Naruto-kun now Yakushi-san." The medic started to open the door but the Hokage stopped him, "Alone."

The medic backed off sheepishly, "Of course Hokage-sama."

The Hokage entered and closed the door behind him as his stomach tightened with anxiety, "Hello Naruto, are you okay?"

Naruto had his back to the Hokage and it appeared he was inspecting his new eye in a mirror he was holding. The boy didn't look away as he cheerfully responded, "Yeah." The boy dropped the mirror and started to turn around, "Sasuke's eye went all weird, I think it's defective."

The Sandaime gasped when he looked into Naruto's eye and gasped. The outside of the pattern in his eye was completely black and the inside was red. Three ellipses intersected forming a six point star and on the inside were two triangles, one upside down and one regular one creating another six pointed star. The Hokage's worst fears were confirmed and he could only gasp, "Mangekyou."


	4. Team seven reformed a new squad member

Naruto stared into the mirror the hospital staff provided him while reflecting on the last week and all the strides he made. The blonde was improving his Kage Bunshin no Jutsu, instead of trying to overwhelm his opponent with numbers the teen would have smaller squads of shadow clones assault the enemy in a coordinated attack. After placing the mirror on the bedside table Naruto looked at his developing muscles. It was surprising to the boy just how much stronger and faster he was able to get in a short seven days. Gai-sensei may have been a complete and total loon, but he was a loon that was unmatched in taijutsu. The green clad man didn't teach him any cool moves like Sasuke had, much to his dismay, but he did work Naruto to the bone and then make him go through all the basic stances and moves while correcting the boy's mistakes. Now the genin wasn't wasting as much energy or overextending while attacking. Overall his basic shinobi skills skyrocketed, Iruka would've been amazed.

Naruto couldn't help himself and picked the mirror up to look at the change his sharingan went through again. Instead of two tomoe circling around the pupil his eye had morphed into a red six-pointed star, formed by three intersecting ellipses and outlined in black. The boy was so entranced by the design he didn't hear the Hokage enter the room until the blonde heard, "Are you okay Naruto?

The blonde answered without lifting his head, "I'm fine old man, but Sasuke's eye went all weird, I think it's defective."

Naruto dropped the mirror onto the bed and turned to look at his adoptive grandfather to continue, but the look of shock on the old man's face stopped him and the Hokage gasped, "Mangekyou."

Confused by the man's reaction Naruto's eyebrows knitted together, "Do you know what's going on Hokage-jiji?"

Sighing as he looked at Naruto's mismatched eyes the aging leader sat next to the village's savior, "Naruto… what is in your eyesocket… well. That eye you have is perhaps the greatest secret and darkest legacy of the Uchiha. One that was probably better left buried, but it can't be helped now." 'And for a relative of the Senju to unlock it, Naruto you are a walking irony.'

Naruto waited patiently for the Hokage to continue and suppressed his questions. He knew from experience the old man wouldn't be rushed and when finished he would explain what the blonde didn't get, "That is an evolution of the sharingan, the ultimate form that would grant its user great powers. However the price paid for these powers is terrible. Most think it to be legend because the few Uchiha that do unlock it probably hide it from the village, and probably even the clan itself. You see… in order to unlock the mangekyou sharingan it was believed you had to kill your best friend."

The genin looked down at his hands in shock because of what he just learned. Tears streamed from his right eye while blood poured down the left side of his face, "So I guess it is my fault Sasuke died?"

To his shock the white and maroon Hokage robes engulfed him as the old man gave him a comforting hug, disregarding the blood staining his robes. The teen lifted his mismatched eyes and they widened in surprise at the concern visible on the Sandaime's face and the care in his voice, "Of course not Naruto. You just care greatly about your friends and place such impossibly large burdens on your young shoulders. I wouldn't be surprised if you blamed yourself for it so much that it felt like you killed him yourself." The Hokage gave the boy in his arms a crooked smile, "You call me old man, but if you keep that up your back will be worse than mine in no time."

Naruto didn't reply, his body just shook as he gripped onto the Hokage's robe like it was the only thing keeping him from losing himself. In return the old man stroked his hair soothingly while whispering comforts into the boy's ear. Eventually the genin calmed down and the questions came rushing into his head, "Oji-chan, what does the Mangekoo sharingan do?"

The kindly elder pulled back and ruffled Naruto's hair one last time. "It's mangekyou, not mangekoo Naruto. To tell you the truth I don't really know. My two sensei, the Shodaime and Nidaime, said that two Uchiha during their time were incredibly strong with unique powers. They said they saw these two men put people in comas with a glance and had the ability to use fires hotter than anything they've ever felt, and my teachers fought Yoton users."

The blonde could hardly contain his excitement as the Hokage's explanation continued. He was considering jumping around the room and celebrating, but he figured that wouldn't be very ninja like. Naruto turned to face the old Kage with his usual grin spread across his cheeks, "That's awesome jii-jii, I'm gonna be even more awesome than before. You better start clearing out that desk because I'm coming for that hat soon."

Instead of smiling like the old man usually would after the proclamation a severe frown was directed at Naruto, "You should know by now that the number or strength of your techniques isn't the most important thing a shinobi needs. Secondly I don't want you to use that eye unless you absolutely see no other choice. It was rumored that those Uchihas' eyesight began degrading after they activated the mangekyou. Also that is a powerful tool. If word got out you had one, well, it wouldn't be the first time someone was kidnapped for a doujutsu."

The chibi Naruto dancing inside the blonde's head suddenly stopped his celebration and a horrified look made its way onto the real blonde's face, "What? I don't want Sasuke's eye to go blind, what am I going to do jii-jii." Naruto began pacing frantically before slamming a fist into his palm, "Yosh, I'll just never use it."

The Hokage's stern visage melted as he watched the genin's antics, "First try reducing the amount of chakra you have running to the eye." He paused as Naruto picked up the mirror and sighed in relief when his eye morphed back to the regular sharingan, except three tomoe circled the pupil now. Once he was sure the boy's attention was back on him Sarutobi continued, "I also wouldn't recommend never using the eye. You have been given a useful tool and shouldn't shun it. Sasuke gave you his eye to protect yourself and your comrades, so if the situation calls for it I'm sure he wouldn't mind you using the mangekyou. Just don't overuse it."

Naruto rested his chin on his palm and thought about the Hokage's advice before nodding sagely, "That makes sense, I wish I was as smart as you old man."

Placing an arm around the blonde's shoulder Hiruzen started walking them towards the door, "I'm not that smart Naruto. When you've been around as long as I have you just tend to notice thing. Also, don't tell any of your friends about the eye, it will only lead to problems and uncomfortable questions. Just say it was a minor complication with the transplant but everything is fine now."

Naruto slipped out from under Sarutobi's arm, "Okay gramps, and you're right. You aren't smarter than me, just old. Really, really, old." The genin laughed and dodged a playful swipe of the Hokage's wizened hand, "See you later old man, don't stay up all night doing paperwork. It's not healthy for someone your age."

The Hokage followed the genin at a more subdued pace while muttering, "Just wait boy, you'll get yours too."

* * *

><p>Sakura could hardly contain her excitement as she practically skipped to the training grounds, ready to show her team how much she had improved. The kunoichi went to the flower shop everyday after studying basic first aid for training in the basics of herbology. The genin was mostly learning about the different types of plants and their effects and training to properly mix ingredients without wasting any.<p>

According to the Yamanaka she was a natural and her movements were swift. The teen also trained with Tenten a couple times over the last week and was felt confident enough to use senbon needles in live training. A smile broke out across the pinkette's face as she patted her pouch that contained a prototype of a weapon designed by the weapons mistress.

Sakura arrived at the field and to her surprise Naruto was already hard at work doing pushups. As she got closer she noticed some were tree climbing, several were going over the basic taijutsu kata, and two were even playing Chinese checkers.

Curious the kunoichi walked up to her teammate and asked, "Naruto, why do you have Kage Bunshins doing all those things."

The blonde pushed himself up to his feet and gave the girl a wide smile, "Hey Sakura-chan, that's my new training method. I gain all the memories of my clones after they dispel."

"So by having them train it's like you're doing a bunch of different things at once." Said Sakura, finishing Naruto's sentence. She then stared over at the two clones playing the board game, "Okay, but why are they playing Chinese checkers over there?"

Naruto stretched his back while answering, "Oh, well Hokage-jiji once told me the hardest person to overcome was yourself."

Sakura sweat-dropped as one of the Kage Bunshin threw the table and board across the field before tackling his opponent into the tree which caused them both to dispel, "He might be on to something there."

Naruto sheepishly rubbed the back of his head and changed the subject, "So how was your week Sakura-chan?"

Sakura sat down and signaled Naruto to sit next to her. Once he plopped next to her she answered, "You weren't the only one training hard, I worked my butt off last week and have some new tricks up my sleeve."

"Oh, what did you learn, I bet it's something really awesome."

Sakura smiled at the blonde's childish enthusiasm, "Well a kunoichi has to keep her secrets, but I can give you some hints. I read a lot about medical ninja, started learning how to use a new weapon, added a new facet to my ninja skills, and on top of that I even learned some basic first aid."

Sakura lifted her head to see Naruto's expressive blue eye shone with amazement and she had to fight down a blush, though her cheeks were still tinged pink, "That's so cool Sakura-chan, you did all that new stuff in a week. I didn't even learn anything new, just did a bunch of basics with Kaka-sensei."

Sakura couldn't suppress the blush after hearing Naruto's honest praise, "It's not that cool, I only learned the basics too." Sakura's stomach twisted in nervousness as she asked her next question, "Actually Naruto, I was wondering if I could practice some first aid on you, it's hard to see if you're doing it right when practicing with a tree branch."

Naruto tilted his head confusedly at Sakura, "But I'm not hurt Sakura-chan, why would you want to practice on me."

Sakura's eyebrow twitched as she forcibly suppressed the urge to hit her teammate knowing it would just make him dumber in the long run, "I know that baka, but you don't want the first time you use the technique to be on a person that really needs it."

Naruto's mouth formed a large O before he answered, "No problem Sakura, I'd love to." He unzipped his orange jacket and tossed it to the side, "What do you need me to do?"

Sakura looked to the ground in embarrassment before saying, "Well I'll need you to take your shirt off too."

If the girl was looking up she would've seen Naruto's face light up to a Hinata red as he stuttered and poked his fingers together, "W-well umm, I guess I could. M-maybe."

Sakura lifted her green eyes just as Naruto lifted his shirt. She expected him to be a bit pudgy because of all the calories, carbs, and salts in Ramen, but he seemed on the skinny side for a civilian his age. "Naruto do you only eat Ramen? If you were a villager I'd say you were in shape, but a shinobi needs to have more muscle mass. Next time you go to the store get more meats, grains, fruits, and vegetables." The pinkette frowned at the scowl that stretched across Naruto's face when she mentioned the store, noting that it looked quite unnatural after seeing him smile like an idiot for so long, "Can you not afford it?"

The blonde just turned to look across the field as he put his shirt back on, "I don't want to talk about it."

Sakura just sighed knowing that even if he was her teammate she didn't have the right to make him talk, especially with how she used to treat him. The kunoichi could only respect his wishes and stare at his back with worry etched across her features.

* * *

><p>Kakashi stared at the memorial stone, staring at the newest name while contemplating the change in his morning ritual, "I guess my luck with the Uchiha clan isn't the best. First Obito, and now Sasuke." The silver haired man lost track of time as he continued to stare at the stone over his orange book. Eventually he took his gaze off the stone and looked up at the position of the sun. "Well I think they've waited long enough. That was more than enough time to catch up.<p>

Instead of using his customary shunshin Kakashi decided to enjoy the early spring weather and walk. As he lazily strolled the legendary shinobi thought of the last week and the upcoming ones as well. His blonde student had improved by leaps and bounds and would probably be ready for some jutsu today. The man stopped before deciding to teach him a defensive one to be on the safe side.

Kakashi also checked in on Sakura from time to time and she appeared to have discovered all the motivation she lacked and then some. Still, her chakra levels were below average, and control could only take her small stores so far. The kunoichi would need to raise her chakra capacity before she moved onto more advanced subjects.

The real surprise came when the Hokage called him up after the funeral to discuss Naruto's sharingan and described the Mangekyou. The one thing that really bothered Kakashi was if Naruto unlocked it why didn't he. There situations were remarkably similar and the man surely blamed himself for Obito's death too. Deciding that there was no use trying to figure things out based on speculation the jounin shook the thoughts from his head and noticed that he was nearing the training ground. After snapping his book shut and placing it in its life proof pouch the man disappeared in a puff of smoke.

He reappeared in front of his two students in a strange situation. Naruto was staring off into the distance, ignoring Sakura, while she stared worriedly at his back. The man was worried he had somehow ended up in some sort of alternate universe when their voices shouted, "**You're late!"** in unison.

The jounin-sensei just smiled and was glad that some things still stayed the same. He ignored their false accusation, Kakashi always arrived exactly when he meant too, and gave them the excuse that came to him last night in a dream, "Sorry I'm late but I saw several chickens crossing the road and I couldn't figure out why." Nobody said it was a good excuse.

His students' voices rose in chorus as they yelled "**LIAR!"**

Kakashi just continued like he wasn't interrupted, "In one week we officially start rehab duty and after some calculations I've found it will take sixteen D-ranks a week to make what we were on medical leave so we'll do three or so missions a day to supplement our training when that starts." Kakashi unrolled a scroll and another set of weights appeared in a puff of smoke. He shot a warning glance at Naruto before saying, "Put these on and channel your chakra until I say stop."

Sakura quickly strapped the metal bands around her wrists and ankles before forming the ram seal and trickling her chakra into them. Once it began to look like she was struggling he interrupted her, "Okay stop, that's not bad for now but it's still pretty light."

He inwardly laughed at the look on Naruto's face and Sakura's cheeky mumbling before explaining the rest of her regime, "Okay, now I want you to go over there and do two hundred sit-ups, push-ups, and pull-ups. Then you will run around the field while I throw dodge balls at you because as a medic-nin your evasion skills need to be top notch. After the physical exercise you will continue tree-climbing until you can't do it anymore. Then we'll break for lunch and we'll continue training until around four and then do our D-ranks."

His students stared at him with their mouths agape before Sakura managed to say, "B-but we won't be home until like ten."

Kakashi rested his chin in his empty hand before nodding sagely, "Yes."

Knowing that their sensei was a stern taskmaster when it came to actually working Sakura just started her exercises while he turned his attention to Naruto, "I trust you already did your physical regime." After getting a crisp nod the Jounin tossed Naruto three scrolls as he continued, "Good, One of those scrolls contains a chakra control exercise and the other two contain a suiton and futon jutsu each. They're both low ranked jutsu, the water is defensive and the wind one is multi-purpose. If you have questions feel free to ask, after lunch we will begin working with the sharingan and continue our clone battles. Now, hop to it."

The jounin stepped back and watched his students work. Sakura appeared to have more energy than usual and he hoped that meant she put an end to her dieting as well. Kakashi shifted his gaze slightly to the left, and Naruto, as expected, had completely ignored the control exercise. Instead he was intently reading the scroll about the water jutsu. Naruto put the instructions down and began going over the sequence several times. Kakashi prepared for some free entertainment, and he wasn't disappointed.

The blonde began gathering chakra and rapidly formed the short sequence before slamming his palm into the shallows and yelling "Suiton: Suijinheki" (Water Release: Water Encampment wall). A jet of water shot into the air and arched over the blonde's head as the sunlight reflected off it. The stream continued on its path before splashing into Sakura as she was doing her sit-ups.

Kakashi was in the process of getting his ten chuckles when the air temperature dipped below freezing. Now it was quite nice for the time of year, in the high sixties and not a cloud in the sky, so the temperature change was unexplainable. The shinobi looked around frantically for the source before an awful killing intent saturated the air. However that only calmed him down because it was awfully familiar.

Sakura rose from the ground in all of her righteous feminine fury. Water dripped down her lithe frame as her eyes shone white with rage and the very air around her seemed to absorb light. The jounin was reminded of the simpler times when he was a genin, when Kushina thought his sensei had an affair… that was an ugly day for everyone.

Naruto shot Kakashi a pleading look and the man only shrugged in return as Sakura yelled, "SHANNARO!" and sent Naruto skipping across the lake like a stone until a tree came out of nowhere. She stomped away and the blonde pitifully pulled himself out of the water and tossed the suiton scroll into it before unrolling the water walking exercise. Soon enough twenty-one blonde genin were trying, and failing, to stand on the water.

Figuring now was as good a time as any the jounin pulled out Icha Icha and began reading with a perverted giggle.

* * *

><p>Kakashi led his tired students back to the training field. Sakura had joined in on his and Naruto's game, but she barely did better than the blonde. The pinkette may have been more book smart, but that only allowed her to better understand the parameters they were given. When it came to actually forming the plans hers were rather cookie cutter and often lacked that element cunning good plans needed. Naruto on the other hand came up with ideas that weren't lacking in deviousness, but they weren't linked together by an overall strategy and more often than not didn't work to achieve a larger objective. In other words he reacted more than anticipated and maneuvered.<p>

Still that wasn't even the point of the exercise. Kakashi said that he would answer any question, and that included asking him for ideas. The most important thing that they would learn is to never assume anything no matter how farfetched, once that happened everything else would come in time.

Once the trio returned to the field Kakashi broke down the afternoon, "Okay Sakura our main priority now is to build your chakra capacity. I would teach you water walking but it wouldn't do anything for your chakra control so just continue tree climbing. Once you start to get tired I'll attack you with shuriken and taijutsu, but you have to stay in the trees."

Sakura walked over to a patch of trees and Kakashi created a Kage Bunshin that began blowing up a balloon as he turned his attention to his sensei's son, "Okay Naruto we're going to be having another one of our clone battles. I can use one shadow clone, two water clones, and an earth clone." He took the inflated balloon from his clone and wrapped it in a blanket before handing it to Naruto, "You can use three Kage Bunshin and yourself. Your objective is to guard that balloon which represents a baby. If at any point during the exercise it pops you have to join Gai and Lee on their post pre-breakfast snack, pre-dawn workout."

The genin cradled the package tightly to his body and shivered in fear because he knew there was no way to avoid that workout, his sensei was just humoring him. He took off towards another patch of woods and Kakashi's clone platoon followed, eager to use him as a punching bag. Seeing that his two students were set he pulled out the greatest thing since sliced bread and gave a brief thought to the rest of the afternoon.

After making sure Naruto didn't just blindly react to what the sharingan showed him they could work on some basic hypnosis and genjutsu because God knows how bad he'd be at them without the doujutsu. Then they'd move onto identifying different elemental chakra before studying the flow of it in and out of the body.

Kakashi sighed because that was his basic plan with Sasuke before… the jounin turned his attention to his book before he could mope further because the man had already filled his daily quota, "Akiko-chan you dirty girl, are you really going to do that with Haruo?"

* * *

><p>Sakura watched the sun set and the sky change colors as she walked home. The pinkette let the cool breeze rush over her aching body as she lost herself in thoughts. Today was everything that she expected, it felt good to see Kakashi and Naruto again. At the same time today was nothing like she expected.<p>

Without focusing all of her attention on Sasuke the kunoichi was able to notice things about her other teammate that she didn't before. The blonde was incredibly open about a lot of things but would clam up about certain subjects or deflect them with a goof moment.

Sakura had to stop thinking and wave to Tenten when she heard the brunette's voice, but the older girl had to catch up with her team before she could do anything else. She ignored the shouts of fire and youth that echoed down the street, but realized her train of thought was lost. The pinkette shrugged it off and promised that she'd treat her teammate better and shifted her thoughts to her earlier training.

Sakura really wished she didn't hop on the diet trend as a child because she needed every advantage possible coming from a civilian background, but it wasn't anything that couldn't be fixed, especially because she was starting now. It was going to be hard though, the girl couldn't remember the last time she was this sore, but that was palpable proof the kunoichi was on the path to getting stronger and improving her family's lot in life.

* * *

><p>Naruto looked down at his filthy hands, he knew he was improving a lot, but it still seemed like he was only playing at being a ninja. The shinobi remembered when he soaked his teammate with the water jutsu.<p>

**Flashback**

Naruto stood in the shallows of the lake confident that he understood the basics of the jutsu, after all that's what he did with the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu and he learned that in an hour. The blonde sped through the hand seals and slammed his open palms into the water causing a wall of it to explode upwards like the scroll said it would, however the barrier didn't stop at eight feet. The water arched over the genin's head and he admired the sparkling light shining through it, but then it splashed onto Sakura and he wondered how it didn't freeze on contact because he couldn't stop shivering.

A wave bloodlust far greater than any he'd ever known crashed over him and the animals in the training ground fled for safety. Naruto tried to follow but found his legs wouldn't move because his knees were shaking so much. The blonde watched as Sakura stood and water dripped down her body. He gulped after getting a glimpse of her features and tightened his sphincter. Sakura's face was red, not the cute shy blush that he only ever saw around Sasuke, but an angry 'I'm going to rip your spleen out your asshole' red. Her eyes shone a demonic white that promised untold pain, and Naruto could do nothing but watch as the terrifying beauty stalked towards him.

Naruto quivered in fear and waited for death, but instead a sickly sweet voice reached his ears, a voice that implied if the answer wasn't satisfactory then retribution would be swift and brutal. He pleaded with Kakashi using his eye, but the man ignored him. Knowing there was no help coming he racked his brain for an acceptable response, unfortunately for our blonde hero the answer didn't exist, "Umm w-well you s-see. Umm you looked really hot and, and I thought you'd like it if I, uh cooled you down."

The blonde instantly knew it was the wrong answer when he heard "**Shannaro"** and her fist slammed into his cheek before it felt like he was bouncing across concrete. The genin opened his eyes and could only see a green and brown blur that was rapidly approaching. After impact the boy was able to confirm it was a tree before it inexplicably became night and the stars came out.

Unbeknownst to him Sakura just stood on the other side of the pond blushing as Inner Sakura said, "Did you hear that? He called us hot, cha!"

**Flashback End**

After Naruto dragged himself back to shore Sakura apologized profusely before lecturing him on using untested jutsu around other people. She then suggested he try controlling his chakra instead of just shoving it into the jutsu and hoping it worked. After realizing the kunoichi was right Naruto ditched the Suijinheki scroll, he was too scarred to learn that jutsu, and opened the water walking one.

The boy looked back at his dirty hands and realized it wasn't enough. He was improving true, but it wasn't fast enough. The genin was behind everyone else after the academy so he had to step it up. The blonde looked up and realized he was at his apartment building and before he stepped inside made a silent promise, 'From now on it's time to get serious, I'm going to work harder than ever. I'll get up early to work with the fuzzy brow group, then I'll work extra hard on my strategy, jutsu and sharingan, and by the end of the week I'll hit a still target in the bulls eye ten out of ten times.' Feeling better the blonde walked into his building so he could collapse into bed.

* * *

><p>The next three weeks flew for team seven. Naruto kept his word and trained hard six days a week. He would've trained seven but Sakura, Kakashi, even Gai and Lee insisted that he take at least one day to recuperate. Every day after practice the blonde would work with the spandex wearing duo, it was going so well that he increased his weights twice and was learning a new taijutsu style.<p>

Gai called it Uzuken, he said he forgot exactly where he learned it but it was one of the styles that he based his Goken off of. The premise was to keep your opponent off guard with quick attacks and constant motion. When they did strike you wouldn't block but try to increase their momentum and put the target off balance, creating openings to strike. It didn't stop there though, when the jounin demonstrated it on Naruto he had the genin spinning like a top.

The eyebrow brigade also discovered Sasuke's gift when his headband got knocked off during a spar, or 'getting my ass handed to me by Lee time' as Naruto liked to call it. As soon as they found out Lee proclaimed Naruto his second eternal rival for having such intense flames of youth. Even Gai cried manly tears because Naruto was learning the style without using the eye's copying ability.

Once Naruto was able to use the doujutsu in spars his skills with it skyrocketed. He was able to process the information and react how he wanted to instead of blindly following the eye. One time it told him to jump over Lee's kick, but he smashed his head into a large branch above his head. Normally the blonde would've used the tree to dodge, but the eye said it was easier to jump so he did out of reflex, knowing a branch was above him, and smashed his head. The genin's skill with hypnosis was improving as well, although his genjutsu was still abysmal. And if you add in the fact that he got lunch most days it wasn't a bad three weeks for the blonde.

Sakura also managed to stay busy. She learned how to make some non-lethal poisons with Ino's mom, although the pinkette could only make the liquid ones as of now because they were easiest and safest to work with. But soon she would be able to work with the powdered forms and could branch off into gas from there.

Kakashi also said her medical skill was well above the novice level. Currently she was focusing on dodging, improving her accuracy, and strategic thinking while fighting with Naruto's clones. She even managed to slightly increase her weight bands.

The kunoichi had also managed to weasel a genjutsu from their sensei and could use Magen: Kokoni Arazu no Jutsu (Demonic Illusion: False surrounding techniques) well enough to throw off her opponents in spars and create openings. Once she had the stamina to tree walk for an hour and a half Kakashi said he would find a tutor for the pinkette.

All in all it was a successful three weeks for team seven and they were finally ready to resume their duties.

* * *

><p>Sakura sat in the shade of a large tree in the center of team seven's new training ground, eagerly awaiting Naruto's return with breakfast. The girl blew an unruly bang out of her face and wondered when she had become so fond of the knucklehead. They just had a half hour conversation as they waited for their sensei and Sakura found herself enjoying it.<p>

The blonde was a true goofball and it seemed he could bring a smile to her face anytime he wanted. To make things better he didn't even know the definition of the word judgmental, and for the first time in awhile the pinkette didn't feel any pressure to be a different person. Sakura's laughter tinkled through the clearing, if the ten year old Sakura somehow travelled in time and saw her know she'd get slapped… actually the ten year old version of the girl probably wouldn't be able to touch her now.

The kunoichi had finally begun to take her duties seriously and it seemed her life was improving with her skills. Because of Sakura's new commitment she made a friend in Tenten and they were quickly growing closer. They would get together and just do normal things when their teams weren't busy like go get some food, go to the hot springs, or watch an old Princess Gale movie. The girl sighed as she recalled the rumor the next movie that was getting filmed in Yuki no Kuni had gotten cancelled.

Perhaps the biggest surprise this past month was Naruto, though that shouldn't be surprising. They switched roles after their first day of training and Sakura followed the blonde around and pestered him about grocery shopping until he caved and 'introduced' her to Gama-chan, who was pleasantly plump from Naruto's savings, and she was given some money for groceries.

When Sakura brought the first delivery she was surprised at the state of Naruto's apartment, mainly the lack of debris covering the floor. The pinkette was expecting a warzone, but there was no mildew, rodents, cockroaches, odor, or any type of mold, it was just… messy. Clothes were strewn about the apartment, gardening supplies for the plants by the window were left haphazardly in random places, and his kitchen was filled with old Ramen containers and some dirty dishes. She didn't let him know that she was somewhat impressed and proceeded to scold the boy about bringing guests back to a messy apartment because somebody needed to look out for him.

They proceeded to have an impromptu cleaning session and it was actually somewhat fun.

**Flashback**

Sakura looked over at Naruto while he washed the bathroom sink and mirror. They had just finished cleaning the toilet and the pinkette was cleaning his shower while he finished the other surfaces. The blonde pouted while scrubbing the glass and the pinkette stifled a giggle, he looked like a petulant child that just got denied a toy. 'It was actually kinda cute.'

Sakura was oblivious to the thought as an idea popped into her mind. She plugged the drain and filled the tub with some water. Once it had a decent amount of water in it the teen cupped her hands and launched some at Naruto. He turned and started grumbling when he saw her smile before turning back around while grumbling. She pouted that he didn't take the bait and reached for the plug, but an arm snaked around her waist while another grabbed her shoulder and began to lower the girl into the tub face first. Deciding she wouldn't go without a struggle the kunoichi reached back and grabbed the arms wrapped around her and pulled the blonde in too.

After throwing their clothes in the washer, changing into some of Naruto's old clothes, and recleaning the wet bathroom they zoomed through the rest of the house. When they were finishing up and taking care of the blonde's bedroom he hit Sakura with a pillow while she was making the bed. The kunoichi turned her head and saw Naruto's blue eye gleaming with mischief so grabbed the other pillow on the bed and let out a war cry before charging.

After a brutal and underhanded war the two fell back onto Naruto's bed laughing. Sakura turned to smack the boy's face with her pillow but gasped and let it go instead. The light from the sunset was pouring in through the windows and covered Naruto like a blanket. His golden blonde hair seemed to glow, and the sweat glistening on his tan skin was highlighted as his chest rose and fell rapidly. He turned to the kunoichi, his blue eye filled with happiness and content, and Sakura fought the urge to stroke his whiskered cheek as her stomach twisted. It wasn't an uncomfortable feeling though.

A blush covered the girl's face when the blonde's hand reached up to brush some of the hair away that was sticking to her cheek, "Sorry, that was annoying me."

The knot in her stomach tightened even more when something brushed her inner thigh. Sakura looked down to see that Naruto's leg moved in between hers when he shifted. It felt like steam was blowing out of her ears as the kunoichi's brain shut down and she reacted purely on instinct… and slugged Naruto in the face.

**Flashback End**

Sakura finally realized what she liked about Naruto, he made the boring and mundane entertaining. Suddenly the sound of footsteps reached the pinkette's ears and she looked up to see the boy who was occupying her thoughts walking towards her while munching a stick of dango. When Naruto reached the kunoichi he handed her the bag while saying, "Sorry it took so long, but I was waiting at the bakery for a fresh bag of sticky buns."

Sakura's eye shone with unbridled joy as she pulled one out of the bag and bit into the frosted treat, 'He even brought me my favorite breakfast. Yes Naruto is officially my friend.'

While nibbling on her delicious bun the blonde asked, "So what do you think our new teammate will be like?"

Sakura licked the frosting off her fingers while pondering, "Well the next class hasn't graduated meaning it will probably be somebody off the reserves lists, so they'll probably be older."

Naruto tossed the last empty stick of dango over his shoulder, "That sounds right. You're so smart Sakura-chan. But do you think they'll be a loser? I was the dead last and still managed to pass, what does that say about this person?"

The girl let out a sigh, "Don't jump to conclusions Naruto, you're a special case." Sakura missed Naruto's nervous look as she closed her eyes and savored the next bite of her breakfast, "If you worked as hard as you do now in the academy you might've been the rookie of the year. Besides there's a lot of reasons people were in the reserves. Some people lose a team member like us, while others don't pass the test because they don't understand the concept of teamwork and undergo a crash course. For all you know we'll get an older, stronger teammate, with more experience too."

Naruto blushed at Sakura's unintentional compliment as a puff of smoke appeared from nowhere and their sensei stepped out of it saying, "Sorry I'm late but I was on my way here and I saw an old lady whose rabid dog was stuck in the tree. Naturally I had to rescue it, but before I could give it back to its owner I had to discover the cure so she didn't get infected."

Sakura's eyebrow twitched as her and Naruto's voices rose in unison, "**LIAR!**"

Kakashi ignored the false accusation as his lone eye took in the discarded bags and tears began to stream from it, "Oh woe is me, my students are too cruel. They get breakfast for themselves and none for their kind and wise sensei."

Sakura's response was cut off when a soft voice with no inflection spoke up, "Why didn't you mention anything of this dog to me? Also why did you not tell them about the mysterious person that was calling your name and caused you to look all over the marketplace for two hours?"

A pale boy with inky black hair and charcoal eyes stepped out from behind Kakashi. He appeared to be about their age and wore a plain skintight black shirt that only had a sleeve over the right arm, grey standard issue shinobi pants, a small black backpack, and a ninja pouch secured to his right leg. The boy's dull eyes roved over his two teammates with no interest while they stared curiously. Kakashi took note of the awkward silence and pushed the teens together, "Sakura, Naruto, why don't you two introduce yourselves to the new member of Team Seven?"

Before they could the boy bowed formally, "Hello my name is Sai and it is nice to meet you both. I have heard that when somebody is your friend you give them a nickname, if you don't mind I would like to give nicknames to the two of you as a sign of our new friendship."

The teens shared a questioning glance before Naruto shrugged and Sakura replied, "Why not?" Having no idea there was a perfectly good answer to that question.

Sai gave the two a more thorough inspection, "I have also read that you should give nicknames based on physical traits." Sai stepped closer to Naruto and gave him one more lookover, "I think the perfect name for you would be… oh I know, Dickless."

Naruto went from smiling to frowning in under a second. It looked like he was going to pummel Sai so Sakura restrained him, "Don't overreact, I bet it's a joke. Right Sai?"

She turned to the boy only to see he was ignoring her and while staring intently, "And I shall call you… ugly."

Now it was Naruto who was holding Sakura back, although she was slowly dragging the blonde across the ground, even though his heels were anchored in the dirt. However the Jinchuuriki's efforts ended when she turned her glare on him and he let go before running behind their sensei's legs in fear. Sakura stopped in front of the pale boy, who might not get paler after she killed him, and spoke in a sickly sweet voice, "That's nice. Now I have something to give you."

A plastic smile covered Sai's face, but it was quickly wiped off when "**Shannaro"** echoed through the village and Sakura's fist impacted with his cheek. Sai flew into the distance till he was a speck on the horizon and Sakura turned and flashed a victorious peace sign. Later that night many villagers would lay on their rooftops and look for shooting stars because one was visible during the day.


	5. A New C Rank Mission

Kakashi was standing in front of the memorial stone finishing up his morning ritual. It's been an interesting two weeks since Sai was introduced to Naruto and Sakura's fist. The time team seven spent together was both amusing and annoying for the different members of Kakashi's squad. The elite jounin thoroughly enjoyed the nicknames Sai gave to his teammates and the punishment they, mostly Sakura, doled out in return. His favorite blonde and pinkette were quickly getting to the end of their metaphorical ropes with their socially inept teammate, he even heard something about a great place to hide a body the other day. Sai… he didn't really feel much about his time with team seven at all.

The problem was the teamwork between the three. Sai viewed his two teammates as tools to accomplish an objective instead of precious comrades while his two teammates would rather slaughter puppies than work with the frustrating boy. Sai didn't understand emotions and social interaction at all so he didn't know that his two teammates would get mad at his name-calling, he probably read in some ridiculous worthless book, unlike the one in Kakashi's hand, that teasing was something friends do. 'Maybe I should give him Icha Icha… then again maybe not, I'll save that for when I'm really bored.' Sai was constantly criticizing his teammates about every little thing possible. Having bad hair colors for ninjas, Sakura's forehead, Naruto's love of orange, and calling his teammates names constantly.

Kakashi had to restrain the other two from physically hurting him too much, and his arms were sore from the constant activity, 'Sakura drags like an ox.' Sighing Kakashi realized his team was still not ready for a C-rank, and the next chuunin exams were being held in Konoha too. 'It's a great opportunity to take them in front of their families and friends. The way that they're going they'll miss that chance.' Looking at the sun Kakashi realized he was two hours late… meaning he was right on time. Saying goodbye to his fallen comrades Kakashi closes the literary masterpiece that is Icha Icha and tucked it safely away into his back pouch before disappearing in his trademark puff of smoke towards the training grounds.

* * *

><p>Walking towards Ichiraku Ramen was a lone boy in an orange jumpsuit. Normally when going to Ichiraku to eat the food of the gods Naruto would be skipping with a bright smile on his face, but today was different. He had a large scowl on his face frustration visible in his lone eye. His hands were stuffed deep into his pocket, and he walked slowly and deliberately with his back hunched appearing to be deep in thought, which would be surprising to his former classmates. 'Stupid Sai, how can he call Sakura-Chan ugly? She's so beautiful. I can't believe he said that, "You're so hideous that you'll have to date a loser like dickless because no one else could stand a hag like you." He's got a point though, Sakura-chan is so pretty and smart she can have anybody so why would she want the village idiot and outcast rolled into one.' Sighing Naruto tried to raise his spirits. 'That's okay, even if Sakura-chan never returns my feelings she's my precious teammate and friend, and those who abandon their friends are worse than trash. Besides it's not like I need a reason to protect her, I want to no matter what. She acknowledged me and helped pull me out of my loneliness.<p>

She is one of my precious people and Uzumaki Naruto protects his precious people.' The image of his fallen brother's face appeared in his mind while his shoulders slumped even more. I'm still slacking off, I have to get way stronger, I'm not even close to my goal of being Hokage yet. Well from here on out Uzumaki Naruto kicks it into high gear 'ttebayo. I'll meet Bushy Brows every day at five in the morning to work on my taijutsu and increase my weights till I can't stand again. I'll practice all the hand signs and my jutsu till I can do it in my sleep. I'll improve my chakra control even more too. Now I'll spar on top of water while balancing leaves all over my body. I'm gonna train so hard that no one will be able to stop me 'ttebayo, oh shit I almost sounded like super bushy brows there, I wonder, are the eyebrows are a side effect of the youthfulness disease?'

* * *

><p>Team seven sat in a circle catching their breath. Kakashi had to go to a Jounin meeting and dismissed them for lunch. Usually their sensei would take them out or provide the lunch while gleefully whacking his students over their head with "Mr. Twig". Needless to say they were at a loss what to do without him.<p>

"I want sushi it's been too long since I had sushi."

"That's gross who wants to eat raw fish, it's all about Ichiraku Ramen, datteboyo."

"I really have no preference at all."

"God Naruto, whenever we go get lunch you always want to go to Ichiraku, if you don't want sushi lets go to the BBQ or a place that doesn't serve just ramen."

"But Sakura-Chan I want Ramen, you can have barbeque ramen."

"Really Naruto what do you not get? I just don't want Ramen, we went three times last week, regular people like to have something call it variety in their diet."

"Why don't we just go to separate places and meet up back here?"  
>"I don't care what you do Sai but I haven't seen Naruto all week so I want to go get lunch together."<p>

"Will they even let you into a restaurant? You're so ugly you'd probably scare customers away and make the people inside lose their appetite."

"Uh Sakura-chan calm down a little, don't be hasty if you kill him we could go to jail."

"**SHANNARO!**"

"Hahhhh never mind"

"Hmm hey Naruto what's that behind your foot?"

Looking down Naruto saw a book with a worn green cover and yellowed pages lying by his feet. It had a picture of a boy with silver hair and black eyes on one side, and on the other cover is a picture of what looks like a younger Sai. Opening the book up Naruto looked shocked, "Wow this is pretty good."

Sidling up to Naruto Sakura looked at the book from under the gap in his arm, "Yeah that's really good. I didn't know Sai was this skilled at drawing, I just figured he could sketch those ink animals that he uses. Hey check it out, it looks like this boy is fighting a bunch of monsters like it's some kind of adventure."

Naruto squinted his eyes and nodded his head, "Yeah that makes sense." Flipping through the pages Naruto noticed it changed around the middle of the book. "Hey look at this now it looks like Sai is fighting monsters, what's going on."

Sakura looked as she snagged the book and flipped through the pages. "No you're supposed to read Sai's part from this end, see if you go from the middle he loses weapons but when you go from the back cover of the book he gets the enemy's weapons like the other boy. So it looks like they would meet in the middle, I wonder if they have to fight."

Naruto peered over Sakura's shoulder their cheeks almost touching, "I don't know, that seems kind of dark."

A voice interrupted Naruto's musing, "May I have my book back?"

Looking up Sakura saw Sai standing in front of them. Laughing embarrassedly Sakura handed over the book, "Sure here you go, but what are you going to draw in the middle if you don't mind me asking?"

Sai flipped open the book and looked at the two blank pages in the middle, "I forgot. The book was originally supposed to be a gift for my nii-san, but he died before I could give it to him."

Naruto got a sad look on his face, "I'm sorry you must've felt terrible."

Sai raised an eyebrow at Naruto, "What do you mean I didn't feel anything." Ignoring their scandalous looks he continued, "I have no emotions."

The pale shinobi received two questioning stares until Sakura spoke up, "No emotions… what do you mean?"

"It's quite simple, what do you not understand? I feel no emotions. No happiness, sadness, fear, anger, or anything else."

Naruto looked shocked at what Sai was saying, "Everyone has emotions Sai we're humans."

Putting the book back in his backpack Sai stood up. "We don't have much time left for lunch, I will go get you Ramen and Sushi and return to the training field."

Watching him walk away Sakura turned to Naruto with a confused expression on her face and he simply replied, "Yeah I know."

* * *

><p>It's been one long month since Sai's inclusion into team seven and Sakura was stretching after a long day of training. 'I'm surprised at how much better we've gotten this last month. Kaka-sensei actually has to put his book away and use some ninja tools to avoid capture during team exercises now.' Sakura changed a great deal in the past month. Instead of her normal red and white dress she now wears a fitted crimson dress that stops in the middle of her thighs with long wide sleeves that extend over her hands hiding them from view. Along the edges of the dress there was a pink stripe about an inch thick and then splitting the dress in the middle on the back and front were another two stripes that split in two as they reached her chest going down the length of her sleeves stopping when it met the horizontal stripe at the end of the sleeve.<p>

Hidden under her baggy sleeves were two prepared launchers each holding five small senbon needles coated in poison. Around her waist was a pink belt with a crimson bag with small sections holding various types of poison gas pellets. Next to the Crimson pouch was a black pouch containing a standard medical field kit. On her legs she had several multi-colored senbon holsters, all representing various types of poisons, strapped over black bandages, and Sakura opted to change her red headband out for a black one. The only thing still left from her old outfit was a pair of black spandex shorts that she wore under her new dress. Looking at her teammates as they were sparring she watched their deadly dance. Sai remained mostly unchanged except he now had a tip-less tanto strapped horizontally across the small of his back. He was busy drawing some type of ink animal to launch at her other teammate who changed a whole lot over the past two weeks.

After the combined assault of Sakura's constant nagging and Sai's ridicule Naruto adopted an outfit with considerably less orange. He now wore a white t-shirt with an orange Uzumaki swirl on the front. Over that he had a loose midnight blue jacket covered in pockets with another orange Uzumaki swirl on the back. He had black pants that stopped just above his ankle with a thin orange stripe going down the sides. On his right leg he had white tape with a blue kunai holster strapped to the outside of his thigh and a similar setup holding shuriken on his left. He also wore an orange belt with a pouch filled with smoke bombs, tear gas, a plethora of explosive notes, and pepper bombs to throw off trackers.

They all acquired new skills that meshed well together and practiced several new team formations and maneuvers for different situations. They were quickly turning into, "Cute little killing machines" as Kaka-sensei put it. 'We may not get along off-duty but when we get into a fight we handle ourselves pretty well. Naruto takes the frontline while Sai gives him direct support and I hang back giving a second level of support to both of them with my poisons and genjutsu. We're getting to be a well oiled machine and that means another C-rank is coming.' Sakura sat nervously recalling the last C-rank mission that ended in tragedy. 'That was a freak accident, no way anything like that will happen this time.'

Trying to put the thoughts of Nami no Kuni from her mind Sakura focused in on her other teammate that came back from the tragic mission. Aside from training and missions with team seven Sakura never saw her blonde teammate anymore. 'Now he's so good with a henge that Kakashi can't detect it so he goes to the stores in his orioke no jutsu form fully clothed.' Truthfully Sakura missed it. She would come over and cook for him and he would eat it with a smile even if Sakura couldn't stomach it, 'I can make poisons extremely well and I follow the recipe exactly, why doesn't it come out good.' Lack of cooking skills aside Naruto trains before the team even meets up to start their day, and then he keeps training well after even Kakashi-sensei leaves giving them no chance to get together outside of official duties and training. 'Hanging out with Tenten is fun but it's not the same for some reason.' Sakura definitely has a blast hanging out with Tenten when her schedule allows it, but neither girl really has any extra money to be throwing away, so they usually just train or hang out at Tenten's apartment.

She really does enjoy her time with Tenten but when she was hanging out with Naruto she could forget that she was a kunoichi trying to advance her place in the world and have fun like a normal teenage girl. Sighing as she watched Naruto's clone cut down one of Sai's ink animals while another squad of clones cornered him in preparation for the real Naruto to hit him with a Futon: Daitoppa ending the spar. Naruto was working himself to the bone and it definitely showed. She lost count of how many times he increased his weights since he got them, and he was also always sending clones off to do weird variations of chakra control exercises, like doing cartwheels up trees while trying to stick as many leaves to himself as he could or sparring on the water against his clones once again sticking as many leaves to his bare skin as he could. 'And he doesn't look so malnourished anymore. At least he's still eating healthy. His body's looking much more muscular and much less skeletal.' Inner Sakura chose that moment to try to break through the mental barriers surrounding her, "Damn Straight! He's got some steely abs Cha!" Sakura didn't hear her inner self's attempts to reopen communication and noticed Kakashi waving them in. Finishing up her last stretch Sakura dusted herself off before jogging over to her sensei.

"Alright team before we dismiss for the day we're going to head in and see if we can get a C-rank mission for tomorrow."

Tensing at that Sakura turned and saw Sai's neutral expression, and Naruto looked… excited? 'That Idiot, how can he not be nervous, doesn't he remember the last mission?' Inner Sakura once again tried to voice her opinion, "He's to stupid to get nervous, whatever is in his path is just an obstacle on the way to Hokage." Sakura figured that if Naruto had someone to teach him early on and he applied himself he would've competed with Sasuke for the rookie of the year in the academy, 'but then we wouldn't have been teammates.' shaking that thought away because who really knows?Sakura smiled at her teammate's bravado and feeling slightly bolstered by it as she walked side by side with her two teammates with Kakashi trailing slightly behind as the new team seven went to the Missions Office to get their first C-rank since coming together, ready for anything coming their way.

* * *

><p>Kakashi gazed proudly at his student's backs as they walked to get their mission for tomorrow, the sight of his team coming together almost brought a tear to his eye, 'they grow up so fast.' Naruto absorbed everything he was taught like a sponge. It may have taken a little time to explain something to him, but when finally got it down he understood it inside and out and then generally takes the concept to an entirely new level. His mother's taijutsu style was perfect for him and Naruto took to it like a true Uzumaki getting the basics and learning the ideology of the style incredibly fast. He also learned two more jutsu, one of which is an attack jutsu, and was adapting to his new eye extremely well, 'He'll probably surpass me, Naruto has the chakra to use the eye far longer than I do.' He now had several misdirection genjutsu and had a pretty good handle on hypnotizing people in battle. His blonde genin could easily identify elemental chakra and was starting to make out the flow of chakra, but he can't copy jutsu just yet.<p>

Sakura is advancing wonderfully and is well above the level a rookie genin should be in non-chakra related techniques and medical knowledge. The pinkette has become quite good with poisons and senbon, had a few genjutsu for hiding and misdirection, while her chakra reserves have increased to around the size of an average genin. It was almost time to get her a tutor in medical ninjutsu, maybe he should try to repair some old bridges for the sake of his student. 'Even if she doesn't want to see me I can probably convince her to take Sakura as a student part-time after she meets her. '

Kakashi couldn't help Sai with his ink jutsu, however it was one of the more interesting and useful techniques he'd seen in his years as a ninja. What he could create was limited by his imagination and he could do amazing things with his ink constructs given enough time to draw and the right strategy. Kakashi was teaching Sai how to use the tip-less tanto that he wore around now, but besides that he didn't have much to teach him as of now. 'Maybe when he wants to branch into elemental jutsu.' Despite the limited teaching he fulfills his role on the field quite well and is talented at adjusting his strategies on the fly if needed, all of this was expected from a student of Danzo along with his emotionless demeanor.

He has been following Sai closely since his inclusion on team seven since Danzo personally trained the pale boy while he was in the reserves and clearly had his claws set deep in the youth. Kakashi followed his new student in the shadows trying to see what the old war hawk wanted to gain by putting a possible agent on a team with Konoha's resident Jinchuuriki. He had witnessed and eavesdropped on several personal meetings between Sai and Danzo as well as had his nin-dogs report the contents of some they witnessed, but on the surface the meetings were all on the level. Training schedule, what missions he has done, is he adapting to the new team well, is their teamwork acceptable, is he learning enough from the famous copy nin etc. It all seemed menial and boring but when a person who "used" to run a clandestine organization that operated outside of the Hokage's jurisdiction menial conversation could be code for anything. All Kakashi could do was follow his third student around closely looking for anything incriminating Danzo to bring to the Sandaime.

Watching his student's backs as they walked towards their first C-ranked since the last ended in tragedy Kakashi was debating calling it off because of an ominous feeling in his stomach. He really wanted to continue to shelter his students and keep on training them, but real world experience was the best trainer. 'I can't hide them from danger any longer, I just have to have faith in them… and in myself that I can protect them when I need to and trained them well for when I can't.'

Lifting his gaze from the book Kakashi saw the Mission Building and walked past his students leading them in. Walking through an empty waiting room Kakashi opened the door to the missions office and saw the old Kage was taking a break from paperwork and handing out missions with a girl only a couple of years older than his team with frizzy blonde hair in a ponytail that was sticking up everywhere. She was wearing a white lab coat and strange glasses with what appeared to be spirals on them. "Team seven reporting for a mission Hokage-sama."

The Hokage straightened in the chair, "It appears you're too late Kakashi as all of the D-ranks have been taken for today."

Kakashi nonchalantly flipped a page in his book and responded, "That's fine, team seven is requesting a C-rank mission scheduled to start tomorrow Hokage-sama."

Giving them a once over with his gaze lingering on Naruto the Hokage asked, "Kakashi you are sure that they can handle a C-rank mission."

Eye-smiling Kakashi gave his answer, "I have faith in my team Hokage-sama, I'm sure we can take anything you can throw at us."

Giving team seven a smile the venerable old man turned to his assistant, "Shiho please check tomorrow's scheduled C-ranks for a suitable mission to assign Team Kakashi."

"Right away Hokage-sama." Standing the now named Shiho moved to carry out her orders and stumbled over the table leg while standing up to accomplish her leader's orders. Blushing in embarrassment she pushed her glasses up her face. The strange teen scurrying to a seemingly random file cabinet she opened the second drawer from the top. Shuffling through the contents she emerged with a scroll labeled with a large C. Giving it to the Hokage he undid the string and opened it up scanning the contents. "Team Kakashi your mission is to escort the leader of Takigakure (Village Hidden in the Waterfall) from Konoha back to his home village." Retying the scroll the Sandaime gave it to Shiho who delivered it to Kakashi. "You leave tomorrow after the farewell ceremony for your client in the council. Be at the gates at eleven o'clock sharp. Dismissed."

Upon hearing the dismissal Kakashi finished scanning the scroll and put it away before turning sharply and leading his students out of the room. When they made it out of the building Kakashi called for a halt and addressed his pupils, "You heard him team, tomorrow we escort the new leader of the Takigakure, Shibuki, back to his hidden village. Pack for a four day trip and meet at the gates by eleven. Team seven dismissed."

* * *

><p>Sai watched as the copy-ninja disappeared in a puff of smoke after dismissing them. His new team finally got a C-rank mission after a month of training and D-Ranks, 'I must contact Danzo-sama for my orders.' Making his way down the street he lives on Sai looks at the apartment building where he resides on orders of his master. It was plain with simple white walls, it had a small living room with a black couch and chair next to an ordinary maple table. The Kitchen was also the same sterile white with maple cabinets. The bathroom consisted of a shower, toilet, sink, and mirror all incredibly simple and the bedroom just had a futon with a bedside table and closet, the only thing that wasn't plain was the assortment of Sai's paintings hanging mounted walls. Opening the door to his room he unpacked his smaller everyday backpack and laid the contents on his bed. After adding more clothes, ninja supplies, and rations to the pile Sai packed his gear into a larger backpack made for missions. Going into his closet he pulled out his green tent and strapped it to the backpack before placing his pack on the door by the floor. Sitting down at his table he pulled out a drawing that he was working on.<p>

Losing himself in his art when he finally looked up he noticed that the sun was much lower in the sky. Knowing that it was time to make contact Sai walked over to his fridge. He opened the door and his hand moved towards the red carton of milk inside. Reaching behind it he grabbed a small, prepared scroll and moved it into his sleeve as he pulled the carton out of the fridge. After pouring himself a glass and drinking it Sai went to the only room in his house with no windows, the bathroom. Opening the scroll he revealed a splotch of ink that took up nearly the entire scroll. Making a hand sign he placed his palm on the scroll and the ink started moving. It slowly snaked its way off the paper and formed into a mouse standing at attention next to the scroll. Giving the ink animal a nod Sai turned around as the ink construct ran off towards a crack in the wall and disappeared. Sai flushed the toilet and turned on his sink and washed his hands. After cleaning the ink off himself Sai left the bathroom and once again ventured out of his house to go get dinner. The stars were out and moon poking out above the horizon when Sai returned home. When he walked in the door Sai noticed the empty scroll that he left open behind his large pack had writing on it. Pretending that something fell out he rolled up the scroll and sealed it before packing it in his bag and zipped it up securely. Feeling no satisfaction for completing his assigned task Sai turned his lights out and went to bed ready to carry out anything that his master ordered, but that was a tool's job after all.

* * *

><p>Outlying the suburbs on the west side of Konoha sat a modest two story gray house with white shutters. It had an average sized lawn with Japanese snow bushes alternating with barberry bushes forming a perimeter around the yard. Inside the barrier there was a small koi pond along a gravel path that led to a small deck and an ornate front door. Looking closely at the gravel path there was a small black blob running up it. The small splotch then jumped up the steps to the porch and squeezed under the front door entering the house. Once inside the mouse scurried up the oak trimming to the second floor where it once again squished itself under a door. The room it entered was lined with shelves filled with scrolls and books on many different subjects. There were no windows in the room, it was lit by candles and mirrors placed at strategic spots to spread light around the library. There was a large wooden desk in the center of the room with several books scattered on the top and a man writing a haiku onto an empty scroll with a walking cane perched on his chair. He had a wrinkled face with dark gray hair that poked out above white bandages that wrapped around his forehead and right eye while his other eye was a cold charcoal. He wore a black hakama that only covered his right arm and came up above his shoulder covering the right side of his neck up to his jaw. On the left side of his torso you could see he was wearing a white kimono underneath the black hakama.<p>

Looking up at the scurrying noise he watched as the mouse climbs up his desk and comes to a stop in his work area sitting as if waiting for some food. Rolling up the scroll he was working on the old man put it away and he pulled out an empty ink jar, a clean brush, and a new scroll. The bandaged elder watched as the mouse walked over to the empty inkwell as its form lost its coherence. Once the ink construct got close enough to the inkwell it jumped in losing its form completely turning back into ink. The elder dipped his brush into the well and began to write on the empty scroll before him. Once he finished he cleaned off the ink brush, capped the well for future use and made a hand sign. Channeling his chakra into the scroll before him the writing began to run into itself and the river of ink once again turned into a mouse though this one significantly smaller.

Scurrying down the desk and back from whence it came the one eyed man once again marveled at the usefulness of his tool's jutsu, 'he was a good investment of time.' Leaning back slightly in his chair the elder began the waiting game seeing how his plan would be carried out. Everything was working out so far. He made sure to tell his pawn to actively hamper squad seven's teamwork for two weeks before using another two to form a cohesive unit. It worked flawlessly as the young fool leading the weak and pathetic hidden village Takigakure finally made his scheduled visited and was ready to go back home. Danzo timed it perfectly as team seven was ready for a C-rank just as the whelp was returning to his pathetic hidden village. And because Danzo knew that Team Kakashi always got their missions after training was completed for the following day so they got the first pick of missions. Danzo then had his tool working in the missions office slip the mission into the appropriate spot so team seven would be assigned the mission to guard Shibuki. The possibility for combat on it was low making it the perfect mission to send a team fresh off medical leave on to get them back into the swing of things. 'Yes you old monkey you played right into my hands. I'll make sure that Konoha is safe from any threat even the dangerous Uchiha Madara with or without your approval.' All the pieces were on the table and now Danzo could only wait to see how they played off each other.

* * *

><p>Kakuzu launched a Fuuton: Shinku Renpa (Wind Release: Serial Waves) and watched as they sliced through his accomplice and their quarry killing them both. Fuki was a capable partner using high level fire jutsu with ease. She was then able to control the smoke generated from her jutsu to block her opponents vision or disorient them before making a quick kill while they were distracted. Once Kakuzu saw her suffocate a man with nothing but smoke after she finished playing with him. The ancient ninja always told her, "If you get in my way I'll kill you myself", and he did just that. Fuki was blocking the line of sight of Yamada Akihiro, Iwa's Steel Gate, making him vulnerable to an attack from Kakuzu's position. He could've aimed under his partner but the hit wouldn't have been fatal and the man would've just used his jutsu to grow a working steel leg. Iwa's Steel Gate was definitely a formidable opponent, able to us the deadly Kaneton (metal release) quite effectively and snuffed out all of Fuki's katon jutsu before trapping her in a cocoon of solid metal.<p>

He was about to drive the metal spike that used to be his hand through her face, but he was stupid enough to assume that Kakuzu wouldn't get involved because Fuki wanted to "Cut Loose" and handle him herself. 'I cut her loose alright heh dumb bitch. Seriously how can high level shinobi be so stupid? Loosing sight of a threat while battling is a genin mistake at my level of combat. Looks like Fuki just turned into another payday for the Akatsuki as well, Pein is going to bitch me out though since that's the third one I killed.' Opening his black cloak covered in red clouds he held his hand in front of his stomach and it appeared to open as tentacle like things burst through holding a glass gourd shaped like an hourglass with a stopper on top. Looking at gourd he shook it around noticing there was only just enough left. Holding it up to his lips he tilted his head back until he drained the contents before throwing it over his shoulder. Kakuzu then faced the two bodies and spoke to no one in particular, "I have to find the nearest bounty station to get my money, and then I'll be taking a trip back home for the first time in almost a hundred years." Bending down Kakuzu grabbed Fuki and Akihiro's hair and began dragging them to the nearest bounty station leaving a bloody trail.

* * *

><p>The sun was almost at its zenith as it shone down over Konoha. Five figures stood in front of the guard booth waiting for their passes. Upon receiving them from the guards a tall man with silver gravity-defying hair handed the passes back out to the others. There was a pink haired girl, a blonde boy with whisker marks, a pale skinned black haired boy, and a man who appeared to be in his late teens or early twenties. He had brown hair that fell past his shoulders and a blue headband adorned with the symbol of Taki holding up his bangs. The young adult wore a blue-green shirt with a high collar and black stripe running up the middle. He had a steel shoulder pad on his left and a brown belt that ran diagonally across his front and back while going under the shoulder pad. He wore silver pants with a kunai holster on his left leg and brown fingerless gloves protected his hands. The silver haired man appeared to address his companions and as soon as he finished they disappeared in blurs venturing out of Konoha.<p>

* * *

><p>Here is chapter five people and team seven gets ready to venture to Taki. It won't be much like canon where Suien tries to steal the hero water. Kakuzu gets involved and what does Danzo plan to do in Taki? Thanks for all the support I've received but if you want me to improve my writing style I'll need reviews to tell me how it's done. I've decided that if you give me a good review that helps me improve the writing quality of the story (I don't need ideas for it got plenty of those) then I will answer any one question about the story.<p>

-Operaman Bye Bye

* * *

><p>Jutsu used<p>

Fuuton: Daitoppa C-rank-is a Ninjutsu technique which utilizes the Wind Element. After bringing his hand to his mouth the user will blow a large blast of wind capable of leveling almost anything in its way if enough chakra used.

Fuuton Shinku Renpa S-Rank-User creates blades of wind that are capable of cutting through almost anything. Danzo used this in combination with Baku summon to expose Susanoo's ribcage

Kaneton- Metal release, not a bloodline, user molds lightning chakra in one hand and earth in another creating a new element. User's can create metal constructs or coat their body in metal creating weapons or a solid defense


	6. More than they bargained for

It's been two hours since team seven and Shibuki left behind the giant gates of Konoha. Travelling at high speeds they were making great progress as they hopped through the trees towards Taki no Kuni. As they propelled themselves through the branches of the canopy the colors merged together passing them in green and brown blurs. Panting a little bit as fatigue set in from the fast pace Shibuki looked at the genin members of team seven and was surprised and a little impressed to see the pace hadn't visibly affected them. When he first saw the legendary copy-nin Hatake Kakashi himself appear in a puff of smoke he was feeling quite confident that any trouble that came their way would be swiftly and lethally dealt with. Then, after the living legend confirmed everyone was in formation as they travelled through the trees he pulled out Icha Icha Paradise and hasn't lifted his head up since.

It wasn't very comforting that the jounin in charge of protecting him was more interested in porn than remaining vigilant, but it was slightly impressive that while jumping through the treetops he hadn't been touched by even a stray twig. Hearing a loud roar echo through the forest Shibuki froze and missed the branch he was aiming for, luckily he managed to grab a different branch in his descent otherwise he would've surely hurt himself, 'I would've been easy pickings in an ambush if i fell while moving this speed, I have to be more careful.'

It worried Shibuki slightly though that his front line of defense happened to consist of three genin, even if they were trained by a legendary ninja… who really didn't live up to the hype in person. 'What if we're ambushed by bandits and that pervert gets impaled by an arrow because he was looking at erotica, or a rogue ninja wants to capture me and ransom me back to Takigakure? Hopefully they attack the Konoha-nin first and I can make my escape in the chaos, that should work.' Looking at the three greenhorn ninja he was less than impressed. 'The girl is really skinny, and what kind of ninja has pink hair, has she ever heard of hair dye? That blonde genin might have some serious issues, copying a copycat. That just cuts his vision in half for no reason, and if he's bad enough to lose the eye on genin level mission he's a hopeless ninja. Then there's that strange pale kid that obsesses over his teammate's penis and calls the girl on his team ugly. She may have a larger than average forehead and probably is a worthless kunoichi, but she's still kind of cute, not some hideous raging beast. I'm definitely sleeping with my back against the side of my tent tonight, that kid gives me the creeps.'

Shibuki was broken out of his thoughts when the blonde haired kid landed on a rotten branch that snapped and he kept going face first into the trunk of a rather large tree, "OW! Son of a BITCH that fucking hurt."

'Great the blonde kid just alerted everyone in a five mile radius of our presence.' Sighing Shibuki watched as the girl rushed over and made sure he didn't break his nose or hurt himself to badly. The pale homosexual soon followed the pinkette over and broke in with another one of his comments. "At least you don't need to worry about his penis being damaged when you heal him because it's so small, right troll?" Shibuki felt a killer intent so thick he almost voided his bowels. 'Oh man I gotta get out of here now, that's bad news. Whoever is emitting that is on a whole 'nother level.' Looking at the copy-nin he saw him lazily flip a page in his pornographic novel and take a large step to the left. The reason soon became apparent as Shibuki heard a sudden, "**SHANNARO**" and the pale kid turned into a rainbow rocket and flew through the copy-nin's former position as the killing intent suddenly vanished. Feeling like he just dodged a date with the Shinigami himself Shibuki could only think for fear of reawakening the demon, 'that Pink haired girl is really, maybe that pale haired kid is right about her being some type of monster.'

* * *

><p>Sai rubbed his sore jaw as Kakashi stopped the group, "Okay team that's enough for one day, it's going to be dark in about an hour and you guys don't have a lot of experience camping, so we'll stop here for the night." Kakashi then turned to Shibuki, "We are about an hour away from Takigakure so you are more than welcome to continue by yourself to your village, in fact I'm sure it's possible to make it while there is still daylight if you hurry." Getting a fearful shake of the head from the cowardly leader Kakashi began to address his team once more, "Sai I want you to set up yours Sakura's and Naruto's tents, Sakura-chan if you could please get some firewood for the night, and Naruto I would like for you to catch some dinner." Sai nodded along with the other two genin and as they went about their tasks Kakashi pulled out his worn orange book.<p>

Sai finished setting up the tents quickly and Sakura returned shortly after, her arms filled with enough wood to start a fire and maintain it through the night. After they got a passable grade on the fire from Kakashi Sai commented to his teammate, "It's a good thing that you didn't go catch the food."

Her face adopting a questioning look and Sakura asked, "Why's that?" Her voice then changed taking an angry tone as she continued, "Is it because I'm a girl so automatically I can't be good at hunting?"

Putting on a fake smile Sai responded, "No that's not it, you are so ugly that the animals would spot you a mile away and run away in terror thinking you were an ogre."

Kakashi grabbed onto Sakura's shoulders as she began to walk forward dragging her sensei's heels leaving two small ruts in the ground. "Sai maybe you should make yourself scarce before I let go, I don't want to injure my reading arm so I can't hold up Icha Icha after all."

Listening to his sensei Sai walked into his tent and opened his backpack before pulling out some scrolls to draw sentries to help him for his inevitable watch tonight. As he opened his tent and made his way over to the fire Sai saw Shibuki still struggling to set up his own tent, maybe if he wasn't casting frightened glances into the woods constantly he would be doing a better job. 'Danzo-sama is right, Taki is a pathetic hidden village, but I wonder what he wants from them, what could that village possibly posses if a cowardly moron like this leads them? Such thoughts are frivolous anyway, a tool does not question its orders, its only purpose is to accomplish them efficiently.' Sai then shifted his attention back to his drawing waiting for his dickless teammate to return.

It was about half an hour later and the sky was turning purple and pink as the sun was quickly sinking below the treeline when Naruto burst from the dense woods with a clone trailing behind him. They were carrying two rabbits and several small pheasants skinned, plucked, and butchered ready to be roasted. Sai put the scrolls away in his tent and rejoined his teammates and client by the fire. After Kakashi finished seasoning the meat with some herbs Naruto found he put the meat on sticks and positioned them above the flames. As Sai watched the meat cook over the fire and noticed his squad members were acting different than they normally do. Kakashi wasn't reading porn and his loud teammates were unusually quiet. They had strange looks on their faces, looks that Sai has never seen before in his life, and the air felt somehow… different or off in some strange way around the three. "Why are you two morons so quiet, usually you try to alert everyone around us of our presence in the area?"

All three looked down at the ground with different expressions, Naruto looked guilty, Sakura regretful, and Kakashi appeared ashamed before he spoke up, "It was because Sasuke was the best cook and usually ended up preparing the meals for us whenever we did survival exercises."

Shibuki interjected from the side, "Wait you had another student?"

Sakura looked up at the night sky as she answered, "Yes, we had a mission go wrong and he died because he didn't receive medical treatment in time."

Kakashi picked up where Sakura left off when she looked back to the ground and Shibuki looked as if he wanted an explanation. "It was our first C-rank mission. We encountered rogue shinobi of Kirigakure and former member of the seven swordsmen Momochi Zabuza and his apprentice while guarding a bridge builder named Tazuna. They were ordered to assassinate the old bridge builder by a man called Gato, who ruled Nami no Kuni with an iron fist. He wanted to kill Tazuna because the man's bridge was a threat to his power over the island nation. Instead of pulling back we continued on the mission even though the client intentionally mislabeled it a C-rank due to the nation's lack of funds, and it was during our second encounter that Zabuza's apprentice wounded Sasuke while he defended Naruto. Sasuke then died a couple of days after the battle from complications relating to the injuries he received. Sai then joined team seven when we returned and this is our first C-rank as a unit, no need to worry though there are no threats that are targeting you specifically Shibuki so the chance of combat is incredibly low, and if we run into any trouble on the way my team operates at a higher level than expected, I'm sure they can handle it."

The pale youth watched as Naruto and Sakura smiled at Kakashi as he turned the sticks around putting the raw side of the meat directly over the fire. Sai sat there trying to digest the information while the food cooked. 'I don't understand, why are they acting this way? He died doing his duty and Konoha became stronger after the mission, isn't that the purpose of shinobi.' Sai decided to voice his questions to his teammates, "I am confused, perhaps you could explain it to me, but why are you acting this way because of Sasuke's death? He died in the service of Konoha and increased its power internationally as a result of the mission. Nami no Kuni is now a large trading partner and client of Hi no Kuni and Konoha since the mission was completed."

Raising his eyebrow in surprise at his student's knowledge and callous statement Kakashi was about to respond when Naruto suddenly grabbed Sai's collar with his left hand and raised his right in a fist prepared to strike the emotionless boy, only for Kakashi to grab his wrist before he could begin the punch. As the silver haired man pulled Naruto away from Sai he began to talk in a low angry tone his lone blue eye frosty with rage, "I won't let you say that about Sasuke and dishonor his sacrifice like that. Sasuke and I were brothers in all but blood. We were best friends and he got injured protecting me because of the bond that we shared. Sasuke took the hit meant to put me down and got hurt because he wanted to protect our bond, not because it was for the sake of the mission. When we first met and became team seven Kaka-sensei said, 'Those who break the rules are trash, but those who abandon their comrades are worse than trash.' Here on team seven we look out for our teammates, maybe you should understand what that means before you say you are a member of our squad."

Sai sat down more confused than before trying to comprehend what he just heard as Kakashi spoke up, "Although he said it a little harshly, Naruto is right. We look out for each other on team seven and now that you are a member of it we all have to watch each other's backs. Even if you accomplish the mission it is still a failure if a comrade dies during the process, that was one of the lessons taught to me by my sensei, the Yondaime Hokage."

Sai just felt even more perplexed after that, "How can a mission be a failure if you completed the objective? Is this what having bonds is all about, are they sad because of the bond they lost when Sasuke died trying to protect it?' Sai accepted his food robotically and ate while deep in thought. The campfire was strangely silent after the intense discussion, and it wasn't broken until Kakashi spoke up after everybody finished eating, "Alright team we'll assign guard duty like this. Naruto will take first shift, Sakura second, Sai third, and I'll go last. It is roughly nine o'clock now and I would like to leave at dawn, which is at around seven. That gives us ten hours to split between us so we will all have two and a half hour long shifts. I suggest you get to bed because we will have another long day of travel tomorrow." Standing after his Sensei finished Sai went to his tent to sleep and wait for his shift.

It was dark when Sai heard his tent getting zipped open and a voice broke the stillness of the night, "Sai it's your shift get up."

Pulling off his covers Sai grabbed his two prepared scrolls and responded, "got it" before exiting the tent. Sakura was disappearing into her tent as he sat by the fire and opened the scrolls he drew earlier. Placing them on the ground he made a hand sign and pressed a palm on each scroll then dozens of mice and several owls formed from the scroll and scattered around the woods near the clearing as Sai sat looking at the fire. When four mice returned and verified that his teammates and Shibuki were all asleep Sai reached into his pack before pulling out the scroll with the instructions given to him by Danzo. Making sure the seal wasn't broken Sai sliced through the chord and wax seal before rolling it open.

_Sai here are your orders to be carried out on this mission. Send an ink clone to look for the Jinchuuriki of the seven tails in Taki's possession. I have received information that it lives outside of the village in exile sworn to protect the village from all threats. Tell her that she does not need to live like that any longer and Konoha offers her asylum. She will be able to live as she likes until I need her for the occasional mission. Tell her to go to the coordinates listed at the bottom of the scroll if she is interested. She will have two weeks after you deliver the message to respond. Also I have hired an outside agent to procure the hero water from the hidden village. You shouldn't even see the actual village itself so this shouldn't affect your mission in any way, but if for some reason you have to get involved do whatever it takes to maintain your cover but do not hamper the operation if you can avoid it. Here are the terms of the bargain and how I wish you to go about delivering it to the Jinchuuriki._

Sai read the rest of the scroll and making sure he memorized the bottom section word for word before he threw the scroll into the fire and pulled out a blank one along with his ink. Dipping his brush in he began to paint what appeared to be a drawing of himself. Animating the chakra infused ink an exact copy of Sai appeared in front of him before splitting into the forms of various animals that silently slinked into the surrounding forest. His task completed Sai waited for the end of his shift before waking his captain and returning to sleep.

* * *

><p>If someone happened to stumble into this clearing, a highly unlikely event, then they would've happened upon a picturesque view. There was a large boulder in the middle of a wide stream that wound its way through the dense forest. The stars were easily visible in the wide clearing and it appeared as if the moon was shining onto the large boulder just to illuminate the figure lounging on the top of it. She was very stunning with her dark tan skin, exotic mint green hair, and striking solid orange irises. She was slightly shorter than an average woman and wore a short cream-colored strapless top that stopped just below her breasts showing the fishnet that she wore underneath. The top had no sleeves, instead there were two long cream colored arm warmers that exposed her upper arm and shoulder with a black headband adorned with the symbol of Taki above the right sleeve. She wore a mini skirt the same color as the rest of her outfit with fishnet showing through a slit on her right leg. She had a small chest and shapely legs with a large red cloth container on her back supported by two straps criss crossing over her shoulders and under her arms. She appeared to be seventeen at the oldest, though she couldn't tell you her real age seeing as she stopped keeping track of time long ago. The mysterious beauty sat peacefully on the rock with her head tilted back admiring the heavens.<p>

Fuu knew that there was something strange going on. She recognized Shibuki's chakra with four other unrecognizable ones, though one felt strangely familiar to her even though she was sure she has never seen that blonde genin before. That wasn't what was strange though, there was a chakra source eerily similar to the black haired boy's except it felt weaker and was spread all over the forest and one of these signatures was stationary within five hundred feet of Fuu's clearing. She sat patiently as the many chakra signatures came together around the one closest to the clearing. Fuu waited knowing that whatever it was couldn't kill her, and after about ten minutes a young dark haired boy stepped into the clearing and Fuu knew she was dealing with a clone by the signature. Fuu sat back keeping a wary eye on the clone waiting for it to do whatever it came here for. After ignoring the clone for five minutes it became apparent that he was waiting for her to begin so she obliged him hoping to make him leave faster. "Fuu wishes to know why you have sought her out. She likes looking at the stars alone and doesn't want your company."

Not reacting to her weird style of talking the clone began speaking as she looked back towards the sky, "I am a tool for my master and I am here on his orders. He knows that you were made to live out here by the people of Taki alone and are called a monster by those very same people, and yet you are expected to protect them with your life. My master wishes to make you an offer that you might prefer over your current situation."

Not bothering to look back down the exotic girl responded after an awkward silence, "Fuu does not like people and doubts she would care to meet your master or hear his offer."

Once again showing no frustration by her seeming lack of interest the ink construct continued, "He offers you a new start and purpose at life. You are expected to save these pathetic people from any and all threats and here you are isolated from the village you protect and the citizens of the village, the village that you put your life on the line for and get no rewards pretends you don't exist, like a dirty little secret. If you come to the coordinates on the scroll I have then you will be able to live inside the village and no one shall know you are a Jinchuuriki. The only thing you must do in return is be the village's hidden protector. My master watches over Konoha from the shadows like a true ninja and he offers you the opportunity live a normal life of your own choosing. You may choose any profession you shall have a job and live any lifestyle that you want with the money we shall provide you. The only time you will be asked to leave that life is when he needs you for a mission. We can cover for your absences and no one will suspect a thing." Taking out a scroll the ink clone placed it on the ground. "That is my master's offer to you accept it or not here are the coordinates for you to take. You have three weeks before those coordinates become worthless so make your decision before then."

Glancing at Sai out of her strange orange eyes Fuu spoke up, "Fuu will consider your offer, but she tires of your presence." As she finished speaking a large horned beetle around six feet in length and four feet tall exploded from the shadows of the forest and split the clone in half leaving a puddle of ink in middle of the the clearing. "It is an interesting offer but what should Fuu do?" As she spoke out six other monstrous figures emerged from the undergrowth and Fuu jumped on the largest. It was about eight feet long and had two monstrous club-like arms that could easily crush a fully grown man protruding from the front of its preying mantis like torso.

The torso was about three feet long and attached to a rear end that was about three feet across at its widest point and about a foot and a half thick. The rear of its body is shaped like a teardrop and about six feet long with an eight-foot long whip-like tail protruding off the end of the creature's body. It was a faded dark green color and the creature opened its jaws revealing a large cavern-like mouth, easily wide enough to swallow a man, with a pulsating throat that surely led to a painful and gruesome death. Surrounded by equally terrifying and large insects Fuu spoke out, "Fuu thinks we should return to our nest and think this over." With that simple sentence the tan beauty disappeared with the seven beasts.

* * *

><p>Sitting in the center of a group of eleven other shinobi was a tall, fearsome looking man. He wore a dark yellow bandana over his brown hair making it frame his head much like a lion's mane. He had a sharp angular face with almond like eyes at a sharp angle with small beady black irises giving him a menacing appearance. He wore a plain black long sleeve shirt with a zipper going up the front with matching black pants and ninja sandals as well as a kunai holster strapped to his right leg. Once he was sure everyone had their attention on him he began. "We have twelve people and will divide up into three groups of four to complete our mission. The first team shall be Team Hisame."<p>

At this an attractive Kunoichi with brown shoulder length brown hair with a white headband holding up the front of it stepped forward. She was wearing a light pink tank top with a mint green zip up shirt with long wide sleeves and large white collar. The shirt was barely zipped up showing her ample breasts and the shirt is short enough to show off her toned stomach. She was also wearing tight blue jeans with a Kunai holster strapped to her right thigh. Addressing the Kunoichi Suien said, "Hisame you and your squad members shall move with my team through the main entrance of the village before we split off and your team goes to retrieve the hero water."

The brunette kunoichi bowed on one knee to the speaker and said, "I shall not let you down Suien-sama."

Giving the woman a nod Suien turned back to the crowd. "The second team shall be Team Kirisame." At this a man about 5'7" stepped forward. He wore a black facemask similar to Kakashi and a matching bandana that covered his hair except for two long tufts of brown hair sticking out of the bandana on either side of the metal plate on the bandana with an Ame Symbol. He was wearing a black spandex shirt underneath a light purple tee shirt and a purple tank top over the shirt with a scarf wrapped around his neck the same purple as his tank top. He had a black belt tied around his waist with purple pants and sandals that also match his tank top. "Kirisame right before we swim through you will sneak in through the secret entrance with your team and create a diversion in the village proper. It is important that you don't over extend yourself for the first ten minutes until support arrives. Oh by the way you can kill as many people as you want, especially civilians. Fight in populated areas so the ninja have to protect the civilians and defend against you at the same time splitting their focus. That should make them hold back when they attack and allow less of them to pursue you."

The mask on Kirisame's face shifted upward and his lips became visible as he smiled widely, "This mission sounds like fun already."

Ignoring his bloodthirsty subordinate Suien turned back to the crowd. Murusame you're with me as the vice captain to Team Suien, your skills will work very well for our task. At this a man with silver hair spiked like Naruto wearing a black headband also sporting the symbol of Ame. Sticking out under his headband were two large shocks of hair that looked like overgrown sideburns as they framed his slender face and prominent round chin. He wore a black spandex muscle shirt and yellow sleeves similar to Zabuza's with silver pants. "We shall come in the main entrance with Team Hisame and split off after we emerge. After we enter and split up our team shall go and support Team Kirisame from the shadows, silently killing ninja as they react to the attack. Once Team Hisame has the water they shall launch a prepared explosive to the cavern and it shall collapse some of the mountain as we make our escape. The rest of you know which team you are assigned, and hour after dawn is when Team Kirisame launched the attack. Any questions?"

One of the other eight ninja in the standard uniform of Hanzo's personal guard that consists of steel grey pants, black sandals, and a silver blue shirt with re-breathers and black bandana that covered their hair asked, "How much do we get paid for this?"

Suien scoffed at the expendable morons, "Tch you were just some rogue ninja we picked up when you begged us for some work. Personally I think my regular team could get this done without you eight more efficiently, but you just add the manpower that allows me to give a grand hello to my old village so shut up and do as your told and if you don't die I might pay you, if I don't then be thankful I fed you this last week."

One of the nin angrily responded, "Hey you can't treat us like that, we were part of Hanzo-sama's personal guard. We wouldn't be working with rogue trash like you if that lunatic rebel leader didn't kill him and then start to massacre anyone associated with our the dead salamander, if anything we should kill you after you show us the way into the village and sell the hero water ourselves."

As they said that Hisame, Kirisame, and Murusame surrounded the eight ninja in a triangular formation before forming matching strings of hand signs and intoning Suiton: Suiben (Water Release: Water Whip) at the same time. After the eight ninja were bound by the liquid whips the three channeled lightning chakra into the whips shocking the eight bound men into submission. Suien walked up to the downed group of ninja and spoke to them in a cold tone promising no mercy, "Consider this your only warning, if I even think you eight are betraying me you will die slowly and painfully. Hanzo was a paranoid old fool and you were probably only his personal guard because you were so weak and he didn't need to worry about you betraying him. No ninja worth anything would talk about killing their allies in front of said allies. The only reason that you are still alive is because much like Salamander Hanzo I don't think of you as a threat." With that he walked away from the downed men as his subordinates released the water whips. The eight ninja lay there panting and moaning in pain well into the night as the other four retired to their tents with kunai hidden under their pillows.

* * *

><p>Kakashi flipped another page in Icha Icha Paradise as the first rays of light turned the morning sky a brilliant orange. The sun was not yet over the horizon, but Kakashi wanted to get out of the area before the flaming disk was fully visible above the tree line. Sometime during the nightshift Kakashi got the feeling that they were being watched, and if there was one thing he learned about being a ninja since he started his career at six years old it was to always trust your gut, even if your brain tells you not to. He gave no outward sign that the feeling was festering in his stomach as he continued to read his Icha Icha, but his other four senses and chakra-sensing abilities were being pushed to the limit trying to find the intruder.<p>

Kakashi continued to search through the night and never found any trace of any person in the area that could be watching them which only worried him more. 'I know that we are being observed, this feeling is too familiar in my stomach for us not to be. The only thing out there though is some wild animals and none of them are in position to be observing us. It's quite a feat to be able to hide from me if I really wanted to find you, I'm actually slightly impressed. There are jutsu that allow a person to observe from a distance like the Sandaime's crystal ball, but those are incredibly difficult to create and only work in a specific area so that's doubtful. Why do I have a feeling today is going to be a long day?'

Standing up from his position by the fire Kakashi moved to rouse his companions without looking up from his porn. Whatever was observing them Kakashi wanted to flush it out by getting on the move. Pulling out a large cowbell from a scroll he began to ring it and shouting to his sleeping students, "Okay my cute little minions and what's his face, time to wake up." He kept ringing the bell while taxing his six senses to the maximum. 'Damn I still can't find anything, I was hoping doing something like that would at least make him shift a little.' Watching as three tents unzipped and his male traveling companions emerged. Sai walked out looking the same as always like he didn't just wake up and the same neutral expression on his face.

Shibuki came out next with his hair sticking out everywhere framing his face making him look like a frilled neck lizard. He was already wearing his clothes and stumbled towards the river with a towel and toothbrush. Naruto emerged next wearing black sweatpants and a white wife beater. He was still wearing the ridiculous walrus nightcap Kakashi gave him years ago imbued with seals to protect him from the nightmares he used to experience as a child. Smiling as his student rubbed the sleep from his one visible eye and put a kettle on the fire, 'I didn't expect him to be one of those I need tea people in the morning.' He emerged from his tent a couple minutes later holding a ramen packet and Kakashi sighed, 'At least Naruto isn't that unpredictable, only he would eat ramen to start his day.'

His blonde student finished breakfast, changed, and took care of his other morning rituals before his cute little assassin emerged from her tent all dressed, but she did not appear ready for the day at all. Her hair was quickly smoothed down leaving areas sticking up and her eyelids were drooping as if she was fighting to stay awake. While walking on her way out to the river with a pack Sakura managed to stop and mumble out, "Naruto tea… in my pack in tent." Finishing her request she continued on her way to the river.

Naruto nervously made his way towards Sakura's tent and hesitantly stepped inside the opening. Kakashi continued reading until he heard Naruto's voice muttering so low he doubted Shibuki and Sai heard anything, "Oh man Sakura-chan's panties... holy crap its just a little string and they're so soft." 'Heh good one Naruto, come to the dark side.' His blonde student emerged shortly thereafter with a packet filled with tea leaves, Sakura's kettle, and his nose dripping red. Wiping his nose he sent a clone with his kettle to the river to wash it out as he filled Sakura's up with their water supply in camp, provided by Kakashi last night, and put it on the fire.

As they sat in silence Naruto suddenly shot back with a massive nosebleed and landed on the ground with a huge perverted smile on his face. Sakura soon stormed out of the woods holding his student's kettle on the warpath. Her eyes promised pain as she grabbed Naruto and shook him awake. When he came to and saw the position he was in a terrified look formed on his face. Sakura gave him one of her sweetest smiles and cooed, "Naruto, you're kage bunshins transfer all their memories to you upon completion right." The blonde was absolutely quivering in fear. He obviously couldn't find his voice as he gave a tentative nod to the angel of death before him. Upon seeing his affirmation Sakura hit him up in the air with his kettle before tossing it aside and winding up a punch while loading her fist with chakra. As Naruto was about to hit the ground she delivered a devastating uppercut to his stomach that launched him even higher into the air. Kakashi watched his student's flight path and commented, "That was a very creative one Sakura, I'm impressed by your ingenuity."

As he finished his sentence his blonde student impacted the earth leaving a large crater. As the dust settled Sakura walked up to Naruto and picked up his barely conscious form and growled out, "If you ever speak of what you saw i will remove your balls and make you a necklace out of them." When she finished talking she threw the whiskered youth out of the crater and next to the fire. Naruto managed a pained gasp and was just able to get out a, "Worth it," before he collapsed into unconsciousness. Wondering what Naruto's clone saw that demanded such punishment he ordered Sai to pack the tents as he steered clear of Sakura.

Once Naruto returned to consciousness five minutes later they were ready to move out just before the sun became completely visible over the horizon. They took to the trees as Kakashi stretched his senses once again trying to find their mysterious observer as they moved. Once it became clear that he wouldn't be finding anything Kakashi addressed his students and Shibuki. "We are about an hour away from the drop off point but I would like to make a little better time so let's pick up the pace. Once we drop the client off we shall return to Konoha and on the way back I shall shadow you and occasionally attack you as we travel back to Konoha. After each attack we will rest while we discuss the previous engagement before changing the parameters of the next attack.

We shall do one more night of camping except this time it will just be you three camping and I will attack at random intervals using different methods so let's hurry up so we can get to the fun." Inwardly laughing at the looks on his student's faces, well Naruto's and Sakura's at least, Kakashi hoped the observer got the message that they aren't a threat and Shibuki will be on his own at some point soon. He really didn't like to set up the cowardly leader like that, but if this person could avoid Kakashi's heightened senses then it didn't bear well for his wards in battle, and better Shibuki than his pupils.

Kakashi knew that they were approaching the hidden entrance of Takigakure seeing as he snuck in himself once on an ANBU mission a long time ago. The feeling in his stomach abated around ten minutes ago and he went even more on edge as his thoughts began racing, 'We're approaching the drop off point and it's almost the moment of truth. Are they after Shibuki or one of us? I hope this doesn't turn out like Nami.' Putting his book in his back pouch Kakashi prepared to draw a weapon at a moments notice when the scent of iron reached his nose, 'smells like blood, we'd better go check it out.' "Guys hold up, I smell blood coming from our left somewhere, we're going to approach it, but stay out of sight and quiet until I tell you what to do, now let's move out." Getting three confident nods he looked at Shibuki. The man looked ready to bolt the opposite direction and nearly jumped out of his pants when he heard a bird squawk. "Shibuki stick close, you're not back at your village yet so it's still our duty to protect you." The cowardly ninja gave a fearful nod and they set out.

Eventually they got to a river and saw the source of the blood. There were two genin, a boy and girl around twelve years of age floating down the river with their throat's slit open as the water turned red around their bodies and swirled with the current. 'This was done recently. The bodies are leaving a trail of blood so that means the wounds are still bleeding.' Clamping a hand over Naruto's mouth before he could explode he looked at the rest of the team thinking of how to proceed. Shibuki and Sakura looked on the verge of tears at the gruesome sight while Sai looked like he wasn't looking at murdered kids. Pushing aside his own disgust at killing children so cold-heartedly Kakashi began, "Naruto this was done recently so the perpetrators are probably still in the area which leads me to believe that your village is under attack Shibuki. Naruto listen, I am disgusted by the fact that they killed children like this too, I really am, but if you yell or run off half-cocked in anger it won't do anyone any good and possibly get us all killed."

After mollifying the hot-tempered blonde, Kakashi removed the hand from his student's mouth and continued, "Shibuki with your permission we would like to assist you in protecting the civilians of your village. If this is okay we will proceed cautiously into the village and properly ascertain the situation before moving in." Turning to Naruto and Sakura he continued, "And this won't be like the bridge I promise, and a man needs to keep his promises right Naruto. You two have grown significantly since that mission and you three are more than capable of handling yourselves, but when we are inside of the village you shall follow my orders without question and with haste and you three shall always stick together when we go in, remember there is strength in teamwork." Turning to the shell-shocked leader of Taki Kakashi said, "Lead on Shibuki." Getting a small nod they followed Taki's Head Ninja toward his village hoping for the best.

* * *

><p>Kakuzu finished climbing the mountain that housed Takigakure and stood above a fissure in the rock that was covered in slime, moss, and overgrown with vines. "How nostalgic, standing in front of the crevice that I used to escape my home all those years ago, I wonder how Taki has changed since I left? Perhaps I should leave my former village with a present after I collect the hero water. I better take my Akatsuki Cloak off though, don't want to get yelled at for drawing attention to our organization." Removing his kasa and cloak he revealed that he had a white scarf wrapped over his head and a rolled up black bandana with a triangular fold coming out the top with no head plate on his forehead. He had strange eyes with a red sclera, green iris, and no pupil and they looked vile as he envisioned his return to the place he hated most, his home. He wore a black shirt that extended down to mid thigh with a white belt, midnight blue almost black pants, and white leg warmers with black sandals. He looked down at the crevice leading into the village before speaking to himself once again, "It's too bad that there aren't any noteworthy shinobi inside, I wouldn't mind making some money on this little venture."<p>

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><p>Here's chapter six people I hoped you like it. I was originally going to have a flashback of Kakuzu's in this chapter but I think that it will be a better fit in the next chapter. The two genin that team seven originally meets in canon have been killed this time around and team seven ventures into Taki. What will Fuu do? And how will Kakuzu fit into all this. Also Fuu has seven different companions, the one I described is called a vinegaroon (look up a picture it may be the grossest bug I've ever seen, technically it's more related to a scorpion or spider, but it's so disgusting I had to use it. Also I hope you like Fuu, I want to do something with her that I've never seen done. Even though the drawings in the manga showed that Fuu looks kind of manly I've tried to portray her almost like a princess of the forest and invoke a little imagery of the Disney Princesses like snow white and the <span>seven<span> dwarves or sleeping beauty, the only question is who will be her prince charming and how will she be saved? As for whatever happened at the river if enough people ask I may do an omake of the scene.

-Operaman Bye Bye


	7. Another A Rank Mission, Team 7 in Taki

Somewhere in the woods of Taki where the tallest trees grew and the canopy was at its thickest there was a large redwood towering proudly above the rest of the forest. There was a large room hollowed out of its mammoth trunk that didn't look like more than a notch to the ancient behemoth. It was just a wide open area with seven large piles of leaves, pine needles, and grass that appeared to be beds. Several windows were carved out allowing sunlight in during the day or the user to look out at night, and there appeared to be a fireplace carved out of the wall crackling with small flames that illuminated the whole room. Hanging off the far wall there was a square perch about seven feet by seven feet that jutted out of a corner where a giant yellow jacket about five feet long with a large stinger and giant wings rested while on the piles lay six large bugs and a striking tan girl.

There was a solid black horned beetle with a four foot long horn that destroyed Sai's clone, a preying mantis the size of a pony, a circular ironclad beetle about four feet in diameter with black and white splotches over it's abnormally thick armor, then there was an ox beetle the size of well… an ox. Over it's face a large round horn jutted out of its grey shell a person could sit comfortably on, an intimidating pincer beetle sat next to it with jaws that looked like they could slice through a person with ease, but the most menacing of the creatures was the eight foot long vinegaroon that lay at the base of the girl's pile while getting the back of its head scratched like a dog.

The mint haired woman appeared to be voicing her thoughts to the bugs as she scratched the monstrous creature. "Fuu has been up debating this all night and she still doesn't know what to do and now she is tired as well." The Jinchuuriki felt the twelve chakra presences approaching Taki probably bent on causing problems and Fuu found herself not caring after the talk with the clone last night. The things it said really made her feel bitter towards her birthplace and she figured they could handle the threat themselves. "What should Fuu do? It would be nice to live in a village, but could Fuu even live with other people? She has been living in the woods by herself with just bugs for company longer than Fuu can remember. Sometimes Shibuki visits us but I think that is because he had to, he stopped coming since he came to tell Fuu his dad died."

Pausing as the pincer beetle clicked his teeth she continued when it stopped, "Don't say that Munch Munch, I'm sure that they would let you guys in, they have a clan of bug users after all, remember Fuu fought and killed one. His bugs decided to listen Fuu instead of him and drained all his chakra."

Once again pausing but this time it was for the ox beetle as it clicked its smaller pincers. "Haha yeah that was funny lumpy, Fuu is unhappy those sunglasses broke though, they were awesome and she really wanted to wear them. Fuu wonders if we went to the village if we could live with the bug clan or maybe get a job in a butterfly garden, Fuu thinks butterflies are pretty."

The horned beetle scuffed the ground and banged its horn on the wall softly. "Yeah horny you're right that kid was strange even to Fuu, his smile was different than Shibuki's. His master is probably lying like everybody else does. If the offer was real why didn't the one in the jounin vest make it, would working for his master be any better than living alone where at least Fuu has no master, Fuu guesses she will always be alone. She's been left by herself since they ran out of things to teach her when she turned fourteen all those years ago." The room went silent as Fuu voiced that thought and the vinegaroon went back to its pile before flopping onto its side.

Fuu was dozing off when suddenly she felt a pull in her mind and followed it to see what her scout bug was looking at, her eyes turned completely orange and she looked like she was in a trance. She was looking at a man on top of the hill that houses Taki. He was wearing a black cloak with red clouds and a kasa over his head, while his chakra felt strangely familiar. When Fuu snapped out of it she hopped off the pile and rushed out the small entrance of her sanctuary with her companions closely following. "That man's chakra was dark and powerful. It was leaking out of him just as he stood there, plus he looks really scary from what my bugs saw, I think he could kill everyone in the village without even trying. Fuu may not like her home but protecting it is her only purpose in life right now." With that sentence Fuu and the monstrous insects rushed through the forest towards Takigakure.

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><p>Kakuzu looked down at the crevice as he remembered the events that caused him to leave the village that he loved with an intense hatred festering inside of him.<p>

**Flashback**

A young Kakuzu walked to the chamber of the elders to receive, "A mission of great importance to the welfare of our fledgling village." As he entered the chamber he saw the three men and one woman sitting behind podiums on a raised dais. These people were the former head elders of the nomadic clans of Taki no Kuni, now the council that rules Taki side by side with the chief ninja, privy to all the forbidden knowledge and techniques that are in Taki. Individually they are quite skilled in the manipulation of fire, water, wind, and lightning and were once the strongest ninja in the country. After taking a knee and bowing his head Kakuzu spoke to the four elders of Takigakure. "Noble elders, I Kakuzu am here to receive the mission that you have for me and am honored to serve Taki in any way that I can."

The woman spoke for the council as she addressed the kneeling ninja, "Kakuzu as one of our top jounin you were present when the Shodaime Hokage delivered the Nanabi no Kabutomushi to us three weeks ago and saw his admirable abilities with Mokuton correct?" After receiving a nod she continued in a sarcastic tone, "Our wise leader in his infinite wisdom decided to give his good friend a tour of the village and he saw the tree that produces the hero water, the secret power of Takigakure. Senju Hashirama could possibly recreate that phenomena one day with his abilities or worse yet, if the alliance ever shifts he may be able to kill the tree that makes the hero water. As you are well aware Taki was formed after one of the Daimyo's explorers stumbled into this hollowed out hill and drank the trees water and felt invigorated before dying shortly after. After his researchers discovered the potential of the hero water he found a way to increase Taki no Kuni's power internationally. Taki though filled with forests, fertile land, and water is hard to live in. The wildlife grows here at a rapid pace and most of the land is so overgrown and dense it is almost impossible to make livable and settle, so the population is sparse and the people nomadic giving the Daimyo a small treasury and army, which has hampered the country's growth."

The elderly kunoichi paused as her eyes glossed over for a second, but she quickly shook away the old memories and continued, "The Daimyo tried to make other cities besides the capitol, but there were never enough people or tax money to build them and the clearings became quickly overgrown. The plan for Takigakure was to make a small village well hidden and tightly guarded with a trump card if anything should happen. There are several disguised mail outposts in the country where some anonymous men in the Daimyo's court have the mission's request discreetly mailed to those outposts from the capital city where they are sent. Waterfall ninja would visit the outposts regularly to bring the missions back to the village where we shall complete them. As the mission number increased and the budget increased the Daimyo would invest in clear cutting large land and gathering resources before building up small cities and slowly increasing the population which will only benefit our village as well. The future of this nation is dependent on the security we get by possessing the hero water, and the Senju is a real threat that could stop our rise to power if the alliance ever falls apart, and I'm sure you know all the old clan sayings about alliances."

Kakuzu listened to the history lecture as the importance of this mission dawned on him and he felt a surge of pride and patriotism well up in his chest. "I am honored that you would choose me for such an important task, I will perform whatever you ask of me to the best of my ability."

The wrinkled old lady gave the promising shinobi a smile before speaking again. "Kakuzu you are a young ninja with untapped potential which makes you perfect for this dangerous mission, you must assassinate the Shodaime Hokage."

Kakuzu was floored, he was supposed to assassinate the strongest ninja in the world right now, "Elders I thank you for your compliment to my skills but…"

The wrinkled woman raised her hand stopping him, "Kakuzu we wouldn't be sending you against a machine like Hashirama without some sort of trump card, it would be suicide and you are a valued ninja of the village. You will be using this, the most forbidden technique of my clan and now this village, Jiongu (Earth Grudge Fear)." As she said that last word she pulled out a glass jar containing a writhing mass of black tentacles. "It is forbidden because it is a barbaric ritual that requires the death of five strong men and causes the user to die, but in times of need it was necessary to preserve our clan."

Kakuzu fought down his disgust at the strange creature and paid attention carefully. He heard stories of the berzerkers that emerged from the elder's clan occasionally, and like everybody else he was curious about their origin, "Originally the user only lived a week at most after the procedure because of the strain on the chakra network. This forced us to extract the Jiongu from its host before it died and the technique became lost to us. After pooling our knowledge and experimenting we have discovered that by taking small doses of the hero water it strengthens your chakra so the strain generated from the Jiongu is nullified. In theory you could live forever if you keep taking miniscule doses of the hero water a few times a year. The benefit is that the only way to kill the user is by destroying all the hearts, if the fight appears lost you can enter enter a false state of death for several days before the Jiongu will reactivate your hearts. It is truly a dangerous technique granting the user immense power, but it is fatal to all but the strongest, which is why we need you Kakuzu. With this you could get your head cut off and as long as the Jiongu could reattach it before your hearts were destroyed or within five days you would live, this is the trump card you need to beat the Senju."

Standing and facing the elders for the first time Kakuzu held out his hand, "I shall do everything in my power to complete this mission."

The woman gave him a smile and walked forward before opening the jar and allowing the strange ball of tentacles to fall into his hand before using a dropper to give him a small dose of hero water, "We know Kakuzu that is why we chose you. Now place this above your heart and when you awake you shall be stronger than any ninja in Takigakure, but remember, no link can be made to our village."

Kakuzu felt his chakra increase after drinking those few drops as he placed the strange thing over his heart before crying out in agony as it burrowed into his flesh to devour and take the place of his original heart creating a new organ that serves as a nest for the strange parasite to spread and reproduce. He could not stand the pain past the first couple of seconds and he passed out during the gruesome procedure

Kakuzu awoke in a bed outside the village in a small hut. Rubbing the sleep from his eyes he felt his new power rushing through his chakra network, and he felt like he could throw an elephant with ease. Kakuzu suddenly felt a strange a dull rhythmic thrumming inside of his head. The Taki shinobi looked around trying to find the source of the noise, but it was hard to explain. He wasn't hearing anything, it was like there was just some type of ticking in his head and he was getting a strange urge. Following the feeling the thrumming got louder until he entered the second room in the hut. There were five ninja from a prisoner camp tied to chairs and Kakuzu instinctively knew that they each had a different affinity. He couldn't explain how he knew, it was just a feeling when he looked at the five bound ninja. He saw the terror reflected in their eyes and looked to see his appearence in the mirror on the wall as he stared at it in shock.

There appeared to be some sort of seams as black threads were bursting forth from his skin and swinging around wildly like they had a mind of their own. His neck and head were no longer attached to his torso instead stretched out, only attached by those same monstrous threads. His arms were separated at the elbow and shoulder as tentacles burst from his mouth. Kakuzu became aware that his head was swaying side to side much like a cobra and the tentacles were squirming in what felt like anticipation. Having no idea what prompted him to do what he did Kakuzu walked closer to the ninja as they tried to get free of their bonds. The thrumming in his head reached a sudden crescendo and tentacles exploded out of a seam in his torso before piercing the five ninjas through the chest and pulling their hearts back into his body. Kakuzu suddenly felt even stronger than when he woke up and felt the knowledge of all the techniques the shinobi used flood his brain as five masks formed in his torso. "Senju Hashirama, you shall be the perfect test of my power before I crush you."

Kakuzu did battle with the legendary Hokage not long after and he was utterly humiliated. He learned much though, like just using high level jutsu and raw power wasn't enough to win a fight at high levels, but he was confident with a little training in the other forms of elemental manipulation besides earth he could defeat the Hokage's Mokuton. After using his last heart, the earth natured one, he was able to escape through the ground before the killing blow was landed. After a long two-week journey back to Taki he was met with an unpleasant surprise. It was around midnight and he was less than ten miles away from the village when he heard that strange thrumming in his head again and the four elders stepped out of the trees. Taking an immediate knee Kakuzu apologized, "I am sorry elders I have failed, I was rash in my actions but I have learned much about his Mokuton and my own capabilities, I will kill him next time we battle."

The woman stayed silent as a skinny man on her left came forward and addressed the nin, "No you shall not Kakuzu, the Jiongu is not enough to overcome the Senju and we will harvest it from your body after our new more powerful weapon kills you, behold the jinchuuriki." As he finished a small child came out from behind a tree. It appeared to be a boy around ten years of age with mint green hair and eyes that had orange rings around the iris. He was tan and seemed a little small for a ten-year-old boy.

Kakuzu braced himself, 'Power of the human sacrifice, what does that mean?' jumping back he prepared to run as he only had one heart when he remembered that the hero water was necessary to his survival, and when he finished that thought a sickly green and black chakra engulfed the child taking the shape of a large beetle with a horn, three tails and four wings he did not run for he was a monster now too. The thing roared and the elders stepped back as it charged. Kakuzu jumped and dodged repeatedly as the beast fired large beams of chakra at his retreating form. He saw it prepare to launch itself at him and jumped to the left as it shot past in a streak of black and green and hit a large redwood causing it to fall. Using the earth affinity his heart provided he called out Doton: Arijigoku no Jutsu (Earth Style: Ant lion technique) as the ground around the beast began to shift and swirl trying to drag the creature into the depths of the earth. Just as the technique ended the topsoil exploded upwards as the Jinchuuriki burst out with four wings flapping wildly as it flew towards Kakuzu while firing chakra lasers. Raising a decoy earth wall Kakuzu used the Doton: Moguragakure no jutsu (Hiding like a mole technique) to escape the blasts. He emerged on the other side of the elders without them knowing, and though they may not have sensed him the monster did and and launched a large chakra ball at them. Not expecting it the elders were injured trying to dodge the blast as Kakuzu avoided it completely and trapped them in seperate earth coffin's before burying them to prevent the old crones from dying in the crossfire.

Facing the creature Kakuzu noticed that it seemed to be in pain and struggling to keep going, 'of course, the kid's body can't handle the strain, I just have to last a little longer before he collapses and I can get away.' Confident in his new game plan Kakuzu started to dance around the beast launching random boulders with his earth affinity trying to make the creature mad. It may have worked a little too well as it began firing off blasts larger than before almost disintegrating the Taki ninja several times. After failing to hit him the aura of chakra intensified around turning the grass around it brown as it launched itself at Kakuzu even faster than before trying to pummel him mindlessly. He dodged to the left and substituted himself with a chunk or rock that was destroyed by a tail piercing it. Kakuzu then rushed towards it dodging a barrage of thin chakra beams until he was pierced by a tail from underground. He crumbled into rocks revealing it was an earth clone as a voice called out Doton: Doryuso (Rising Stone Spears) as large spikes of earth rose up from the ground trying to skewer the Jinchuuriki however they all broke instead of piercing it. That was not the purpose of the attack, the beast was held immobile as Kakuzu called out Doton: Ganban Kyu (Bedrock Coffin) as several large rectangular plates of earth rose from the ground circling around the beast before all speeding towards it creating a large impact as dust rose above the trees.

Several chakra blasts broke through the dust as Kakuzu leapt from the tree and ran towards the creature throwing several kunai with explosive tags trailing behind. They bounced off the chakra cloak before exploding knocking the beast backwards as Kakuzu rushed forward trying to run from the clearing. The Jinchuuriki followed and quickly overtook the bounty hunter wrapping him in its tails. As it began to squeeze the life out of the ninja a voice called out Doton: Dosekiryu (Earth and Stone dragon) As an avalanche of stone and dirt with the head of a dragon rushed towards the mindless animal engulfing it in a shower of earth. It fired a large chakra ball and jumped out of the hole. Once it landed it began stumbling around shrieking in pain before collapsing on the hard earth. Breathing a sigh of relief as the chakra receded leaving the green haired boy laying in the grass.

His skin looked like it was peeled off in places and his clothes were shredded in various places. 'Weird, why would a boy wear pink underwear, I swear kids these days.' Looking at the smoking body Kakuzu saw a seal glowing on the boy's chest and spoke to himself, "Did they really seal the creature into this boy? That seems cruel, making a kid into a weapon." The older shinobi looked down at the cursed chld, "You may hate me for this, but I cannot kill you, that may release the beast." After making sure the beast would not reawaken, Kakuzu raised the four elders out of the earth, and that ticking noise started in his head once more, "It is very convenient that all four of you have an affinity that I need, I'm sure your old hearts will survive long enough for me to find some young spry ones to replace them." Allowing the earth coffins to crumble he walked up to the unconscious elders that lay crumpled on the ground, "Thank you for the organs, I hope the village can survive without the hero water because I'm taking it." And with that former Taki nin made his last trip home before fleeing from the country.

**Flashback End**

Kakuzu stared down at the crevice where he entered and exited Taki on that fateful night. "No use in getting nostalgic now, I've got something to do and I better do it quickly, after all time is money." And with that Kakuzu jumped into the fissure and back into his old village.

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><p>Naruto clenched his fists in rage as team seven followed Shibuki through the treetops. They emerged into a clearing with one of the largest waterfalls that Naruto had ever laid eye on. The water was sparkling as it fell from the cliff and a multitude of flowers dotted both sides of the riverbank in various colors. The beauty was lost on the blonde genin as he tried to crush his anger at witnessing two kids his age that were so callously murdered. 'I'll never kill kids, I promise that on my nindo. I have to calm down though, if I get a hot head I'll probably make a mistake like what happened on the bridge. I need to clamp down my anger and think my plans through. Breathe Naruto, deep breaths, goosefraba.' The blonde genin finished his self-soothing as Shibuki broke the silence. Here it is, the entrance to the Takigakure is right behind the waterfall, we will have to swim through a tunnel to get there."<p>

His sensei turned to address Shibuki, "Entering like that into the village is an unnecessary risk, are there any other ways that are less dangerous into the village."

"There are, but I'm not showing you guys."

Naruto took a deep breath as he tried not to snap, "We're going out of our way to help your people and this is how you repay us. I'm still going in, but if we die I'm kicking your ass down to hell in the afterlife." His piece said, Naruto followed the chief of Taki into the stream and began swimming through the tunnel. When they finally broke the surface of the water and hopped out of the well Naruto was overwhelmed. The city was aflame everywhere as buildings looked like they were hit with explosions. The air smelled of smoke and blood and the occasional scream could be heard echoing from the village.

Kakashi emerged last and took in the situation for a few seconds before he gave his orders. "Alright team we will move in the shadows through the city and try to assess the situation, so stay close and quiet."

Naruto followed his sensei as he said, "Right Kaka-sensei let's get our asses in the situation."

Wondering why his teammates all sighed Naruto scratched his head as they followed the silver haired jounin. When they got closer Shibuki suddenly blurted out, "I can't do this, uh I mean we're just sneaking around and my people are getting hurt, so I'm going to go see if I can help anyone over there." Finishing his sentence Shibuki ran off at full speed towards an untouched area in the village, leaving a trail of dust behind him.

Once again scratching his head in confusion Naruto asked, "Why is he going that way if most of the damage looks like it's in the other direction? And also wouldn't it be easier to see wounded people if he was going slower?" He was only answered by two sighs as his teammates turned away from the retreating figure of Shibuki and continued on the path as he asked, "C'mon why do you guys keep sighing, was it something I said, guys… oh c'mon don't ignore me."

After Naruto quieted down team seven continued to creep through the shadows when they came upon four ninja causing havoc launching jutsu and kunai wrapped in exploding tags into the village at random. Ninja were frantically moving everywhere trying to evacuate the wounded and civilians while launching weak attacks trying to stop the enemies without causing too much damage to the buildings and people. They weren't having much success as one of the attacking nins laughed psychotically as he hit a ninja carrying a wounded kunoichi and civilian with a raiton jutsu frying all three.

Naruto had to use every shred of self-control and willpower not to jump into the middle of it and trying to save everybody, instead he just muttered, "Damn" under his breath and looked at his sensei.

The masked man wasn't even looking at the battle instead he appeared to be scanning the surrounding area. He did that for about twenty more seconds before he nodded his head once and looked at Naruto, "Okay Naruto I want maneuver five prepared and we attack those ninja with formation bravo."

Listening to his orders Naruto made a cross sign with his fingers and muttered, "Kage Bunshin no jutsu" as sixteen clones formed four immediately jumped away leaving twelve bunshin surrounding the squad. The original team seven moved into ambush positions as the twelve Naruto clones formed hand signs and yelled out "Fuuton: Goukuuhou (great air cannon) and a barrage of twelve medium sized balls of wind launched at the four ninja. They all dodged the air bullets but they proved to be a distraction as three clones surrounded each of them and the original team seven made their move. Kakashi emerged from the ground before impaling one with a kunai through his re-breather piercing his throat, and it appeared like Sai… 'did he really just make a man drown from ink by shoving a snake down his throat, remind me not to make him mad… wait can he even get mad?'

Naruto broke out of his thoughts as he jumped from his hiding place and when he was over the ninja launched another Goukuuhou as his clones restrained the ninja, as it hit him the wind bullet crushed his skull like a grape killing him instantly. The one wearing the mask similar to Kakashi's dispelled his clones quickly with some weird whip and was rushing at Sakura ready to strike with the water whip only for her to pull back a sleeve and launch some senbon needles into the man as he dropped like a sack of lead. Naruto shuttered at the sight, the poison coating the needles in her launcher wasn't pretty as they were a last line of defense. Feeling guilty that his clones failed and Sakura was forced to use one of her last resorts he almost missed the sizzling kunai as it landed by his feet. Naruto jumped out of the blast radius landing back to back with his team as multiple explosions went off and they were surrounded by four different ninja.

One with a yellow bandana and crazy hair spoke, "That was an impressive ambush, I was surprised that you managed to kill my team that fast, but that is the way of the ninja is it not, deception and surprise."

Naruto wasn't really worried, these guys were on a similar level as the others and none of them could hold a candle to Kakashi. About to enter into the awesome banter that ninjas get into before battles for some weird reason he was stopped as four more ninja flashed around them. "Suien-sama, I could not find the objective and while we were checking another location I saw this and though we could help you deal with this nuisance, the city is in shambles and the ninja mostly subdued, I think many were out on missions." 'Alright maybe now I'm a little worried.'

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><p>Kakuzu looked over his former village as he dropped down from the plateau next to the market district. He frowned a little at seeing it up in flames and many ninja and civilians wounded and dead, 'I was looking forward to tearing this place up a bit too, how disappointing.' Stepping over the body of a wounded ninja Kakuzu suddenly jumped to his left as the earth underneath him twisted on itself as it tried to bury him, "Retsudutensho (Split Earth Turn Around Palm) eh." Turning around he saw several four-man squads of ninja grouped together like lambs before a slaughter, "Maybe I can still have some fun."<p>

One of the grunts stepped forward to address Kakuzu, "Surrender now and leave, we don't have time to waste right now."

Chuckling at their insolence Kakuzu responded, "Now now I came all this way for something and I don't want to leave without it, so run along or I will kill you."

The ninja shivered as Kakuzu delivered the last four words with an ice-cold voice while projecting his substantial killer intent, "W-we're n-n-not sc-scare-scared of you."

Smiling from under his scarf Kakuzu relished their fear as their heartbeats increased rapidly, "You're lying, I can tell. It's a good thing that I scare you though. You see, fear is a natural reaction that your body has when you are in danger that changes your body chemistry increasing your reactions and capabilities thereby improving your chances of living in a dangerous situation, but in this case it doesn't do anything except amuse me. So I'll give you till three to run away." Before he could start counting all the ninja turned around and scrambled away from the imposing figure in a large group, "Katon: Zukokku (Fire Release: Intense Pain)." Kakuzu watched as his S-rank jutsu incinerated the twelve shinobi who tried to stop him. "Looks like I forgot to count." Continuing his walk Kakuzu remembered when his clan first joined the village. He was already a high-ranking ninja and he was only sixteen when Taki was formed. Looking over he saw the fancy restaurant where he took his first girlfriend on their first date in flames. 'That was so long ago, I would've died for this place with a smile on my face, but when I fail to kill one of the strongest ninja that ever lived they deem me a failure and try to kill me. I'll have the last laugh because before I leave Taki will be burnt to the ground and I'll have outlived it."

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><p>Hopefully the chapter is decent, but these are my first fight scenes, and I wanted to make a Kakuzu-centric chapter for some reason. He survived in the ninja world for one hundred years before he was killed by Naruto so he has to have some stories. I wanted to explore his character a little bit and try to explain the Jiongu and the history of Taki in this chapter. I gave you guys some big hints about a twist coming up next chapter, (A big cookie if you get it because it is obvious but you need to read closely.) Anyway review and tell me what you think of the fight scenes and how I can improve them. It's to late for next chapter but I will take the advice under consideration for the Chuunin exam fights. Also if you watched the anime I'm sure you'll agree Rock Lee is officially a clone of Maito Gai created by Orochimaru and freed after he fled before he could put a chakra network in. Till next time people<p>

-Operaman Bye Bye

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><p>Jutsu list<p>

Katon: Zukokku (intense pain) S-rank- User fires a wide area blast of fire incinerating everything in its path

Fuuton Goukuuhou (Great Air Cannon) C-rank- User fires several medium balls of compacted air capable of crushing rock and bones. Can fire several in one go but the bullets get weaker

Tsuchi Bunshin (Earth clone) C-rank-User creates a clone made from solid earth. Takes several hits to dispel unless very strong. Clones unable to use any jutsu though can morph body parts into weapons.

Doton: Retsudutensho (Split Earth Turn Around Palm) C-Rank- the area under the target violently swirls into itself attempting to drag down and crush the victim

Doton: Moguragakure (Hiding like a mole) C-rank-User channels chakra into the ground creating a tunnel used for hiding and even possible escape or infiltration.

Doton: Arijigoku no jutsu (Ant lion) B-rank-Using the target as the focal point the user manipulates the earth in an attempt to bury them under the earth. If enough chakra is used can potentially crush or suffocate victim

Doton: Doryuso (Rising Stone Spears) A-rank-User channels chakra into the earth molding it so large spikes of earth come up and attempt to impale the target. The spears cannot pierce a denser material like metal though

Doton: Ganban Kyu (Bedrock Coffin) A-rank-The caster causes several large slabs to rise from the ground and circle the target before closing in at high speeds smashing its victim, the more chakra put in the larger and faster the slabs

Doton: Dosekiryu (Earth and Stone dragon) A-rank-Using large amounts of chakra the user rips up a large amount of earth that rushes towards the opponents as the front takes the form of a dragon head

Jiongu (Earth Grudge Fear)-Most forbidden technique of Taki. An old ninja clan found a strange parasite and discovered it gifts the user with strange powers, but you pay a high price. The parasite burrows into your body taking over your heart and turning it to a factory where it reproduces the tentacles. As they spread through the body and into the organs they change the chakra system around the organs making them able to run on chakra alone. The only thing the Jiongu needs is blood to run, so as long as there is chakra to pump the circulatory system you can live, but the constant use of chakra burns the user out killing them quickly. Found a way around this by using hero water in combination with the parasite creating a faux form of immortality


	8. End of the Waterfall

Chapter eight and it's all great. This will conclude the waterfall arc with a bang. Hopefully the twist will take you by surprise and the ending pleases you, it was a pretty busy little arc. As we move on more people will be introduced along with new friends and enemies made. So dive right in because it's my longest chapter yet and I've broken the 50,000 word mark, Huzzah.

-Operaman

* * *

><p>Smoke billowed into the air above the village as team seven stood back to back surrounded by eight ninja at an intersection. The leader of the rogue ninja, Suien, stepped forward while gesturing to the ruined city, "Konoha ninja there is no reason for you to be interfering in this battle, it would be in your best interest to surrender and allow us to finish without any more resistance on your part. The village is in shambles, if you allow us to leave unimpeded I swear you can leave here with your lives."<p>

In response to Suien team seven's captain Kakashi lazily drawled, "No thanks, we decent people have something called a conscious, though I have to ask why you are doing this? It must be a hell of a prize if you are risking life and limb to invade a hidden village, no matter how minor."

"I suppose that I could give you a history lesson on one of Taki's darker secrets. I am honestly just a simple man that wants to live comfortably for the rest of my life, but as a genin I was a staunch patriot wanting to raise Taki's prowess in the world. When Taki covertly joined in the destruction of Uzu no Kuni for the promise of jutsu scrolls and sealing techniques, and it was there I saw the futility of villages like Takigakure. I was but a simple genin, part of the troops behind the line in charge of maintaining camp. There were a handful of minor villages and two major ones that joined in a temporary alliance to put down the dangerous Uzumaki clan." At this point Naruto's face became shell shocked and he listened intently while Kakashi gave him a concerned look and Sakura seemed confused. "All the villages shared a single camp and I saw the difference between the five great villages and the minor ones. All the ninja of the same rank were so much stronger, bigger, faster, or knew more jutsu. Their jounin were at the same level as the few elite units and village leaders. Sometimes when off duty the genin would spar if tempers and village pride flared. The genin from the major villages would laugh when two from minor villages fought saying it was like watching toddlers, and if one of us happened to spar with a genin from a major village they'd get decimated."

Suien grimaced while remembering the outline of lightning around the body of a particularly gifted Kumo genin. "Once I watched the strongest genin from Kiri and Kumo fight and they could've easily beaten almost any chuunin in Taki, but it wasn't until a small band of Uzumaki hit the camp in retribution that I truly saw the difference between the villages. The Uzumaki were truly formidable, slaughtering any opponent they faced with high level water jutsu and their deadly fuuinjutsu, no matter the village. It wasn't until the Sandaime Raikage stepped on the scene that I saw why the smaller villages had no hope of gaining strength, how they simply existed at the whim of the great powers. That man slaughtered the fifteen attackers who could barely be touched in the blink of an eye. I am sure that any one of the five Kage would be able to destroy Takigakure if the mood came over them, look at what my band of twelve did to this pathetic place. I waited and bided my time until I learned all that I could and then left hoping to find a big payday and live easy. Fortunately my client needed a job done inside the waterfall, and who better to do it than a rogue ninja from the secretive village itself. I will complete this mission and retire kid, then be a lazy slob the rest of my life."

Naruto didn't know what to say. He found out that there was an Uzumaki clan. He had a family and it was a ninja clan, a feared and powerful ninja clan. It was only seconds later that he learned they were slaughtered because of that fear, then he finds out this man is killing innocent people for a payday, "I can't forgive people like you. You come to a village you abandoned for selfish reasons because you didn't want to work hard to get strength and then you killed all these people for money. Kids lost their parents and are orphans now and all alone while mothers and fathers have to watch their kids get buried, all just so you can live easy. You are one of the worst types of scum there is."

Finding her resolve somewhere during her Naruto's speech Sakura spoke up as well, "Naruto is right, this is deplorable, hurting civilians just because you can. We're definitely going to stop you here and now."

Laughing at the girl Murusame managed to get out between laughs, "Ha that's a good one girly, but how is a genin team and their jounin sensei going to stop the eight of us. You should've taken the chance to surrender, but it's people like you on their high horse looking down at me that makes me mad, so now I'm going to kill you nice and slow."

Suien raised his hand halting his subordinates advance, "Calm down Murusame, now let us show them our power, ready the combination attack." Suien, Hisame, and Murusame began the hand seals for their jutsu. Suien and Hisame launched the same Suiton jutsu first as Murusame finished his seals calling out, "Suiton: Hahonryu" (Water Release: Tearing Torrent) as rotating balls of water formed in their outstretched hands. They merged the two spheres together and a large vortex of water shot towards team seven as Murusame held his two hands apart with lightning crackled between, "Raiton: Jibashi (Electromagnetic Murder) as a web of electricity shot out of his hands supercharging the water as it crashed over the four Konoha ninja, "Collaboration Jutsu: Poseidon's Rage."

Unbeknownst to the invaders, the four shadow clones that Naruto created and spread out earlier substituted themselves with team seven just as the large wall of water blocked them from view beginning maneuver five. Naruto looked up to see his sensei beginning some seals as he started a set of his own while concentrating the chakra as much as possible to condense the attack. Naruto and Kakashi finished at the same time intoning Fuuton: Daitoppa and Katon: Karyuudan (Fire Dragon Bomb). The condensed Daitoppa fueled the raging fires of the Karyuudan as Naruto and Kakashi called out in synch, "Collaboration Jutsu: Wrath of the Fire Dragon." The inferno raged down the street, greedily devouring oxygen as the flames consumed everything in its path. Two of Hanzo's guards foolishly tried to erect water barriers that were quickly evaporated by the superheated flames as they soon followed turning to ash under the white hot blaze. Another one was hit by an ink bird and was caught in the end of the jutsu and as the flames dissipated he moaned pitifully in pain unable to move. Murusame managed to dodge, but the upturned chair he landed next to turned into the pink hair girl he taunted as she slipped a kunai under his ribs piercing his heart.

Suien regrouped with Hisame and the remaining two members of Hanzo's former guard. "We should retreat, that silver haired jounin is the copy ninja, we have no chance against an opponent like him." Throwing smoke bombs on the ground the foursome escaped into the city. Turning to Hisame Suien said, "If the water wasn't in any of the spots I gave you then there is only one spot it could be, but I didn't think that my student would hide it there."

* * *

><p>Kakuzu watched the Konoha team battle the invaders. 'Of course, I am simply remembering how a fight with a Konoha-nin got me banished from this village and there are four Konoha-nin protecting Taki. I'm slightly impressed, they're pretty decent for a genin team, and they avoided that jutsu with shadow clones created by a brat. That's preposterous, a kid can't make shadow clones he should've died trying.' Kakuzu watched as the group of shinobi that launched the collaboration jutsu made an amateur mistake and let their guard down only for them to be taken down by a collaboration jutsu from a jounin and genin, also quite impressive and the resulting fire blast had at least A-rank power and was much more formidable than the one created by three experienced ninja, 'That blonde kid will have give me quite a payday in the future.'<p>

Looking more closely at the Konoha nin he focused in on the one with the flack jacket. 'Well what do you know I might make some money in this place after all, and quite a bit at that. Hatake Kakashi the Copy-nin, high A-rank to low S-rank depending on the bingo book you check. If you include the money from Iwa, Kumo, some minor villages like Yugakure, several incredibly powerful crime lords, and the value of a sharingan eye, the total bounty on his head close to seventy million ryou, one of the highest for an affiliated ninja. This couldn't get any better, I'll get the hero water and a large paycheck off of Akatsuki's radar for my personal account.' Preparing his lightning heart Kakuzu took aim waiting for his opportunity. When the copy-nin turned to take in the retreating forms of the other ninja Kakuzu struck, "Raiton: Gian" (False Darkness.)

Just as the spear of lightning was ready to be launched a foot hit his chin hurling the jutsu up in the air crashing into the ceiling of the cavern sending boulders crashing down. Looking angrily at his attacker Kakuzu couldn't believe what he was seeing. 'That has to be the Jinchuuriki's grandkid or something. This homecoming is bringing back some old memories.' The girl's eyes widened as she got a good look at him before pointing a finger his way and shouting, "YOU! Fuu can't believe it, everything is your fault. It's because of you that Fuu lives outside the village. She was supposed to be a hero but they blamed the deaths of the elders that you killed on Fuu and banished her."

Raising his eyebrow in confusion Kakuzu responded, "What are you talking about, there was no way that was you. All that happened over one hundred years ago. Just because your grandpa got the shaft doesn't make it my fault. You think they would forgive your family after all this time, but Taki is a pathetic and petty village so I'm not too surprised."

The girl's orange eyes hardened in anger, "That wasn't Fuu's grandpa, that was Fuu you fought."

Kakuzu's jaw would've dropped if it wasn't sewn to his top lip by the Jiongu, "There's no way, that fight was almost one hundred years ago, you should be dead."

"Yes Fuu is confused as well. She is still alive because her seal allowed her chakra coils to slowly adjust to the Nanabi's power so now the Kabutomushi's chakra is powering her body's systems keeping her alive and healthy, but you should be dead."

Kakuzu broke out laughing, "Ha we're more alike than I thought all those years ago. We're both monsters, immortal, and have been shunned by our home. This is to rich, so you've been here thanklessly defending them since I left all those years ago, and took the blame for my crimes. I couldn't have planned that better."

The mint haired girl was shaking with rage, "Shut UP!" As she screamed Kakuzu jumped back as a barrage of needles came down from the sky, seemingly launched by a… giant hornet? As he touched down he had to dodge again as a club like arm hit the ground where he landed crushing the earth and sending rocks flying everywhere. Kakuzu called out "Katon: Zukokku" and sent a stream of fire at the freakish bug. The stream was blocked as it came out of his mask by a black and white beetle's shell nullifying the flames. He was about to charge the girl when he had to duck as a large, sharp, and green arm tried to decapitate him and he rolled to the left as it pursued quickly slashing it's arm diagonally at his chest. Kakuzu blocked it with an earth wall as a giant beetle with a lump protruding out the front of its shell dropped from the sky onto where he just was causing fissures to spread through the ground and the wall to collapse. As he landed the vinegaroon fired a large green ball of goo out its ass at him so he erected another earth wall that was quickly dissolving from the green liquid. Getting tired of being outnumbered by the insects during their assault Kakuzu ripped off his shirt revealing his five masks, "Let me introduce you to my partners."

As he finished speaking the blue, yellow, red, silver masks separated from his body before gaining tentacle like bodies and the silver one fired a blast of wind that separated the bugs. Fuu undid one of the red straps around her shoulders, "Perhaps Fuu should get serious too." Removing the lid what seemed like thousands of beetles swarmed around her coming from the red container. They were huge for normal bugs, around five to seven inches long, and were a sickly green and black. They had long pointed tubes for mouths and sharp legs so even if one landed on you it would hurt. They were so thick that you could hardly see Fuu through them all as they swarmed. "Behold Fuu's prize from defeating an Aburame, destruction bugs that run off demonic chakra." As she finished saying that the swarm tried to attack Kakuzu but his skin was to hard and the bugs were unable to pierce his skin or the strange creatures with masks and inject their deadly chakra poison into the ninja. Deciding to improvise Fuu would use them as cover allowing her bugs to attack unseen periodically. She had him on the run and was about to attack herself when she had to dodge an air blade that almost decapitated her. Fuu paused her attack and stared down her old nemesis as they finally had the grudge match she dreamed of all these years.

* * *

><p>Team seven watched the fight after seeing the lightning bolt crash into the roof of the mountain sending boulders crashing down. The genin, even Sai, had expressions of awe on their face watching the two one hundred year old ninja do battle. Naruto managed to tear his eye away and look at his sensei, "Kaka-sensei, shouldn't we go after the other four."<p>

Smiling down at the blonde Kakashi began, "So eager my cute student, yes we will, but I want to understand what is going on here first and I think I got all I could. That green haired girl is the strongest ninja in the village and she is holding off that other one. He is a greater threat than the other four combined so I was debating the options available to us and I have a plan."

Sakura looked at her serious sensei, "Kaka-sensei don't leave us guessing, what are doing? We have to help these people."

Looking in the direction Suien and the others escaped in Kakashi nicked his thumb on a kunai before doing some hand signs and uttering "Kuchiyose no Jutsu" and a small tan pug wearing a blue bandana and leaf headband appeared in a puff of smoke, "Yo Kakashi."

"Sorry Pakkun, no time to talk. Here's the scent can you guide my cute students to it? They have to keep them from getting away, only trail them if you don't think they can pull it off."

Taking a deep whiff of the piece of cloth Kakashi obtained during the scuffle Pakkun answered, "No problem, now where are the kids."

Turning he saw two wide mouthed genin and one pale one with a weird look on his face. The pink haired one stuttered out, "Th-t-the dog t-tt-talked."

Deciding to mess with the girl Pakkun responded after taking a deep whiff, "Hold on, yup I like your choice in shampoo pinky. I use the same one."

The girl looked mortified as her face turned pale and ashy as she sulked, "I smell like a dog." Turning away from the girl Pakkun addressed the other two kids, "Alright let's go, follow me."

As he took off the three followed and Kakashi turned his attention back to the fight. "It's been awhile since I've been in a fight on this level, let's see if I still got it." With those words he pulled up his headband revealing his crimson and black eye.

* * *

><p>Shibuki was cowering in his hiding spot. He was under the pointed roof of the village's financial building. It was one of the tallest structures in the village because it had a large pointed roof and Shibuki built a trapdoor at the top to access the space underneath. He could see almost the whole village from the Great Tree to the well used for entering and exiting the hidden village. This was his sanctuary as a child and no one found him when he was hiding here, not even his sensei or Dad. Looking out over his village now though Shibuki found no feeling of peace or safety.<p>

Most of the city was rubble or flames, and there were still signs of battle going on as Shibuki saw flashes of lightning, fire, and felt the earth move periodically. 'There's no way I can compete in a fight on that level, it looks like everyone is doomed. I don't know why you didn't pick someone else to lead the village father, I'm just a coward and weakling, everyone is dying while I do nothing. I guess I'm letting you down. You never got scared whenever you protected the village, I wish I could be as brave as you. I wonder what you'd say to me now dad.' Wallowing in self-pity Shibuki suddenly recalled a scene from his childhood. It was so long ago that he'd forgotten the lesson but it seemed like he could recall the event down to the last detail for some reason.

**Flashback**

A young brunette child with short spiky hair was crying in a park holding his scraped knee. As the child cried oblivious to the world a man with short grey and brown hair with a small beard bent down and picked him up so the young boy was sitting on his shoulders with his hands resting in short hair. The child slowly stopped crying and the man began speaking in a comforting tone, "Why did you run off like that Shibuki-chan."

Sniffling a little the child responded, "Daddy that dog barked at me and then tried to eat Shibuki."

The man laughed at his child's sentence, "You know, the way you said that reminded me of an old friend."

The dog forgotten he scrunched his face up cutely in confusion and asked his father, "I'm a little boy daddy how can I remind you of a big grown up?"

Putting his boy down as he they sat on a bench the man answered, "It was because you said your own name when you talked to me, and she does that a lot. She never uses I or me in a sentence substituting her name instead."

"She sounds funny, can I meet her?"

Smiling fondly down at his son he answered, "Maybe when you get older… but Shibuki why did you run so far away from the dog, I couldn't find you. I always tell you to make sure you can see me when we go out."

Looking down at the ground the child swung his legs back and forth, "Cuz I was a scared dad. The dog was gonna eat me."

"No Shibuki it probably just wanted to give you a kiss and play with you a little bit. There was no reason to be scared, now let's go get some ice cream, but don't tell your mom, we haven't had dinner yet."

Not responding to his father Shibuki just kept looking at his feet as they swung back and forth. "Dad I'm always scared, I wish I could be brave like you and never get frightened, but everybody calls me a scaredy-cat and says I'll be a chicken forever."

Kneeling in front of his son and lifting his chin the man began to talk in a gentle tone, "Shibuki I get scared too." Seeing his child's surprised look at hearing that he continued, "For instance I was terrified when I stopped talking to those people and I couldn't find you. Being brave doesn't mean you're not scared, to be brave means you face that fear and overcome it, and I'll face any fear to protect this village, and you Shibuki-chan."

Staring in awe at the man the lesson went over the child's head but he did know one thing, "When I grow up I'm gonna be a leader just like you dad and everyone is going to call me brave cuz I'll get over my fears."

Laughing at his son's enthusiasm he adopted a lecturing tone, "Now Shibuki you can't just be brave to be the leader of this village and protect the people. You have to be strong too, and willing to put your life on the line to protect them and the village. Do you think you can you do it?"

"Of course dad, I'll be an even better chief than you."

"Alright then Shibuki I'll help you be the leader of this village, but you have to train hard and get strong okay."

Saluting his father Shibuki answered, "Yes sir."

Picking Shibuki back up and putting him on his shoulders once more the man walked towards the village, "Alright we'll start tomorrow, but for now let's get that ice cream." Smiling father and son walked back into the village.

**Flashback End**

As Shibuki broke out of the weird memory trance he sat there ashamed as feelings of guilt and worthlessness overcame him. 'I promised my dad I would put my life on the line to protect this village and I'm hiding like a coward while my people are fighting and dying. What makes me feel even worse is that I ran away and those Konoha ninja stayed behind to protect the people when they didn't have to. Some leader I am, well no more I'm going out there and protecting my village just like my father did. And Fuu, I completely forgot about her. I've been so busy that I've neglected to visit her, another promise that I broke. Well I'm going to fix that too. After this mess is over I'll make sure that Fuu can live in the village like dad wanted, but for now I have to stop this mess.'

As he stood up and grabbed some supplies he stockpiled over the years Shibuki looked out over his village once more and saw four figures running through the village towards a spot that only he and his sensei knew about. They could've been some ninja going to a million different places in response to the attack, but he knew they were going there because one of the shinobi was his sensei that they all thought died on a solo mission a couple years ago. 'Sensei, what are you doing here, what's going on?' Jumping out the trapdoor Shibuki trailed the ninja trying to figure out what was happening. "Is sensei behind this attack, and Ame as well? They must be after the hero water. But if there here then what happened to the Konoha team, did they die?' Shibuki was worried about team seven especially Naruto, despite his initial misgivings the brat grew on him. There was something about him that just grabbed your attention and made you want to trust the kid, 'Naruto got so upset at seeing our genin killed. He has one of the biggest hearts I've ever seen, I hope he's alright.'

After taking a quick detour and losing sight of the group Shibuki arrived at the second largest tree in Taki. It was larger than the financial building that Shibuki was hiding in and the middle was hollowed out creating a small chamber where the hero water is housed. There were small windows with just enough room for Shibuki to squeeze through. 'Alright I'll wait up here on the rafters until Suien grabs the wate, and then I'll kill him and drink some to get a power boost before killing the other three. For now it's just the waiting game.' The game didn't last very long as the four invaders walked up to the hero water. Shibuki tensed as Suien reached forward and disabled all the traps around the gourd before reaching to grab it. As soon as he touched it two kunai held by Shibuki stabbed into his kidneys. The Head Ninja of Taki stepped back and gazed in shock as the body he stabbed revealed itself to be Mizu Bunshin. The last words he heard before infinite blackness were "My you certainly are foolish Shibuki, did you think you could surprise your old sensei." Suddenly he felt a kunai pierce the back of his neck where brain and spine met as he knew no more.

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><p>Suien watched the body of his former student bounced off the hardwood floor as blood and brain matter oozed out of the wound in his neck. Throwing the dirtied kunai into the corpse Suien walked forward grabbing the gourd before putting it in the cushioned holster he designed just to hold the hero water. Speaking to his team he began, "It appears those Konoha nin decided to stay behind and help the wounded. That's a leaf nin for you though bleeding hearts through and through. Let's get out of here while they are distracted and slip out the secret entrance."<p>

His team followed him as he jumped out of the chamber and began hopping from building to building toward the secret entrance with haste. When they finally exited the village proper they ran across the field towards the plateau and hidden tunnel at full speed. After about thirty seconds of running in the field Suien and his companions stopped and jumped backwards to avoid a large cloud of red gas. Three of the nin managed to get away without breathing any, but Hisame inhaled some of the fumes and began wobbling around as if drunk. An ink bird then smashed into one of Hanzo's personal guards while he was in the air breaking his re-breather and knocking him into the cloud causing him to inhale some poison gas as he hit the ground.

Standing back to back with the last of the rain nin Suien added for the mission he cursed. The only other person that would've been of use to him in the battle inhaled poison gas leaving him with just one of Hanzo's pathetic guards. Taking a quick glance around he saw the two that inhaled the gas dancing around laughing like they ate some of Waterfall's special mushrooms. Suien quickly turned and grabbed a foot that was about to strike him. Throwing the blonde into the dissipating cloud of poison he cackled as the genin started to run around like a loon. Suien's laughing at the amateur mistake of getting incapacitated by his team's own poison was quickly cut off as the rouge nin frowned when the child burst into a cloud of smoke and more of those blasted clones exploded through the ground with explosive tags attached to their bodies. Just as the blasts rang out Suien used Kawamiri with the rain nin that inhaled the poison leaving him to die in the large explosion. Patting the fire out on his sleeves Suien landed next to the other rain-nin and grabbed Hisame as he called for a retreat.

They broke away for about a second before the black body of an ink lion blew past Suien and hit Hanzo's guard causing him to drop his umbrella he was holding as he tumbled away from Suien entangled with the beast. Picking up the umbrella he opened it and blocked the senbon the kunoichi threw at him before flipping a hidden switch and throwing it in the air. "Ninpou: Jouro Senbon" (Ninja Art: Raining Needles from Heaven). The umbrella then expelled what seemed like hundreds of Senbon forcing team seven to fall back a good distance. Facing the three genin Suien pumped chakra to his leg muscles and rocketed toward them at high speeds, steering clear of the tricky blonde and poison user he clotheslined the pale haired boy launching him away from his comrades.

He rushed the disoriented boy with a kunai drawn going for the kill, but as he stabbed down he realized he only managed to impale the blonde's arm before he looked up and saw mismatched blue and red eyes looking at him. Staring into the red one it began spinning hypnotically as he kicked the genin's form away from him. Jumping back he landed next to Hisame's body as the world around him rippled for a second and the unconscious kunoichi turned into a clone that was suddenly giving him a bear hug with an exploding tag burning on its chest. Looking at the real blonde as he held his bleeding right arm and Suien could only mutter, "Sharingan" and he saw that irritating brat's lips move as he uttered, "boom" and Suien wasted his last breath cursing Danzo and his mission before being consumed by the flames.

Sai looked strangely at Naruto as he moved to tie up Hisame and the one surviving ame ninja. He let the ink binds around the one he subdued lose their forms as his blonde teammate tied him up. Finally unable to think anymore Sai had to ask, "Why did you do that Naruto? You could've used the opportunity to strike down Suien as he killed me, why would you risk yourself to save me? You hate me don't you?"

Scratching his head in embarrassment Naruto answered his emotionally stunted teammate, "I don't hate you Sai. Sure, sometimes you piss me off with the dickless shit, but you're my teammate."

"So because I am on your team you saved me?"

"Well yeah, remember the conversation last night. Kakashi-sensei told you his saying, 'Those that break the rules are trash, but those that abandon their comrades are worse than trash.' You may not be my best friend, but you are my teammate and we share a bond that I want to protect."

Sai showed confusion at the answer, "You and I have a bond? When did that happen?"

Smiling at the artist Naruto rested his elbow on Sai's shoulder, "The moment we became teammates. You know, Sasuke and I used to argue and fight all the time, but we had a bond like brothers. You and I fight all the time and even though I don't consider you my brother you are a friend and I protect my friends."

Sai mouthed the word slowly as if testing it, "Friends."

"Yes Sai friends, you and I have a bond like you and your brother in the book used to have, and though it may be different than the bonds we lost it is still a bond that I will fight for."

Sakura finished administering the antidote to the two bound nin before she walked over to them and put her hand on Sai's other shoulder, "I may hit you all the time, but I feel the same as Naruto. You're our friend and our teammate, and like we said yesterday we watch out for each other on team seven."

Sai stood there in shock as a weird feeling rose up inside his torso that made him feel really good as he felt his lips move uncontrollably. "I think… I understand. You were mad at me yesterday because I insulted your bond with Sasuke, I, I… I remember what I wanted to draw now." Taking his book out of his pack Sai began drawing furiously in the two empty pages as his teammates looked on. He finished sketching and showed them the picture. It was Sai and his brother back to back holding a bo staff and naginata facing off against a horde of monsters with a smile on his face.

As his teammates looked at the picture Naruto fell down on his but as he gripped the wound on his right arm hissing in pain. Sakura began scolding him while applying disinfectant and bandaging him, "Honestly Naruto didn't you have any clones left that could've substituted with Sai, honestly you don't think about your actions and then you get this nasty gash, I'll stitch it up after everything gets settled here okay." As she finished wrapping the bandages the three genin looked up to the sky upon hearing the chirping of what had to be a large flock of birds. The only thing that greeted them was the stone ceiling of Takigakure and a voice echoing across the field, "Raikiri."

* * *

><p>Kakashi was waiting for the strange shinobi to once again try to escape and counter the other girl before attacking. He admired her coordinated assaults using the different bugs effectively to keep the strange ninja on his heels, 'She'd put an Aburame to shame.' After eavesdropping on the conversation with his enhanced hearing Kakashi was reluctant to get involved, but after remembering Suien's confession of how Taki had a hand in the slaughter of Kushina-neechan's clan he figured they might as well make the most of the situation and try to get the Nanabi Jinchuuriki to return to Konoha. Kakashi realized the danger of getting in a fight with the two ancient ninja, but the risk was worth the reward and he sent a mizu bunshin to the tan beauty to deliver a message before it dissolved into water. Since then he's only corralled Kakuzu back in a handful of times, but the rogue nin was adjusting to his attacks speed and timing incredibly fast and was about to be able to counter Kakashi's moves. Grinning under his mask the wily copycat realized it was time to get to work.<p>

Kakuzu was quickly getting annoyed at his predicament. Alone the Jinchuuriki or copy-nin would've been an entertaining fight, but their combined forces proved to be deadly despite them never fighting together. After conferring with the ancient woman the Konoha nin added himself to the fray and was pushing Kakuzu harder than he's been in a long time. The bounty hunter quickly realized that he would be better off recalling his masks after the heart capable of using raiton was almost devoured by the giant vinegaroon. The club like arms opened up and extended revealing massive appendages that just missed pulling the yellow lightning mask into its gaping mouth before cracking the mask with the whip like tail after failing to capture it.

After recalling his minions Kakuzu had no support and had to face all the bugs and jounin on his own as he continued to dodge the salvo of attacks launched by the two ninja. It would appear to be a coordinated routine from an observer's point of view, but to Kakuzu the attacks were unpredictable and deadly. Only instincts and reflexes honed over a hundred years allowed him to outpace them and survive the lethal assault. To make it even harder the Jinchuuriki has just as much experience as he does and is incredibly shrewd when maneuvering her pets. There is no apparent pattern to the attacking bugs as they mix up speeds and attack combinations like old pros making it difficult to find space to counter.

He would've been able to escape the insects if it wasn't for that blasted copy nin, but Kakuzu was finally getting the feel for Kakashi's attacks, he just needs a little more time before eliminating the weaker link of the two. Dodging the barrage of stingers from above he raised an earth wall that blocked the preying mantis as he emerged from the ground firing a Zukokku at the green monster's back that was blocked by the beetle with a lump. Cursing at the strong defense of that huge beetle and the black and white one he jumped over an acid blast before trying to gain some room to maneuver by calling out, "Suiton: Daibakufu no Jutsu (Great Waterfall technique)" as his blue mask spewed out a huge mass of swirling water that looked like a drill blocking the bugs and copy nin from advancing. He was about to launch a raiton jutsu to follow up as the silver haired jounin launched himself over the attack by raising an earth wall and rushed at Kakuzu after landing. Stopping his chakra flow he disconnected his right fist from the wrist and launched it at the copy nin as he controlled it with the black threads of the Jiongu. The fist just missed the attacking shinobi as he ducked and rolled to the right as the appendage grazed the tips of his silver hair when it passed over his head. 'Alright now I got his speed so I'll take him out next time he attacks.'

Dodging the strange ox sized beetle as it once again tried to crush him Kakuzu blocked the preying mantis' strike with his arm. Those annoying little bugs started to swarm again to block his vision so he quickly left the area as those devastating clubs smashed through the bug wall and the whip like tail quickly followed snapping inches in front of Kakuzu's face, but as he was in the air the horned beetle smashed into him from his back while the one with pincers slashed through his head from above before he crumbled into rubble revealing he was an earth clone. From his hidden position behind a pile of rubble Kakuzu began to prepare a jutsu when Kakashi appear above him with his left foot raised over his head and crackling with lightning chakra prepared to bring it hammering down on the ancient ninja's head.

Kakuzu did not panic and allowed a mass of threads to burst through his mouth that pierced the attacking ninja through his outstretched leg and chest. Smiling around the threads Kakuzu managed to say, "You shouldn't have gotten involved, you will make a nice payday after I leave here." Kakuzu was literally shocked when in the middle of gasping his dying breath the ninja turned into a mass of lightning that surged through his earth based tentacles electrifying him as he stood in the middle of the field paralyzed, open for a devastating move. He heard birds chirping and couldn't react as he felt something pierce his water natured heart and a heard a voice yell "Raikiri." Kakashi leaned in before whispering, "And you shouldn't have underestimated me."

Kakuzu fell forward pretending to be dead while thinking, 'This isn't going my way, I'd better shut down for a couple minutes before moving out and taking the hero water, I can feel it relatively close.' As he was lying there preparing to halt his chakra flow a voice echoed in his head, "We shall meet in person in two days at the main hideout." Shutting off his chakra after receiving the message his organs and body systems stopped functioning and Kakuzu literally died waiting for Jiongu to revive him in a couple of minutes.

* * *

><p>Kakashi looked down at the body as he double checked the pulse and felt the dying electrical signals. 'I'm definitely making sure that all my opponents are actually dead from now on. Still I wonder who he was, all I know is he was from Taki and apparently him and this girl are over one hundred years old. I wonder if they were lovers and he cheated with another woman and had to run away and from her Jinchuuriki fury abandoning the village. He then found a way to become immortal to one day return to his true love and beg forgiveness. Maybe I should write a book, I bet I could give Jiraiya-sama a run for his money, intense fighting leading to intense fucking. I would definitely have to put in a cat-fight leading to some loving, or maybe a cat-girl fight, oh the possibilities.' Shaking his head before he got to deep into his scary mind… again, Kakashi got back to the real issue at hand. 'I wonder why he was never reported a missing-nin, someone able to use all five elements should be in the bingo book somewhere. I wonder why Taki never listed that man. Oh well I can think about that later with more information for now I have to check on my students, those two explosions were definitely Naruto, I really have to stop giving him ideas involving explosives.' Turning to the green haired woman he said, "Thank you for stopping him when he was attacking us, but I have to get to my students and once we regroup we will find you and help scour the rubble for survivors."<p>

Not getting any response from the girl as she appeared to be staring at him and thinking something, 'gotta be the mask.' Jumping off towards the area where the explosions came from Kakashi resisted the urge to pull out Icha Icha, 'just a little longer precious.' As he was traveling to meet his students he realized the Jinchuuriki was following him and would hopefully continue to do so back to Konoha. Landing near the trio he saw Sakura standing near a shirtless and bandaged Naruto, his seal was barely visible from all the chakra use, but it appeared she was too busy fussing over him to notice. Sai was looking at the other two with a strange expression on his face, it seemed thoughtful with something else in it besides the usual blank look. He saw the kunoichi and one of the uniformed rain-nin tied up and the ringleader lying dead. Walking up to the three who were eyeing him and the woman curiously he coughed and began, "Report in team."

The pinkette stopped her mother hen act on Naruto and responded professionally. "We trailed them through the city and after calculating their path we set up an ambush outside of the city. Two were quickly disabled and the others quickly followed. Naruto was injured during the battle protecting Sai and according to the clone we sent with Pakkun to investigate their trail Shibuki was killed in a hollowed out tree with some kind of altar."

Looking at the two prisoners Kakashi pondered what to do before wiping some blood on his hand summoning a bull mastiff that was the size of Fuu's preying mantis, "Alright team here's what we'll do. Bull here will bring these two prisoners back to Konoha, so Sakura if you please put them under, it will take him around twelve to fourteen hours to get to Konoha so dose accordingly." Standing up and reaching into her pouch to follow her sensei's instruction, she drugged them with her most potent sleeping poison. Bull lifted the two tied up shinobi by the ropes and leapt off towards the wall. "Alright, Fuu was it, could you please explain what these people wanted."

Looking at the three as she sat on the vinegaroon she began, "Fuu thinks they were after the hero water, that is the only thing of real value in the village." Hopping off the bug and walking up to Suien's corpse she searched his packs and pockets before pulling out a strange case and opening it. She held out the strange gourd filled with water, "This apparently increases the Chakra of the user immensely at cost to their lifespan." The mint haired woman looked at the ground creating an awkward silence for a minute or two before continuing, "Fuu would like to return to Konoha with you, there is nothing for her here anymore."

As she finished talking the earth rose up encasing the insects legs in stone and Fuu jumped towards her companions screaming as Kakashi yelled, "Scatter." A large stream of fire moved through their last position killing the seven bugs as a black blur shot in front of Kakashi before slamming into Fuu knocking her out. It stopped revealing Kakuzu holding the hero water and Fuu's unconscious form over his shoulder like a sack.

The strange ninja appeared to be a monster as his torso was split at all the joints as black threads extended out of his body connecting everything together as the many appendages waved wildly around him. "Hatake Kakashi, I give you this one offer. I will leave here and you will stay and give no pursuit. I will take the hero water and the demon container, she will serve as a good substitute for your bounty I am sure Kumo would pay nicely for the container of the Nanabi. In exchange for letting me leave peacefully I will not kill you, I have other business to attend to."

Naruto rubbed his stomach as he stared at Fuu, a motion not lost on Kakashi but thankfully it was to the creature in front of them. As he stared at the scene his visible blue eye narrowed, "Yeah right, there's no chance in hell we're letting you go right sensei?" Silence was his only answer as a betrayed look appeared on his face and he prepared to lift the headband probably to use the mangekyou power they had discovered.

A hand grabbed his before he could reach his headband as his Kakashi finally answered, "Naruto that won't do any good here, this ninja can probably beat me if I go full out, and definitely can if I have to protect you three and fight him." Staring at the monstrous ninja Kakashi answered him, "As much as I don't like it we'll let you go."

His student gave him a hurt look as Kakuzu mocked bowed before speaking around the threads, "A wise decision, but the price on your head is high I am sure we will see each other again."

As he jumped away Naruto's voice reached him, "You better hope we don't meet again because if we do when you finally get to hell it will be a vacation after what I do to you."

Laughing oddly Kakuzu's voice reached them as he disappeared from view, "Get strong and famous boy so I can profit off of your death as well."

Before his student could yell at him Kakashi began, "Naruto just so you know I wish that we could've done something but I'm running low on chakra after fighting him before, and I won't let you three die. It may not have been the morally right decision, but it was the correct one to make in the situation. When you lead missions or become Hokage you will have to weigh all the options before making a decision that is in the best benefit of your team or the village. You may not always like or agree with the decision you made, but if you can't get over your dislike or regret from those decisions you should quit being a ninja because it will break you."

When his students looked like they grasped some of the knowledge Kakashi continued. "Alright guys I know there may be some questions after this mission but they will have to wait till we get back to the Hokage's office. For now I want you to scour the village and find any jutsu scrolls or any other knowledge we could use as well as civilians, we'll meet up here in four hours and set up camp outside the village before leaving tomorrow." Sai drew some ink mice to search while Naruto spammed out a horde of clones that leapt off, but before he could follow Sakura grabbed him demanding to stitch his wound while they had time and it wasn't healing. When she was finished he joined the other two members of squad seven and began searching the scarred village.

As they were scouring the city four shinobi saw the extent of the damage done during the course of the day. After regrouping outside the ruined village team seven agreed that Takigakure was destroyed and the civilian shelters had collapsed leaving a small number of survivors. Most of the Taki shinobi were on missions, but when things returned it would be bleak and they could expect no help from Konoha. Kakashi had a fruitful search finding "ANBU" headquarters and the village file location and sealed all the documents into a scroll before sending a hawk carrying the documents to the Hokage. Sai's mice found several jutsu vault and even though most of them were common there were a handful of high level jutsu previously unknown to Konoha, though Kakashi was sure several of the better ones were stashed away for Danzo.

Sakura focused on treating the injured civilians that Naruto's clones brought back along with supplies recovered from the hospital. Naruto and the rest of his clones had the best haul of all. He scoured the village leader's office as well as the elder's and clan homes saying 'That's where all the cool jutsu would be.' He returned with several clan jutsu, a scroll of forbidden techniques and seals, and perhaps most fortunate for him were several scrolls with the Uzumaki symbol that Naruto was eyeing with a keen interest. After telling his team to set up camp Kakashi summoned another bird and stored all of the jutsu scrolls into a sealing scroll before sealing it into the messenger bird's scroll and then releasing it to Konoha following a different route than the other. His duty done Kakashi opened his orange book for some well deserved reading after a really long day, "Why do I always have to be right?"

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><p>The weary Hokage eyed team seven through his crystal ball as they arrived at the gates after their second consecutive C turned A-rank mission, 'I have a feeling this might be a regular occurrence for Naruto.' After Kakashi's summon Bull showed up holding two bound and unconscious prisoners the Sandaime was prepared for paperwork and a headache, but not the size of the one he received. Ibiki managed to find out that team Suien was hired by an anonymous benefactor that gave him the value of one S-rank mission pay up front and promised another payday ten times the size if he received the hero water along with a precious diamond thought stolen almost a decade ago, and though an unknown rogue that is after items of power with wealth in his hands isn't anything to ignore it wasn't the biggest news.<p>

No what was really disconcerting was discovering that Salamander Hanzo was defeated by the leader of a rebel faction in Amegakure with a strange doujutsu, and the Sandaime felt the light throbbing in his head turn into a migraine knowing he will have to call a full council meeting for important international news like that, and he will have to get someone in Amegakure to verify it. He then learned that their allies in Taki weren't very loyal and helped massacre the Uzumaki along with several other off the book moves that would've been against their alliance when they later received a messenger bird with a written report and classified documents from Taki as well as jutsu scrolls. After scanning the scrolls and paying close attention to the scrolls with the orange spirals the Hokage properly distributed them to safe areas while taking two out of the Uzumaki scrolls before putting the rest in his vault in the Sarutobi compound. The ones sitting on his desk contained two beginner Uzumaki chakra control exercise and a couple C and B rank water jutsu.

The Sandaime knew he was about to have a long conversation with his grandson and was wondering how to fill the talk with enough half truths that Naruto wouldn't ask too many questions. Bracing himself as he heard a knock on his door the Sandaime focused in and called out, "Enter."

The team walked in mostly unharmed much to his relief and Kakashi began his report, "Hokage-sama the mission to escort Shibuki to Takigakure was a success, but upon arrival it became apparent that the village was under attack and I told Shibuki for the cost of a separate A-rank mission we will assist in the defense. We made contact with the enemy after Shibuki presumably fled and hid somewhere. We eliminated four quickly before being surrounded by the eight other ninja. After a combination jutsu eliminated four the remaining fled as a rogue, presumably S-rank ninja, interrupted the fight trying to claim the bounty on my head, but the Nanabi Jinchuuriki interfered. After sending my students in pursuit of the four with Pakkun, sure they would handle the situation correctly, I helped the Taki Jinchuuriki after learning of a black op that went against our alliance to try to get her to defect to Konoha. We won and rendezvoused with my team and after retrieving the hero water and she professed the desire to join Konoha. However the S-rank nin that we thought we killed ambushed our group taking both the hero water and the Jinchuuriki presumably for profit. We then evacuated the civilians left alive and combed over the village for jutsu and other information after confirming it could no longer continue its existence."

The aged Hokage puffed on his pipe as he stalled for a little more time. "Excellent job Team Kakashi, I am very proud that you were able to respond brilliantly in this adverse situation after the tragic events of your last major mission. You are dismissed and will receive pay for both a C and A-rank mission with commendations going in your record next to the completed missions. Naruto and Kakashi could you please stay."

Feeling slightly better at the concerned look Sakura was sending towards the blonde the old man waited for the door to close before addressing Naruto, "I know that you undoubtedly have questions and I will answer them to the best of my ability. I don't want to lie to you Naruto, but I can't tell you your whole past yet, however I can explain some so ask anything my boy and I shall do my best."

Taking a deep breath Naruto locked his lone blue eye onto the Hokage's and he winced at the hurt revealed in the blue orb. "Old man, is it true? Were the Uzumaki a clan, and how am I related to them?"

Letting out a large cloud of smoke the weary elder answered, "The Uzumaki were once the ruling clan of the island nation of Uzu no Kuni. They excelled in Suiton ninjutsu, lived long lives, and had large chakra reserves, but the true specialty of the clan was fuuinjutsu. The art of fuuinjutsu is complicated and obscure. Not much is known about it except for the fact that it is incredibly powerful and the potential of the art is almost limitless. Your clan was incredibly feared because of their prowess in sealing techniques and what they could do with them. That one clan was powerful enough that it could change the balance of power in a heartbeat and some nations didn't like that idea so they were wiped out by a secret alliance starting the second great ninja war. How you came to be in Konoha is not related to that incident though. You see your clan is loosely related to the Senju clan, the founders of Konoha."

Sarutobi saw the look of disbelief on the teen's face and waited for him to process the surprising information, "As a sign of faith and friendship the Shodaime married the first born daughter of the clan head at the time, Uzumaki Mito. As she neared her death the Uzumaki sent over another ninja to help us with fuuinjutsu as part of the alliance your mother was her grandniece Uzumaki Kushina. She was a strong kunoichi, and one of the most powerful shinobi of her generation. One day she was rescued after being kidnapped by your father and their relationship grew after that. She loved you very much and was so excited when she was pregnant. She died during the Kyuubi attack and you remind me a lot of her. She had a fiery personality and temper with a large heart and a lot of compassion. She wanted to be the first female Hokage and loved playing pranks as well. Very few shinobi know of your heritage because of their relationship to your family like Kakashi and Gai and they were informed not to tell anyone, though they managed to help you without raising suspicion. Gai was on your mother's genin team and is teaching you the taijutsu style of your clan that he was taught by your mother when he was your age."

Naruto looked shell shocked, "What about my dad ji-chan? Who was he?"

Sighing at the question he knew was coming the Sandaime began, "I'm sorry Naruto I can't tell you. Your father had more enemies than your mother and that is one of the reasons why you have her name. I will say your father was a very powerful ninja and loved you as much as your mother. In fact I've never seen him happier than when he found out his mother was pregnant with you. I know this is a lot to take in so you can come by and talk to me at any time and I'll tell you some stories of your mother and give you some pictures, I don't see enough of you these days Naruto. Now go home and get some sleep, your sensei will inform you when you have your next training session. Also while I wouldn't advertise that you are the last Uzumaki, mainly because you don't look like one, you can discreetly tell close friends if you make sure they know to keep it under wraps."

Naruto turned and trudged out the door while mumbling goodbye to the old man as he was turning to speak to Kakashi. "This is two A-rank missions, I expect to see them in the upcoming chuunin exams, they have proved they are more than ready for it."

"Yes Hokage-sama they have all grown immensely since they joined my team, especially Naruto. You know, I've been thinking that Naruto has shown enough maturity to hear about his father. He hasn't told anyone about his Jinchuuriki status, and I expect he would be able to keep this a secret as well, we don't have to tell everyone right now but Naruto should know about his whole family."

"Perhaps you are right Kakashi, I have seen his growth over the years, especially since you took over the role as his teacher, but a part of this old man still wants to shelter the boy. I don't want to cause him any distress when he learns that it was his father that caused him so much pain by sealing the Kyuubi in him. And then after he overcomes that because I have no doubts that he will, there will be an unbelievable pressure once he accepts that he is the son of one of the strongest ninja to ever live, I don't even know if I could've beaten Minato in my prime and he was not yet in his when he passed on."

Kakashi was surprised to see the usually strong and unshakeable man actually look his age. The Sandaime always projected an aura of experience, wisdom, and power making you forget that he was in his sixties. The old man in front of Kakashi looked so weary and fragile, like he was carrying a heavy burden all his life and was exhausted from the tremendous effort. Kakashi really didn't know what to say, but he had faith in Naruto and his student deserved to know of his father. "Hokage-sama, I believe that Naruto has earned the privilege of learning of his true heritage. Minato-sensei trusted him with the fox, and I believe that he is ready to learn why. Give him his full legacy and watch him shine, he already wants to surpass the fourth and be the greatest Hokage ever, learning that his father, his hero and idol, entrusted the fox to him with the belief that Naruto would one day surpass him will only spurn the boy to new heights."

The Hokage had a warm expression on his face as he regarded his fellow disciple in the Shodaime's philosophy. Kakashi was a something of a great grand-student of Hiruzen. Kakashi was a student to Minato, who in turn learned at the feet of Jiraiya who was Hiruzen's pupil at one point, and when the Sandaime was a young genin all those years ago he was a student of the Shodaime and Nidaime. All of the successors to the Hokage title came from this line of teaching, and despite Kakashi's lack of desire to become Hokage he was still a good man and a better ninja, 'perhaps a worthy advisor along with Shikaku'.

"Your sensei taught excellent students as you yourself are doing now." Taking a deep breath the old man continued, "I think you are right Kakashi, Team Seven shall enter the Chuunin Exams and if Naruto proves chuunin material then we shall tell him of his father, but for now let him think and learn about his mother. Thank you for the council Kakashi it was most appreciated, you are dismissed."

As Kakashi walked out the door he couldn't help but feel he signed up for more work outside of preparing his team for the exams, but he couldn't figure out why. Disregarding the strange sensation he thought to himself as he walked into the afternoon sun pulling out Icha Icha, 'I'll have to up the training for my cute students before the exams, we still have about two months to prepare… I also need to step up my own training a bit. I lost a step or two since my ANBU days and my chakra levels haven't risen because of my lack of training, I'm stagnating. I'll have to step it up a bit, maybe get some weights and train with Gai once a week, month… once in a while on special occasions. I need to start raising my chakra before I get too old, maybe I should start working on some of the better jutsu I copied with my Sharingan too. Oh well, it's been a long three days I just want to kick back and read some Icha Icha.'

The Sandaime watched as Kakashi walked down the street while thinking about his blonde student. His musing was interrupted some time later when a young chuunin was let in by his secretary carrying a message from the bird tower, "Hokage-sama we have just received a message from Suna bearing the Kage seal."

Opening his desk he pulled out a carved stone before grabbing the scroll and placing the design into a gap in the seal before channeling some chakra. He dismissed the young chuunin while opening the scroll.

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><p>Kakuzu stood outside the entrance to the main Akatsuki base with the Jinchuuriki's hands bound behind its back by rope with a leash coming off held by the Akatsuki member. There was a chakra-sealing collar around its neck attached to a long pole held in Kakuzu's other hand. The Jinchuuriki was actually very cooperative when he told it that they would extract the demon and leave a cold lifeless husk behind. The demon container appeared hopeful upon hearing death was a result of the sealing. Since then they traveled at high speeds arriving at base earlier than expected. When he entered only the orange haired leader with multiple piercings through his nose, lips, and ears along with Konan, his blue haired partner were in the base. The strange ringed eyes of the leader took him in and scanned the girl that he was holding closely. "Why have you brought a Jinchuuriki? We are not ready to begin extracting the beasts or for the attention the movements would garner. With all your partner's deaths and now this, I might have to kill you for being more trouble than you're worth."<p>

Bowing his head in deference to the powerful man Kakuzu answered, "I made sure that there would be no link to Akatsuki at all. I removed the cloak and told the witnesses that I planned to sell her to Kumo or another village. They should believe it because I told the copy nin that I was going to collect his bounty when we fought. I had to make a side trip to my home village it was unavoidable. When I entered much to my surprise and pleasure it was already being torn apart so I added to the carnage. The village is in ruins with almost no chance of reforming and there was nobody that can identify me, I never had an entry in the bingo books because Konoha would've recognized my abilities after I fought the Shodaime so that won't be any help either. The way I see it the Jinchuuriki would've been taken by the Hidden Leaf making it that much harder to get. Besides when I told her she would die she started getting cooperative."

Letting his killing intent ebb away the leader answered, "Very well, if you are sure then we shall extract the beast while discussing our next moves, mainly replacing Fuki and finding a ninth member."

Grunting Kakuzu answered, "I know that we don't recruit by the books, if there is some way to get Hatake Kakashi into Akatsuki I would recommend it."

The man spoke up while rubbing his chin, "The legendary Sharingan no Kakashi, interesting."

A soft voice carried across the cave, "The copy-nin is a dangerous man, it would be foolish to attempt to recruit him"

All three figures shifted in surprise and turned to face Uchiha Itachi as he glided into the cave wearing a kasa followed by Kisame. Konan spoke for the first time to address the newcomer, "Itachi you were part of Konoha, what can you tell us about this so called legend."

Removing his kasa he revealed his sharingan eyes and began to speak, "I served with Kakashi during my time in the ANBU. He was my captain and taught me many things before becoming the ANBU commander. He is a genius of the highest levels and he would thwart any attempt to coerce him to join us quickly and efficiently, most likely with devastating results. And if he joined the ranks of Akatsuki he would bide his time until he could bring us down or escape easily and then make his move. He is generally underestimated, but that is one of his strengths. Behind the lazy facade lays a ruthless ninja capable of outwitting even the cleverest of ninja. I myself would have trouble beating him without using my mangekyou, and if he didn't have students then it is possible Kakuzu wouldn't be here after confronting the man. Whenever we would spar I would think I was dominating the match and about to win until he would pull off a gambit and escape before defeating me. When I asked him how he was able to pull victory from the jaws of defeat so easily he replied, 'Who says I was on the ropes, the way I was looking at it I had you where I wanted you the whole time."

After hearing what he had to say the man with ringed eyes ignored Kakuzu's scoff at Itachi's advice before replying, "We shall not pursue that option and will keep a wary eye on him when we are hunting the Kyuubi. The Akatsuki meet in person tomorrow for the first time since Orochimaru betrayed us, find your rooms and rest. Kakuzu give the Nanabi to Konan she will seal it into a room till we are ready."

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><p>There you have it the waterfall arc is complete. For a short little three chapter arc a lot got accomplished. Sai learned about bonds and drew a different picture because holding hands and smiling… and besides I think it reflected the whole fight to protect bonds thing. Shibuki was introduced and killed off along with Fuu. I was intending to do this from the beginning and it was tough because Fuu really grew on me. I was considering having her take the place of Hidan, but I flipped a coin and went original which I think is a good thing, but since Kishi breaks all of his own rules I may bring her back. All this was just to set the stage and get everyone ready for the meat and bones of the story so hopefully the best is yet to come. The next update may take a little longer because I want to finish a detailed outline of the Chuunin Exams before I begin to write any more chapters.<p>

-Operaman Bye Bye

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><p>Jutsu list<p>

Mizu Bunshin (Water Clone) C-rank-The user creates a clone made of water. It has one tenth the strength of the original and is unable to perform ninjutsu or genjutsu

Suiton: Hahonryu (Water Release: Tearing Torrent) B-Rank-the user gathers large amounts of water compressing it into a ball in their palm before letting it unleash itself in a torrent of water

Raiton: Jibashi (Electromagnetic Murder) C-rank-Sends out a large amount of electricity in a wide pattern. Not very strong or useful on its own, but useful in collaboration jutsu with water

Katon: Karyuudan (Fire Dragon Bomb) B-rank-The user gathers chakra in their lungs before exhaling and igniting it into a concentrated stream of fire at the enemy

Collaboration Jutsu: Wrath of the Fire Dragon (Original) B-rank collaboration (different ranking than individual jutsu)-Exhaling a concentrated Daitoppa Naruto fuels the Karyuudan increasing the size, heat, and speed of the attack. Need a B-rank Collaboration jutsu of wind and water, bloodline skill, or S-rank water jutsu to counter

Raiton: Gian (False Darkness) S-rank-the caster launches a concentrated spear of lightning at the target able to pierce stone. The bolt is controllable and can branch out increasing the spread of the jutsu

Suiton: Daibakufu no Jutsu (Great Waterfall technique) A-rank- The user summons up a large amount of water, the more chakra the larger it is, and sends it spiraling towards the target like a large drill. The jutsu packs enough force to easily crush its victim and massively alter the landscape.

Collaboration Jutsu: Poseidon's Wrath (Original) Originally all four members of team Suien contribute with Kirisame contributing with a Jibashi of his own giving it an A-Rank collaboration status, but without him the power is reduced to B-rank. Combining two Hahonryu to create a large spray of water similar to Daibakufu except more condensed Murusame charges it using a Jibashi increasing the damage done to the victim.


	9. That time of year, the exams are coming

The weary old man watched the back of possibly the strongest active ninja in Konoha as he disappeared into the crowded streets. The elder let out a tired sigh before thinking about Kakashi's blonde student and felt an upsurge of pride at how much Naruto has grown recently. The Sandaime always worried about Naruto's upbringing and welfare. Jinchuuriki are generally feared and ostracized by the very populous that they protect and many are driven insane by their treatment. Sarutobi watched Naruto as he grew and tried to help the boy as much as he could without overextending his power. He was such a quiet child and very intuitive when he was younger, even when he was five years old Naruto could feel the hatred directed at him by the citizens of the village, and even if he couldn't identify the emotion he still knew that they thought of him differently. As the boy started to understand he would cry and apologize to the people while trying to act how he thought a model child should to try and gain love and attention that he coveted, but Naruto never got the recognition that he craved or needed and changed greatly because of it.

The child eventually became loud and defiant, determined that the villagers would acknowledge him even if he had to scream in front of them or play childish pranks. Naruto eventually started to lose his sense of self worth as he continued to fail to gain positive acknowledgement. Everything he did was never good enough even in school where he tried so hard but never got the help he needed to truly excel. After a couple more years of getting his confidence crushed he became louder and brasher to deny to everyone, especially himself, that he was a failure and affirm his existence that everyone tried to deny. Despite the cheerful face and upbeat attitude he would show to the villagers Sarutobi could feel the hate and anger that would roll off the boy in thick waves when they would walk through the village and people would glare when they thought the Hokage couldn't see. The Sandaime was genuinely worried for a time that the boy would meet the beast and release the seal in a fit of depression or rage, or that the chakra would take over him when he got to pushed to far and he would be forced to put Naruto down or perhaps the boy would go rogue.

If it wasn't for Iruka, the Ichiraku, and Kakashi's support from the shadows then who knows what would have happened to his blonde grandson in the future. Instead of giving into his hatred and anger Naruto rose up and overcame the odds like he always seemed to do, if nothing else the boy was a survivor. Now the blonde was growing at an incredible pace under Kakashi's tutelage and the old man couldn't be prouder. He always wanted to do more for the boy, but to protect the child he had to keep him away from the people who would raise him to shield his existence from his parent's enemies both inside and outside of Konoha. Jiraiya, Kakashi, and several others who knew of his heritage wanted to raise him, and he allowed them to rear Naruto as a baby, but if someone saw a prized student of the Yondaime or his former sensei raising a blue eyed blonde haired child they would've connected the dots.

Jiraiya wanted to stay, but in the wake of the Kyuubi attack and the increasing skirmishes with Kumo after the death of the Yondaime his spy network was valuable for gathering knowledge of the other village's movements and spreading misinformation about the attack. Tsunade was to far gone with grief over her deceased lover and brother to properly care for a child and taking care of her broken mentor was more than enough responsibility for Shizune. The options after the attack were limited and he tried the best he could with what he had but a Hokage's word was not law despite Konoha being a military dictatorship.

After the Kyuubi and Gamabunta disappeared the Sandaime led a force with just over one hundred elite ninja to the last known location of the beast. Still repressing the grief from his wife's death the old ninja almost broke into tears at the sight before him. Minato had his arms wrapped around his wife as she breathed her last while cradling the child into her bosom. It was one of the most tragic sights that he had ever witnessed in his long life. Two of Konoha's strongest ninja and the beacons that would lead it into a brighter future were lying on the destroyed earth still and unmoving while holding their crying child who was now an orphan destined to an unimaginably hard life. To make it worse the Shiki Fuujin was still fresh on Naruto's stomach and the seal was glowing a bright orange and red as it finished trapping the Kyuubi's power into the child's body.

The Sandaime could do nothing to hide the truth anymore and the dirty little secret of the Uzumaki in Konoha was finally out, after one hundred years people knew that the village hidden in the leaves housed a Jinchuuriki. In an ideal world it would be Naruto's children that would hold the Kyuubi when Kushina was ready to pass on, but now there was nothing the Sandaime could do to cover up that Konoha possessed a Jinchuuriki for the strongest tailed beast. Despite claiming that it was an S-rank secret to the gathered shinobi the word got out and the Hokage had to make an official law only days after the attack making it illegal to talk about the sealing. The law wasn't taken serious until he executed upwards of fifty citizens and impaled their bodies on wooden pikes in strategic points throughout Konoha. After that nobody dared speak the secret in public, and even in their homes the people would whisper it.

Now though Naruto was shining under Kakashi's tutelage and his future looked bright. No longer is he the insecure child that would yell about being Hokage to make himself feel better. Now Naruto is a proud young ninja of Konoha and growing more physically and mentally nearly every day. 'Hopefully Naruto can rise to the occasion during the chuunin exams, it may be about time to recall Jiraiya and reveal his history, I just hope that he can forgive an old man for lying and hiding his past from him.'

The old Kage was broken from his musing by his secretary buzzing him saying there was a message for him. Just as he pressed the button confirming he was ready the doors flew open and a young brown haired chuunin burst in holding a scroll wrapped so tightly in his hand that his knuckles were white. "Hokage-sama we have just received a message from Suna bearing the Kage Seal."

The Sandaime was given the scroll by the chuunin before he dismissing the boy and bending over he popped a secret compartment in his old oak desk made by the Shodaime himself. Pulling his hand back out the current Hokage revealed a smooth black stone with an intricate carving on one side. Placing the carved end into the depression in the scroll's lock he watched as it popped open and fell off of the scroll before he opened it and began reading.

_Sandaime Hokage-dono_

_It is with great pain that I write you to ask this. As you know Suna is a proud nation and doesn't ask for favors lightly, and if you will agree to my proposal I promise that it will benefit your village in the long run. Sunagakure is in dire straits, during this long peacetime the Daimyo has seen fit to cut funding to the village and because our mission price had to rise he started sending more and more missions to Tanigakure along with recommending the same to other clients. We are slowly rotting from the inside out and I need to do something desperate to preserve my people's future. This is my second to last option and I ask that you carefully consider my proposal. Suna would like to ask if we could rotate the Chuunin exam schedule so this years spring exam is in Sunagakure and the fall one will be in Konohagakure. We are in a dreadful situation and we must impress our foolish lord while raising funds. I await your response Lord Hokage and would like to talk about strengthening our alliance down the line._

_Yondaime Kazekage_

As he finished reading the Sandaime thought back to ponder what he just learned. 'This is a surprise indeed, the proudest of Kage asking for help and openly admit weakness… it is an interesting offer though. There is no reason that we cannot wait another six months for the exam, in fact that could work in our favor. It is during the fall season that Konoha has the most tourists to watch the leaves change color, there is the potential to make quite a tidy profit as well as make our village look like a better ally to the ninja of Suna. Perhaps it would be the best decision in the long run for the village, but I'll need to do a lot of work to prepare and notify all the attendees. Then I'll have to rank the genin teams, according to the budget we set aside for the Suna exams we only have enough to send ten teams, their sensei, and a chaperone. I should schedule a meeting with Koharu and Homura.' Reaching forward to the red button on his desk the Sandaime pressed it and asked his secretary, "Ami-chan can you get me Ibiki, Yuugao, and Tenzo please?" Hearing her positive reply the old kage leaned back before lighting his pipe and pulling out the unpublished version of Jiraiya's next work, "Oho my student you have outdone yourself this time."

Naruto was lying on his surprisingly comfortable bed in his apartment fiddling with his hair. His blonde locks have grown considerably since he became a genin just like his ninja skills. Sakura even said it doesn't look like he had a yellow sea urchin on his head, and he decided to take that as a compliment. Pulling down one of his bangs Naruto noted that when he pulled the unruly strand of yellow down it just reached above his eye brow. Looking around at his room Naruto began to understand that an orphan, not to mention hated demon container, shouldn't be able to have such a nice apartment and heavenly bed as his mind began to race again. 'I'm surprised that I don't live in an abandoned warehouse getting by on the skin of my teeth. I always thought Oji-chan paid for me but it was probably some sort of inheritance from my parents. I need to go back and visit the old goat soon because he really didn't tell me much. I know my mom's name was Kushina and is a member of the Uzumaki clan that was skilled with suiton, fuuinjutsu, and was wiped out. Jiji also said I reminded him of her from time to time, but I didn't want to act like that so does that mean mom didn't have a good life either. I wonder what she looked like, or what kind of ninja she was? At least now I know that my parents didn't abandon me like I used to think. I need to find out more about them, maybe I can find someone that knew my mom and get them to slip up and drop a clue about my dad.'

Looking out his window at the Hokage monument Naruto focused in on the Yondaime. 'Why did you pick me? Did you know my parents or was I just the closest baby? Man I need to get over it, at least I know who my mom is now and that's something. Now I can look around and find something out about her, but it doesn't change anything down in the long run. I still need to keep training to get stronger and become Hokage, nothing is going to bring my mom back.' Naruto would've stayed in his bed with his thoughts if he didn't hear his someone banging on his door. Trudging through his dark apartment Naruto opened the door before it was blown off its hinges, and much to his surprise Sakura was standing on the other side wearing a plain white skirt and red sleeveless blouse and giving him a smile that made his stomach do flips.

"Hey Naruto did you eat yet? I just got done taking a shower and found a note that my mom is going to be out of town for a little over a week and my fridge is empty so let's go out for some food. We can even go to the Ichiraku Ramen stand."

Naruto was about to turn down his teammate not even in the mood for ramen when his stomach grumbled. Blushing he sheepishly rubbed the back of his head and decided to try to put the depressing subject off his mind while enjoying the food of the gods with his crush, "Sure Sakura-chan just let me change and shower, I've had a lot on my mind."

Sakura's face got even cuter somehow as her nose scrunched up in disgust after smelling him. Getting pushed into his room Naruto listened his teammate gently scold him, "Hurry up, I'm hungry and I haven't seen Teuchi-san or Ayame-chan in ages."

After Naruto showered and changed into some blue shorts and a black t-shirt the two set off towards the ramen stand and it didn't take long for Sakura observed her teammate, 'I wonder why he's being so quiet and not jumping around like the time he accidentally drugged us both with the hallucinogenic poison. Through it's not that he has been as hyperactive as he used to be, but his usual bounce is gone.' "Naruto, what's wrong? Is it something the Hokage told you?"

Looking at his crush Naruto tried his best to muster a smile and he managed to plaster his fake grin on his face before replying, "Naw I'm fine Sakura-chan, I'm just going over the mission in my head, I can't believe that the village got torn apart like that and we couldn't do anything."

Naruto was sure that his usual happy front and answer was perfect so he was surprised when the pinkette frowned at him and said, "Don't lie to me like that Naruto, you were angry about that but you understood why it happened. No you and Kaka-sensei stayed behind to talk to the Hokage and now you're acting all gloomy like Sasuke used to."

Managing a sad smile at her joke Naruto looked into Sakura's green eyes and was surprised at the amount of hurt that he saw there. "I'm sorry Sakura-chan, I'll tell you when we get to Ichiraku."

The rest of the walk was spent in a comfortable silence before the two arrived and were greeted warmly by the stand workers. Sakura was initially treated frostily by the duo, probably because they heard of her constant abuse of Naruto in the academy, but after talking to the two and seeing how she genuinely seemed remorseful for her past treatment of the blonde they quickly warmed up to her. Ayame would dote on Sakura telling her how cute she was with her pink hair and the pair would constantly tease the genin tinting their faces red. After a couple visits to the homey stand Sakura understood why Naruto loved Ramen so much. The two shinobi were once again subjected to teasing as they told the story about their mission while the only other customer quickly finished his ramen, and gave Naruto a dirty look before he left quickly. After they were alone Naruto turned to the stand workers, "Hey guys could you close down the stand? I have something I want to talk to you and Sakura about."

Teuchi got a concerned look as he stared at Naruto before answering, "Sure kiddo just let me drop the blinds and put the break sign out."

After the man returned Naruto turned to Sakura before taking a deep breath and exhaling slowly, "Sakura-chan you remember about how that Suien guy said that Taki joined in the slaughter of the Uzumaki clan?"

Sakura looked curious as Teuchi's eyes widened and Ayame appeared confused, "Yeah, are you related to them Naruto?"

Looking at the ground Naruto answered, "Yeah and I found out a little about my family from the old man when we got back." Pausing to notice Teuchi's gasp Naruto looked at him suspiciously, "Did you know my family Teuchi-ossan?"

Letting loose a tired sigh the man looked guiltily at the blonde, "Yes Naruto, I know your family, but Sandaime Hokage-sama said that I couldn't tell you until you asked me about one of them specifically, so I'm assuming he told you about your mom."

Naruto looked at the man and cursed, "Damn it, I was hoping I could get you to tell me about my dad too. Yeah he told me about my mom Uzumaki Kushina, but how do you know her old man? You were never a ninja."

"Actually I was a long time ago Naruto, but I got hit with a technique in my right arm that acts up occasionally and causes me great pain when it does so I had to retire. Remember a ninja should never assume anything, but that's not how I knew her. I was a decent chuunin, but she was one of the true elite of the village. Kushina was believed to be among the strongest in her generation shinobi or kunoichi, no I knew her because she loved ramen almost as much as you. In fact when I first met you I knew that the two of you had to be related. She disappeared for nine months and then you showed up a couple of years after she died and devoured ramen just like she used to."

Sakura giggled at hearing that and the surprised look on Naruto's face, "I guess love of ramen must be a clan trait, ne Naruto?"

Letting a real smile on his face Naruto actually got to laugh, "Hey old man, tell me more about my mom."

Getting a grandfatherly smile the man continued, "When I first opened my stand I had a large line that stretched down the street. Most shinobi heard that I was forced to retire because of an injury and came to show me some support. There was a long wait to even get seated because of all the people that showed up, and I was so busy that I actually had to hire a genin team to help me. Well your mom heard that there was a new ramen stand in town so she literally dragged her future husband, your father, through the line that went all the way down the street and around the corner shoving anybody in her path out of the way. After cutting everybody in line she promptly removed two people from their seats before ordering a bowl of salt ramen. After tasting it she literally cleared out my remaining stock in that one sitting. You see people let her go through because she could be one of the most terrifying people you've ever seen and was well known for her short spurts of extreme violence when set off." Naruto glanced at Sakura out of the corner of his eye when Teuchi stopped and shuddered as he remembered one event during pregnancy when he didn't have all the ingredients to make her order of eel and beef ramen. Luckily he wasn't that out of shape and was able to escape before it got to bad leaving the Yondaime to deal with her temper. "She was known and the Akai Chishio no Habanero (red hot-blooded habanero) because of her incredibly fiery temper. Sometimes you remind me so much of her with your zeal for life, incredible determination, and your verbal tic, she use to say dattebane all the time."

Naruto had his head down and you couldn't see his face before he suddenly leapt over the counter giving the man a bear hug before Ayame walked over and embraced him too. Sakura could only smile at the scene, 'Naruto… your family may be gone but you have lots of people that care about you now, so don't let it get you down.'

Sakura and Naruto had one more bowl while listening to another story before bidding the Ichiraku family goodbye. While walking Sakura home Naruto turned to her and smiled, "Thanks for coming over and taking me out Sakura-chan I really needed that."

Giving Naruto a smile back Sakura responded, "No problem Naruto, I'm glad that you decided to trust me and tell me about your mom. I want you to know that even if you don't have any family by blood you have a lot of friends that care about you now, including me. If you're ever feeling down I don't mind cheering you up because you're always there to encourage me." Stopping at her porch steps Sakura faced Naruto and appeared to be hesitating. Naruto watched as she looked at him before quickly embracing him in a hug, "Besides your real smile looks way better than that fake one you put on all the time."

Sakura turned around and rushed inside before Naruto could see her blush as he just stood there dumbfounded at her doorstep with his face bright red, 'That was the first time a girl my age ever gave me a hug.' Not able to contain himself any longer Naruto rocketed to the rooftops and rushed home while whooping gleefully as his problems were temporarily forgotten.

* * *

><p>Kakashi watched as his students fought viciously against his shadow clone and two earth clones in a team exercise. It's been one week since the mission to Taki and their teamwork rapidly improved after they returned. Sai actually seemed to get along with Naruto and Sakura most of the time and their coordination only improved because of it, even if the entertainment value wasn't as high all the time. Looking up at the sky upon hearing the screech of a hawk Kakashi saw the white feathers on its stomach and wondered why jounin-sensei were being summoned, 'The exam isn't for nearly two months, I wonder why the instructors have a meeting, oh well I have a little time still.' Kakashi waited till his clones were defeated when Sakura put the shadow clone in a genjutsu and the boys took out the rock clones by restraining them with ink ropes that Sai controlled before a firing brigade of shadow clones launched the Goukuuhou at the two bound clones reducing them to rubble.<p>

Dismissing his team Kakashi pulled out his little slice of paradise and began reading and thinking as he walked toward the meeting, 'It's no use, I can't put it off any longer. It's about time to start giving them individual training. I should buy some pocky after the meeting before I go talk to her about Sakura. Hopefully she waits until she at least meets Sakura before making a decision. If that works out I'm sure Danzo can train Sai and I'll work with Naruto until the exams start.' Kakashi opened the door to the office to see all eyes on him. 'Damn I'm not that late am I? And I didn't even think of an excuse, oh man c'mon Kakashi you can do this.' "Sorry I'm late but I walked under a ladder and had to retrace my steps so I didn't have any bad luck."

There were a couple of face faults at that, 'Obviously not up to my usual standards.' Addressing the crowd of instructors the Hokage began, "Okay now that everyone is here we can start the meeting. The chuunin exams are to be held in one month and three weeks. However there is a change of plans. I have been in contact with the Kazekage and because of some events the exams have been switched so the spring test is in Sunagakure and the fall one will be in Konohagakure. There is only enough money to cover the expense of ten genin teams, their sensei, and a representative of the Hokage to attend so we have constructed a list of the top ten genin teams that is subject to change until a week and a half before the start of the exams. If a team in the top ten doesn't wish to attend then the next highest ranked will be offered their chance. Now here are the rankings of the ten teams on the list at this point from highest to lowest. Ibiki if you may."

Stepping forward a man wearing a grey collared shirt and matching pants under a black trench coat. He had a black bandana that covered his head adorned with the leaf symbol. He had a small a scar on his right cheek and a larger one that extended under his left eye across his cheek and over his lips before it stopped right under the middle of his bottom lip. Stepping forward the man coughed into his hand before beginning, "Okay starting with the number one genin squad, team nine. After hearing the announcement a man with a glistening bowl cut and green spandex began celebrating and ranting about the power of youth uncontrollably, 'Hmm so Gai's team is number one, that's expected. I wonder who else is in the tope ten, we recently had a large amount of chuunin promotions on the field so the crop might not be fully ripe.' Kakashi's train of thought was broken when the man in the green eyesore landed in front of him, "Ha Kakashi my eternal rival, my team is considered the number one genin squad in Konoha, I will have to count this as a victory to me for my ability to stoke my student's flames of youth into a raging firestorm."

"I'm sorry Gai did you say something."

"Gah curse your hipness Kakashi, if your team is even ranked then I challenge you to a contest. Whoever's students advance the farthest is the winner, and if I lose I will travel from Suna to Konoha on my hands, and if I cannot do that I will climb the monument using only my teeth with a boulder strapped to my back. If I cannot do that I will cartwheel around the village of Konoha fifty times, and if I cannot do that I will learn to sing Opera, and if I cannot do that-"

"Enough Gai"

"Sorry Hokage-sama"

Lighting the secret chamber in his pipe containing a special blend of herbs the Hokage coughed a couple times before Ibiki continued, "Right, anyway ranked number two because of a lack of experience is Team Seven, had your team completed more missions Kakashi they would've been ranked top overall."

"Curse you my eternal rival, even though your team was struck by tragedy your hipness has allowed them to rise above it, no matter my pupils are in the springtime of their youth and that shall propel my team toward victory in our challenge."

Everybody ignored the eccentric man as Ibiki continued, "Team four, team one, team thirteen, team eight, team eighteen, team ten, team fifteen, and team fourteen."

At the announcement the room broke into chaos as one jounin from the back shouted, "How is it that the rookie teams are listed above veteran teams, they're green and untested."

Ibiki stared at the crowd until he singled the one that talked and fixed him with a glare, "The list was personally compiled by the input of myself, the Hokage, and two of the top ranked ANBU captains after observing team training sessions and reading mission reports. We gave missions point values depending on rank and other factors and added them up. The list is valid, so instead of getting angry at me for your team not being adequate maybe you should work on improving your teaching skills."

The Hokage raised his hand, "That's enough Ibiki. Though harshly worded Ibiki speaks the truth. Once every great while there is a generation overloaded with talented ninja and this is just one such generation. We only counted D-rank missions up to a certain number, and non combat C-rank missions are barely worth more than them. The rookies are incredibly gifted this year and every one of their teams deserves a place on this list."

The man stepped back after being reprimanded before another stepped forward, "I understand all that, but why is team seven ranked number two. Their sensei may be legendary and a Jinchuuriki is on the team, but he hasn't shown any abilities that containers usually manifest and was listed as the dobe of his year."

Kakashi feeling slightly miffed at the doubt and was pleased with the Hokage's response, "Yes Naruto doesn't have any training to control the Kyuubi's chakra and is still one of the most powerful genin. There is already an investigation into the academy to see how someone can go from dead last in his class, almost setting the record for lowest scores and still passing, to one of the strongest overall genin no matter age. But that is besides the point Kakashi's team has also completed two A-rank missions, so that moved them up the list quite a bit."

The room exploded into whispers as the Hokage finished answering. Many ninja were surprised that the Hokage himself would say that. All of them knew that he favored the boy, but their leader wouldn't say something like that without it being true. Most of the jounin level ninja and around half of the chuunin that were old enough to know Naruto's secret were supportive of him. To hear that the academy may have sabotaged a student's education was unthinkable no matter the circumstances and meant a large change was coming to the institution. Before he lost total control the Hokage spoke again, "That is all, the list shall be available for all to view in the jounin lounge and will be updated when needed. Kakashi could you please stay."

After the door closed behind the last ninja the Hokage addressed Kakashi, "I have met with the full advisory council including the guild leaders and clan heads the other day to discuss the information uncovered on your last mission. They have been informed of Taki's fall and their previous black ops and we have agreed to offer no support in rebuilding the village and have also sent messenger hawks containing their various black ops to our other allies. There will be no other hidden village in Taki no Kuni and a power vacuum has formed in the country leading to an influx of bandits and other rogues.

Because of our reputation as the strongest hidden village the Daimyo of Taki has asked that we build several small outposts stocked with enough numbers to complete the mission invoice and keep the underworld in check. We have obviously agreed and that effort is in the works under the supervision by a committee of the various clans. The other more disconcerting news is that Salamander Hanzo is dead by the hands of a rebel leader who wields an unknown doujutsu. The world is changing once again Kakashi, and in the ninja world with change comes war. I am an old man and Konoha need someone like you who is young and whose legend is growing to lead them through the troubled times ahead. My students are not fit to take the position and past their prime. I want you to take up the mantle of Hokage in the next few years."

Kakashi was floored, he had always known that he was a Hokage candidate, but he always believed there were more qualified people than him if the position needed to be filled, "Hokage-sama I am humbled by your offer but I have to decline. I have lost a couple steps since leaving ANBU and I have to get them back. Besides I am not a man suited to lead a village, my shoulders cannot handle a responsibility of that magnitude." Seeing the disappointed face on his leader Kakashi almost changed his mind. "Besides how much time do you get to read Icha Icha, I couldn't handle that."

Smiling at that the Hokage continued, "I wish you would reconsider, and if you ever change your mind the offer is open. However if you do not wish to take the mantle then I have another duty that you cannot refuse. I would like you to become my advisor along with Shikaku. You do such a good job hiding your genius behind pornography and apathy that even I forgot your prowess. Well no more, I cannot allow a resource like that to go untapped. As your first duty I would like you to stay for my meeting with Iruka involving possible changes in the academy."

Kakashi was so upset when he left the Hokage's office that he couldn't even read Icha Icha. 'Why does my gut always have to be right? More work for Kakashi, maybe I should've never taken a genin team then it would just be nice relaxing S and A-rank missions.' Kakashi stopped at the sweet store despite abhorring sugary foods and picked up several boxes of pocky. He then went to his least favorite place in Konohagakure, the hospital. Kakashi gathered himself before he entered and began walking down a familiar path, 'It's been years and I can still walk this blindfolded.' After getting the end of the hallway Kakashi looked at the open door and listened to the sound of a pen scribbling. Once again steadying himself Kakashi knocked on the open door and ignored the scowl marring the beautiful woman's features before beginning, "Rin I know it's been a long time and I shouldn't' ask this, but I need a favor. One of my students wants to be a medic-nin and she needs someone like you to be her teacher. She has a lot of potential and I know that once you see it that you'll want to help her just-"

"Your rambling Kakashi, why should I do any favors for you of all people? I told you I never wanted to see you again scarecrow."

"Please Rin, you never even need to see me, but she is perfect to be a med-nin and just oozes potential. Please just meet her and see if you're interested in training her. If you do then every other week she will be yours to train as you see fit and you won't even know I exist. She reminds me of you so much and this team reminds me of our old one including the tragedy. Please I want to protect these kids and get them ready so they can take the world head on."

The Rin looked down upon hearing the reminder of Team Minato, "That's a low blow Kakashi, bringing Obito into this… okay I'll meet her, but if she's not up to par you're on your own."

Allowing an eye-smile to form Kakashi gave her the details, "If you are free tomorrow come to the training grounds after lunch. I'll send Pakkun, he misses you."

* * *

><p>Sakura was on her way to the first individual training session with Rin-sensei. She met the woman a week ago before she offered to train her after a demonstration of Sakura's skills.<p>

**Flashback**

Sakura walked in next to Naruto who was in between her and Sai after he asked why she couldn't be pretty and feminine like Ayame. 'He may be a lot better but he still needs to get nailed every once in a while.' Once team seven broke the tree line they saw a brunette woman standing next to Pakkun in the middle of the field. She wore a purple headband and had medium length brown hair pulled into a ponytail that stopped at her shoulder blades. She had two rounded purple stripes on each side of her nose under her eyes, which were a chocolate brown. The stripes were about an inch thick and she had some strange goggles with a green frame and an orange lens around her neck. She was wearing a tight lavender and purple striped long sleeved shirt that accentuated her c-cup breasts and wore fitted black pants that stopped in the middle of her shins with purple sandals. They followed Kakashi as he approached the woman who was glaring frostily at him. Once the silver haired man got near the woman he introduced her to the team, "Hey guys this is Rin, and if you impress her Sakura she will be your sensei in medical ninjutsu every other week now that we are doing individual training."

Sakura focused in on the brunette as she was getting the once over, "So you're Hatake's genin team, and I'm supposed to train pinky." Fighting down her rising temper at being called pinky by a stranger Sakura stepped forward when called. "It looks like you use poisoned weapons, why don't' you show me your different mixes and explain what they do to the body."

Complying with the request she showed her potential tutor the extra vials of poison she keeps in her pack. "This one is a paralyzing poison, it works by relaxing all the muscles to the point that they can barely contract, if to much is used then the heart will stop and death is a result. This is a basic knockout poison that slows the pulse and contains a concentrated amount of tryptophan causing the target to fall asleep. This poison congeals the targets blood causing the heart to pump faster till it bursts, and this one increases the rate that the nerves communicate increasing pain making it perfect for interrogation, oh and this poison uses several natural psychotropic plants to cause hallucination."

Looking slightly impressed the scowling woman continued, "Okay not bad, now I want to see some basic first aid techniques, blondie you're the practice dummy."

"Oi I'm not a dummy."

"Shut up Naruto and take your jacket and shirt off."

The blonde paled at the threatening look on the pinkette's face and was topless faster than even Kakashi could follow. About half an hour later and several different bandaging and splinting techniques Naruto was unable to move and looked like a mummy. "Once again not bad, but if you want me to take you on as a student then you better impress me here and now." After finishing the sentence she burst into action suddenly appearing right in front of Sakura before delivering a solid right cross that knocked the girl into the trees. Suddenly several senbon came from the tree line and as Rin blocked them with the flat of her kunai several pellets exploded at her feet releasing a yellow cloud of gas. Jumping back while holding her breath Rin had to turn quickly to her right and block several more needles. She remained in her position before throwing a kunai at what appeared to be a bush in a patch of trees.

It turned into a log as Rin muttered "Magen: Kokoni Arazu no Jutsu before and the ability to maintain in before using Kawamiri, very impressive." (Demonic Illusion: False surrounding technique) Rin jumped straight into the air past several pellets that released poison gas after landing next to where she just was. As Rin was in mid-air she felt the air move before gasping as a foot found its way into her stomach and she coughed out, "Meisaigakure no Jutsu" (Hiding with camouflage technique). When she collided with the ground several senbon pierced her skin before she turned into a puddle of water revealing she was a water clone before a pink and red blur went flying out from a patch of trees into the clearing with Rin closely following in the air. As she landed the jounin delivered a brutal axe kick into Sakura's stomach and Kakashi had to hold Naruto back before Sakura burst into cherry blossom petals and her voice rang out, Hana Ninpo: Kyoku Sai (Flower Art: Mirror Flower Water Move). The Blossoms surrounded blacking out her field of vision before she released the genjutsu and grabbed the fist about to slam into her jaw before throwing the girl across the clearing and calling out, "ENOUGH."

Sakura stopped as Rin continued, "Not bad I'm impressed, you're not completely hopeless. I'll give you a chance, but if at any point I think you are slacking the training is over and you can go to basic medical school if you want to learn some techniques."

**Flashback End**

Needless to say Sakura agreed immediately and was now skipping towards the hospital in a great mood. After working hard it's finally paying off and someone she never met acknowledged her skill, and that person happened to be one of the premier med-nin in Konoha. And the cherry on top is that her mom is supposed to be back from her trip today. After entering the hospital she returned the receptionist's greeting before following the directions towards Rin's office. When Sakura entered she was surprised at the appearence. The office was about two thirds the size of the Hokage's with a small desk in the far left corner looking out the window. There were several shelves filled with everything from medical textbooks to advanced treatises in cutting edge medicine with a plush carpet over maple floors and expensive looking leather furniture. Sakura was slightly awed as a hand tapped her on the shoulder, "Close your mouth you're drooling."

Hastily wiping the string of spit from her chin and lips Sakura turned around to greet her new sensei only to get cut off by some scrolls being shoved into her hands. "These are basic medical control exercises. You may have perfect control for a genin but you are still light-years away from being able to perform complex medical procedures using just chakra." After stuffing the scrolls into her pack Sakura once again turned around to have two textbooks about a foot thick each thrown into her dainty arms. "These are two anatomy books. The first one deals with the basic organs and body systems while the second one deals with the chakra network and how it flows throughout the body to the organs and muscles. The required reading is circled in the table of context and I expect you to have detailed knowledge on the subjects. If you don't show adequate knowledge on the books or chakra control exercises when I test you every two weeks then I will stop training you"

Sakura stuffed the scrolls in her bag before frantically following her teacher as she walked through the halls giving her a tour as she talked. "While you are training with me we shall work on several different things. We shall continue your education of healing techniques that don't use chakra, herbal creams for pain management or disinfectant, advanced techniques for bandaging and casts, and even surgery and how to perform it safely in the field if the situation ever calls for it. Most of our time will be spent in the greenhouse and animal habitat learning about various different types of flora and poisonous fauna from all over the elemental nations or in the training rooms working on first-aid or medical techniques.

After lunch we will be going to the training ground. Though medic-nin avoid direct combat there are times when you will have to fight someone head on, and barring Tsunade, most medics don't have the strength to compete head to head with front line fighters, but I will teach you how to use chakra scalpels to overcome that. These scalpels don't puncture the skin but still allow you to perform delicate operations inside a patient just using your chakra. They were originally meant for surgery but some people got the idea to use them in combat. For instance you can cut a person's Achilles tendon making it so they can no longer walk with just a tap or shut down an organ. You won't be able to hit anything vital yet because of the lack of control, but with proper application this is a deadly style.

* * *

><p>Sakura trudged towards her porch steps with a heavy backpack but she instantly brightened upon seeing lights on in the house knowing it meant her mother was home from her work trip. Feeling her energy lift up Sakura bounced up the steps and threw the door open. "Mom I'm home."<p>

Sometimes Sakura thinks her mom should be a ninja because she was hugging Sakura as soon as she finished the sentence, "Oh Sakura I missed you so much. I wish I could've given you more warning but it was an emergency and since I've worked in the back room I knew everything we needed from the warehouse and they sent me."

"No it's fine mom, I was gone for almost two weeks when we had the mission to Nami." Sakura finally looked at her mom and realized how exhausted she looked. Her hair was pulled into a ponytail but strands of it were sticking out everywhere, her eyes were also bloodshot, and her clothes looked like she just got up. "Mom do you need anything, I can get you something to eat or drink, you look dead on your feet."

Tomo started laughing and gave Sakura her signature I know something you don't look consisting of a smug grin with her eyes slightly shut and her head just barely tilted off to the right. "No I'm fine Sakura, but don't you want to hear about my trip. I went to an island where there has been a recent influx of goods being imported and exported to and from fire country."

Sakura perked up at hearing that slightly suspicious, "And does this island have a name?"

Smiling wider after hearing that question Tomo answered, "Yes it does, in fact this is because there is a large bridge there that was just recently finished allowing anyone with a cart to transport goods and trade is booming. In fact the bridge had a really interesting name, what was it? I can't remember it had something to do with fishcakes or a maelstrom… oh hold on it's called the Great Naruto Bridge and there is a plaque with a statue detailing the story of the triumphant team seven. It's amazing Sakura you're a hero, there were kids going around dressed up in copies of your old red dress or with their hair dyed pink hair. Your team really changed their lives."

Sakura couldn't help herself as she smiled at hearing that, "Wow so Nami is already getting better. It seems like we went on that mission yesterday even if it's been over two months. I can't believe that baka got a bridge named after him, he deserved it though, he did so much for that country."

As Sakura trailed off her mother once again put on her I know something you don't look, "It seems like Sakura-chan has a crush on a certain blonde baka that she's always complaining about."

Sakura gave her mother a scandalized look as she felt her face heat up, "Mother, I don't like Naruto like that. He's my friend and teammate, nothing more. "

Adopting a predatory look Tomo continued, "Then why are you blushing sweetheart? I saw that smile on your face and it looked an awful lot like the one you always use to have when you were talking about how cool and dreamy Sasuke was."

The steam was pouring out of her ears at this point, "Mom I can't like Naruto that way… I mean don't get me wrong he's really supportive and kind. He also works really hard to get strong to protect his friends but he's just so goofy and clumsy sometimes… even if it is funny. And he's not sexy at all, though he does look better without all the orange and his whisker marks are kind of cute." Realizing what she just said Sakura clamped her hands over her mouth. "No wait Naruto is not cute, nope he's gross, ugly, and disgusting. He burps and is gassy all the time and is just so, so... Naruto. Definitely not cute at all."

"Sakura and Naruto sitting in a tree"

"Moooooom stop that."

"K-I-S-S-I-N-G"

"Stop it"

"First comes love, then comes marriage"

"Mom I'm serious."

"Then comes the baby in the golden carriage."

"Mom it's not like that."

"Just make sure you use protection dear."

"Lalalalala I can't hear you."

"Oh my, you are always saying he has so much energy, I bet he's a beast in the sack."

"I'm still not listening."

** "**Honey it's every mother's right to tease and embarrass her daughter whenever she pleases." Taking delight in her daughters scarlet face and how she was fiddling with the hem of her dress Tomo thought back to her childhood, 'Now I know why my mom did this to me all the time. It's so fun and Sakura looks so cute flustered.' After she was done enjoying the simple pleasures of life Tomo continued, "Anyway dear I haven't gone shopping but I've ordered some delivery for dinner, how does Teriyaki chicken skewers and rice sound."

"That's fine mom, oh by the way I have more money from the C-rank mission let me go get it."

Sakura rushed up the stairs before her mother could respond and came back holding an enveloped stuff with ryou notes. "Sakura this is a lot, ninja certainly get paid well don't they? I can't accept this honey. This is your money Sakura and as a teenage girl you should be spending it on what you want."

Sakura frowned when her mother handed her the envelope back. "Mom we already went over this, I want you to have it. Even if you say I didn't mess up your life I still feel bad. You work so hard and I want you to take it easy, so why don't you quit your night job and only work at the restaurant."

The older woman's brows furrowed slightly, "Sakura the restaurant is the job that pays for groceries, I couldn't make enough just working there. The warehouse job pays more and if I continue doing well they might promote me and keep sending me to Nami no Kuni or other trading partners and I'll be getting a serious wage increase, my monthly pay will practically double."

Sakura put the envelope down in front of her mother before huffing and turning to the right while crossing her arms over her chest. "I wanted to be a ninja to help you out mom so you could live a normal life. I don't want you to be going to away constantly for work."

Tomo scowled at her daughter and raised her voice slightly, "I can't remember asking for your help Sakura. I definitely don't need my thirteen year old daughter to help support us."

Sakura's voice got higher in response to her mother's "Mom it's not like that, I feel guilty that you would eat less because of me or always buy me stuff but never anything nice for yourself. I'm not saying you can't provide but I want to help and maybe we can move into a bigger house with all new things instead of living here."

Tomo was livid. Her forehead was twitching much like her daughter's and her eyes were a frightening white, "So you're saying I'm can't do a good enough job Sakura. Maybe if life is so bad you should find your own place to live! I don't need your pity, I did all those things and sacrificed so much because I loved you and didn't want to abort you like your father or put you up for adoption like your grandmother said to! You think the world is so simple and you have all the answers but your still just a naïve child."

"I'm sorry I just want to help this family. We're struggling to get by and I don't understand why you won't just take the money. I can't believe that you're this dumb, I must have got my brains from dad."

Having said her piece Sakura stormed up to her room before her mom could respond all thoughts of dinner forgotten. Once she entered her room and slammed the door Sakura pulled out the textbooks Rin gave her and opened to the table of contents in the first one. Sighing when she saw that every chapter was circled Sakura began to read the enormous book.

* * *

><p>Sakura went up to her calendar to mark the date for her next test with Rin-sensei. It's been two weeks since she had her first lesson and fought with her mother. She passed the test with flying colors, but hasn't even seen her mom since the fight. After their first week of individual training team seven took a border patrol mission for a week while they did team drills, survival training, and Sakura read her books and worked on getting down the chakra control exercises. Rin gave Sakura a new scroll containing a more advanced control exercise as well as several more advanced books on biology and how the chakra network interacts with the body's various systems and said she would start learning the diagnostic jutsu and mystical palm. Sakura was about to take a well-deserved nap when the doorbell echoed through the house. After opening the door she saw Tenten there in some jeans, a tight pink t-shirt and a huge smile.<p>

"Surprise. I know we've both been super busy but I though I'd check and see if you had a day off."

"I don't really have anything on my schedule right now, let's go do something, I just need to change first." Letting Tenten in Sakura dashed upstairs to her room before throwing on a dark blue skirt and a white tank top. Dashing downstairs Sakura grabbed her friend's arm and ran out the door, "C'mon let's go buns."

After buying some new ninja and sewing supplies the two girls were at a Sukiya stand while Sakura told the story of the fight with her mother. "And then she starts making fun of me saying that I have a crush on Naruto, as if." Hearing some giggling Sakura turned and saw her friend with her hand over her mouth. "No way, Tenten that was the most feminine thing I've ever seen you do, so cute."

Blushing lightly Tenten responded, "Shut up pinky, at least I'm not a princess kunoichi like you are. Anyways you don't think that she might be right."

Sakura scoffed at her friend, "Yeah right like I could have feelings for Naruto of all people."

"I don't know Sakura, I mean whenever we hang out you're always talking about him. I remember you saying how he looked all buff one day now that he's eating healthy, oh let's not forget that dream you had."

"Gah Tenten keep that down, I told you that in confidence. That dream was just because we had to share a tent on our last mission after I unpacked mine and saw all the holes that mice chewed into it and then it rained."

Tenten rested her chin on the palm of her hand as her eyes glinted at the younger girl, "But Sakura-chan remember you said you woke and your panties were sopping wet while something big and hard was poking you. I'm sure you think about that form time to time while petting your kitty."

Blushing Sakura tried to change the subject, "Th-That's not the point. What I was trying to say is that I got into a fight with my mom and we haven't seen each other in the last two weeks. I've been staying busy so I can put it out of my mind, but whenever there's nothing to do I feel awful about it."

As she finished denying any feelings for Naruto a voice surged in her mind that she hadn't heard in ages, "**Cha that stick was huge, don't you remember rubbing against it after we woke up? That felt amazing. I wonder what else our blonde baka could do with that meatstick." **

'What, I thought you were gone, why did you have to come back?"

Pulling down her eyelid and sticking out her tongue Sakura's inner persona replied, **"There's no getting rid of me, I'm a part of you and I'm back in business."**

Sakura pushed her inner self back into the recesses of her mind as she watched Tenten scratch her cheek awkwardly while trying to figure out how to respond. "Listen Sakura I may not be the best to answer this because I've never had parents, but if I had a mom I wouldn't want anything to come between us, especially if I was in this profession. I think that you should make some time and settle this with her."

"You're right, I've gotta go Tenten. We have a team drill in an hour and I need to get ready." Waving goodbye to her friend Sakura paid for her meal and as she left she vowed tomorrow would be the day that her and her mother made up. 'It looks like Kaka-sensei is going to be getting some payback.

* * *

><p>Naruto was walking towards team nine's training grounds to try to get in contact with Gai-sensei. Two weeks ago he said that he would be unable to train Naruto for the next two months so he allowed him to copy some new kata of Uzuken with the sharingan to practice on his own time. Since then they apparently went on a scheduled training trip and were finally back in the village and Naruto wanted to find out all he could about his mother from her genin student after he heard some stories from the Hokage and got a photo album. 'Oji-san and Teuchi-jisan said my mom could be scary, I hope it isn't her fault that Gai-sensei is so youthful.' Naruto could hear metal colliding and new he was close when he suddenly flipped backwards to avoid a large… turtle. "Halt, Gai-sensei is privately training his students right now and I will have to give him some warning so you do not see the team's regimen so please wait here."<p>

Naruto sweat dropped as five minutes have passed and the turtle was only about twenty strides away from him. "Here, let me help you out."

Naruto ran up the turtle and punted him towards the sounds of training only to hear, "Owww, my handsome beautiful face, why? Why would someone do that?" Naruto scratched the back of his head, 'oops.'

After breaking the tree line Naruto was greeted by the sight of Gai and Lee manhugging it out… again and watching him was a girl with brown hair and two buns who was looking at him with an appraising look before giving him a strange smile, and a girly boy with eyes like that weird girl in his class and had really long brown hair. "Umm Gai-sensei, can I talk to you for a minute."

"Yosh of course my youthful pupil. I always have time for anyone in the springtime of their youth, and the fiery passion runs through your veins."

"I'll take that as a yes, actually Sensei-"

Lee watched as one of his eternal rivals whispered into Gai's ear. 'Naruto-kun must feel lost without Gai-sensei's hip guidance.' The other two genin on his squad edged away from him as flames began burning in his eyes, 'Yosh Naruto-kun you are learning even faster than I did, but I shall not fall behind.'

The green clad genin was about to start thinking up impossible punishments to complete if he fell behind Naruto when suddenly he heard his mentor's voice. "Naruto-kun truly this is the springtime of your youth. I will be happy to give you a private lesson to help with your taijutsu." Lee began to cry, not manly tears of passion, but tears of sorrow for his shishou was embracing Naruto as his arms flailed about, obviously in wonder at Gai-sensei's amazing youthfulness, as a sunset appeared behind them as it fell over a large whirlpool. 'Oh I am in awe at the hip scene that they are producing with their youthful energies, I must join in.' That's how Naruto found himself sandwiched between the green duo as they shouted each others names. Thankfully he still had the walrus cap otherwise he would've been tortured in his sleep until he lost his sanity and allowed the Kyuubi to break free.

After the traumatizing ordeal Naruto sat in the fetal position in the training grounds sucking his thumb as Sai walked up and gave him a questioning look. "Did you discover that it is impossible for you to receive any sexual pleasure because your penis is to small?"

He received a rock to his face as Naruto stood up and yelled at him. "Shut up about my penis, I swear to god if I ever wake up and you're in my tent I will stab you thirty one times."

Sai didn't hear Naruto's threat as the rock knocked him into blissful unconsciousness as Naruto angrily fell to the ground. 'I have to say Sai has been a lot better recently. He hardly ever fake smiles… well once in a while he does… more like half the time… sometimes he actually smiles on the rare occasion. And that painting of the ramen waterfall he gave me was awesome.' Shaking his head to remove the glorious image of a torrent of ramen cascading down a cliff given to him by his pale haired teammate Naruto turned his thoughts to his other one. 'I wonder where Sakura-chan is, she's usually the first one here. Maybe it has something to do with why she's been so sad. I wish I could do something but I wouldn't know what to say. Nobody ever cared enough to comfort me so I wouldn't know what to do.' Suddenly a puff of smoke appeared and Naruto heard, "Sorry I'm late but… where's Sakura?"

Frowning at his sensei Naruto responded, "I don't know, you don't think she's hurt or in trouble"

Kakashi just opened his smut and began reading, "Nope I'd know the second any one of you were hurt, oh well she's probably getting busy with some stud."

Naruto gave Kakashi a questioning look but he just turned the page and ignored it. It was almost half an hour later when Sakura finally arrived. Giving his crush a glance out of the corner of his eye he felt a little better when he saw that she had that spark in her eye again. He was about to say hi when Kakashi spoke up, "Alright team since we're all here I'll tell you what is on the agenda. We're going to meet Rin in the park and then walk to the hot springs for some relaxation. You guys have been pushing yourselves really hard and it's important to rest every once in a while."

* * *

><p>Team seven walked towards Rin as she had her hands resting on her hips as she watched them approach, "I don't know why I believed you when you said you would be on time Kakashi, let's hear your ridiculous excuse."<p>

Scratching the back of his head sheepishly the copycat answered, "Well I arrived to pick up my students so we wouldn't be late, but Sakura-chan arrived after me."

Rin blinked owlishly at the silver haired man, "That's actually believable, but I know that responsible Sakura-chan would never be late like that."

Sakura chuckled nervously before responding, "Well actually I had some personal matters to take care of so I did arrive later than sensei."

The brunette's glacial expression melted as she bent down while smiling at Sakura. She patted her on the head while saying, "That's okay then Sakura-chan, I don't mind if you're late every once in a while just don't take after your worthless sensei."

As Rin led team seven towards the hot spring Kakashi crouched under a tree, "What is it shit on Kakashi time in heaven? I can't get a break."

Kakashi eventually caught up and team seven was walking to the hot springs down the trail in the park. As they walked down the path near the springs they passed a tree next to the fence as Naruto heard a weird high pitched giggle. Stopping and looking around he finally spots a red coattail hanging from a tree branch with lots of foliage. Following it up he realized it belonged to a man who looked like he was in his forties and was wearing olive green pants and a shirt under his red vest with a long white mane that stopped around his waist with a weird headdress that had the kanji for oil printed on it and two horns protruding from the sides and wooden geta protecting his feet.

He was looking intently into the hot spring while furiously scribbling in a note pad with his head slightly bent so Naruto could see the bright red bright stripes that started under his eyes and trailed down his cheeks stopping at his jaw. Seeing the man peeping into the hot springs Naruto reached up and jumped up grabbing onto the vest as it hung down. Now normally a teenager shouldn't be enough to pull a fully grown man out of a tree, but when said teen was wearing incredibly heavy weights it became possible as the branch snapped and the man fell with it on top of Naruto and landing in a heap forming a large cloud of dust. "Damn it you pervy old man get off me, that better be a pen in your pocket I swear to god."

"Easy there kid, I only go for the attractive woman type."

"Whatever you say perverted geezer."

"Shut up kid, I'll have you know that I am a legendary ninja, Jiraiya the Toad Sennin."

Sakura chose this moment to butt into the weird scene, "There's no way that you can be the Jiraiya."

Looking over at their sensei for confirmation Sakura and Naruto saw his one visible eye turn into a star, "Lord Jiraiya it's good to see you. When is your next masterpiece being released to the public?"

"Ah Kakashi-kun is that you? I have good news for my biggest fan, it's coming out in three months."

As the toad sage finished answering Rin's fist impacted with the back of his head sending him careening as he landed in front of Sakura, "Well if it isn't Minato's other brat." Before he could continue Jiraiya felt the cold embrace of death and he would later swear on his mother's grave that the pink haired girl is a distant relative to Tsunade as he was catapulted by her fist into Naruto and they plowed through the fence of the hot spring as a feminine screech echoed out.

Naruto came out shortly thereafter looking dazed and his nose was dripping blood, even though it doesn't look like he got hit at all. Jiraiya managed to drag himself out shortly afterwards covered in bruises, claw marks, blood and a wide lecherous grin across his face. He did a quick spin on one foot and when he completed the rotation it appeared that everything he received from the women inside the springs was gone, except the smile. Naruto turned and looked at the pervert, "What kind of legendary ninja can get hit by a genin?"

"Grr you brat I'm a super powerful ninja, and war hero." Jiraiya took three hops to the left on one foot then clapped his hands over his head. "One of the legendary three" Three hops to the right followed by another clap over his head, "Student of the Sandaime Hokage." He jumped straight up and spread his legs landing with them about shoulder width apart and his knees bent ninety degrees as he clapped his hands in front of him holding the pose, "Ladies love me, and men want to be me." Jiraiya jumped in the air and did a spin before landing in the same pose with one arm pointed downwards with his palm on the ground and knees bent even more before suddenly appearing several feet taller and standing straight up and doing the nice guy pose as an orange and yellow toad appeared underneath him in a cloud of smoke, "I am the legendary toad sage, the handsome, manly, and powerful Jiraiya-sama."

Naruto took a second to gather his thoughts after witnessing a grown man do… well, whatever the hell just happened. "Whatever you're just a little pervert."

"Hey I'm not a little pervert."

"Oh yeah then what are you?"

"A big one."

Naruto deadpanned at the so called legend, 'Wait if the weirder you are the stronger you are this guy may be a legend.' "Whatever Ero-sennin, if you're such great ninja then prove it and teach me something awesome."

Smiling at the blonde Jiraiya bent down and put his arm around Naruto's shoulders before pulling him close and smiling widely, "I would kid, but I don't train ungrateful brats like you who can't appreciate my art."

Naruto was fuming at hearing that, "Oh yeah well I'm gonna be Hokage so teach me something and you can say you trained one."

The tall man started laughing boisterously as Kakashi placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder, "Actually Naruto, Jiraiya-sama was the Fourth Hokage's master."

"That's right brat and there's no way some loser like you can measure up to the Yondaime. He was a genius that comes around once in a hundred years, though he wouldn't have gotten as far if it wasn't for my excellent tutelage."

Naruto clenched his hands in fists, even though he was used to people underestimating him it still pissed him off. Naruto just had a gut feeling that this guy needed to train him even if he would probably say no, 'This guy probably hates me for the fox.' "Oh yeah, well I'm going to be a Hokage that surpasses the fourth so if you still want to be known for training the best Hokage then you better teach me 'ttebayo."

Jiraiya laughed and ruffled Naruto's hair, "Alright kid, you got guts and I like that in a ninja so I'll give you one chance to impress me. I'll make a shadow clone that can't use any ninjutsu or genjutsu and if you can dispel it then I'll train you."

"You're on ero-sennin.

* * *

><p>Jiraiya was walking behind his godson's team looking at Rin's shapely ass in those tight pants that she wasn't wearing for her benefit. 'Damn Kakashi you messed that one up, who am I to talk though?' Shifting his gaze from the fine ass in front of him Jiraiya looked at his godson as he walked with a determined gait. 'I wish I could've been there for you kid, but one day you'll understand and hopefully you can forgive me as well. Still it was quite the coincidence that Naruto ran into me there, hell the kid practically did the job for me. I was going to arrange for a different accidental meeting after I got some good research in, but he showed up and practically demanded I trained him. I guess he just got taken in by the sheer awesomeness of Jiraiya the legendary toad tamer. That would be a good title if Gamabunta wouldn't sit on me after hearing it. Alright I'll avoid him for twenty minutes and then see what kind of crazy, desperate half-baked plan he pulls out when his back is against the wall and I'll let him get a hit.'<p>

The motley crew arrived at the training field as Jiraiya explained the rules of the wager, "Alright shrimp you have twenty minutes to land a hit on my shadow clone. If my clone went all out you would be annihilated in seconds by the overwhelming ferocity that is the legendary Jiraiya so it can't use any ninjutsu and can only defend using the academy style taijutsu, pretty much you won't face the unstoppable force that is me. If you don't land a hit then I don't have to train you and I get all your money, so I suggest not holding back."

"Hey you perverted fart that wasn't part of the deal. You just want my money to go to a whorehouse."

Giving the brat an indignant look Jiraiya said, "What I do with the money is none of your concern, and the way I see it this is lose lose situation for me. When you get the piss thoroughly stomped out of you I don't get anything except wasted peeping... I mean research time and on the off chance you get incredibly lucky and win I have to train a runt like you. Besides nothing in this world is without risks, so if you can't gut it out you should just give up."

"I never give up and I won't lose 'ttebayo."

Giving the kid a smile Jiraiya decided to get it rolling. "Talking does nothing but waste air, let's go Kage Bunshin no Jutsu." Jiraiya prepared a clone and jumped back to let it get to work. As he was about to start the match he felt Kakashi's glare, 'Looks like I need to explain about our little wager.' "Alright kid the clock starts now."

Jiraiya was actually surprised when Naruto made the same seal he just made and called out "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu" creating twenty copies of himself. The clones split off into groups and spread around the clearing surrounding Jiraiya's clone. "Not bad kid, but twenty times pathetic is still… Math was never my strong suit but my point is your lucky I can't go on the offensive, but you're still going to get your ass kicked."

Blinking at the clone Naruto seemed to remember what he was doing and unstrapped his wrist weights before throwing them at the Jiraiya clone that sidestepped the weights as the clones peppered his position with smoke bombs before two more weight bands burst through the cloud spinning rapidly towards the sage's face. Reaching up and grabbing one of the the weights Jiraiya allowed the momentum to keep swinging him around as he pirouetted around the other one and used the band in his hand to bat away the kunai with explosive tags that were launched at him back at groups of clones causing them to dispel before throwing it into a patch of trees. The clone looked at Naruto before resting his chin in between his index finger and thumb Jiraiya closed his eyes and nodded sagely before addressing the blonde, "Since your going to lose I'll give you a couple free lessons. Rule number one when fighting a legend, don't give them anything they can use as a weapon."

As he finished he heard Naruto's voice ring out as the weight and feel of the object in his hand changed and he heard a hissing, "You probably shouldn't close your eyes in a fight ero-sennin." Opening his eyes the clone saw that he was holding a log with an explosive note on it. "Not ba-" the clearing shook as the explosive tag detonated.

Naruto started strutting around the clearing while pumping his fists into the air, "Alright how's that you peeping tom."

Naruto fell face first as a log hit him in the back of the head. "And you shouldn't celebrate till the fight is over shorty."

Naruto stood up as he rubbed the lump forming on the back of his head. "Alright you pervy geezer, it's time to get serious."

"You do that I'm having lots of fun so why would I want to be serious." Jiraiya face morphed into a surprised look for a second before laughing as Naruto lifted his headband, "Oho so you have a sharingan under that headband, it's to bad you suck so much that it means nothing." As he finished his sentence it appeared that Naruto was circling around him at high speeds leaving dozens of after images. The clone looked around frantically as Naruto descended from above Jiraiya with his foot raised before the clone smirked and launched himself into the air to deliver a vicious head butt to the blonde leaving him grabbing his head and rolling on the ground. "Not a bad genjutsu kid but it'll take better than that to best someone like me."

Jiraiya looked around the clearing trying to find the blonde, as he turned his head the hermit was looking directly into the sharingan only to become paralyzed as everything around him went black and the eye grew to an immense size and began revolving trapping him in it's gaze. As he was about to get dispelled by a swarm of kunai the clone halted his chakra flow with no hand sign before turning and catching the closest one in his teeth and using it to block several other ones before spitting it out, "Gross kid maybe you should consider washing your hands once in awhile."

"God damn it stay still so I can hit you ero-sennin."

"Your about twenty years away from being able to hit me gaki."

Jiraiya threw a punch that missed the genin by a mile before almost being hit by the counter. Once again halting the flow of his chakra Jiraiya congratulated the kid, "You're not half bad with that eye, unfortunately for you I'm just too astounding for my own good."

Naruto clenched his fists, "Whatever you perv try this on for size." He rushed at Jiraiya and began to engage him with taijutsu. The Uzuken was doing alright against the inferior academy style, but every time Jiraiya was open for a counter he would speed up the rotation Naruto put him into and glide just out of range.

"That's some decent taijutsu, but I've fought a master of that style so you'll need something better." Naruto looked shocked at hearing that, 'he must've been told about his mother, maybe I should've checked in with Sarutobi-sensei about him when I got into the village. The kid is full of surprises, that's for sure.' Jiraiya continued to fend off the Uzuken before he felt something was off, 'This kid isn't dumb enough to use the same tactic if it's not working, what's he up to.' Once again Jiraiya stopped his chakra flow and the surroundings wavered showing a horde of Naruto clones surrounding him from every direction before the battalion of clones launched fuuma shuriken at Jiraiya forming a wall of solid steel that was whistling as it enclosed around the clone, "Shihohappo Shuriken" (Shuriken From all Sides).

The sennin was really tempted to use a wind jutsu, 'Why would I do that though, technically I'd lose and I'm not ready for that yet… clever kid that eye of yours is dangerous, maybe I should stop looking at it.' Jiraiya shoved off the forced suggestion and reached into his vest with both hands aiming for the pocket seals he stitched in and envisioning what he needed, he pulled out two shields that when clamped together formed a protective sphere around the clone protecting him from harm.

Naruto pointed an accusing finger at the sage, "That's cheating, you used a jutsu."

"Correction I used fuuinjutsu, not ninjutsu."

After hearing it was fuuinjutsu Naruto once again rushed with taijutsu and launched a spinning kick at the clone. When the Jiraiya copy went to punch the short ninja away it was almost dispelled as a wall of wind swirled around Naruto forcing him to pull his punch and jump back, "Fuuton: Sensougouheki" (Rumbling Wind Wall).

Jiraiya watched his godson clearly impressed. 'It seems that Kakashi is training a monster, to bad it won't be enough. There are some dangerous men coming for him and it's my duty as his godfather to get him ready.' The twenty minute mark was fast approaching and Jiraiya was waiting to see the unpredictable boy's last plan of attack. He was slightly disappointed when Naruto just filled the field up with shadow clones that rushed his using jutsu, taijutsu, and barrages of weapons that would sometimes turn into clones to try and attack from behind. Even though the amount was impressive and tactics sound it wouldn't be enough to damage an S-class ninja on their worst day. Jiraiya watched as the Naruto horde was slowly thinned as they were outmaneuvered by his clone. Clearly the kid's clones were more effective in small bunches then en masse. Jiraiya's clone was vaulting off Naruto's and using them as shields against the others attacks and just avoiding the army waiting for the clock to tick out. While it was in the middle of the complicated routine the original Jiraiya saw four Naruto's separate from the horde standing on top of the tallest tree in the training ground. Two of the Naruto's grabbed one and threw him as hard as they could toward the back of Jiraiya's clone. The third one finished a set of hand seals and launched a Daitoppa that propelled the living missile faster as he dispelled his clones creating a smokescreen before colliding with Jiraiya's clone dispelling it.

The toad hermit couldn't help himself and smiled at his godson. 'The kids an evil genius with loads of chakra, he apparently learns really fast if he improved this much over the last report I received, and most importantly he has just as much guts as I do. Yes Minato, you and Kushina created a machine. The brat will be the perfect apprentice. Jiraiya watched as the pink haired girl pulled him out of the crater before violently shaking him and calling him a moron. After nearly knocking the kid unconscious she gave him a hug that had Naruto looking like a tomato, 'I'm glad you found some happiness here too kiddo.' "Alright gaki, I may not like it but I'm a man of my word. I'll find you when I'm ready to get on it tomorrow, but for now I have work to do." With that Jiraiya disappeared back to the hot springs before taking care of business, after all Konoha had some of the finest women in the elemental nations.

It was nearly dark and the hot springs were closing for a cleaning when Jiraiya left and ran into Kakashi, "You know I don't appreciate what you're trying to do. Naruto is my pupil and I promised sensei I would train him before he was even born."

Jiraiya adopted a melancholy look at the memory of happier times. Walking past Kakashi Jiraiya made a motion with his head indicating Kakashi should follow and led him to a rooftop with a panoramic view of Konoha. "Kakashi, I wish I could let you honor that promise, but that was made in a world much brighter than this one."

Giving the sennin a one eyed glare Kakashi spoke, "What gives you the right to train him, just because you are his godfather and one of the Sannin, well I'm no slouch either, I am the best person to teach Naruto. You were gone for thirteen years and suddenly show up and expect to get first dibs. I may have not have been able to do much, but I did what I could to help the boy and I plan to make him my apprentice as soon as the team becomes chuunin and Sakura goes under Rin's wing full time."

Jiraiya's normally cheerful voice was cold and harsh, "Enough." Continuing in a softer tone Jiraiya addressed the copy nin, "Do you think I wanted to abandon my godson, if it was possible I would've gladly taken Naruto on the road with me or stayed here in the village I love, but the world is far from ideal. The road is no place for a baby and without my spy network there might not have been a Konoha. Did you know that after the attack I spread the rumor that the Yondaime died to enslave the Kyuubi to the Hokage's will forever, and that kept most of the trouble away? Or what about when I discovered Iwa's plan to raid the grain roads during harvest season after they had a particularly bad growing season."

The sage sighed and turned back to look over the vllage he had given over forty years of his life to. I had other responsibilities Kakashi, but I still did what I could too. Who do you think pays for Naruto's housing and all of his old clothes, school supplies, and weapons. I also made him an account and had one of the best damn investors on the continent build up his funds so he will always have money." Turning away from Kakashi to admire the view Jiraiya continued, "I don't want to take the kid from you. Kakashi you're doing a great job and Naruto is coming along nicely, but even the fast rate that he is improving isn't enough to face what he has to. He may be a solid ninja but he will have to face opponents that may be stronger than I am. I've picked up whispers of a group that is hunting Jinchuuriki like Naruto, and Orochimaru was just a member of it before leaving. Any group that he would join is bad news. I need to get him ready for when they start hunting, and I have to do it fast."

Kakashi finally relented, "Alright Jiraiya-sama, you can help train him, but I'm not letting you monopolize all his time. There is a little over one month left before the exams. We shall share that time and the month between the second test and finals."

"That sounds fine, but I need to take him on a training trip like I did his father to help him grow into a man. How about he stays for three months after the exams to get used to his new duties then I will take him for three years maximum before handing him back to you, but I will pop in at times to teach him some other tricks. Now that we got that settled I have something for you." Jiraiya reached into his jacket before pulling out a blue book with a man sitting down with three women draped over his shoulders giving him sultry looks. "It's my next book scheduled to be released, Icha Icha: The rectangle of love special edition with author notes and sketches as well as my autograph, I'll give you a teaser, if you remove the n the g and second e from rectangle." Jiraiya trailed off and giggled before Kakashi grabbed the book and hugged it to his chest before disappearing in a cloud of smoke. "Kakashi you're to easy. Now I'll have at least a week before we have to share Naruto. You better get ready for a hell of a month kid."

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><p>Finally almost fifty pages later chapter nine is finished. I finally introduced Jiraiya and the medical tutor of Sakura turned out to be Rin who is mad at Kakashi. Also inner Sakura returns so when she talks it will be bold. I'd like to say one more chapter after this before the trip to Suna, but if it turns out to be this long then I might split it up.<p>

-Operaman Bye Bye

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><p>Jutsu List<p>

Magen: Kokoni Arazu no Jutsu (Demonic Illusions: False Surroundings) D-rank-The user warps the vision of the user slightly changing their perception, the more subtle the more effective

Meisaigakure no Jutsu (Hiding with Camouflage technique) C-rank-The user hides themselves by projecting what is behind them in front of them hiding them from view. Can be used to attack if in wide open areas like water, from the air, or open fields.

Hana Ninpou: Kyoka Sai (Flower Ninja Art: Mirror Flower Water Move ) C-rank-The user makes it seem that the target is being surrounded by flower petals blocking their vision till everything eventually goes black. Effective in conjunction with throwing weapons as the flowers cover their approach and seem like they are doing the damage.

Fuuton: Daitoppa C-rank

Fuuton: Goukuuhou C-rank

Shihohappo Shuriken (Shuriken from all Sides) A-rank-Only can be used by Naruto, a horde of shadow clones surround the target before half transform into Fuuma Shuriken before getting hurled at the target coming from every direction. Also the transformed clones can turn back if target needs to be captured alive

Fuuton: Sensougouheki (Rumbling Wind Wall) D-rank-A barrier of wind swirls around the caster protecting them from physical attacks, some ninjutsu, and throwing weapons. Can also be disabled by exploding tags as the wind feeds the blast or smoke bombs which cause the user to suffocate


	10. Training ends and the departure for Suna

Please note from this point forward Inner Sakura will be in bold print.

Here's chapter ten and we get to meet a couple new characters as well as reintroduce some old friends. Team seven finishes up their last bit of training for the exams before the departure to Suna.

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><p>A genin with silver hair pulled into a ponytail and large circular glasses with thin frames was picking up his peculiar curved kunai after a team training session and placing them in the holster on his purple pants. He dusted off his matching purple vest over a plain white t-shirt and adjusted his white sash tied around his waist when he spotted a black viper around three feet long as it slithered out of the woods and through the clearing towards the teen. The boy straightened his back and light glinted off his glasses as he pushed them up his nose as he eyed the snake with interest. When the serpent reached his feet it coiled around his right leg and climbed up his purple pants and top before resting its head over his shoulder as a forked tongue flitted in and out of its mouth tasting his scent. Holding his hand out a scroll was regurgitated into his palm before he broke the seal and read the message.<p>

_Silver mole_

_I appreciated the gift you sent me in during our last correspondence and I think I can find some use for it later, You always give me the best presents. Unfortunately I will have to cancel the reunion with my old man, you see a valued friend of mine is sick and I have to take care of him while he recovers. Thankfully you are a gifted medic and I feel your expertise would prove useful to me in this situation. Your team will prove perfect for a mission I'm requesting and after that I think you should pay a visit and we can catch up if you are in the area._

_White Snake_

The boy let the scroll drop to the ground as the snake descended and sprayed it with venom causing it to disintegrate. The teen hastily scribbled something on a piece of paper before dropping it and disappeared in a swirl of leaves as the snake swallowed the folded sheet and slithered back to its master.

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><p>Naruto strolled down the streets of Konoha heading to the area that Jiraiya told him to go to for their training session. Team seven just finished a week of team training, so it would be his first training session with a member of the Sannin. As he walked by Sakura's house he let out a sigh and remembered the first hug she gave him on those steps with his cheeks tinged red. 'Sakura-chan has sure been acting strange recently. She's been giving me weird looks when she thinks that I'm not paying attention, and her face has been turning red all week too. She was probably pushing herself too hard and is getting sick because of it. She should take a break this week, but I hope when she feels better that I still get all the hugs.'<p>

The boy came into a large clearing next to the stream he was following and saw the super pervert peering through a telescope, "What you looking at ero-sennin?" In response he got an orange telescope shoved into his hands. Shrugging the blonde raised it up to his eye and followed the perv's line of sight and saw a pool that was at the bottom of a small waterfall where several attractive women were playing in the water. By pure chance he happened to look right at the shapely butt in a green bikini as the girl bent over to splash her friend. The boy knew what he was doing was wrong and was about to say something to Jiraiya when the girl in the green bikini was tackled by her red-headed friend who landed on top of girl pinning her arms over her head and giving Naruto an excellent view of her cleavage. He couldn't lower the telescope and when he tried to yell at Jiraiya all that came out was a perverted giggle as blood flowed into his mouth.

The pervert eventually collapsed his telescope before pocketing it, "You can keep that kid. You know there's nothing like a little sensei student bonding before training, I remember when me and Sarutobi-sensei used to sneak into hot springs to peek when I was your age after I made the Toton jutsu (Transparency technique). Anyways kid, for the next month we're going to work on the Kuchiyose no Jutsu (Summoning Jutsu), So first things first." Removing the large scroll on his back the toad hermit unrolled it revealing two names his and Namikaze Minato. "You have to sign in blood kid and after you perform the signs boar, dog, bird, monkey, and ram with blood on one of your hands and then you place it on the ground like this. After making aforementioned hand signs Jiraiya slammed a palm on the ground saying "Kuchiyose no Jutsu." Reminiscent of the day they met a large orange and blue toad with a beaded necklace appeared underneath the sennin.

After Naruto finished signing the large man rolled up the scroll and allowed the toad to swallow it before it disappeared. "Watch this ero-sennin, I'll get it down first try, 'ttebayo."

The boy made the required signs before slamming his still bleeding hand into the ground "Kuchiyose no Jutsu." Naruto was excited upon seeing the large cloud of smoke, but his optimism was shattered and he came crashing down to reality when a small orange toad about the size of his head with blue markings and it was wearing a tiny blue vest. "Yo I'm Gamakichi, you got any snacks?"

Naruto face faulted as Jiraiya began cracking up, "Oh yeah brat, you definitely nailed it first try." The sage laughed loudly for the next minute before continuing, "Oh man kid you're a riot. You'll definitely become Hokage with moves like that."

As his sensei laughed and belittled him Naruto tried once again, "Kuchiyose no Jutsu." Another cloud of smoke appeared as a yellow toad with blue markings and the same vest as Gamakichi stepped out of the cloud and spoke in a nasally voice, "Eh nii-chan, what's going on? Are there any treats around?"

The orange toad answered his brother, "Hey Gamatatsu, we got a new summoner and he doesn't have any snacks, what an asshole."

"Shut up you shitty little frog, why would I give anything to a worthless shrimp like you."

"Whoa hold it kid, first of all we're toads, not frogs or shrimp. And if you expect one of us to help out then you better have something to give us, kinda like you scratch my back and I scratch yours. Let's go home Tatsu, I think ma is making some honey bee fritters."

"Okay nii-chan, I love honey bees, so sweet."

The two toads disappeared and Naruto kept trying to summon and he was mainly getting tadpoles and other baby toads that would be useless in battle. Eventually Jiraiya's sides cramped from all the laughing and he called Naruto off, "Ohh my stomach, that's enough kid I can't handle it anymore."

Naruto fumed at the man, "Maybe if you helped me instead of making fun of me and laughing all day I could've got it down."

Waving the boy off Jiraiya answered, "Nah it wouldn't have made a difference seeing as you're pretty much hopeless, and spoon feeding is not my style anyway. I'll show you what to do and let you work the kinks out yourself, if I tell you what to do step by step then are you really learning anything? If you don't like it tough luck, go back to your other sensei."

"You know I don't give up ero-sennin, I'll get this down soon 'ttebayo." Locking his arms above the head the genin stretched and asked, "Are we doing anything else then you worthless pervert?"

After looking up at the sun's position Jiraiya reached into his coat before pulling out a scroll, book, and calligraphy brush. "Fine kid, if you're still raring to go I'll teach you some fuuinjutsu. Read this book on your own time, but for now you have to do some calligraphy until you're handwriting is absolutely flawless."

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu, alright let's get to work guys. You read the book, and the rest of you go get more writing supplies and start practicing."

Jiraiya was impressed by the ingenuity of the training method, "Hmm, not a bad idea using shadow clones to train. I guess using that method there's a small possibility even a nobody like you could become a decent ninja years from now. Well if your clones are going to practice the calligraphy I guess I could teach you something else that's useful to know."

Naruto began bouncing on the balls of his feet hearing that, "Is it some sort of super jutsu that made you a legend?"

Jiraiya laughed at Naruto's excitement before answering, "I guess you could say it helped make me a legend, but it's not a jutsu. I would say that it's more like a training method. I'll be teaching you meditation."

Naruto face scrunched up in confusion, "Meditation… how did that help make you a legend? All you do is sit still till you fall asleep."

Not bothering to respond Jiraiya made some hand seals before slamming his palms onto the ground, "Doton: Doryuso" (Earth Release: Earth Flow Spears) and two large spikes rose out of the ground about twenty feet before the sennin tapped his foot onto a patch of dirt and two square stone slabs separated from the earth that he threw up on top of the spears so they balanced perfectly. "There's a lot of practical uses for meditation. It clears your mind allowing your thought process to flow better, practicing meditation also allows you to practice tuning out distractions which will help when you have to battle in a chaotic environment, and there are tons of other things that it can lead to down the road. We won't be doing traditional meditation because I think ordinary is boring, you must become perfectly still and balance on the platform like this."

Jiraiya casually jumped thirty feet in the air and landed in the middle of one of the platforms with his legs crossed not disturbing the slab one bit. "No sweat ero-sennin, if a fat old lecher like you can do it then so can a future Hokage, 'ttebayo." Naruto jumped but as soon as he landed the platform toppled over and he braced for impact and landed face first after falling twenty feet before the slab of rock crushed him further into the surprisingly soft dirt.

"Luckily for you I also loosened the dirt around the spikes, so you better not complain. Now carry that thing up here before you try again you pathetic excuse of a ninja."

Eyes gaining a determined glint Naruto ascended the spike and placed the platform on the point before letting go and trying to jump on it again. He did better, but fell after about five seconds of trying to maintain his balance on the wobbling platform. Jiraiya watched as he fell down this time avoiding the slab before it crashed into him once again, "Look at it this way gaki, you're not only training in meditation but also getting agility training, dodging practice, and a physical workout. I'm glad your dumbass scheme worked when you fought my clone because this is almost as entertaining as peeping."

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><p>The next day Naruto arrived in the same clearing before joining Jiraiya for a pupil master peep… bonding session before he was led away from the clearing to a large gorge about a couple miles outside of the west gates where Kakashi was waiting in a wide field by a large fissure in the earth reading his new blue book. "I didn't know there was a big canyon out here."<p>

Turning to his new student Jiraiya answered, "Well you never know what's out there till you look, that's one of the appeals of travelling." Once they got within shouting distance of Kakashi Jiraiya's voice boomed out, "Kakashi, good to see you're early."

Giving the man a one eyed glare Kakashi answered, "You told me to meet you out here three hours ago."

Ignoring the masked man Jiraiya turned to his new apprentice, "Alright Naruto, Kakashi here is going to teach you a new chakra control exercise for some of your clones to do, while others will continue to practice calligraphy, and two of your clones will read these books and another will finish the one I gave you yesterday." Jiraiya held out two books, one on desert survival techniques and the other was a seal identification and application text. "While your clones are doing that you will continue to practice summoning, and I want you to practice meditation on your own time, I made you something to help." He handed Naruto a large thick square of wood, and a cone that was about three feet high. "You can use this to practice when you have a little down time."

Kakashi continued when Jiraiya finished as he lifted his eye from the book to look at his student, "Alright Naruto I'll explain the chakra control exercise, Jiraiya is going to make a depression about fifteen feet deep before drawing some seals on the bottom connected to another one that he drew over there the other day. When I activate it a large whirlpool will form and your clones will have to walk on it, so make a large number for today because I have a feeling that a lot will dispel when they fail."

As Kakashi was speaking Jiraiya made the large pond and was fluently inscribing a seal into the rock using his chakra before he connected it to smaller seal that looked similar outside the depression. He then summoned several toads around the size of a small house that quickly filled it with water. Naruto then made several hundred kage bunshin that got to work on the assigned tasks while he pierced his thumb on one of his sharp canines before making some hand signs and shouting out "Kuchiyose no Jutsu" and summoned a toad about twice the size of Gamakichi who was a light red with yellow markings and lines that started at it's eyes and descended down her whole body to the tips of her webbed fingers and toes who introduced herself after the smoke cleared, "My name… is Gamatora… I am surprised… that you summoned me… I am very unreliable you see."

Sweat dropping at the small toad Naruto answered, "Nice to meet you I'm Naruto, and I'm sure that's not true. I bet you're very reliable… I'm just practicing so you can go home anytime you want."

The toad gave him a smile before speaking in that weird way, "Thank you… you are… very nice Naruto. I shall tell my father… if I don't forget… I'm not very reliable after all."

Sighing as the toad dispersed Naruto continued to practice as he summoned tadpoles, Gamakichi and Tatsu, and several other smaller toads that weren't as big as Gamatora. Jiraiya kept on giving him a contemplative look before lifting his head and staring at the gorge and Naruto was getting a little nervous, "Alright kid, it's obvious that this method of training isn't going to work after all. I guess you're not as good as the Yondaime was, not that I'm surprised a small fry like you couldn't measure up to a once in a lifetime prodigy."

Naruto growled at the man's jab at his height and ninja skills, "Just you watch Ero-sennin I'll get this down in no time once I master whirlpool walking, 'ttebayo."

The hermit poked him in the forehead before responding, "I wouldn't hold my breath gaki, you're pretty pathetic."

"Shut up you perverted old fart, I'll and do whatever it takes to master this, 'ttebayo."

Raising his brow at that statement the sennin gave him a strange smile, "Anything huh? I knew there was a reason why I made you my apprentice short stuff. Alright, let's get drastic."

As soon as he finished he Naruto closed his eyes as the finger was coming at him again. He felt it poke him in the exact same spot it did earlier, except unlike last time it suddenly felt like he was flying through the air and as he opened his eyes he saw that he was falling into the gorge and heard Kakashi's voice ring out, "What did you do?"

Naruto tried to use the Daitoppa to slow his descent, but it really did nothing for him so he tried to stick to the spikes using chakra next, but they were to wet and slippery to stop because of his speed. Knowing he only had one chance left Naruto bit his thumb and formed the necessary seals before yelling out "Kuchiyose no Jutsu" but all he got was the worthless tiny orange toad that started screaming at him, "Summon my dad or we're going to go splat."

Naruto tried to form the hand seals again but something stopped him as he felt his consciousness being pulled somewhere. He blacked out for a second and was suddenly in a sewer in front of an enormous cage made of large lead bars each several times wider and taller than the Hokage Tower with inscriptions inlaid in gold going up and down their lengths and a small paper slip with the kanji for seal on it held the gargantuan gates together somehow. As Naruto was slowly walking forward as if drawn toward the magnificent cage when he heard a slow threatening growl that made him stop in his tracks as two large menacing red eyes with slit pupils became visible from the darkness within followed by a malevolent smile that revealed large sharp teeth, each one easily three times the size of Jiraiya and looked like they could tear anything to shreds. The teeth parted as a gale of putrid breath overtook Naruto before a dark rumbling voice addressed him, "Come closer boy so that I may rip that accursed eye from your head and savor its sweetness before rending the flesh from your bones."

Naruto was only this terrified when facing a furious Sakura, and the creature in front of him might've been scarier, 'I don't know, I'd need them to be side to side to discover who was the most horrifying.' Naruto gathered his courage while looking at the predatory eyes and wickedly sharp teeth. 'So this is the Kyuubi no kitsune, well if this fuzzball thinks he can intimidate me from behind those bars with a pair of eyes and pointy teeth then he obviously doesn't know Uzumaki fucking Naruto all that well' "Shove a sock in it fuzzy wuzzy, the way I see it you're trapped inside me and you've been living there rent free for awhile, so you will give me your chakra when I ask."

The Kyuubi laughed and Naruto instinctively shivered when he heard the terrible sound, "You've got guts kid, but not a lot of brains if you are demanding anything from me. I'll tell you what, if you rip out that eye I'll give you chakra whenever you need it, which should be often considering how worthless you are on your own."

Naruto clenched his fists in anger at the suggestion, "Shut up you stupid fox, I'm not asking I'm demanding. Give me your chakra." Unbeknownst to Naruto his sharingan was in it's mangekyou form and it began spinning rapidly as the same pattern appeared in the Kyuubi's eyes. Chakra began to leak out of the cage as it bubbled together and shaped itself to look like the torso of a large kitsune as Naruto reached out to touch it's nose a small amount of red chakra pulled away from the mass and encased his hand before covering the rest of his body. He touched the nose and the chakra dispersed in countless bubbles before it was sucked back into the cage. As the sewer started to fade the Kyuubi was roaring in rage at being controlled again, "See you later fuzz fuzz."

* * *

><p>Jiraiya was keeping a steady eye on the gorge while Kakashi was yelling in his ear about how he should've never agreed to let the sennin train Naruto. Sticking a pinky finger in his ear to clear any buildup from the yelling Jiraiya cut Kakashi off, "I forgot that Minato coddled the three of you when you were on his team, but I teach a little bit differently. I'm more of the do or die type of sensei."<p>

"You better hope you live a long life because when you see Kushina again she's going to skin you and pour lemon juice on you before rolling you in salt, and I'm sure that will just be a warm-up."

Jiraiya shivered at the thought of the violent redhead before he explained himself to the jounin. "Listen Kakashi, Naruto needs to think he's in a life or death situation to consciously access the Kyuubi's power the first time and learn to pull on it. The beast is a potent tool that he would do well to master. Besides, he's not in any real danger."

Giving the oddest member of the Sannin a blank stare Kakashi questioned, "How is falling down around five hundred feet not in any real danger?"

"Tsk tsk Kakashi, this is no longer five hundred feet deep crack, last night I came here and using earth manipulation I widened it so a large toad could easily fit and made it about a quarter mile deep. While at the bottom I inscribed some seals that release a constant stream of wind into the air that will be enough to cushion his fall. He'll land softly I assure you, for that is the prowess of the gallant Jiraiya."

Kakashi stared in awe at the power of one of the Sannin as Jiraiya laughed loudly, 'Sandaime-sama wanted me to take the seat when I have no doubt that any one of the Sannin would defeat me without really trying. If he's this worried about Akatsuki maybe I should up the intensity of my training.'

Jiraiya suddenly stopped laughing and paled as a deep voice boomed out of the canyon, "Jiraiya, why have you summoned me in a place like this? And who's this runt on my head? Get out here you lecher so I can sit on you."

"Oh shit, why'd you have to go and summon him Naruto?"

* * *

><p>Gamabunta, Gamahiro, and Gamaken were sitting in Ken's bar at Mt. Myoboku drinking Toad Firebrand Sake and reminiscing about the good old days. The red and orange toad with a large scar over his left eye in a blue happi vest with a large dosu propped next to him lit a pipe and exhaled, "I remember the time that Jiraiya actually had the nerve to summon me into the desert to fight a battalion of Suna shinobi and the Jinchuuriki of the Shukaku of all fucking people. Well the battalion was easy enough, just a Gamayu Endan (Toad oil flame bullet) caused enough chaos before we lit the Shukaku on fire with another one that overtook one of his wind blasts turning the sand glass before Jiraiya shattered it with an earth spear that woke the host up as they retreated."<p>

A toad just as large as Gamabunta was behind the bar as he played with a full bottle of Sake before taking a large swig. He was a horned toad with magenta skin and black markings around his horns, eyes, arms, and legs. He was wearing a black kimono with a white sash, and standing in front of a black sasumata almost as tall as he was mounted on a large, even for a giant toad, sake dish that was hanging on the wall. "Once… I was summoned by Jiraiya… he needed to stop a large tidal wave you see… it was about to crash over a village… but I stopped it with my saucer… even though I'm ungraceful."

The toad sitting to his left had two tone skin with aquamarine on his stomach and dark green on his back. He had yellow eyes that had grey markings around them with an orange sash on his waist and two large katana strapped to his back. "That's nothing, during the third war Iwa boxed in a large amount of Konoha Shinobi in a canyon they created as a trap, but before they could capitalize Jiraiya summoned me squishing the entire force at the exit before I killed all the nin lined up on top with my katana that were preparing to collapse the walls of the canyon to kill the leaf nin."

Bunta just grunted, "Jiraiya only summoned you because you have the fattest ass."

Gamaken responded to the chief toad, "But Gamabunta… remember when you fought Hanzo… you couldn't move for two weeks. Jiraiya should've summoned me… I would've gotten the job done, even if I'm clumsy."

Gamahiro grabbed another bottle off the back shelf with his tongue and pulled the cork out, "You would've gotten beaten even worse Ken, he should've summoned all three of us to that fight."

Bunta harrumphed at his subordinates lack of respect before adding his two cents, "I was just a little too drunk that day. The fight probably would've gone a lot better if he did bring us all out though. Once the gama trinity was on the scene the enemy lost all hope. It was always a hell of a rumble when all of us showed up."

Their nostalgia was interrupted when Ken's daughter Gamatora bounced in under the saloon style doors, "Hey tou-san… I had something to tell you… I forgot what it was though… I guess I'm just… unreliable." When Tora finished Gamabunta disappeared in a cloud of smoke, "Oh yeah… we have a new summoner… he is very nice… he even said I wasn't unreliable."

Ken just looked wistfully at his sasumata and shield, "It's a good thing I didn't get summoned… I lack coordination you see."

* * *

><p>Gamabunta felt the disorientation of being summoned fade quickly as he realized that he was in a canyon with a steady breeze that was blowing on his exposed ass. There was also a terrible bloodlust in the air that the chief toad felt he should recognize. Twisting his neck violently after not seeing the pervert on his head Bunta's voice bounced off the walls of the ravine before it boomed out, "Jiraiya, why have you summoned me in a place like this? And who's this runt on my head? Get over here you lecher so I can sit on you."<p>

The chief toad looked closer at the figure standing on his head as he recognized the bloodlust, 'No wonder it's familiar, that's the Kyuubi's chakra around that blonde… So this is your son Minato, and Jiraiya finally let him sign the contract. Let's see if he's made of the same stuff you were.' "Hey you pipsqueak what are you doing on my head. Where's Jiraiya? I need to punish him for summoning me here."

The toad fought down a wince when the blonde stomped his foot in frustration, "Shut up you stupid toad, I summoned you so that make me your master."

Gamabunta almost choked on the smoke he was inhaling when he heard that, "Who do you think you are? I'm the chief toad and there's no way that I have to take orders from a pathetic genin that couldn't summon me if his life depended on it."

Naruto sweat dropped at the irony of that statement, 'Hey I know what irony is now, take that I'm not a moron.' Suddenly the small orange toad next to him spoke up, "Hey pops this kid definitely summoned you, I watched him do it."

The boss toad cursed his son under his breath, "Kichi, what are you doing here?"

"Meh, I was just hanging out with Naruto. I used to think he was kinda lame, but now I think he's actually pretty cool."

Taking a puff on his pipe the boss toad exhaled, "Well I know my son isn't a liar so I guess you did summon me, but if you want to be one of my henchmen you have to pass my test."

Bunta watched as the kid took on a determined posture, "Bring it on you big warty toad, I'm Uzumaki Naruto and I can take anything you can dish out, 'ttebayo."

"Show me some respect gaki, anyways here are the terms. I'm gonna jump around until sunset and if you can stay on my head I'll help you in battle after we share a drink."

After finishing the toad jumped into the air as his head almost touched the clouds before descending and shaking his head all over the place trying to dislodge the blonde. After three hours passed the boss toad was pretty impressed because he just broke his dad's record through sheer willpower, and he was probably about three years younger than Minato when he did it too. The genin stopped using chakra awhile ago, probably because his reserves were running low and now he had a death grip on one of the large warts on Bunta's head. The toad started to shake even harder as the boy flew off before he closed his eye and was surrounded by a thin veil of the malevolent chakra before he shot a large wind bullet that propelled him back towards the toad until he smashed into the toad's back and got a grip on his vest before using his claws to pull himself up to the neck.

He then jumped back to the top of its head apparently refilled with energy as he held on defiantly. After another hour the red haze faded and he once again held on for dear life. The blonde somehow managed to hang on for another two hours before he slipped into unconsciousness and fell off the head just as the sun started to dip below the horizon. The toad caught the boy in his tongue before tucking him safely into a pocket. "Not bad kid, you may not have made it but you've earned my respect and the right to summon toads, we'll have to get a drink soon." After saying his piece Gamabunta jumped to the village before depositing him in front of the hospital where several nurses ran out before carrying the boy inside to treat him.

* * *

><p>Sakura walked towards the Yamanaka residence to meet with Chika-sensei to learn a poison ninjutsu. Rin was going to be in surgery all day today so Sakura scheduled some training with the blonde poison mistress. She arrived just as Ino's mom was unlocking the door to get in the house, "Sakura, right on time. Just let me change out of the shop uniform and we can go to the training ground. The genin deposited herself before picking up a magazine that was on the table, 'Konoha Kunoichi monthly, teenage version eh. Let's see, tope ten hottest shinobi in Konoha under twenty, how to look sexy but still be practical, landing the shinobi of your dreams… what is this crap? I'm glad I cancelled my subscription, I mean who really cares about all that garbage anyway?' She was broken from her thoughts when the door opened and a blonde girl Sakura's age walked in, 'Think of the Devil and she will appear.' "Forehead, what are you doing in my house?"<p>

Her brow was ticking as Sakura answered her formal rival in love, "I'm waiting for your mom, she said she'd show me a jutsu because my sensei is busy today."

Getting a smug smile, "Oh I see, you're the leftover student and have to get lessons from anyone you can."

"Shut up pig, I'm at least ten times the kunoichi that you are. I have two sensei for your information, and the one that was supposed to teach me today is in surgery so your mom is showing me some tricks because you're too pathetic to learn anything she knows."

Ino was practically frothing at the mouth, "Please, the only reason you were better than me in the academy was the freakish brain behind the billboard above your eyes. You're so pathetic that Sasuke-kun needed to step in and save you and your worthless teammate and died because of it."

Sakura was in front of Ino before she could react and was hoisting her in the air by her collar, "Don't talk about my team like that. Naruto isn't pathetic and neither am I. I'd like to see what would've happened if you guys had to fight Momochi Zabuza and his apprentice. You're whole team probably would've been killed right off the bat because he could just follow the snorting sound you make when you sleep."

Ino tried to break Sakura's death grip on her shirt, "Yeah right foreheadasaurus, I bet my team could take down yours any day of the week."

"Oh yeah porker, talk to your sensei and I'll talk to mine and we'll plan out a team spar."

"What's going on here girls?"

Sakura dropped Ino roughly on her rear, "Nothing Chika-sensei, just catching up."

Putting her hands on her hips the older blonde began to scold the girls, "You used to be such good friends too… ooh I have an idea. Ino why don't you come to the training ground with us, I bet I have some moves I could show you as well." The purple eyed woman had both girls by the ear in a flash before she shunshined them all to a training field. "Alright Ino, I'm going to get Sakura started on the jutsu first and then I'll teach you how to use my favorite weapons."

Ino flipped her long hair over her shoulder, "That's fine mom, forehead needs all the help she can get."

Sakura ignored the blonde as she flaunted her long hair as if looking down at Sakura's before she addressed her sensei, "What am I learning Chika-sensei?"

Giving the green eyed girl a smile the blonde answered, "I'm going to be teaching you Ninpo: Dokugiri (Ninja Art: Poison Fog). If you've been eating the ingredients separately for the poisons like I've been telling you to then this should be no problem. It's a B-rank jutsu, but that is because of the chakra control needed, which is your specialty, and if you mix the poison to early in your body it could affect you instead of your enemy." After demonstrating the hand seals and explaining how to use her chakra to isolate the ingredients stored in her body before mixing and expelling them towards the opponent Chika watched Sakura's first attempt as she vomited a strange blackish purple sludge, "So you're going with the paralyzing poison I see."

After making sure the pinkette was okay she turned her attention to her daughter with a predatory smile, "Oh Ino dear, did mommy ever tell you how good she is with a whip and a bladed tessen?" The blonde gulped at the tone of voice and prepared for the worst.

* * *

><p>The two girls dragged their feet behind the cheerfully whistling blonde in front of them. Sakura looked like she was going to throw up and Ino had countless little cuts marring her previously flawless skin. Sakura split off from the blonde duo telling Ino she would see her later that night when she went out to eat with her and Tenten. Despite her weary state there was a feeling of hope welling up in the girl that she might be able to get her best friend back. Sakura got some herbs from her stash in the room and began munching on them to calm her nausea, 'I should bring some of these with me when I practice this next time.' After her stomach stopped doing flips Sakura entered the shower before changing into some tight black jeans and a red camisole over a white tank top. Grabbing her purse she rushed to the restaurant with butterflies dancing in her stomach as she felt excited, anxious, and nervous all at the same time. Tenten was already waiting so they got a booth as she explained to the hostess and her friend that there would be another person joining them.<p>

The brunette looked surprised before asking, "Who's coming? Ooh I bet it's your teammate. You know he stopped by the training grounds to ask Gai a question. Since you're not interested I think I might go after him."

Sakura's brow twitched as her stomach twisted and bubbled uncomfortably, "You don't want to date Naruto. He's a nice guy to have as a friend, but he's not your type."

"I don't know, I do like blondes, and those whisker things on his face give him a wild look that just sends shivers down my spine. Lee also talks about him all the time, and if Naruto can keep up with him and my sensei then he's got to have a rockin body, even for a shinobi."

Sakura tried to dissuade her friend, "No don't be silly Tenten, don't you have Neji Hyuuga on your team? I heard from some older girls that he's really dreamy, wouldn't you rather date him than Naruto?"

Tenten adopted a thoughtful pose, "Neji is certainly attractive, but he's also feminine in ways as well as cold and stuck up. From what you say Naruto is warm, friendly, and funny. Plus from what I've seen he's all man."

Sakura growled under her breath as Inner Sakura burst through "**Hell yeah Naruto's all man, but he's also all ours so choke that bitch out before she gets any more bright ideas. Also make sure she never sees his abs, I want to play them like a redneck plays a washboard." **Her inner persona was suddenly wearing a straw hat, overalls, and had a stem of wheat in her mouth while she was drinking a jug of moonshine and scratching a washboard.

Before Sakura could respond to Tenten a voice rang out behind her, "Oh so Sakura has a crush on the dead last."

Turning in surprise Sakura saw her frenemy standing outside their booth. The blonde was all dolled up with her nails freshly painted with a small black dress that probably cost more than what Tenten spent on weapons a week, which means a shit ton. The blonde was also wearing a platinum necklace and matching bracelets on both wrists. Blushing she continued to deny, "Naruto is not a dead last, and I don't have a crush on him."

The blonde sat next to Sakura and bumped her farther into the booth with her hip, "Whatever you say, but you defended him before denying that you had a crush, and you were all up in arms when I insulted him earlier today." Turning she faced the brunette, "Hi I'm Ino it's nice to meet you."

Giving her a polite smile Tenten introduced herself, "Hi Ino I'm Tenten, it's nice to meet you as well."

Before Tenten and Ino could continue to tease Sakura the earth shook and the populous all seemed to be staring westward. The girls rushed out of the restaurant to witness one of the strangest sights of their young lives. There was a light red toad with darker red markings around his eyes wearing a blue vest that was considerably taller than the Hokage Tower and looked like he couldn't fit through the massive main gates of the village. It was jumping incredibly high in the air and flailing his head around wildly as if he was trying to get something off. Sakura was picking up snippets of the villager's conversations and hearing Gamabunta and Jiraiya mentioned quite a bit and was beginning to connect the dots as Ino asked, "What's going on? Are we under attack or something?"

Tenten looked around at the crowd, "No, the people aren't panicking. They look excited for some reason."

Before Sakura could present her theory the toad's voice washed over the village, "**God damn it you blonde rat. Get the hell off my head Naruto**."

Sighing, the pinkette looked around to see the surprised looks of the populous as they broke out into frenzied whispers and mutterings as she sighed and shook her head, "I'm really not surprised that Naruto would upset a giant toad big enough to crush him like a fly."

Tenten looked to be thinking, "You know, I think that's a summon like Gai-sensei's turtles. Even he can't summon one that big, though he assures me that there are some. That's pretty impressive, maybe I should pursue Naruto after all. Also, if he summoned a toad then that means that Jiraiya-sama, who people say is the strongest Sannin, must've shown him how to at some point."

Ino and Tenten fixed their questioning stares on Sakura, "Yes Naruto is getting trained by Jiraiya, though for a legendary ninja he's not that impressive in person. Seeing that giant toad makes me reevaluate my opinion of him though."

The group went back inside and took their seats and opened their menus as Ino idly played with her ponytail while thinking, "Why would one of the Sannin train Naruto, I mean, he was always so hopeless in school."

Sakura turned the page in her menu, "Ino, I told you Naruto isn't a dead last. I think that if he had someone to give him individual attention from day one, and he actually tried instead of just skipping class all the time then he might've challenged Sasuke for rookie of the year, and maybe even won. He apparently graduated because he learned an A-rank clone jutsu, that's also a kinjutsu, in just a couple hours. Then after the disaster that happened in Nami he's gotten so much stronger. It takes me and our other teammate Sai working together to even have a chance at taking him down. He even managed to dispel Jiraiya-sama's shadow clone, which is why he's getting trained by him."

Ino gave Sakura a weird smile, "You know if you don't like Naruto I might make Tenten my new rival. I mean now that Sasuke-kun is gone there aren't many catches around our age. I bet he'd look cute if he wasn't wearing orange all the time."

Tenten hopped in the teasing session, "Oh he is, I saw him last week talking to my sensei and he looked pretty studly. And my favorite kind of muffin is stud muffin."

Ino was about to continue but wisely changed the subject when she saw Sakura's face darken and felt the air start to chill, "So Sakura, what's with you hair? You realized that nobody would ever date you with that massive forehead of yours so you just gave up. I mean those clothes are so plain too, when's the last time you went shopping?"

Sakura's eyes rolled at her frivolous friend, "Sorry Ino, but unlike you I want to save my money, Besides I take my duties as a kunoichi seriously, which is why I cut my hair. To show my resolve, leave my regrets behind, and signal a change in my life. Maybe you should consider doing the same, I mean you were ready to give up after an hour and a half of training with your mom. I was just getting warmed up too, you'd better start exercising more porker if you want to have a chance in our team match."

Before Ino could retort the waitress came to take the orders. The brunette put down her menu first before ordering, "Yes I'd like a rack of teriyaki ribs, and a large side of pork fried rice."

Ino looked at the girl in surprise before Sakura ordered, "I'll have the twelve ounce miso steak with teriyaki broccoli and white rice please."

Ino's mouth was almost at the table before she lifted her jaw and ordered, "Um I'll have the small sushi combo plate and the garden salad please." As the waitress left Ino turned to the two girls, "Geese are you guys trying to fatten up. Did Naruto knock you up and now you're eating for two forehead, or does he like a little meat on the bones?"

Sakura was blushing at the accusation, "Sh-Shut up Ino. I actually trained hard today and plan to again tomorrow so I need my calories. Maybe if you were a real kunoichi you'd know what I was talking about."

Ino scoffed at her rival, "Yeah right, I'm just as much of a kunoichi as you forehead."

Sakura waved her off, "I doubt it, I would still be acting just like you if Sasuke didn't die Ino. It took the death of my comrade to set me on the right path, and I hope that it doesn't take something like that for you to get serious."

The conversation died out after the depressing reminder of Sasuke and they ate their food mostly in silence, occasionally asking to try the others meal or complimenting the chef. After they finished and paid the bill they left the restaurant before going their separate ways, "Bye Ino, bye Tenten, it was fun. Oh by the way piglet, I look forward to kicking your ass when we have that team spar." Skipping away before the blonde responded Sakura went home feeling glad that she ran into her old rival.

* * *

><p>It's been three weeks since Jiraiya took on another apprentice and he was once again feeling that rewarding sensation when you watched your pupil master an exercise. He completed whirlpool walking and was working on whirlpool making, which was the other beginner Uzumaki control exercise. To do this one would stand neck deep in still water and expel chakra in short rapid bursts from all over your body in a circular motion that would rotate the water around you and form a whirlpool. It was considerably harder than whirlpool walking, but with his shadow clones his godson was making steady progress. The kid can also summon useful toads now even though he still couldn't summon any of the larger ones without using the Kyuubi, but the other day he summoned Gamahatsu who was the size of a moose.<p>

Naruto also inherited his father and mother's prodigious skills in fuuinjutsu… or he was an idiot savant, one of the two. The genin easily learned the basic storage seal and was slowly branching out and modifying it and learning more advanced ones like element storage seals. The kid also was insistent that he learn a resistance seal for some reason that he wouldn't disclose. However the most fun was explosive seals. His student made an accidental breakthrough when working on the seal and it seemed like divine inspiration when he increased the thickness of the strokes in the chakra storage unit and added extra pathways to send the chakra to the ignition part of the seal creating a bigger boom.

Of course, when you have a potentially unlimited source of slave labor that was mass producing supercharged explosive notes you execute some really hair brained schemes. Like lining a section at the bottom of the ravine Naruto was tossed into with exploding tags and detonating it causing the surrounding earth to implode, which almost killing them. It was worth it though, and was easily one of the biggest booms Jiraiya had ever seen, next to the Tsuchigomo forbidden jutsu and a couple dust element techniques. One thousand explosive seals tweaked to hold more chakra creating a bigger blast was nothing to sneeze at though. Hell, Jiraiya had to summon Gamabunta to help charge all of tags. Naruto also made great strides in the meditation drill, though Jiraiya still gets his chuckles whenever his bumbling apprentice lost concentration and fell off the spike.

The sennin entered the training grounds with the blonde after some morning training to see Kakashi reading his new book with the other brats on Naruto's team who were nothing to sneeze at, if what he saw during their team exercises was anything to go by. Looking to the left he saw Asuma, 'Oh man that brings me back to the old days. I remember when sensei gave us D-rank missions to watch this brat. Hmm I wonder if I can make some money off this sucker for some payback for peeing on me while changing him.' Giving Asuma a nod and a smile he noticed smoking jonin's eyes widened. His mouth fell open though when the little blonde girl who will definitely be peep worthy in four to five years whispered something in his ear. 'Damn, that might foil my plan to hustle him.'

Giving Asuma's team a better inspection he realized it was another Ino-Shika-Chou trio. 'They really need to mix that up every now and again. I guess if it aint broke don't fix it, but where's the soul or the creativity. Imagine giving the Nara his own personal army of shadow clones to play with, that would've been brilliant. Or maybe putting the mind walker with that sexy genjutsu lady. Mind techniques and genjutsu mixed together, that would've been frightening. Or possibly placing the Akimichi with a Hyuuga and that Uchiha kid, the perfect blend of close, mid and long range combat. Tradition is all well and good, but it's about to get its ass kicked by Naruto's team.'

Walking closer to the two genin sqauds he sees that the pink and yellow haired future beauties were bickering about some stupid teenage girl thing, the creepy looking pale kid is drawing, the Nara is asleep… standing up, and the Akimichi was devouring a bag of chips. "Yo Asuma it's been a long time. Started smoking like the old man I see. Weren't you always telling him to quit when you were a kid?"

Taking his cigarette out of his mouth Asuma asks, "Jiraya-sama, what are you doing here?"

"Oh you know this and that. I had to hand deliver some information to the old monkey and I ran into blondie over there. He impressed me so I'm showing him some tricks while I'm in town."

Giving Jiraiya a suspicious look, "So he impressed you, he must've been something if you're teaching him after vowing never to take on another student."

Scratching his head sheepishly Jiraiya said, "Yeah, well he's a natural at fuuinjutsu so I felt obligated because it's a dying art and nobody could really help the kid around here. So, is there going to be some super epic cat-fight to the death here for my new apprentice by these two lovely young ladies."

As Jiraiya waggled his eyebrows in a perverted manner as he was blindsided by a rock the pink haired devil threw at him and fell on his face. "Hentai, me and Ino aren't fighting over Naruto."

The blonde haired one gave her friend a smile, "Don't worry Sakura I won't steal your precious Naruto-kun from you, he's cute but not my type. You're lucky though, if I tried it wouldn't be much of a fight." She then cradled up to the creepy pale haired kid who might be hit for the other team as he gave no indication that there was a cute girl shoving his arm into her budding breasts, "I like dark and mysterious boys like Sai-kun"

Giving the blonde his creepy smile Sai said, "If you like me and we are friends can I give you a nickname?" Naruto and Sakura still red faced from the teasing were trying to hold in there laughter by stuffing their fists into their mouths as Ino nodded, "Okay well I just read a book I really enjoyed and you look like one of the characters, so I will call you Gollum. Actually, I like Smeagol as well so I will interchange them when I address you."

Ino looked like she was about to go into shock or kill Sai. Before either could happen Asuma pulled her away while saying, "Okay, let's get this thing started so form up and get ready." When the two teams were facing each other in the middle of the training ground Asuma waited for a dramatic gust of wind to blow the debris around the field. Once some dead leaves started swirling in a breeze, even though it's spring, Asuma chopped his hand through the air, "Hajime".

After starting the match he jumped back with Jiraiya and Kakashi to watch. "So Asuma care to make a little wager, I bet that team seven takes down your whole squad without losing a member."

"Sorry Jiraiya-sama. I may be a betting man, but I don't think my team can beat the number two ranked genin team in Konoha according to two ANBU captains, my dad, and Ibiki." Asuma lit a cigarette before continuing, "I've also heard rumors that the two ANBU were so impressed that they are considering recruiting the team into their ranks should they make chuunin this time round."

That had Jiraiya scratching his chin. 'Maybe if I the brat gets into ANBU I can let them polish the kid a little bit before I take him on the road and really get his training started. I know that he would be in good hands seeing as Kakashi is the head of ANBU.'

Putting the thought aside for later consideration Jiraiya turned his attention to the fight and saw that Naruto had created several squads of shadow clones that were assaulting team ten and testing their defenses. Chouji was using the Bubun Baika no Jutsu (Partial multi-size technique) to fend off their attacks decently well. Some clones started running down his enlarged arms till the blonde kunoichi destroyed them with some well placed kunai, but the smoke made as they dispelled impaired their vision as an ink bird burst through the cloud before barreling into the pleasantly plump teen. The clones tried to press the advantage while Sakura was launching some kunai at the two as they defended their recovering teammate. Some more ink birds tried to swoop down and assault the teens, but Shikamaru and Ino held their ground as two giant hands destroyed the constructs. Team ten found no respite though as shadow clones launched a barrage of fuuma shuriken they avoided as Chouji used the baika no jutsu (Multi-Size Technique) before turning into a rolling ball of pudge that bowled over several clones Shikamaru captured in his Kage Mane (Shadow Imitation Technique) to get some breathing room.

Sakura launched some poisoned senbon that bounced off the ball and he charged through the gas she threw in front of him completely unaffected before he cleared a path allowing his teammates to follow him and escape into the woods. Team seven gave pursuit and sounds of battle started to echo from the woods for several minutes before explosions rocked the forest followed by the sound Naruto's maniacal laughter as Shikamaru and Ino chased after Chouji's flailing body as it tumbled through the air and back into the clearing bouncing off the ground as he rolled towards the middle of the training ground. Team seven was rapidly advancing along with several squads of clones rushing ahead of them on their flanks trying to complete a pincer movement on their fellow genin. Team ten broke through when Shikamaru used the Kage Mane to take over the dozen clones assaulting them before jumping back to create a gap.

They may have escaped but the Nara started breathing heavily after executing the shadow techniques as they clearly used up a lot of his chakra. The beleaguered genin were bombarded by ink creatures, poisoned senbon and gas, along with several squads of Kage Bunshin trying to coral them so they would be easy targets. The trio had to constantly dodge and had no room to counter and eventually their workhorse, Chouji, was forced split up from Shikamaru and Ino. Two fuuma shuriken that were lying forgotten on the dirt transformed into Naruto clones that grabbed the pair's arms from behind and held kunai near their necks forcing their fleshy friend to surrender.

As the battle ended Jiraiya burst out laughing, "I'd never thought I would see the day where a Nara would get outsmarted by a blonde of all people, oh man this kid is gonna give me an ulcer with all the laughing that I'm doing." Asuma had a localized rainstorm down pouring over his head as Sakura started taunting Ino giving her the peace sign and sticking her tongue out, "Ha, take that pig. I told you my team was better, but if you work hard maybe one day I'll break a sweat when we fight."

"Shut up forehead, I'll take you one on one any day."

* * *

><p>Both teams went to the Yakiniku BBQ place after the spar, on Asuma of course. Kakashi looked over the pages of his new precious at the two teams as they interacted. Ino was sitting at the end chatting with Sakura who was next to Naruto with Sai by the window. Kakashi was in the outside seat with Asuma next to him and Shikamaru was sitting farthest inside while Chouji had the standard reinforced chairs used by restaurants to seat the Akimichi, and was placed at the end of the table. The girls were gossiping about old classmates while Naruto was in conversation with Shikamaru about something, and not surprisingly, Kakashi's fellow closet genius had a portable go board that he pulled out of nowhere and was setting it up to play the blonde. Sai was watching them like… well Sai does, and Chouji sat gazing longingly at the neighbors sizzling grill while drooling. Kakashi waited for the girls inane chatter to stop for one second before getting everyone's attention, "You know that was quite an impressive fight for two teams of rookie genin, and I don't know about your team Asuma, but I was telling mine to hold back. The four members of team ten looked even more depressed once they heard that. "I'd say you've all grown greatly since the academy."<p>

The food came right after he said that as the group placed the meat on the grill getting ready to try to get some meat before the gluttonous Akimichi. Sai ended up giving Shikamaru and Chouji a nickname, and Chouji might have to pay some damage fees later but Sai won't call him Chubby Wubby anymore… probably… there's always a chance that pigs will fly some day. Shikamaru and Naruto continued their game while they ate and Shikamaru kept doing some weird thing with his hands before making a move every couple of turns.

The closet genius won by the time that the meat was all cooked, but said he wouldn't mind playing Naruto again. Kakashi made eye contact with Asuma while the plates were being cleared and had a silent conversation with body language. Coughing to get everyone's attention the elite jounin began, "Alright I'm sure that all you guys are wondering why we've been pushing you especially hard these past two months." Letting the confusion settle in the genin's minds Kakashi enjoyed the looks on their faces for a couple of seconds before continuing, "Well the chuunin exams are in two weeks and we're nominating you guys. The exams are being held in Sunagakure so my team will be kicking up individual training for the next week and a half when we will depart."

His team looked thrilled for the opportunity, but it appeared team ten's decisive loss at the hands of their classmates hurt their confidence a little. Kakashi wondered if they would pull out of the exam until his little pink haired hellion taunted her blonde friend, "Ha you better get a lot better really fast piggy otherwise I'll wipe the floor with you again, and this time it will be in front of an audience."

The petite blonde raged at her… well whatever they were, "Shut up Foreheadzilla, you got lucky this time, but I'll shove your face into the sand at the chuunin exams."

* * *

><p>Naruto took a deep breath as he neared the main gate to leave to Suna. He practically brought all his possessions sealed into scrolls and he also carried enough food and water courtesy of Jiraiya, sometimes the lecher really came through for him. He patted his pack containing two new sets of ninja tools courtesy of Kakashi and enough explosive tags to level half of Suna. Both Jiraiya and Kakashi said pack for anything so he did by taking advantage of his new sealing abilities. Naruto was a little pissed that the super pervert said not to summon toads in the desert unless it was life or death situation. He would've attempted to strangle the perverted loon if he didn't promise a kick-ass jutsu when he made the finals.<p>

Naruto rounded the last corner and took in the genin going to the exams and was surprised he knew almost half of the people attending. There was Ino, and it appeared she replaced her belt with a white whip that wrapped around her waist and had two folded fans in holsters on her thighs. Next to her were her teammates Shikamaru and Chouji looking the same as ever. He enjoyed hanging out with the lazy duo after their spar. They used to be running buddies when they were younger but they couldn't keep up with a young Naruto for long, he was always acting like he was sugar high, probably something to do with the size of his body and the amount of chakra he had.

They got together a couple times since he thoroughly kicked their asses and Shikamaru could be fun when it wasn't troublesome, although he was dropping hints that he might know about the fox, but if he did then he obviously didn't care. Chouji was also one of the most kindhearted people that Naruto ever had the pleasure of meeting and he was happy to say that he added two friends to his growing list. He also recognized bushy brow's team as well as Kiba with those two weird quiet kids that were also in his class. He looked behind him and noticed that Sakura was hurrying down the street as Sai landed next to him. They waited for the kunoichi of the team before walking into the crowd of genin and jounin sensei.

Kiba noticed the newcomers and greeted them, "Looks like everyone from the graduating class that made it is here, all the rookies back together."

The tall kid in the green coat with a large collar stepped behind Kiba before tilting his head allowing light to reflect of his sunglasses, "Yes it is good to see our comrades are also travelling with us to the exams, because there is strength in numbers."

The weird quiet girl blushed red and twiddled her index fingers together, "L-l-let's d-d-do our b-best."

Giving the girl a look Naruto said, "Hey that's no way to say it, here watch this." Naruto turned around and missed Hinata's face turn purple while he addressed the rest of the gathered ninja, "Listen up everyone, I'm Uzumaki Naruto a member of team seven, and I just want to let you all know who's going to be kicking your asses when we get to Suna 'ttebayo."

Lee seemed to get all pumped up upon hearing Naruto's proclamation, "Yosh Naruto's flaming passions are at a peak." The strange boy bounded up to Naruto and the rookies, "Naruto, I am inspired by your enthusiasm this fine morning. Your youthful flame is truly blazing and I am in awe of your passion. If I cannot do better than you in the exams I will crab walk all the way back to Konoha, and if I cannot to that I will break a boulder with my hands, and if I cannot do that then I shall strap the boulder to my back and swim across a lake, and if I cannot do that, Itai.

Tenten came up behind Lee and grabbed his ear, "That's enough Lee, hey Sakura-chan, Ino-san."

Naruto looked between Tenten and Sakura, "Eh, you two know each other?"

Giving her teammate a playful smack on the back of the head Sakura sighed, "Yes I do, Tenten and I would hang out when our schedules allowed it."

Giving the pinkette a cute pout, well in her mind anyway, Naruto asked, "Sakura-chan why didn't you ever introduce me to her?"

"Yes Sakura-chan why didn't you ever introduce me to your teammate? He seems like someone I would really want to get to know better."

Sakura scowled at Tenten, "Well he's always busy training, and... don't give me that look Naruto, you never introduced me to your new friend."

When she said that Lee appeared before her on one knee with her left hand gently clasped in his faster than she could blink. He planted a kiss on it, "I am incredibly pleased such a beautiful flower wishes to know my name. I have heard yours is Sakura, well I am Rock Lee and I shall protect you with my life if you go out with me."

Naruto was about to use his sharingan to show Lee visions where he was murdering Gai when he felt it. Sakura was pissed and thankfully it wasn't at him. She delivered a brutal kick right to Lee's chin that sent him flying past the gathered Jounin into the wall leaving a considerably large dent in the thick stone.

Kurenai raised an eyebrow, "What have you been teaching her Kakashi? I can see the weights under his leg warmers and knowing Gai they must weigh a ridiculous amount."

Marking his place in his new book the silver haired jounin gave an eye-smile and answered, "That has nothing to do with me, Sakura can be very scary sometimes."

Naruto was really pissed and he didn't know why, looking on as Sakura tried to wipe her hand clean. He pulled out his bottle of rubbing alcohol for cleaning his hands after bathroom breaks on the road before taking her hand and pouring a little on and wiping it with a cloth. Sakura's face went beet red before she yelled "Baka" and half-heartedly hit him, which sent him careening into the wall next to Lee. Well at least he didn't leave an indent like the green clad genin.

Ino gave Sakura a smile, "So cute, Sakura-chan is tsundere."

Sakura just ignored her as a white eyed girl gave her a glare from behind her teammates.

Team eight walked up to join the mayhem and Kiba tried to jump into the conversation as Naruto groggily stumbled back to the group, "So how do you know that weirdo Naruto?"

Tenten sighed as Naruto answered, "Well he may be strange, really really strange, but Lee is also really really good at taijutsu and I train with him in it."

"Yeah that makes sense, I guess you need all the help you can get and the only people that want to be seen with you are the ones that deserve to be in a loony bin."

Naruto gave Kiba a guttural growl that almost activated his fight or flight instinct, and he was leaning towards flight at the moment, "Yeah right mutt, I could wipe the floor with you, especially considering Akamaru is probably the brains of the operation."

Kiba tried to give his own snarl but Naruto didn't budge before he answered, "Whatever, it's not like you aren't the dead last."

"And I could kick your ass mutt, so what does being worse than the dead last make you?"

"Shut up dobe, I don't know why you even got nominated since you got Sasuke killed. Maybe if he had some competent teammates he'd still be alive."

Naruto was about to draw on the Kyuubi and tear Kiba to shreds before the feeling of death washed over him. Sakura was almost as pissed as he'd ever seen her and thankfully it wasn't directed at him this time. The kunoichi slammed her fist into the top of Kiba's head leaving him sprawled in the middle of the road as she raised it to hammer the Inuzuka again. Naruto grabbed her wrist as she was about to bring it down, "I should let her pummel you dog breath, but I'm only saving you today because I want that pleasure for myself. You better hope we don't cross paths in the exams because I'll show you who the real alpha is around here."

Shino walked forward before giving the blonde a small bow of his head. "I apologize for my teammate Naruto, the excitement is getting to his head."

Naruto stopped glaring at Kiba to take in the tall boy. "It's no problem… umm what's your name?"

The boy tilted his head down as some light reflected off his lenses and his shoulders hunched slightly, "My name is Shino and it is illogical to forget your comrades names. You should not do this because it can cause resentment. And teamwork has been known to suffer because of resentment. It does not make sense to do this because it can affect missions and because of that a comrade could die."

'Creepy.' "Right, umm sorry Shino I won't forget it in the future, and don't apologize for your teammate, let him grovel for it when I stomp his ass in."

Naruto turned his attention to the girl with white eyes giving Kiba a worried look 'she must like him or something', "Hey umm, I don't know your name either."

The girl turned bright red when he realized he was talking to her as she began to fiddle with her index fingers, "U-u-um, m-m-my n-name is H-Hyuuga H-H-Hinata, u-um i-it's ni-nice t-t-to m-m"

Naruto watched as the girl collapsed, "Hey, hey Hinata, are you alright? Hinata? Are you sick or something, Hinata?"

Shino came forward and picked her up, "It appears that we are about to leave, it would be logical to meet up with our sensei. We should do this because…" Shino looked around and saw that it was just him, his two unconscious teammates, and Akamaru. Looking at the dog the strange boy said, "It is rude to ignore a comrade, you should not do that because."

Naruto, Sai, and Sakura met up with their sensei just as Rin went to the front of the group, "Alright everyone I'm Rin and I'll be the Hokage's representative on this trip. It will take three days to get to Suna and you'll have two days before it starts. I shouldn't need to remind you to not cause trouble or international incidents." She paused and her eyes lingered on team seven. "We will draw straws to see who will keep watch, but if anyone attacks us well they're probably pretty stupid. Anyway I've wasted enough time, if you can't keep up you should just turn back, now move out."

* * *

><p>Another chapter down and I've hit ten, chapters and my average word count per chapter is around 8700, which aint to shabby. I want to add that from this point forward bijuu and large summons will also be in bold print, I didn't want to put it at the beginning because well then you people would've known what was coming. Anyway ten chapters in and my writing is definitely improving, I think. I also realize there is still a long way to go. Next chapter will have the first exam as well as the arrival in Suna. I'm about halfway done with the preshippuden part, there will probably be a couple more missions before Jiraiya takes him on a trip which will not be skipped over. So review the story and let me know what you think.<p>

-Operaman Bye Bye

* * *

><p>Toton Jutsu (Transparency Technique) D-rank-Jiraiya's first original jutsu created to be able to peep safely. It makes him transparent so he can sneak around undetected, he now uses it for serious purposes, though it always helps to use when doing research<p>

Doton: Doryuso (Earth Flow Spears) B-rank-The user condenses the earth into spears that rise out of the ground and attempt to impale the target. It cannot pierce anything of greater density like steel

Ninpo: Dokugiri (Ninja Art: Poison Fog) B-Rank-The user eats raw ingredients to poisons in small amounts to build up a store in their body. To use the jutsu they mix it and quickly expel it towards the target in a fog

Bubun Baika no Jutsu (Partial Multi-Size Technique) C-Rank-Jutsu specific to the Akimichi clan. They enlarge one part of their body, usually the arms, and try to smash or grab the opponent. Good defensive technique, can hold ground while keeping opponents at a distance

Baika no Jutsu (Multi-Size Technique) D-Rank- Specific to Akimichi clan. The torso of the Akimichi balloons as their extremities get tucked into the torso and they use chakra to propel themselves forward. Though strong maneuverability is limited making it a D-rank

Kage Mane no Jutsu (Shadow Imitation Technique) D-rank-Specific to Nara clan. A Purely supplementary jutsu. Attaching their shadows to an opponent the Nara makes the person imitate their movements. Mostly used to set up an ambush or hold enemies, the intelligent Nara clan has found ways to cause damage while using the technique.

Kage Nui (Shadow Stitching) B-Rank-Specific to Nara Clan. Instead of latching onto the opponents shadow, the Nara shape their shadow to form needle like points before piercing or even restraining the target


	11. The first exam, enter Sabaku no Gaara

And we're on to chapter 11 and things are picking up. The chuunin exams finally start and Naruto gets a little extra motivation to succeed as well as meeting another Jinchuuriki and Sakura gets a new rival. I was originally going to cut this off after the first exam, but after looking at how the chapters were organized I decided to go to the start of the second so the next chapter isn't freakishly long, because editing sucks. I usually read the draft 3-4 times before I upload it to my account and another 1-2 times before I actually post the chapter and I still find mistakes or things I'd like to change, and reading a 20,000 word chapter 5-6 times doesn't appeal to me.

-Operaman bye bye

* * *

><p>The night was bitter cold, but was beautiful to behold at the same time. It seemed like every star in the night sky was visible and trying to outshine the one next to it. There was no moon, but that somehow added to the mystique of the night. It appeared that the sky was boundless as it stretched outwards towards infinity filled with the white orbs as they twinkled in the blackness. The campfire crackled and provided some illumination as Naruto sat on a rock leaning back as he stared at the universe feeling tiny and insignificant in the grand scheme of things. It was the last night before the Konoha participants arrived in Suna for the exams and Naruto drew one of the straws that designated watch.<p>

The blonde didn't really mind as he wanted some time to think and reflect on his time as a Shinobi since graduating before he took another big leap in his ninja career and a step closer to becoming Hokage. The genin lost himself to his thoughts confident that his clones could watch the perimeter as he remembered the whirlwind that was his last six months and thought about his time on team seven, both the good and the bad. 'Everything seemed so easy before I actually became a genin. I would save a few princesses, get Sakura-chan to like me, and the villagers to love me before I became Hokage. Then we became a team and did stupid missions like weeding gardens and walking dogs… and I can't forget that damn cat. It was nothing like I expected, everything was still so simple back then.' Naruto reached up and held his hand over Sasuke's eye feeling the cool metal plate on his headband. 'Those were the days, I finally had people that acknowledged me, and even if it wasn't everybody I was still happy with what I had, then you had to die. I promised myself I wouldn't be afraid or run anymore on that mission, but maybe we should've. I would rather have you around than this eye. I wish I had taken this seriously since day one. If I tried as hard as I am now… maybe you could be here taking the exams with us Sasuke.'

The chuunin hopeful was broken from his musing when he felt something disturb the stillness of the night. Snapping his wrist a hidden kunai attached to a rope slid down his sleeve into his hands, but before he could throw it a voice pierced the darkness, "Not bad kid, I'm surprised that you managed to sense me."

Naruto watched as the figure stepped out of the shadows to reveal Sakura's teacher Rin wearing her brown travelling cloak as her eyes took him in like he was the only bit of water in this god-forsaken desert, "Yeah well, when you have to run laps and dodge random shit getting thrown at your blind spot you get pretty good at sensing things without your eyes."

The brunette smiled down at him like the parents he saw after they picked their kids up from school, "Kakashi has done a good job with you I see. God you've grown so much Naruto."

Naruto looked at her suspiciously, "What are you talking about? I only met you two months ago."

Sitting next to the blonde she embraced him into a protective hug, "You may not remember me Naruto-kun, but I can remember changing your diaper like it was yesterday. I took care of you as much as I could when you were a baby along with several others, but I had you most of the time when I wasn't on missions. It was heartbreaking when the Sandaime took you out of my care and put you into an orphanage. I fought so hard to keep you and wanted to adopt you, but my relationship to your parents kept me from doing my duty to them. I'm so sorry Naruto."

The older woman seemed on the verge of tears as Naruto clumsily pat her back unsure of what to do. It's not every day that you find out that you could've had someone to take care of you and had a family after living virtually your whole life isolated and unloved so he just rubbed her back in silence while thinking what to say. "It's okay… I may not remember you, but thanks for taking care of me as a baby. I… I don't blame you for what happened."

Rin pulled away from leaving a wet spot on his shoulder and gave Naruto a teary smile, "I waited till I had an opportunity to talk to you alone since I saw you that day on the training fields, and it seems like I caught you when you were brooding."

His blush barely visible in the dim firelight Naruto responded embarrassed, "I wasn't brooding. I was thinking about the last six months."

Rin smiled sadly in Naruto's direction, but judging from the far off look in her eyes it was apparent that she was thinking about someone else. "You know, you and Kakashi got your sharingan in surprisingly similar circumstances. Our teammate was killed on a mission saving Kakashi and gave him the sharingan as he was dying. Kakashi changed a lot after that day, and I don't want to see you go down that same path that he did."

Looking like he just remembered he had a coupon to Ichiraku Ramen Naruto asked, "Is that why you're always mad at him?"

Rin turned away from Naruto, "I don't want to talk about that, but don't live in the past okay. It's important to remember your fallen comrades and honor them, but if you're always looking back you won't see what's in front of you and that's the mistake your sensei makes every day." Naruto gave her a nod and she continued, "I actually made sure that you would get one of the straws tonight so we could talk. I'm really not supposed to be telling you this, but I think this will only get you to try harder and I'm tired of listening to the Sandaime concerning you. If you prove yourself chuunin material in these exams then you will learn of your father as well. So good luck, and we'll talk more after these exams when you have a flak jacket."

Naruto watched her back as she blended with the shadows and went back to her tent. Gaining a determined glint in his eye Naruto raised his hand up to his chest before clenching it into a fist, 'Alright, let's get serious. You better be ready Suna because Uzumaki Naruto is going to stir shit up. I'm gonna ace these exams then me and the old man are going to have a hell of a talk… 'ttebayo.'

* * *

><p>Naruto was the last one to go through the checkpoint and after he walked through the gates he met up with his team and took in the view. He couldn't see much of Suna when they approached because of the giant sand colored wall, but from the little that he saw now he was glad to live in Hi no Kuni and Konohagakure. The streets were wide and made of sand and a large contingent of ninja were gathered about one hundred feet up the road well within striking distance should trouble occur.<p>

The buildings were the same color as the streets and the village was incredibly dull and unbearably hot. Even though the temperature was in triple digits Naruto suddenly felt a chill go down his spine. Twisting his head calmly like he was taking in the surroundings Naruto focused in on something. On the tallest building near the gate there was a redheaded kid with a gourd on his back that seemed like he was glaring down at Naruto, though it was hard to tell at this distance. Suddenly the sunlight flashed off a nearby mirror in a vendor's stall and right into the blonde's eye. By the time he finished rubbing the spots out of his vision the redhead was gone and he looked at his team just in time to see they were moving out and following Rin.

After they arrived at the hotel lobby Rin turned to the group and addressed them once more, "Alright here are the rules for our stay. We have three days till the exam starts, and in those next three days I want everyone to keep a low profile. If you go anywhere outside your room you must be wearing your headband, but no visible weapons unless you are about to take part in an exam. Don't cause any trouble and especially no international incidents." Her eyes lingered on Naruto just a second longer as she said that and flashed a brief smile, "Lights out will be at ten so everyone be in by nine fifty. Besides that have fun and take the opportunity to see a different hidden village."

Team seven was led to their rooms. There was one large room with three twin beds, a television and bathroom. There was a door on the far wall that led to a slightly smaller room with a king size bed, TV, and the bathroom had a sit down shower and jacuzzi tub. Kakashi stepped into the separate room. "Okay guys, here's how it goes. In two days I will tell you where the exam is and once I do that I cannot have contact with you till after the second exam. Remember that you are representatives of Konoha so be on your best behavior, and if you have any questions before the exam just let me know. Also don't do anything I wouldn't do."

The blonde watched as Kakashi closed the door and probably started reading his new porn. Turning to his teammates Naruto began, "Hey guys, let's go out and see the town before doing some light training to get used to the heat."

Sakura blinked at him a couple of times looking amazed, "Wow Naruto that sounds like a good idea, I didn't know you had it in you."

The blonde fell onto his bed and curled into the fetal position, "Sakura-chan is so mean."

Sai began unpacking as he said, "I think I will stay in and rest for a little after our trip and begin drawing some scrolls for the exam. I do agree that we should do some light training. I believe we should meet at five when it starts to get cooler. No sense in overdoing it on the first day."

Sakura pulled out one of the maps they were provided while pocketing another. After scanning it for a minute she grabbed a pen off one of the bedside tables and circled an area on the map. "These are the training grounds designated to Konoha for the next three days, let's meet at the entrance at five then."

As Sai nodded and pulled out a scroll and his brush as the pinkette grabbed the blonde's wrist, "Let's go Naruto."

The pair walked around Suna taking in the sights and buying a couple items from the vendors. Naruto got Sakura a small puppet and a painted fan showing a sunset as it fell behind a mountain and colored the sands purple and red. He also bought an orange scarf that he said was for someone back home. They passed the food area and decided to get some skewered rabbit and feeling a little adventurous some grilled snake meat to try, and to their surprise it tasted like chicken. Naruto was having a great time with Sakura until they rounded a corner and he felt something smash into his legs. Looking down he saw it was a little black haired boy with grey eyes who looked around six years old. He was wearing a fancy brown cape with tan pants and a white long sleeved shirt with Suna's symbol printed on the front. The blonde genin bent down and gently picked the boy up gently by his armpits and held him so he was at Naruto's eye level, "Hey are you alright kid?"

The kid let out a panicked squeak and covered his face with his arms, "Don't kill me leaf nin."

Naruto gave him a confused look, "Why would I kill you? You just ran into me, a simple apology would be fine."

As he finished his sentence a boy and girl who were probably a few years older than Naruto and Sakura came around the corner. The boy was wearing a black body suit with a circle on his chest that was maroon on the left side and gold on the right. He had the hood pulled up on the suit and it had two points on the top that looked like cat ears, and a strange pattern of purple makeup on his face. Needless to say the boy looked ridiculous, but after a month and a half with the super pervert Naruto could safely say that the girl was a beauty.

She had spiky dirty blonde hair pulled into four ponytails that framed her slim angular face and stunning green eyes. She was wearing a white battle kimono cut off around mid-thigh and at her shoulders with fishnet just visible above her bust. She also had fishnet on her right calf and left thigh with a red sash around her waist with an end that trailed down to her black ninja sandals. The girl spoke for the two of them, "Sunaroo there you are, I'm sorry could you unhand him, he's escaped his bodyguard and needs to get back to his lessons." She glared at the boy when he twisted his neck to face her, "You're the grandson of the Sandaime Kazekage little cousin, how do you expect to become as powerful and honor his memory if you don't train hard."

The boy ignored the teen and turned back to Naruto giving him a smug smile, "You hear that, I'm the grandson of the Sandaime Kazekage. You can't make me apologize so put me down."

Naruto's eye twitched as an image of Konohamaru superimposed itself over this kid, he decided to do what he did the first day they met too. Lightly bringing his fist down on the kid's head much to his teammate's chagrin Naruto responded to the mouthy kid, "I don't care if he's your grandmother, you ran into me so I deserve an apology."

The boy in the weird suit glared at him, "What do you think you're doing? That kid is the grandson to one of the greatest shinobi Suna has ever known, he's practically royalty."

Naruto shifted his eye to the Suna ninja, "I don't care who his grandfather is cat boy, names don't mean anything to me. It's not like this kid did anything worthwhile, and I'm not going to treat him different because his grandfather was famous."

The pretty girl gave him an incredulous stare while catman growled at him, "Why you… who do you think you are? I hate punks like you, I should teach you a lesson."

He raised his finger and pointed it at Naruto's feet. The blonde could feel chakra being used but couldn't see what was happening. 'Luckily I left some clones behind after we got into the desert to practice fighting on sand.' Pushing chakra into his feet to clump the sand together under them Naruto jumped and landed slightly to the right of the boy and as he landed spun and kicked up sand into his unprotected eyes. As the boy rubbed his eyes in pain Naruto tapped into enough of the Kyuubi's chakra to ring his eyes red and call up a killer intent that he directed at the boy and coldly said, "That was a real good lesson you taught me, thank you crossdresser. Now I know that Suna shinobi are pathetic. By the way you'd better hope you're not in the chuunin exams or I'll leave nothing left but a smear of make up on the floor for your tranny friends to find."

They walked away from the boy as he rubbed the sand out of his eyes and the girl let them go. Once the two rounded the corner Sakura slugged Naruto into the nearest building, "BAKA what were you thinking? Wars have started over less, and the Sandaime Kazekage was the most beloved kage in Suna's history. What you did was spitting on his legacy and a large insult to the people of Suna."

Naruto was sprawled on the ground with swirls in his eyes. "Sakura-chan hits so hard. How long was I out? It must be nighttime, look at all the pretty stars."

* * *

><p>Temari looked at her brother as he was shaking on the ground. "Wow, you just got smacked around by a one eyed blonde shrimp, that's pathetic. Look at you shaking on the ground, it's like Gaara just threatened to kill you."<p>

The kunoichi's eyes widened when she saw the look of pure terror on Kankuro's face when he turned to her, "Temari, that kid might be worse than Gaara. After he kicked the sand into my eyes he projected some killer intent at me… I couldn't breathe sis. It wasn't psychotic or a lust for blood like Gaara it was worse. It was like coming face to face with an ancient predator that could kill me at its leisure. It was like some raw primal hunger… almost like he chose me and wasn't going to stop until he caught me and ripped the flesh from my bones… I can't really describe it."

Surprised that Kankuro was comparing some harmless looking genin to Gaara of all people Temari gave a questioning look at the direction they travelled. "You've peaked my interest, take Sunaroo back to his tutor and I'll find out about that kid since they're in the exams too."

"Are you crazy sis? That kid is dangerous just stay away."

"Look Kankuro, if he's as dangerous as you say it would be best to get some information beforehand, besides his eyes lingered on my boobs and legs. I think I just need to use a ladies touch here, and judging by the flat-chest with him it shouldn't be to hard."

"Whatever you want to do sis, but don't expect me to save you when it goes south."

Temari ignored the warning and jumped to the nearest rooftop and began scanning the streets for a flash of pink and blonde. She found them and decided to observe from the shadows for a little and was beginning to doubt Kankuro's sanity after tailing them for half an hour. The kid was laughing with his teammate and generally being a good Samaritan. He just finished helping an old lady after she dropped her bags and was struggling to pick them up and even made a clone to help carry the bags home which was something Gaara would never do. Despite the surprise at seeing a solid clone the kid obviously got lucky when he disabled Kankuro because they showed no signs of knowing that they were being followed. She leapt to the next roof as the moved from her line of sight, but she quickly found their distinctive hair colors and watched as they walked into a food stand. Temari was about to call it off and go home when she felt something pointy on her neck, "Why are you following us?"

"I'm just making sure you stay out of trouble. I though it was hilarious when you bopped the brat on his head, but one of my superiors saw and told me to trail you and make sure you don't cause any more trouble while staying here." She almost breathed a sigh of relief when she felt the point leave its resting place on her neck. She stood and turned to face the two, "My name is Temari and it is a pleasure to meet you, sorry about the misunderstanding."

The two pocketed their kunai before the girl answered first, "I'm Sakura, and I'm sorry about the whole… well everything. I didn't really want him to hit the kid or pull this off, and I figured it was protocol to get watched."

The blonde whined at his teammate, "Sakura-chan, the guy that was watching us since we left the hotel is still on the roof over there." He pointed the ninja out and the chuunin cursed loudly at being detected, "Besides, that kid reminded me of someone I knew at home and I kinda didn't think about it, but you heard Temari she said that it was funny."

"BAKA, what did Rin-sensei say, don't cause any international incidents, and you've almost caused two." Sakura sighed and put her palm over her face, "Besides you haven't even introduced yourself to Temari.

Facing the Suna genin Naruto gave a sheepish smile, "Uh I'm sorry, my name is Naruto and it is nice to meet you."

Temari looked at the blonde while thinking, 'Maybe Kankuro was right, to throw me off after only being out of my sight for a couple of seconds and to detect a chuunin tailing them. Hopefully him checking me out earlier means he's interested, and looking at his girlfriend it shouldn't be to hard to get him eating out of the palm of my hand, she's developed like a pre-pubescent boy.' "How about as an apology I show you a great place to take your girlfriend on a date."

The two blushed as the blonde self-consciously kicked the sand before answering, "Umm we're not going out, just hanging out and exploring the village and trying to get used to the temperature before the exams."

Giving the blonde a predatory smile that had him looking nervous Temari replied, "Oh I'm sorry, it's just you're such a cutie that I figured you'd definitely have a girlfriend." She moved to Naruto's right and interlocked arms with him at their elbows, "Well I'll show you a place that you can take me on a date if you impress me in the exams then."

Naruto turned bright red and stuttered out, "W-we-w- u-umm I-I-I- maybe, umm."

Sakura quickly grabbed Naruto's other arm and gave Temari a dirty glare. "Don't be silly, you can't date him. What about the exams? That's a conflict of interest."

Smiling at the pinkette and squeezed her biceps into her chest amplifying her breasts, "Of course not during the exams, I'm talking about after they're done."

Naruto couldn't answer as he was still a bumbling mess from the flirting so Sakura answered for him, "No way, I don't think Naruto is the type of guy to go for a hussy like you."

Temari let go of the genin and angrily turned to face the kunoichi, "Please I'm not a hussy you bitch. I'm the daughter of the Yondaime Kazekage, and why would he want to date someone that's flatter than sandpaper. At least I look like a woman you whore."

"Please you tramp, you may be a woman but you're far from a lady. I'm only thirteen. They must've injected you with chemicals for seduction missions because you don't have much use as an actual ninja."

Naruto managed to break out of his stupor and saw the two girls inches away from each other with lightning coming from their eyes about to break out in a fight, "Umm actually Temari we have to meet our other teammate for a light training session."

Giving Naruto a sultry smile that caused his fading blush to darken once again Temari said, "Well since I'm supposed to keep an eye on you so I think I'll escort you two to the training fields."

Sakura glared at the kunoichi but Naruto gave her a thousand megawatt smile, "That sounds great Temari, we have a map but that'll be much easier."

Once again taking his arm in hers Temari started leapt off the building and started walking trying to put some distance between them and Sakura who hurried and grabbed his left arm and laced it through her right. The two girls shot glares at each other over a crimson Naruto while having a full scale tug of war with the boy. The populous could only look on in wonder as the famous Temari-hime, the ice queen of Suna, was competing with a pink haired kunoichi over a short blonde boy from Konoha while walking through town.

* * *

><p>Sakura walked with the other genin from team seven towards the exam location with her stomach doing flips. Despite her nervousness she feeling pretty excited to start the exams because it meant that they could finish quickly and leave Suna. Even though they had only been in the village for two days Sakura couldn't wait to get away from the sand, heat, and harlots. Temari came to the hotel again yesterday and was putting the moves on Naruto. "<strong>We just need to break something off in that skank's ass so she knows not to mess around with what belongs to us." <strong>

After the jealousy wore off after their first meeting Sakura didn't sweat the blonde because that whore was probably just using her ridiculous boobs to try and weasel out some information. That's why she didn't mind when Temari appeared at their hotel the next day, but after spending most of the morning and afternoon with the Suna genin she noticed how she seemed to grip her teammate a little tighter or how she would blush lightly when he would compliment her. She especially hated the smile when Naruto gave her something, 'Why did you have to buy her that stupid stuffed weasel Naruto? I wish it was like how it used to be when girls wouldn't give you the time of day... why did I have to make you get rid of orange?'

The team held up when they came to the random doorway that was above ground. They opened it and descended down the staircase and along a tunnel into Suna's academy, which was underground to keep it cooler. When they entered the academy their progress was stopped by a crowd of genin milling around in confusion outside a door with two random Suna genin outside of it. Sakura stopped her teammates, "We should try to get around, I sense a genjutsu so this is probably some type of preliminary test to weed out the unprepared like the academy one. Let's just sneak through." The team slipped through the crowd and was about to keep walking down the hallway when one of the genin blocking the door called out, "Where are you little leafs going? You Konoha nin are so pathetic you should just leave, tree-huggers have the least hope in the desert where there is little life, and the Suna exams historically have the highest death rate."

Sakura had to fight down the vomit as the air thickened and pressure increased. It felt like she was near a dangerous animal. It wasn't malicious, but she knew that if it wanted to kill her she was helpless to stop it. The pinkette noticed that several people collapsed under the killing intent and realized Naruto was the source, 'Naruto how did you do that?' Suddenly the air lightened and team seven continued on their way unimpeded. On their way to the exam room they passed Team Nine and she heard Neji speak for the first time as he looked at Naruto, "That was an impressive trick back there, but parlor tricks won't work on me. I'm a prodigy, and a genius is always fated to beat a loser."

Sakura saw the tell tale signs that Naruto was pissed and trying to control it. His fists were clenched hard enough that blood was dripping down his fingers. His shoulders were shaking uncontrollably, and his legs were locked at the knees, "Shut up teme, it's arrogant people like you that piss me off the most. You don't know me but you think that I'm trash, well you better hope that we don't fight in the exams or I'll show you what your fate really is."

Naruto stormed away after his tirade as Neji scoffed before Sakura and Sai hurried behind him to catch up after she gave Tenten a nod and a good luck. They quickly arrived at the real door to the first exam before going inside. It was almost surreal to Sakura, the doors burst open even though Sai hardly touched them and the room went silent as she estimated forty or more teams were giving them death glares. She steeled herself when she saw Naruto returning them twice as hard with one eye, 'Wait, why are there red rings in his eye.' Sakura shook her head as the rings disappeared and everybody in the room turned away cowed except for an intimidating redhead that was glaring at Naruto like he wanted to rip him apart and watch him bleed just for the fun of it who was also releasing his own killing intent.

He was wearing an all black outfit with a white sash going diagonally across his chest that was over a brown belt going across his torso the other way that held a large gourd made of sand. He had teal eyes with dark black rings around them with the Kanji for love over his left eye. Sakura looked and saw Temari with a fan strapped to her back behind the boy as she winked and blew a kiss at Naruto causing him to blush and turn away. After they settled into an area where there they saw other teams with Konoha headbands Sakura turned and noticed the other six rookies and gave Ino a superior look that had the blonde fuming. Feeling more secure surrounded by friends Sakura sat down and closed her eyes while trying calm her racing nerves. When she opened them the anxiety surged back up when the intimidating redhead was standing there in front of Naruto with his arms crossed not bothered by the glares from the Konoha nin, like he knew they couldn't hurt them even if they all tried their hardest. "You, blonde kid. I want to know your name."

Naruto stood up and returned the intimidating stare, "It's polite to give your own name before asking others."

Sakura cursed her teammate's stupidity and pride before the redhead responded after several seconds without moving, "My Name is Sabaku no Gaara."

Naruto shifted and leaned forward as his eye hardened even more, "Uzumaki Naruto."

A deranged smile came onto Gaara's face, "I sense something in you Uzumaki. It feels dangerous and powerful, and I am looking forward to killing you in these exams because of it."

Naruto looked slightly nervous, but it wasn't from the calmly delivered death threat, it happened after Gaara said he sensed something in him as he rubbed his stomach, "I don't know what you're talking about, but if you want to kill me you'll find that it isn't that easy."

"Oh yes you know exactly what I am talking about Uzumaki. You and me are a lot alike. You may be surrounded by fools ignorant to the truth, but I am not one of them. You and I are monsters Uzumaki. That is why your blood shall be the sweetest so far, the ultimate proof of my existence."

Naruto rubbed his stomach as understanding came onto his face, "Neither of us are monsters Gaara, we're just people that carry large burdens. I don't know why you want to kill me, but if you put my friends in danger it's your life that you should be worried about."

Gaara gave him a confused look, "What do you mean? You are like me but you don't fight for yourself, you fight for other people." The boy grabbed his head like he had a migraine. "No mother, yes I know… no I shall kill him for you mother, Gaara is a good boy."

Sand was chaotically swirling around the redhead as everyone stepped back and killing intent permeated the air making it hard to breathe, but before the room could explode into a bloodbath a puff of smoke appeared and in the front of the room was a man wearing a brown cloak that reached the floor with his head wrapped in bandages leaving only his eyes exposed with a bit of skin that appeared to be scarred and tufts of white hair poking through. After the smoke disappeared another cloud formed behind him that dispersed revealing about twenty chuunin. "Sit down and shut up. If you look at the back of your entry cards you'll notice a number. Seating is arranged by team, so if you don't find the number and sit down in less than two minutes you're disqualified.

Gaara calmly walked away as the room exploded into a frenzy as Naruto summoned some clones that located the spot and called them over. Once everybody was seated with twenty seconds to spare the man began, "My name is Itsuki and I will be your proctor for this exam and I have a few rules to explain. First rule is that there will be no violence, failure to comply to this rule will lead to immediate expulsion. Now if you look down you will see either a brown or yellow paper. By the end of the exam you must have both sheets in front of you. If for any reason you do not have a sheet of paper in front of you at any point then you fail. If you do not have both sheets after fifty five minutes then you fail. There are no questions, the exam starts now."

Naruto formed twelve clones that set up a perimeter while it appeared other teams entered defensive positions looking outwards and some completely covered their papers from view. All the genin were mostly sitting still and glaring distrustfully at the other contestants. The room was motionless for about five minutes until Shikamaru muttered troublesome and stood up with his hands resting on top of his head and the three people next to him copied his actions as Ino grabbed the paper in front of them. "Team twenty eight you fail."

Sakura watched as one of the clones Naruto created as it walked over to team ten before whispering something into Shikamaru's ear. The lazy teen sighed before making the hand sign again and trapping another team as the clone walked up and took their paper before they too stood up and left. Gaara then walked over to a team from Tani and made them pass out from his killing intent before taking the paper. One team started freaking out about bugs that were covering them while Akamaru grabbed their paper and ran back to Kiba after peeing on their legs. Tenten whispered something to Lee who immediately jumped onto a desk in front of an all male team before doing some stretches that accentuated some naughty areas under his spandex. Needless to say the team all passed out, two from disgust and vomiting to much and the other from a nosebleed… which was pretty disturbing.

Sakura was utterly flabbergasted when a genin from Kumo, a non-allied nation, got up. She was blonde with an icy face and was wearing a black shirt that hugged her massive breasts and tight purple pants with a tanto strapped diagonally across her shoulder blades. She walked over to another all male team and bent over the desks as they launched back with nosebleeds and she took their slightly bloody sheet. Other teams continued to try and pilfer sheets and at one point the air conditioning turned on and let loose a massive gust that blew some papers into the air creating a free for all.

Eventually the fifty five minutes were up as Itsuki called for a halt, "Alright punks that's time. Now for the next part."

The room exploded into chatter as a random genin shouted out, "What, that's not fair. I thought this was the only test."

Not even showing a sign that he cared about the interruption the bandaged man continued, "The ninja world is hardly fair kid. A lot of times you won't get all the information up front because it is not available, but remember that information is a ninja's lifeblood. As I was saying before the interruption it's time for the next part." He held up a triangular piece of glass in a stone frame, "Those papers hold information that you need, but to read it you need a decoder like this. To get it you have to fight a jounin and steal it from them. Since the number of genin are so low I will show a little mercy to those remaining. To those teams with only one paper, you can continue this exam but half of the valuable information will be missing and you must completely incapacitate the jounin. The ninja you are fighting is authorized to use lethal force, so your lives are on the line. If you fail to take the decoder from him you are banned from taking the next chuunin exams in Konoha, but if you choose to drop out there will be no consequences."

Looking around the room Sakura saw a horde of teams stand up, she looked at her two teammates and gave them resolute nods as they faced forward ready for the challenge to come. There were probably around thirty teams left but Sakura could only count sixteen when people stopped leaving, four from Konoha, one from Kumo, ten from Suna, and one from Kusa. When it became apparent that nobody was leaving the proctor formed a hand seal and said "Kai" as the desks wavered and drawers became visible. "Please open the drawers in the desks.

Naruto's jaw dropped as he did, "Eh? We don't get to fight a jounin."

He got quite a few weird looks as Itsuki laughed, "Nope kid, that was just to see if you were willing to risk something to advance. If you don't have the guts then there's no point in being a ninja. If you run away at the first sign of danger then you can't call yourself a shinobi."

Sakura glared at the back of Temari's head willing it to explode, but she had no such luck as the sandy blonde asked, "What was the point of the papers?"

"That was to test your ability to gather information. Some of you created distractions, others took the information and there was nothing that could've been done to stop them. There was seduction used and countless other methods. Now if you open the drawers you will see the decoder that will allow you to read the paper."

Sakura opened the drawer and held the glass so they could see the papers clearly and the room face faulted in uniform except Shino, Neji, Samui, and Gaara while Itsuki laughed as the papers simply read, "Congratulations you passed the first exam."

As he finished the door opened and a woman walked in wearing spandex shorts and a maroon skirt that just reached below her shapely butt. She was also wearing a skintight tank top under a black corset that accentuated her D-cup breasts. "Alright you brats, the next test starts tomorrow and you will be putting your worthless lives on the line. The coordinates are being delivered to your hotel rooms, and any team not fully assembled at the meeting place at nine sharp will fail."

She disappeared with the rest of the proctors in a puff of smoke leaving the genin teams alone. Sakura grabbed a dazed and blushing Naruto before Temari could close in and Sai just followed her.

* * *

><p>Tenten double checked her scrolls that contained food, water, and camping equipment and stuffed them in a backpack before making sure that everyone had what they needed to survive for several days in the desert. 'I swear without me Lee would run around in underwear and Neji would forget his.' The exams were definitely intense so far, and they seemed a lot more dangerous than she thought they'd be beforehand. To add to the drama Neji noticed the Kumo ninja and she was hoping that he doesn't do anything stupid if they happen run into each other. Then there was that creepy redhead that threatened Naruto. It was amazing that he didn't scare the blonde because Tenten was terrified and he wasn't even focused on her, though Naruto projected some pretty powerful killing intent too. 'I wonder how he did that, I don't think he has a mean bone in his body. Anybody that could tolerate Lee and Gai-sensei without snapping is a saint.' When she was about to go rinse off before lunch there was a knock at the door. When she opened it Tenten realized that it was the Aburame that was on Hinata's team. "Can I help you?"<p>

The strange boy responded in a monotone, "I would like to ask a favor of your team. You saw that there was a Kumo team, and we think that there is a possibility that they will try to abduct Hinata. Logically it would make sense to reach out to our fellow Konoha-nin and ask that if you suspect foul play you help us out."

After getting over the weirdness of the Aburame Tenten answered, "Well I would love to, I think Hinata is a really sweet girl, but Neji doesn't agree with me and he might have a bone to pick with the Kumo nin. I'd like to help, but I think we should sit this one out for both our team's sake. If I see something I'll try to let you know."

The boy turned his head as his black lenses reflected the light pouring in from the window in the hall. "Very well, that is a rational reason because it would not be wise to put our teams in that situation. I am sorry to have wasted your time, it looks like I will have to go to plan b."

The tall genin left after his response leaving Tenten standing in the open door, "Strange kid."

* * *

><p>Shikamaru was lying on the bed trying to tune out Ino's nagging so he could take a nap. Ever since they lost to team seven the annoying blonde has been on a rampage and nagging them even more. "Shikamaru are you listening to me, I said do you have everything that we'll need if we're in the desert for a prolonged period."<p>

Rolling over the lazy boy covered his ears with his pillow trying to ignore the blonde's pestering. It didn't exactly work as she dragged him off the bed by pulling the covers off. As he hit the floor Shikamaru moaned, "Troublesome woman, I have everything ready because I haven't unpacked yet, it'd be too much of a drag."

The irate blonde's eyebrow was twitching as he stood up and showed her his bag before he fell face first back onto the bed. "Shikamaru you better be taking this seriously, if we lose to forehead's team again I'll make your mom seem not troublesome."

Chouji finished packing his food bag which was almost as big as him and started putting his camping supplies in a smaller one, "Ino why are you so mad at Sakura? It's not like you guys are both going after the same boy anymore."

Ino huffed and turned away from her teammates, "Because it's forehead. She thinks that she's so great and a thousand times better than me, but I'll show her. If that walking billboard thinks that she can look down on me then she's got another thing coming. She's pathetic, and if she beats me then what does that make me?"

Not moving from his spot Shikamaru's voice was muffled by the mattress, "I don't know if you noticed, but Sakura has gotten a lot better since the academy. I saw weights under those sleeves and around her ankles and I've also seen her at the library quite a bit. She also looks like a serious kunoichi and apparently learned how to use senbon. You on the other hand don't do much. You do half of the physical exercises that I do and only know the weakest of your clan jutsu. Do you honestly think that two weeks with your mom is enough to make a difference? I heard from Asuma-sensei that Kurenai said after giving Sakura a lesson on genjutsu that she shows the most effort and has the most potential of all the kunoichi in our age range, and sensei also showed me the rankings after I beat him in Shogi. Team seven completed less missions then all the other genin teams in circulation, they were still ranked the second strongest team and managed to complete two A-ranked missions while we are ranked near the bottom of the teams attending the exams.

The blonde was still facing away from Shika and Chouji but her head dipped and her nails dug into her palms leaving small trails of blood, "I don't care what Kurenai said." The blonde popped off her fake nails and threw them in the garbage. If everybody thinks that forehead is the greatest I'll prove them wrong." She took the decorative earrings out of her ear and bracelets off. "Starting now I take this seriously and I'll show Sakura who the top bitch around here is."

There was a knock on the door and when Chouji answered it they saw Kiba on the other side, "Hey guys can I come in?"

Ino gave the Inuzuka and his dog a suspicious look, "Why would we let a competitor in?"

Kiba frowned then sighed, "Fine, but I'm not gonna do anything fishy I promise. I take it you guys say those Kumo nin."

Shikamaru sat up and gave the dog user a serious look, "So you guys think that they might make an attempt at Hinata. I've been thinking the same thing, it's farfetched but still a possibility."

Kiba nodded towards Shikamaru, "Exactly, we just want you guys to keep a look out because we can't talk to our sensei about it."

The three genin of team ten looked at each other and nodded before Ino spoke for them, "I don't know what we can do but we'll definitely help."

The Inuzuka smiled showing his elongated canines as Akamaru barked, "Thanks guys, we actually have some headsets so you guys can take one and we'll let you know if something goes down, and we can also use them to help the other teams if we can."

He tossed Shikamaru the headset as he pocketed it, "Alright Kiba we'll see you tomorrow." The dog user waved as he and Akamaru went down the hall and back to their room. Shikamaru looked at his teammates before flopping down onto his back, "I really hope that Kumo doesn't do anything troublesome tomorrow. If they do something during the exams it will definitely be war."

* * *

><p>Naruto finished sealing the scrolls into smaller ones that he stuffed into some of his many jacket pockets before standing up, "Alright, if what Kakashi-sensei said is true the exams always feature a survival portion and one on one matches is always the third exam, and we have enough supplies to last a month out in the desert."<p>

Sakura finished packing her medical gear and took the scroll containing her extra senbon and packed that as well before talking to her teammates, "I don't think it will be for a month so we should pack a decoy bag so if people come after us for supplies they don't think we have sealing scrolls."

Sai looked up from the scrolls he was preparing for sticky situations, "That's a good idea ugly, but what we really need to watch out for is Gaara. He is dangerous and it would be best if we avoided him."

Sakura shivered as she remembered the standoff that happened earlier, "I agree with that, he's a psycho. If what we saw was any indication he uses sand, and if we were to fight in the desert it would be on his terms. It would definitely be wise to keep our distance from that team."

Naruto's face was grim as he addressed Sakura and Sai, "I don't think that we can avoid him for long, maybe a day or two at most. We should avoid sand and find rocks to travel on. He's coming for me and if he shows up I want you guys to run."

Sakura looked betrayed at that, "Naruto we won't leave you, remember team seven's mantra. We don't abandon our comrades. If he finds us we'll take him and that slutty bitch down." **"That's right, shove sand in that bitches vagina and cut that cows udders off, Shannaro!"**

Sai put down the scroll and gave Naruto a real smile, "That's right Naruto-kun, we are teammates and have a bond that I'll fight to protect. I will not let you fight alone, that is not what friends do."

Naruto looked away from them as he tried to fight a tear down. Luckily for him there was a knock on the door and when he opened it he saw Shino on the other side. "Hey Shino c'mon in."

The odd boy stepped in before addressing team seven, "I have come to ask a question. Kumo has tried in the past to abduct Hinata and there is the chance that they will again. I have come to hoping that you will help us keep a lookout as logic dictates that there is strength in numbers."

Naruto nodded, "No problem, we look out for fellow leaf-nin."

Shino nodded, "It is good to see that you care for your comrades because it you don't that could lead to negative feelings that could lower performance on missions."

Sunlight glinted off his glasses as the trio from team seven sweat dropped and Sakura answered, "Errm right, we'll do what we can but it's not like we could do much."

Shino inclined his head acknowledging the point, "Yes that is true, but I have one headset here that we could use to communicate."

Naruto snatched the headset up and put it into a pocket, "You got it Shino, we'll definitely help you out if it comes down to it."

The boy nodded and turned away, "I will leave you to your strategizing and I thank you for your help. Hinata is waiting for us so we can begin our strategy session. She will be delighted to hear that her classmates are helping."

* * *

><p>A beautiful blonde with large breasts and a Kumo headband sighed at her teammate's antics. The thin dark skinned redhead with gold eyes wearing a plain grey silk shirt with long sleeves and tight black pants was arguing with her secret crush Omoi, who was equally dark skinned with white hair and black eyes wearing a black shirt with grey clouds randomly placed on it and grey pants. The duo was arguing because he called her flat chested once again. She gripped her lower back and tried to ignore Karui's yelling, 'Man my back has been starting to hurt recently, I need a massage.' Having enough of their pointless arguing the calm blonde interrupted them, "That's enough you two, we need to talk about the mission that we have to accomplish. Raikage-sama sent us to see if Konoha sent their Jinchuuriki and gather information on its abilities. It's been thirteen years since the attack and according to our intel he should be attending these exams, and I have a hunch that it's that blonde kid with one eye. That killing intent he put out in the hallway and when he entered the room was inhuman. It may have been different then theirs, but it was still slightly similar to B-sensei, Yugito, and that Gaara kid who all house tailed beasts."<p>

Karui turned away from Omoi before she responded, "That makes sense, but we should keep our distance, we only need to find some information and I don't want to fight a container. I think we should tail Gaara after finding the animals because he wanted to fight that kid."

After pulling out a sucker and pulling off the wrapper Omoi started worrying, "But Gaara's really dangerous, what if we accidentally alert him and he tries to crush us. Samui will probably live because of her huge melons might stop him from killing her, but flat chests like you and me will definitely get crushed. Oh man, what if we die and B-sensei gets mad and goes on a rampage. Then because of that war starts between Suna and Kumo. Konoha would join in to fight with their ally and Iwa would as well to get back at Konoha. Before you know it we would be in the Fourth Shinobi War. What if some rogue ninja use it to advance their nefarious schemes and take over the world."

The fiery redhead smashed Omoi in the face before he could continue, "Don't say stupid things."

Samui just lay down on her bed trying to rest her aching back, 'I can never get a break can I?'

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><p>Temari opened the door to her house after getting water from the public reserves for the next test. After making sure that everything was packed she left her bag on the hook by the door and went upstairs. As she opened the door to her room she could just make out Gaara's manic whispering from his room, "I'll show him tomorrow. Fighting for other people just makes you weak… Yes mother don't worry I will give you his blood and it will be sweet. He's a monster too and people don't look at him with fear. I hate him, I want to kill him. Yes mother we shall rip him to shreds and cover the sand in his blood."<p>

The oldest child of the Kazekage shivered and entered her room. She considered herself pretty brave, but Gaara could scare her no matter what. Temari tried to reach out to her brother several times when she was younger after he started living with them after Yashamaru. He would turn each one away and the last attempt with violence so she stopped trying, but she couldn't stop hoping that one day he might change for the better. The sound of glass breaking came from Gaara's room as he descended into another one of his frenzies. 'I'm sorry Naruto, you seem like a nice kid but you're Gaara's prey now. I wish I could stop him, but when Gaara wants something he reaches out and seizes it and not even the Kazekage can stop him.'

Temari just lay on her bed apathetically. She actually had fun with Naruto and the pink haired harpy, and if he was a Suna ninja she would probably pursue him. 'He's not drop dead gorgeous, but he's cute in his own way and will probably look better when he loses the baby fat and I have to look up to talk to him, and I just want to stroke his whiskers and see what happens. Probably the best thing is that he's not cocky like everybody else, but he's definitely competent even if he tries to hide it. Not many people can fool me like he did when they caught me on the roof. Oh well I should forget about him because nothing he does will matter after Gaara gets a hold of him.'

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><p>Forty eight genin stood in front of the provocatively dressed women from yesterday as she explained the second test, "Alright maggots my name is Hisako and I'll be the proctor for the second exams. If you look at the board it gives you a rough map of the area fenced in behind me. The land behind the fence is actually a wildlife reserve, and you will be completing a faux mission in there." She pulled out a strange glass container with small air holes and a circular black base. "Each team will get one of these containers before the exam starts at their gate. Inside the reserve are these two animals that you will be looking for and must capture and bring back."<p>

She flipped the board holding the map over and there were two large pictures of an albino snake and brown scorpion with red markings on its back and legs. "These are two creatures that we use for creating muscle relaxants and other medicines in the hospital. To pass the exam you must bring back one of each and they must be marked with a yellow tag that says harvest meaning they are mature enough that we can extract a good amount of venom from them. There are sixteen teams so there are sixteen snakes and scorpions tagged, but to bring both back you will need two containers otherwise the two predators are likely to kill one another before you can return, so theoretically only eight teams can pass."

The proctor flipped the board back around and showed them the map as she pointed to two areas, "The way we fenced this area in places the habitats of these two animals in roughly the middle of it. The snakes are the one farther left and scorpions on the right. You have three days before the test is over because three days is the maximum amount of days you can survive without fresh water and we don't want to kill to many of the pathetic ones. The gates will open at ten and you have to sign a waiver that says Sunagakure no Sato is not responsible in any way shape or form for anything that happens to you behind this fence. After signing the document you will receive one of these containers. The gates will open at ten and your assigned gate is shown on the map, you have approximately forty minutes before we begin."

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><p>It was nine fifty nine as Temari and Kankuro uneasily watched their younger brother as he held his head and communed with the Shukaku. Even the chuunin proctor looked nervous as the sand was writhing in anticipation near his feet. The proctor's watch beeped as he quickly unlocked the gate and ran away from Gaara as quickly as he could. The deranged redhead stood straight up as the lock hit the sand and a manic grin formed on his face and the bloodlust oozed off his body in waves as he screamed into the air, "<strong>UUUzumaki you can't hide from me forever. The desert is my hunting grounds and I will find you then kill you. Your blood will be spread across the sandy plains after I've had my fun. I'M COMING FOR YOU UZUMAKI NARUTO, I WILL BATHE IN YOUR BLOOD."<strong>

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><p>And another one bites the dust. There you have it folks chapter 11 is done, Shukaku is coming out to play, and the prelims are coming up soon. I want to give you the reader a choice as to who fights who after the second exam. I can't promise anything and I have eight people already picked for the tournament, but I will still look at all requests and consider them equally, who knows I might like it so much I'll change the finals matchups. There will be six teams, and I hope you know who they are after reading the chapter, but if you don't I'll tell you, Teams 7-10 Konoha, Gaara's team Suna, and the Kumo team. I will tell you up front that Neji must fight one of the Kumo genin and I would like to see Kankuro v Sai, but that is changeable if someone sends me a fight idea that I really like. Also Hinata must make it to the finals too, so if you have a request for her then make sure that it is someone she can believably win against otherwise I'll go with what I have for her. One last thing is that there are 18 genin but only 8 spots, so someone must fight twice. Let me know who that should be because right now it's Naruto, but if you give me someone else then tell me the two people that they should fight. So drop a review or P.M. my way and I'll take your suggestions into consideration.<p>

-Operaman Bye Bye

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><p>Jutsu list- none used this chapter<p> 


	12. Battle in the Desert Fight for your Life

**When any Jinchuuriki dialogue is in bold like Inner Sakura, bijuu, and large summons they are being influenced by the demon**

Even though I wrote over 100,000 words on the subject I don't own Naruto.

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><p>Kabuto was traveling with his team near the border of rice country on a routine C-rank mission. He told his teammates that their mission to retrieve livestock was a sham by Orochimaru in order to meet a contact and receive new orders, but they were beginning to get frustrated with all the walking and they were near the border of Ta no Kuni. His two fake genin teammates wore the same outfit as him except they had a purple veil covering their lower faces and wore sunglasses instead of spectacles. Their sensei was in the standard Konoha uniform with a turtleneck that came up and covered his chin. He wore glasses and had spiky brown hair with a part in the middle walking forward aimlessly with glassy eyes because of the genjutsu Kabuto placed on him. Yoroi stopped grumbling and asked Kabuto, "When are we meeting this contact? We've been walking forever and you still haven't told us what the change in plans are. I mean first the invasion gets cancelled and now this."<p>

The silver haired teen gave his teammate a smile, "Oh sorry that slipped my mind." Taking pleasure in the annoyed twitch his teammates were showing the silver haired teen continued, "You see we were never meeting a contact to begin with, I just said that so you'd follow along quietly." Kabuto disappeared from where he was standing and snapped their jounin-sensei's neck before putting some distance between him and his bewildered teammates. "This was an actual mission request that was sent to Konoha by some puissant village, but my orders were to abandon Konoha on the next C-rank mission and return to Orochimaru-sama's side. I would've brought you two along if you had any worth, but he has no need for weak followers so it is time for you two to do your duty and get sacrificed for the advancement of Orochimaru-sama's plans. That is the only purpose of a pawn after all.

Yoroi's hand was glowing and Misumi dislocated his joints and extended his body before the elongated genin spit at Kabuto's feet, "We faithfully served him for years and now he throws us away. Well we'll have to kill you and say that you were a double agent. They'll probably promote us to chuunin or something for this."

Yoroi agreed, "Yeah, you think we didn't prepare for this eventuality. You can't take the two of us on and even if you somehow do we have two lockboxes that will be opened in case of our death revealing all we know of Orochimaru. If you let us go we'll cover for you saying we were ambushed and nobody will be any wiser"

Kabuto laughed, not the fake cheerful one he usually uses but a high pitched crazed cakle, "Oh that's to rich. I would be worried except for three things. One you both know nothing of Orochimaru-sama or his plans, you two think that we are on a similar level but I am really leagues ahead of the both of you, and three I have the those two boxes right here and replaced them with pictures that were showing you to in an intimate position or two." Kabuto heaved the lockboxes at the pair and to their credit the two dodged despite their shock, but the spy was aiming to miss. He threw several of his scalpels at them as they landed but the two avoided them as well, however Yoroi landed in front of one of the boxes. A quick substitution later Kabuto was behind him and stabbed a standard kunai into his shoulder piercing the axillary artery and watched as the stocky man fell forward trying to keep the red liquid from squirting out of his shoulder as he bled to death.

Kabuto turned to face Misumi and gave him a sadistic smile as he licked the bloody kunai. The genin started to backpedal, "Get away from me, I don't want to die. Please, I'll do anything you want, anything." The boy kept moving backwards and tripped on a rock as he crab walked away from Kabuto. "Please I always tried my best to serve Orochimaru-sama, I'll try harder in the future."

Kabuto delighted in the fear on Misumi's face as the wretch got on his knees and pleaded when the bespectacled teen stopped walking, "Oh my, it seems my old blood has awoken." The man looked at his sniveling teammate with anticipation, "I've been doing so good to. Oh well." Kabuto blurred behind Misumi as he continued to grovel before charging the kunai with his chakra and decapitating the spineless worm.

Kabuto laughed as the blood showered out of the arteries and veins in his neck as the heart continued to beat. The teen danced under the blood fountain as he twirled over to Yoroi's body and saw he was struggling to pinch the artery closed while watching the lunatic dance, "You're a freak."

Kabuto stopped his twirling and gave a disappointed look towards the bleeding pig, "Oh poo, why couldn't you have the decency to die." Something must have occurred to Kabuto as his face lit up like it was Christmas, "Actually that's a good thing because the way you died was so very disappointing… it was rather dull now that I think about it. But I'm sure that if I try harder I can do better." The teen reached into his pouch and unrolled ninja wire and pulled out two balls of exploding notes. He healed the bleeding wound before he tied up the pale genin with the wire as he cried and begged. It was music to his ears. He then shoved one of the balls into Yoroi's rectum as he was blubbering and the unfortunate genin let loose a pained scream before Kabuto shut him up with the other one by shoving the ball of explosives into his gaping mouth. The boy then put some distance between them before he snapped his hands and gleefully watched as Yoroi exploded into chunks of meat while he cackled.

Kabuto danced around the bloody clearing and relived the joys of turning his ex-team's world upside down. When the silver haired teen came down from his high he took in the body of Misumi. "Oh my, I really lost my cool for a second there. I better blow up his body as well otherwise they may make a positive I.D. on me as the killer because of my chakra in the wound." After destroying Misumi's body with his last ball of explosives Kabuto stabbed and slashed himself repeatedly with one of his curved kunai spilling his blood and held off his healing ability as he made the area around them look like they were ambushed by four rogue nin using his Shikon no Jutsu (Dead Soul Technique). After laying a fake trail and pursuit towards the valley Kabuto jumped into the water before letting it carry him down for an hour or so and got out confident that he successfully faked his own death.

After another several hours of travelling the teenager came to an abandoned town deep within the borders of Ta no Kuni and entered an old tattoo parlor before channeling chakra into the rusty lever on the chair closest to the door unlocking it and allowing him to pull it. His glasses reflected light off the mirror as he watched it rise off the floor revealing a staircase that spiraled down into darkness. Lighting his hands with chakra Kabuto walked down the stairs as the chair lowered behind him and followed a hallway until he came to the main room and knocked on the door.

When he entered with his master's permission Kabuto got on his hands and knees to bow while he basked in the glory that was created by the man's presence. He had long black hair that cascaded down his back stopping at his waist, and was incredibly pail with narrow golden eyes that had snakelike slits for pupils and strange purple markings around his eyes. He was wearing a tight black bodysuit with long yellow robes tied with a large rope belt knotted like a pretzel and wore blue earrings shaped like tomoes. This man was Orochimaru of the Sannin, and to be in his presence was almost orgasmic to Kabuto. Bowing before his true master the silver haired youth addressed him, "Orochimaru-sama I have returned to serve you."

"Kukuku Kabuto, prompt as always I see. It is fortunate you have arrived, follow me."

The lithe man stood up and appeared to float from his throne past Kabuto and through the hallways. Kabuto was in awe at the power he was radiating and the confidence to show a known double agent his back, yes it has been too long since he's been in his master's presence. Following the legendary ninja in silence he waited as the serpentine man stopped in front of a door and opened it revealing a teen as pale as the snake summoner with white hair that stopped just above his shoulders with two red dots in the middle of his forehead and just above his eyes with a blanket pulled up to his neck. He lay in a bed connected to a respirator and in a chemical coma with tubes entering and exiting his body providing nutrients and draining bodily waste. "So this is why you have recalled me. I confess to being slightly disappointed, I had hoped that I would be working with Sasuke's DNA sample."

Orochimaru gave Kabuto a smile that would make babies cry, "Of course you would Kabuto, but I currently have Karin working on that. She will be trying to create clones and I doubt she will have much success if even I couldn't do it with the Shodaime and Kimimaro, but it's so fun to scare her into thinking I suspect success. Shee also used some semen we were able to collect and attempted to fertilize several eggs donated by the strongest kunoichi in sound's forces and several nuke-nin that refused to serve me, unfortunately Sasuke-kun was almost impotent and only one was successfully fertilized, I just wish that it was Guren's. Regardless in almost nine months Otogakure will house one of the last three Uchiha. It is a shame that more weren't conceived because I was hoping to do some tests injecting Juugo's enzymes or my chakra and DNA into the infant but with this I can repopulate the Uchiha and make them loyal to me and carry those out down the line. I'll have as many bodies as I need for all eternity, all the jutsu in the world will be known to me."

Kabuto bowed towards the pale man, "I understand Orochimaru-sama, I will try my best to diagnose and cure Kimimaro."

Orochimaru was already out the door but his voice reached Kabuto, "Kukuku of course you will Kabuto, there is a reason you are my favorite after all. You know that if I have no use for someone I will toss them to the side yet you continue serve me."

The snake man couldn't hear him but Kabuto spoke anyway, "But therein lies the key, I make sure I will always be of use to you Orochimaru-sama."

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><p>Team seven was moving slowly with tan cloaks on to camouflage them as they slowly traversed through the preserve conserving their stamina while they figured out a game plan for the exam. The kunoichi of the team voiced her opinion, while scribbling on a scroll, "Listen guys I memorized the map that was on the board and just finished drawing it." She flipped the scroll she was drawing over to face them and pointed to a spot on the edge of the territory, "We started here so that means we are closer to where the scorpions habitat is. We should go there first and try to look around, but we should keep a lookout for Suna shinobi. I'm sure none of us know a lot about scorpion or snake behavior so it would be best to follow their lead and let them do the work, scorpions are nasty."<p>

The blonde of the team sheepishly scratched his head, "Actually Kaka-sensei and ero-sennin gave me some desert survival books and they detailed the behavior of scorpions and snakes because of the danger they present."

Sakura was so flabbergasted she couldn't speak and was stammering so the ink-user spoke up, "Wow dickless that's amazing. Even if your penis is nonexistent at least you have a brain. That's good... I was beginning to doubt its existence."

Naruto growled at Sai before continuing, "Right well here's what we have to do. During the day they like to hide under rocks, in caves, or burrow into the sand. If we look for them when it's light out we'll have to check enclosed spaces, and that will leave us vulnerable to ambush. I'll send some clones ahead of us to scout the area and find some scorpion dens before we set up an ambush around the best location while my clones keep watch at the others. If we don't get anything during the day we can just look for them at night because that is when they come out to hunt. Sai I want you to draw some small lizards and mice to use as bait and I'll send out my clones with them when we look at night."

Sakura and Sai mulled it over before nodding as the pinkette answered, "That sounds good, but what are we going to do about the snakes. I think that it would be best if we tried to ambush people as they traverse from the snake to scorpion habitat and try to ambush them."

Naruto shook his head, "I don't think we should bank on that strategy. Let's try to steal a jar here and capture two scorpions, then maybe we could trade someone that has a snake or something. If not we'll at least have two containers, and if worse comes to worse I'll henge a shadow clone into one of those so we can use that to carry the snake and just hope it doesn't get popped while we travel."

The three agreed on the strategy and pick up the pace towards the habitat. Suddenly the headset in Naruto's ear crackled, "Come in team scarecrow, this is team illusion. We are detecting you're presence in the area, but team smokestack started closer to the snakes near the Kumo nins."

"Oh hi Shino, yeah come meet up with us then."

"Prank King it is illogical to use real names when codenames are set up."

Naruto face faulted because sweat dropping might have dehydrated him, "Umm Shino I mean bugsy we're not doing black ops, we don't really need code names."

"That is irrelevant because practice makes perfect. What if you are on a mission and because you didn't practice using code names so you say the person's real name. An enemy overhears and positively identifies you as a leaf nin. Because of that we could be at war." Naruto jumped when a voice came from behind him, "That is why it is commonsensical to always follow protocol."

"Gah Shino, don't do that."

Kiba clapped Naruto on the shoulder, "Hey buddy you guys going to the scorpion area too."

Naruto shrugged Kiba's hand off his shoulder, "I'm not your buddy guy."

Kiba snarled, "I'm not your guy friend."

Naruto bit out, "I'm not your friend buddy."

"I'm not your buddy guy."

"I'm not your guy friend."

"I'm not your friend guy."

Sakura's fist made contact with the tops of both their heads and left them sprawled on the ground while a pair of lavender eyes narrowed at her before softening when regarding the blonde, "N-n-naruto-kun, u-u-umm a-a-re you o-okay.?"

Naruto sprang to his feet and gave her a foxy smile that caused all the blood to rush to her head, "Yeah I'm fine, Sakura-chan usually hits harder then that."

The timid girl frowned, "Th-t-tha-that's n-not v-ve-very ni-n-nice. Y-y-y-you sh-s-sh-shouldn't have t-to d-dd-deal with that."

Naruto just laughed it off, "Naw it's fine I usually deserve it. I think it's her way of showing she cares." The blonde turned around missing her frown as he addressed the teams. Alright we'll split up once we get into the habitat and meet up to camp. We should always stay in radio distance as well, so let's move out."

Kiba crossed his arms and sat down, "Why are we listening to the dobe." The dog user yelped and stood up rubbing his butt and realized one of Shino's bugs bit him, "What the hell Shino?"

Sunlight reflected off his glasses temporarily blinding Kiba, "Naruto's plan is logical and it would be within reason to follow his strategy because it doesn't matter who comes up with the plan as long as it fits the circumstances and allows for flexibility which it does."

Hinata was still red as she poked her index fingers together, "U-u-uh I a-agree w-with N-n-naruto-kun."

Naruto smiled in her direction until he noticed she was red, "Oi Hinata are you okay, you're turning all red?" He tossed her one of his canteens, "Here drink that you might be overheating."

The canteen bounced off her hand as she fell backwards onto the sand unconscious, "Hinata! Are you okay? Hinata!"

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><p>Both teams managed to get a scorpion when a Naruto clone found a cave teeming with them and they managed to spot two with the yellow tags even though most had green. They were setting up camp and discussing the events of the day and their next moves, "Wow dobe, I'm impressed with those clones of yours. They made this a whole lot easier."<p>

Naruto stepped out of his tent, "Yeah and since we had two teams it was simple enough for us to watch your backs while Hinata used the byakugan to locate the tagged scorpions." He gave the only timid Hyuuga a smile that almost made her pass out, "Those eyes of yours are really cool Hinata." He then stuffed one of the onigiri she made into his mouth, "Mmm Hinata these are delicious, you'll make a great wife someday."

The Hyuuga couldn't take it anymore and fainted as Sakura cast a suspicious glance at her then lightly scolded her teammate, by punching Naruto into the sand before picking him up and violently shaking him. "You baka, don't say those types of things to girls right off the bat like that." **"Cha especially if it's not me. What does that pale eyed whore have that I don't?"**

After Naruto and Hinata regained consciousness they set up watches for the night and agreed that there should be one person from each team at the same time. Sakura and Hinata both pulled the straws for last watch and were sitting by the fire awkwardly as the pinkette noticed the shy girl would occasionally throw dirty looks her way. "Do you have a problem with me Hinata? I don't know why you would, I've said all of two words to you since we met."

Hinata proved that every Hyuuga is capable of their famous glare, even though she still looked cute behind all the anger. "Yes I do Sakura-san."

Sakura growled, "And what would that be."

"I think that you are a very mean spirited person."

"Oh is that your reason?"

"Y-yes."

Sakura gave her a taunting smile, "Are you sure that it has nothing to do with how much Naruto likes me?"

The pinkette knew she hit the nail on the head when Hinata actually growled at her, "Yes. It's not fair, all you did was belittle and abuse him and he still worshipped the ground you walked on. You're nothing but a bitch and don't deserve someone as nice as Naruto-kun."

Sakura palmed her face wondering if every guy she wanted to go after would suddenly develop a fan club. "You're right, I used to be a bitch to him but we were just kids and now our relationship has changed, people grow up you know? Now we're best friends and really close, and I do everything I can to try to make up for my past behavior. I can't even apologize to Naruto because he would say there is nothing to forgive."

"I don't think that you want the two of you to be just friends. I don't like the way you look at him, and don't try to deny it. You've been doing it since we all gathered at the gate. You like him now too and it's not fair. I've always loved him, ever since I saw him, what gives you the right to take him?"

Sakura laughed mockingly at her, "You know what? You sound I like used to during the academy and after graduation for awhile. I know you think you love him but you don't know what love is or Naruto at all. We're thirteen Hinata, there's no reason to proclaim you love someone like that. I thought I loved Sasuke but he was really just a means to an end, probably like Naruto is to you."

Hinata gasped, "What d-do you mean. I-I don't use people like that."

Sakura sighed, "I know that you really believe that because I used to as well, but you don't know anything about him. I get it now. You're shy and quiet but he's confident and loud. You want him because he represents what you want to be and is just a crutch to you."

Hinata was almost in tears, "T-th-that's not t-true. I really love him, ever since he saved me from those bullies."

"Hinata, you don't love him. He's just your knight in shining armor that you want to give you a fairytale ending, but life isn't a story like that. To you Naruto is an ideal and if you ever go out with him he'll never match up. It's like I said, I did the same with Sasuke. I projected what I though the perfect guy was onto him and ignored all his faults and never took the time to know the real him until it was to late. I didn't really love Sasuke, I just fooled myself into thinking I did."

Hinata's white eyes narrowed as she looked at Sakura and veins began bulging around her eyes. "Shut up, I love him and you don't deserve him. It's not supposed to be like this."

Sakura had about enough of Hinata at this point, "You're fucking crazy bitch. You think that you loved him, but where were you when he was younger and needed a friend? I was stupid and may have been a bitch to him, but at least I acknowledged him. You claimed to have feelings for him but couldn't get over your own insecurities and help him when he needed it most. Maybe if you weren't such a coward you'd be with Naruto right now. The way I see it you missed your chance and there's no way in hell I'm missing mine."

Hinata didn't verbally respond she just loaded her palm with chakra and tried to make Sakura's heart explode. The pink haired genin jumped out of range and felt the chakra tickling her skin as Hinata tried to slam a palm into her chest. Before she could draw a weapon the Hyuuga was in front of her again and would've delivered a fatal blow if Sakura didn't switch with one of the pieces of firewood Naruto unsealed from a scroll. Pulling out some senbon Sakura was about to strike at Hinata's unprotected back until Naruto appeared next to her and grabbed her wrist while Shino put his hand on Hinata's shoulder holding her back as the veins around her eyes faded.

Naruto gave the two a disappointed look that had them both looking at their feet like scolded children. "What's going on here? We're comrades and you guys were in a death match when you were supposed to be keeping watch, I thought you two were more grown up than that."

Sakura couldn't speak and an awkward silence fell over the genin until Shino broke it, "It would be illogical for us to remain together after this incident. We will take the headset back and leave after we pack." Naruto threw him the headset while Kiba and Hinata started breaking camp.

Fifteen minutes later team eight left without a word and Sai spoke up, "It would probably be best if we move as well. The Sun will rise in about an hour and if we get a good start we may be able to ambush a camping team and take their container." Sakura didn't answer just gave Naruto a sad look as he ignored her and nodded and team seven packed up camp before moving in silence trying to find a team to ambush.

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><p>Fortune smiled on them as some of Sai's ink creatures came back and walked onto Sakura's map of the area and showed the location of the team and the direction they were moving, and to top it all off apparently they had a snake as well. After another thirty minutes or so of travelling team seven was prone looking over the edge of an outcropping of rocks at the only Kusa team left in the exam as they argued and travelled through the desert. They were to far away to make out the specifics, but when they stopped and really got into it a monstrous black snake burst from the ground and managed to swallow the one with long hair before burrowing deep under the ground crushing and suffocating the unfortunate nin under the weight of the sand. One of the genin had a strange green mask put his back against a similar looking genin that was wearing the same mask except brown and both wore tan robes that covered their feet and were fastened in the front with extraordinarily long sleeves.<p>

They were waiting for the next move and team seven didn't disappoint them as twelve kage bunshins also exploded out from the sand but were stopped by a strange green whip extending out of green mask's sleeves while mud poured out of brown mask's sleeves before forming into a ball that was levitating as it destroyed the remaining ones. Senbon burst through the smoke but the mud ball expanded and formed a dome around the two that protected them from the projectiles. A few kunai with exploding tags destroyed the barrier revealing the two were no longer inside. Suddenly the rocks behind where team seven was hiding collapsed as a hole formed and two green strands tried to wrap around the three Konoha nin before the two Kusa genin emerged quickly after. Some ink birds tried to dive bomb them from above but another ball of mud emerged from brown mask's sleeves as it split into dozens of tiny orbs that launched at the birds turning them into swiss cheese before they reverted into ink. Team seven had to put some more distance between them when the mud pooled over the sand under them and formed into spikes.

Sakura was panting from the intense heat, "What are you? There's no way that genin can control chakra like that."

A strange mechanical voice came from green mask, "We are genin, but we are also a new breed of ninja. For too long the five major villages have pushed us little ones aside and we've lived off your scraps, well no more. We are the first of our kind, made to overcome human limits."

Naruto appeared behind them holding a kunai tightly in his hand. The grass whip hit his wrist causing him to drop it, but it had an explosive tag that forced the two to separate as a clone substituted with him while Sai and Sakura went after the one with grass whips. Naruto surrounded the mud user by summoning clones, but most of them were destroyed as a wave of mud exploded out from the Kusa genin in all directions. He took that brief moment of respite to pull out a syringe and inject himself with a strange yellowish brown liquid before the largest wave of mud yet formed out of his sleeves and formed a river of the brown liquid that swirled around his body. "You Konoha ninja think you're so great. You may be known as the strongest village, but after these exams it will all start to change." He blocked Naruto's kick from above before a spike of mud pierced him revealing it was a clone. He turned feeling a disturbance from behind and flew back as a left hook impacted his cheek. Naruto landed an axe kick on his downed opponent only for him to turn into mud. The mud then encased his leg and traveled up the rest of his body before it quickly hardened into stone. The brown masked genin walked up cackling, "Yes this new chakra shot really makes it easy to control the seals on my body."

The Kusa genin gasped as he stabbed a spear of mud through the cocoon and it crumbled revealing nothing was inside. He turned and blocked the stab with a mud wall but saw the exploding tag sizzling on the kid's chest before he hurdled the wall while saying, "boom." An explosion rocked the clearing and the genin's back pouch fell off as was launched away by the blast. Naruto opened it to find a tagged snake in a container and some of those chakra shots he was talking about. He stashed the pilfered goods into a scroll before moving out to meet up with his team.

* * *

><p>Sakura and Sai couldn't get close because those grass whips were razor sharp and increased in length and number after he injected himself with something, and now they were swirling around the genin in an unpredictable pattern as he laughed, "You think that splitting us up will work? We were equipped to be able to fight as a team and individually. Each one of our powers was tailor made so they would have strong offensive and defensive capabilities, you have no hope and your teammate is probably already dead."<p>

Sai finished drawing and summoned a large ink lion before responding, "He may have no penis but he is more of a man than the two of you combined. I would worry about yourself for now."

As he finished speaking Sakura threw some senbon and the grass concentrated where she did as the lion attacked from the other side and almost got a hit on the genin until one of the whips destroyed it just a couple feet from the Kusa nin. Nodding towards his teammate Sai drew several birds and released them as he dropped a scroll out of his pants and let it unroll before discreetly channeling chakra into it. The birds distracted him and Sakura was inches away form putting the masked nin out of commission with her senbon when it was deflected, but a poison pellet exploded at his feet as he laughed and breathed deeply, "You think such petty tricks will work on me? There's a rebreather in this mask little girl, if you live after this maybe I'll keep you as a pet for fun until I break you." One of the grass whips split and she was pierced by one of the ends but turned into flower petals that swarmed around the grass whips as they tried to keep them at bay.

Sai saw the grass going out of control for no apparent reason and got the peace sign from Sakura. He got the message and sent the remaining birds crashing into the top of the shield and it left his feet open as dozens of small snakes emerged from underneath and wrapped around the nin's body before Sakura hit him with one of her few lethally poisoned senbon just as Naruto's disappointed voice was heard, "Aw man, I was hoping that I could kick this guys ass too. His teammate really pissed me off. At least we managed to get a snake."

Sakura laughed, "Great let's get going. I can't wait to get back and take a shower."

The trio made good time and were about to leave the rocky area that covered the middle of the reserve. As they got to the end of the rocks Naruto said, "Wow we might get lucky for once. We're only a couple of hours away from the exit. When we get back I can't wait to get some ramen. I can't believe you wouldn't let me bring any Sakura-chan."

Sakura wagged her finger under Naruto's nose, "Ramen is good occasionally, but you shouldn't eat it on a mission because it doesn't have enough nutritional value and won't keep your energy up. However, when we get back I'll give you some Ichiraku Ramen that I had sealed into a scroll."

Naruto gave Sakura a bone crushing that left her breathless for a couple of reasons before she returned it, "Thanks Sakura-chan, you're the best."

Sai chose that sentence to ruin the moment, "I am just thankful we haven't run into Gaara. That would be a mess."

Naruto's forehead ticked, "Damn it Sai, read the mood."

As Naruto was talking the wind picked up and the sand blocked their vision as it swirled around them, but when the dust settled they were no longer alone because Gaara stood facing them with his teammates behind him as Sakura cursed, "Fuck Sai, you just had to jinx it."

Naruto put his serious face on, "Well it looks like you finally found me Gaara."

The Jinchuuriki had a deranged smile on his face as he spoke, "I finally found you Uzumaki."

Naruto sweat dropped, "Isn't that what I just said?"

"Now I can kill you and give your blood to mother."

Team seven got into formation as Naruto responded, "That's kind of creepy, she doesn't seem like a very good role model."

Naruto thought he heard Temari mumble something about not knowing half of it, but Gaara was the more immediate threat so had most of his attention, "I know that you fight for other people, so to keep them from interfering I will have these two keep them occupied so I can enjoy grinding the flesh off your bones without an interruption."

Once he finished Temari swung her large fan and sent Sakura flying with a small cyclone before she pursued while a puppet burst from the ground that forced Sai to retreat as well leaving the two containers in a stare down.

* * *

><p>Sakura managed to right herself in mid air and land on her feet as she back flipped when she landed avoiding Temari's oversized fan as it smashed into her previous position spraying sand everywhere. She tried to get over to Naruto to back him up but that annoying slut kept pushing her back with wind gusts. When the two appeared to be specks Sakura knew she'd have to go through the genin as she opened and closed her fists a couple times in anticipation, "I can't say that I'm too disappointed that this happened. I finally get to put you in your place. Before I break that fan off in your ass I want to tell you I'm sort of impressed that you can be such a frigid bitch and live in a desert."<p>

Temari stayed calm and laughed, "Please pinkie, you're just jealous because Naruto likes me more since I actually have curves unlike you. You could be a ruler you're so straight."

Sakura pulled out some senbon holding three in each hand. "Whatever I can't wait to turn you into a pincushion."

Temari opened her fan slightly, "Please you won't even touch me, just remember… when you see three moons the fight is over."

Sakura threw the senbon but Temari just swung her fan and deflected all of them however the aspiring medic-nin also tossed some pellets high in the air while Temari was distracted that landed behind the fan wielder and burst into a cloud of smoke forcing her to move as the pinkette cut the chakra flow to her weights and dashed at her looking like red blur. Temari closed her fan and blocked the stab of the kunai and jumped back when Sakura launched a needle out of her mouth towards the sandy blonde's face then jumped back and formed several seals before exhaling a purple cloud, "Ninpou: Dokugiri"

Temari opened her fan showing two moons and blew a more powerful gust that dispersed the cloud but Sakura was nowhere to be seen. Suddenly five Sakura's appeared around her and she scoffed, "So you're really using the bunshin, no wonder why Naruto's not dating you, that's pathetic. The Bunshin no Jutsu has no use in a real ninja battle, but you're probably just playing little princess kunoichi aren't you?" Temari did a three sixty and a gust of wind went out in all directions, but the bunshins didn't disperse and one charged with a kunai drawn. Temari blocked the lone Sakura's attacks with her fan yet somehow she was punched in the stomach from a different angle but when she looked nobody was there. The one that attacked jumped back and a different one charged. She parried its attack but her counter went through it before she felt a kick in her spine. This time when the next clone charged Temari faced it and stopped her chakra flow as it disappeared and could sense the real Sakura coming at her from the southeast. Pretending she didn't notice her Temari opened her fan showing all three moons before turning in the pinkette's direction when it was to late to dodge and swung it yelling "Kamaitachi no Jutsu" (Sickle Weasel Technique) as a powerful gust of wind impacted Sakura as she was thrown back and sliced multiple times.

Temari approached the bleeding girl as she lay on her stomach clutching it in pain. Standing over the girl Temari gloated, "Looks like you're pretty pathetic after all. I wish Gaara wasn't going after Naruto so I could make him mine and hang it over your head, but what are you going to do? I gue-"

Temari was cut off when she heard a click and felt something pierce her thigh and the wound started burning immediately. She clutched the wound before falling on her side hissing in pain. She looked at Sakura and saw a small knife handle with no blade and a spring visible where it should've been. Looking down she saw the blade lodged in her thigh and dripping a clear liquid out of a small hole in the bottom. "You're lucky that since it is just an exam there isn't a fatal poison on the blad, but that stuff hurts like a bitch. You can thank the girl in buns for giving me the id-" Sakura could say no more as she passed out and the ground started to shake as a massive form started to take shape in the distance before two Naruto clones came and saw the two fallen girls, "Damn we didn't get here in time. We were supposed to stop their fight before they hurt each other. I guess we should just take them somewhere safe." The two bent down and picked up the unconscious kunoichi before taking them back into the rocks in a sheltered area as a large figure of sand rose up in the distance.

* * *

><p>Sai dodged the senbon the strange wooden puppet launched from its mouth as he tried to locate the puppeteer. After getting pushed back into the rocks by the wooden contraption it expelled some noxious smoke blocking them from view and he hasn't seen the genin since. He surrounded himself with ink animals because the puppet would follow him wherever he went and he needed an active defense. Sai dodged a ball of paper bombs but as he landed another one was already rolling towards his feet and exploded spreading ink everywhere. Kankuro cursed from his hiding spot and continued to lead the ink beasts on a wild goose chase trying to hide his position and locate the strange artist. He saw the pale kid again hiding behind a sand dune drawing something onto a scroll. He split Karasu up to make it harder to notice and sent the arms and legs at the kid, but the spikes pierced the dune as the pale artist dodged and a large snake coiled around him while a bigger one burst into hundreds of small snakes and spread out to look for the hiding ninja.<p>

After stifling another curse Kankuro slowly shifted positions and found a ledge that was better hidden and almost inaccessible to the ink creatures. Relocating his target he reassembled his puppet and sent it flying at the ghostly boy as a barrage of kunai from its wrists that hit nothing but air as Sai jumped, but that was what Kankuro wanted because he couldn't dodge as Karasu's chest opened and flames were expelled from the cavity as the giant snake burst forward before losing its form and covering the flamethrower in ink making it worthless. Kankuro wasn't worried as he smirked and the back of the puppet popped open as flames burst from it's back and the flamethrower turned into an explosive projectile that was moving to fast to dodge and the resulting blast engulfed the ink user and Kankuro breathed a sigh of relief. It was cut short though when Sai landed in front of him. Looking up Kankuro saw a lone ink bird circling and swore, not because of the boy in front of him but because of the mass of sand forming where he left Gaara. "Fuck it. This fight is over kid, we should just get away from here before Gaara goes on a rampage."

The boy took his hand off his tanto as the bird dived and he jumped on as it hovered just off the edge of the cliff, "Fine, but for some reason I'm really disappointed we didn't finish the fight. Don't worry though we'll finish this later, hopefully before your sex change surgery."

* * *

><p>Naruto felt a sense of relief when Sakura and Sai were whisked away by Gaara's teammates. They may be fighting alone but at least there was some distance between them and a crazed Jinchuuriki. Naruto turned his attention fully to his opponent and looked into his eyes and had to suppress a shiver. His irises were dilated and his eyes bloodshot as Gaara started at Naruto like he was hungry . He knew that there could be no holding back here and raised the headband over his left eye while closing the right. The world immediately slowed and he was able to observe every detail in perfect clarity. He saw that the sand was being moved by a combination of earth and wind manipulation and could see where it would be before the sand could even move. Gaara launched a wave of sand at Naruto that the blonde saw before it was even launched and danced around it while forming hand signs and calling out "Fuuton: Goukuuhou" as he sent a barrage of wind spheres at the redhead and watched as the sand protected him from getting drilled.<p>

Looking around Naruto saw the chakra moving through the sand at him and jumped as it exploded where he just was as it tried to engulf and crush his body. He threw some shuriken at Gaara and saw the chakra take on a human shape as a clone of Gaara formed out of the sand and caught the shuriken and threw them back at him while charging at the blonde. Naruto saw a chance, most of the sand containing chakra was moving away from Gaara except for a small shield around him leaving the redhead's defense stretched thin. He threw several kunai with explosive tags wrapped around the handles and paid no attention to the clone but saw the chakra stream change as it moved to intercept the knives and the tags ignited blowing the sand all over the place while he released the chakra from his weights and disappeared behind Gaara before performing the most basic move of the Uzuken.

He pivoted one hundred and eighty degrees on his right leg and put all his strength and momentum into his right fist as he swung it in a vicious backhand, and to his surprise hitting Gaara was like hitting rock, and hurt… a lot. The reason became apparent when his skin cracked and crumbled before turning into sand and showing Gaara's real skin unharmed underneath the layer of sand. The blonde saw the chakra forming in the sand by his feet but he was overbalanced from trying to get a knockout and couldn't dodge as a giant fist of sand formed before slamming into his gut sending him barreling across the ground.

Gaara started laughing, "Yes Uzumaki, show me more of your power. It will only make my victory that much better, when your blood is spilt my existence will be confirmed."

Naruto swore under his breath while thinking, 'His defense is incredible, I may have to use that move even if it's usually fifty fifty. Alright I just have to focus and I'll get it no problem. Excite my chakra as much as possible and make it move as fast and chaotically as I can while still being able to control it.' The blonde was sweating from the exertion of trying to regulate his chakra flow as it was on the brink of flying out of control, which would cause the technique to backfire leaving him vulnerable. Forming three hand seals Naruto held his right wrist with his left hand and tried to gather as much chakra as possible and make it dense as he could. He felt his control slipping and knew it was now or never as the sound of birds chirping filled the air. A ball of lightning surrounded his hand as he watched the sand swirling warily around Gaara allowing the sharingan to predict the movement.

He hardened the sand under his feet and pumped chakra into his muscles before exploding forward sending sand rocketing everywhere behind him. Naruto never moved this fast before and he almost paid for it when a sand spear came to close for comfort as it came in from his right. He jumped over it and watched the chakra swirling while he ducked under the whip of sand and pushed himself to the left as he landed avoiding a ball of sand careening at him. He could feel the chakra fading quickly and felt relief when he threw his fist forward yelling "Chidori" and felt it pierce flesh, and even though the sand redirected it so only half the attack hit and the lightning was losing density it still almost removed his shoulder showing how deadly the attack really was.

Gaara's pained scream echoed across the sandy plains, "My blood, mother what is this, he made me hurt. I've never felt this before. **Waah how could a guy like this make me feel pain."** Sand began to surround the left side of Gaara's body covering his wound and creating a giant claw of sand with blue and black veins exposed that he pointed at Naruto and screamed, **"Suna Shuriken"** (Sand Shuriken). Naruto saw the bullets in advance and dodged them as Gaara appeared before him and clubbed him with the claw sending him into a dune. 'Man that sand has to weigh a ton, but that was still faster than me so that means Chidori is out.' He formed a cross shaped seal and muttered "Tajuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu" as hundreds of clones burst from the dune he was in and tried to surround Gaara.

The redhead raised the arm and launched more suna shuriken at the clones dispelling many, however most were able to dodge the projectiles thanks to the sharingan. The clones split into three separate triangles and advanced from different angles. Naruto learned from the clone's assault that when he was like this he had no automatic defense. A plan formed in his head as he smiled deviously before he rushed at Gaara. He approached from the Jinchuuriki's blind spot and when he started to swing the sand arm at his cloned Naruto launched a Goukuuhou that hit him in the right side of his torso probably breaking his ribs as the container screamed and several clones managed to several good follow up hits in before a sand wave pulsed from his body and destroyed the remaining clones.

**"Ahh you hurt me again. Yes this pain only validates my existence more. Uzumaki Naruto you are the most fun yet. I can't wait to kill you."** While he was talking sand began to overtake his body until only one teal eye remained of Gaara. The other was a weird gold with a cross shaped pupil, and the sand formed another claw on his other arm and two legs and a tail all with the same blue and black veins.

Naruto saw the sickly yellow and black chakra that flowed through those veins and shivered at the sight of the tainted chakra. He heard a growling in his mind as the sand beast that was Gaara slammed into him. Calling out to the Kyuubi he appeared before the massive cage. **"What? So you need more power boy even with that fancy eye. I hate you slightly less than I hate being hypnotized, and if you die then I do as well, at least for a while. So take my chakra, but know that it is not without consequences mortal."**

The chakra bubbled out of the cage taking the form of the fox and Naruto held his hand out as his whole body was engulfed in the evil chakra and he saw the real world once more. The chakra surrounding him was messing up the sharingan because it was moving on its own and was too chaotic to predict its movement and was making it hard to even see his opponent. Closing his left eye and lowering his headband Naruto opened his now red right eye and noticed that the usual vision dip wasn't as large as it normally was. He could also smell and hear a lot better too, and there was a strange tingling sensation but he didn't care about that. He just wanted to pound this bastard into dust then piss on him, that defense was really getting on his nerves. As he was about to jump two long ears and a tail formed out of the chakra. His eye was red with a slit pupil, his hair was wilder, the whiskers on his face were darker and more feral, and his lips were outlined by a thin black line as he smiled wickedly revealing his elongated canines. 'I feel great, who needs the sharingan when I have this.'

Naruto charged and a chakra claw extended from his arm that slugged Gaara and sent him sprawling. He leapt at the downed container trying to drive his claws through Gaara's face only to be slammed by a stream of sand. He recovered in mid air and landed on all fours before the two crazed Jinchuuriki charged at each other and collided as send met red chakra. The two were sent flying backwards as the sand claw extended and smashed Naruto in the face while his tail sliced off the other one. He landed in a heap as his wounds quickly closed but the hit cleared his head allowing him to think, 'Damnit Fox I don't need this much. He forced some of the chakra back as the tail and ears disappeared leaving just a red shroud around him. Gaara rushed at him and he dodged before launching a Daitoppa that created a sandstorm as Gaara was stopped in his tracks. Summoning a horde of clones they charged Gaara body slammed him, the clones that didn't disperse were sent flying but Naruto charged in from behind intent on making someone else feel his pain and humiliation that hasn't left him since the day of his genin test, "Konohagakure Hiden Taijutsu Ogi: Sennen Goroshi" (Konohagakure's most famous and hidden technique: One thousand years of death).

He shoved a kunai with a supercharged explosive note under Gaara's tail remembering that the least amount of chakra was concentrated there and jumped backwards as it detonated sending the redhead careening into the sand unable to summon up any more energy. "I can't lose to a guy like this, I** won't lose. I must prove my existence."** Calling upon the Bijuu Gaara felt his coils fill to the brim with potent chakra and molded all the sand he could and created Shukaku's body as it towered above the reserve visible to everyone in Suna. **"Eat this Uzumaki, Ryusa Bakaryu"** (Sand Tsunami)

Naruto looked at the large wave of sand approaching him, "Fuck, how come I don't get any cool powers like that Kyuubi, you're such an asshole." Thinking that this constituted a life or death situation Naruto bit his thumb and made some seals before slamming his palm on the ground "Kuchiyose no Jutsu". A puff of smoke appeared and the wave of sand broke in the middle as the rest of it flooded across the desert.

The smoke cleared and Gamaken was standing there with his Sasumata on his back and a large Sake dish in front of him blocking the sand, "**I'm surprised that I stopped that… I'm ungraceful you see. It is the Shukaku… I will do my best… but I may not be able to get it done… because I'm very uncoordinated."**

"Don't worry about it Ken. I have faith in you, let's take this guy down… umm do you have any ideas how?"

Ken grabbed his Sasumata, **"Bunta fought him before… he said he and Jiraiya woke up the host to defeat him… I may not be able to do that… and he's not even asleep. I'm sorry… I'm not very elegant you know."**

Ken jumped as another wave of sand was launched at him and as he landed Gaara called out "Tanuki Neiri no Jutsu" (Feigning sleep technique). He threw his sake dish like a saucer and it slammed into the Shukaku but went flying away not harming the Tanuki in the slightest. The Shukaku called out "Fuuton: Renkudan" (Wind Release Drilling Air Bullet) As Ken jumped again and landed next to his saucer and picked it up to block the following one getting pushed back hundreds of feet.

"Damn it that was rough, Ken if you can hold him down I'll hop onto the head and wake Gaara up."

Ken nodded, **"I'll try my best… but I'm quite awkward."**

"Stand still little froggy, I just want to kill you. It won't hurt that much."

The magenta toad hopped to the left and was pushed back by another Renkudan as he landed that he blocked with the sake dish. He waited for it to fire another and launched himself in the air above the Shukaku and slammed his neck into the ground pinning it between the prongs on his Sasumata as he struggled to restrain the beast. Naruto pumped Kyuubi's chakra to his legs and launched himself off Ken and landed on Shukaku's head. Sand tried to crush him but was stopped by the red shroud while he ran towards the redhead and smashed a fist into Gaara's face waking him up. The sleeping genin jolted awake as he was hit again making the Shukaku lost its shape and Ken returned home causing the two to tumble through the air.

* * *

><p>It was a peaceful day for the Yondaime Kazekage, one of the most relaxing in recent memory. His wayward son was out of Suna and the populace much happier. The paperwork load was light and he was thinking he may finally get some time for Icha Icha, after all it was hard being a widower and a kage. Despite being the most powerful ninja in Suna he got less tail then a green genin because of the workload he had to deal with. After signing the last document of the day he reached to his hidden drawer containing the greatest secrets of Sunagakure… and his little orange book. He got a bad feeling and looked out his window before his hand pressed the secret button and he cursed the deity who liked to screw up his life when he saw the Ichibi no Shukaku in all its glory. "Shit, dragon assemble all available SAND forces and tell them to meet me at the site of the second exam."<p>

The kage jumped out the window after opening it and flew towards the reserve on a platform of gold dust, "Damn, what could make you lose control during the chuunin exams Gaara? " He arrived at the gates seconds before several platoons of Suna's black op force, SAND (Strategic Assassinations and Demolition). "Alright I want all of you to go in there and secure the genin, afte-" The man lost his train of thought when he saw a giant toad appear and stop the Ryusa Bakaryu in its tracks. "What the hell is Jiraiya doing in the exam area? Does anybody know what's going on?" The leader of suna turned his head when he heard a boisterous laugh behind him and saw the toad sage in all his glory, 'I forgot that his reputation is well earned. To sneak up on a kage even during times of duress is amazing.' "What is going on Jiraiya? If you are here then who summoned the toad?"

The sennin stopped laughing and addressed the sand shadow. "I don't think you need to worry about anything. Your son might have bitten off more than he can chew when he decided to go after my new apprentice though. It looks like he has everything under control doesn't it?"

As he finished talking Ken pinned the Shukaku and they watched as it fell apart shortly after that before the toad went back to Mt. Myoboku, and the Kazekage felt a headache coming on from the past five minutes, 'It was such a good day too.' "Why do I get the feeling this new student will be more of a menace than the old one?"

His only response was Jiraiya's laughter ringing out once more.

* * *

><p>For the first time since he was six Shukaku's voice wasn't pounding in his head and Gaara was petrified, now he was truly alone and the vessel of the Ichibi didn't like it. He couldn't move his body or summon any chakra, the formerly undefeated Sabaku no Gaara was at the mercy of his opponent after his first loss. Using almost all his energy Gaara turned his head and could see the blonde struggling to get to his feet. He managed to stand but fell forward onto his knees and hands. He pushed off and was on two legs again before he stumbled and couldn't lift himself back up so he started dragging himself by his hands. Gaara was trying his hardest to back away but he couldn't move his body and gave up, but Naruto persevered. His arms could no longer support him so he was anchoring his chin into the sand and using it to drag him forward towards Gaara. "No get away from me. My existence won't end, it can't end."<p>

Naruto stopped and looked at with empathy, "It hurts being alone doesn't it." Gaara would've raised an eyebrow if he had one, "I know the pain of loneliness all to well, and no matter how strong you are it can never be overcome by yourself. You know, I used to hate everyone in my village, and if I had some crazy powers like you I probably would've lashed out too. But people acknowledged me. I got more and more friends as time went on, and now I'm happy. It wasn't easy, but most things worth doing never are. I know that you can overcome your situation because you're strong, and I was just a failure unable to do even the simplest of things."

Gaara stopped struggling and listened to the only person he knew that could understand him, "How? How did you do it? I've never felt physical pain before today, but my chest was always aching. Whenever they look at me it hurts and I can't stop it."

"That's because your sad Gaara, and you want to be recognized as a regular person not a demon. I know how hard it is to make friends for people like us, so I'd like to be your first one."

Gaara was dumbfounded and tested the word on his tongue. It's been years since he last said it, "Friends… I'd like that Uzumaki Naruto."

When the sand user finished speaking Kankuro landed and picked him up before slinging him over his shoulder. "Stay away from him kid." Two Naruto clones then landed in the clearing holding the two unconscious girls before Sai landed an ink bird behind the clones. They gave Temari back to her brothers before jumping away anxious to finally complete the second exam.

Kankuro carried his siblings over to the rocky outcropping and set up camp. Temari stirred and when she opened her eyes Gaara said, "Kankuro, Temari… I am sorry."

He received two incredulous looks as Temari answered with a smile, "It's no problem Gaara, don't worry about it." She turned her head and looked wistfully towards the exit, "Thank you Naruto."

* * *

><p>Sai opened the door to their room while he and Sakura supported Naruto between them and they were surprised when they Kakashi laying on Naruto's bed, "Congratulations my cute little students, I'm proud of you all. You guys managed to pass the second exam and with a day to spare. I must confess when I saw the Shukaku manifest I just knew that you guys were in the middle of it. I swear Naruto you are a magnet for dangerous situations." Naruto self-consciously scratched his head as Kakashi continued while handing Sakura a piece of paper, "You three have to report to this location tomorrow at ten a.m. I assume they want to see who passed and explain the third test, but for now let's go celebrate with a team dinner."<p>

Naruto stopped his sensei before they left the room, "Actually Kaka-sensei before we fought Gaara and his team we ran into one from grass. The one that I was fighting had these syringes and after he injected it he got a lot stronger."

The blonde unsealed several syringes that the copy-nin inspected, "Good job Naruto, I will send these back to Konoha to get tested later, and if it proves to be valuable some money will be added to your account." After resealing them Kakashi pocketed his book and led his team out of the hotel to celebrate.

* * *

><p>The next day the trio arrived at the coordinates and entered the building. They walked down a hallway before standing before a larger door, and when they opened it they saw a wide open room with patches of sand and concrete making up the floor. There were six teams assembled, the rookies and Gai's team represented Konoha with their respective sensei, Gaara's team represented Suna standing in front of a tall man in standard Suna uniform with a turban and veil covering the left side of his face, and the lone Kumo team stood there in front of a muscular dark skinned man with seven swords strapped to his back and his hair in cornrows with a white headband bearing the Kumo symbol. He was wearing sunglasses and a white vest that left the right side of his torso exposed with black pants and a red sash around his waist and had the kanji for iron on his right shoulder and two small parallel blue stripes under his left eye.<p>

After team seven was on the balcony next to the other Konoha teams the wall slid open and the Kazekage came out flanked by the two previous proctors and a third ninja behind him. The new ninja was wearing a tan flack jacket over his dark brown shirt that was tucked into his pale yellow pants. He had green hair that went to his shoulder blades that was pulled into a ponytail and wore a white belt around his waist with the Suna emblem proudly displayed. The Kazekage sat in a chair that appeared in a puff of smoke and removed his hat and veil revealing the resemblance between him and Gaara, "Congratulations on passing the second exam. Usually we would just tell you about the third exam, but it seems we have to trim the numbers this time around. Surprisingly eighteen genin have passed the second exam, and we can only have a maximum of eight partake in the final round."

He stopped before the green haired ninja picked up where he left off, "Because of this we will have a preliminary tournament with one on one matches until only eight of you are left meaning one of you will likely have to fight twice." The ceiling opened up and an electronic board lowered. "Your names have been placed into the system and the computer will randomly generate matchups. If you lose you may have an opportunity to advance if you are chosen to fight twice and win the second match, however winning your first match means nothing if you have to fight again as you can be eliminated if you lose."

The board started flashing, "The first fight shall be…"

* * *

><p>Jutsu List<p>

Ninpou: Dokugiri B-rank

Konohagakure Hiden Taijutsu Ogi: Sennen Goroshi (Konohagakure's most hidden and sacred technique: One thousand years of death) Kakashi version C-rank Naruto style B-rank: Mostly used to humiliate the opponent and most ninja describe it as a glorified ass poke except for the users and victims of the technique who think that it should be listed as an S-rank Kinjutsu because of the sheer pain, resulting constipation, and sense of shame that the victim can often never overcome after being violated like that.

Kamaitachi no Jutsu (Sickle Weasel Technique) C-rank-Creates a large gust of wind that has several vacuum pockets capable of severely injuring an opponent

Ryusu Bakaryu (Sand Tsunami) A-rank-Specific to Shukaku Jinchuuriki. Creates a large wave of sand capable of crushing a small village. Gaara can only use this when calling on the Shukaku as of now.

Fuuton: Renkudan (Wind Release: Drilling Air Bullet) A-rank-Shukaku only, creates a large sphere of wind that is easily capable of obliterating a large section of the landscape

Suna Shuriken (Sand Shuriken) B-rank-specific to Shukaku Jinchuuriki, forms shuriken out of the sand before launching them at the target

Tanuki Neiri no Jutsu (feigning sleep technique)-specific to Shukaku Jinchuuriki, puts host to sleep allowing Bijuu full control. Because the Bijuu is interacting with the outside environment Gaara's psyche is not tormented by the beast.

Shikon no Jutsu (Dead Soul Technique) B-rank Kinjutsu-Preparing a corpse and filling it with blood the user makes the heart pump temporarily reanimating it and allowing the caster to control the corpse with chakra using all the skills the former body had

Unnamed (any ideas people?) Genjutsu Sakura used against Temari created by her, unranked-creates five bunshins, but tweaked so attacks just pass through them. She tricks the target into thinking the attacks have substance so they stop when they believe contact is made while she uses meisaigakure and attacks unseen


	13. Prelims, who will advance?

Kakashi stood on the platform overlooking the combat arena waiting for his students to arrive. He stood on the end of the Konoha teams and looked at the other examinees surprised at the number of competitors that made it. 'Wow usually there are only four teams that pass the second exam but it seems we have an outstanding crop this year. Let's see it looks like the Suna's, Kumo's, and Gai's team made it out early like mine, but team eight and ten look a little beat up still, they must've passed by the skin of their teeth. And the foreign teams sent the cream of the crop, that's Baki of the east wind and B of the A B duo. The doors slammed open and Kakashi eye-smiled at his genin as they made their way up to him. Almost as soon as they reached their sensei the Kumo jounin jumped across the room before landing in front of Naruto with his fist extended, "Yo my name's Killer Bee, but you can call me Hachibi. I'd like to tell you I'm feeling fine but can you tell me how you're doing Mr. Nine? Kakashi gave the man a nervous look and noticed the concerned faces of the other Konoha sensei. The genin looked confused except Shino who showed no reaction and Shikamaru who looked like he found out that Ino was sick for a week and couldn't nag him.

Naruto bumped fists with the rhyming man, "Umm I'm doing alright, though I am a little sore from my last fight"

B's genin groaned as the man smiled, "Nice rhymes little dude, but nobody beats me when I'm in the mood." B flashed Naruto a smile and jumped back to his team just before the wall opened up and the Kazekage came out flanked by three nin to explain the rules. Kakashi took out the greatest thing since… well the last Icha Icha Paradise and tuned him out. He only read a couple pages when the ceiling opened up and a large screen descended before flashing. As it landed on the names of two fighters the green haired ninja announced, "The first fight shall be between Omoi of Kumo and Hyuuga Neji. Will both fighters please report to the arena."

Kakashi couldn't hear what was being said by the Kumo team because of Gai's exuberance, but he heard Neji clearly, "It seems fate has smiled on me today. I shall make sure to take advantage of this opportunity." The dark skinned boy was hit by his equally dark teammate before coming down to meet the Hyuuga prodigy, "I feel bad for you, I would say it's nothing personal but I'd be lying. Fate has ordained that I may get some measure of satisfaction."

Omoi bit his lollipop and threw away the stick, "I don't know what your problem is but I can't lose because I'll disappoint my sensei." The boy grabbed his head and began freaking out, "Oh man if I lose then B-sensei will up my training. What if I become one of the strongest jounin in Kumo and he sends me on a mission I can't handle? Or I become the Raikage and because of me we go to war. And then the world might get destroyed and I'll be to blame."

Before he could go on a tangent the proctor announced the match, "The first match shall be Neji versus Omoi… ready begin."

Neji rushed at the boy without activating his byakugan and when he was within ten feet of the boy Omoi spit out chunks of lollipop before making some handsigns, "Ninpou: Candy Prison." The chunks grew and tried to surround the Hyuuga as he activated his kekkai genkai and shattered the crystals using the Jyuuken, but Omoi was standing a good distance away with his katana drawn. "I know all about the byakugan and I'm not stupid enough to engage you close range."

Neji frowned before closing the distance only to be stopped by a horizontal swipe before jumping back and throwing some shuriken forcing Omoi to abandon his defensive stance to deflect them before trying again. Neji threw four kunai with explosive tags on them that detonated next to the Omoi creating a cloud that blocked the audience's view of Omoi. When the smoke cleared the Kumo genin was gone and Neji quickly pivoted before blocking a sword strike with a kunai as Omoi emerged from under a sand patch. Neji followed up landing a glancing blow on the white haired boy that left him holding his right side as he retreated. The Kumo genin held his sword in front of him as lightning gathered around his katana and bolts began to arc along the length making Kakashi's visible eye widened. 'That's some advanced elemental manipulation for a genin, but he still has a long way to go. The lightning isn't concentrated enough and the metal should be vibrating at a higher rate, but it's still enough to easily cut clean through Neji.'

Said boy smirked as he charged again and sidestepped a slash of the lightning enhanced blade before launching an offensive that left Omoi on his heels as he parried or dodged the strikes. Neji found an opening but hit a piece of loose rock that the sword user substituted with. When Omoi reappeared he began some handsigns, "Raiton: Jibashi" and a web of lightning extended from his hands forcing Neji to abandon his pursuit, but when he dodged the web expanded and he fell to the ground screaming in pain. He managed to roll to the side avoiding an overhead slash from Omoi's katana and threw some smoke bombs to hide his recovers as he got to his feet. As soon as he had his footing Neji pushed off and burst through the smoke as Omoi began a spin "Kumo Ryu: Uragiri" (Cloud style revers beheading).

Neji stopped short of the spinning blade but the genin continued to pirouette before trying to take Neji's head off from behind with his follow through only for the Konoha nin to duck and land a palm strike to the other fighter's stomach. Omoi coughed up blood while he jumped away before forming more handsigns, "Raiton: Raikyu" as a lightning ball formed between his hands. The ball of lightning propelled towards Neji's feet creating a smokescreen as he dodged but Omoi threw several kunai that created an explosion after they landed around the Hyuuga. Omoi cautiously approached as the smoke cleared and saw the Hyuuga with his eyes closed and no veins. He sheathed his sword and breathed a sigh of relief waiting for the proctor to call the match as he was suddenly looking into white eyes and the body turned into a log. Omoi lifted his arms to block the barrage of strikes Neji threw at him before jumping back. He formed more seals as Neji charged before saying, "I surrender."

The Hyuuga scowled as he walked back to the balcony as Omoi massaged his arms with red dots visible all over them. Gai didn't celebrate his student's win and had a grim look on his face as he watched Neji ascend the stairs. When the boy rejoined his team the board began flashing and the proctor announced the next fight, "The second match shall be between Kankuro of Suna and Sai of Konoha, will both fighters please report the floor."

Kakashi was surprised to see excitement on Sai's face as he walked down to the floor and the proctor started the match, "The second match shall be Sai versus Kankuro… ready begin."

* * *

><p>Sai stood across from his opponent as his stomach was fluttering for an unknown reason and a smile made its way onto his face. "I told you we'd finish this crossdresser. For some reason I can't wait to rub your face into the floor."<p>

"Whatever creep. You won't know what happened when you wake up in the hospital."

The examiner started the match as Sai reached into his pouch and pulled out a scroll before channeling chakra into it as at least twenty ink beasts emerged and surrounded the boy before he pocketed the scroll again. Kankuro managed to dodge the first few attacks before getting mauled by a tiger. The boy's neck turned around until it popped off and senbon shot everywhere dispelling most of the beasts as Kankuro emerged from the bandages on his back. The puppet rose from the ground before taking a defensive position in front of Kankuro as the remaining beasts charged. Sai was drawing furiously and when his creatures were destroyed several birds and snakes emerged from the scroll.

Kankuro made a weird finger movement as holes appeared all over his puppet and kunai were launched dispelling the ink beasts. He sent the puppet towards the pale artist as he scribbled onto another scroll but the ink snakes merged into a medium sized one that forced Kankuro to abandon his attack and recall his puppet as it split and pierced the snake from several angles. Sai turned into ink as poison bombs landed at his feet and Karasu intercepted Sai's tanto with its arms crossed and two blades extended from its hand. It launched several senbon that Sai managed to dodge, but as he landed he was scratched by a kunai. Despite it not being a direct hit Sai felt his vision getting fuzzy so he pulled out a scroll and an ogre about seventeen feet tall emerged holding a ten foot long club that was as wide as a full grown Akimichi.

It blocked several projectiles with its club before slamming the weapon between Kankuro and the puppet trapping the chakra strings under the blunt object. Sai blew the puppet up with several explosive kunai and the ogre managed to grab a hold of Kankuro. The puppeteer struggled as the beast lifted him to its large mouth and swallowed him. The proctor was about to call the match when Sai collapsed and the ogre burst into ink and the Suna genin gasped for air on the ground before he stood up. The examiner gathered himself for a second before calling the fight, "The winner of the second match is Kankuro of Suna. The boy limped up the stairs after gathering the shards of his puppet not feeling like he won the match despite the result.

* * *

><p>There was an intermission as a squad of chuunin cleaned the arena and the fighters were served refreshments after Sai was taken to the infirmary to be given an antidote. It was almost a half an hour later when sand swirled in the middle of the arena and the proctor reappeared. "The intermission is over and the matches will resume." The ceiling opened as the screen came down with names flashing, "The third match shall be between Aburame Shino and Inuzuka Kiba, will both fighters please report to the floor."<p>

The two teammates looked at each other grimly before Kiba extended his hand, "Let's give it our best and no hard feelings no matter what."

Shino gave a curt nod and shook the outstretched hand, "Of course, it would be illogical to hold a grudge after an exam fight."

Kurenai put her hand on both of their shoulders, "Alright boys, it is unusual but not unprecedented for teammates to fight each other. I'll be rooting for you both, now go show everyone why you guysare the best genin team in Konoha."

Kakashi suppressed a snort before turning to regard Naruto when he sensed that the blonde was looking at him, "Kaka-sensei, what's the deal? Teammates shouldn't need to fight."

"Naruto it's part of the exam. The first two are set up to test teamwork because if you don't work effectively with your genin team then you shouldn't be considered for a promotion. The third test is meant to measure your individual mettle. Even if you work effectively as a team you also shouldn't be considered for chuunin if the candidate's individual skills aren't up to par."

Naruto huffed before frowning, "That's dumb I don't want to fight Sakura-chan." The pinkette scowled at Naruto as he hastily waved his hands in front of his face, "Not because you're a girl or weak Sakura-chan. I just want us both to get to the finals and become chuunin together. It's to bad Sai didn't make it though."

The pinkette was mollified by his response before regarding the fight as the other two did the same just in time to see the announcer slash the air signaling the start of the fight. Kiba put Akamaru down before making a handsign, "Shikyaku no Jutsu" (Four legs technique). Kiba dropped down so he was resting on all fours as his fangs lengthened and his hair became for feral. He exploded into motion but Shino was ready and dodged before lifting his sleeves as insects poured out. Kiba and Akamaru split up making Shino and his bugs divide their attention. He outpaced the insects and managed to save Akamaru before he was overrun and stuffed the dog into his grey hoodie. He pulled away from the bugs before turning and throwing a smoke bomb at them that made them act erratically. The dog ninja pivoted and rushed at his teammate before leaping into the air while spinning rapidly, "Gatsuuga" (Fang over Fang). He burst through Shino as the tall genin turned into a cloud of bugs but the insects couldn't get a hold on the rapidly spinning boy. Shino dropped down from underneath the balcony before throwing a kunai at Kiba. The dog user dodged, but when he was in midair Shino's insects flew off the kunai and tried to latch onto the two before Kiba substituted them with a piece of rock.

Once he reappeared where the rock was he dropped his puppy before throwing it a food pill as his fur turned red and Naruto blurted out, "So that's why he's called Akamaru, I just though Kiba was a little slow." Needless to say he was ignored as Shino watched Akamaru jump onto Kiba's back before the dog user formed a seal, "Juujin Bunshin" (Man Beast Clone). A puff of smoke engulfed them and when it cleared two Kiba's were standing side by side. They split up and surrounded the bug user and began rapidly spinning "Gatsuuga." Shino was hit but once again was revealed to be a mushi bunshin (Insect Clone) but the bugs couldn't get a grip on the two. The Kiba's stopped and sniffed deeply before one bombarded a sandy patch with exploding kunai as Shino emerged from the one next to it. The two put the bug user between them before using the gatsuuga to attack from both directions. It appeared they were about to hit when Shino threw something onto the ground before substituting with a piece of the floor knocked loose earlier in the fight. When the two drills were in his former position the black dots on the floor let loose a noxious cloud that had the Kiba's throwing up violently as one turned into Akamaru. Shino pushed his sunglasses up, "You shouldn't always enhance your sense of smell in a fight. I originally gathered those because they are useful for throwing off tracking, but since I knew you always have chakra into your nose when fighting me it was logical to use them now."

"Winner Aburame Shino."

The bug user walked to the balcony as Kiba was put on a stretcher and brought to the infirmary to try to treat him and his puppy. Once Shino rejoined his team the board started flashing again as he noticed Hinata glaring at Sakura. "The fourth match shall be between Karui of Kumo and Haruno Sakura. Will both fighters please report to the arena floor."

The redheaded Kumo genin hopped over the railing and Sakura was about to follow suit when a hand landed on her shoulder. She turned to see the smiling face of her favorite blonde and fought down a blush at their closeness, "Good luck Sakura-chan."

She smiled at him before responding, "I'm insulted that you think I need luck for this Naruto."

The blonde chuckled as she hopped the rail and landed facing her opponent. The redhead was scowling as she fingered her katana, "I was hoping to fight someone worthwhile to prove my strength, but it seems I'll have to wait because I'll be fighting miss pony princess from Konoha."

Sakura grit her teeth while her brow twitched, "Whatever you dumb bitch. You'll be a laughing stock in Kumo once people find out you lost to a 'miss pony princess.' I'll break your ugly face, hopefully it makes it look better because if it was any worse people would turn to stone when you looked at them."

The proctor jumped in before the steaming redhead started unofficially, "The third match is Sakura versus Karui… ready begin."

Sakura jumped back and blocked Karui's kick and the Kumo genin used her arm for leverage and pushed herself into the air before trying to hit the pinkette with an axe kick. Sakura jumped back while dropping a poison bomb forcing Karui to hold her breath when she landed. Sakura launched a barrage of senbon forcing the redhead to retreat. When Karui finished dodging the projectiles she unsheathed her katana before charging Sakura. The pinkette retreated while peppering Karui with senbon to keep the aggressive girl at a distance.

"You sure are good at running away. Why don't you stop being a coward and actually fight?"

Sakura snorted, "Please, I'm not a moron like you. Why would I get close when you're swinging around a glorified butter knife."

Naruto cheered as Sakura fought down a blush, "Yeah Sakura-chan tell that uggo what's up. You're a hundred time better looking and more talented than she is I bet she's just jealous. Kick her scrawny ass.

The Kumo kunoichi let out a scream before charging once more. The senbon Sakura heaved went through Karui and she turned and clapped her hands together halting the sword as blood ran down her hands. She delivered a brutal kick to the Kumo kunoichi's stomach before her hands were shrouded in green and the cuts closed.

"So you're a medical ninja, I'll have to find out whether or not you can heal yourself if you don't have a head."

Sakura responded by forming seals, "Ninpou: Dokugiri." She exhaled a purple cloud at the redhead who ran to the left while pulling out a scroll. Once she unrolled it water came pouring out of it while she formed seals, "Suiton: Mizu Tepo" (Water Gun). A water bullet was launched at Sakura and when it hit her she turned into a log and Karui was hit in the thigh with a senbon. She tried to jump away and avoid the follow up but didn't get very far because she couldn't move her left leg. Karui made a desperate horizontal slash trying to stop Sakura from getting closer but the kunoichi dropped to her knees and leaned back as she slid between Karui's legs and tapped her calf and hamstring with glowing palms as the redhead fell to the floor. Sakura heard cheerleaders and looked up to see Naruto had summoned several clones and henged them into his sexy no jutsu with red miniskirts, tube tops with Sakura's face printed on them, and pink and white pom-pom's, "Sakura Sakura you're the best, there's no way you'll lose to the rest."

Sakura fought down the urge to strangle Naruto as she slowly made her way towards Karui with her hands glowing while the girl backed away rapidly, "I surrender, I surrender. Just stay away from me."

Sakura stopped her advance as the proctor announced her victory, "The winner of the fourth match by forfeit is Haruno Sakura."

The pinkette tried to look tough but failed horribly when she blushed upon hearing Naruto, "Yeah Sakura-chan. That's the way to kick ass. You're the best."

She lowered her head and made her way to the blonde before smashing him on the head, "Na-ru-to don't embarrass me like that or I'll really make you regret it."

The boy lay on the ground with a swirl in his eye but quickly hopped to his feet when the next match was announced, "The fifth match shall be between Uzumaki Naruto and Rock Lee. Will both fighters please report to the floor."

Naruto swore to himself while Lee went on a rant, "Yosh I get to fight one of my eternal rivals already. Gai-sensei truly I am blessed to have this chance to prove that I am a splendid ninja."

Gai gave his clone the nice guy pose, "LEE burn with the flames of youth as your hot blooded passion drives you to victory. I give you permission to do whatever you must to fulfill your dream."

The strange boy's eyes sparkled before the two embraced as a beach with crashing waves and a setting sun in the background.

The spectators tried to erase the image burned into her memory as Temari said to her brothers, "I always wanted to go to a beach but after witnessing that I think it could trigger flashbacks and I never want to see that again."

Kankuro nodded, "Yeah there's no way that blonde runt is going to lose to anyone here if he beat Gaara in the fucking desert of all places."

Baki's one visible eye widened, "What? Are you saying that's the kid that beat Gaara? He doesn't look like much."

Gaara's spoke in a monotone, "Uzumaki Naruto is strong, he will never give up no matter the odds, and that is why he won. He didn't quit when I gave up all hope."

The boy said no more as they focused on the two on the field, "Naruto-kun, let us show have a splendid match. I feel you should know that I will not be holding back one bit."

Naruto didn't respond and took a defensive stance, and when the proctor's hand chopped through the air the spectator's chins hit the handrail as Lee disappeared in a burst of green and threw a jab that pushed Naruto back as he blocked by crossing his arms. The blonde hopped back dodging a right hook before stepping forward and hitting Lee's tricep with his left palm and tried to take green boy's feet out with a sweeping kick. The strange genin just went with the spin before jumping over the extended foot and launching a kick at Naruto forcing the boy to break off the engagement, "So it looks like you already took your weights off."

Lee frowned, "No I didn't, but my teammates forced me to lower the amount I was wearing during the test because I would dehydrate quicker and use too much water."

Naruto cursed as Lee charged again and couldn't get away fast enough and was forced to engage the green machine in taijutsu again. He blocked the first couple jabs before launching his own left that Lee deflected. He went with the motion and jumped doing a barrel roll and tried to hit Lee in the neck with his right foot but was blocked as the Gai clone turned to face the blonde and counter only to block another jab with his forearm before jumping back to avoid the follow up kick aimed at his stomach. Naruto jumped back as Lee did grateful for the space before launching several waves of shuriken at Lee slowing his halt before beginning some hand seals, "Fuuton: Daitoppa".

Lee couldn't advance through the harsh wind and was forced to retreat when kunai with burning tags wrapped around the handles. The projectiles picked up speed from the winds and Lee was forced to deflect them with several kunai of his own. The dark haired boy was forced to take evasive maneuvers after Naruto launched several Goukuuhou at him through the explosions. He managed to dodge and close the distance but when Lee was about to strike the blonde formed a seal and said "Fuuton: Sensougouheki"

Lee managed to retract his fist before the cuts went to deep but blood was visible on his bandages. The boy was starting to breathe heavily as Gai's voice echoed throughout the room, "Lee, in a youthful match such as this you must give it your all and harness your fiery passion. Take them off Lee."

Lee saluted, "Ossu, thank you Gai-sensei."

He jumped back as the man gave a nice guy pose with light pinging of his teeth. When Lee landed he started to take off his weights as Naruto charged, 'Damn I can't let him get those things off. Things will get a lot harder after because I haven't reactivated mine to get used to the speed. I'll have to try to take advantage of the awkwardness once he takes them off.' The blonde wasn't fast enough as Lee dropped his weights, which made a considerable dust cloud even though they were lighter than usual. Naruto tried a feint hoping Lee would overextend but the boy moved as gracefully as ever and grabbed his arm before delivering a punishing left hook that left Naruto reeling as the boy followed up with a foot to the chin launching the blonde into the air.

The boy made a seal and called on the Sensougouheki again to cut the bandages that were surrounding him before they tightened and trapped him. Naruto then made a shadow clone to push off of putting some distance between him and Lee. Naruto could only see a green blur as he reached into his pouch. He took a hit but was able to slap a piece of paper onto Lee's wrist as the boy fell to the ground and was unable to move. "Ha, I got you with a resistance seal. Fuuinjutsu kicks ass. Go me, I'm the best, nobody can top me. It doesn't matter how much you move Lee because each motion is met with resistance that equals the force you put out. The harder you try the stronger it is."

Lee looked crestfallen, "Naruto-kun how could you? We were having such an intense and youthful battle. There is no honor in winning like that."

Naruto gave Lee a confused look, "Well duh, we're fucking ninja Lee. No honor among shinobi. We do what we must to win and survive a fight."

Gai voiced his opinion, "He is right Lee, but like a true ninja you also have a trump card. Use it Lee, the conditions are met. You must defend your dream."

The man's mini me nodded and his muscles appeared to strain against his skin as chakra exploded around Lee, "Kaimon Kai" (Gate of Opening Release). The seal tag flew off Lee as if it were a piece of paper while the sand around his feet was blown around the room.

Kakashi stared hard at Gai as Lee began circling Naruto at high speeds, "You taught a genin how to open the Hachimon (Eight Inner Gates). That's irresponsible, even for you."

Gai never took his eyes off the fight as Lee knocked Naruto around like a rag doll, "I never expect you to understand Kakashi, but I'll do anything to help Lee achieve his dream and become a splendid Ninja."

As he finished talking Lee knocked Naruto into the ground before using the second gate, "Kyumon Kai" (Gate of Healing Release).

He was even faster and kicking the blonde's ass twice as hard as before. Naruto couldn't do anything but get his face knocked in and had enough, 'Fuzzy, give me some chakra, and if it's too much I'll put you in a genjutsu that will make you want to gouge your eyes out with your tails.' He thought he heard a growling then felt himself reenergize as a thin veil of red chakra surrounded the blonde before dissipating as his one eye turned red with slit pupils and whisker marks darkened just a little as killing intent filled the room making the ninja gasp. The Konoha genin were looking at their sensei with questioning looks and getting ignored because they were giving concerned looks towards the Kazekage and Killer B as they leaned in closer to observe the fight.

Lee burst into action after he got over the killing intent and once again circled around Naruto creating a wall of dust around the red eyed genin before he tried to attack from behind. To his surprise Naruto blocked the attack by grabbing his right fist before delivering a brutal punch to his jaw. Lee would've gone flying but Naruto's grip held strong and it felt like his arm was almost ripped from its socket. The green genin was getting beaten by a barrage of punches before he managed to block one and land a strike of his own in Naruto's stomach. Lee felt fatigue setting in and opened the third gate, "Seimon Kai" (Gate of Life Release).

He exploded into action and to most people in the room they appeared to be blurs only reappearing briefly as afterimages where they met in a momentary deadlock. Kakashi decided to reveal his sharingan to observe his student's form and see how to improve it. He and Gai were the only two from Konoha able to follow easily along with B and the Kazekage. Asuma's cigarette fell from his lips while he barely followed the two and Kurenai managed to get over her shock and speak, "Wow… those two are easily fighting at high-jounin level speeds."

Gai nodded as Kakashi answered, "That may be true, but the fight has gotten a lot sloppier. I know Naruto has never moved this fast before, and you can't practice using a Kinjutsu so I'm sure this is new to Lee as well. It's kind of funny actually. They're fighting like academy students if you really look at their form."

Kakashi was interrupted as Lee called out "Shomon Kai, Tomon Kai" (Gate of Pain Release, Gate of Closing Release).

The silver haired jounin stared at Gai, "How many gates can this kid open."

The sublime beast's face took on a grim look, "Five."

The three Konoha jounin looked aghast at that but no one could comment because red chakra exploded out of Naruto forming a red shroud around him. Ino looked at Sakura confused, "Spit it out forehead. How can Naruto, the dead last do that? I mean, Lee is using the Hachimon thing, Naruto's chakra looks nothing like that and is really scary."

Sakura looked just as bewildered as Ino, "I-I don't know, I've never seen him do this, do you know what this is Kaka-sensei?"

The man ignored her question as he focused on the fight as it became apparent that the temporary boost granted by the Kinjutsu came nowhere close to matching near limitless power of the Kyuubi. Lee was smashed into the wall and was getting pushed back by Naruto's relentless assault. Gai's pupil managed to get a blow in and put some distance between him and the glowing genin. Naruto formed a cross shaped seal and his voice came out deeper, "**Kage Bunshin no Jutsu.**" The room was filled with Naruto's as they surrounded Lee from every direction blocking the audience's view as half the clones transformed into fuuma shuriken that the other half launched at Lee. "**Shihohappo Shuriken**" (Shuriken from all sides)

The genin had nowhere to go and couldn't use a jutsu and Tenten let out a panicked scream, "He's going to kill Lee, stop the fight."

Sakura gripped the rail tighter as the wall of death got closer to Lee before the shuriken transformed back into Naruto clones and dogpiled on top of the spandex wearing teen. Once he was no longer visible under the clone pile Naruto launched a Goukuuhou that was five times the size of Chouji when he used his Baika no Jutsu. The blast blew through the mass of clones as it drove Lee into the wall. His eyes closed and he slid down the wall and landed in a heap on the floor. Naruto was breathing heavily and managed to drag himself back up to the catwalk as the proctor called the match, "The winner is Uzumaki Naruto, will a medic team report to the arena." He stopped to survey the arena and sweatdropped, "We will have another intermission while the arena is repaired and resume the matches when they are over."

Naruto ignored the questioning looks he was receiving trying to deflect the inevitable question. It was Ino who said what was on everyone's minds though, "Naruto what was that? That… that was just crazy."

Naruto didn't look at her as he answered, "Well I'm actually one of the last of the Uzumaki clan and that was a clan fuuinjutsu that stores and concentrates the chakra, making it more powerful."

It appeared to mollify most of the genin, but Sakura was frowning at him and Shikamaru looked like he wasn't buying it. Naruto's crush leaned forward and put her cherry lips next his ear and he whispered, "You can't lie to me Naruto, you will tell me the truth later or there will be pain, lots of pain."

Naruto shuttered, gulped and ignored the threat as the chuunin finished the jutsu to repair the walls and floor. The proctor reappeared as the board came down while names flashed, "The sixth match shall be between Shikamaru Nara and Tenten of Konoha. Will both fighters please report to the floor."

Tenten hopped over the rail as Shikamaru sighed and slouched, "Troublesome, why do I have to fight a woman?"

Tenten's eyebrow twitched as Shikamaru lazily dragged his feet and stood opposite of her almost two minutes later. She growled while pulling out several kunai from her pouch and holding them in front of her as Shika stood with his hands in his pocket, 'I wish we were outside so I could see the clouds.' He missed the start of the match and barely avoided the six kunai before throwing down a smoke bomb onto the ground. He set up his shadow to ensnare the weapon mistress but when she burst through the smoke like he expected the kunoichi nimbly twisted and avoided his extended shadow that he had waiting on the other side.

He deflected more kunai but they came up from the ground after they fell as he saw the glint of wires and smiled. She cut the lines and pulled out a bo staff before throwing it at him like a spear. Shika dodged while sweatdropping, 'Who throws a bo staff, what's she up to?' She disappeared in a poof of smoke as he saw the staff she threw and he turned and caught the leading kunai before using it to deflect the rest. Tenten was forced to abandon her next move as a string of shadow came from her right, but when she landed the kunoichi had to jump again to avoid the second shadow that came from her left. She wiped her brow before pulling out several spiked balls the size of her head, "Eat this."

She threw the balls and when Shikamaru heard a sizzling he mumbled, "Troublesome."

The balls exploded around him but her bo staff splintered and flew everywhere as she dodged another shadow. "You're just a one trick pony. You just run and try to use the same jutsu over and over. My sensei is a nut, there's no way that slow shadow can catch me. I think it's time I end this."

Shikamaru mumbled under his breath, "Women. All they do is nag, complain, and demean you. They're such a drag."

Tenten placed two scrolls on the ground before swiping her bloody thumbs over the seals as two smaller scrolls rose up and twirled around Tenten as two smoke dragons formed and the bun haired girl jumped between them yelling "Soshoryu" (Twin Rising Dragons).

She summoned a mass of weapons that Shikamaru avoided with liberal use of Kawamiri and Bunshin. The girl landed and smiled before lifting her hands, but when the kunoichi tried to follow through and bring the weapons up for a second attack she found herself unable to move. She looked up against her will to see Shikamaru standing with his hands in the rat seal. "I saw all the wires attached to the weapons. No matter how small they are the wires still create shadows and I was able to use them to connect to your shadow. Now the way I see it there are lots of pointy things on the ground right now, so either give up or you'll end up hurt by your own weapons."

If Tenten could've she would've grit her teeth but she was unable to move as she managed to get out a muffled, "I surrender."

The shadow receded as the examiner called the match, "The winner by forfeit is Nara Shikamaru."

* * *

><p>Tenten was gathering her weapons so the next match could start while Sakura used the opportunity to gloat. "Ha pig, I'm already in the finals and it looks like you still have a lot of strong people left that you could fight. Not like it really matters because anyone here could beat you."<p>

Ino glared at her rival, "Sure foreheadus maximus, but if I'm lucky you'll have to fight twice and I can just kick your ass, that should be easy enough."

"Yeah right swine, even if I had no chakra and ninja tools I could still beat your snout in."

"As long as you don't hit me with that giant sledgehammer that is your forehead I'll be fine."

The two girls were growling and glaring with their faces inches apart as lightning sparked between their eyes. Tenten returned to the balcony and began resealing the weapons as the board flashed, "The next two fighters shall be Hyuuga Hinata and Yamanaka Ino. Will both of you please report to the floor."

"Ha, I'll see you in the finals billboard brow. I can't wait to beat that forehead of yours in with an audience."

The shy girl was already waiting on the floor when Ino got down and confidently took her fighting stance while Hinata stuttered, "U-um good l-luck Ino-chan. L-lets do our b-best."

The proctor stepped forward, "The seventh match shall be Ino versus Hinata… ready begin."

When the proctor started the match Hinata rushed forward after activating her bloodline but was stopped by the sharp edge of a tessen. Ino launched some shuriken forcing the Hyuuga back before unwrapping the whip around her torso and cracking it while holding it in her left hand. Hinata stood just out of range before launching a barrage of kunai. Ino blocked them with her steel fan but heard sizzling and looked down to see Hinata had slid a kunai across the floor with an explosive tag wrapped on the handle. She jumped back and couldn't use her whip because the white eyed girl was to close so she used her chakra to wrap the whip around her waist and pulled out her other tessen. Ino saw what Neji did to the Kumo kid so was retreating while keeping those dangerous fingers away with her sharp fans. She jumped back and threw some kunai at Hinata after dropping the fan she folded and kicking it back. She retrieved her fan while trying to dishearten the meek girl, "You've gotten better Hinata but you were always ranked behind me in class. I won't let you get close and eventually you could end up getting hurt. I don't want to injure you so you'd be better off just giving up."

To her surprise Hinata gave Ino an icy glare and sounded angry as she spoke without a stutter, "I don't think I need to do that. I can already tell by the way that you are holding yourself that it's hard for you to move like this. You are constantly running chakra through your muscles and they aren't conditioned enough to handle the strain, it seems you haven't trained much and I need to get to the finals. I wanted to prove to myself that I could change and I won't back down because that is my nindo."

She burst forward faster than Ino could match and managed to shut off some chakra points with her barrage of pokes but missed most of the ones she was aiming for. If you looked at Ino's grimace though it was easy to see they still hurt like hell. Ino unrolled her whip again and was able to keep Hinata at a distance with it's supersonic speed. The Hyuuga couldn't get close and when she did there was always the sharp metal edge or side of the fan to stop her attack in its tracks. The shy girl was beginning to get frustrated and Ino was taking advantage, but the blonde needed to do something quick, her breaths were getting more rapid and she was dripping sweat.

Even though Hinata couldn't get a decent strike in the blonde was constantly on the defensive unable to get an attack in while expending lots of energy, and if she slipped up once all the Hyuuga needed was one good strike. She grit her teeth as Hinata once again came to close for her whip and the Yamanaka was forced to drop it because one fan was engaged blocking a palm and Hinata's index and middle finger hit Ino on the back of the hand holding the whip. Ino quickly drew her other fan and began to go on the offensive trying to finish the fight before she had no energy left.

Hinata let her attack while skillfully avoiding the deadly slashes but offering no counter. The pale eyed girl dipped and weaved between Ino's desperate strikes allowing the frantic girl to keep slicing with abandon. Hinata eventually landed a palm strike on the girl's thigh forcing her to abandon her attack while trying to stand on one leg. The shy girl charged when Ino suddenly cut her ponytail and threw the blonde locks at the Hyuuga that landed at Hinata's feet. She found herself unable to move and gasped when she focused on the strands. When Hinata used her bloodline on it she saw that there was chakra circulating through them restraining her movement. Ino smiled at the Hyuuga as she closed her eyes. The blonde formed some seals, "I've got you now, "Shintenshin no Jutsu" (Mind Body Switch Technique.)

She lined Hinata up in the circle she formed with her index fingers and thumbs before collapsing. The white eyes of the Byakugan opened just as Ino launched her spirit and Hinata leapt in the air avoiding Ino's technique. She landed next to the limp body and the proctor declared her victory, "Winner by… well winner Hinata Hyuuga."

The quiet girl made her way up to the rest of her team while Asuma grabbed Ino's body and Naruto looked questioningly at his sensei, "What happened? How did Hinata escape and why did Ino just suddenly fall over? I don't get what happened."

Kakashi answered his student while watching the board flash, "It's simple, Ino used the Shintenshin but was unable to capture Hinata because she broke the chakra flow in the hair. The byakugan can see chakra flow and they are masters at the manipulation of chakra so it was child's play for her to break it."

Naruto nodded a couple times, "That makes sense, but what the hell is Shintenshin?"

Kakashi eye-smiled at his protégé, "Oh that's easy." Naruto looked on in anticipation, "It's a hidden jutsu of the Yamanaka clan, so it's a secret."

Naruto face faulted and when he stood up he saw Temari looking scared for some reason. It seemed strange to Naruto until he looked up and saw Gaara's name next to hers on the screen, "Will Temari of Suna and Sabaku no Gaara report to the floor."

Temari was giving Gaara a nervous look, and even though there were no death threats after his fight with her fellow blonde it wasn't that long ago that he was a psychotic killer. She appeared to be about to give up when Gaara actually put a hand on her shoulder. She suppressed the shiver as Gaara spoke up, "Do not worry Temari I will not hurt you… we are family."

Everyone bearing the Suna emblem in the room looked shocked along with Sakura as Naruto smiled brightly at the redhead. Temari seemed to pull herself out of her stupor and walked down to the floor as Gaara disappeared in a swirl of sand. The proctor looked wary as he started the match while keeping his distance, "The eighth fight shall be Gaara verse Temari… ready begin."

Temari opened her fan and called out "Kamaitachi". The people on the balcony had to cover their faces to block the sand stirred up by the fierce wind but Gaara stood unperturbed as his sand protected him. Temari kept blasting him with wind blasts and he was wondering what she was up to. After all she was very intelligent and knew that attacks like that would be useless against his automatic defense. Gaara was forced to break his line of sight when she called out "Daikamaitachi no Jutsu" (Great Sickle Weasel Technique). He knew something impacted his sand and was surprised when the concussion of explosive blasts exposed him for a second as she launched another Daikamaitachi that knocked him back. It managed to hit him but didn't break his Suna Yoroi (Sand Armor) and caused Gaara no harm because the sand reacted fast enough to prevent his impact with the wall.

Gaara smiled at his eldest sibling, "Not bad Temari, but not good enough."

She looked down and saw she was standing on concrete, but it was surrounded by sand. She felt terror grip her and was sure that she was dead when Gaara called out "Sabaku Soso" (Sand Coffin) and Temari felt the sand crushing her, but after a moment she realized it wasn't that tight and felt more like an embrace as Gaara called out, "Do you surrender."

Temari managed a nod and the sand released her as they walked back. The two arrived on the balcony before the proctor remembered his duties, "Umm the winner by forfeit is Sabaku no Gaara."

Temari was a little ashamed at how fast she lost, 'It's not like anyone else could match Gaara that long except Naruto, and maybe that Lee kid.'

The Kazekage gave a subtle signal that the proctor picked up and blinked twice quickly confirming he understood. The board flashed as he did some stretches before it finally settled on two names. After making sure he had them right he announced, "The competitors in the next fight shall be Samui of Kumo and Akimichi Chouji. Will both fighters report to the arena floor."

The blonde's facial expression never changed as she stretched her lower back giving the hormonal teens a free show while walking. Her competitor seemed to be more interested in finishing a bag of chips than the fleshy mounds staring him in the face as he tipped the bag to get all the crumbs from the bottom. He crumpled the bag and tossed it over his shoulder before licking his lips and taking a fighting stance. The blonde only rested her right hand on the handle of the tanto resting horizontally across her lower back. When the proctor signaled the start the Akimichi formed a hand sign, "Baika no Jutsu" before ballooning to ridiculous proportions as his stubby arms and legs retracted into his fleshy torso and chakra propelled him into a rolling ball of fat.

Samui dodged and noticed the ball couldn't maneuver that well. Chouji took a wide turn and lined the blonde up again but this time when Samui dodged she dropped a burning explosive note that blew up and sent the ball careening into the wall as he shrunk to normal size with swirls in his eyes. The icy blonde charged him but he recovered from his position as he used the bubun baika no jutsu to extend his arms before clapping them forming a sonic boom that halted the blonde. He pulled out two wires with kunai and strapped them over his body before using the multi size technique calling out "Nikudan Hari Sensha" (Spiked Human Boulder).

Samui finally changed facial expressions when she raised an eyebrow and barely dodged the dangerous technique. She turned and her eyes widened when she saw the boy was about to hit her. The icy blonde didn't have enough time to dodge and was partially struck by the technique as blood flowed freely from a gash in her side. She grit her teeth while watching the spinning fat kid, 'This is bad, I'm losing blood fast and he's way faster and turns tighter than before. I have to end this now.' Samui watched as Chouji came rolling at her like a juggernaut as she formed seals, "Raiton: Hiraishin" (Lightning Rod).

Lightning sparked around her body forming a shield and when the Akimichi was close enough it arced from her body onto the kunai and travelled down the wire as Chouji's technique ended and his body started smoking as he was electrocuted. Samui continued the jutsu wanting to finish the match now when a trench knife surrounded by wind whipped in front of her face breaking the flow of lightning chakra between them and cutting off some strands of her hair. She was staring at the angry face of Sarutobi Asuma before her sensei jumped in front of her protectively. "Don't be a fool, you know what not to do. Nothing permanent happened so no use for snapping."

The ridiculous rap cooled the rising tension as medics escorted Chouji to the treatment room and Asuma quickly followed with a worried look on his face. Shikamaru and Ino looked like they were about to leave as well when Kurenai stopped them, "You can't leave because you will be disqualified. Win or lose you are still eligible to fight so you must remain here."

The proctor nodded as some chuunin began the jutsu to restore the concrete, "She is correct, the damage wasn't to severe and will be repaired shortly. We will resume as soon as it is finished."

The normally apathetic boy gripped the railing tighter as Ino sent a concerned look to the wall that opened where the medics would enter and exit the room. There was a tense silence as most of the Konoha teams glared fiercely at the Kumo team as Omoi appeared to be fretting about something. Eventually his redheaded teammate slammed him into the wall as the ceiling opened once more. The Kazekage eyed it anxiously as Temari's name came up again before the second one stopped on Nara Shikamaru. The sandy blonde smiled and jumped to the arena floor, "Alright, this slacker shouldn't be to much trouble."

Shikamaru sighed, "What a drag. I would have to fight twice, maybe I should just forfeit."

He was violently pushed over the railing by his blonde teammate after voicing his thoughts, "Don't you even think about it you slacker. If you don't win this one too then nobody from team ten will be in the finals."

Shikamaru sighed as he stood up and faced the smirking blonde, "Man this sucks. Not only do I have to fight twice, but it's against two troublesome women. I thought I could just relax and watch some clouds after my first fight too."

Temari's eyebrow was twitching as she turned to the proctor, "Start the match so I can beat this lazy bum down."

The proctor started the match then Naruto started cheering, "C'mon Temari kick that bum's ass. Make him actually do something."

Sakura's eyes were white as she grabbed Naruto and violently shook him, "Why are you rooting for that slut? She's fighting one of our classmates."

Naruto managed to answer without biting his tongue off, "Because Shikamaru probably doesn't want to win anyway. It would be to much work."

Sakura was forced to drop the blonde as a gust of wind knocked Shika into the wall and she had to close her eyes because of the force. The boy groaned but discreetly formed a seal and sent a shadow at Temari from behind. She back flipped over it as the shadow user recovered and the two faced off. Temari looked around keeping an eye out for shadows and burst into motion dancing around the tendrils before turning and opening her fan slightly launching a wave of wind forcing Shikamaru to drop his technique. He threw several kunai and shuriken that were deflected by wind and sent his shadow out to capture Temari once again. She dodged but landed to close to the shadow made by the balcony and had to substitute to avoid the follow up.

Shikamaru was breathing heavily as she started her counter and he couldn't do much except dodge the blasts and use chakra to hold onto the floor when he couldn't get out of the way. He wrapped two tags with a strange seal printed on them around kunai and charged chakra into them. He charged and used the two blades trying to disembowel Temari but was hit with the closed fan in the stomach knocking him back forcing him to drop a kunai. He stood up holding his stomach as he tossed the kunai behind him and watched as the blonde charged him. The two tags ignited began to glow white extending his and Temari's shadows making it easy to connect them. He smiled but it quickly disappeared when Shika saw her turn into her fan and he felt a punishing punch land in his kidney. He fell to the ground calling out, "I surrender."

The proctor called the match and when Shikamaru got back up to the balcony he got chewed out by Ino, "What was that you lazy bum? Now no one in our team is in the finals. Oh man, we have to work twice as hard and get way stronger. I'm tired of being weak."

The boy put a pinky in his ear and cleaned it out, "Troublesome, I tried my best but I was at a disadvantage. I'm still low on chakra from the last test and my other fight. To top it off it was a bad matchup. I had nowhere to go to avoid those wind blasts." He gave the Suna team a suspicious glance, "That match was hers to lose that's for sure."

Kakashi smiled at Shikamaru, 'He's pretty quick. All the host countries will tweak the exams so they look better. In fact the last prelims happened in Konoha and the Hokage handpicked all the matches even though they were supposedly random. As long as there is plausible deniability then everyone looked the other way."

The proctor signaled the next match should start as the board flashed once more. When it stopped Naruto turned and gave Neji a hard stare, "Will Hyuuga Neji and Uzumaki Naruto please report to the floor."

Naruto walked behind Neji trying to remember what he saw in the last fight and Hinata's. 'Let's see the byakugan has 360 degree vision and allows the user to see and attack the chakra network. I haven't seen him use a jutsu and Hinata didn't either. I should keep my distance, but that sounds easier said than done.'

The proctor began the match and Neji smirk as the veins around his eye bulged, "I'm surprised that you were able to defeat Lee, but he is almost as much of a failure than you. I'm a true prodigy and I'll show you that your fate is to be a loser for the rest of your life."

Naruto stared into the fierce white eyes, "I've been fighting fate since day one, but you've given up and accepted it. I think that makes you the loser here."

Neji scowled and charged but halted when Naruto formed a seal and called out "Fuuton: Sensougouheki." The Hyuuga stayed just beyond the swirling wall of sharp wind and attacked as it fell only for Naruto to poof into a log. Neji didn't seem surprised and jumped to the left avoiding a Goukuuhou before throwing smoke bombs around Naruto. He charged in and all the crowd could hear was Naruto scream out, but Neji was the one who went flying out of the smoke. The Hyuuga charged but the Naruto he was running at disappeared as he heard "Fuuton: Daitoppa."

The wind came from behind the rushing genin and pushed Neji even faster. The Hyuuga channeled chakra to his feet trying to stop his momentum but he barely slowed before he smashed into the wall creating a smoke cloud. He jumped out with some bruises and his clothes were tattered only to see twenty four Naruto clones looking at him. The arrogant boy smirked, "Those clones of yours are annoying, but you can't hide from my eyes." The boy rushed the clones avoiding their attacks before hitting the one in the far back with a palm strike. He watched Naruto fall as the clones dispersed before his eyes widened and he was hit by a brutal roundhouse kick and was launched into another wall after the blonde emerged from the ground. Naruto quickly followed up with some explosive kunai, but as the blasts rang out he had to cross his arms in front of his face as he turned and blocked the chakra filled palm that was heading toward his right lung. Neji put some space between them to avoid the blonde's counter and scowled, 'He has a lot of chakra. Most people would have some chakra points closed from an area attack like that but he has too much chakra flowing through his coils. I'll need precision to shut his network down.'

Neji crouched low and held his middle and index fingers together as the tips glowed blue. He exploded moving faster than he had shown so far and Naruto was hard pressed to avoid the furious attacks as he tried to keep his distance. The Hyuuga was herding the blonde though and when Naruto tried to step back he found there was no ground underneath his foot and fell onto his back into a hole made by one of his jutsu. He cursed and raised his hands and felt sharp stinging sensations all over his palm before he was able to get his feet back under him and retreat. Surprisingly Neji didn't bother to pursue and smirked. "You should just give up. I've closed the chakra points in your hands so it is impossible for you to perform jutsu. It's like I told you it was your fate to lose here just like it will be your fate to be a failure for the rest of your life."

Naruto growled, "I don't know and I don't care why you have a stick shoved up your ass. You can give up and accept whatever life throws your way, but I won't do that. All my life I've been looked down on and ignored for something I didn't do or could control. I've lived my life as the lowest of the low but I won't settle for that. I'll go from the lowest part of society right to the top because I'm Uzumaki Naruto and I don't go back on my word."

The arrogant smirk only got wider throughout the speech, "That's rich, one a failure always a failure. If you think that you can change fate than show me, oh that's right I took away your ability to do jutsu. You have no chance."

Naruto's left hand came up and grabbed his headband, "I already told you I never give up. I think I should stop holding back. I'm going to show you that fate is bullshit."

Naruto raised his headband as everyone watching gasped and Neji took a stance, "So you're going to beat me by using a stolen doujutsu. Like a loser could use that eye effectively."

Naruto growled, "I didn't steal this eye, Sasuke gave it to me to help me achieve my dream. Besides you're such a bastard that I know that he'd want to kick your ass if he was still around. I figured the least I could do is let him watch as I kick your ass all over the floor."

The two sized each other up as the Konoha contingent looked on with gaping mouths as Kiba managed to get out, "W-what the hell. How does Naruto have a doujutsu."

Sakura's face fell so Kakashi spoke up as everyone gave him their attention. "Naruto lost his eye when fighting Zabuza's apprentice, and when the medics couldn't treat Sasuke he gave his sharingan to Naruto to replace it."

Kiba mouth was still hanging open, "I don't get it, I thought those two hated each other."

Sakura found her voice, "Sasuke and Naruto looked at each other like brothers. They may have argued, but they cared for each other in a unique way."

The genin turned their attention to the match as the two fighters stopped talking and Neji charged Naruto. The blonde stayed just out of reach and avoided all Neji's strikes. Eventually as the rookie got closer to the wall he stepped inside a palm strike and pushed the other one wide before head butting the Hyuuga and jumping over him flipping and turning in midair to face him. Neji grabbed his nose and gave Naruto a dirty look. Naruto returned it by giving the former rookie of the year a cocky smile as Neji burst into motion. Naruto could see every attack before it was happening and was knocking them all aside or expertly dodging before the dangerous fingertips could hit him.

The sharingan user shifted his head to the left and stepped in while grabbing the Hyuuga's right arm with his left and delivered a brutal jab into Neji's stomach before pivoting on his right foot and spun around Neji and tried to knock him out. Neji ducked and jumped back while spinning to face Naruto. The blonde smirked as a whirlwind appeared around him and when it dispelled he was gone. Neji looked everywhere trying to locate him before focusing his vision. Doing that didn't allow him to see three hundred and sixty degrees but most genjutsu would become transparent if he focused his vision on them. The Hyuuga pretended to look to the left of the blonde as he attacked, but stopped and pivoted before launching a palm strike at the blonde's ribcage before Naruto could attack. Naruto reappeared before grabbing Neji's wrist and threw him over his shoulder. The two glared at each other before charging towards the other once more.

Lee came back to the arena just as the two met and was awed. Naruto was making Neji look like an amateur. The blonde was faster than Neji and the sharingan's predictive capabilities allowed Lee's newest rival to keep the Hyuuga at bay. 'Amazing, Naruto was completely incompetent at taijutsu and incredibly slow four months ago, yet here he is making Neji lose his cool. It's amazing how he's improved so much, I shall need to try twice as hard.'

Tenten was giving Lee a concerned look as he clenched his fists. The green genin's head was lowered and he was shaking. "Don't worry Lee, that match with Naruto could've gone either way don't get down on yourself."

The brunette was surprised when Lee lifted his head and revealed a look of excitement, "Truly Naruto was an excellent choice for my eternal rival. I'll have to train twice, no three times as hard so I can keep pace with his rapid improvement."

Tears streamed down Gai's face as he regarded his protégé, "Lee your flames of youth truly burn bright. To use your previous defeats to stoke your passionate blood into a frenzy and get inspired to reach new heights."

Tenten's fist collided with the strange duo's heads before they could get caught up in another youth session. "Will you two stop goofing off and watch the fight."

Gai's face became serious, "Yosh you are right Tenten, however this fight is over. Neji's strikes are getting less controlled and he is being controlled by anger. Eventually he will make a mistake, and the sharingan will allow Naruto to take full advantage of it."

Everyone turned their attention back to the fight and realized the green beast was right. Neji's blows were getting sent wide and he was wasting energy with every strike. Eventually he overextended his palm and Naruto grabbed the right wrist and twisted it until it was behind Neji's back and pinned the unfortunate boy to the floor while keeping him in the submission hold. The Hyuuga tried to get away but Naruto had an iron grip and kept twisting Neji's arm until he was forced to surrender before Naruto ripped his shoulder out of the socket, "The winner of the final match by forfeit is Uzumaki Naruto. If the fighters that advanced will please report to the floor for the finals bracket."

Gaara, Sakura, Kankuro, Shino, Samui, Temari, and Hinata joined Naruto on the floor and turned their attention to the kage. The previous two proctors walked to the front of the crowd carrying a box and wheeling a covered board. Once they settled in the Kazekage stood and addressed the finalists, "Congratulations on making it this far. It is a credit to you, your villages, and respective sensei that you were able to overcome over one hundred and twenty other competitors. Truly this is the cream of the crop and we are expecting an exciting final tournament. Now that I have your attention I would like to tell you why the chuunin exams were founded and the purpose that they serve."

The genin stared at him in confusion but none dared interrupt the Yondaime Kazekage, "You see the exams were created as a substitute for war. Instead of large scale battles between shinobi we prove our strength by showcasing the up and coming talent to potential clients. You will be putting your lives on the line for the pride and future of your home village so hold your heads high and fight with all your strength. The final tournament is in a month giving you time to strategize and train while giving us time to send invitations to important officials. Now Itsuki if you would."

The bandaged man stepped forward holding a box after pulling the sheet off the board revealing a bracket with eight spots. "In this box are eight slips of paper numbered one through eight. One will fight two and three four all the way through till eight."

He walked up to Naruto who was on the far right and the blonde reached his hand into the box and withdrew a slip before announcing his number, "Seven."

Hisako wrote Naruto's name in the first slot of the last match before Itsuki moved down the line and the rest of the genin drew numbers and were filled in on the board. The green haired man stepped forward, "My name is Daichi and I will be the judge for the third exam. These are the fights that are scheduled, in the first match we have Haruno Sakura versus Hyuuga Hinata." The two girls glared at each other from their spots on the floor as the proctor continued. "Match two shall be between Sabaku no Gaara and Samui of Kumo, match three shall be between Kankuro of Suna and Aburame Shino, and the competitors of the fourth match are Uzumaki Naruto and Temari of Suna. You have one month from today before your fights. Use this time wisely and prepare accordingly, we are expecting a good show for the spectators."

The proctors disappeared in a large swirl of sand and the Kazekage was surrounded by a whirlwind of gold before disappearing. Sakura grabbed Naruto's arm and before she could pull him away Temari stopped the two, "Hey Naruto I just want to say good luck and I look forward to showing you what I can do when we fight."

Naruto gave his fellow blonde a cheesy grin, "Of course, I'm bringing my best though so you better get ready."

Sakura was scowling and ready to get away from Temari who took hold of Naruto's other arm preventing the pinkette from doing just that, "I was hoping that after we fight that you could accompany me to the festival and promotion party."

The whiskered teen was about to respond when Sakura stepped on his foot, accidentally of course, and answered for him, "Well he'd love to but we were already going to do that."

Temari scoffed, "I think you should let him talk for himself, unless your scared he would agree."

Before it could degrade into a catfight Kakashi and Baki came to collect their students. Team seven collected Sai who was resting in the infirmary before heading back to the hotel and entered the room. Kakashi turned and informed his students of the situation, "Alright I want you guys to pack up because we're going to get lunch and then leaving. We have gotten permission for the finalists to train with a sensei in the land of rivers while the rest of the genin must return to Konoha before the ones attending travel back to see the finals. So pack up and Rin said she'd get lunch for everyone at the gate so let's hurry we don't want to be late.

* * *

><p>Kankuro was walking up a set of stairs carved into a mountain just outside of Sunagakure proper. Temari was getting trained by Baki and Gaara didn't need anyone to help him, but there were few puppeteers that were truly gifted in Suna and most of them were against his family. The boy came to a large steel door carved into the mountainside before pushing it open. On the other side a small old woman was perched on a large stalagmite holding a fishing rod and a bent old man was playing mahjong. They lifted their heads to regard the visitor before the old man spoke, "It's been a while since we had visitors, isn't that right nee-chan."<p>

The old woman gave Kankuro a hard stare, "That's right Ebizo, we have removed ourselves from the affairs of the village so why are you here?"

Kankuro prostrated himself before the woman, "Chiyo-baasama, I Kankuro have come seeking your guidance in the art of Kugutsu no Jutsu." (Puppetry Technique).

The short woman snorted, "Why should I teach you? I've retired and have come up here to live the rest of my days in peace."

Kankuro was sweating bullets, 'Maybe I should've thought of something to say after asking for her help.' The boy thought for several minutes before responding, "Please baa-sama, I need your help. You are one of the most revered puppeteers in Suna's proud history and it would be an honor to learn from you and help preserve one of Sunagakure's oldest and most sacred arts."

The woman stared unblinking at Kankuro until a fly landed on the back of her head and she limply fell into the pool. Kankuro was freaking out as Ebizo yelled, "Nee-chan, no. Oh god you've died."

The elder was about to break into tears when the surface of the water broke and Chiyo cackled, "Oh I got you good that time didn't I Ebizo?"

Kankuro stood with his mouth agape as her brother answered, "Heh, that was pretty funny Nee-chan. You definitely had me that time."

The aspiring puppet master was about to leave when Chiyo looked at him, "I guess I am getting awfully bored. If I don't have anything to do Ebizo might start to get wise to my dead act. I'll train you for a month, but if you don't improve sufficiently then I'll stop after the exams. So you be-"

She suddenly submerged as Ebizo started freaking out once more, but she soon came up hooting as Kankuro sweatdropped 'What did I just get myself into?'

* * *

><p>Rin led the Konoha group through the border town towards the largest restaurant in town where they would meet several sensei for the finalists. They were drawing strange stares as they walked. It may have had something to do with the fact they were all shinobi, but everyone agreed it was Gai walking on his hands because Kakashi had two students in the finals and he had none. The motley crew entered the establishment and the genin's eyes widened when they saw the people inside. Shibi Aburame stood in the back row but walked forward first. The bottom of his beige trench coat billowed as he strode toward his son, "It is good to see that you reached the finals Shino. Come and I shall train you for the duration of the month."<p>

The boy walked forward without a word as the strange pair exited the building. Hiashi stepped forward and looked down at his daughter and nephew, "Hinata it pleases me that you have reached the finals, and Neji there are always the Konoha exams to showcase your talents. I am sure the citizens will appreciate the demonstration of the Hyuuga's power."

Neji bowed, "Thank you Hiashi-sama."

The stern man regarded his daughter, "Are you ready for your training Hinata? I won't hold back, and I expect only the best."

Hiashi cast an eye at Hinata and was surprised that instead of avoiding his gaze by looking downward and hunching her shoulders she stood straight while staring him in the eye, "Hai Otou-sama."

The man let a small smile break his neutral mask, "Good, oh and Neji you shall also accompany us. I feel that someone of your talent should receive some advanced lessons in Jyuuken."

The boy was wide eyed as he followed father and daughter out of the restaurant. Rin grabbed Sakura's shoulders and pointed to the door and she turned towards her team, "Good luck guys, I'll see you in Suna."

Naruto and Sai smiled before the blonde responded, "Thanks Sakura-chan, train hard, I'll see you in a month."

Jiraiya grabbed Naruto's shoulder as she left and Kakashi addressed Sai, "Okay Sai, you'll travel back with the rest of the group and make the return trip with the Hokage and teammates of the other competitors. So we'll see you soon."

The boy nodded and said goodbye, "I shall see you soon, good luck Naruto-kun."

The blonde gave him the thumbs up before turning towards his two sensei, "Alright let's do this."

* * *

><p>So this ended with more of a whimper than a bang. I finally got my brace unlocked and they say I'm healing quickly so good new. I've also been playing the battlefield 3 beta and I guarantee that it's a cod killer, unless the vehicles are overpowered. Anyway it took so long because I had some good ideas for the later parts of the story and wanted to get a rough sketch of where's this going so this chapter got lost in the shuffle. To top it off my computer froze when I was writing my first draft and lost all of it. I just wanted to get this done and out so I could move on and I kind of rushed it, but I promise that the next couple of chapters will be out pretty quick. We'll get a glimpse of everyone's training and people will gather back in Suna. So keep reading people<p>

-Operaman Bye Bye

* * *

><p>Jutsu List<p>

Raiton: Jibashi

Raiton: Raikyu (Lightning Ball) B-rank-the caster forms a ball of lightning before launching it towards the opponent easily capable of killing them

Shikyaku no Jutsu (Four Legs Jutsu) D-rank-Inuzuka Hidden Jutsu, the user becomes more feral and their physical abilities increase

Gatsuuga (Fang over Fang) C-rank-Inuzuka Hidden Jutsu, The user rotates rapidly like a drill and attempt to impact the target. Easily capable of breaking bones.

Juujin Bunshin (Man Beast Clone) C-rank-Inuzuka Hidden Jutsu, turns the canine familiar into a copy of the user, but the dog cannot speak or use ninja tools

Ninpou Dokugiri

Suiton: Mizu Tepo (Water Gun) C-rank-The user launches a sphere of water at the target capable of breaking bones.

Fuuton: Daitoppa

Fuuton: Sensougouheki

Hachimon (Eight Gates) Kinjutsu-Releases inhibitors in chakra system that allows the body to access its full power but does horrible damage to the body.

Fuuton: Goukuuhou

Kage Mane

Soshoryu (Twin Rising Dragons) B-rank-Specific to Tenten, she unseals and throws an uncountable amount of projectiles. If the first barrage fails wires are attached to the weapons allowing a follow up.

Shintenshin (Mind Body Switch) D-rank-most basic Yamanaka Hidden Jutsu. The caster launches their soul into the targets body allowing them to control them, but any damage taken will affect the original body as well

Kamaitachi

Daikamaitachi (Great Sickle Weasel Technique) B-rank- larger version of Kamaitachi.

Sabaku Soso (Sand Coffin) C-rank-Specific to Shukaku Jinchuuriki, Gaara uses sand to entrap his opponent

Baika no Jutsu

Bubun Baika no Jutsu

Nikudan Hari Sensha (Spiked Human Boulder) C-rank- Chouji uses kunai attached to wires to increase the speed and manueverablity of his Baika no Jutsu. Older Akimichi use their hair for similar affect


	14. Train hard Naruto, the finals are here

Chapter fourteen is here so hopefully only 2-3 more before the exam section ends and then only one more arc before the training trip. I really just want to get through the pre-shippuden stuff so I'm taking out the filler chapters after the exam and we'll just jump straight to the Tsunade arc along with some glimpses at the the villains of the story. So here's chapter five enjoy people. (Also sorry for Killer Bee's rapping in advance)

-Operaman

* * *

><p>"Five Hundred, five hundred and one, five hundred and two, five hundred and three." Karui and Omoi were doing pushups and supporting large bags of sand with their backs while Killer B and Samui were sparring by the water. They were near an isolated beach in the southern part of Kaze no Kuni to train for the finals. Well at least Samui was, her dark skinned teammates were being punished for embarrassing their sensei and possibly staining his glorious reputation that he spent years building… that's what Killer B said at least.<p>

"Hey you two quit slacking. You failed after entering the tournament with my backing. When you two get to a thousand run twice that in laps, also make sure you increase the number of bags."

The two groaned began doing pushups at twice the pace as B regarded his blonde student, "Alright Samui let's see, your first opponent like me is a Jinchuuriki. I don't think anyone expects you to win, but if you make a good showing not getting promoted would be a sin."

Samui wasn't phased by the rapping having grown used to it long ago and nodded, "I understand that I probably can't beat Gaara but from what I saw observing his fights in the desert and prelims it will take way more raw power or speed than what I have to even make him try."

Her sensei nodded and started muttering to himself while scribbling in his notebook. He did that for a minute or so before putting the notebook away and addressed Samui, "I know that you're my student after all, but you'll just have to trust my call, we have a little over three weeks, and I'll take you all to your physical peaks. For you Samui I know just what to do, I think it's time to teach you a ninjutsu."

The kunoichi nodded, "What are you going to teach me?"

"When you see what I want to teach you it will be a surprise, I have no doubt that you won't believe your eyes."

* * *

><p>Hiashi parried his nephew's rapid strikes before delivering a kick that knocked the boy back and then he quickly spun to meet his daughter's attack. The two teenagers had made impressive strides in Jyuuken the last week and half. Of course it was expected of a prodigy like Neji, but his daughter's improvement surprised him. Her palm strikes were now filled with determination and focus, no longer was she holding back out of fear or hesitation and the stern man was proud at how much she grew during the exams. The two coordinated well and rushed him from opposite directions and to block or dodge the combination would've been impossible by normal means so Hiashi began spinning and released streams of chakra from various tenketsu over his body, "Kaiten."<p>

The two younger Hyuuga were to close and couldn't stop their attacks in time so they collided with the rapidly spinning chakra sphere and were knocked back an impressive distance. Hiashi took a relaxed stance and placed his hands into his sleeves and called off the genin, "Enough, excellent job you two the improvement I've seen is extraordinary. I think that you both have enough basic skills so it is time to move on to more advanced techniques. Hinata I will be teaching you the Kaiten as well as the Hakke Sanjuni Sho (eight trigrams thirty two palms). Neji those techniques are meant for the main branch so why don't you go over there and do something, I don't care because I won't be paying any attention to you at all. In fact I'd keep your byakugan active and try to improve its range while I show Hinata the techniques."

Neji bowed before following the order leaving Hiashi and his eldest child. "I do not know what has triggered this change in you daughter but this new zeal has impressed me. I will no longer hold back when training you and I expect you to put your all into everything that we do as well."

Hinata nodded, "Hai Otou-sama, I will do my best."

After observing her posture for any hesitance Hiashi began, "Excellent, we shall start with Kaiten and then move to the Sanjuni Sho, now let us begin."

* * *

><p>Ebizo sat sipping tea and watched as his older sister toyed with her new pet project. Kankuro was trying to control two rocks with chakra strings while Chiyo used one stone to leave bruises all over the aspiring puppet master. The boy was trying to put the legendary puppeteer on the defensive with an assault and it was working to a degree seeing as her rock couldn't get through his two, however he wasn't making any headway towards the elderly woman either. Suddenly Chiyo broke the stalemate and her stone slipped through a gap and was able to smash into Kankuro before the young puppeteer could get his rocks back in front of him.<p>

When he was able to stand he saw the old crone giving him a disapproving frown, "I don't know who trained you, but I do know that they were pathetic. Your rocks were far closer to me than mine was to you, if you were willing to risk taking damage there you probably would've been able to hit me before my rock even got close to you. As a puppeteer you must always be thinking ahead of your opponent, and because all it should take is one good shot trading hits is a good thing for you as long as it's not a kill hit. Also you said that you could easily control one puppet, but it takes two strings for you to move one rock. A good puppeteer should also be able to control one puppet with one finger, why when Sasori-chan was your age he could control five puppets at a time."

Kankuro growled and stood up, but before he could lift his two rocks one was shattered and he had to shield his eyes as the rock shards ricocheted around the room while Chiyo cackled, "You crazy old bat, what the hell was that? One of those chips could've poked my eye out."

"Oh shut up boy, if that hurt you I would've kicked your pathetic ass out of here after fixing you up. Now I want you to master moving this one rock with one string, and after you do that we'll begin working on controlling two puppets with one hand while also controlling five rocks with your opposite hand."

Ebizo finished his tea and shakily stood, "Actually young man before you continue I have something that I think would benefit you in your matches." The man shuffled inside a side room, and the elder came out he was holding a small satchel. When he got next to Kankuro the elder opened the sack revealing that there was some sort of black sand inside, "This is called black powder, we used to use it back in the old days before exploding tags became commonplace. The explosive potential from this is much higher than most tags but at the same time it is more of a hassle to use."

Kankuro looked at the bag, "Umm thank you Ebizo-sama, but I can't use something like this. Father has ordered that no genin be killed during the fights to promote goodwill between Konoha and Suna."

Chiyo growled and muttered under our breath before she was able to be heard, "Not that I care about that man's orders, but you should be able to figure out a way to use that without killing your opponent. As a matter of fact if you don't use the black powder in the finals I will drop you as a student and make sure that nobody else will ever teach you, and puppeteers will listen to me." Kankuro hastily nodded as he pocketed the black powder before struggling to lift the rock with one string and sweat dropped when he saw five floating in front of his new sensei while she sat and used one hand to rest her wrinkled chin on, 'God damn it old people are fucking nuts.'

* * *

><p>Sakura sat in front of a complicated network of clear pipes with different colored water running through them and intersecting at places. It was a higher level control exercise and the goal was to use her chakra to push and pull the water through the pipes making them run in a pattern, but while doing this she also couldn't allow the water to mix where the tubes intersected and if it did the girl had to quickly separate the two colors before they permanently mixed. Rin sat overlooking Sakura with a critical eye making sure to correct any mistakes that were made while quizzing her student with a variety of medical knowledge forcing the genin to split her attention and reduce the concentration she had on the pipes, after all a medic had to be aware of things around them and still be able to heal effectively.<p>

"That's enough Sakura, I think that it's almost time to start working on healing a fish, your Shosen no Jutsu (Mystical Palm Technique) is at an acceptable level and you just need experience with diagnosing patients to get better at that. I wish that there was something combat oriented I could teach you but you haven't developed your chakra enough for its natural affinity to become apparent and we don't have a lot of time for guesswork. All we can really do is work on your chakra control to improve your jutsu and your medical knowledge so you can heal yourself more efficiently during the fight as well."

Sakura nodded, "I understand Rin-sensei, but I don't want to engage a Hyuuga in taijutsu if I can help it, and Hinata can see me throw my senbon wherever I am and any sneak attacks or diversions will be foiled by her kekkai genkai so my ranged techniques are less effective than usual."

Rin gave her student a patronizing smile, "Sakura, Sakura… so naïve. The idea of using chakra scalpels came from the, Jyuuken and the medical style is just as deadly, if not more so. Jyuuken attacks the chakra network as well as major organs breaking the body down, and while chakra scalpels cannot close tenketsu or damage chakra coils you still have the ability to shred muscles and the circulatory system and damage organs as well. Hinata won't be able to close any of your chakra points if she can't lift her arms, and she has to hit those tiny dots to shut your chakra down whereas you don't need to be as accurate. Even a glancing blow can hit some surface veins or arteries which would slow her down as well." Seeing her student's hesitant nod Rin put on a vicious smile, "Well Sakura I think I came up with something else to work on for the rest of the month." Sakura gave her teacher a wary look as her hands started glowing blue, "Try to stop my attacks. If you can handle me then a genin should be no problem, Hyuuga or not."

Sakura gulped as her hands glowed and she met her teacher's charge.

* * *

><p>The people of Suna were confused, it was a beautiful out and there wasn't a gust of wind all day yet a sandstorm was raging in the distance. Unbeknownst to them in the epicenter of the storm stood Gaara in a calm area trying to increase his control over sand and chakra reserves. He'd never been touched in battle before let alone defeated but a blonde maelstrom came along and did both showing Gaara that he must improve, so here he is trying to do something. The problem is that he was at a loss of what he could do to improve. The sand responded to his will so there was no conscious effort or real skill on his part and the redhead hardly felt the dent on his chakra reserves even after creating and maintaining a sandstorm for an hour.<p>

Letting the storm die down Gaara tried to create intricate shapes with his sand while he thought about how to increase his strength for their next fight, 'If my control over sand can't really improve maybe I need to think and be creative with my attacks. I need to start outmaneuvering my opponents instead of overpowering them.' Gaara was trying to create a miniature version of the toad that defeated him down to the minutest detail when his creation was suddenly hit by a wave of gold dust before being engulfed completely. Gaara shifted his vision to the left while his eyes narrowed, "What do you want Kazekage?"

Gaara's father stepped out and gave his son a neutral gaze, "I figured the sandstorm was your doing, I just wanted to make sure that nothing bad was happening."

Gaara stared at Suna's leader before turning his back on his father while inwardly cursing that he took after the man. Temari looked like his mother did in the pictures he saw in the house, a mother who didn't love him and cursed the boy at birth. To make matters worse every time he looked in a mirror he saw his father, the man who hated him and was trying to kill him. "Well as you can see everything is fine so you can just leave me alone."

The man gave Gaara's back a regretful look before speaking softly, "What are you doing then?"

"I'm training for the chuunin exams, I was recently shown that I am not an unbeatable force. If I am to live then I must be strong."

"Yes, imagine my surprise when I find out that a genin was able to best you in the desert. Perhaps I should take more of a hand in your training, after all you are supposed to be Suna's ultimate protector. Prepare yourself Gaara and show me your strength."

Gold clashed with sand as father and son tested their mettle.

* * *

><p>Temari was in her father's private library while he was investigating the sandstorm. She wasn't really supposed to be in here but it wasn't like the shelves held village secrets or Kinjutsu, just techniques used by her ancestors over the years, although her family happened to be the most powerful founding family in Suna. Her mother didn't wield a battle fan but she was constantly told stories about her great-grandmother who was one of the best fan users in the village's history. The blonde was here looking for one of her great-grandmother's old techniques to use against Naruto when they fought. When she first saw him she was skeptical that he would be tough competition. The boy had one eye covered which she assumed was useless and though the genin looked pretty serious Naruto just had this bright aura around him that didn't make him seem dangerous even though Kankuro almost shit his pants and compared the cheery blonde to Gaara.<p>

She followed the two Konoha genin to learn more about the competition and he gave her the slip and took her by surprise peaking her interest, but after spending time with Naruto she just got drawn in by his open and genuine nature. The sunny blonde was always kind and quick with a smile, a spot of brightness in the gloomy aura of Suna. Temari was disappointed as soon as Gaara laid eyes on her fellow blonde and picked Naruto as his next prey, so she tried to put the Konoha ninja out of her mind convinced he had no future. When the two finally clashed Temari was certain Naruto would be reduced to a bloody smear but he somehow managed to beat Gaara in full possession and she later overheard her father and Baki say he was a container like Gaara. Temari was floored that the boy could contain a demon like her brother and turn out as kind as he did. If he was treated a tenth as bad as Gaara then he still should've been insane. Temari's attention was now captured and she wanted to impress Naruto and show him that she could stand shoulder to shoulder with him as a strong kunoichi and was a way better choice than his teammate. If only she could fight that pink haired bitch, then she'd learn that it was luck that allowed them to draw before.

Temari was reaching up on the highest shelf to put a scroll back when she felt a small one rolled up and tucked into the corner. She pulled it out and undid the seal with wind chakra before unrolling it on the table. Her eyes widened and smile got bigger the farther down she read. 'What a find, this jutsu is perfect and it has more stages as I get stronger as well. I know I can at least get the first step down in a month, I wish there was more time so I could do the next wind exercise but the beginner version shouldn't be a problem at my current level. And if I train hard enough I can definitely get the first branch move down no problem.'

Temari looked up at the clock on the wall before cursing loudly. She rolled up the scroll and strapped her battle fan into its holster before rushing out the door. She was late to meet Baki but at least she was bringing something to work with… as long as she could come up with a reasonable explanation to where she found the scroll.

* * *

><p>Shino stood across from his father as their bugs crawled back into their sleeves. The elder Aburame pushed his sunglasses up his nose before addressing his son, "Acceptable work Shino, you show an aptitude for using the kikaichu. You deploy them logically and have impeccable timing and coordination with your hive. All your plans were well within your current capabilities and you have mastered the beginner formations. We have some time before we must meet with our comrades, so we shall take a quick break to restore our energy because we have been expending much of it during battle and the kikaichu haven't fed much. After eating and feeding the bugs I shall explain the intermediate exercises."<p>

The boy looked towards the fire, "Yes tou-san it sounds quite logical."

"Good"

"Indeed"

* * *

><p>Jiraiya sat on a boulder while drinking some of river country's finest Sake. Usually the sage preferred the cheap stuff that would burn on the way down and packed a punch, but the Daimyo was a huge fan of his so sent some of Kawa no Kuni's finest sake to the hermit when he heard that Jiraiya would be in the area with the other Konoha shinobi. He wiped his lips after a particularly long swill and looked on as some Naruto clones were standing on the surface of a slow moving river trying to make the water rise up around them like a tornado with pure chakra manipulation. The sennin had to admit that he wished he had access to these exercises when trying to improve his shape manipulation, it was no wonder Kushina learned the rasengan so quickly if she completed these exercises. Hopefully they helped another bunch of Naruto clones that were trying to use the technique with one hand.<p>

After he understood the concept the boy learned it faster than anyone so far with his shadow clone training, but Naruto still couldn't use the third stage efficiently. Sure he could power it up one handed after building it up for several seconds or create it with a clone but that took away the true strength of the rasengan, the ability to create it quickly without seals to surprise the opponent. Jiraiya had to admit he enjoyed the look on his new student's face when he said that there would be no further lessons until the rasengan was mastered, but when given an explanation why the blonde understood and tried even harder and now it looked like some of the clones were getting close.

The original Naruto was sparring with shadow clones of him and Kakashi, they weren't going all out but were constantly pushing the teen and keeping him at his limit while periodically trying to push the young shinobi past it. The original copycat was off doing some of the elite Uzumaki control exercises, he said after hearing about Akatsuki and how concerned Jiraiya was that it was time he got back into fighting form and the sage agreed. Minato would be disappointed that his prized student stagnated like that, in fact, it looked like he lost a step or two recently even if his mind got sharper. Like Sarutobi-sensei said, "The best shinobi are those that find balance between heaven and earth."

One of the clones working on the rasengan cheered before dispelling. The rest of the bunshins smiled before they all use a one handed rasengan perfectly. The remaining ones dispelled and the real Naruto took a good hit because of the sudden influx of information. The brat bounced back spectacularly though and the genin managed to take his clone by surprise with the rasengan, "Kakashi clone thingy that's enough. Report in now Naruto."

Naruto zipped in front of Jiraiya and gave a mock salute, "Reporting in pervert-taichou."

Ignoring the blonde's cheekiness Jiraiya continued, "Good, it looks like you have a decent handle on the rasengan now and like promised you can learn something new." Naruto started bouncing from foot to foot while rubbing his hands gleefully as Jiraiya pulled out a scroll with B-rank clearly visible on the outside. "This is a scroll detailing a B-rank wind jutsu. Kakashi said that you've shown enough self control that he trusts you enough not to destroy everything in sight when using this, but since neither of us have wind affinities you're on your own, so hop to it."

"Right Ero-sennin, you better have another jutsu in the wings because I'll have this one down in no time, 'ttebayo."

"Whatever you say kid, it took you longer than I thought to learn the rasengan, I doubt you'll be able to learn this before the tournament."

"Yeah right you useless lecher, why don't you go find a prostitute or something."

"That's a great idea, I was going to stay here and watch you fail but that sounds way more fun. I'll see you later gaki."

The white haired man jumped into the trees and Naruto turned his attention to the scroll. He sat down and opened it before reading intently. After he finished the genin retied the scroll before he stood up and created some clones, "You know what to do, let's get this jutsu down fast." The clones spread around the clearing and began practicing, but no one got so much as a breeze on the first attempt. Naruto trained almost non-stop on the new jutsu, only stopping to sleep or eat some food that Kakashi prepared for the boy knowing he would overdo it. The genin lost track of time he was so focused on training, and when Naruto finally got it and dispelled the latest batch of clones he was surprised when he looked up and saw the moon hanging in the sky, 'Hold on a second. If that's a full moon then that means the tournament is tomorrow'… "Gah I'm gonna miss it, there's no way we can make it to Suna before it starts."

"Hmm you say something Naruto?"

Naruto looked up to see his sensei's lone eye staring at him over his new book, "Yeah, why didn't you tell me that the tournament was tomorrow Kaka-sensei, how can I be a chuunin if I don't attend the finals? They'll probably never promote me now, I blame having you as a role model."

Kakashi's lone eye crinkled at hearing he was a role model as he eye-smiled at the panicked boy, "Geeze Naruto, I'll have to teach you astronomy apparently. That's not a full moon, the moon will be full tomorrow. We were supposed to meet up with everyone in town today but you were really close so I told Rin that we'd just meet the group in Suna. Now we just need to find Jiraiya and we can get going, I assume he's in the town nearby so let's head there."

Naruto breathed a sigh of relief, "Yeah let's get a move on, once we find that pervert I can go to Suna and become a chuunin."

* * *

><p>Sakura finished double checking her pack as she stood next to Rin and waited for the rest of the competitors to show. They were just missing Shino and Naruto and she looked down the street for them while trying to ignore Hinata's glare, she'd just gouge the whore's eyes out in the arena later with her specials. Sakura jumped when she suddenly heard, "We are here and ready to leave whenever everyone else is."<p>

The pinkette turned and saw that somehow Shino and his dad appeared in the middle of the group without anyone noticing, 'creepy.' Rin picked up the pack by her feet and slung it over her shoulder, "We're all here so let's get a move on."

Sakura gave the brunette a questioning look, "Umm Rin-sensei what about Naruto, Kaka-sensei, and Jiraiya-sama?"

Rin huffed and narrowed her chocolate eyes, "Hatake sent Pakkun to inform me that they would meet us in Suna because Naruto was putting the finishing touches on his training." Sakura nodded and nobody asked anything else so they took to the trees and travelled towards Sunagakure no Sato.

The group arrived in Suna later that day and stayed in the same hotel for the night. Sakura left her team's empty room the first night and bunked with Rin for the two nights before the tournament. Now it was the morning of the tournament and she tightened her black headband and smoothed the wrinkles out of her crimson dress as she looked at herself in the mirror and was finally proud of what was reflected there, "Okay, I said that I would get stronger and become a good kunoichi. Well today is the big day and I'll prove it to everyone."

The girl strode confidently out of the bathroom and walked down to the lobby with her stomach doing flips. She stepped into the large room and her eyes widened as she took in all the people and noticed the lack of Naruto. Shino's mother apparently joined her husband and son, though it was hard to see any resemblance as she was just as bundled up as the other two Aburame. Hinata's father travelled with the group along with Neji but several other Hyuuga also made the trip themselves including a small girl that looked like Hinata's sister. She managed a smile when she saw a flash of pink in the back and knew that it had to be her mom standing in the back of the pack and rushed over to her, "Mom what are you doing here?"

The woman smiled, "Well sweetie work gave me paid leave when they heard you were in the finals even though I didn't say anything and some strange man with long white hair offered to pay for my travel expenses because you were on a team with his apprentice and the kid kept bugging him about how you'd love it, it wouldn't happen to be that Naruto boy that you're so fond of."

Sakura blushed and couldn't respond because of the embarrassment and surprise that Naruto and Jiraiya would do that but smiled and promised herself to thank the two later, after she beat them if they were late. "Well that's great mom, I'm glad you can be here. Did you come alone?"

The woman laughed, "No dear, the Yamanaka family accompanied me and they travelled with the Nara and Akimichi. Apparently the Inuzuka clan came with Hinata's teammate as well and all of them are waiting at the stadium along with several other important figures in the village, we even got to travel with Hokage-sama, he was so kind and even talked to me. I'm so excited Sakura-chan, I get to sit with all these powerful people. Can you picture me in the same section as all those big wigs? Well I have to go get going before they get a wagon and I have to wait by myself for the transportation. I just wanted to stop in and let you know I'll be rooting for you and I'm proud."

Sakura gave her mother a toothy smile as she left the lobby as the group gathered and Rin addressed them, "Alright all the fighters come with me and the rest of you can make your own way to the stadium, remember it's just outside the city proper, I'm actually amazed they were able to set it up in a month." The spectators left and Sakura was worrying about Naruto once again before Rin continued when it was just Sakura, Shino, and Hinata. "Alright guys I hope that you're ready and want all of you to do your best. Remember that you're representing our village out there so go out and show the world the your strength and that of Konohagakure no Sato."

* * *

><p>Kankuro finished putting on the traditional war paint of the puppet brigade even though Chiyo laughed at him when he explained what he was doing. The boy's skills definitely improved greatly during the past month but they didn't have time to make a puppet and Kankuro was going to have to use his training one in the tournament. He grabbed the rickety contraption that he wrapped in bandages yesterday and slung it over his back before exiting his room for the last month. When he entered the main area in the cave Chiyo's voice reached his ears, "Where are you going with that? I hope you're not thinking about taking that from me."<p>

Kankuro stared at the wrinkled woman with wide eyes and mouth open, "Umm I'm going to the tournament, and this is my training puppet that I've had since I was six."

The woman's shrieking laugh reached his ear, "Well I knew that, but why would you use that piece of junk when I was going to let you use these." Chiyo held up two scrolls with the kanji for seven and one on them.

Kankuro's chin only fell, "You can't be serious, are those what I think they are?"

The woman nodded, "Yes it is, they are the most basic of the ten but they should serve you well. The demon puppet has strong defense and incredible striking power while the red maiden is strong in offense though not very flexible. You show a decent level in controlling two puppets so I though I'd give you something to prove puppetry is not dead. I've taken the liberty of removing the usual poison and coating their weapons with a strong paralytic as well, also the training puppets I let you use have a similar style and mechanisms as these two and I'm sure that you know all the contraptions in here, after all I made sure that you learned all about my illustrious career, and here is the guide to them anyway because I know how dumb you are, just don't lose that or let anyone else see it."

Kankuro dropped to his knees and prostrated himself, "Thank you Chiyo-baasama for all the help."

The woman snorted, "Don't thank me yet, I expect those puppets back after the tournament, and I've decided to take you under my wing permanently so you'll probably hate me in due time. You've shown talent and that is what puppetry needs. Much like this village the art is decaying from the inside out so I think that we need to show that both can recover and today is an opportune moment. Now go out there and show the world that Suna is still one of the great five."

Kankuro bowed one more time before leaping across the city to meet his older sister. He arrived at the gates to their mansion and was surprised to see that Gaara was waiting with her at the gates. They both held themselves differently than the last time he saw them, Gaara didn't look like he might lose control and slaughter everyone in his line of sight at the slightest provocation while Temari stood taller and with more confidence. Kankuro gave his siblings a smile, "You two ready."

Gaara didn't respond as Temari smiled back and answered, "Of course, we've got to prove to the daimyo that Suna isn't going anywhere anytime soon. Besides I've got to show Naruto what I can do."

Kankuro grit his teeth after hearing that and Gaara responded, "Yes I am looking to show Uzumaki Naruto that I've improved just like Temari."

The oldest sibling blushed and looked away as blood trickled from her nose while Kankuro stood in shock. After his brain restarted the middle child managed to get out, "W-wha- Gaara what do you mean?"

"He has shown me where true strength comes form and I'd like to show him that I too understand what he tried to teach me as a friend."

Kankuro let loose a breath he didn't know he was holding. "Oh yeah that, well you'll have to hope that he gets by me."

"I hope that he doesn't hurt you too much."

* * *

><p>Naruto jumped full speed through the desert sending sand everywhere with his two teachers jumping on his sides. It took them longer than they thought to find Jiraiya, they looked at literally every bar and brothel in the town, and it had an amazing amount for such a small village. The duo couldn't find the sennin and continued searching for half the following day looking around the hot springs. The man found them and it turned out that the hermit found a family that was having trouble finding a dog so helped them locate it. The two were skeptical at first until a little boy and his dog came up and thanked the man with his family. The two were shocked but wasted no time as they rushed towards Suna without speaking while Jiraiya silently thanked god for shadow clones. They had to stop for camp because Naruto and Kakashi didn't sleep the night before, and they managed to get a solid eight hours… but the problem with that is they only planned for six so Naruto was once again sprinting across the sands. The arena was a dot on the horizon and the three shinobi put on a burst of speed now that their destination was in sight. They arrived to find the gates closing and trumpets blaring so they climbed the outside wall up to the roof. Jiraiya said he had to sit with the Hokage so he leapt off leaving the two and Kakashi put a hand on Naruto's shoulder, "Good luck."<p>

Naruto felt a strange pull and suddenly he was looking up where they just were and realized that Kakashi shunshined them both to the floor before he let go and disappeared once more. Temari and Sakura smiled at the blonde as he took his spot in line and faced the proctor. The green haired man stood in front of the candidates and when the band stopped playing he used chakra to project his voice and spoke to the audience, "Ladies and gentlemen welcome to the Chuunin exam finals. Before we'd begin I'd like to direct your attention to the screens located on the upper walls. We have the finest shinobi running the cameras today so you can look up there if you ever lose track of the two combatants however when one is hiding we won't expose their position. Also the fight shall be recorded and distributed throughout the elemental nations and will be available shortly after the tournament ends. Today we have eight fighters here to show the strength of both themselves and their respective villages. These exceptional genin will put their lives on the line for a chance at promotion. Let's hope these promising shinobi give it their all give you some spectacular fights. Now will everyone but Haruno Sakura and Hyuuga Hinata report to the fighters box and we shall begin the final round."

The six competitors that weren't fighting jumped up to the waiting box. Gaara approached the blonde and Shino stood behind his comrade tensely until the redhead extended his hand, "Uzumaki Naruto it is good to see you again, I look forward to our rematch in the finals."

Naruto clasped the offered hand firmly before smiling, "Yeah me too, I can't wait to kick your ass again, and this time with an audience."

A smirk ghosted over Gaara's face before Temari latched onto Naruto's arm squeezing his arm between her bust, "Hey don't get too cocky Naruto, after all you have to fight me first and I won't take it easy on you even if you're cute."

Kankuro stepped forward and glared at the blushing blonde's arm, "Yeah and even if you get past her I'll knock you down a peg."

Shino pushed his sunglasses up his nose while Naruto stuttered out gibberish, "That won't happen, why? Because you will not advance out of the first round since I am your opponent."

Sunlight glinted off Shino's glasses as the genin gave each other competitive stares and Naruto broke the tension, "Ahh my eye, Shino what the hell man can't you control where the light goes when it reflects off your glasses?"

The fighters sans Shino, Gaara, and Samui who ignored the five laughed before they looked down in the arena just as the proctor slashed his hand through the air signaling the start of the fight.

* * *

><p>And there you have it, short and sweet. I must say that I'm pretty happy with the way this turned out. It moved quickly but there was at least a glimpse of everyone before the start of the tournament as well as some hints at what the fighters learned. Next time the tournament gets under way and we get another glimpse at the political landscape in the elemental nations. Also if you've seen the latest manga chapter then everyone knows Madara Uchiha was the body in the coffin, and I figured that if Tobi was Madara it would be Izuna's body, but it was actually Madara. Also just to let you know when Tobi saw the last body he asked where Kabuto got it, but don't you think he'd know where he left his real body and instead ask when he got that, but I still wouldn't put it past Kishimoto to make Tobi Madara anyways so don't start bowing to my awesomeness yet. Because of this any part that had Tobi in it will not be included until we have at least a back story on him so I can really capture his character.<p>

-Operaman Bye Bye

* * *

><p>Jutsu List<p>

Hakke Sanjuni Sho (Eight Trigrams Thirty Two Palms) C-rank- Specific to Hyuuga clan, beginner version of the 64 palms and can be just as effective as the more advanced version if the placement of strikes is effective, most basic Eight Trigrams Technique.

Shosen no Jutsu (Mystical Palm Technique)-The user converts their chakra into medical chakra and uses it to heal the patient, it can heal any damage done quickly and effectively and reduce the rehabilitation time, however it cannot heal disease or infection.


	15. Chuunin exam finals, prove your strength

The Sandaime Hokage ascended the stairs to the Kage box along with his bodyguard Raido. The man had spiked brown hair held up by a blue Konoha headband and wore the standard jounin uniform of the village. His most distinguishing feature though was the burn scar that covered his left cheek and went over the bridge of his nose. They arrived at the air conditioned room reserved for the Kage, Daimyo, and Jiraiya at the request of the Fire Daimyo. There were six seats and the Hokage sat in the middle with a seat between him and the Kazekage who was on the left. The man offered a greeting after the Sandaime sat, "Hokage-dono it is good to see you, I trust the trip through the desert wasn't too hard on your old bones."

Sarutobi smiled at his fellow leader, "Of course not Kazekage-dono, I may be getting on in years but there is still plenty of energy left in this wrinkled body."

The veiled man gave a nod before looking over the arena, "I hope the view is to your liking, the designer said this area offered the best angle of the arena."

Hiruzen was about to respond when a gruff voice broke out, "I hope the fights are as good as the view is supposed to be then Kazekage-dono." The redhead turned and saw the Raikage wearing flanked by his brother and an equally dark skinned man with short spiky white hair and the standard Kumo uniform consisting of the same white vest as B, a sleeveless black shirt and pants, and he had a sword about a foot wide and four feet long strapped across his back. The ruler of Kumo was a large man with the physique of a bodybuilder wearing the gold hat with the kanji for lightning on the front and white robes of his position with no shirt underneath and large gold wristbands that covered the lower part of his massive forearms. To complete the look he wore a large gold belt with a boar's face in the center giving him the appearance of a professional wrestler. The man sat down with his two bodyguards flanking him before he continued, "I hope these fights are worth the trip out here. It was so far away that the Daimyo didn't even want to make the effort."

Sarutobi nodded, "Kumo is on the opposite side of the continent so I understand the hesitation, but Kaminari-sama will be missing a good show. Our genin may be young, but they are extremely gifted and hold much potential, and from what I hear of the prelims your genin as well as Suna's are particularly skilled as well."

The Raikage sat between the two other Kage and the three leaders made small talk while waiting for the Daimyo and Jiraiya to show up. The fighters entered in groups over the next half hour until seven genin stood proudly on the floor. Hiruzen frowned noting the lack of Naruto but couldn't dwell on it because the Daimyos of Kaze no Kuni and Hi no Kuni entered the room. The three Kage offered a short bow to the two before they sat as well with the Kaze Daimyo sitting on the end next to the Kazekage and the Fire Daimyo sitting next to the Hokage. The ruler of wind country was a pudgy man. He had squinty eyes with a small moustache and pointed beard and was wearing flowing green robes with pale yellow designs over them. He also had a fan hat with three crescents of wind painted on and gold tassels hanging down.

The Daimyo of Hi no Kuni was his opposite. A thin man wearing the same fan hat on his head with fire designs instead of wind. He wore ceremonial white robes with intricate red and gold designs, and had a large smile as possibly the most powerful man on the continent sat comfortably in the plush chair next to the Hokage, "Good day Sarutobi-dono, it is good to see you so well my friend."

The Sandaime gave a respectful nod towards the feudal lord, "Hi-dono I am also glad to see you, it has been to long."

The lord of Kaze no Kuni interrupted, "Hmmph you give the Hokage much respect Hi-dono."

The Daimyo's tittering laughter was his response, "Don't be silly Kaze-dono, I respect Hiruzen very much because it is through Konoha's effort that my country has prospered in the past one hundred years. The shinobi keep it safe from any threat be it external or internal. Because of that the drug trade, human trafficking, prostitution, and many other lawless acts are at an all time low allowing legitimate businesses to thrive and tax money to grow."

"I think you have it wrong Hi, with proper application of Samurai the law can be enforced effectively, and the smaller villages offer cheaper rates on missions which saves money."

"Haha, that's a good one Kaze. Of course the smaller villages are cheap, the quality of their shinobi is lower so they have to charge less. Notice how the only competitors today are all from the great five. Also I've found that a single genin teams can clean up bandits and crime rings with less effort and collateral damage than a squad of samurai. Ninja are much more efficient."

"You may be right, I heard that Tanigakure and Kusagakure had excellent prospects this year and none of their genin are here."

The Kazekage used this time to interject himself into the conversation, "The only team from a minor village to advance past the first exam was one from Kusa, but they failed to get past the second round. All six Tani teams were eliminated in the first test so I wouldn't put much stock in their skill."

Hiruzen nodded, "Yes I heard about that Kusa genin, one of my teams knocked them out of competition. Apparently they had seals drawn over their body and took some weird liquid to increase their strange abilities. While effective in the short term I think that it severely hampers the ultimate potential of a ninja down the road."

The fire Daimyo pulled a fan from his sleeve and began waving it to cool himself despite the AC running, "Hmm well if it was that impressive they would be in the finals. I'm more interested in where Jiraiya-kun is, I haven't seen him in so long and I want to congratulate him on the latest book."

The Hokage did a quick scan of the arena to make sure his student wasn't shirking his responsibilities, he didn't want to suffer these politics alone, "Well he actually started training another young genin so they might be going over strategy before the matches or something."

The Raikage raised his eyes, "Oh the infamous lecher took on another student. I thought that the Yondaime Hokage was his last because he believed he was the so called destined child."

The Hokage glanced at the Raikage out of the corner of his eye trying to smother his dislike of the arrogant man, "Yes well sometimes a young talent catches the eye and it would be foolish to ignore it."

The Kazekage looked at the clock on the wall, "Well the boy better hurry up if he wants to compete, the gates are starting to close."

The fire Daimyo looked down over the fighters, "Oh so they're not here yet. I must confess that now I'm looking forward to seeing Jiraiya's newest apprentice. The boy always had an eye for potential."

"Why thank you Hi-sama, I appreciate the compliment."

Hiruzen smiled at hearing his student's voice before looking down at the arena to see Kakashi appear with Naruto in a puff of smoke as the tension in his body faded, "Jiraiya I didn't think that you'd let Kakashi make you late."

"Nah it wasn't his fault sensei, Naruto was close to finishing his new jutsu so we didn't want to interrupt him."

Hiruzen took a closer look at the blonde and noticed that he definitely grew since he left Konoha, figuratively and literally. The boy stood an inch or two taller and held himself with confidence as he faced the crowd of screaming fans. 'I hope that Jiraiya didn't do anything stupid like teach Naruto something that would remind people of his father, it's bad enough that he let the boy sign the toad contract.'

The fire Daimyo interrupted the man's thoughts, "So the boy's name is Naruto." The man had one of his attendees flip through the pamphlet given to the attendees, "Uzumaki Naruto of Konoha team seven and his sensei is Hatake Kakashi, oh and his teammate is also in the finals. It seems like you sent an impressive team Hiruzen-dono. That boy must be skilled having trained with both Kakashi-kun and Jiraiya-kun. Wasn't the copy-nin a student of young Minato?"

The Raikage was giving the boy a hard stare, "Uzumaki you say, I thought that they were wiped out, and wasn't red hair a clan trait?"

Before the Hokage could answer the speakers in the room turned on and the proctor announced the next match as the other contestants reported to their waiting area.

* * *

><p>Green met white as Sakura and Hinata squared off and waited for the proctor to start the match. The two sized each other up while Daichi announced the match, "Ladies and gentlemen the first two fighters are Haruno Sakura and Hyuuga Hinata both from Konoha, are both fighters ready?" The man received a nod from both fighters, "Begin".<p>

The green haired man jumped back and the two wasted no time. Sakura already unleashed a wave of needles while Hinata activated her byakugan. The Hyuuga was able to apply the five Ds as she dodged ducked dipped dived and… well dodged the barrage of needles before the girl rapidly closed the distance but the heiress' palm strike only hit a rock used as a substitution. Hinata turned quickly while reaching into her pouch before she removed her hands and threw several kunai to deflect Sakura's knives. After the knives collided an explosion rang out and Hinata charged through trying to take out the pinkette quickly. She burst through the smoke and blocked the senbon needles but had to stop when some pellets at her feet released a noxious yellow gas.

The wind quickly dispersed the poison while Hinata tried to make space, but she couldn't find any time to counter as Sakura forced her to keep moving with a steady stream of senbon. She charged Hinata who took a defensive stance in response, but when Sakura got close she suddenly substituted and Hinata hit another rock and was barely able avoided the swipe of a kunai but Sakura dropped it after completing the slash and retreated suddenly without a follow up attack. The byakugan widened when Hinata saw the burning tag on the handle and quickly retreated. As another blast rang out the byakugan allowed the Hyuuga genin to see senbon coming from every direction and Sakura quickly following. The blue haired girl spread her arms and began a spin, "Kaiten." The senbon bounced off the shell of chakra before it abruptly ended revealing Hinata was in a weird stance awaiting the charge. When Sakura got close Hinata announced, "Hakke Sanjuni Sho." She exploded into motion and Sakura was hard pressed to dodge as Hinata announced her strikes but was able to stop the assault by pulling up her crimson sleeve and using her prepared shot of senbon needles after avoiding the first two barrages.

Hinata jumped back and checked her cheek making sure that she didn't get scratched by one of the poisoned needles before her byakugan scrutinized Sakura, and she was slightly miffed that the kunoichi was hardly winded after dodging her best attack. The pink haired girl was hardly using any chakra and when she did the amount was minimal while Hinata's chakra intensive techniques were starting to take their toll on her reserves. 'No I can't think like that, I have to defeat her and make Naruto-kun notice me, I won't lose or doubt myself.'

Letting loose a battle cry Hinata rushed at Sakura. The girl managed to keep out of range but Hinata split her attention while she was looking at the area that she wanted to herd the girl. Sakura started to push chakra to her legs to stay ahead of the relentless assault and she knew Hinata was tiring and just needed to outlast her. The pinkette jumped onto a sand pile but it proved unstable and she lost her footing and a look of shock appeared on Sakura's face as a chakra laden palm came down before it quickly morphed into a smile as the aspiring med-nin revealed her hands were formed into a seal hidden in her sleeve, "Ninpou: Dokugiri." Hinata didn't have enough time to avoid or form a Kaiten so held her breath as she tried to finish her move and win but Sakura quickly rolled as the desperate kunoichi broke through the gas and Sakura formed chakra scalpels as her hands began glowing and she tapped Hinata's shoulder causing the arm to fall limply and the Hyuuga couldn't get the other arm up in time to block the hand that severed her hamstring. As the shy girl was falling she saw another hand descending, she lifted her arm to block but it was grabbed by the wrist as Sakura's other hand came down and cut into her bicep rendering her other arm useless."

Hinata tried to get up but couldn't use her arms and only had one good leg to stand on, 'No I can't lose like this, I have to keep going. If I give up Naruto-kun will never notice me.' Daichi saw that the fallen genin wouldn't be getting up despite her will to fight, "The winner of the match is Haruno Sakura."

* * *

><p>Hiashi remained composed when he heard Tomo's voice ring out cheering for Sakura. Most of the Hyuuga surrounding him were in shock that a girl from a civilian family was able to best one of their heirs, even if she was considered weak by her clan. The elders had misgivings about Hinata being in line to be clan head and this fight wouldn't help her cause down the line. One of the elders that came alone let his disapproval be known, "A common ninja beating the heir of a clan. We cannot stand for this, it is an embarrassment to the name Hyuuga. Our ancestors must be rolling in their graves."<p>

Hiashi kept the frown off his face as he watched his daughter be carried off on a stretcher, "I think you are wrong Hideki, that girl is no common ninja. She moved gracefully and her sensei is the famed copy ninja. An average genin wouldn't have the control necessary to use chakra scalpels that effectively as well. All we have been shown is that a Hyuuga is at a disadvantage when fighting a long range opponent. Very few of our Hakke techniques are useful at mid-range, and Hinata isn't ready to learn any of those. Perhaps we should begin a more comprehensive teaching of ninjutsu to the next generation while they are young."

Hideki snorted as another elder spoke up, "That's preposterous, the Hyuuga clan has been one of the strongest on the continent for over a century, the clan only needs to remain pure by using the byakugan and Jyuuken to continue prospering. If your daughter was more apt at the style then this would've never happened."

The man's eyes never left the arena as he answered, "The Hyuuga clan has always been influential, but that's the past. If there is one thing I learned from being a ninja is that adaptation is a necessity for survival and continued growth. Those that stagnate are quickly rendered obsolete, perhaps we should begin adjusting our traditions."

Nobody responded but Hiashi could feel the outrage the main family were admitting while noticing the hopeful glances on the faces of the branch, 'You said that it wouldn't be easy to unite the clan father and you were right. I swear on your grave Hizashi that I will change the Hyuuga, and our two eldest children are the key. For now I just need to slowly build up support while subverting the council's.'

* * *

><p>The Kazekage eyed the arena eagerly as his youngest walked out to the floor. "I hope that your genin is something else Raikage-dono because Gaara is a tough foe to defeat."<p>

The dark skinned man grunted, "Yes well most genin don't have much hope against a Jinchuuriki no matter the rank."

The wind Daimyo sipped a glass of ice water, "Oh so that's your son Kazekage, I've heard that he is quite unstable."

"Yes Gaara used to be a handful but he has recently turned over a new leaf and he has only gotten stronger if I say so myself."

Jiraiya wished he could just grab the sake bottle and drink from that but the man knew better than to behave like he normally would when in the presence of a Daimyo. Taking a sip from his saucer he commented, "Well I hope so because Naruto already beat him once and he's only gotten stronger as well."

The Sandaime lit his pipe as he overlooked the two fighters that just entered the arena, "The next match appears like it is about to start, that girl is your student am I correct B-san?"

"You got it gramps she's one of my scamps."

"Damn it B you have to be serious. You're lucky that I let you accompany your students here so don't blow it, and show proper respect to another Kage even if you don't to me."

"Whoa take a chill pill bro, your head looks like it's about to blow."

Before the Raikage could strangle his brother the speakers crackled, "The next match is between Samui of Kumogakure and Gaara of Sunagakure. Are both fighters ready… begin."

The men watched as the fight began. The sand was swirling around Gaara before a wave of it rushed at the blonde. She rushed to the side sending the sand under her feet everywhere as she avoided the attack. Gaara's sand chased the elusive blonde but he couldn't catch her, but he had yet to move as the kunoichi had no time to execute an attack of her own. Gaara lifted his hand as the sand behind Samui rose up trying to engulf her but was sliced through by her lightning enhanced tanto. She held the knife backhand with the blade horizontally in front of her crackling with lightning as she faced the Jinchuuriki. The blonde rushed at Gaara and moved around his sand nimbly as she charged the redhead. The boy raised a wall of sand that her tanto slashed through but when it fell Gaara was nowhere to be seen. Samui looked around before suddenly leaping as the sand exploded under her feet. Gaara followed her high into the air on a cloud of sand but was unable to catch her because she substituted with a rock. Gaara floated above the arena as the two fighters once again faced off while the wind Daimyo spoke up, "Oh my this is quite a fight, I must say that your son is quite impressive. Controlling sand like that in a desert is very useful."

The Kazekage smiled behind his veil as he watched his son, 'Gaara I'm counting on you.' Samui attacked once more trying to pierce Gaara with her tanto but whenever she was within range sand would come at her from an unexpected angle., and on top of that the kid was trying to herd her into the miniature sand dunes where she would be surrounded by Gaara's weapon of choice. Knowing she had to mount an offensive the kunoichi sheathed her tanto before forming several hand signs, "Raiton: Yoroi" (Lightning Armor).

A thin layer of lightning surrounded her body before it faded out around her torso but still crackled around her legs. The Raikage grabbed his brother and once again began shaking him violently, "B you idiot, how could you teach a genin the Yoroi. Her body can't handle the strain of the muscles contracting and relaxing that rapidly."

When the burly man stopped assaulting his brother he managed a response, "Take a chill pill man. Samui knows the risks and will stop before her muscles rip… and the shit hits the fan."

The man said no more and looked on with worry as Samui rocketed forward at insane speed for a genin, though still nowhere near his level and he couldn't hold a candle to his father the Sandaime. Gaara's sand was swirling as if confused before a leg broke through his shield and collided with his face. Because of the lightning chakra his Suna no Yoroi crumbled and Gaara was electrocuted as he flew towards the wall. His gourd disintegrated and the sand stopped his flight before setting him gently on the ground. He didn't have time to recover though as another foot smashed into his stomach sending him across the arena once more as he rolled towards the other wall. Gaara's sand couldn't keep up with the barrage of kicks as he was pummeled and the leaders looked on in surprise before the wind Daimyo found his voice and let his opinion be known, "Well it looks like your son is going to lose Kazekage."

Said man tightened his grip on the chair while he watched Suna's ultimate protector get thrown around the arena like a rag doll. "The fight is not over yet. Gaara is just getting warmed up."

The Sandaime grabbed Jiraiya's sake bottle pouring himself a small saucer, much to the hermit's dismay, before taking a sip, "Kazekage-sama is correct, a battle between shinobi is never over until the final blow, I think his son is planning something."

Gaara's sand couldn't keep up and Samui launched him into the air with another kick. The boy was sent higher and higher and when Samui delivered the final kick Gaara exploded into sand and it engulfed her torso as her legs swung wildly trying to break free.

The Kazekage smiled as the proctor called the match before Gaara released Samui from the sand. "I knew Gaara could win. Perhaps if Samui could've used the technique over her whole body she would've been able to defeat him."

Sarutobi nodded sagely, "Yes, Samui put on a good showing but reliance on a trump card even when fighting someone who overmatches you greatly is not enough to be a chuunin. If she used strategy instead of just relying on the raw power the technique granted her then the battle could've gone differently, and even if she lost her promotion would be assured."

B was crying in the corner of the room hearing that while the wind Daimyo found his voice, "That was impressive. The first fight was good, but that was truly entertaining. The demonstrations that I've seen in Tani during my visits there were nothing like that, and they had chuunin and jounin performing jutsu. I'm impressed Kazekage." The man looked down at the board and saw his opponent's move, "Oh good move Hi-dono, an excellent strategy, but now that I've recognized the technique it is useless."

The daimyo continued their game while the Kage discussed the fights. The Raikage grunted, "That Gaara just got my vote for promotion. The Raiton: Yoroi is a strong technique even in the hands of a genin, for him to be able to think of a strategy and counter while under assault is impressive."

Jiraiya finished his latest serving of sake and called for another having given up on manners and just started drinking straight from the bottle, "Yeah that's true, but I'd say my brat's girlfriend is also chuunin material. She was able to lead her opponent the whole match, even when Hinata thought she had victory Sakura had the match completely under control. You can definitely see Kakashi's stamp on her."

Hiruzen nodded, "Yes that is true, but she took several unnecessary risks and I saw several openings that should have been exploited but were passed up because she gave her opponent to much credit. If you hesitate like that in higher level combat it can cost you your life… perhaps if she puts on another good showing against Gaara."

As the old kage finished the proctor once again walked onto the field as the two daimyo stopped playing go and began a whispered conversation.

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><p><strong> "<strong>Will Aburame Shino of Konohagakure and Kankuro of Sunagakure report down to the arena floor." The two genin were waiting at the gates and promptly made their way to the center before staring each other down. Shino stood with his hands in his coat pockets while Kankuro anxiously fingered two scrolls in his back pouch. "Are both fighters ready?" After receiving two tense nods Daichi slashed his arm through the air, "Begin."

The boys stood stared the other down for another second before Kankuro unrolled the scrolls and unsealed the two puppets within drawing gasps from the more experienced shinobi in the audience. One of the puppets looked like some sort of demon, it had a purple face with two large twisted horns with long white sideburns and beard. The other was a woman with two red buns holding two large swords, both had flowing white robes covering their body. Shino calmly faced the two unaware of what they were as his kikaichu began crawling across his skin. Without warning the woman puppet rushed forward intent on slicing the Aburame in half only to slash through air. The boy calmly stayed out of range of the puppet while keeping his hands in his pockets and one eye on the puppeteer. The woman expelled a cloud of smoke which Shino stayed away from, but when he looked over to his opponent's previous position Kankuro was nowhere to be seen and the demon puppet was rushing at him exposing two large fists.

Shino jumped as the puppet launched a devastating uppercut but the bug user eyes widened behind his glasses when the fist followed. Shino managed to get a substitution off but received no respite as the sword wielding puppet charged him swinging her weapons wildly. The boy had no trouble avoiding the amateur kenjutsu but a fist smashed into him from behind. The fist continued through the body which dissolved into a swarm of bugs and the insects then rushed towards an area in the sand making Kankuro jump out and reveal his position before he pulled the demon puppet in front of him. It slammed its fists together and the wrists flipped up revealing a flamethrower which incinerated most of the swarm with their flames. Kankuro then recalled the female puppet and it separated before all the body parts stacked on top of each other forming a hexagon from the limbs with all the holes pointing in one direction. Wind blew out of the holes spreading sand everywhere as Kankuro span around revealing Shino's position.

The female puppet reformed before rushing the insect user and blowing another smokescreen. When it cleared Kankuro once again was hidden somewhere in the newly created sand dunes. Shino started dodging the puppets once more while waiting for his strategy to take affect. He knew it worked when he heard Kankuro's scream and saw the two puppets fall to the arena floor. He jumped in and saw the boy cornered by a swarm of his bugs crawling on the ground and another advancing from the sky. Shino pushed up his glasses as the swarm approached, "I attached a female kikaichu to you by having it follow a chakra string that you used to control your puppet. It releases a pheromone that attracts the swarm and once you were hidden again my swarm could sneak up on you from the ground while another disconnects your chakra strings, now surrender."

The bugs were already beginning the crawl up Kankuro who was backing himself closer to the wall. He felt the bag of black powder at his waist and loosened the strap before spreading the contents in the air and the ground. He slapped an exploding tag on the ground and ignited it before performing a Kawamiri. The tag went off igniting the explosive powder and a large blast ripped out destroying most of the bugs in the swarm and the concussive blast sent Shino flying. Kankuro then reattached a string to the Oni puppet and grabbed the barely conscious genin as the boy tried to push himself up and shake off the ringing noise in his ear. The puppet held Shino in a bear hug ready to crush him like the bugs still crawling on Kankuro who called out, "Proctor I claim victory."

The green haired man shunshined back to the floor, "Aburame Shino, are you conscious and able to concede?"

A weak groan was all that was heard as Daichi called the match. "The winner of the match is Kankuro."

The crowd cheered as Shino was carried off in a stretcher and the sand was redistributed.

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><p>Naruto whistled as the match was called, "That was some quick thinking by Kankuro, I thought for sure that Shino had him there but he managed to pull it out of his ass."<p>

Sakura smiled at the blonde, "That almost seems like something you would do Naruto, it was certainly crazy enough."

The blonde laughed sheepishly, "Eh you might be right Sakura-chan, but you gotta admit that's a good skill to have, and it's hard to argue with crazy when it works."

Sakura watched as the last of the sand was leveled out and turned to face Naruto, "You're up next, I'd say good luck but I know you won't need it."

Temari took that time to interject as she came up next to her fellow blonde, "I think he will pinky, I'm not as weak as you."

Sakura plastered a fake smile on her face, "Oh is that why our fight ended in a draw?"

"You got lucky, all you have are a bunch of cheap tricks. Just wait till after the tournament, I'll kick your ass back to Konohagakure no Sato flat chest."

"Bring it on. I'm not scared you cow, I'll poison you and curdle the milk in your udders."

Before the two could get into it further Naruto pulled Sakura back while Gaara did the same to Temari using his sand. The girls both harrumphed and turned their backs on each other before Naruto tapped Gaara's sister on the shoulder, "Umm Temari we should probably get going down to the floor."

The girl's demeanor instantly changed as she turned and faced Naruto with a smile on her face, "Alright Naruto let's go, but don't think I'm gonna take it easy on you because you're a fellow blonde. I'm going to show you how a real kunoichi fights."

As the two were walking down the stairs Sakura growled at Temari's back while Naruto answered, "I wouldn't want you to hold back Temari, I want to see everything you've got."

Her smile turned seductive as she cooed, "Don't worry Na-ru-to, I'll show you everything."

A light blush appeared on Naruto's cheeks as the doors opened and the two strolled onto the sand and Naruto started bouncing excitedly as he walked towards the center. They stood facing each other with wide grins and loose stances anticipating the fight ready to show the other what they could do. Daichi stepped closer to the two, "The next match is between Uzumaki Naruto of Konohagakure and Temari of Sunagakure, are both fighters ready?" The two nodded without losing their smiles, "Begin."

Temari wasted no time and launched a Kamaitachi at Naruto who formed a hand seal and blocked with a Sensougouheki. He formed some seals after the winds died down and called out "Goukuuhou".

Temari jumped to avoid the wind blast and swung her fan at the ground propelling her higher into the air before she sat on the fan and began gliding above the stadium. The crowd oohed and awed at the spectacle before she made it rain kunai with exploding tags tied to the rings by ninja wire. The sunny blonde frantically avoided the explosive assault before launching another Goukuuhou at the airborne kunoichi. Temari saw the wind bullet rushing at her so she simply folded her fan and began dropping rapidly. The sandy blonde reopened the massive fan and waved it, "Daikamaitachi".

Naruto gulped seeing the wall of slicing wind heading towards him and pulled out a scroll and unleashed a torrent of water. He stood his ground as a typhoon of water rose up around him protecting him from the worst of the attack but he was still flung across the stadium. The shinobi quickly regained his bearings cursed as the sand absorbed the water, 'It's a good thing I still had the water scroll on me from camping.' Naruto stared down Temari as she smirked at him and held her fan at the ready. Naruto formed a cross shaped hand seal using his favorite technique, "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu". Naruto was surrounded by thirty one shadow clones wearing identical grins, "Let's go."

They split into different groups and surrounded Temari while launching futon jutsu at her from a distance trying to slow them down. She swung her fan "Futon: Tatsu no Oshigoto" (Great Task of the Wind Dragon).

The Narutos stopped their attack and looked around for an attack, "Umm Temari-chan I think your fan is broken."

She just held the weapon defensively in front of her as the clones continued their attack closing the distance between them and the kunoichi rapidly. One was about to attack from a blind spot when several cyclones came down from the sky creating chaos in the ranks of clones and dispelling the attacker. Temari made an arcing jump over the clones while the cyclones distracted them, "Daikamaitachi." The cutting winds dispelled most of the clones and when the girl landed she launched another one dispelling the remaining ones and sent the real Naruto into the wall. The kunoichi was about to launch another attack when the ground underneath her burst open as the Naruto in the wall dispelled in a puff of smoke. Said blonde appeared in front of Temari before slapping an explosive tag on her fan. She tried to peel it off but saw the note was burning to quickly and threw her weapon and waited for the blast to destroy it. Temari was surprised and relieved when nothing happened before she was suddenly forced onto the arena floor with her cheek in the sand while Naruto held and arm with a kunai at her neck. "Proctor I surrender."

* * *

><p>Kakashi looked on with pride as Naruto did a celebratory dance while the crowd applauded him. The copycat was quite pleased with the day so far, his two students had advanced to the next round much to the surprise of the gathered ninja and nobody was interrupting his reading on top of that. Most people expected the Hyuuga heiress to dismantle the skinny clanless kunoichi and many had been expecting Naruto to lose to the child of a Kage. The man noted that many people cheering in the Konoha section were powerful merchants and guild leaders who previously used their power in the civilian sector to make Naruto's life difficult. If it wasn't for the Hokage hiring genin teams to do the boys shopping when he was younger then who knows how he would've got by. Not that everyone was particularly happy as many people were still sitting with stony faces or frowns, but all of the ninja were cheering including Naruto's classmates and their parents. He was sitting in the same row with the other genin teams that made it to the preliminaries and were given permission to come by the Hokage. Kiba sat in front of his mother and sister wide mouthed, "I can't believe Naruto is so strong. He used to be a dobe but he got through that match without using his sharingan or any new techniques."<p>

Lee apparently couldn't contain his youthfulness as he rocketed up and stood on his seat, "Yosh Naruto-kun is truly my greatest rival. I shall train even harder then ever to overcome him. When we return to Konoha I shall do one hundred laps around Konoha on my fingers, then I shall jump on every rooftop in the city, after that I'll double my weights and training regime."

"Lee harness the boiling passion in your blood and let it propel you to new heights. By using that desire you shall improve by leaps and bounds becoming a splendid ninja in the process."

The man finished with a nice guy pose as Lee was feeling the springtime of his youth and broke out in manly tears as the two shared a macho embrace, "LEE"

"GAI-SENSEI"

"LEE"

"GAI-SENSEI"

"LEE"

"GAI-SENSEI"

The strange pair was interrupted when two sake bottles collided with their faces. Unfortunately a drop of sake landed on Lee's tongue as his team looked on with horror. The boy passed out and Kurenai bent down to check him but was held back by Kakashi, "I don't think you want to do that, we should evacuate the area quickly."

The woman gave him a confused look but before she could ask her question Lee's drunken voice rang out, "Whoosat, wass goin on here?" Gai tried to restrain the boy but he leaned forward and when he stood up he drove his rock solid haircut into his idol's chin knocking the man out. Tenten tried to restrain him with ninja wires but the boy tripped as it began to loop around him messing up the maneuver. Neji was already rushing forward to try and seal the chakra points in his leg when he was down, but Lee grabbed his arms before doing a backwards somersault and kicked Neji in the face leaving him on the ground, "Oh itsh a fight I shee. Wells dontch shink I caan't fight."

The boy took a stance while swaying side to side before the area exploded into chaos. Kurenai found you couldn't put someone who was completely wasted in a genjutsu before a foot found it's way to her face and she was knocked unconscious. The surrounding ninja exploded into action and began to evacuate the civilians while some tried to slow the raging juggernaut with no success. To the Konoha ninja Lee may as well have been the Kyuubi on a rampage.

* * *

><p>The two feudal lords had switched from water to Sake before Kankuro's match started and were currently holding a whispered conversation punctuated with giggling fits. The other men assumed some of it was politics because most of the important decisions and agreements made between Daimyo happened when they were drunk because their arrogance didn't allow anything to be done when sober. They had their chairs moved closer to the windows to see better leaving the three Kage and Jiraiya to talk as they were lost in their own little world. The Sandaime rubbed his chin while the two blondes exited the arena before he decided to discuss the previous two fights now that there was a brief intermission, "I'd say that if Kankuro puts on a good showing in his next fight that he gets a promotion, but Shino definitely deserves one."<p>

The Raikage frowned at the old man, "Why is that? If he didn't gloat the match would've been his to win."

The Kazekage sipped some juice under his veil before interjecting, "I agree with Hokage-dono, the boy was simply offering Kankuro a chance to surrender which is very out of character for an Aburame. I have found that clan to be quite… efficient in battle. Shino executed a good strategy and played his strengths against my son's weaknesses, and had that been a real battle Kankuro wouldn't have had a chance to do anything before he was covered in insects and his kikaichu would've cleaned out any poison that was used against their host with enough time unless it was incredibly strong. On the other hand I don't think Temari showed us enough to warrant a promotion even though I know she has the mind, power, and experience for it, however I cannot appear to be playing favorites. Maybe the Konoha exams."

Jiraiya was beginning to get quite boisterous as he and B were drinking sake while going over the other's notebook. The man handed the rhyme book back to Killer B, "Thanks, some of those romantic proses would be useful in my book. Hope you don't mind if I use those."

"As long as I get cash along with the credit you can use my rhymes and Killer B said it."

Jiraiya turned his attention to the conversation, "What everyone should be talking about is how my apprentice should be getting a new vest soon. Did you see that strategy, those amazing moves. Clearly Jiraiya-sama's great teachings have paid off."

The Raikage looked over at the contestant's booth and zeroed in on the blonde and from what his brother said the new Kyuubi container. The burly man squinted his eyes as he gave the kid a closer inspection. It was hard to make out the finer details but the shock of blonde and his whisker marks. "Yeah that was an alright match but he was toying with her. In the real world you can't afford to do that."

The Kazekage had a genin fetch more drinks before responding, "Yes, but he only used skills that he revealed in the preliminaries. It speaks of his forethought that he didn't reveal any new tricks in his match when there was no reason to."

Before they could debate further the Daimyos interrupted them as they laughed, "Ha excellent Kaze I think that is a wonderful idea. We shall call a meeting of our aides immediately and discuss the terms. Hopefully before the winter season is upon us the countries shall be bound by marriage."

The other occupant's eyes widened at hearing that. Before it could be discussed in further detail a ruckus broke out in one of the arena sections. Ninja were rushing in an out of an area trying to subdue someone. Hiruzen massaged his temples trying to subdue the headache coming when he saw what was really happening, "I apologize Kazekage-dono, that boy is the genin that imitates Gai. He has an incredibly weak tolerance to alcohol and is a natural suiken user. It appears that he somehow drank some and is causing a ruckus. If you just keep him contained it should wear off shortly."

The Kazekage dispatched several of the SAND forces he had guarding the room while whispering something to his bodyguard who suddenly appeared at his side. The man teleported away before the man addressed his fellow Kage, "Don't worry about it Hokage-dono, the arena was incredibly inexpensive seeing as Gaara manufactured most of it from sand before it was compressed using Doton ninjutsu."

When he finished the speakers crackled as the bodyguard returned to the room and the proctor announced, "Don't panic ladies and gentlemen just a drunken brawl, please keep your distance. Until we shall wait thirty minutes after the fight is settled so use this chance to visit the restrooms, place bets, get food, or anything else you need to do. We shall make an announcement ten minutes before the second round."

The two Daimyo stood before the wind one spoke, "We are going to call our aides and advisors, please have some refreshments when we come back."

The Kazekage answered, "Of course Kaze-sama." When the man left he addressed his fellow Kage and Jiraiya, "Well gentlemen I am going to use the restroom while we have a chance, if you would like to order anything please let one of the genin know. I shall place the order for the Daimyo's food myself, I will be back shortly."

Suna's military leader left as the remaining men waited for the next match.

* * *

><p>And like the Kage you folks are going to have to wait. I hope that I portrayed the evolving relationship between the Daimyo well, the only time we had a real look at them was when they approved the alliance of the five villages. I want to get it across that the wind Daimyo is willing to take the advice of the fire Daimyo because of his countries wealth and success. Also I hope that the whole sake thing was believable because when the five feudal lords convened it seemed like nothing got done until the very end before the power ran out so I thought I'd grease their wheels a little. I decided to cut the chapter here because it was the best spot to do so and will let me put the after party in the next chapter after the fights and close off this arc.<p>

-Operaman Bye Bye

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><p>Jutsu List<p>

Hakke Sanjuni Sho

Ninpou: Dokugiri

Raiton: Yoroi (Lightning Armor) S-rank tai/ninjutsu hybrid-Kumo Hidden technique, the user encases themselves in a shell of lightning chakra increasing their defensive and offensive capabilities. The extra lightning in the nerve endings causes them to fire faster increasing reflexes and other capabilities, similar to the gates

Kamaitachi

Sensougouheki

Goukuuhou

Daikamaitachi

Fuuton: Tatsu no Oshigoto (Task of the Wind Dragon) Rank increases with skill of user: Needs battle fan, user creates low pressure pocket with swing of their fan adjusting the weather and causing high pressure cyclones to descend from sky in most basic form. First branch move, when opponent distracted by cyclones launch a kamaitachi from above and when you land. Effective in single combat but made for ambushes because of the delay between the swing and cyclones


	16. The Finals conclude, who will be chuunin

I do not own Naruto or Nakamura-Ro, if I did why would I be writing here. If you are interested Nakamura-Ro is an actual restaurant located in Kyoto that claims to be the oldest operating restaurant in Japan. It also received three stars from the Michelin Red Book and the dishes used are actually served there.

Also I received two anonymous reviews from the same person and since I cannot respond to the reader please let me say here fuck you basher. I don't really give a flying fuck about what some asshole says that doesn't even leave a way for me to respond to them thus you're a pussy of epic proportions, more gaping than Carlsbad Caverns. It's my story and I'll write it how I like and if you think you could do a better job write one yourself, go ahead send me your penname and I'll let you write a story using the AU I created however you'd like it and I bet that it wouldn't do half as good as mine even though I did all the creative work. I'm open to constructive criticism from readers and have changed many things in my story from reviewer suggestions, but your requests were god awful and so cookie cutter it was like an elementary school student wrote it. I want to be unique in my writing while keeping the characters in character and develop them correctly, not instantly make Naruto "Cool, calm and collected" like you wanted. Well if you read the manga you'd realize Naruto isn't cool calm or collected that's Sasuke's job and when Naruto is a total idiot Sakura slams him like teaching a nine year old Konohamaru a jutsu that portrays a naked woman, so don't talk about character development then ask me to make someone OOC. Also I think it's hilarious that you actually demanded something from me, it's fanfiction so get over it jackass nobody is forcing you to read my story and like I said, I'll write it how I want. Also I've sent some reviews that were very critical of stories but I've always put my penname in so the author could defend themselves, why are you scared dude? But anyways thanks for the reviews you left because of you my count went up which is why I enabled anonymous reviews for my fic so jackasses like you would make my story look better by adding to my review count. Also I'd like to announce that I've officially made it cuz I got a hater, so "let the haters hate and watch the money pile up"… wait do I get paid for this?

* * *

><p>The door to the arena closed behind Naruto and Temari before the older blonde stopped Naruto, "That was a good fight, but I have to go sit with my family for the rest of the tournament now."<p>

She received a questioning look before Naruto asked, "What? How come you can't go back to the waiting area?"

"Because that area is for competitors only and you beat me so I'm out of the exams, but before I go I want to say thanks for not blowing my fan up. It was the same one my great-grandmother first learned on and it's really important to me."

Naruto sheepishly scratched the back of his head, "Heh, it was no problem Temari, I figured it would be dumb to use a real explosive tag like that because ero-sennin said, 'The threat of en explosion is usually enough to get the job done so don't go overboard if you can avoid it.' Besides I didn't want to damage your fan after a fun fight like that, those wind jutsu were so cool. Hopefully I can get as good as you soon."

Temari looked both ways before closing the distance, "You know Naruto, when I first saw you I wasn't impressed… but you really surprised me. You're unlike anyone I've ever met and I really like it." She leaned forward before capturing his lips with her own for a brief moment before separating leaving the boy sputtering as she walked away with some extra sway in her hips. Before Temari rounded the corner to go to the spectator area she turned around, "I'll see you after the exams, wear something nice to the ceremony because you'll be accompanying me."

The kunoichi winked after getting a nod and left Naruto standing there oblivious to the world. The boy had no concept of time as he stood there and jumped in surprise when something suddenly pinched his cheek, "Ow, what was that?"

Naruto turned to see Sakura and Gaara standing there as the pinkette leaned in and inspected her teammate, "Naruto you're red and breathing hard, did that last fight take something out of you? You've been down here for half an hour and our fight is about to start so go up to the waiting area and watch me fight."

"Oh um yeah uh… I was just thinking about stuff… and things."

Sakura's eyes squinted as she observed her teammate, "You're acting strange Naruto, did something happen?"

Naruto began hastily waving his hands in front of his face, "No nothing happened Sakura-chan, I was just lost in thought."

"That's a new one."

"Saaakuraaa-chan, why are you so mean?"

The girl giggled as the tension left her body, "Well you have to admit that's not very believable Naruto."

Said blonde stuck his tongue out at the kunoichi, "Whatever Sakura-chan, you're just jealous because the audience cheered for me more than you, if you want that kind of love you better get out there and put on a real show."

"So you wish for me to lose Uzumaki? Perhaps you are scared of a rematch."

Naruto shifted his attention to the redhead, "Yeah right Gaara, I think you're going to throw the match so the audience can't watch me run circles around you in the finals."

The door cracked slightly before slowly swinging open. The roar of the crowd reached in and Gaara started walking out with Sakura giving his back a fearful glance, after all it wasn't that long ago that the Suna genin was a bloodthirsty psychotic killer. The redhead could sense her hesitation and turned around, "Don't worry, I'm not aiming to kill in this match."

He faced the arena once more and continued his exit as Sakura turned to Naruto to see him giving her a wide smile, "Don't worry about it Sakura-chan, Gaara is different now. So if you want to be a chuunin like I'm going to be then you'd better put up and give it your all."

Sakura's stomach stopped flipping as she listened to Naruto's encouragement. When he was finished talking she gave him a quick hug and squeezed him tightly as her cheeks gained a pink hue, "Thank you Naruto, wish me luck."

The blonde was once again catatonic as the door shut behind his teammate. He was shaken out of his stupor as the proctor's voice echoed through the stadium and he ran up the stairs and joined Kankuro in the box before he looked down to see that Daichi just jumped back signaling the match started. Two tendrils of sand burst from the ground and began chasing Sakura around the stadium as soon as the jounin disappeared. She tried to close the distance but everywhere the kunoichi went a wall of sand stopped her as the sand chasing her got closer. She threw several kunai with tags wrapped around the handle towards Gaara but he stood calmly as his sand stopped them far from his body and the explosions rang out. He then lifted his hand commanding his sand to surround her and it responded as the tendrils split and began circling around Sakura trapping her inside a sand cyclone. As it constricted around her the kunoichi performed a substitution disappearing in a puff of smoke and for the first time in the match Gaara was forced to move as a purple cloud of poison gas overtook his previous position. The boy levitated himself out of range on a sand platform with a large cloud of gold and tan floating behind him. Gaara once again raised his hand showing his palm to the pinkette as his monotone voice rang out, "Suna Shuriken."

The sand cloud condensed into hand sized balls before launching at Sakura forcing her to dance around them lest they shatter her bones. She landed after twisting around several in mid air when the sand around her feet collapsed forming a sinkhole. She did a split sending her chakra to the bottom of her feet stopping her descent before she began running up the rapidly closing wall. She burst from the ground just as the hole shut and started running up the arena wall just staying ahead of the sand Gaara summoned to give chase. The redhead increased his height as she climbed but was surprised when Sakura leapt off the top of the wall throwing all the projectiles she could at him. They missed and began falling to the earth but when the tools were twenty feet beneath the pinkette an exploding tag blew stopping his sand from catching the kunoichi as she slowed and reached the apex of her jump and also launched the kunoichi higher into the air before she once again expelled a purple cloud at Gaara.

The sand under his feet separated allowing his body to fall towards the ground and avoid the poison but his eyes widened when he saw several pellets next to him in midair as the ground rapidly approached. The gourd on his back exploded before encasing Gaara in a solid ball of sand that managed to keep out the poison after the pellets burst however the boy had a limited air supply. The ball fell through the yellow cloud keeping Gaara safe from the poison but when it landed more pellets exploded around the sphere. It started rolling much like an Akimichi would after using the Baika no jutsu but Sakura threw more pellets on her way down. Eventually the ball outdistanced the barrage before the sand burst revealing Gaara gasping for breath. He looked up to see Sakura about to hit the ground hard with no way to stop herself and managed to loosen the sand where she was about to fall just before girl smashed into the ground creating a cloud that impeded the audience's view. Pink hair was visible through the cloud but as it cleared the audience saw the rest of Sakura's body was encased by sand as she floated in front of Gaara. The proctor reappeared, "The winner of the match is Sabaku no Gaara of Suna. The next fight shall begin in fifteen minutes. There will be officials going around the arena taking bets so take advantage of this opportunity to update, change, or make any new ones. Remember the odds when you make the bet determine your payout so even if the line changes after it won't affect the bet you made."

* * *

><p>Naruto's stomach rumbled as the announcer said that and the genin blushed realizing that he hadn't eaten since the night before. He excused himself from the competitor booth before running on the walls above the crowd towards the food stands set up. He was making his way towards the delicious smells when a hand grabbed the back of his blue jacket and jerked him off the wall, "Why the hurry Naruto?"<p>

The boy turned around, "Oh Kakashi-sensei hey, I'm just going to get some food. I didn't eat anything since yesterday and I'm starving."

The man pocketed his book while he ruffled his student's hair, "You don't want to eat any food here. It's all greasy and heavy, there's no way that you could fight in top form after eating that, have this instead."

The man's hand emerged from his pouch after pocketing his book with a granola bar and vegetable sandwich which he shoved into Naruto's hand before taking out his book once more, "Vegetables are gross, can't I just find a ramen vendor or something?"

Kakashi's lone eye twinkled as he took in his student, "Well for one thing there aren't any ramen stands here. I mean who would want to eat hot soup in the desert?" The twinkle turned malevolent, "Besides if you don't eat those I'll Sennen Goroshi you all the way back to Konoha and make sure you don't get promoted."

The blonde put the sandwich and granola bar in his pack before he started furiously nodding his head while speaking loudly, "Yes Kaka-sensei sir, no problem. There's no need to stick your fingers in my butt."

The blonde quickly disappeared and when Kakashi looked around he noticed the surprised and disgusted faces of the people around him, "Wait, it's not like that. Don't you see the book? These are girls."

* * *

><p>Naruto was snickering as he ate the sandwich, "Hey this isn't half bad, these vegetables are pretty tasty with salad dressing on them."<p>

The boy hummed to himself as he devoured the sandwich and granola bar before taking a drink from the water machine set up in the contestant area. As he finished his drink Daichi's voice rang out, "Will Kankuro and Uzumaki Naruto please report to the arena."

The duo walked down the stairs towards the arena and the door was already opened so they walked onto the sands. Kankuro didn't bother resealing the puppets after the last battle and stood with them sitting limply by his feet. The arena was buzzing with excitement and tension as the two faced off while the crowd waited for the fight to start. Daichi walked up to the two as the crowd began cheering, they stopped when the green haired man raised his hand and announced the match, "The second match semifinal match is between Kankuro of Suna and Uzumaki Naruto of Konoha, are both fighters ready… begin."

The crowd stayed silent as the proctor shunshined away and Kankuro connected chakra strings to the puppets making them float in front of him. Naruto smirked at the boy, "Well you brought your dolls to the match, but I have some allies of my own, Kage Bunshin no Jutsu."

Kankuro gulped when he saw the mass of clones behind the smirking blonde. Shoving down his fear the Suna genin responded, "Please blondie, it's about quality over quantity."

"What if I have both?"

The boy burst into motion dodging the hasty swing of the sword by the female puppet before getting smashed by the demon puppet's fist. He burst into a cloud of smoke and Kankuro opened the mouth of the female puppet and tons of black balls came flying out and detonated at the feet of the clone army. When the smoke cleared Naruto was standing there unscathed with a smirk on his face. Kankuro growled and put the puppets on either side of the Konoha genin before they launched a barrage of poisoned weapons. The smirk never left Naruto's face as he formed a seal, "Fuuton: Sensougouheki."

Kankuro gave Naruto a smirk of his own while the wind swirled around him, "Kid I'm from wind country, you think I don't know the weakness of most fuuton jutsu." The female puppet's mouth opened before expelling a cloud of grey smoke. Naruto managed to cancel the jutsu and dodge but when he landed another wave of projectiles closed in before he countered with another Sensougouheki. Naruto watched the projectiles get deflected but turned and cursed when he saw the explosive balls about to hit the swirling wind. They detonated and a blue and black projectile shot out of the smoke with cuts all over his clothes. Naruto recovered quickly parrying the sword swipes using a kunai with practiced ease before the fist of the demon puppet impacted with his back sending him across the arena once more.

The future Hokage stood up while dusting himself off, 'Damn, the puppets don't have chakra signatures so I can't sense them until they try to make a move, I need to destroy one of them out before I take out catmandu.' Naruto rushed towards the demon puppet but was intercepted by the red haired puppet while Kankuro pulled the demon back to play defense. Naruto was hard pressed to avoid the furious slashes of the sword while keeping an eye on the purple faced puppet. He dodged the rapid strikes before smirking when the doll burrowed into the ground and Naruto started paying attention to the vibrations of the earth. When the ground beneath him started shaking the blonde substituted himself a chunk of rock he plastered with supercharged exploding tags while Kankuro was distracted by his clones. The blast was the biggest of the day and the audience grabbed anything to brace themselves as the arena shook from the force. When the smoke cleared Naruto's jaw dropped when it was revealed that the puppets were intact though the white robes were ripped, charred, and tattered.

"Did you really think that would work? Apparently you don't know your history. These are two of the famous puppets that were created by the creator of the Kugutsu no Jutsu, Monzaemon Chikimatsu. A punk like you doesn't stand a chance."

Naruto laughed at hearing that, "I'd be worried if you actually knew how to use them. The taijutsu and kenjutsu the puppets are using look like an academy student. The only thing that you are good with are the cheap tricks they have, but nobody has more tricks up their sleeves than me."

The Naruto speaking turned into a cloud of smoke as a voice echoed around the arena Fuuton: Sattou Dangan (Bullet Rush). Kankuro turned and saw the blonde standing on the wall holding an orb of wind chakra the size of his torso above his palm. Naruto pointed the ball at Kankuro and it split into twenty five arrow like projectiles. Kankuro pulled the two puppets back to him as the large fists of the demon puppet took out the first wave of five. The second moved even faster than the first and Kankuro was forced to dodge, the female puppet blocked the next five with their sword before the final ten arrows were cancelled out by the flamethrower of the demon puppet. Kankuro started laughing but was quickly stopped when the sand underneath the woman puppet burst upward as a voice called out, "Fuuton: Daitoppa." She was smashed against the wall after a Naruto clone collided with her in mid-air, and even though no visible damage was done Kankuro couldn't reconnect with her quickly and when he looked around there were at least twenty Naruto clones all holding the Sattou Dangan ready to fire at the puppeteer.

"Not bad kid, but how about this." The demon puppet had holes opening all over its body. Kankuro jumped in the air while the clones adjusted their aim but couldn't get the jutsu off as a solid wall of senbon burst from the puppet and destroyed them all. Kankuro reached some chakra strings towards his other puppet while in mid air, but his wrist was grabbed before the genin could extend them and the fingers in his other hand were squeezed together. The painted shinobi suddenly felt himself spinning rapidly as he careened towards the ground. The boy was unable to stop the rapid descent when Naruto launched another Daitoppa propelling him faster so when the puppeteer hit the ground he lost consciousness on impact.

When the smoke cleared Kankuro was visible at the bottom of a large crater and the proctor reappeared in a swirl of wind before raising his hand, "The winner of the match is Uzumaki Naruto of Konoha." The crowd once again burst into cheers as Naruto once again danced around the arena as if getting a high from the attention. When the cheering died down somewhat the proctor raised his hand once more, "The fighters in the final match shall be Sabaku no Gaara and Uzumaki Naruto. We shall have a short thirty minute intermission before the next match so take care of anything you need to do quickly. Once again we shall have some workers going around taking bets so make sure you place some now."

* * *

><p>The Sandaime Hokage retook his seat after the bathroom break. Looking to his left it was plain to see that Jiraiya was completely wasted with empty Sake bottles covering the floor around his chair and the two Daimyo weren't far behind the hermit. They were so sloshed that they already hammered out trade agreements while waiting for their staff to draw up the political marriage that would unite the countries. The Kazekage was eating some Suna delicacy and the Raikage produced a set of dumbbells from a scroll and started doing curls as they waited for the next match. The relative silence of the booth was interrupted by the two Daimyo's assistants slamming the door as they burst into the room, "Hi-sama, Kaze-sama the marriage contracts are done. All we need are your stamps of approval."<p>

The fire Daimyo turned before speaking, "Most excellent, but I feel that to really cement this alliance we should have two shinobi marriages as well."

The Kazekage spit out his food while Sarutobi made sure he wasn't having a heart attack before answering, "Hi-sama, there have never been intermarriage between shinobi villages because the secrets and techniques of shinobi are carefully guarded and marriage presents an opportunity for those to be revealed… this is quite an unorthodox suggestion. Perhaps you should finalize the alliance between our nations first and we shall think of other ways to strengthen the ties between our villages."

The fire Daimyo frowned and looked like he was about to have a temper tantrum until Jiraiya spoke up. "Hi-sama my sensei is right, no clan will accept a marriage contract outside of the village and forcing them would violate the clan charter of Konoha which would lead to bad things, and we don't want two nameless ninja in an important political marriage. Instead of a union between ninja there should be temporary shinobi exchange, like each village sends around one hundred ninja to the other or something. We could also do an increase of joint missions as well, but marriage will never work. Besides this way the shinobi of the two villages can form new friendships and erase old grudges which would be more binding than two people marrying."

"Oh Jiraiya-kun I knew there was a reason I liked you."

"Oh Hi-sama you wound me, how could anyone forget the greatness that is Jiraiya-sama the toad sage?"

Hi laughed cheerfully before addressing his fellow lord, "What do you say Kaze-dono, does that sound agreeable?"

"Hmmph it may not be as binding as marriage but it is acceptable. Add it to the contract and then we shall sign it. Don't put in any specifics though, just mention a shinobi exchange and our ambassadors shall iron out the details later."

The two bowed quickly while backing out the door and saying in unison, "Yes my lord, it shall be done."

The door closed as the audience burst into cheering. When the men in the booth looked down they saw the proctor standing in the middle of the field before the speakers crackled, "Will Sabaku no Gaara and Uzumaki Naruto report to the arena floor."

The Sandaime checked his tobacco pouch to find that he was running low, putting on a smile he turned to one of the young genin serving as attendants, "Excuse me, do you think you could get me another pouch of tobacco." The Suna nin hastily nodded before speeding off. After packing his pipe with the last of the herb and lighting it the Hokage continued while looking at the opening door in the arena, "I believe that both Naruto and Gaara have shown the qualities that we look for in chuunin along with Aburame Shino, and while other fighters may have shown some of the qualities we look for when promoting genin it was not enough of a showing.

Kankuro is close, but he reacts more than plans. Once his initial strategy plays out or fails he doesn't effectively form another one quickly and just reacts. And though young Sakura showed quick wit and daring she lacks the power necessary and didn't know when to quit, so she resorted to a suicidal maneuver when there was no need. I will say that her medic skills are admirable though. I'm impressed a genin was able to advance that far in that particular field, it speaks well of her potential. Temari, Samui, and Hinata all showed the power necessary but relied to much on techniques so they should not be chuunin. After all, it takes more than power to be a leader of men."

The Kazekage sighed ignoring the Raikage's scowl after the Hokage's speech having sensed the subtle insult directed at him, "I agree, though I wish I could promote Temari, but there are always the next exams."

The Raikage ignored the two and gave B a dark look, 'Hmm this could be problematic. The balance of power has been shifting recently, we must begin to increase our strength and get ready for the fireworks. I wonder what will spark the powder keg this time.'

The two fighters were standing across from each other waiting for the proctor to start the match while the crowd was quickly working itself up to a frenzy. The speakers crackled and Daichi could barely be heard over the speakers, "The final match of the Chuunin Exams is between Sabaku no Gaara of Suna and Uzumaki Naruto of Konoha. Are both fighters ready… begin."

The two stood across from each other as the crowd roared. Gaara spoke up as Naruto was about to raise his headband, "Uzumaki Naruto, let us fight using only our power."

The blonde revealed his sharingan, "Sounds good to me Gaara, let's get to it."

The oldest Kage formed a steeple with his fingers while taking in the match. A large wave of sand rushed towards the blonde only for it to be dispersed by a Goukuuhou. Naruto followed his wind blast and jumped over the sand wall that stopped it in its tracks before he did a front flip trying to bring his right foot down onto Gaara's head. The foot was stopped by a sand barrier which quickly covered the blonde's body before he smiled and exploded. Several Narutos rose from the sand before using the Sattou Dangan. A solid sphere of sand formed around Gaara stopping the attacks but the clones followed up placing exploding tags all over the sphere. The explosion ripped Gaara's ball apart but the redhead wasn't in there. Suddenly the whole arena floor exploded upwards sending a horde of clones into the air that were quickly dispelled by the sand surrounding them. Gaara stood on a platform of sand level with Naruto who was halfway up the wall. "That was quite foolish of you Uzumaki. Did you think I couldn't sense all the clones in the sand you placed before the tournament even started?"

"A guy can hope can't he?"

The Naruto was shown to be a clone when the sand wall behind him broke apart and the pieces pierced him. Gaara sent a wave of sand at a seemingly random spot only for Naruto's panicked scream to ring out as he was revealed after the sand wave hit him. He substituted himself with a rock before he could be completely entrapped and Gaara was forced to raise another wall of sand to stop the wind bullet. "Genjutsu can't fool me, enough of the Shukaku's chakra leaks into my system making it erratic and impossible for foreign chakra to take hold."

Naruto cursed as he dodged around the sand. He may have been able to see the sand before it moved with the sharingan, but there was so much of it swirling around it was almost impossible to keep track of it all and Naruto was eventually smashed across the arena by a tendril he couldn't dodge. "Not bad Gaara, you've definitely gotten stronger but you aren't the only one."

Naruto pushed the chakra into his leg muscles moving faster and was able to sneak a hit through Gaara's defense chipping his Suna Yoroi. He followed up with a Goukuuhou and blocked the sand at his feet from surrounding him with a Sensougouheki. "I'm no longer the same fighter you defeated last time. You've shown me that I can't simply rely on raw power anymore. I won't lose here."

Naruto smiled, "Well I can't lose here either Gaara, so let's see who improved the most." The blonde once again blurred out of sight but was blocked by Gaara's sand as he tried to deliver a punch to the stomach. The redhead was getting knocked around much to the surprise of the Suna shinobi but he recovered quickly hitting the blonde with a fist of sand stopping the assault. He sent more waves of sand at Naruto but the genin was able to avoid them all using the sharingan before the Konoha ninja one again rushed at Gaara but couldn't close the distance because of his defense. Naruto was forced jumped back but suddenly found himself surrounded by sand versions of Gaara. "You want to play with clones then Gaara, Kage Bunshin no Jutsu."

The arena was thrown into chaos as the clone armies met. Sand and smoke were making it hard to see in the arena, and when it cleared the crowd gasped seeing Naruto laying face down with a sand wave rushing at him about to bury the boy under it's weight. A kage bunshin revealed itself underneath a tan tarp that camouflaged it with the wall before substituting with his creator. The blonde took advantage of the quick save by pushing Gaara back with a Daitoppa before kunai pierced his sand shield and an explosion knocked him further back. The redhead was trying to shake the ringing out of his ear while Naruto charged. The sand reacted automatically knocking him back but he turned into a puff of smoke as well. Gaara looked up and saw a figure descending holding some type of ball in his palm which drilled through his sand like paper before impacting his stomach sending him spinning into the wall so fast the sand couldn't stop him.

The Raikage's eyes widened when he saw what the blonde was holding before he shoved it through Gaara's sand shield and Suna Yoroi before sending the redhead into the wall and standing over him with another one in his hands. "THE RASENGAN. I don't think that boy's last name is Uzumaki is it Hokage? No I think it should be Namikaze. So the liar had a son."

Before the Hokage and Jiraiya could deny with all they had the fire Daimyo spoke up, "Hiruzen how could you? There is no doubt in my mind that boy is the son of the fourth, yet you told me that his child died during the Kyuubi attack."

The man gave Jiraiya a look that had the hermit shaking in fear before answering, "Yes he is the Yondaime's son, but not even he knows yet. We hid his identity to protect him from assassins from outside and political manipulation from within. Minato wanted his son to have a normal childhood so I did all I could to help achieve that wish."

The fire Daimyo was quiet but the Raikage was seething, "So the Yondaime made his son the container of the Kyuubi." He turned to Jiraiya before continuing, "You convinced us that Minato was the destined child yet he killed himself to create a Jinchuuriki when there were other ways. The tournament is over so we shall be taking our leave." The man stood up placing the hat back on his head as his white haired bodyguard disappeared to assemble the Kumo contingent.

The old Kage rubbed his forehead with his hands trying to suppress the oncoming headache. "Well Kazekage-dono there's not much we can do about that, I believe it is time for you to perform the closing ceremony and announce the festival tomorrow, the proctor called the match."

The man stood and nodded, but before he could leave the wind Daimyo stopped him. "Wait Kazekage, can you call a councilman up here so they can meet with my advisors. If this alliance is to work we must increase the budget. Please have them bring your financial books to the meeting so we can ascertain a proper number."

Suna's ruler smiled under his veil before giving a short bow, "It shall be done, send them to the council chambers to meet with our accountants and financial minister."

* * *

><p>Naruto was in team seven's hotel room with Kakashi and Sai changing into the formal wear for the festival and promotion ceremony. After winning the tournament and the trophy presentation ceremony Naruto stuffed his face before passing out till the next day. Sakura took him out to get a kimono soon after they woke up and now he was struggling to put it on, "Gah stupid clothes, how does this work?"<p>

Kakashi made sure his silver and black Kimono was on straight before helping the clueless blonde. He bent down before securing Naruto's garment and ruffled the blonde spikes, "There you go, all set Naruto."

The blonde crossed his arms and grumbled, "I don't know why I need to wear this dumb thing, I've never had to wear one before."

Kakashi eye-smiled at the petulant boy, "Now now Naruto, you've just never been to any fancy events so there was no need."

The door that connected Kakashi's room to theirs opened and Sakura emerged. Naruto turned around before blushing at the pinkette. Her mother bought her a kimono that was stunning for the event. The primary color was the same green of her eyes but it was broken up at random intervals by a sapphire blue pattern that looked like the Uzumaki swirl. "Stop complaining Naruto, we managed to find you one that actually had some orange in it and is still tasteful."

**Flashback**

"Saaakuraa-chan why can't I get this one?"

The veins above Sakura's right eye was twitching as she tried to ignore Naruto's whining and talk like a responsible adult, "Because Naruto the solid orange kimono is awful. You heard the owner, nobody has bought that thing and it's been here for over a year."

Naruto gave his teammate the puppy dog eye, "But Sakura-chan that's because nobody else appreciates the awesomeness that is the color orange."

Sakura imitated Iruka's most famous jutsu as her head ballooned to a monstrous size, "That's not it, nobody else is brainless enough to buy something solid orange except for you. We've been at this for hours and we still need to get ready, the festival starts soon and the promotion ceremony begins as soon as the sun goes down."

She was interrupted as the fearful proprietor tapped her on the shoulder, "Umm excuse me miss, but we have a kimono with slightly less orange."

The two looked at him as the man turned around before pulling a kimono out from behind his desk. It was the same blue as Sakura's swirls with wide orange stitching down the sleeves and sides and had an orange sun on the back. Naruto muttered something about not enough orange but Sakura swiped Gama-chan from his pocket before opening it to count out the money needed, "We'll take it."

**Flashback End**

Naruto was about to complain some more but was stopped by a knock at the door. The blonde made his way over and opened it revealing Temari standing on the other side wearing an elegant kimono. It was gold on the bottom made to look like the desert sand while the top half was pink, crimson, yellow, and orange sewn to imitate a sunset. The kunoichi smiled noticing her fellow blonde's hanging chin and slight blush, "I hope you're ready to go Naruto."

Sakura stormed up pulling her teammate back before facing the older girl, "What are you doing here? Naruto is going to the festival with me."

"Tch whatever you say. If I recall correctly yesterday Naruto said he was going with me. Or did that kiss mean nothing Naruto-kun."

Sakura's face became red with rage as her eyes reverted to their demonic white. She turned to face the cowering blonde, "**NA-RU-TO**, how dare you kiss this harlot. You don't know where her mouth has been, what if she has herpes?"

"Hey you bitch I don't have herpes."

"Sorry, you might get the clap Naruto."

"Grrr, I'll kill you. I'll rip your pink hair out by the roots."

Naruto interjected himself between the two seething girls while Sai gathered his money and Kakashi looked on while eating some popcorn, "Umm well I might've agreed to go with Temari but she asked first Sakura-chan. Sakura melted into a puddle of goo as Temari flashed her a victorious grin, "But I don't see why I can only go with one person so let's all go together."

Sakura regained her mass as Temari's grin dropped, "Well if you want me there Naruto."

She received a blinding grin before he answered, "Of course I want you there Sakura-chan, why wouldn't I?"

The pinkette quickly grabbed the boys arm and dragged him down the hallway with Temari giving chase.

Kakashi stared at the door before smiling under his mask, "Quite the playboy Naruto." Tears streamed out of his eye before he continued, "My cute little student is growing up into a manly stud muffin, I'm so proud."

Sai placed his wallet into a pocket in his robes giving the copycat a questioning look, "I don't get it, how will Naruto play with boys when he is with girls?"

* * *

><p>The sun was low in the sky so Sakura, Naruto, and Temari made their way to Suna's fanciest restaurant Nakamura-Ro reputed to be one of the oldest restaurants in the elemental continent and the oldest in Kaze no Kuni. The girls were laden with stuffed animals and various other prizes after entering into a competition to see whom Naruto would win the most prizes for. Sakura managed to edge Temari out by two prizes after Naruto failed in the goldfish game after the blonde kunoichi asked Naruto to get her one, but Temari claimed a victory of her own when Naruto said that he liked the bungee ride she recommended more than the haunted house Sakura wanted to go in.<p>

The two girls were walking on either side of Naruto while trying to press against more of the blonde than the other could. Said boy was currently exhausted after the long festival. The whole day he was dragged back and forth by two excited kunoichi as they tried to take in the whole celebration. Naruto was wearier than he usually was after a full day of training, but also happier than he's ever been in a long time. Before becoming a ninja he would steer clear of the festivals to avoid the harsh words and cold looks, but after experiencing the fun of this celebration Naruto wished that he could've ignored the hate directed at him because many of the vendors were from surrounding villages and probably wouldn't have turned him away.

The trio arrived at the restaurant and were surprised at what they saw inside. Their was a large table in the back of the room set with golden cups, sterling silverware, and intricate China on a raised platform while several smaller circular tables were spread out on the large dining area set with less intricate pieces. The influential shinobi gathered were sitting near the large table while the genin in the final rounds and their teammates sat farther back. Sakura located Hinata sitting with team eight before rerouting to sit at an empty table far away from the Hyuuga. After removing the card indicating the table was completely open the trio separated briefly to get some of the appetizers and drinks placed out.

Naruto devoured the snacks while the two girls daintily picked at theirs and the remaining guests filed in. Soon enough the rest of the attendees filed in before the two Kage and Daimyo walked from the back room and took their places at the head table. The two lords were wearing similar outfits, the Kaze Daimyo had gold as the main color with crimson markings that formed an intricate pattern spread over the kimono. The Daimyo of Hi no Kuni wore a kimono that had crimson as the main color with gold markings that formed the same pattern as the Kaze Daimyo flooring the guests by showing the two countries were close even though the alliance was only between the hidden villages, not the countries.

The two Kage wore the traditional robes of their position and the Kazekage remained standing while the other three sat before addressing the crowd, "Honored guests, it is a privilege to welcome you all and start the banquet celebrating the chuunin exams. I would like to thank Nakamura-Ro for allowing us to host the event here. I am sure that all of you are hungry and would like to sample the fine meal prepared so I will not be long. Before we are distracted by the dishes I would like to announce with the permission of the two Daimyo that the countries of Hi and Kaze shall be united through marriage." He paused here as the room broke out in whispers before raising his hand calling for silence, "The youngest daughter of Hi-sama's third son shall be wed to the middle child of Kaze's second son and the wedding shall take place on the first day of spring. The other information that pertains to the hidden villages shall be discussed and decided on at a later date. Please don't let that distract you from tonight's event because this is in the future. For now, let us enjoy the present and celebrate the achievements of the young ninja and future of our villages."

The man sat down as the doors on the left of the table burst open and the servers emerged with the first dish they called Hassun (Mountain and Sea). It consisted of several fish dishes serves with the rapeseed plant, egg custard, and fried lotus root. Naruto started shoveling the food into his mouth only for a fist and closed fan to smash into his sides while his two ears were grabbed. Sakura leaned in, "Naruto don't embarrass me. This is a fancy establishment so eat with manners."

Temari pulled his ear bringing him closer to her before she continued, "Yeah, if you can't behave we'll find out if you can eat an iron battle fan as fast as the food."

The blonde gulped before slowing down significantly to the delight of the two girls who started enjoying their trays. The first course was finished and the next one was placed in front of them before the used plates were taken away. The next course was a Sashimi one consisting of different fish prepared to have varying textures. Temari enjoyed the meal not getting to eat fish often and Sakura appreciated the varying texture but Naruto didn't particularly care for the fish but was forced to stomach it by the two girls who claimed it was an insult to the chef to ignore a dish. The boy was relieved when the next course of Mushi-Mono came out and the fish was taken away. The soup was delicious with eel, some type of tuber and potato and the blonde polished it off in no time before a fist and fan slammed into his head leaving two bumps.

The servers brought out four more courses before the meal was finished. Naruto's ribs were sore and he had lumps covering his head from the two kunoichis scolding him, but on the bright side they actually got along when lecturing him. The last dishes were removed before an after dinner drink they called Sayonara was served, though the younger ones were given smaller glasses. The Kazekage stood once more before addressing the crowd as they sipped the tasty concoction, "I hope that you enjoyed the fine cuisine that was served tonight. Now I think it is time to get to the reason we are all gathered and announce the promotions. Would Aburame Shino, Sabaku no Gaara, and Uzumaki Naruto please report to the stage."

Naruto was in shock and couldn't move until the girls pulled him from the chair and shoved him toward the stage while the gathered people applauded. He stood on the right of Gaara facing the crowd as the Kazekage continued, "These three young shinobi showed forethought, tactics, strength, and perseverance in their fights, all the qualities that we look for in chuunin." The man pulled two green vests and one tan one from under the table and walked in front of the three boys. "It is with great pride that I promote you three to the rank of chuunin with recommendation from the judges."

The boys took were handed their vests as the crowd applauded once more. Naruto reached his hand up and felt the cool metal of his headband covering Sasuke's eye, 'Did you hear that Sasuke, I'm a chuunin now and one step closer to Hokage… I know you're watching me up there even if you'll never admit it. I hope that you liked my fights and I haven't forgotten my promise to you, I will restore the honor of your fallen clan.'

* * *

><p>Naruto stood with the other travellers going to Konoha at the gates and the blonde was anxious to start the journey home, they stayed the day after the festival because most of the older travellers were sick for some strange reason. After the banquet he walked Temari home alone at her request and got another kiss, even if it was on the cheek and now he was watching her run towards the group to say goodbye. She didn't stop and ran straight into Naruto giving him a tight squeeze ignoring the glares from white and green eyes, "I wish that you didn't have to leave so soon, I might not see you till the next chuunin exams even if you aren't in them."<p>

The blonde smiled and patted his new vest. At the demand of Temari and Sakura he went shopping the day after the festival to buy new clothes to match the vest. He wore black cargo shorts and had bandages going up his shins with two holsters on his thighs and a pouch on his waist. Instead of his white shirt and black jacket Naruto now had a sleeveless black spandex shirt over fishnet that just poked out under the spandex, and of course his new vest completed the new look. Naruto gave the Suna genin a smile, "Don't worry Temari, now team seven can go on higher rank missions and I'll make Kaka-sensei take any that'll bring us near Suna."

The girl didn't release her grip, "I'll hold you to that… see you later Naruto." She pulled back but still held him in her arms before giving him another short peck on the lips leaving him dazed before quickly sprinting away while several wolf whistles were heard from the Konoha crowd.

Hinata started inching towards the catatonic blonde but stopped when she felt death hovering over her shoulder and scurried back to her team. Sakura walked up and started shaking the blonde who just flailed limply, "What was that Naruto? You can't do that with her, she's a loose woman."

Kakashi broke from the crowd and placed a hand on the raging girl's shoulder, "Easy Sakura, we don't want to put one of Konoha's newest chuunin on the reserve list before his first mission."

She stopped shaking but when she turned to yell at her sensei a blush made it's way onto the kunoichi's face. Naruto's head was resting between her budding breasts while his right hand was grazing the inside of her thigh lingering dangerously close to her private area. Sakura felt something in her stomach twisting so she released it through her fists launching Naruto into the horizon as the Hokage sighed, "Alright everyone looks like we need to move out and find Naruto before we continue. At least Sakura had the decency to hit him towards Konoha." The man turned around leading the group out of Suna smiling, 'Just like Tsunade and Jiraiya or Minato and Kushina… heck she even reminds me of Biwako-chan somewhat. It seems that Naruto is destined to be whipped. I wonder if powerful men are naturally masochistic.

* * *

><p>Yay chuunin exams are over, mission accomplished and now the group travels back to Konoha with Naruto and Shino achieving the rank of chuunin. The upcoming chapter won't be action packed but a lot of setting up will be going on. We see what our favorite snake is up to and we even get another look at Akatsuki no matter how brief. Also the long awaited talk between Naruto and Hiruzen, will the aged Kage reveal the dark secrets that he has hidden from his adopted grandson or push him away like he did Asuma? But regardless I want to keep it under 10k words because it's a set up chapter so hopefully it won't take long for it to get released.<p>

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><p>Jutsu List<p>

Suna Shuriken

Ninpou: Dokugiri

Fuuton: Sensougouheki

Kugutsu no Jutsu (Puppetry Technique)-the use of chakra strings to control inanimate objects like a puppet

Fuuton: Sattou Dangan (Bullet Rush) B-rank: The user holds a large ball of wind in their palm that splits into twenty five arrow like projectiles which then attack the target(s) in waves of five at a high speed for a B-rank jutsu

Fuuton: Daitoppa

Fuuton: Goukuuhou


	17. The Return Home, a New Adventure Waits

Before I begin I'd like to say thanks once more to the Basher for adding more reviews to my count (even though he stopped reading ), and now that is done with I'd like to say thank you to every other person who dropped a review so far because you are **not **douchebags. Anyway here's chapter 17 and we move to the Tsunade arc which will hopefully only be 5 or 6 chapters including this one which is the set up chapter.

-Operaman

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><p>The sun was beating down on the sands of Kaze no Kuni as a lone figure trudged through the sand towards the massive gates of Sunagakure no Sato. The two chuunin guarding the gate straightened up waiting for the figure to arrive, and when the man arrived he threw the hood back and unfastened his cloak revealing shoulder length green hair pulled back into a ponytail as his brown eyes took in the guards. Under the cloak he wore a tan flack jacket over a dark brown shirt tucked into yellow pants with a white belt around his waist adorned with the emblem of Suna. The gate guards shot the man a questioning look while flipping through a large book, "Daichi when did you leave today? I don't see your name anywhere on the traveler log."<p>

The man let his gaze linger on the city before smiling at the two, "Well you would need a different log because I didn't leave today, I left three months ago on a trip and I'm just returning."

The guards' faces were in shock as the one on the right grabbed the jounin's arm, "I don't know what's going on but we should go see the Kazekage immediately."

The confused man allowed the chuunin to lead him towards the Kazekage tower and ascended the staircase before the duo was waved in by his secretary. After entering the office the pair kneeled in front of the veiled man while he finished some paperwork. After the Kazekage put the sheet on top of his outbox he lifted his head before staring curiously at the two, "Daichi you have the week off, what are you doing here?"

The green haired man lifted his head to look at the Kage, "That is very generous of you Kazekage-sama considering I just got back from a three month trip to attend my sister's wedding and train. I really don't think I need any more time off."

Their leaders' green eyes widened, "What do you mean Daichi? I saw you four days ago at the promotion ceremony and you refereed the third portion of the chuunin exams."

Daichi's gave the man a hard stare, "That's impossible sir, you approved my vacation yourself and I definitely wasn't here for the exams. After visiting with my family for a month I went to the wind temple to study raw wind manipulation under my uncle, the head monk."

The robed man raised his hand as four SAND operatives appeared behind him, "Daichi, I think I would like to see this approval for a vacation that I gave you because I never signed off on anything like that."

The jounin's face grew concerned, "Of course, it is at my apartment, let's go and I'll show you." The six shinobi disappeared in a swirl of sand before reappearing outside Daichi's apartment building and when they were in front of his door the green haired man unsealed a key from a scroll before saying, "Please excuse the mess, I haven't been here in ages."

The door opened and the Kazekage walked in first to the dismay of his SAND team while looking around, "Well if this is your apartment messy I'd really like to see it clean."

Daichi looked around his apartment confused, there was no dust buildup, garbage in the trash can and the fridge was stocked with food even though he left it empty. His bathroom was spotless and the bed was made with fresh sheets even though it was stripped and had a plastic cover on it when Daichi departed. The green haired man removed his flak jacket and hung it up before giving the room one last look, "I don't understand… maybe someone broke in to live here or something. But if someone was impersonating me they were very confident, the receipts show the food was bought this morning and my vacuum cleaner is out and still plugged in, also my television is warm meaning he was here recently."

The green haired man went to his closet before pulling up the floorboards and taking out a safe box. He channeled some chakra into it popping the lock and pulled out a sheet of paper, "This is the approval right here Kazekage-sama. The contents of the box are untouched too, not that it would've been useful. Most of this is just news clippings from my hometown, my academy graduation certificate, and the original copy of the vacation request shinobi are required to keep till resuming active duty."

The redhead grabbed the sheet and held it up to his face closely scrutinizing the details, "This could be a problem because this stamp is authentic and I lock it in my mansion whenever I return home or take it with me when I leave the office, which means someone stole this while I was around." The Kazekage rubbed his head before speaking once more, "Daichi, I am sorry about this but you must be taken to the Interrogation department until this story is confirmed and we can rule out the possibility of any rogue elements within Suna."

The green haired man raised his hands behind his head as the SAND team gently restrained him with handcuffs made of chakra absorbing metal, "I understand Kazekage-sama and will cooperate fully."

Once Daichi was taken from his apartment the Kazekage removed his hat and sat on the couch as a man wearing a turban and SAND cloak with a shock of black hair covering his right eye as well as a small beard walked forward from the shadows, "Kazekage-sama this bodes ill for the future if someone was able to fool us like that."

"I know Yuura, I am quite worried, but with you as head of security I feel more confident. I want you to keep the city on lock down until we verify that whoever it was that was here no longer while a team combs the desert. After that start observing those we have marked as possible threats to security internally. I can't help but wondering what they were after, why Daichi?"

The man stroked his beard before saying, "I do not know why they chose Daichi, perhaps they knew he was requesting a vacation and just needed someone with jounin clearance. They probably had no idea that you wanted him to be a proctor and when you asked them to referee the chuunin exams there was no choice but to fulfill the duty or alert us early. There have been no reports of an intruder or forced entry in any of the archives and the fake Daichi never entered them either."

The man rubbed his chin under the veil covering his face, "That is a possibility, but it doesn't mean we never had an intruder in there. They were able to escape my notice so sneaking in somewhere undetected shouldn't be an issue for someone on that level. All I know is that their intentions are not good for Suna."

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><p>Somewhere in the mountains where skeletons of giant creatures rested was a man in a hidden cave wearing an orange mask with a swirl concentrated around his right eye, which was shrouded by shadow. He had short black hair and wore a black cloak that covered his body with red clouds imprinted on it. The silhouette stood in front of a massive stone statue looking up at the strange creation. The statue sat in a meditative position on a giant lotus flower with its ankles shackled holding them in place, its wrists were also shackled forcing its palms up with the fingers and thumb all pointed upward. It appeared to be wearing some sort of robe with large protrusions that came up and covered the sides of his head and there were large spikes coming out from its back. There was one eye open with eight closed.<p>

The one in the middle of its head that was closed with four eyes on either side forming squares with one eye open on the right side. As the figure was looking up at the statue what appeared to be a giant venus flytrap rose from the ground before a head was suddenly seen inside of the massive jaws, and what was even stranger was the left side of the creature was white and the right one black. On the black side the eye was solid yellow but on the white it had a golden iris and white sclera with a beady pupil. The strange creature kept rising until its entire torso was visible revealing it was wearing the same robe as the masked man. Suddenly the lips on the white side of the face opened as he spoke in a lilting high pitched voice, "The infiltration of Sunagakure was successful Tobi and they are probably just figuring it out now, ha the amateurs were fooled so easily. I must thank Sasori for getting his spy to secure the stamp and placing a recommendation for me to proctor the exam."

The now named Tobi turned and raised his head revealing a three tomoe sharingan in his eye socket, "Excellent Zetsu, and what was your judgment of the Jinchuuriki."

This time the lips on the black side moved before a more gruff voice spoke, "Well the Kyuubi and Shukaku could be easily captured now if the circumstances were right, but the nine tails summoned toads and used the rasengan during the exams which means Jiraiya is probably teaching him, and the one tail was able to fully manifest and also showed incredible control over sand. It even shaped the stadium that was used for the third stage of the exam. In three years it may be problematic to subdue the beasts to extract the bijuu." The man nodded but before he could speak the plant creature continued, "And the eight tails was there as well… The Hachibi radiated incredible power, it doesn't matter if we try to take him now or later because it will be near impossible. I think that Pein may have to be the one to capture him."

After a brief silence to ensure the spy was finished reporting the masked man spoke in a serious tone, "That isn't possible now Zetsu, Nagato is still consolidating his power and we don't have enough members, and our funds are still relatively low because that fool was using them to fund his civil war. We still cannot afford to draw the attention of the great five more than we already have, right now our army is still growing and would be unable to match the might of a major village." The man glanced back at the statue before continuing, "Besides we have to seal the Kyuubi last otherwise the Gedo Mazo will explode, the Kyuubi is the most powerful Bijuu, it is so strong that we need the other eight chakras to balance out its power so there is no point in capturing the Jinchuuriki and having to imprison it for three years. I want you to track down the other five containers and try to uncover their strengths, weaknesses, and abilities."

The monstrous man started to melt into the ground, but before his head disappeared he said, "Of course Tobi, I shall report when I discover anything important."

After the creature was no longer visible the masked man dropped his Akatsuki cloak before donning a plain black one with a high collar, "I think it's about time to go refresh Yagura." Suddenly the air around his visible eye started to swirl and continued to grow until the winds surrounded his entire body before the man was sucked into the hole in his mask.

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><p>The Hokage led the procession through the gate feeling both relief and apprehension, the man was uncomfortable when he left the village without his guidance, but a break from paperwork is always appreciated. After everybody was checked in the venerable old man turned to the people before beginning, "I bet everyone is excited to return home, especially those that fought in the finals, but I would like to say a few words before we disperse. First of all congratulations to all those that participated regardless of results. The chuunin exams are highly competitive and being nominated to go to a foreign one means you are among the elite genin of the village, however after taking it I'm sure you recognize that many other villages have talented shinobi as well. Now the genin teams that had members in the finals are given the week off, and our two newest chuunin will have to undergo an orientation period but you shall get the details in two days so go say hello to your friends and family. After the crowd dispersed the Hokage approached his most trustworthy student, "Jiraiya I would like you to accompany me to my office."<p>

The man stopped looking in the direction of the hot springs while grumbling before he mumbled, "Fine Sarutobi-sensei."

The two got many looks of awe as they walked through Konoha and they made sure to return all the greetings and smile to the citizens. They breezed past the secretary and Sarutobi gave her a short greeting before telling the woman she could leave for the day. The two living legends entered his office and the Sandaime returned to his seat behind the desk taking on the mantle of leadership once more, "Jiraiya how foolish could you be? Why would you teach Naruto a technique so closely linked to his father before he entered a tournament that receives international attention? And to top that off you taught a genin an A-rank maneuver, I didn't know you could still be so irresponsible."

Jiraiya frowned at his sensei's rebuke, 'At least I didn't run away from my home to wallow in my own grief or pursue a selfish ambition.' The man crossed his arms staring hard at the Hokage, "Well sensei I didn't really know that Kumo was in the exams and the Kazekage already discovered Naruto was my apprentice."

"I find it hard to believe a spymaster wouldn't know that a village that hasn't participated in a chuunin exams since the Hyuuga incident would suddenly send genin out of the blue."

"I'm just giving the kid his birthright."

The Sandaime gave his student a hard stare, "I would've been fine with Naruto learning the rasengan after the exams, and I couldn't really complain about allowing him to sign the toad contract already because as your student it would be expected, but teaching him a technique original to his father to use in an international tournament is awfully close to subverting my orders regarding his heritage."

"The kid was going to be fighting a psychotic Jinchuuriki in the finals, he needed a way to defeat him because if Gaara manifested the Shukaku again it would've been catastrophic and Naruto wouldn't of been able to summon a toad in that arena without killing hundreds of people, he needed a trump card so I taught him the rasengan."

The old man sighed and dropped the argument before getting to the main issue, "Regardless of that the world is rapidly changing and the balance of power shifting. Hanzo has been dethroned and Ame is on the border of three of the five great nations, it was because of his presence that the area remained stable and now that the salamander is gone nothing is gluing that region together. To top that off Iwa has found out that Takigakure has fallen and the ninja we have deployed have engaged in minor skirmishes numerous times and the Taki Daimyo has no power to prevent it. To top it off the royal family of Tsuchi no Kuni have a history of being expansionists and this is a golden opportunity to do that, I wouldn't be surprised if the old fence sitter has already received an increased budget from the feudal lord. I've already scheduled a council meeting in an hour to change the academy over to the pre-war curriculum. I believe we have a couple of years before war is officially declared, but I'm already deploying more ANBU in those regions and will proposition the Daimyo for more funds. I believe that Konoha's sewer system is degrading and our budget is tight, hopefully Hi-sama would be willing to give us a small grant to remodel them, and maybe a little extra to improve the infrastructure in general."

Jiraiya chuckled briefly before responding, "Well I'm sure when he visits and the toilets back up flooding the room he'll be more understanding, but what does that have to do with me? You already told me to widen my information network over there before I returned to train Naruto."

The Sandaime nodded, "Yes, but recently the hospital has been slipping and though some show promise in the medical field the overall quality of medic ninja is far lower than when Tsunade was running the show." He paused and enjoyed the look on his student's face as he pieced together the request, "We need Tsunade to return, even if briefly so she can bring the medical corps back up to par. One of our advantages in previous wars was the prowess of the medic-nin and the ability to heal our shinobi better than our enemies."

Jiraiya gave the Hokage a look of pure horror, "You can't expect me to do that. Tsunade won't want to come and then she'll beat me to death, heal me, then cut off my manhood."

"She won't have a choice, she will return whether she likes it or not. I gave her those privileges because it was peaceful but now we need her again. If Tsunade won't return then the Daimyo has agreed that she is to be exiled from Hi no Kuni, and unfortunately Shizune-chan will face the same choice. Don't say that though unless the situation truly calls for it."

The hermit opened the window and hopped onto the sill looking out over the city, "Alright sensei you win, but I'm taking Naruto with me so we'll leave in a week."

"Five days Jiraiya, this is important."

The man gave a wave showing he heard before he dropped from the sill. The Sandaime sighed before glancing at the paperwork that amassed over his absence before sighing, 'I might as well do this until the meeting, don't want the pile to get bigger.'

Forty minutes later the Hokage was making his way towards the council chambers for the meeting. The Hokage was not a dictator like some other villages. The past Hokages served as head of the military, but that made him the man with the most power in the village, and he was the one to enforce the rules so Sarutobi had final say on how the village was run. However if he ignored the will of the council which represented various factions in the village he could be overthrown by a unanimous vote which would mean there was no support for him among the populous so the military wouldn't support him either. The council made laws and decisions for domestic matters, but the Hokage ruled supreme internationally. The council was made up of both a civilian side and shinobi side, but neither side was unified and usually split on various issues.

The civilian composed of important guild members, several members of the zoning commission, the treasurer of Konohagakure, the minister of trade, and several officials elected by the populous to represent various areas in the village. The shinobi side was headed by Sarutobi's old teammates who also oversaw the council on minor issues day to day and issued a report to the Hokage though there was one of the most trusted ANBU present at all times performing the duty of a hidden stenographer so nothing was hidden from the man. The ninja side consisted of the clan heads, the head jounin who represented the average ninja, the heads of the various departments like the information division or medic corps, and several prominent retired ninja like Danzo.

The numbers were fairly even though the shinobi had a small advantage -although most of the retired shinobi were from civilian families- so minor issues were settled by a full vote of the council, but when a major problem occurred the Hokage presided over the meeting and each side had one vote, and if a tie occurred then the Hokage would cast the tiebreaking vote. Sarutobi particularly hated these meetings because both sides would argue internally until the majorities took control and voted on which way they would go before the official votes were cast.

Before the Hokage could enter the chamber he walked past the head of the medical corps who was looking rather stressed, "Yakushi-san, is anything bothering you."

The man shook his head, "No Hokage-sama, well it's just my son's team was recently discovered slaughtered with signs of an ambush but his body was never recovered."

Sarutobi put a hand on his shoulder, "I am sorry for your loss, if you want you could send an assistant to represent you and go home."

"That's alright Hokage-sama, I need the distraction."

The two entered the door and took their seats. The Sandaime made his way to the back of the room before sitting on the stage behind his podium next to his teammates who were on his left next to the shinobi section and the head of the civilian section who sat on his right next to the civilian half. Standing the Hokage turned on his microphone before beginning, "I have called this meeting to requisition something of the council. It won't affect us financially, but I think that Konoha needs to instate pre-war policy. I see war on the horizon and would like the village to be prepared."

The room broke out into mutterings before a light on the Hokage's podium lit up. He turned towards the civilian side, "You may speak."

A reedy man with brown eyes wearing an expensive looking scarlet Kimono stood, "Hokage-sama why do you make this claim, and what does pre-war policy entail."

The man sat before Sarutobi spoke once more, "The balance of power is rapidly changing, and that makes shinobi uncomfortable. Each of the previous wars was preceded by sudden shifts in the political landscape, and such events are happening now. Pre-war policy is not martial law or anything close to that, neither my powers nor yours will increase or decrease. Also I will requisition the Daimyo for a grant that will go to the military so the budget won't be affected and day to day life will not be any different than yesterday or today. The main changes would be an increase in propaganda to increase recruiting such as posters, public shinobi spars, and other such events. The biggest differences actually happen at the academy which both the Hokage and Council have jurisdiction over. In peace time we can decrease the academy standards and give our elite jounin blank slates which allows for rapid improvement in the genin, but in war we cannot spare powerful shinobi so the graduation standards must be raised."

The Hokage paused and looked over the room to see he had everybody's close attention, "In the first two years share many subjects with civilian schools, but now many of those will be cancelled. History shall change from cultural to take on a more military theme highlighting strategies and knowledge of foreign ninja techniques, clans, and general information. Science is cancelled except for anatomy and some biology, and math shall focus more on geometry. We shall also increase the physical regimen, taijutsu training, weapon training, the bunshin no jutsu, and include survival techniques. The standards shall be higher and those that make it past their second year will spend most of their time on practical skills and knowledge. Class will only meet two days a week and the rest will be performed outside. Students will graduate with more advanced ninjutsu, taijutsu, genjutsu, kenjutsu, strategy, the concept of basic fuuinjutsu, and a better understanding of the ninja lifestyle in general, however they won't have a permanent teams or jounin instructors like the system now. When in the village they will train and perform D-rank missions in random teams under various elite chuunin and tokubetsu jounin that specialize in different area, and when they are ready the graduates shall take basic C-rank missions far away from the fighting with a jounin on leave from the frontlines. If approved the policy will be in affect for four years, and if war is not declared we shall return to our current status except for the academy which will continue teaching those students already in with pre-war curriculum the same way, but the incoming classes will switch to peacetime curriculum once more. However, if the peace is broken wartime policy will be put into affect which includes martial law and even higher academy requirements."

The two sides began talking amongst themselves after the rest of the questions were answered while the Hokage waited patiently smoking his pipe. The Sandaime was pleased to see that there was little infighting in either section and the two groups came to a decision in less than an hour as the head civilian stood behind his podium, "We vote yes conditionally, but we must see a written proposal highlighting everything that it entails and how it will affect the budget and economic growth. You shall have our support provided the bill doesn't negatively affect those areas too much."

Koharu and Homura walked back on stage before Homura sat while Koharu remained standing. The retired kunoichi coughed briefly before beginning, "We shall support the decision to change over to pre-war policy."

The Hokage stood, "I shall draw up what shall happen and present it to the treasury for them to assess any potential impact. After they finish a copy shall be sent to you. This meeting is adjourned."

The Sandaime walked out before smiling, regardless of the civilian vote he would break the tie and his proposal would be initiated. The man hurried to his office ready to begin drawing up the necessary paperwork so he could head to the massage parlor, after all every Hokage needed a reward every now and then.

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><p>Kabuto was close to pulling his hair out in frustration. Kimimaro's disease was proving more problematic than he thought it would and the teen was at his wit's end. He was able to slow the virus to a crawl but in two months the last of the feared Kaguya clan would die. No medicines he concocted worked and he couldn't destroy the disease with any of the medical jutsu he tried. The bespectacled teen even managed to extract some of the sludge without taking any of Kimimaro's lung, but even that proved fruitless as it was like nothing he's ever seen before. The medic turned abruptly as the door slid open and the genius of the Sannin walked in, "My, my, Kabuto it seems like this is proving to be beyond your capabilities."<p>

Kabuto bowed to his master, "I'm sorry Orochimaru-sama, I've tried everything but I can only slow the progress of the disease."

"Ku ku ku, do not worry Kabuto it's not a surprise you couldn't heal it. In fact I'm impressed that you even managed to affect the virus, even when Kimimaro bit Karin his illness was unaffected. It's quite fortunate for our young friend there that I know someone with medical skills that far surpass yours Kabuto."

The teen looked interested hearing that, "Who do you speak of Orochimaru-sama, I'm quite confident in my abilities?"

"Why my old teammate of course, I'll need you to convince her though Kabuto. If our information is to be believed Tsunade is in southern Hi no Kuni near base theta."

Kabuto's eyes widened at the snake summoner's proclamation, "Orochimaru-sama I may be strong but even I couldn't make a member of the Sannin do something they didn't want to, perhaps you should accompany me."

"Hmph I'm disappointed Kabuto. You're not thinking outside of the box, and here I thought blackmail was a specialty of yours. Also unlike me Tsunade has let her skills degrade since she left Konoha, and also possesses a debilitating weakness. Besides the first ultra-sound is coming up and I can't miss that, I'm excited to see the offspring of Sasuke-kun and the key to my ascension."

The silver haired boy smiled as light glinted off his glasses, "Of course Orochimaru-sama I shall leave immediately."

Kabuto caught a scroll that his master pulled from his robes, "Take that and swipe some of your blood over it before you perform the hand signs listed to use that after Tsunade heals Kimimaro or it becomes apparent that she cannot succeed. Take Tayuya-chan with you, her skills should prove useful. Oh you can also use the cannon fodder at the base in any way you see fit. It might've been a blessing that I didn't invade Konoha, there are so many pawns to play with now."

Orochimaru left after delivering his orders as Kabuto grabbed his supply kit before hurrying to carry out his orders.

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><p>It's been four days since Naruto returned to Konoha and it was finally time for his appointment with the old man. For the first two days the blonde cleaned, rested, and restocked his apartment, but after that it was more hectic. Naruto and Shino had to go through a two day orientation introducing them to the responsibilities and privileges that came with being a chuunin. The first day was dedicated to learning their new duties, but the second showed them their privileges. They had to give their guides a vial of blood that would be placed into a cabinet that only the Hokage could access after the probation period. After three months they could enter the shinobi archives by pricking their thumb on the pad next to the door then punch in their shinobi identification number. It would take the sample and verify that it corresponded to the DNA sample stored under their name, and once the process was completed the areas they could access were opened.<p>

Now the orientation was finished and the blonde was stomping down main street towards the Hokage tower. He entered the tower before walking up the stairs and blew past the secretary ignoring her complaints. The new chuunin looked at the door before he shoved it open to see the Sandaime was in a meeting with Kakashi, Rin, and Jiraiya. The old man turned his head to see the intruder before a smiling, "Well Naruto you're ten minutes early but now we don't have to summon you. I believe we need to have a talk."

"Damn straight we do old man, I'm tired of being left in the dark. I want the whole story about my family, and if I find out you were holding anything back I swear you'll never leave this office again because of all the paperwork I'll cause."

The old man gave a weary sigh before indicating Naruto should sit before turning to Rin and Kakashi, "You two know most of the story and I trust you to keep the rest a secret. Needless to say anything heard here will never be repeated without my permission." After receiving two nods the Hokage made eye contact with Naruto and suppressed a flinch at the fury smoldering in his blue eye. "Alright Naruto I'll tell you, but like I said to Rin and Kakashi nobody can know of this. Also I don't want any interruptions, I'll answer any question you have at the end. Let me begin with the easy part, though it might come as a surprise to you... Naruto you are the third Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi." Naruto's jaw dropped at that, "The first was your great-great aunt Uzumaki Mito who was the wife of the Shodaime Hokage, and the second was your mother Uzumaki Kushina. The identity of the Jinchuuriki was only known by high ranking officials, but something went wrong during your birth. Female Jinchuuriki's seals weaken during childbirth and somehow the Kyuubi was able to escape its seal and managed to wreak havoc on the village before the Yondaime teleported it outside the walls and sealed it into you."

The Hokage paused for a moment and tried to collect his thoughts before finishing the story. Naruto had managed to stay calm so far, but it could not be easy to keep hearing earth-shattering information like this. "I brought any available ninja I could find towards the area where the beast was last seen but all we found were the bodies of the fourth, your mother, and you were in her arms crying with the seal visible on your stomach. I tried to control the flow of information but it was too late and all I could do was make my law, the only thing I take solace in is that you weren't abused physically. Now this part might make you angry, but I want you to stay in the office until we talk about it okay."

After receiving a nod the old man continued, "Naruto the Yondaime couldn't ask a villager what he was unable to do himself, what I'm trying to say is that Namikaze Minato wouldn't ask any other family for a child when he had one of his own, the Yondaime, the man you've always admired and wanted to surpass is your father Naruto. Besides it is believed that only an Uzumaki can contain the Kyuubi because of their dense chakra and though you probably wouldn't have been the third Jinchuuriki it's likely that one of your children would've been."

Naruto was gripping the arm rests so hard they were splintering, "What? How could a father do that to his own son? He had to know how I'd be treated."

Jiraiya walked forward and placed his hand on Naruto's shoulder, "He knew kiddo but he also knew that you were the only one he could trust to contain and subdue the Kyuubi. He gave you the responsibility for a reason, so don't let your old man down."

The Sandaime nodded, "Jiraiya is right Naruto-kun, it was the Yondaime's last wish that you were treated as a hero, but the villagers chose not to respect that."

Tears started to drop from Naruto's eye as sobs started to rack his body. The Sandaime rushed over and the boy engulfed him in a teary hug as the Hokage gently stroked his blonde locks, "Shh it's okay Naruto-kun, I wish that everything went differently but we can't let the past rule us like that. I know that your parents are proud of the man you are becoming and I am too. Kakashi and Rin were students of your father so they would be able to tell you more about him than I would, and you already know Jiraiya was Minato's master so you'll have plenty of time to hear stories when you're on the mission with him."

Naruto wiped his eye before giving the sage a weird look. Seeing his godson's face Jiraiya said, "We're leaving on a mission tomorrow, I was going to tell you after the meeting but Sarutobi-sensei beat me to it. Pack for a month though hopefully it takes less time than that and meet me at the gates at eight o'clock sharp tomorrow."

Naruto gave the man a mock salute before leaving the office through the window and running towards his house over the rooftops leaving a trail of tears as he went.

* * *

><p>Sakura and Tenten were picking up the weapons scattered over the training ground after their spar making light conversation. Sakura picked up her last senbon and popped out the empty poison capsule before placing the needle in its case. She did a quick stretch and looked over to see Tenten beginning the process of sealing her weapons. The older brunette completed the task with practiced efficiency before wiping her brow and placing the scrolls back in their pouches. She stood before addressing Sakura, "Wow that was a good spar Sakura, I might have to step up my training if I want to stay ahead of you."<p>

The younger girl stuck out her tongue at the brunette, "Yeah well you've been doing this longer and we only used throwing weapons which you obviously have the advantage in. Don't forget who went to the finals and won a match Tenten-kohai, if you ever need any advice it is my duty as your sempai to help you so don't be afraid to ask."

"Yeah well you only had to fight the weakest member of the Kumo team and I had to fight the closet genius. That kid was sleeping standing up while we were waiting for the matches, I was expecting him to forfeit but he beat me after I used my best technique. Maybe I should start to branch out, after al I can only get so much better at throwing weapons." The two began to walk back at a leisurely pace enjoying the warm spring weather before Tenten spoke up, "So Sakura what's it like having a chuunin on your team? I bet you guys will go on higher ranked missions now."

Sakura frowned, "I wouldn't know, I haven't seen Naruto since we got back."

Tenten pretended to inspect her fingernail while casually saying, "Well it's only natural, he's probably already writing that blonde girl from Suna. Poor Sakura-chan got her man stolen by a foreign seductress." Tenten took satisfaction when she was the vein over Sakura's left eye twitching, "Oh well what can you do? She's older than us and more developed and boys always go for the busty type."

Sakura wallowed in despair looking at her still budding breasts as the air darkened around her, "Why would I care about that? Naruto is just my friend and teammate."

Tenten gave the girl a knowing smile, "Well this is my street, see you later Sakura-chan, and tell Naruto that if he wants a hometown girl I'm interested."

The weapons mistress skipped away after getting payback as she skillfully avoided the rocks Sakura was throwing at her back. The pinkette growled when Tenten made it inside her house and started stomping towards her home leaving cracks in the street as the crowd parted for her, 'Stupid Tenten, stupid Naruto. What do I care if he wants to date a dirty slut? I don't even know what he sees in her, she probably has sand in all the wrong places.' Sakura pictured herself wearing something skimpy before becoming more depressed as she once again looked down at her chest and imagined her with boobs twice as big as Temari's, 'I wonder if someone invented a jutsu to make themselves bustier.' Unbeknownst to her a large breasted blonde sneezed and the dice on the table took an extra roll making her hit the jackpot and an enormous pile of chips was pushed her way, much to the woman's dismay.

Sakura opened the door and saw her mom sitting on the couch reading a magazine. The older pinkette looked up and smiled at her daughter, "Welcome home Sakura-chan."

The girl kicked her shoes into the corner and started walking past her mother mumbling, "Hi".

"Honey, I know your boyfriend left you for another woman, but don't take it too hard."

Sakura gripped her hair and came dangerously close to pulling two large handfuls of hair out by the roots, "Naruto is not my boyfriend."

"Who said anything about Naruto?"

"**AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA"**

Tomo's daughter stormed up the stairs and slammed her door shaking their cozy home, "My, what a temper."

Sakura threw herself onto the bed and looked over to her phone to see that she had a missed call. When she checked the caller id the girl saw Ino's phone number and dialed her frenemy's number. After several rings the phone clicked and Ino's voice came through the speaker, "Hello"

"Hey Ino it's Sakura, I just saw that you called so I'm calling back."

The blonde sighed, "Does nobody check their messages anymore? I want to have a get together with all our classmates and Tenten's team, but I don't have her number so you'll have to call her."

"No problem."

"Good and make sure that your two teammates come forehead, I don't have their numbers either."

"No problem pig, I'll give you Sai's and Tenten's numbers but Naruto doesn't have a phone so I'll go over there."

After writing down the numbers Ino's voice gained a teasing tone, "That's a good idea, while you're at it maybe you can make a move and steal him from that Suna girl, she's awfully far away and you're just so tantalizingly close."

Sakura hung up the phone cutting off the blonde's laughing while growling and to teen's dismay the familiar voice in her head spoke up, **"Cha let's go over to Naruto's and shove our tongue down his throat until he passes out."**

'I can't do that, it's to embarrassing.'

**'Why not? You know you want to so let's do it.'**

Sakura started blushing before shaking her head rapidly, 'No he'll think I'm so sort of floozy.'

**'Well I'm not going to let some blonde bitch beat me out. If you won't I will.'**

** '**Wait, what?'

Sakura went limp in her bed for a second before opening her eyes revealing her eyes were a darker shade of green and her lips were poutier. The real Sakura woke up and looked around seeing her room but couldn't make her body respond. Suddenly she got up against her will and started walking out of her room and out the door and she suddenly heard her voice, "I'm going out for a bit mom, I'll be home for dinner."

"Okay sweetie, have a good time."

Sakura felt like she was watching a movie as her body moved through Konoha towards Naruto's apartment. The kunoichi watched as her body opened the main door before ascending the staircase to the blonde's apartment. Her body stopped in front of Naruto's door before taking out the spare key he gave her in case she ever needed to reach him so she could open the door without breaking it off the hinges. She stepped and heard her voice calling out, "Naruto are you here?" There was no response and her shoes were removed from her feet and placed by the door before it closed behind her. After a quick look around the apartment it was apparent that Naruto wasn't here and might not be for a while. There were no dishes in the sink or dishwasher, no empty ramen containers in the garbage, his fridge had no perishables in it and his bed was made, which he never does. The door suddenly opened and her body turned and spoke, "Who's there?"

The silver mop of her sensei's hair became visible quickly followed by his smiling eye and mask as the man entered the apartment revealing his key, "Oh I didn't know you were watching Naruto's plants too Sakura."

"So he is away then."

Sakura felt her body falling onto the couch with the eyes closed, but when they opened the real Sakura found she could control her body.

Kakashi put away his book before filling the watering can he removed from the closet and started watering the plants on various windowsills while talking to his student, "So if you aren't taking care of the plants then what are you doing here?"

The girl sat on the couch amused while watching her sensei doing domestic work, "Well Ino wanted to have a get together and I was here to invite Naruto."

"Oh well I figured that since you had a key that you came here to get an itch scratched in a place you can't reach."

Sakura blushed and gave the man's back a scandalous look, "SENSEI!"

"I'm just teasing Sakura-chan. Anyway Naruto has no timetable for his return and the mission was sprung on him last night so he probably didn't have time to tell you since he left with Jiraiya-sama early this morning." The man finished the last plant before putting the can back, "I came here to discuss some things with Naruto last night so he just asked me to take care of his apartment, well I have some reading penciled into my schedule so I'll take my leave, see you at training on Monday Sakura-chan."

The man disappeared in a puff of smoke after placing the watering can by the sink while Sakura looked forlornly at a picture of team seven on the coffee table that was taken the day after they officially became a team and picked it up. Sakura gave a sad smile seeing the two boys glaring at each other over her head while Kakashi ruffled their hair. 'If only things could've stayed as simple as they were, then I wouldn't be so frustrated about Naruto and other girls. I wonder how different things would've been if we were still the original team seven.' Sakura discarded those thoughts, 'I can't think like that anymore, I'll always value knowing you Sasuke but what's done is done. I've become stronger because of that and I just need to keep moving forward to honor your memory, after all you have no pity for anyone that wallows in misery. I wonder if you're proud of my improvement Sasuke, I hope that you look in on us from time to time and tell your family stories about us.'

She placed the picture down before smiling at Naruto's first shinobi registration picture that the Hokage made him retake, he was wearing his orange jumpsuit and had his visible skin painted white with read swirls on his right hand and palm that he held close to the camera and there was a strange red pattern on his face, 'Naruto, I'm sorry I didn't notice you earlier. If it weren't for your encouragement I wouldn't be who I am today, even when I ignored you and shunned your advances with my fist. Well no more when you get back you better be ready because you're mine Uzumaki Naruto and nobody else can have you, especially fucking blonde kunoichi… datteboyo.'

* * *

><p>In a small gambling town near the border of Cha and Hi no Kuni a woman with two blond pigtails that went down the back of her green jacket with the kanji for gamble inside a red circle. Under the jacket she wore a cream colored Kimono that barely managed to restrain her massive bust and had a strange diamond on her forehead framed by blonde bangs. The woman was sitting at a roulette table as the people looked on in awe at the massive stack of chips in front of her but stayed behind the a woman with shoulder length black hair and onyx eyes holding a pig.<p>

She was wearing a black kimono held closed by a white obi with a small section of fishnet covering her cleavage as she watched the woman with eyes wider than the crowd. The blonde won her fifteenth choice in a row before shoving the entire stack onto double zero without saying a word. The crowd gasped while the man working the table smirked and switched out the ball with one that was slightly larger than the double zero slot but small enough to fit in every other number off the hidden shelf filled with various items used to cheat people out of their money. He spun the wheel and dropped the ball cackling evilly inside his head while the wheel spun. The laughter petered out when the ball managed to fit into the slot and saw that the wall of the section was slanted outward and his face paled as his jaw dropped, "Winner… you've broken the bank."

The woman stood up after a sack of money larger than her was deposited in front of the busty woman by two burly men whose fathers may have been gorillas. The one on the right touched the microphone in his ear before showing the bulge of a knife in his coat, "The boss says that if you want we could hold this money for you while you get some way to transport it."

The woman stood up unbothered and picked up the sack as the two men stood with their mouths agape, "There's no need, Shizune we're leaving."

The black haired woman holding the pig rushed behind her the blonde as the crowd gaped after witnessing the five three woman lift a massive sack of money and walk away with no visible effort, "Yes Tsunade-sama, this should be enough money to pay off several debts you've accumulated."

The woman continued not breaking her stride as she walked towards the exit flanked by security, "We're leaving in the morning and go to the next town over, I have a bad feeling."

The two exited but unbeknownst to them a man covered by a bulky jacket finished his drink watching them exit. He slammed his glass on the counter and left a stack of bills as they exited before he smoothly moved through the stunned crowd before exiting the casino and disappearing in a blur.

* * *

><p>And here it is another chapter down and a new arc beginning. Tsunade is on the move in southern fire country being pursued by two different factions, but who will find the legendary healer first? Find out next time on Dragonball Z… wait no never mind. Anyways we're slowing down so don't expect a real fight scene for a couple of chapters.<p>

-Operaman Bye Bye


	18. On the road once more, where is Tsunade?

The early spring weather of Hi no Kuni was beautiful as always, Naruto hadn't seen much of the world outside the walls of Konohagakure and looked on in wonder as he travelled southeast through the countryside with Jiraiya. All the remnants of winter were gone and the trees were starting to bud indicating the foliage was returning as the cycle of rebirth continued. Naruto relaxed and took the time to enjoy the peace that was getting increasingly rare in his life and to get away from the village after learning the truth of his heritage. The road the two shinobi walked was undoubtedly beautiful, but one could only look at trees for so long without getting bored, "Ero-sennin what are we even doing?"

Jiraiya stopped walking and looked down at the blonde before scanning the surrounding area. The man sighed before he started off the path they were travelling and led the teen to a small clearing before sitting on the soft grass. "Well shrimp we're going on a mission to find and return with a woman named Tsunade at the request of the old man."

The blonde nodded sagely, "Oh that makes sense… umm who's Tsunade?"

Jiraiya face faulted and stood while scratching his head, "Tsunade is one of my old teammates who left Konoha awhile ago to travel and um well, hmm I guess you could say she's doing things."

"Great so we're just looking for some girl so you can peep."

"Shut it gaki, we're looking for her because she is the foremost expert on medicine and medical ninjutsu in the world and the Hokage wants to get her to give the medical corps a quick crash course because their standards have dropped significantly since she left, and she has the biggest tits I've ever seen."

Growing used to Jiraiya's antics Naruto ignored the faraway look in the the pervert's eye and the trail of drool that dripped between the man's legs, "So how do we know that we're going the right way?"

"A lowly little chuunin like you wouldn't understand, but I'm a living legend and operate one of the largest spy rings on the continent. I always keep an ear to the ground so I can keep track of my teammates and I've heard that Tsunade is travelling near the Cha no Kuni border."

"Okay so why couldn't you tell me about this on the trail?" The blonde banged his fist onto his open palm, "I've got it, we're being trailed by super strong shinobi and we needed to give them the slip before you could reveal the mission."

The hermit massaged his temples, "Kid if we were being trailed how would moving twenty feet off the path stop them from following us? Maybe you shouldn't be wearing that vest. I brought us here because we need to have a talk and this is a great place to relax, you haven't said anything about the talk we had with the Hokage about your father, and I don't want you bottling anything up so I figured we could break for lunch and I'll answer any questions you have."

Naruto sat across from the sennin and Jiraiya took out a scroll then channeled his chakra into it and two bento boxes filled with onigiri were revealed when the smoke cleared and the hermit handed one to Naruto before biting into one of his rice balls waiting for the blonde to speak. The two sat in comfortable silence while eating their lunches until Naruto gathered his thoughts and broke the stillness in the clearing, "I, I don't know what to say. All my life I've looked up to the Yondaime because he was called the best Hokage and saved the village from the strongest Bijuu, but then I found out that he didn't really kill the Kyuubi but sealed it into me and that's why the whole village looked at me with cold eyes and ignored my existence. Honestly I started to hate him for the first couple months I was a genin, right after I found out I was a Jinchuuriki. I was thinking about getting strong enough to survive before taking anything I could and running away from Konoha to find somewhere I could be happy and live normally, but then Sakura-chan, Sasuke, and Kakashi-sensei acknowledged me and I realized that other people cared about me too, and the list is only getting longer.

A wide smile broke across the blonde's whiskered cheeks as he continued, "After thirteen years I wasn't alone anymore and I was actually truly happy for the first time I could remember, not pretending like I used to. I pushed all that out of my mind and renewed my promise to be the greatest Hokage, except this time it was to protect my precious people not to get the respect of the village. Then I learned about my mother and I was so happy. All my life I thought that my parents abandoned me after I was born because they hated me like the rest of the village and left me to rot even though the old man said they were dead but loved me. I was so glad when I learned that my mom loved me and she didn't leave me that I couldn't have cared less who my father was. Now I learned it was my father's fault that the village made me an outcast even though he didn't want to, and to top it off I'm practically royalty. My father is Konoha's greatest hero and my great-aunt or whatever married into the Senju clan which helped found the village... I just don't know what to do anymore."

The sennin was still hungry and looked at his godson's box jealously lamenting that his was empty, so he was overjoyed when he looked at his box realizing he had one last rice ball and greedily shoved it into his mouth before answering, "Well that's life kid. It's always throwing curveballs at you and turning the world upside down. I've been where you are before, not for the same reasons obviously, but you're not the only one who feels like that, trust me. What makes you the man you are is how you react to situations like that. Are you going to let this consume you or rise above it and become stronger?"

"I don't know Jiraiya-sensei. I mean it doesn't really change anything. I'm still the same person it's just now I know my history, but it's just that. The past is the past and nothing is going to change it, it's not like I can travel in time or anything, that's just stupid. I'll just keep training and getting stronger until I become Hokage because there's not much else I could do and nothing is going to bring my parents back. All I have to look forward to is the future."

The man laughed, "Good answer kid, and you called me sensei. Does this mean you finally respect the greatness of Jiraiya-sama?"

"Dream on Ero-sennin, you're still a pathetic old man that peeks. But why are you helping me like this? I know that you trained my dad but that doesn't mean you have to train me."

Jiraiya stood and gave the blonde a wide smile, "Well you're parents named you after a character in a book that I wrote so that made me your godfather."

Naruto gave the man a look of horror, "What? You mean to tell me that my parents named me after a character from one of your pervy books."

"Ha ha, yep kid. They understood the greatness of my writing so why can't you?" The man's smile dropped suddenly as he looked at the blonde, "I'm sorry Naruto, I should've done more for you as a child but-"

"Don't worry about it Ero-sennin, I understand that there were reasons that you couldn't be there, Rin already told me all about it. I may not like it, but I understand so I'll get over it eventually."

Naruto gave the man back the box as he stood up and Jiraiya took out another scroll and when he opened it several smaller scrolls popped out. "That's good kid, so as a reward I'll give you a scroll with some beginner Uzumaki jutsu and we'll also study some more advanced fuuinjutsu when we rest during the nights until I can show you some of your father's techniques."

Naruto took the offered scroll and gave the man a wide smile. It only got larger when the man doubled over grabbing his stomach as its gurgling echoed around the clearing. Naruto couldn't hold it in and began laughing when Jiraiya ran behind a tree and released his bowels and the left side of his face shimmered revealing his three tomoe sharingan before he covered it once more. "What do you know Ero-sennin, I'm getting over it already."

"Curse you gaki... I'll get you for this if it's the last thing i do."

* * *

><p>In the back room of a tavern sat a girl with red hair covered by a black cap with bandages wrapped around her forehead. She wore a grey tunic with black spandex shorts and wore a thick rope tied to look like a pretzel around her waist. She took a sip from a wooden cup as her dark brown eyes took in the other shinobi seated the table. Kabuto sat next to her and four shinobi from the nearby Sound base sat across from them uncomfortably close to one another while the two across from them had plenty of room to sit comfortably on their side, and the girl flaunted it by doing an exaggerated stretch. The four wore matching uniforms and all had black masks with a metal plate bearing a musical note that covered everything except for their glaring eyes and wore a grey tunic with a camouflage color that covered their necks and matching camouflage pants. The operator of this tavern worked for the snake summoner and passed information to one of Orochimaru's agents saying that Tsunade was in town and appeared to be laying low for some reason.<p>

The six oto nin spent the last week observing the legendary kunoichi from a distance, and Kabuto finally decided on a strategy to coerce the prodigious healer into curing Kimimaro's disease. Orochimaru's right hand man stood up after draining his glass and relayed his plan to the gathered shinobi, "Alright listen up because I hate repeating myself. Between nine and ten every night Tsunade gives her beloved assistant the slip and goes to a random hole in the wall bar somewhere in the red light district before drinking herself into oblivion. This is our best opportunity so we shall strike then. Tayuya-chan shall wait in an ally near the entrance that Shizune uses to get into the red light district and place her in a genjutsu. After she is in the illusion I will inject her with a sedative to knock her out. Tayuya-chan and I shall then return to the base while you deliver this letter to Tsunade along with a lock of Shizune's hair that I will give you after the abduction. You will then leave a trail for her to follow. Make sure you do not open the letter or I will make your deaths painfully slow, for my enjoyment of course." The four nodded nervously before Kabuto tossed the letter to the one on the left and he placed it into his tunic, "Good, we shall wait in this tavern until eight thirty before we get into our ambush positions. Perform your tasks well and Orochimaru-sama will reward you generously, but failure shall not be tolerated."

The group sat patiently in the back room until the appointed hour before moving out. Tayuya took to the rooftops before sliding down the wall into an alleyway glad to be separated from Kabuto, even if it was only for a short time, 'That fucker gives me the creeps. He leers at me, but not like one of those dumbasses that think with their dicks before I cut them off, and the way he says my name is scarier than Orochimaru-sama. Whatever it is he gives me the creeps, it's probably because he doesn't want me to steal his precious time with Orochimaru-sama. Probably loves getting dicked in the asshole by his treasured master.' The redhead took her position hiding in the shadows of an alleyway and started waiting while she nervously toyed with her flute. Eventually the sensor in the group gave her the signal that her mark was coming and Tayuya raised the flute to her lips and began waiting.

When she saw the dark-haired woman they've been observing the redhead channeled her chakra into the flute began playing a hypnotic melody that allowed her to control the target's actions. She would've smirked when it took affect and the woman adjusted her course towards Kabuto's alley if it wouldn't have affected her playing and set the supposedly kunoichi free and allow her to warn her master, one of the Sannin. Seconds after the woman entered the alley Kabuto landed next to Tayuya with the brunette hanging over his shoulder and a lock of hair between his fingers. Without saying a word the four sound nin appeared and took the hair out of his hands before blurring away from the scene towards the heart of the red light district to carry out their orders. Kabuto gave the woman to Tayuya before making their getaway, "Excellent, I believe that it's time for us to take our leave Tayuya-chan. That letter detailed the coordinates she was supposed to meet me at because I'm sure that Tsunade won't leave any way to identify those four when she receives the message. You go back to the base, I'll meet you there tomorrow after I meet with her master. Oh and if she is damaged in anyway I'll let Tsunade rip you limb from limb."

The girl suppressed a shiver, "Whatever you say fuck face. Let's just get out of here before people get a good look at us."

Kabuto's eyes gained a sinister glint before light reflected off his glasses blocking his eyes from view, "Now now Tayuya-chan, a lady shouldn't have a mouth like that."

* * *

><p>A beautiful blonde stumbled out of a bar and began making her way towards the hotel she was staying at with her hands touching the grimy buildings for balance, 'Shat bar wash great hic, what wash the name… I can't remember. Why ish everyshing shpinning?" It was nearing sunrise and the streets were empty as the woman staggered down them eager to fall into her bed and sleep till the afternoon. Suddenly four figures appeared around her, but the woman's vision was too blurry to make out any distinguishing features of the ambushers, "Whats do yoush want?"<p>

"Tsunade of the Sannin, we are here on the request of our master. If you ever want to see your assistant again you will take this letter and follow our trail. If you don't follow our instructions exactly the only thing you'll ever see of Shizune again is her head when we mail it to you."

Tsunade narrowed her eye's and managed to make out a lock of black hair held high by one of the four and she suddenly saw red before disappearing and rushing towards the figure holding Shizune's hair and knocked the man holding the letter high into the air with a flick of her finger to the jaw which shattered his teeth before the shockwave sent his brain bouncing off the skull giving him such a severe concussion he was sent into a coma. The citizens of the city heard the remaining men's screams as the legendary ninja tore into them with abandon in a blind rage decimating the three with ease despite her inebriation. When the woman was done extracting her punishment the blonde stepped over what was left of the four and grabbed the letter as it floated down from the sky purposely keeping her vision away from the grotesque sight of various body parts scattered up and down the street.

The blonde could feel one of the men's heads rolling towards her line of sight so she tapped her foot on the ground creating a tremor that changed the course of the head and shook the surrounding village. Tsunade then opened the envelope but couldn't concentrate enough to read the writing. Putting the letter into her belt Tsunade made several hand signs and her hands glowed green and she placed them in the front and back of her head. After holding them there for several seconds she put one over her stomach while the other covered her liver. The woman let her arms fall then stood up straight and sturdy before looking down and seeing that it was coordinates listed in an old leaf code from the second great war. After deciphering the message the woman started running towards her new destination steadily with no sign she finished drinking close to her body weight in Sake just minutes before.

It took a little over two hours running at full speed to arrive at the specified location and the woman was starting to breathe heavily as sweat dripped down her brow, but she ignored the fatigue and pressed. The busty blonde burst through the tree line scattering a flock of birds before skidding to a stop in the middle of a clearing. Standing across from her was a silver haired teen with glasses over his beady eyes. He stood confidently with his hands on the white sash tied around his waist that held up his purple pants. Tsunade stood giving the boy a death glare with her honey brown eyes. "I don't know who you are kid, but if you don't give me back Shizune I'll make your body think it's in the worst pain that it has ever experienced until your brain shuts down from the torture and you die. If the mood hits me I might resuscitate you and do it all over again."

The kunoichi growled as the kid gave her a cocky smirk, "Well you could do that, but if I don't return by five this evening then Shizune will be killed, and once in the base if you kill me she will die instantly." He pulled down his shirt revealing a seal inscribed over his heart, "As long as this seal receives the electrical current that runs my heart Shizune will live. You see this is the control seal and the corresponding one was applied on your poor assistant, so if I die she will as well."

The woman clenched her fists and blood ran down her hands, "Fine, I'll follow you, but if Shizune is hurt or dead hell will be a relief when I'm done with you." Tsunade received no answer as the boy ignored her threat and jumped into the trees with the legendary medic right on his tail clenching her fists in silent rage. They ran for another hour before he finally led her to a small waterfall somewhere in a hilly region near the sea. The teen didn't break his stride and jumped through the waterfall with the blonde right behind him. He calmly walked up to the wall behind the waterfall and channeled his chakra into it before the floor under them dropped creating a slide and they slid down the sloped surface before landing on incredibly soft earth. Tsunade stood and dusted herself off and looked down the dark hall, "Before you say one more word to me I want to see Shizune."

The teen started walking down the hallway, "Of course, but know that if you try to escape with your apprentice I can kill her with a thought. My death isn't the only way to activate the seal."

The two walked down the corridor and suddenly stopped as her 'guide' opened a random door. On the inside lay Shizune on a bed with several tubes entering her body. Tsunade could only take a couple steps into the room before she was stopped by a glass box with tiny air holes spread around the cube. The boy walked up to the glass and smashed a rock into it and the glass didn't even budge from the force, "It's tempered glass, and on top of that it is imbued with seals that increase it's strength and disperse chakra on contact so even your strength technique will have no effect."

"Whatever, if you want me to cooperate then you'll give me a sample of everything in those IVs now."

The bespectacled ninja pushed his glasses up his nose, "Of course, but I'll tell you what they are now as well. The largest bag only contains water for hydration, while one of the smaller bags holds nutrients and the other a sedative on a slow drip that will keep her in a coma while doing no damage to her."

"You can tell me anything you want, but I want to verify what they are myself."

"Of course, if you will step outside the door I will enter and take some samples from the bags." Tsunade followed the instructions and watched as the silver haired teen opened the glass case before drawing samples from the various bags then placed them in vials and capped them, making sure to keep the samples Tsunade's sight while drawing them. With his task completed the boy exited before tossing the three vessels to her. She stuffed them between her breasts and waited for Kabuto to exit before following him once more. He stopped at the next door down the hallway and opened it for her revealing a pale skinned, white haired teen laying on a cot with a variety of tubes going under a blanket that covered his body from view, "Only people who have their chakra keyed to this door may open it. There is a one way mirror so you can observe the body of your assistant while you work to keep your mind at ease, and whenever we need to change her bags I'll let you test them and allow you to accompany me as I switch them out. Now all you have to do is heal this young boy here of his disease which I have never seen before. My notes and research on the illness are in the top drawer on the far side of the room, and any equipment you need shall be delivered to you promptly. Now if you heal my young friend here I shall return your assistant and we will all go our separate ways. Nobody needs to know that we even met."

Tsunade looked at the body lying on the bed. Part of her wanted to heal the boy because he was obviously suffering, but if they were going to this length to get her cooperation then their purpose was most definitely not noble. "Do I really have a choice?"

"Yes you do, I doubt all the shinobi in this base combined couldn't stop you if we all tried, however if you decide to resist then Shizune will die one way or another."

"Fine, I'll do it."

The door to the room slid open and Kabuto exited before turning around, "Excellent, I'll leave you to your work."

After the door slid closed Tsunade pulled back the blanket revealing the teen's torso and started a full body scan as her hands glowed green.

* * *

><p>Naruto sat outside of a village by a slow moving river attempting to learn one of his clan jutsu, just the thought made him giddy. The chuunin already summoned some shadow clones and they were working on the first jutsu in the scroll Jiraiya gave him. The hermit gave him no tips or instructions about any of the jutsu, but when the two settled down for the night in an inn or the wilderness the sage couldn't stop criticizing Naruto's "abysmal" sealing skills. The blonde once again tried to clear his head and focused on getting the water from the stream to compress and rotate above his palm. Gathering the liquid was no problem but condensing and shaping it was incredibly difficult, harder than creating the Rasengan despite the similarities. The chuunin groaned when the jutsu failed once again as the water lost its shape and fell back to the river. 'I don't get it, for some reason the water is resisting my attempts to move it.' Naruto stood once more and formed several seals, "Suiton: Hahonryuu" (tearing torrent).<p>

The water quickly gathered in Naruto's palm, but as he slowly added chakra it expanded instead of contracting increasing in size till it reached ridiculous proportions and blew up in his face, "AH stupid jutsu." 'Why isn't this working. My chakra control is good enough that I know I'm not overloading the technique, but I can't condense the water that much and move it at the same time. Maybe my water affinity is too weak, I don't know.' Naruto's face scrunched and his anger level rose. He hovered his palms above the water before forming the seals once again, but in his anger he pushed twice as much chakra as a C-rank technique usually used right away. Something unusual happened, instead of exploding like most of the jutsu he overloaded before, the water darkened until it was navy as it swirled rapidly in his palm before he pointed it toward the forest in front of him and watched as it exploded outwards creating a typhoon of water that ripped out two trees by the roots before the water in his hand disappeared. Naruto looked at his destruction with a smile before he started jumping on top of the water "Ha I did it, I did it."

Naruto stopped his celebration and quickly turned around when he heard clapping and the boy dropped his guard when he saw it was just one of his perverted teachers, "Not bad kid, but a ninja should always be aware of their surroundings."

The blonde huffed, "Whatever you old perv, I'd say that wasn't bad for getting no help from your lazy ass, and I had clones around the perimeter that would've alerted me if I was in danger."

Naruto opened his eye to see Jiraiya's finger wagging, "Not bad isn't good enough kid. Anyway pack up we got a lead to follow. One of my informants said he saw her in this town and she completely cleaned out a casino before moving on to the next town."

Naruto slung his pack over his shoulder, "Wow your teammate must be pretty lucky if she was able to win that much money."

The hermit laughed as the two took to the trees, "Not really kid, she's called the legendary sucker, and not for good reasons."

"I don't get it, what could be good about the name legendary sucker."

"I'll tell you later gaki."

The two travelled for half the day before arriving at the next town, and like the previous ones Naruto found a river and created clones to work on the other jutsu while he toyed with the Hahonryuu. Jiraiya left his apprentice in the clearing and walked into town before heading towards the red light district. The man strolled through the dingy section of town trying to ignore the scantily clad day hookers walking the streets with sagging boobs, stretch marks, and scars from c sections. The man was about to enter a bar when he noticed remnants of dried blood caked on the side of the building. Jiraiya took note and entered the establishment hoping for any sort of clue on what caused it. Once Jiraiya's eyes adapted to the dim lighting he looked around and saw that the establishment was empty except for him, not surprising considering that it was four in the afternoon... on a Wednesday. The hermit sat at the bar and pulled a bottle of Sake off the shelf using a chakra string and started drinking after he popped the cork off. Soon enough an irate bartender emerged from a door behind the bar, "What do ye think yer doin boy?"

Jiraiya held his hands in a placating manner, "Easy there fellow, I intend to pay my bills before I leave."

The man picked up a perfectly clean glass before wiping it with a dirty rag, "Good, that bottle comes to thirty ryou."

Jiraiya placed a hundred ryou note on the bar, "You can keep the change if you tell me what left blood stains on your building."

The man shivered before placing the glass back on the shelf, "Well no one rightly knows, one night some people around the area heard the screams of a banshee before the village shook like an earthquake, though our neighbors felt nothing. In the morning some citizens discovered body and blood parts strewn all over the streets, and we've been discovering more pieces and blood for the past week."

"So, it was a week ago?"

Jiraiya stood up and began walking out of the bar while drinking from the bottle, "Wait sir, I'd like to offer you the finest drink in the house for your generosity."

The shinobi looked back to see the bartender pulling the glass he was just wiping off the shelf, "Umm I'm kinda in a hurry." Jiraiya made his escape and went to an abandoned alley before biting his thumb and forming some hand signs, "Kuchiyose no Jutsu." Their was a puff of smoke and when it cleared a small green toad with blue spots the size of Gamakichi appeared wearing a strange metal helmet that had two antennae and knobs on top with a tinted visor that blocked his eyes from view, "Gamaseki I need you to check the area for Tsunade's chakra, you do remember it right?"

The small toad hopped on the man's shoulder, "Of course, I never forget a chakra frequency." The summon adjusted the antennae and then started turning the knobs to calibrate the device as green numbers flashed across the visor while Jiraiya ran towards where he left Naruto before entering the village. The sennin made good time and after he burst into the clearing Jiraiya watched his apprentice give him a questioning look, "Ero-sennin what's wrong? And who's that toad?"

Before Jiraiya could answer the flashing on the toad's visor stopped then it projected a three dimensional map with two flashing blue dots and one red one surrounded by much smaller blue ones with two dark purple ones, "Ok Jiraiya that's where she is."

"Thanks Gamaseki, you can go now." The toad disappeared and Naruto caught the pack his sensei threw at him and was suddenly tossed into the tree line, "No time to explain Naruto, we need to get moving now so follow me."

* * *

><p>Tsunade did a stretch that would make even Jiraiya pass out from blood loss after destroying another bucket of black slop she removed from her patient's lungs. She rose from the stool near the boy's bed and walked to the desk and opened her notebook before she wiped her forehead. The blonde took a good look at the prone body of her assistant through the two way mirror as Shizune's chest slowly rose and fell, "Don't worry Shizune, I'll get you out of here soon. I have to, you're all I have left." The woman scanned over her notes one more time reviewing the new procedure she was about to try out positive that it would work. After extensive testing of the strange substance accumulating in the boy's lungs and a thorough check of his respiratory system she was able to diagnose the disease he was infected with. In some areas of Kimimaro's lungs the cells had mutated and when they divided it created the strange substance that was flooding his lungs, and to make it worse their mitosis was twice as fast as a regular cell's was. Tsunade spent the last two days extracting as much of the gunk as possible without touching his lungs and she was confident that the next steps of her technique would cure the kid permanently. The medic was going to adapt one of her older medical procedure to extract the rest of the goo without damaging his lungs to badly, and after that she would do a complete scan to isolate the mutated areas in his lungs before surgically removing them and inducing the healthy tissue to heal and fill the holes which in theory wouldn't allow the faulty cells to regenerate.<p>

Tsunade filled a large bowl with water from the tap and placed it near a bin and her stool by. The kunoichi then placed some strange flakes in the water before tying her hair back and sitting as she mentally prepared for the operation. The medic then made several small incisions with her chakra scalpels using her superior chakra control to increase their strength until they could easily pierce the incredibly dense ribs of what must have been a Kaguya. Tsunade gathered some of the water from the pail and it hovered over her palm before the medic shoved it into one of the incisions in the kid's chest, and when she removed it from a different cut. When the woman took a close look she saw there were several small black globes floating inside of the water, 'Excellent, like I thought those flakes will be able to scrape the substance out of the lungs with little damage to the tissue.' The woman continued the process for another forty five minutes until the water came out without any black goo floating in it. She then took the bucket filled with the strange substance and strained the water out before sealing the pail into a small scroll and shoved it in between her breasts, no use leaving such a potent disease in the hands of people like this.

The busty woman then performed another diagnostic jutsu on his chest before circling several areas with a sharpie. Her hands then began to glow blue before it concentrated around the tip of her index finger and she traced the marker on his skin with the glowing fingertip which sliced the infected areas from his lungs without doing any other damage to his body. After she removed all the circled areas Tsunade used her chakra and forced the teen to cough them up before counting them to make sure they were all removed. The woman then used her chakra to oxygenate his blood and keep it from flowing into his lungs while doing another scan making sure that all the infected areas were removed before beginning the next step. After confirming he was clean the blonde continued to oxygenate Kimimaro's blood and stopped her scan before she used the Shosen no Jutsu and started to induce the healthy cells in his lungs to split and heal the holes she created. Tsunade spent another half an hour healing the holes she created in his lungs before the process was complete and the boy was officially cured. After finishing the procedure Tsunade reached into her shirt and pulled out a soldier pill she smuggled in and hit the button to call the silver haired bastard after she ate the pill and felt the revitalizing rush of energy flooding her chakra network.

The boy quickly arrived after she hit the button and turned his back to the living legend confident that Tsunade wouldn't make a move because of the seal on his heart that linked him to Shizune. After a comprehensive scan he turned with an amazed look on his face, "Truly incredible Tsunade-sama, your reputation as a prodigy among prodigies in the field of medicine is well earned."

The woman finished putting her hair back into pigtails and flung them over her shoulder before answering, "Well what did you expect? Now give me Shizune and I'll be on my way."

He led Tsunade out of the room and next door before he opened the glass container by injecting his chakra into the glass in a specific pattern and the busty blonde burst past him before carefully removing the tubes from her apprentice and started hovering glowing hands over her the brunette's body. As Tsunade performed a scan on the woman Kabuto spoke up, "As you can see we kept our bargain and returned Shizune to you. When you are fifty miles away from the base the seal should disappear from your apprentice's skin, now if everything is satisfactory we can go our separate ways."

Tsunade placed the girl down, "Well there is one thing," the medic of the Sannin blurred into motion slamming her palm over Kabuto's heart, "Fuuinjutsu: Kai." The two watched as the seal began to crack before it suddenly turned back into regular ink and began sliding down his skin. Once Tsunade confirmed the seal on Shizune was gone as well a fist smashed into Kabuto sending him through several walls of the base before he landed in the clearing outside. He began healing himself and wiped the blood from his lips as Tayuya landed next to him ready to face down an irate Tsunade. Soon after he stood the raging kunoichi burst through the hole with Shizune slung over her shoulder, "Jiraiya was a seals master and I'm no slouch myself. It was easy enough to figure out a way to cancel the seal after seeing both of them. You've got to love photographic memory."

The boy smirked and stood without any visible damage surprising Tsunade before close to twenty ninja landed between the two medics. The blonde slammed her fist into the ground completely destroying it and watched as the shinobi fell into the cracks and were crushed by the collapsing rocks as the gaps closed.

Her intended target, the silver haired boy, jumped out of range and watched amused before the two shinobi he ordered to stay behind if confrontation happened appeared in front of him when he gave the signal. "I can see you didn't trust us to keep our word, but it wasn't without good reason I suppose because we didn't really intend to let you go." The teen unrolled a scroll and wiped his blood over the two large seals and threw the scroll at the feet of the two sound shinobi began screaming as a puff of smoke engulfed them as he formed seals, "Kuchiyose: Edo Tensei." When the smoke cleared two coffins rose up from the ground and when the lid popped off Tsunade's jaw dropped and her eyes watered. Her body went limp and she collapsed to her knees while she took in the two figures as they stepped out of the coffin, "Nawaki… Dan."

* * *

><p>There you have it, short but sweet. For not having power a whole week I'm pretty happy. Luckily we have a generator and today our friend brought over her wireless hot spot so in my generosity I took advantage and uploaded this even though I want to edit it some more and hardly got any reviews for last chapter :(, so no new chapter till 100 reviews, and I won't start writing it till 95 which I think is four more, and if one hundred come really quick I might do a double chapter if we don't get power back and I can't upload. Anyway Edo Tensei makes an appearance and Tsunade faces her deceased lover and brother with Shizune unconscious on the sidelines. For you people who want a timeline Kabuto and Tayuya left the day everyone arrived in Konoha and Jiraiya and Naruto left five days later. The sound group found her the day the duo left Konoha and she's been working on Kimimaro for almost a week which is how long Jiraiya and Naruto were travelling. I know the Hahonryuu is a jutsu that is already used in Canon, but its literally a compressed whirlpool in the palm of a hand and when Naruto uses it the jutsu is more powerful than when other shinobi use it because of the amount of chakra used. Anyways next chapter should be longer and have more fight scenes, and we finally see the suiton jutsu that Kakashi taught Naruto way back in the story that you all probably forgot about. Till next time<p>

-Operaman Bye Bye

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><p>Jutsu List<p>

Suiton: Hahonryuu (Tearing Torrent) C-rank Uzumaki clan jutsu- the user creates a condensed whirlpool in the palm of their hands before unleashing it at the target. Medium range jutsu with the capability to tear up the earth and move several trees. If someone other than an Uzumaki uses the jutsu the effect is reduced, and they must have water as their primary affinity (Used in Waterfall arc, came from recovered Uzumaki scrolls)

Kuchiyose: Edo Tensei (Impure World Resurrection) Kinjutsu created by Nidaime Hokage-Allows the user to summon dead ninja by sacrificing a living one and using their body for a vessel. The summoned ninja is then placed under the control of the caster and regains all the abilities they had in their prime.


	19. Tsunade found, protect the slug princess

So here is chapter 19 and instead of ending the arc I did a chapter and a half because to wrap everything up with all the detail I wanted would've made this a superchapter which sucks to edit. Anyway before I start the chapter I want to say that I have no problems with gay people and don't really relate the word faggot to them, but for the sake of Tayuya's mouth the word will make appearances so don't take it personally.

-Operaman

* * *

><p>Naruto was pushing chakra to his legs as he tried to keep up with Jiraiya as the sennin moved at speeds that would make any jounin jealous. The blonde was breathing heavy after moving two hours at this pace though the man showed no signs of slowing as he rushed towards their destination, "Hurry up gaki, we don't have time to waste."<p>

The chuunin didn't have enough breath to answer and channeled more chakra into his muscles to close the distance. When Naruto was about to land on a branch the earth shook violently causing him to miss his target and land face first on the hard ground before sliding another twenty feet leaving a small trench in the earth behind him. "Dammit Ero-sennin, what's the rush?"

Jiraiya turned around showing Naruto his grim expression, "Just trust me kid, that wasn't an earthquake. It seems like Tsunade is in trouble."

They didn't waste any more time on conversation as Naruto jumped back into the treetops and they travelled for another ten minutes before nearing the area Gamaseki marked on his map. Jiraiya slowed their pace and the two crept through the treetops until they could see what was happening. A woman that looked similar to the picture Jiraiya showed Naruto early in the trip was getting battered by a brown haired boy and silver haired man that looked strange, but the lady was making no moves to defend herself from the attack. Naruto turned a questioning look towards the sage only to see the man was shocked at what they were witnessing, "What's going on Ero-sennin?"

* * *

><p>The legendary Tsunade was brought to her knees before the real fight even began as she looked at the two figures standing in the coffins, "Nawaki… Dan."<p>

The two wooden boxes fell over as the two stepped out and the man spoke, "Tsunade is that you? You're more beautiful than I remember."

The woman didn't respond as tears ran down her cheeks and the boy spoke next, "Nee-chan… what are we doing here? What's going on?"

The two said no more words as the teen who summoned them stepped forward and shoved two kunai into the back of their heads and they began changing, "That's enough of that useless chatter." When the revived shinobi first stepped out their clothes were tattered and their skin was pale and ashy. Now they both looked healthier than they had in life. Dan was wearing the jounin uniform of Konoha and his nappy silver hair grew till it reached the small of his back and gained its luster back as the man's vitality returned. Nawaki was going through a similar transformation, his light brown hair grew back out till it was in it's distinctive spikes and his skin got darker and the ever present blush on his cheeks returned. His ratty clothes changed till he was wearing his old teal long sleeve shirt and light green pants Tsunade picked out for him after the boy graduated from the academy. The glasses wearing teen began laughing maniacally, "Now my puppets, show Tsunade just how much you missed her."

The woman looked down to see the prone form of Shizune on the ground and stood up determined to protect Dan's niece, even if he was the one attacking her. Nawaki was the one who charged first and as Tsunade reared her fist back to deliver a punishing blow memories of her past jumped into her head, '_Nee-chan, look I graduated the academy as the rookie of the year. I guess that makes me better than you were. Nee-chan, when you get back from your mission can we play? I'm going to be Hokage and protect the village just like Oji-sama.' _The blonde's fist fell as the ghosts of her past came to haunt her and she was knocked back by the genin's fist. Tsunade knew that Dan was in motion and would appear behind her to deliver a kick but once again she couldn't bring herself to hurt one of her most precious people. She was hit by the vicious kick as that damned boy kept laughing from the boulder him and that girl were standing on, "I guess the prowess of the legendary Tsunade-sama was grossly over exaggerated."

Said legend didn't respond and just let the revived shinobi have their way with her as she was beaten mercilessly by the two she could never raise a fist against. Dan appeared before her and started a sequence of hand seals, and though Tsunade knew she could easily stop him like she used to when they sparred she let the jutsu finish and was launched back by a blast of water and was heading towards a tree. She closed her eyes and braced for impact but it never came. When she opened them it appeared Nawaki was the one holding her but after clearing the haze from her eyes Tsunade realized the figure was blonde like her and had whisker marks on his cheek much like her mother did. "Are you okay lady?"

Tsunade couldn't form any words and the boy gently put her down as her perverted teammate jumped out and began scolding him, "Dammit Naruto you're a chuunin now, you can't just rush in like that. I was in the middle of forming a plan but you ruined it by taking away the element of surprise."

"Well you may be willing to let people get hurt but I'll never let that happen if I can help it."

"You idiot, I wasn't going to let her get seriously hurt. This is a tricky situation and we need to handle it delicately."

"Some legend you are."

"What does a brat like you understand. I didn't become feared by being a moron, don't listen to one of the legendary Sannin though, I'm sure a green chuunin like you knows much better than a ninja of my caliber and experience."

The two were interrupted by the bespectacled teen's laughter, "So this is the legendary Jiraiya, and I'm assuming that you are his worthless apprentice, Naruto."

"How do you know my name?"

"I know a lot about you Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi."

Naruto turned an angry eye towards the teen, "Well you're pretty stupid if you talk to me like that knowing I contain the strongest Bijuu."

"Well you're such a pathetic ninja I'm not very scared. I mean look at you two, Tsunade is fighting for her life and you're just standing there arguing."

The duo turned and saw Tsunade was once again taking a beating and rushed towards her. Kabuto watched their progress inwardly laughing until he felt a disturbance in the air and saw that the two that were running towards Tsunade were turned into puffs of smoke by one of Dan's water jutsu and when he looked up he saw them both descending rapidly onto his position each holding a spiraling blue ball of chakra in their hands, "Rasengan." The two Oto nin standing on the rock jumped away and watched as it was reduced to rubble by the jutsu they used. "Well maybe you're not that hopeless after all Naruto-kun, but do you really think you can keep up in a fight at this level?"

The blonde raised his fist and shook it at the annoying teen, "I won't know until I try, and I'll never give up even if you break every bone in my body."

"Sounds like fun, but I'll give you one more warning. Leave now or die."

"I can't die, not until I become Hokage and achieve my dream."

"Hahaha that's rich, a pathetic ninja like you becoming Hokage. If it wasn't for the Kyuubi then you wouldn't have anything that makes you stand out."

Tsunade looked at the blonde and once again saw Nawaki as he proclaimed his dream. She saw Kabuto's hands start to glow as he rushed at the blonde, 'No, I won't let it happen again, Nawaki I'll save you.' Tsunade stood and moved faster than she had in years before appearing next to Kabuto and grabbed his hand before delivering another brutal punch to his eye and felt the area around his eye shatter as the boy went flying and crashed into the mountain that was the base.

Naruto stared wide eyed at the extended fist, "Umm thanks granny, but I had it handled."

Tsunade looked at the boy in confusion realizing it wasn't Nawaki that she just saved, "Whatever shrimp, you could at least be grateful and show me some respect."

Jiraiya appeared out of nowhere interrupting the two blondes, "I moved Shizune to a safe place outside of the clearing in that direction. Go now and make sure that she's okay before coming back here. Hopefully me and Naruto can take care of this before you get back. I don't want to make you fight these two."

Tsunade nodded at her teammate's words as she looked at the young chuunin, 'Naruto… it couldn't be, Kushina is this your son? It looks like he grew into a shinobi you and Minato would be proud of.' Tsunade shook the thoughts out of her head, "Okay I'm going, but if you think I'm going to let you do all the work you've got another thing coming, that silver haired punk is mine."

She leapt off before Jiraiya could respond and the man turned towards his apprentice, "Alright kid, make a bunch of shadow clones to handle the boy. He was a genin when he died, but he wasn't an ordinary one. That kid, Nawaki, was the grandson of the First Hokage and is stronger than an ordinary genin and could already use Doton jutsu before his death. I want the real you to fight the redhead, but keep spamming clones to keep Nawaki busy, and I'll fight Dan. If I know the princess like I think I do then she's already going after the other kid on her own so let's hurry up so we can help her."

Naruto gave the man a salute and jumped off creating a horde of clones in the process. Confident that his godson could handle himself Jiraiya turned to face the revived Dan, "I wish I could say I don't want to do this, but I've always been a terrible liar."

* * *

><p>Thirty Naruto clones surrounded the boy that had a strange resemblance to him. Nawaki ignored the bunshins and began to run off in the same direction his older sister did, but the revived Senju found his way blocked by another squad of clones so slammed his hands into the ground after forming several seals and cleared the way with earth spikes that burst from the ground impaling many of the bunshins and forcing the rest to retreat. Nawaki rushed forward once more but the earth under him burst upward and the undead genin was hit in the jaw by a Naruto clone and knocked to the ground. Before he could stand more clones began attacking Nawaki but after he got his feet back underneath him they had no luck and the brunette looked no worse for the wear despite the heavy blows he received. Now the Senju was dispelling clones easily by trading hits with the constructs, but his wounds were healing rapidly and not slowing him down. The genin jumped over the sweeping kick one of the clones tried to take his feet out with and extended his two legs, doing a split in mid-air, and kicked two more clones in the face when they tried to stab him with kunai dispelling them.<p>

Nawaki landed at the same time the two kunai did and was engulfed by a powerful explosion created by the tags tied around the handles. The clones let out a cheer but Nawaki burst from the thick smoke and rushed towards the direction of Tsunade once more as the burns covering his body healed. He made good progress putting some distance between him and the clones but was knocked back by a gust of wind before the three clones chasing him delivered brutal spinning kicks to his back launching him back towards the clone that cast the wind jutsu who now held a spiraling ball of water in its hand, "Suiton: Hahonryuu." Much like earlier in the day the water ball exploded outwards engulfing the zombie genin and dispelling the clones sending Nawaki careening into a tree before it was uprooted and crushed the undead boy. The clones once again cheered but one of them looked on in horror as the genin's torso began crawling towards Tsunade as its body reformed once more. "Dammit how do I stop this thing. I can't destroy it, and every wound only heals." The other clones stopped there cheering and looked towards the reforming body of Nawaki before pulling out kunai knives, "Charge."

The clones rushed the boy and started using him as a punching bag not giving Nawaki a chance to respond with their unyielding attacks. The boy was getting beaten mercilessly as he was pummeled but still managed to stab one of the clones with a kunai stopping the game of pinball the bunshins were playing. Nawaki stood once more and the clones were muttering curses. Suddenly one popped itself and smiles suddenly appeared on the other clones' faces. Several pulled out more kunai knives and spun them around their fingers before charging the zombie once more, Nawaki was good, almost as strong as Naruto, but he couldn't hold off attacks from several at once and was once again being used as a human pinball as the bunshins sent him upward and weren't letting him hit the ground. The clones kept Nawaki air born as they maneuvered him across the clearing towards the waterfall until one clone leapt from a branch and did a dropkick sending Nawaki into the river. The genin swam to the surface and began to stand on top of the water but a clone was waiting for him. It jumped out and stood on the river showing Nawaki his palm, "Suiton: Suiro no Jutsu" (Water Prison Technique). The water underneath the genin bubbled before he was contained in a sphere of water unable to move. "Finally."

* * *

><p>Jiraiya stood across from Dan calmly with his arms crossed, "You know even though you probably can't understand or hear me I've always wanted to get this off my chest. I've always thought you were a bastard, but I never did anything because you made Tsunade happy. Then you died and I watched her change and lose a piece of herself. Oh before I forget, shortly after you two started dating me and Tsunade were on a mission to gather information and we might've gotten really drunk and done the nasty a couple times."<p>

The revived ninja didn't respond but Jiraiya swore that Dan's brows creased and eyes narrowed before the zombie ninja disappeared, "Amateur." Jiraiya took a step forward and kicked behind him and the silver haired man suddenly appeared doubled over the hermit's outstretched limb, "I never knew what Tsunade saw in you." Jiraiya lowered his leg before delivering a swift spinning kick to Dan's chin sending him into the forest. The man remained in the clearing with his arms crossed until a brace of shuriken flew towards him but he simple sank into the ground before reappearing in the same position. He saw the leaves moving and smirked when Dan once again tried to attack him. Jiraiya uncrossed his arms but only scratched his cheek as he once again kicked the man, but Dan simply dissolved into water. Jiraiya couldn't even curse as the water took shape and blasted him, but he crumbled revealing it was an earth clone and Dan suddenly burst out from the forest and hit the ground hard before Jiraiya reappeared in the same spot he was standing in before with his arms crossed. "We both know that you could never beat me before, and I've only gotten stronger since then. You might've been impressive twenty years ago, but in today's world things are different."

Dan paid the man no mind and charged once more, "Well it was fun but I've wasted enough time on you." Jiraiya disappeared when Dan's fist came at his face and reappeared in the same spot in front of the overextended man after the fist went through where his head was before uncrossing his arms and placing his right hand on the undead man's stomach, "Rasengan." Dan was sent back with a new hole in his stomach and lay still on the ground. Jiraiya was about to turn around but the hole began closing and Dan stood unharmed. "Really, well if you want me to beat you more who am I to disagree."

The man formed more seals before expelling a large wave of water. Jiraiya simply made one seal and slammed his hand into the ground before a wall rose from the ground, which forced the blast split leaving the hermit dry. The wall crumbled revealing Dan charging towards Jiraiya holding his hands in a seal. The former jounin abruptly stopped his charge and blew out another blast of water that made contact with the toad summoner. When the water stopped it revealed Jiraiya was wrapped in a spiky cocoon of what appeared to be his hair, which extended to the ground and anchored him to the earth, "Hari Jigoku." (Needle Hell). The hair that protected Jiraiya suddenly shot outwards piercing Dan with hundreds of the projectiles. Jiraiya then delivered a kick to Dan's stomach that left him on the ground. Once the jounin hit the dirt Jiraiya's mane retracted to its usual length and he tapped his foot onto the ground encasing Dan in a coffin made of rock. Sure that his opponent was trapped Jiraiya etched a seal that would prevent any chakra from being used in the earth prison ensuring Dan couldn't escape. The man looked around the clearing trying to locate his apprentice and saw that the clones managed to trap Nawaki in a water prison and another had the redhead bound by ninja wire with her hat shoved into her mouth. Jiraiya walked up to the one by the girl, "Good job Naruto, now let's go after Tsunade."

The blonde sheepishly rubbed the back of his head, "Well the thing is I'm a clone and the boss is already going after them because you were taking to long."

"Well Shit."

**Line Break**

The real Naruto stood across from the Kunoichi as she held a flute in her hands, "Umm I like music as much as the next guy, but I think that we're supposed to fight."

"I know that Dipshit, but I figured I could play you my melody of death."

"Sounds Dark."

"Well for a pussy like you it might be, but I always find it enjoyable."

The girl lifted the flute to her lips and as she began playing Naruto's vision faded to black until he couldn't see anything. Suddenly it felt like his feet were on fire and when he looked down he saw a green liquid slowly rising and eating away at his skin. The blonde tried to jump but found he couldn't make his body move. Realizing it was a genjutsu he tried every technique he knew of but couldn't find a way to counter it, even biting his lip wasn't working because it couldn't override the agony the illusion created. 'Calm down Naruto think, it started when she began playing the flute so the music is probably keeping me trapped.'

Figuring it wouldn't make the situation worse Naruto took in a deep breath and began singing as loudly as possible, "I KNOW A SONG THAT GETS ON EVERYBODY'S NERVES, EVERYBODY'S NERVES, EVERYBODY'S NERVES. I KNOW A SONG THAT GETS ON EVERYBODY'S NERVES AND THIS IS HOW IT GOES." The blackness wavered but didn't break so Naruto kept singing. After several ear splitting verses the genjutsu fell and the Kunoichi was forced to dodge a Goukuuhou and stop playing the flute. Taking advantage of the break he summoned hundreds of clones. Instead of attacking some disappeared in puffs of smoke and were replaced by a variety of musical instruments. Tayuya was shocked for a moment but quickly lifted her flute and tried to play another song but it was drowned out by the horrible noise created from the clone orchestra.

The redhead cursed and jumped back as several clones started an attack, 'Shit, I can't put him in a genjutsu now. Not to mention my Doki will be useless because they won't be able to hear my melody.' Tayuya continued her retreat and began to call upon the twisted chakra created by the curse mark but blacked out as the ringed handle of a kunai smashed into her skull.

Naruto stared down at the prone girl, "Wow, I guess she wasn't that tough after all. And Sakura says my loud mouth is hardly good for anything."

Naruto was about to go assist his clones when a memory hit him. Knowing they had it well in hand he created a clone and took off towards where Tsunade launched the silver haired teen knowing Jiraiya would be able to handle himself.

* * *

><p>After confirming that Shizune was indeed fine once more and the seal was truly gone Tsunade took off towards the base intent on cleaning up her mess. The blonde jumped up the mountainside till she reached the hole that she created earlier and walked inside heading towards her former patient's room intent on tying up that loose end first, but when the busty kunoichi punched in the door she saw Kabuto trying to wake the boy. He quickly turned when she smashed through the door and pushed the glasses up his nose as the light reflected off them hiding his eyes from view, "Not bad Tsunade-sama. Kimimaro should've woken up by now, but I see you managed to marginally increase the sedative so I wouldn't notice but the affect would be longer lasting. I guess that I was careless. Oh well, I've always wanted to test myself against one of the Sannin.<p>

Kabuto lifted a pieced of the wall up revealing a button that he pressed. The teen then grabbed Kimimaro before jumping out the opening hole in the wall and sliding down the mountainside. Kabuto fell rapidly but landed cleanly before injecting something into the Kaguya and tossed the teen into the forest. He turned just as Tsunade landed and immediately rushed at her hoping to catch her off guard and steal the initiative. The woman merely fell to her knees avoiding the strike before placing her palms on the ground and swinging both legs forward into Kabuto's stomach sending him into the trees. He emerged shortly after walking without a problem, "Not bad, but such attacks won't work on me."

Tsunade huffed and tossed her green jacket to the side before taking a loose stance, "Well I didn't know that you could heal yourself that fast. Regeneration is pretty tricky after all."

Kabuto couldn't respond because Tsunade attacked after finishing and he was forced to dodge and watched as the woman's fist impacted the ground making a crater at least twenty feet deep. Kabuto couldn't admire it though because as soon as he landed another fist was heading for him and he found himself flying towards a tree before he crashed through it while coughing up blood. He felt his chest and winced realizing that there was a dent where she hit him and most of his ribs were broken by the tree. The shinobi stood and breathed easier as he focused his chakra into the damaged area and felt his wounds mending and was able to dodge the next attack easily. Tsunade didn't stop though and kept up her assault attempting to deliver a killing blow to stop the kid from healing himself, but the teen didn't let another attack hit and she was starting to feel the temporary boost from the soldier pill fading.

Tsunade took a deep breath and squashed the anger that was blinding her as she faced the boy once more, except now he was going on the offensive and rushed forward with chakra scalpels surrounding his hands. Tsunade was able to avoid his strikes with practiced ease and when she couldn't was able to redirect the attacks to a minor muscle group that she could easily heal while doing battle and not affect her to much, 'I really did lose some steps, to think a whelp like this is giving me so much trouble.' Tsunade didn't let those thoughts through knowing the danger of thinking like that during a fight. The kid was getting cocky, but for good reason because it was plain to see she was getting slower and the attacks were coming closer to her vital areas. Knowing she wouldn't be able to hit him with a direct attack Tsunade made her moves more sluggish and left more openings hoping to lure the teen in. After several more minutes of this the boy moved to take advantage of an _opening_ only to find his arm held in a vice grip before punches rained onto his skull.

After a vicious barrage Tsunade released the arm and delivered a right cross that shattered the teen's jaw and delivered a fierce kick launching her opponent across the clearing. She went to pursue but the kid recovered quickly and he pulled out a kunai, but instead of raising it in defense he used it to slash his wrist drenching the charging blonde in blood and the legendary medic immediately went into shock at the sight of the blood. "To think one of the most renowned healers on the continent would be brought to her knees by the sight of blood. How the mighty have fallen." Kabuto was about to finish the job when some rustling in the woods caught his attention. The teen turned holding the bloody kunai but smiled when he saw Kimimaro stumble out from behind a tree, "Oh good Kimimaro, the adrenaline shot worked. Please try not to speak to much because we don't want people looking for our master."

The pale teen continued walking gaining balance as he walked, "Of course, let's hurry and return to him. I am ready to go, I haven't felt this good in a long time."

Kabuto turned back towards the shivering blonde as he ate a blood pill, "Well you'll have to thank Tsunade before we kill her. Why don't you do the honors, her death will make our lord very happy."

The teen didn't respond but a blade of bone erupted outwards from his hand. He stopped when he was in front of the cowering blonde and pulled it back, "I thank you for making me useful once more. It's nothing personal, so I shall make it quick."

Tsunade saw the bone coming but could only close her eyes hoping what the Kaguya said was true, 'I hope that I'll see everyone in the afterlife.' She heard the sound of flesh being pierced and felt blood splatter on her, but didn't feel any pain. When she opened her eyes she saw a blonde mop of hair with a bone jutting out of the left side of his body, dangerously close to his heart, "N-N-Naruto?"

The blonde turned around and gave her a wide smile before spitting out blood staining his white teeth red, "Don't worry granny, I won't let anything happen to you. After all it's the duty of a Hokage to protect everyone."

Kimimaro scoffed at the chuunin, "Leaf trash, just die with dignity." He tried to pull the bone out but found it wouldn't move and saw the boy holding it in a death grip. "What a-" The Kaguya was cut off when a Rasengan was shoved into his open mouth as he went spinning backwards bleeding profusely.

The boy somehow stood and started stumbling towards the two once more but was stopped by Kabuto who put his hand on his shoulder, "Now, now Kimimaro. You were just healed so don't do anything rash."

Kimimaro lowered his hand and Kabuto watched as the visible bones began healing themselves before his skin knitted itself together over it leaving his face unmarred. The two were about to advance once more when suddenly the grass became spongy and they were suddenly inside a pink cavern. To their surprise Jiraiya stepped from around a wall, "Welcome to the esophagus of a fire breathing toad from Mt. Myoboku. I'm sure the two of you will enjoy the next twelve hours as it slowly digests you."

It was Jiraiya's turn to be surprised when the one wearing glasses began laughing. "Well you could do that, but if I die then those two that I revived will be bound to this plane forever. How would Tsunade like it knowing her brother and lover would never be able to find rest and only want to rip her limb from limb? However, if you let us go I will cancel the jutsu."

Jiraiya gave the two a hard stare before he sighed in defeat and the fleshy walls faded and the three were in a forest once more. A Jiraiya clone then landed next to the hermit holding the two rock coffins that contained the revived Konoha shinobi. "I give you my word that I shall not pursue you if these two are released, but if you're lying you won't live to regret it."

The two jumped backwards before Kabuto responded, "Very well, but I'll be at the limit of your sight before we do it." Getting a nod they retreated and before they disappeared Jiraiya watched as the two faces turned into ashes and were blown away by the wind revealing two masked faces of Sound Shinobi. True to his word Jiraiya let the two get away and walked back to the prone body of his apprentice, hoping this wouldn't be the latest student he outlived.

* * *

><p>Tsunade barely registered Jiraiya's appearance just stared in muted horror at the blood spurting out from her fellow blonde's wounds. Tsunade couldn't explain it but she wanted to protect this boy, she hadn't felt this way since the first time she saw a young Minato on team Jiraiya. The medic couldn't move her body even though her mind already diagnosed what was happening. The exit wound was just above the heart and slightly to the right meaning his Vena Cava was most likely pierced. If he didn't get medical attention in seconds he would die. Tsunade could only cry at her helplessness as she watched the blood spurt out from the wound, each spray decreasing the boy's chances at recovery. Suddenly she was back on the field on the cursed mission where Dan passed on.<p>

Even though it was a perfectly sunny day she could hear the pitter patter of rain and feel the drops hitting her skin and she burst into motion. She looked down at the whiskered face and saw the silhouettes of Dan and Nawaki surrounding the chuunin. Ignoring the copious amounts of blood on her and the veritable river pouring from the wound she reached in and to her relief the vein wasn't pierced through, just nicked which explained why it was spurting and not steadily flowing. She used her nimble fingers to pinch the wound and stop the bleeding before using her healing chakra to repair the rip. After making sure the wound was completely closed she performed another diagnosis and found several other minor lacerations in the blood vessels around the heart. Acting quickly she closed those before expanding her scan and sighed in relief when nothing new was shown and healed the entry and exit wounds.

After making sure Naruto was in perfect health she made the unconscious boy eat a blood pill. She looked down at the red liquid that coated her hands before laughing at her old fear, relieved she didn't let someone else die. Tsunade bent down and gently cradled the boy to her ample bosom, careful not to disturb his wounds and brought Naruto over to the river before she removed his ruined chuunin vest and tore through the fishnet and spandex before washing the blood from his body and hair then smiled gently at the unconscious boy as she stroked his now clean hair. When she was finished she cradled him to her chest once more and walked back to the clearing and saw Jiraiya standing there nervously, "Don't worry the boy will be fine."

"I'm not worried, I knew he'd pull through with you healing him. I'm just jealous of his position."

Tsunade looked down to see a mop of blonde hair covering the face that was buried into her cleavage. The woman gently placed the boy down and wiped a smudge off his cheek before subtly picking up a rock created by her demolition of the landscape and tossed it at her perverted teammate sending him crashing to the ground clutching the wound, "BAKA."

Jiraiya grabbed where the rock hit and stood up wincing as he poked the welt, "Alright we can talk later, for now we need to get Naruto and Shizune back to town along with the prisoner." Jiraiya saw Tsunade's expression switch to questioning and answered the unspoken query, "The brat managed to take that redhead captive. Hopefully he doesn't have the same fetish as his father."

Tsunade ignored the pervert and smiled at the prone blonde, "Fine, let's go you useless lecher."

* * *

><p>Tayuya opened her charcoal eyes and blinked the blurriness from her vision and was staring at a painted ceiling, not the usual rock one from the base. Suddenly the memories of yesterday came back along with a splitting headache. She turned her head to get a better view of the room and saw a blonde lying on the bed with his torso heavily bandaged and she found her hands and feet were bound when trying to shift positions. Suddenly the door opened and she winced as a boisterous voice broke the silence increasing the pounding in her head, "C'mon Hime, just one little kiss on the cheek. The knight in shining armor is supposed to at least get something when he saves a damsel in distress."<p>

"I'll make sure to give Naruto a kiss when he wakes up then."

"You wound me princess."

Tayuya closed her eyes and slowed her breathing rate trying to get any information, "Shut up Jiraiya, I think you wanted to ask the girl questions when she woke up, so go ahead."

Tayuya didn't change her breathing rate but cursed loudly when she was hit with a slap, "Tsunade-sama! She might have a concussion, you shouldn't do that."

"Yeah well she's a bitch and deserves it Shizune, or did you forget what they did to you. She was probably the one who put you in the genjutsu if the chakra conductive flute is any indication. I haven't seen anything like that in ages."

Knowing the jig was up Tayuya opened her eyes, "I'm not telling you anything cow."

Tayuya felt fear, something that Orochimaru had trouble inducing, as she looked into the face of Tsunade to see demonic white eyes and a throbbing vein above her right eye, "Listen you scrawny little bitch, you can cooperate or I can take out some of the frustration that was building up for the past week out on you."

Jiraiya cut her off and stepped into the redhead's line of sight, "Tsunade may be angry but she's right. Your friends left you without a second thought so should you really show them any loyalty? I know that you probably don't trust us, but if you cooperate everything will go much better for you and I'll protect you from any retaliation from your former master."

Tayuya wasn't stupid. Orochimaru was strong but even he wouldn't try anything against the two people in front of her that are considered to be his equal in strength and hopefully the village would be able to give her some protection if she told them everything she knew. Plus the old guy had a point, if Orochimaru really valued her Kabuto would've tried to get her back before leaving. "Alright I'll talk but I want some guarantees. One I'll get immunity and citizenship in that shithole you call a village. Number two, my previous affiliations will be buried deep. And three I want a pension to live off of."

The man scratched his chin appearing to consider them, "No, no, and no. I won't give someone immunity who doesn't deserve it and from what I see you don't. Your previous affiliation will be known by anyone above Jounin level for safety reasons, and I'm sure you'll get some money at the beginning, but you'll need to get a job after getting adjusted."

"Well I'm not talking then fagbag."

Jiraiya walked to the closet in the corner of the room and opened it revealing an unconscious sound ninja slung over his shoulder. "This man is in a coma so severe that even a Yamanaka couldn't get anything from his mind, so pay attention." Jiraiya placed the man on the floor in Tayuya's line of sight and simply raised his index finger and poked the unconscious man. He was engulfed in a puff of smoke and to Tayuya's surprise an unconscious frog was revealed. "I can just hand you over to Ibiki, and when he's done I'll turn you into a frog and send you to a restaurant so they can make frog legs."

"Well when you put it that way I might talk."

The man smiled widely, "Good, if you cooperate fully and give us useful information you will probably only get house arrest, probation, with a possible avenue towards citizenship. Now we're going to get lunch, do you want anything?"

"Whatever is fine."

"Okay, but don't bother trying to escape because I will find you."

The door closed as they exited and Tayuya sighed before seeing the remote control for the T.V. within reach of her fingers, but as she went to press the power button it was knocked off the bed, "FUCK ME!"

Suddenly a groan reached her ears and she saw the blonde that beat her yesterday sitting up, "What, where am I?"

"In a hotel room dickwad."

Tayuya chuckled as the blonde almost jumped out of his clothes and turned to see her showing that he kept his left eye closed, "Eh, oh it's just you. I was worried for a second."

"Just you.' What's that supposed to mean shithead?"

"I thought it was someone dangerous."

"I'm plenty dangerous you sloppy cunt."

"Well your mouth is foul and your music sucks, but besides becoming deaf I've got nothing to worry about. You rely to much on that flute of yours."

Tayuya was seething and leveled the blonde with a death glare, but it didn't have much effect, which only made her madder, "Yeah I'm going to take advice from an enemy ninja."

The blonde huffed and faced away from her, "Yeah well you need all the help you can get so I wouldn't be too picky."

Tayuya was about to undo the straps and beat the blonde to death no matter the consequences until there was a knock on the door, "Great those fuckers probably forgot their key or something."

Naruto ignored her and grabbed his headband before he opened the door, but he was one hundred percent sure that it wasn't anyone he knew when two sharingan eyes staring at him so he closed his right eye and opened his left while dropping the black band, 'Wait the only other Uchiha alive is Sasuke's brother. Shit, what could he be doing here? This guy killed an entire ninja clan in a night, and it supposedly the strongest one too. I may have vowed to kill him for Sasuke but I'm nowhere near ready yet, "Hello Naruto-kun, would you mind coming with us?"

It was then Naruto noticed the giant blue guy with a bandaged sword on his black wearing the same black cloak with red clouds as the Uchiha was wearing standing behind his shorter partner, "Well I would love to, but Oji-san always said not to go anywhere with strangers."

The blue skinned man laughed, "We've got a comedian Itachi-san, maybe I should cut his legs off and shove one in his mouth so we don't have to listen to him."

"We can't play around, he is now with two of the Sannin so we must move quickly. I do not fear Tsunade but Jiraiya is a different story, even going all out I doubt the two of us together could beat him or even cause him to break a sweat

"Sounds like fun."

Itachi ignored his partner and opened the door wider as Naruto stepped back seeing Tayuya restrained to the bed, "I thought I sensed another chakra signature in here. Well we don't want to leave witnesses."

Itachi formed several seals that Naruto recognized and formed a ring with his index finger and thumb and placed it in front of his mouth. Knowing what was coming next Naruto looked towards Tayuya and knew she wouldn't be able to dodge because of the restraints. As Itachi called out, "Goukakyuu no Jutsu" Naruto leapt in front of the helpless redhead and took the blast full on as it burned through his bandages and bubbled the skin underneath. He lay on the ground gasping in pain as Tayuya stared at him in shock. Kisame chuckled, "Well that's one way to skin a fox."

He bent down to pick up the prone body but unbeknownst to him Naruto was calling out to the Kyuubi, 'Fox give me some chakra.' Kisame was forced to step back when a sickly orange chakra began leaking out of the boy's body before taking on the shape of a fox with two swinging tails behind it. Tayuya watched as the boy stood and the wounds on his back began healing. Once they were completely mended the chakra covered boy roared and the shockwaves blew the wall in front of him out and sent the two missing nin crashing through the bathroom wall into the adjacent room, fortunately it was empty. Itachi dodged the chakra claw that followed and Kisame simply raised his sword as it absorbed the chakra before letting out a whine, "Well looks like Samehada actually doesn't like a flavor of chakra, what a surprise."

A black ball of chakra gathered in front of Naruto's mouth before it turned into a chakra beam that made Kisame dodge. Turning his attention away from the sharkman Naruto turned to face Itachi and clapped his hands together sending a vertical crescent of chakra towards the Uchiha who neatly sidestepped and launched another fireball but it didn't do anything against the fox cloak. He was about to use a Tsukuyomi before getting cornered in this tight area that would result in a painful death when he felt something impact with his back. He quickly shook off the cobwebs and saw the two of the Sannin that remained loyal looking at him and his partner with fury, "Kisame it's time to go."

Jiraiya stepped forward, "No you don't, I'll kill you both here."

Itachi tilted his head towards a snarling Naruto, "You could but there's no telling the damage an out of control Jinchuuriki would cause before you got through with us."

Jiraiya growled but let them get away as he pulled out a piece of paper and stuck it to the blonde's forehead in a burst of speed causing the chakra to disperse. Tsunade just stared at the damage done to the hotel, "What was that about Jiraiya?"

The hermit was about to answer when Tayuya spoke up instead, "Akatsuki."

Jiraiya spun on a dime, "What do you know about Akatsuki?"

The girl gave him a smirk, "Well I could te-"

Tayuya was cut off by the man's hand around her throat as he pushed her into the bed, "There is no bargaining here. Either you tell me now or the deals off and I'll send you to the I&T department and give the most sadistic people there free reign."

He loosened his grip and Tayuya rubbed her neck, "Fine you jackass, I won't tell you the whole story till we get back to your shitty village. Kabuto isn't the real brains. He's the right hand man of the real boss and was the head spy in Konoha until recently. We both were here on the orders of Orochimaru-sa… Orochimaru and he said that we should avoid contact with Akatsuki at all costs and to stay away from anyone wearing red clouds."

Jiraiya and Tsunade exchanged grim looks at the mention of their wayward teammate and he spoke once more, "Alright well I guess we should all head back to Konoha."

Tsunade gave Jiraiya an angry look, "I know you told me the old man wants me back, but there is no way I'm returning to that cursed village."

Before Jiraiya could plead again Naruto's raspy voice did, "S-shut up granny, you're definitely coming back with us because as a future Hokage I can't fail a mission."

Tsunade's brown orbs softened as she looked at the blonde, but before she could answer his stomach growled. Jiraiya looked at the bag of food in Shizune's hand and gave a devious smirk that would make Orochimaru proud after he saw the look Tsunade was giving Naruto, "Well Tsunade we all have food except Naruto, so why don't you and Shizune take Naruto to lunch and get acquainted while I chat with Tayuya?"

* * *

><p>Shizune walked behind the two volatile blondes holding as they argued about where to eat. Usually the brunette would attempt to defuse any arguments her master was in before the other party got hurt, but Tsunade appeared to be enjoying it so her assistant let it go on and showered Tonton with affection glad that their pet had made it through the ordeal. Shizune left the pig in the hotel room before going to look for Tsunade and they never checked out so Tonton was trapped and they had to pay for ten days… and had to pay extra for cleaning on top of it because of Tonton's droppings, thankfully Jiraiya volunteered to pick up the bill. The resourceful pig managed to survive on the healthy food Shizune left in the fridge that the brunette would sometimes eat instead of meals from dingy taverns or casinos that her master would drag them to in her escapades. The pig started to squirm so Shizune let her go and the little porker jumped straight onto Naruto's shoulder then on top of his hair, though it didn't interrupt the argument, "Listen Baa-chan I just had a near death experience so I need food that pleases the soul, otherwise known as ramen. Did you hear that? Do I need to speak louder for you babaa?"<p>

"Dammit brat don't call me old. I'm the best damn doctor in the elemental nations and I say your body needs vitamins and proteins to heal properly."

Naruto stuck out his tongue, "Whatever, I always eat ramen after I'm hurt and I'm a super awesome ninja. I made chuunin in my first exam."

Tsunade bent over and gave him a gentle flick on his uncovered forehead, "Well I was already a chuunin at eleven and jounin at fourteen shrimp, and on top of that I healed you which means you have to listen to me until I say you're one hundred percent or I'll strap you to a bed to make sure you obey me."

Naruto gave a fearful nod at the maniacal glint that appeared in the woman's eye as she said the last sentence, "Yes Tsunade-baachan."

"And don't call me that."

"Fine old lady."

Tsunade promptly pinched Naruto's lips between her fingers and began to drag him down the street despite the boy's muffled protest. Shizune followed along embarrassedly down the alley the townspeople created for the trio as Tonton let out an oink from the top of Naruto's blonde locks. Eventually Tsunade settled on a Domburi stand and let go of the chuunin's lips once they were seated. The man came up to take their order and Naruto gave Tsunade a smug grin, "I'll have one of everything."

The woman just grinned right back and ordered two bowls of Oyokudon while Shizune got tempura and ordered plain rice for Tonton. The brunette watched as Naruto sat with drool coming down his face and almost giggled when Tsunade wiped it away with a napkin and Naruto recoiled giving her a weird look, "What're you doing Baa-chan?"

Tsunade was undeterred and wiped the remaining saliva away before answering, "Well you had some spit running down your chin and it's not a very attractive sight. Now why don't you tell me about yourself."

"Why do you care?"

"What, I can't be curious about the kid who saved my life?"

Naruto blushed at that and gave a cheesy grin, "Well you saved my life right after so it wasn't that cool. Doesn't that mean you should tell me about yourself."

"Maybe later."

"Okay then I'll tell you now and you have to tell me back in Konoha."

Tsunade looked towards the cooking food, "I'm not going back to Konoha."

"But why? The old man is calling you back and he's the Hokage so you have to listen."

Tsunade's voice took on a harsher tone as she toyed with the glass of water in front of her, "The Hokage's are all fools. Three of them died young because of it and it's a miracle that the old monkey is still alive."

Naruto slammed his hands on the bar before angrily exclaiming, "Don't disrespect the Hokage's like that. They gave their lives to save the village and were all heroes. Sandaime-jisan is a great man and I won't stand for a hag like you to disrespect him."

Shizune saw the vein throbbing on her master's head and grabbed one of the woman's green sleeves, "Tsunade-sama please calm down."

She simply shrugged out of Shizune's grip before staring the boy down, "What did you say?"

"I guess your hearing really is going in your old age. To become Hokage, that is my dream. I won't allow you to disrespect the title or the men who held it."

Tsunade slumped to her chair in defeat, "I'll tell you what brat. We'll go back to Konoha for good, but you have to give up your dream."

Naruto's eyes turned blue as ice as he glared at the busty blonde, "I can't give up on my dream. I made myself a promise, and I never go back on my word. Besides, if you can't keep a promise to yourself then what good is it to give your word to other people."

Tsunade had no answer as she lost herself in the past, "_Remember_ _Nawaki, real men don't go back on their word."_

_ "I know, I'm gonna become like ji-chan and take on the title of Hokage one day, because becoming the Hokage is my dream."_

It appeared the man was waiting for them to finish their spat because he took advantage of the silence and placed all the dishes in front of them along with refilled glasses and their bill. Tsunade never bothered to respond and they ate their meal in silence and Tsunade pulled out what looked like a stuffed, topless woman wearing skimpy pink panties. Tsunade then pulled down the pink underwear revealing a slot revealing it was filled with money and put down the required amount along with a generous tip, "Thank you Jiraiya for the donation of your wallet."

They left the stand heading back towards the hotel with Naruto leading the way and the two kunoichi following though Shizune noticed Tsunade kept glancing towards the boy as they walked. As the three neared the homely inn Tsunade picked up the pace until she was next to the chuunin, "Listen Naruto, I want to apologize about what I said back at the stand. Let's just say I have my reasons for saying that, but it doesn't mean I should belittle your dream or ask you to give it up. I think it's a good thing that you don't go back on your word, it's always been a quality I respect in a man." Tsunade stopped before they entered the hotel and took a deep breath as if steadying herself, "I think that Shizune and I can return to Konoha for a little while. I was always advocating placing a medic nin on every team, and it would be hypocritical of me not to return and train enough people that it can become a possibility."

Naruto gave Tsunade a sunny grin as Shizune gasped hearing Tsunade apologize and say they were returning to Konoha, and she couldn't help but pinch herself to ensure it was real and let out a little squeak. Naruto turned his focus onto her, "Are you alright Shizune-neechan?"

The brunette blushed and muttered, "No I'm fine, just lost my balance for a second."

* * *

><p>Jiraiya undid the bounds and handed Tayuya one of the takeout containers and a pair of chopsticks before getting some for himself, "Now I was being completely serious before. Akatsuki is a very dangerous organization and anything you can tell me is crucial."<p>

Tayuya sniffed the beef dish and took a bite before answering, "Well I don't know much. Orochimaru has been building Oto for at least four years, probably preparing for more than that. During my first year he would sometimes show up wearing a cloak like the ones those two freaks had on. He also always had a ring on that he would always toy with, and he stopped wearing it around the time he stopped wearing the cloak too, though I'm assuming he didn't return it. There were whispers in Northgate about how Orochimaru would mutter of a ring occasionally, but other than that I don't know anything else about Akatsuki… wait he would sometimes mention a partner but he never said the fuck's name. Something about a wooden freak playing with dolls… I can't really remember the details."

Jiraiya finished his soup while digesting the information after it became apparent the redhead was finished and didn't bother retying Tayuya after they were done eating. "Well think about it some more on the way back. I'm gonna give you a small bit of leash so don't hang yourself with it. If you want us to take it easy on you then you better be cooperative and helpful. You know that I'll catch you wherever you try to run and I doubt old snakeface would accept you back after getting captured, I know how he operates. If you accommodate us then I'm sure the Hokage will be more than forgiving, like I said I know Orochimaru. You look like your fourteen and you've been with the snake for four years so you were probably an orphan who had no hope and he offered you a chance and you took it. I also am making a guess that you did many horrible things without a second thought, and maybe you enjoyed it or maybe you didn't, I don't really. Either way you've been given an opportunity here, no matter how it looks right now, to change that life and atone for your sins so make the right decision. Not many people get a real chance to change and redeem themselves"

The hermit gathered the garbage and threw it out just as the door opened and the other three walked in. Jiraiya gave them a beaming smile, "Well I think it's about time to go. Naruto is a trooper and we need to get Tayuya back to Konoha so pack up."

Tsunade and Shizune headed towards their room, "Alright pervert, we'll meet up in front of the inn in twenty minutes."

Naruto started packing up and Jiraiya picked up his pack before heading towards the door as well, "I have to go down and pay, and tell them we'll send someone to fix the damage, though I can't find Lola-chan. Oh well there's always Anna-chan."

Tayuya watched the blonde scamper around the room trying to gather all his belongings and she raised her eyebrow when he efficiently sealed them into several scrolls, "Umm listen shithead, I just want to say thanks for taking that hit for me. I probably wouldn't be alive right now if you didn't."

Naruto stuffed the scrolls into his vest, "No problem, but do you have to call me names."

"Well… yes."

"If that's the way you want it bitch."

"Whatever faggot."

"Glad we agree cunt."

Jiraiya just strolled down the hallway with a smile on his face after listening to the conversation, sure he could make use of it somewhere down the line. Maybe a rough around the edges girl that comes off overbearing but really wants to be put in her place. Now if he could just get a teacher bad student who needs good grades role play scene in there somewhere it would be pure gold.

* * *

><p>The five shinobi leapt through the trees towards Konoha and by Jiraiya's calculations they were only a couple hours away after two days of nonstop travel at a high pace, though they got a chance to relax each night at different hot spring resorts at Jiraiya's insistence and expense. It was close to noon on the third day but the group decided not to break for lunch opting to make a beeline for the village though Tsunade's and Tayuya's face showed trepidation as they drew closer. Tsunade was nervous but ready to face her old home, but Tayuya was much more worried. Despite the toad sage's assurances she couldn't help but think that they wouldn't be so nice, after all if it was her bringing one of them back to Orochimaru their deaths would be certain no matter what she promised. Despite her inner turmoil the redhead inwardly admitted it could be worse. Jiraiya's antics were amusing, especially when they caused Tsunade to send him flying with her fists, though he claimed it was so he got a break.<p>

Tsunade and Shizune were ignoring her presence, but Naruto was possibly the weirdest person she had ever met, and that was saying something. He wasn't twisted or sadistic but perpetually happy and incredibly open. He never slept with a kunai under his pillow though Tayuya was his enemy only days before he didn't hold it against her at all. The blonde was nothing but kind to her and it was the weirdest thing Tayuya had seen. The boy was currently leaping acrobatically through the trees whooping with excitement that he would be returning home. She was so lost in thought and not used to jumping through trees, as the geography of Ta no Kuni was mostly wide open fields, that the girl landed awkwardly and rolled her ankle which caused her to fall off the branch, and though she managed to land on her feet the redhead collapsed grasping her ankle. The other three stopped and landed next to her as Tsunade bent down to look at it, "It's just a sprain so put it in a brace and let Naruto help you jump. You two are about the same height."

She got up and turned around when Tayuya responded in outrage, "Hey, aren't you supposed to be some sort of legendary healer. You telling me you or your assistant can't take care of a simple sprain."

"That would be like asking an elephant to squash a fly."

"You shouldn't compare yourself to an elephant hag it's insulting to them, they're not that fat. I'd say you're more like a whale."

Tsunade prepared to jump into the canopy again but before she did she said, "Well now I'm definitely not going to help you, we'll move slow until you two catch up."

Shizune didn't spare the redhead a glance as she followed her master and Jiraiya said a quick apology and left to get the other two to wait. Naruto pulled out the medical kit that Sakura gave to him and bandaged Tayuya's ankle after using two wood planks from the kit to brace them. When he was done he tenderly put her sandal back on leaving her cheeks dusted pink, "W-what do you think you're doing."

Naruto raised an eyebrow, "Well I already finished, what I did was make a quick splint. It's not perfect though so I'll have to help you jump."

Tayuya turned away from the blonde, "No way you ass pirate. I don't need your help."

Finished speaking she jumped off her healthy ankle into the trees and tried to keep as little weight as possible on the other one. She made several good jumps with Naruto following closely, but she had to use two ankles to land on the next branch and when Tayuya did she winced and immediately started to fall but was grabbed in midair by Naruto bridal style and after he jumped into the branches the chuunin gently shifted her so she was resting on his back with her head next to his while her red locks intermingled with his blonde and her cheeks changed colors to match her hair. They caught up to the other three and Jiraiya quickly stopped them, "Stop I sensed sensei somewhere slightly south… try saying that five times fast."

He adjusted their course and soon enough they were standing in front of the old Kage who was flanked by Kakashi and some guy that looked like Shikamaru with scars all over his face. The smile on the Sandaime's face matched Naruto's as he greeted them, "Well this is a surprise. Tsunade it's good to see you after so long, and you as well Shizune. Naruto, congratulations on your first successful mission as a chuunin. If you have the time I'd like you to come over to the Sarutobi estate Sunday afternoon. Konohamaru has been saying that he misses you. And I don't think I know you young lady."

The smile didn't break off Naruto's face, "Sounds good old man." He then turned to face his sensei, "Kaka-sensei good to see you."

He received an eye-smile in return, "You too Naruto, I asked Sakura-chan to take care of your plants."

Tsunade coughed and gave the Hokage a small smile, "Good to see you Sarutobi-sensei, it's been too long."

The old man approached the group, "It has indeed my dear, but nobody has introduced me to this young woman. Is she another pupil that you've taken on?"

This time Jiraiya coughed and beckoned his Sensei over before whispering into his ears. The man's eyes widened, "Well I think it's time to get moving. We're returning from a meeting with the Daimyos of Hi and Kaze as well as the Kazekage outlining the details of our new alliance and I'm anxious to return to the village."

* * *

><p>Sakura was waiting at the gate along with most of the village as the Hokage was due to return within the hour and it was customary to greet their leader at the gates. She was happy for the greatest protector of Konoha to return, but she was more anxious for another, 'Naruto, I can't wait for you to come back."<p>

**"Cha me neither. First we'll take him out for some Ramen and listen to his story about the mission. We'll get close and put some moves on and then go back to his apartment and do the naughty things they describe in our romance books."**

Sakura blushed at her inner self's suggestions and the images she was receiving, 'Absolutely not. I couldn't do something like that so suddenly, it's too embarrassing.'

**"Fine, but we should at least do some heavy petting."**

Before the pinkette could formulate a response the crowd broke out in a cheer and she pushed her inner voice aside and jumped on top of a street lamp to see the Hokage returned along with Kakashi, two woman, and Jiraiya was with him, but she only had eyes for Naruto until she saw the girl resting on his back and getting cozy with the blonde and anger replaced joy, 'I'll kill that bitch."

**"I know the perfect way to dispose of the body too."**

The Hokage made a short speech and the crowd started to disperse, but Sakura set a course so she would intercept with her teammate who appeared to be following the people to the Hokage tower. She landed on the street in front of them and gave Naruto a cheery smile, "Hey Naruto."

If Sakura's smile was cheery Naruto's was blinding, "Sakura-chan."

She bashfully twisted her foot back and forth as she faced the blonde, "Umm I know you're probably busy, but when you're done do you want to get some Ichiraku."

It seemed impossible but Naruto's smile reached greater proportions before it fell and he answered, "I'd love to Sakura-chan, but I'm beat and have to do all that post mission crap again so I'll be busy. How about we go to lunch tomorrow and you can choose where we go?"

Sakura nodded, "It's a date."

Tsunade leaned down and inspected a nervous and blushing Sakura, "Cute, is she your girlfriend brat?"

The two were already blushing after Sakura's proclamation but they only got darker as the duo stammered denials as Tayuya chuckled, "Well it would make sense for a faggot to go after someone flat like a boy. I'm sure once you get some curves he'll dump you."

Shizune could've sworn she saw the second coming of Tsunade as the air around the genin darkened and her eyes turned white as a familiar vein pulsed above her right eye, "And who are you bitch?"

"I'm Tayuya Skankura."

Naruto gave Sakura an embarrassed smile, "Umm we met her on the mission and she sprained her ankle so I'm carrying her. Just ignore her mouth, she talks to everyone like that."

Sakura gave Tayuya one last glare before facing Naruto with a cheery expression, "Well I'll see you tomorrow Naruto."

The group walked towards the Hokage's office and Sarutobi couldn't help but smile when Tsunade began teasing the blonde hoping that she found her heart once more. They arrived at the tower and Naruto was dismissed and hurried back to his apartment. He ran up the stairs and slammed the door before stripping and tossing his dirty laundry into the hamper in the hallway that Sakura got him and jumped into the shower after grabbing a towel. After a good scrub Naruto changed into his comfiest pajamas and made water for several cups of ramen. After devouring a good portion of his ramen supply the blonde burped and sat on his couch to relax. Just as he was about to turn on his television when the door slammed open.

* * *

><p>Tayuya was surrounded by the Hokage and the two loyal members of the Sannin as she outlined what she knew of Orochimaru. The only base she knew the coordinates of was Northgate and it was doubtful anything useful remained now that she was captured, though she revealed the rough locations of several other bases. She also detailed the make up of the village saying it was simply a number of bases spread throughout Ta no Kuni and some in other nations like the small one near the Hi Cha border. So far the three were disappointed but the redhead was saving the best for last. "That's most of what I know, but there's something that I think you won't like very much. Around four and a half months ago this dumb bitch named Karin reported to Northgate to help in a top secret project. She was relatively new and used to serve as a spy in Kusa but she has a nifty trick that lets her heal people and has decent medical capabilities so helps assist in experiments.<p>

Anyway there aren't too many girls working for Orochimaru so I was the only girl her age in the base so she was always making a nuisance of herself. Eventually the dumb cunt let it slip that she was working on a classified experiment, and after wheedling her for a week I found out what it was. That Kabuto prick that you two met on the last mission used to pose as a genin to spy in Konoha and he was able to send Orochimaru DNA from the Uchiha as well as some sperm he extracted from the boy, probably the fairy's favorite part. Anyway she was trying to clone it which she said was failing miserably but one egg managed to get fertilized so Orochimaru has a baby Uchiha in the oven. It turns out during the physicals the doctors were instructed to take embryos from the females and they used the strongest or ones with unique abilities."

The old man sighed as he tapped the ash from his pipe, "I truly regret not being able to deal with Orochimaru all those years ago. I had no idea that he would fall this far." The man placed the pipe on his desk and steepled his fingers while he thought, "Well there really isn't much we can do about it now. Don't compromise your network Jiraiya, but try to add sources to look for Orochimaru. I'll send some ANBU teams to scout out Northgate immediately. In light of your cooperation I'll be lenient with you Tayuya. Tonight I want Tsunade to keep an eye on you and tomorrow we will place a seal on you that will allow me to kill you no matter the distance." He raised his hand to forestall the complaints he saw forming in Tayuya's visage. "Don't worry my dear, I can't and won't kill you on a whim.

I am the only one who can activate the seal, but I need to get authorization from several people to get access to the control seal. After the seal is placed on you we shall adopt the cover story that Tsunade took pity on you and took you in a couple years ago. You show an interest in medical jutsu but don't have the chakra control so are learning genjutsu until you get it up to snuff. And about your curse seal… we have methods to seal it off which we will use, but under extreme situations you may use it. After we will release that she found you in an oto base being experimented on and took pity on you. If everything goes smoothly I will instate you as a genin in six months when the next batch at the academy graduates though I won't place you on one of their teams. Now as you can see I have paperwork to catch up on so you are all dismissed. And Tsunade you can charge any hotel you stay at in my name."

The healer turned and gave her sensei a wink, "That's no problem, I already have a place in mind.

* * *

><p>Naruto looked up in shock at his door and sighed in relief when he saw it was Tsunade, Shizune, and Tayuya. "Umm what are you guys doing here, and why didn't you just knock?"<p>

Tsunade ignored the boy and strode towards his bedroom before dropping a bag on the floor and flopping on the bed, "Me and Shizune will sleep in here for tonight I guess. I gotta say you have a comfy bed brat."

Naruto entered his room, "What's going on?"

Tsunade swung a key around her finger, "I made Jiraiya give me the key because we don't have anywhere to go and we're staying here for at least a night."

The woman stood and walked into the hallway opening the door next to the bathroom revealing a closet. She then turned and opened the door across the hallway revealing a spacious room that was filled with training junk. "This looks good enough, clean this place out and we'll set it up for us tomorrow."

"Umm Baa-chan why didn't you guys just get a hotel?"

Tsunade turned her teary eyes towards the chuunin as her bottom lip quivered, "Naruto are you saying you don't want us here?"

He rapidly waved his hands in front of his face, "No of course not."

Her face quickly morphed into one of cheer, "Good then set up the couch for Tayuya."

"But why don't you? And That's my room."

Tsunade crouched down until they were at eye level and ruffled his blonde locks, "Naruto it's rude to refuse a lady like that."

"I don't see a lady, I see a hag."

Tsunade's head grew to epic proportions, "What was that?"

Naruto chuckled nervously, "Hehe, umm nothing?"

Tsunade was already walking towards the kitchen to join Tayuya who was snooping in his cabinets while Shizune settled onto the couch, "Hey asshole what do you have to eat in this dump?"

"Nothing slut, I just got back from a mission."

"Well get me food dick licker, I'm hungry."

Naruto grumbled and went into his room and changed into some casual clothes before grabbing his wallet and leading the three girls out into the village grateful that the populous was ignoring him and casting looks of awe towards Tsunade. He eventually stopped in front of Ichiraku and made to lead them in until Tsunade complained, "Hell no brat, I want real food."

"Well pay with your real money."

Tsunade begrudgingly followed the boy into the stand and took a seat as Naruto called out for the stand owners. Soon enough a smiling face emerged around the curtain as a man stepped to the front, "Naruto you're back. It seems like you're always in and out of Konoha nowadays." Teuchi stopped and took in the rest of the people with him before bowing hastily, "Tsunade-sama it is an honor to have you here."

The woman just waved, "Please don't bow. It's been awhile Teuchi."

Naruto gave the old man a weird look, "How'd you know baa-chan Teuchi-jisan?"

"Well your mother used to drag her in here from time to time."

Tsunade laughed, "Hah, time to time. Kushina was always bringing us here, remember Shizune?"

Shizune nodded with a faraway look in her eye, "Yes, Kushina-san could really put away the Ramen."

Naruto gave Tsunade a questioning look, "You knew my parents?"

The healer gave him a sad smile, "Yup, I was close to both of them. My grandmother was Kushina's great aunt so that makes you and me second cousins twice removed or something like that. And Minato was such a cute little boy that he wormed his way into my heart."

Tayuya and Shizune stayed quiet and ate their ramen as Tsunade told Naruto stories about his parents.

* * *

><p>Naruto lay on the mat he stored in the closet and put on the floor near the couch that he set up for Tayuya. He lay looking at the ceiling feeling content. He went on a mission and discovered someone who he was actually related to and added three people to his list of precious people. Content Naruto began to close his eyes until a voice reached his ears, "Naruto can I ask you a question?"<p>

"You just did Tayuya-chan."

"For someone so dumb you have a smart mouth douchebag. Anyway why are you so nice to me? I was just your enemy and would've killed you without a second thought."

Naruto sighed, "Well on my first real mission I met someone who explained something really important to me and was really nice. It turns out he was working for a scumbag that we were protecting our client from and we were forced to fight. I didn't realize it until the end right before he died and it taught me something. His name was Haku and he lived a hard life but the demon of the mist Momochi Zabuza saved him and Haku swore fealty to him. If we didn't have to fight then I think we could've been friends. It kind of reminded me of you working for Orochimaru, just because you work for him doesn't make you evil so I gave you a chance and so far you haven't done anything to prove me wrong."

The girl rustled around under the blankets before responding, "Thank you Naruto."

"No problem Tayuya-chan."

It took the redhead a minute to notice it in her hazy state of mind that Naruto called her Tayuya-chan and she didn't mind, unlike when Kabuto or any of the other sound bastards did it. With that thought in mind Tayuya went to sleep actually focused on the future instead of reveling in the present.

* * *

><p>So there is chapter nineteen. I gave Tsunade's mother whisker marks because I remember seeing a picture somewhere of the Senju clan and one of the women (not Mito) had whisker marks (Though I don't think it was in the anime or manga) so I think that it is a side effect of having a Jinchuuriki as your mother, though that area is one of the haziest in did Mito's seal weaken or did she even have a semblance of control over the Kyuubi? Anyway that isn't really a big focus in my story but just giving Tsunade a way to put two and two together that Naruto is Kushina's son, though there is something else hinting at Naruto's family tree that isn't his mother or father. Also the Jiraiya Dan fight was something I was planning for awhile. Kabuto may have revived Dan but he didn't show anything spectacular yet and Jiraiya was one of the most bad-ass ninja in the series and he probably could've stopped Pein if he knew the secret. Also Tayuya going down easy was last minute.<p>

After Naruto summoned the clone orchestra I was going to have her summon the Doki but I realized she needed the flute to control them and it was rendered useless so I had him take her down before she could summon the curse mark because it would be a dead give away about Orochimaru which I didn't want to do and now it gives her motivation to branch out along with making Naruto's pursuit of Tsunade more believable, and we finally see one of the suiton jutsu Naruto learned early in the story. Anyway Tsunade is back in Konoha and the show continues. If you want me to do one more mission before the training trip (which would be Naruto's first mission in charge and probably two chapters) I will otherwise there will be two more chapters before the trip covering the two and a half months remaining before the training trip so review and let me know.

-Operaman Bye Bye

* * *

><p>Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu (Great Fireball Technique)… do I even need to say<p>

Tsukuyomi (Moon Reader) I think everyone knows this one too

Suiton Hahonryuu

Suiton Suiro no Jutsu (Water Prison) C-rank-Puts the target in a prison of water unable to move that maintains itself as long as the caster is touching it

Hari Jigoku (Needle Hell) B rank- After using Hari Jizo (Needle Jizo) the user launches the hair spikes at the opponent


	20. A visitor and a New Team

Kabuto bowed as Orochimaru entered the chamber, "Lord Orochimaru I hope your trip went well."

The snakelike man faced his subordinate with his eerie smile, "It went excellent, it appears young Sasuke-kun's offspring is completely healthy."

The teen gave his master a knowing smile, "Please Orochimaru-sama, did you expect me to believe that you went all that way and took all that time just for the child's doctor appointment."

"I was hoping by making it so blatant you would assume I was telling the truth. I didn't just check up on the child, I called for a secret meeting with Kusagakure. Let's just say Konoha won't know what hit them at their next exam."

Kabuto pushed the glasses up his nose, "So the invasion will happen in six months."

Orochimaru sat in his chair while watching a bug as it flew around a spider's nest, "No Kabuto, I've realized the folly of that plan. I wanted to do that to set the wheels of change in motion, but they're already starting to turn as we speak. I was going to weaken the strongest of the villages to provide the spark that would ignite the world, but I feel that if we wait the explosion will only be bigger and I think it would be prudent to turn my attention to building Oto into a suitable village for me to lead after I ascend. For now I've proposed a short alliance with the sniveling politicians of Kusa that will only last till the next chuunin exams. I think Konoha has some young weeds that need to be pulled and I know just how to do it. That is not till later though, on to more pressing matters, give me a report on your task."

"Well Kimimaro was healed as far as I can see and should be a suitable host, however the base was completely destroyed along with the shinobi staffing it, and Tayuya was either killed or captured. I felt that she was replaceable, and with Jiraiya showing up it was prudent to retreat. I've taken the liberty of sending a clean up squad to Northgate which is waiting for your word to torch it, and I have ordered tighter security on bases that she knows of just in case."

"Well at least things will be quieter around here, and she was one of the weaker seal bearers anyway. I shall wait at least one more cycle before absorbing Kimimaro, no use taking a risk that his disease will return, after all I have all the time in the world. No I think I shall give him his old post as leader of the Sound Five, though he shall need a fifth member. Have the young Kaguya travel to Southgate and tell him to recruit Juugo. Kimimaro always had a way with him.

Kabuto bowed deeply before moving to carry out his master's orders, "It shall be done Orochimaru-sama.

* * *

><p>The morning sun shone brightly gently coaxing the citizens of Konoha to rise and meet the new day, "Fuck go back down sun, it's to early for you to be shining." The blonde rolled away from the sun and tried to get comfortable but found himself unable to get back to sleep. Realizing the futility of his actions Naruto rose from his futon mat and inhaled deeply, "Mmmm, Bacon." The blonde followed the aroma and padded his way to the kitchen to see the back of Shizune's head while she was cooking breakfast, "Morning Nee-chan."<p>

Shizune turned and gave the boy a smile that was too cheery for the early hour, "Hello Naruto-kun, I woke up early and did some grocery shopping for you."

Naruto sat at the small table in the kitchen and almost immediately had a loaded plate placed in front of him, "Go ahead and eat, I'm just going to wake up the other two."

Naruto wiped the line of drool that started to drip down his chin and dug in with gusto, devouring the delicious spread in front of him. "Dammit Shizune, let me sleep. This bed's to comfortable to get out of."

Soon enough Tsunade emerged from Naruto's room grumbling and sat across from the younger blonde as Shizune placed a plate in front of her master. Wasting no time Tsunade also started to eat ignoring Naruto's questioning stare, "Umm Baa-chan isn't that one of my shirts… and are those my boxers you're wearing?"

Without lifting her head from the plate Tsunade answered in between bites, "Yup."

"That's kind of weird granny."

This time Tsunade raised her head from the plate causing Naruto to cower in fear. Her eyes were half lidded and drowsy, and her hair was sticking up everywhere in a comical fashion, but it didn't make the woman any less intimidating, "I know you're not calling me old, right Naruto?"

"O-of course not Baa-chan, I just thought that you had your own pajamas."

"Well I do but you were so ungracious last night I didn't want to unpack and impose."

"What? I didn't say that. You guys can stay as long as you like."

"Good it's settled, you can clear out that spare room while Shizune and I go shopping to furnish it."

"Wait... what?"

Tsunade couldn't answer as Tayuya's angry voice echoed around the cozy apartment, "What the fuck. Can't you see I'm trying to sleep here bitch? Shit. Ouch, ow, stop that. That's my ear you're pulling and it's attached to my body you dumb cunt."

Soon enough the cursing redhead was forcefully placed in an empty seat by Shizune who emerged with two more plates for them. Naruto was about to rise and clear his empty plate but seeing Shizune's glare caused him to reconsider and once he sat her usual cheerful expression returned, "Well isn't this nice. All of us sitting here for a group breakfast."

Tayuya picked up her fork and muttered, "Whatever you say you psycho bitch."

"Oh Tayuya-chan I have a question for you."

The redhead took a bite of the food and began talking, causing her to spit out chunks of egg, "What?"

"Do you prefer apple or watermelon?"

"Wha-" The girl was cut off when two small bars of soap flew into her open mouth as she closed her teeth. She immediately began gagging as she rushed to the sink and began washing out the soap chunks as Naruto laughed, "It's not funny dicklicker."

The boy only laughed harder when the end or her sentence was punctuated by a bubble forming from her mouth, "It's pretty funny from where I'm sitting you fucking whore."

Naruto once again shivered and looked in Shizune's direction, "Grape or strawberry?"

Naruto made his escape as he ran towards his room, "I'm more of a orange guy myself."

* * *

><p>Naruto walked down the street wearing black shorts with a blue shirt bearing the Konoha emblem as he cheerily whistled a tune, glad to make an escape from Shizune's wrath. 'Who knew nee-chan could be so scary? It must be a girl thing.' It was still too early to pick up Sakura for lunch, but his sealing supplies were running low and he was too chicken to tell Tsunade that they couldn't stay so he had to restock before he could seal all the random stuff that built up in his spare room. He managed to get enough to seal all that crap and still have enough to practice all the exercises Jiraiya left him before taking off on his own so he was slowly making his way towards the apartment slightly fearful of Shizune's retribution.<p>

Eventually he could put it off no longer, but when he stepped inside the apartment all his fear vanished before being replaced by laughter. Tayuya was sitting in front of him with a deep scowl marring her features while she wore a yellow skirt that stopped a couple of inches above her knees with a baby blue blouse. To top it off it appeared Shizune forced some make up on the girl and was currently combing Tayuya's red hair into a short braid that reached the bottom of her neck. Naruto burst out laughing. Even the shoe that smacked in his face, courtesy of Tayuya, couldn't stop his amusement. The blonde lost track of time while he laughed, only stopping when he heard Shizune's voice, "There all done, now isn't that better?"

Naruto pushed himself off the floor and took in the scowling redhead before a small blush made it's way onto his face. When they were travelling it was easy to forget Tayuya was a girl because she didn't give off any femininity that the girls he knew did, but now it was hard to deny she was a woman. Naruto wasn't a pervert, at least that's what he told himself, but he had to pretend to scratch his lip to hide him wiping the small trickle of blood that was making it's way down his nose when the hormonal boy stopped to stare at the girl's budding breasts and saw she neglected a bra when her nipples became visible. The view was short lived though because Shizune took one look and gave Tayuya a disapproving frown before leading her into Naruto's room, and when she returned Naruto assumed she had a bra on, much to his disappointment, though it didn't stop his gawking. "What do you know, you might like girls after all, now stop ogling before I don't give you a choice and cut your tiny dick off."

Naruto averted his eyes before answering, "Yeah whatever, I was just surprised that you actually look like a girl."

Suddenly Naruto's door burst open revealing Tsunade who quickly grabbed the two girls and started making her way to the door, "Alright gaki, I want all that crap put in scrolls, Shizune cleaned out your closet and gave you a couple shelves for the scrolls."

The blonde didn't wait for a reply and dragged the two out the door into the village as Naruto sighed, "Maybe I should've just taken the beating."

It didn't take the aspiring seal master long to draw up the required seals because it was just simple storage ones, but it was definitely monotonous and Naruto was glad when he placed the last scroll on the rack in his closet before looking around the now empty room, "Wow it's been awhile since I last saw the room this clean, well at least not packed with crap, they can sweep and dust it though, it's not like I'm sleeping in here. Come to think of it nobody has stayed in here since Crow-san did that one night, after that I didn't need anymore ANBU caretakers. I probably should've just kept it clean because that sucked royally." Naruto looked at the clock before rushing towards his bathroom, "Shit I need to get Sakura-chan soon or she'll kill me."

Shortly after the blonde emerged with minty breath and not smelling like body odor so made his way for the door, except when he reached for the handle it suddenly swung inward smashing him on the face as he watched Tsunade's feet as they walked into the apartment, "Brat we're back… what are you doing on the floor?"

"Dammit Baa-chan that hurt. What the hell?"

The woman bent over and poked Naruto's forehead, "You're not a very good ninja if you can't sense the door about to open."

Naruto ignored the woman and started rushing out the door, "Gotta go, I'll be back."

Naruto was about to exit when Shizune stopped him, "Wait Naruto."

He turned to answer, "Wha-" The teen started coughing and gagging as he realized she managed to throw a bar of orange scented soap into his mouth.

* * *

><p>After returning to his apartment to wash the soap out of his mouth while ignoring Tayuya's laughter, Naruto made his escape shortly after bubbles stopped coming out from his mouth when he talked and now he walked down the street with his pink haired teammate at his side and the blonde couldn't be happier as he hung out with her, but something apparently changed while he was away. Conversation used to flow easily between them, but now they strolled in silence and Naruto felt like the air was charged with some type of tension between them that he's never felt before. The blonde shifted his gaze to take in the profile of the emerald eyed beauty, and once again thought that she's only gotten more beautiful since the exams.<p>

She was wearing a jade mini-skirt with an aqua sleeveless belly shirt that managed to show off most her developing figure but left enough up to the imagination. Unbeknownst to Naruto Sakura saw the glances he kept giving her and once she was sure that he was looking once more the pinkette dropped her purse and turned so her back was facing Naruto before bending over more than necessary and fumbling with the purse hoping the blonde was taking advantage of the opportunity she was offering. She stood back up with a smirk as she watched Naruto lift his head and took off down the street once more with a more confident sway in her hips. As they neared the restaurant district the duo slowed and Naruto broke the silence, "Umm did I do anything wrong Sakura-chan?"

Sakura turned a questioning gaze to the blonde, "No, why would you think that?" Her brows knitted together as she gave Naruto a searching look, "You didn't do anything stupid that I should be mad about, did you?

He sheepishly rubbed the back of his head and gave the girl a relieved smile, "Nothing really, you've just been quiet."

Sakura pretended to look at one of the menus displayed outside a sushi stand as her mind tried to think of an excuse, "Oh, I've just been thinking. I have a lot on my mind."

"About what?"

"Oh nothing big, I'll tell you later." Seeing the blonde wasn't going to drop the subject she decided to change it, "I can't decide what to eat, let's just go to Ichiraku, I haven't been there since before the chuunin exams anyways."

Naruto didn't answer and Sakura felt a strong grip on her arm before she was pulled through the crowd at high speeds while Naruto shouted "Ramen!" 'Phase one of the plan complete.'

Due to the increased rate of travel they arrived at the stand in no time and Naruto plopped himself into his favorite stool, "Old Man, Ayame-neechan I'm hungry and got a stuffed wallet so you better be ready because I'm cleaning you out."

Ayame's smiling face appeared from behind the back curtain quickly followed by her father. The two tied their aprons on before the teen walked up to the two customers and took their orders before greeting them, "Hello Sakura-chan, we haven't seen you around in awhile. And why am I not surprised to see you're already here again Naruto. I'll just get started on these orders."

Ayame made a hasty exit as the air in the stand became thick and saturated with killing intent, "Again Naruto, what does she meant by that? If you didn't want to hang out with me last night all you had to do was say so."

The girl huffed and made to walk away but once again she felt a strong grip on her arms and found herself staring into Naruto's crystalline blue eyes, "Sakura-chan it wasn't like that. You know I would never not want to hang out with you. It's just I had to take Tsunade, Shizune, and Tayuya out to eat because I had no food in my apartment and I wasn't going to let them get into my secret ramen stash. I would've gotten you but I figured that you already ate and we were going to see each other today."

Sakura blushed at her response and sat back in the stool, 'Great now he probably thinks I'm crazy or something.' "Sorry for overreacting Naruto."

"It's fine Sakura-chan." The boy's attention was stolen by a steaming bowl of ramen placed in front of him, "Awesome, keep em coming Teuchi-ossan." The blonde devoured the bowl in mere seconds before turning his attention back to his teammate, "So what have you been up to this past week Sakura-chan? I bet you learned some really cool stuff."

The pinkette finished chewing the noodles in her mouth before responding, "Well Kaka-sensei went with the Hokage and you were gone so team seven was taken off the active roster, but Rin-sensei took the time to really put me through the ringer. She says I have medical skills that most chuunin would envy."

"That's great Sakura-chan. I knew that you'd be awesome at being a medic. Hey you should go talk to Tsunade-baachan. Apparently she's the greatest doctor ever." Naruto looked around making sure she wasn't anywhere nearby and leaned closer to Sakura before whispering conspiratorially, "Even though I just think she's an old hag." Naruto felt a chill going down his spine but when he turned to the girl he saw his teammate wasn't the source, "Huh that's strange."

Unbeknownst to the two Tsunade and Shizune were tailing them after dropping Tayuya off at the Hokage's office to get the seal applied and give all the information she had to the I&T department so it could be written and filed under the proper classification. "I'm going to kill that brat."

After shaking off the chill Naruto continued his conversation with Sakura and when the two were ready to leave they were surprised they were in the stand for almost two hours. Naruto started to walk in the direction of Sakura's house but found she wasn't with him, "Eh Sakura-chan isn't your house this way."

Sakura fought down her embarrassment and hoped her blush wasn't' showing, "Well I just figured we could go hang out at your apartment since we haven't seen each other in so long."

"Sure let's go."

The two made their way towards one of the residential districts while Sakura did a victory dance in her head, 'Great, now I'll just sidle up to Naruto and he'll be mine.'

**"Cha, make that foxy blonde do a striptease."**

Sakura ignored her inner voice as the two climbed the stairs and tried to get her stomach to stop doing flips. She was two seconds away from giving into the voice in her head and jumping Naruto as he opened the door but it all came to an end when she heard a female's voice, "Bout time you got back shithead. I didn't think you'd be able to go that long, but I guess you proved me wrong."

Sakura walked in behind Naruto cursing her bad luck and giving the foul mouthed red head a glare, "What's she doing here Naruto?"

The blonde kicked off his shoes, "Well Baa-chan said they needed a place to stay so I let them stay here."

"Oh so when are they going to move into their apartment."

"We just finished sweetheart."

Sakura looked up to see the Tsunade of the Sannin walking out of Naruto's storage room, "Oh where are you living Tsunade-sama?"

The woman plopped herself on the couch next to Tayuya, "You're looking at it pinky."

Sakura bit back her anger at the nickname before bowing, "Oh my how rude of me, my name is Haruno Sakura Tsunade-sama and it's an honor to meet you."

Tsunade just lazily waved her hand, "No problem, I actually learned your name yesterday when you stopped the brat."

The door to Naruto's former storage room opened once more revealing a short haired brunette, and once she noticed the new arrival she bowed, "It's a pleasure to meet you Sakura, my name is Shizune."

Sakura returned the bow and greeting as Shizune took the last seat on the couch leaving one chair left. "Sakura-chan, please sit."

"Oh I couldn't Naruto, it's the last seat and your house."

Tsunade took this chance to interject, "Just sit on the brat's lap."

Sakura and Naruto turned red and began stammering out excuses before Shizune spoke up with a Cheshire grin on her face, "Oh it's no big deal. If you guys are teammates I'm sure that you've shared closer quarters."

Sakura gave Naruto a stiff nod and sat on the boy's lap after he settled himself making sure to stay close to his knees, **"What are you doing. Push yourself back a little then start adjusting yourself to get more comfortable."**

As Sakura engaged her inner self in a battle Naruto was facing one himself, though it is one most guys tend to lose. 'Okay not so little Naruto calm down. Just think unsexy thoughts. The Daimyo's wife in lingerie doing the truffle shuffle. Hokage-jiji in a mankini. Puppies getting hit by a car. Babies crying. You can do it, c'mon.'

The two older women smirked as they watched the two while Tayuya gave them a scowl and stood before stomping towards the kitchen and grabbing a can of soda from the fridge. The apartment was silent for the next two minutes, except for Tayuya's angry gulps, until a knock on the door broke it. Naruto was about to use it as an excuse to get himself out of this potentially sticky situation that could lead to his death if Sakura decided to inch backwards, but unfortunately Tayuya had it covered, "Who the fuck are you?"

"No the question is who are you? So rude, honestly."

Sakura stared in horror knowing who was at the door despite not being able to see from this angle, 'Really, it just had to be that bitch.'

Tayuya found herself pushed out of the way and Sakura inched backwards to sidle up to the blonde, but to Naruto's relief appeared not to notice his predicament. "Great, apparently we don't have enough skanks in Konoha so we had to get some from Suna."

Temari entered and gave Sakura a frosty glare, which only got worse when she saw her position and the pinkette decided to take her inner's advice and began shifting around to rub it in to the kunoichi. "Well well, I'm surprised to see a useless ninja like you is still alive."

"Temari-chan, what are you doing here?"

The sandy blonde smiled at the sunny blonde, "Hey Naruto, well one of the clauses in the treaty was a shinobi exchange between Suna and Konoha. Each village will send one hundred fifty genin, fifty chuunin, and twenty-five jounin to the other for six month periods to foster an improved relationship between our villages. The meeting was closer to Suna so our shinobi just arrived today, we actually passed your guys' group on our way."

"Wow, something like that would've been unimaginable when I was younger."

Temari took the time to scan the other two women in the apartment before her jaw dropped and she was unable to form a reply, fortunately Naruto didn't have that problem, "Yeah but that must've been like a hundred years ago."

Shizune sighed and saw the look on her mentor's face so walked to the closest window and opened it then watched as a blonde missile flew through the open window and across the village.

It took the boy almost half an hour to get back to his apartment. Fortunately Sakura and Temari weren't arguing when he returned, instead he was greeted by the strange sight of Shizune smiling as she watched as the four other girls played poker and Tsunade crying as she handed over another one of Jiraiya's many wallets to a smirking Tayuya, "I can't believe it, you haven't won one hand yet you old hag. Maybe you should fold when you don't have a pair instead of going all in you withered old cunt."

Tayuya immediately began gagging as Shizune managed to get a bar of soap into the girl's mouth before she closed it stopping Tsunade's retribution and causing the other girls to laugh. They immediately stopped when Naruto slammed the door and walked up to Tsunade, "What the hell was that for you old hag."

Tsunade faced the boy with pure rage in her honey brown eyes, "Don't call me old brat."

Naruto didn't back down and pointed an accusing finger at the woman, "Well if the shoe fits wear it. I can't help it that you're older than dirt." Tsunade's hands snapped out and attempted to wring Naruto's neck, but the younger blonde was quicker and managed to duck, "Easy there baba, don't want to break your hip."

"At least I can sit at a table without a booster seat."

"When was the last time you sat in a booster seat, when you were in daycare with the Rikudou Sennin?"

"When was the last time you washed your sheets? I had to change them because they were a little bit crusty."

"I'll put you to sleep permanently you old crone. It's about time you take a dirt nap, you must be getting tired in your old age."

"Bring it on, I don't think you can reach me with your stubby arms."

The other teenagers looked on in surprise before Sakura faced Shizune, "Umm shouldn't you stop Tsunade-sama?"

Shizune gave the girls a reassuring smile, "Why would I do that? They're just having fun."

* * *

><p>After the argument stopped Temari revealed that she would be joining Team Seven, which would be moved under Naruto's command freeing Kakashi so he could perform higher risk missions and today was the last day they would meet with the man before he officially relinquished control to his protégé. Naruto made it to training ground seven, and unsurprisingly Kakashi wasn't there, though everyone else was and Naruto walked up to them with an excited smile. "Morning Sakura-chan, Temari-chan, Sai. Man, I feel like I haven't seen you in forever Sai."<p>

The pale boy gave his teammate a smile, "Yes it has indeed been some time Naruto-kun. Danzo-sama requested to the Sandaime that he be allowed to increase my personal training after I was unable to reach the finals so I've been busy."

Naruto nodded and addressed his team, "I bet you've already gotten a lot stronger. We should all do some team sparring later to learn more about each other's skills, but while we wait we should tell Temari about ourselves like we did when we first met."

Sakura gave Naruto a look he's never seen before, "Wow Naruto, that's a really good idea. You're sure taking this thing seriously, I'm impressed."

Naruto sheepishly scratched the back of his head, "Well I kinda went to find Kakashi-sensei last night so he could give me some tips on leading a team. So anyway I'll start. My name is Uzumaki Naruto, I like ramen, especially Ichiraku Ramen, my friends, two sensei, and learning new jutsu. I dislike waiting for the ramen to cook, when people try to hurt my precious people, and people who unfairly judge others, and my dream is to become Hokage. My specialty is Ninjutsu though I'm pretty confident in my Taijutsu, and if it wasn't for Sasuke's sharingan I'd be hopeless at genjutsu, and I'm learning fuuinjutsu now as well. My battle style is close to mid-range combat, and while I can fight at long range I prefer to avoid it. My main weakness is probably detecting a genjutsu when I don't have the sharingan revealed. Why don't you go next Sai?"

The boy stopped drawing and began speaking, "My name is Sai, I like drawing and my teammates. I dislike people who try to harm Konoha, and I have no dream as of now, though I wish to have one so I think that could count as a dream. I specialize in my ink based ninjutsu. My taijutsu is average though I am becoming more proficient with my tanto. I am not very good at casting genjutsu but I can dispel them easily enough. I mainly am a support fighter that operates at long range, however I think I am quite capable in a one on one battle. My main weakness as of now is the fact that I need to draw my creations on paper to animate them, so if I don't have enough prepared or cannot get enough reprieve to draw them my main weapon is useless. I am working on that though."

Temari gave the pale boy a strange look while the other two smiled at the difference in Sai's introduction. It was much better than, "My name is Sai, I neither like or dislike anything and have no dreams for the future."

Seeing Naruto glance in her direction Sakura went next, "My name is Haruno Sakura. I like trivia games, umeboshi, onmitsu, and syrup coated anko dumplings. I dislike spicy foods and those that try to hurt my friends. My dream is to become an elite jounin and buy my mom a big house in the suburbs… and the other one is private. I specialize in iryojutsu and poisons and mainly fight at long range in a support role to save my chakra for healing. I'm okay at taijutsu because of my chakra scalpels, though I'd like to improve in that area. My ninjutsu repertoire is lacking because my chakra supply is small and I've focused mostly on the field of medicine, though when I improve my reserves I'd like to learn some. I am competent in genjutsu for a genin though I'd like to improve that as well. I'd say my main weakness is my lack of reserves, but I have really good control so I can make good use of them and I'm working really hard to expand them."

Sakura finished while Naruto frowned, "Don't sell yourself short Sakura-chan, I know you're way stronger than what you just said. Anyway why don't you tell us about yourself Temari-chan."

Seeing she had everyone's attention the Suna kunoichi began, "My name is Temari, I like looking at different types of flowers, chestnuts, and Kenchin soup. I dislike dishes that contain octopus and squid, and my dream is to become the strongest kunoichi in Suna. I specialize in long range futon jutsu, though I am capable of using my fan in close range and have other ways to cover that so called weakness. My genjutsu skills are nonexistent, but I have no problem recognizing and breaking most illusions. I'd say my biggest limitation is most of my jutsu require my fan for maximum power."

When Temari finished a puff of smoke appeared in the middle of the square revealing Kakashi, "Sorry I'm late but I got lost in a magical maze and spent all morning trying to get out."

"**LIAR**"

Smiling in nostalgia Kakashi took one last look at his team and felt an upsurge of pride looking at all three. "I'm impressed Naruto. You were really on the ball with taking charge, apparently you actually listened to my advice. Now it makes me incredibly proud and sad to say this, but as of today I will no longer be your official sensei, though I'm sure as you advance through the ranks we will be teamed up for some missions. From now on Sai you are apprenticed to Danzo and will do missions with team seven. Sakura you are doing the same thing with Rin, Naruto is technically apprenticed under Jiraiya and myself though I will always make time for any of you, and Temari I believe that the Suna genin will ask their village's jounin that are in Konoha for advice. Now team training will be left up to Naruto's discretion and I expect you all to listen to his orders, though remember that these three are your teammates and their input is valuable as well Naruto. Now I have some gifts for all of you before I go. Sai it took me awhile to get this, but I was able to get some friends of mine to figure out the details." Kakashi pulled out a large bottle of ink and handed it to the boy. "My friend who owns the store that I take you guys to was able to mix a bit of poison into the ink and give it the ability to channel chakra. If you ever need a refill just go to the store and he'll whip you up a batch."

Sai thanked the man and received an eye-smile in return before Kakashi turned to Sakura and handed her a slip of paper. "I couldn't help but overhear how you wanted to learn elemental jutsu, so if you channel chakra into it the paper will react and will tell you your primary affinity depending on the reaction." Sakura followed the jounin's instructions and watched as the paper crinkled and turned her questioning gaze to Kakashi who pulled out a scroll labeled raiton as his right eye crinkled in its trademark smile, "I see that you're lightning natured, just like me. This scroll contains a number of jutsu from E-rank to B-rank as well as the beginner elemental manipulation exercise. I trust you not to overdo it and exceed your limits like Naruto would, and the best way to expand your reserves is to exhaust them so don't wait to start that training."

Kakashi briefly paused and waited for Naruto's whining before facing the blonde and tossed him a small scroll, "Now Naruto, you have a good repertoire of ninjutsu so you don't need more so that scroll contains some exercises for wind and water manipulation." After Naruto pocketed the scroll Kakashi pulled out another one and unsealed it revealing a short saber in an elaborate white sheath with inlaid silver strips going up its length. "This is my father's white light chakra saber. I broke it when I was your age but got it repaired and haven't used it since though I used to wear it when I was in ANBU to honor my father when I came to terms with his death, even if I never used it. Anyway it's been gathering dust and I want you to have it. It has the ability to cut or pierce almost anything, and when you swing it the blade leaves a white trail that is capable of blocking projectiles, and if you channel chakra into the blade when you swing it the barrier's defensive capabilities are increased based on the amount, and though it is a saber the blade will have little difficulty cutting through objects with the application of chakra, especially if you add your wind nature to it. I don't know if that's the extent of its abilities though. My father said he was barely scratching the surface of the blade's potential and that it wouldn't let him access it's other powers, but I don't know what he meant."

Naruto stared at the offered blade in awe, "I-I can't accept this."

Kakashi eye-smiled at the boy, "I want you to have it. I should've done more for you and this is the only way that I can even begin to make up for it." The former ANBU captain ignored Sakura's questioning look at his proclamation and continued, "Now remember my door is always open so look me up sometime, and remember I'm proud of you all."

Kakashi disappeared in a puff of smoke leaving the four on their own once more and Naruto turned to his new squad after strapping the saber to his back, "Alright let's get busy. We'll start by doing some light two on two sparring switching partners until we've all worked together then I have some team exercises planned for after. Individual training will be done on your own time, but since we're technically a new squad you won't get much of that for the next week, so let's get started."

* * *

><p>Naruto strolled through the streets of Konoha in his shinobi apparel on his way to the old man's house for tea. It's been a week since team seven plus Temari was placed under his command and in his esteemed opinion the squad was coming along quite nicely. Everyone managed to gel despite the arguments that would constantly spring up between Sakura and Temari as they always tried to out do the other. Despite the noise level Naruto didn't mind and likened the two to his old rivalry with Sasuke, and as long as it didn't affect teamwork, which it hadn't so far, then it could only benefit the two girls as their competition drove them to new heights. Before when the squad was under Kakashi it was like having two separate forces.<p>

The jounin would let Naruto, Sakura, and Sai handle most of the work with the blonde acting as their heavy hitter while he fought from close to mid-range while Sakura added mid to long range support and Sai stayed in the shadows manipulating the opposing forces with his ink beasts. Kakashi would only step in and handle the situation when he deemed the threat to great for his students to face. Naruto was still the heavy hitter but now Temari was his first line of support with Sai as the second layer and Sakura would work from the shadows trying to take out enemies quickly and quietly with her poisons and genjutsu. Besides doing full team formations Naruto also split them up and did group sparring with random partners in two on two or three on one matches to get everyone accustomed to working with all the members of the team. Naruto was broken from his thoughts when something small and solid slammed into him before a childish voice broke his thoughts, "Naruto-niichan it's really you. What are you doing here? That's a cool vest, can I try it on?"

The chuunin looked around while Konohamaru continued to bombard him with questions and the blonde saw he wandered onto the old man's property while he was lost in thought. Naruto managed to pry the babbling brunette off of him and smiled down at the excitable child, "Easy there kid, one question at a time. I'm here because you're grandpa invited me over for tea, he didn't tell you?"

"No, I wanted it to be a surprise." The two children looked up to see the old Hokage approaching wearing something other than his Hokage robes. The old man wore a simple black shirt with grey sweatpants looking completely opposite of the village leader he usually portrayed himself as. "Yes you're right on time Naruto, I just put the water on and returned from my favorite bakery with some delicious treats. Now let's go and visit."

Hiruzen led the two into the modest two story log cabin that was gifted to him by the village after he married his wife Biwako. It wasn't anything extraordinary but the old man was quite fond of the home feeling that it symbolized the love and respect that his people had for him and helped motivate him to work even harder to protect the citizens and keep them happy. The wood was stained to protect it from the elements and each side had several windows. The three approached the front porch before Konohamaru broke away from the pack once more, "Uncle Asuma, what are you doing here?"

The large man took a drag of the cigarette from his mouth before tossing it into the air and watching as it was incinerated before the ashes floated off in the wind. Smirking at the impressed face of his nephew Asuma answered his question, "Well kiddo I'm here because I was hoping to talk to pops, but I can see you're busy so I'll come back later."

The old man suppressed a wince that the thought of staying and talking didn't even appeal to his son, "Nonsense, Naruto is just over for tea so why don't you stay and we'll talk after."

Asuma shrugged nonchalantly and joined the procession into the house before taking a seat across from his nephew who sat next to Naruto looking up at the blonde with adoring eyes, "Hey nii-chan guess what, gramps got me a recording of the chuunin exam finals you were in. It was awesome. I didn't know you were so amazing nii-chan."

Naruto unintentionally puffed his chest out at Konohamaru's praise. "Thanks brat, but I hope you won't doubt my greatness anymore."

Konohamaru nodded while Asuma chuckled, "I've got to admit Naruto you're pretty strong for your age. When I saw you fight in the prelims it amazed me how strong you were, especially considering your poor performance in the academy, but don't get a big head. You're still a little fish in a pond full of sharks so don't rest on your laurels yet."

Naruto shivered at the shark reference as he remembered his encounter with the blue guy and Sasuke's brother, "Well I'm still training hard. Kaka-sensei even got me started on elemental manipulation."

Asuma let out a whistle at that, "Wow, at your age? That's nothing to sneeze at."

Konohamaru gave the two a confused look, "What's elemental maniputhingy?"

Asuma bit his bottom lip to keep from laughing and making his young nephew angry. "Well as you get older your chakra develops a relationship to a certain element, sometimes more than one, that allows you to use those jutsu much more effectively than other types. Like if you have an affinity to earth your fire jutsu would be weaker though you can still learn them. It's actually a requirement that jounin be able to manipulate more than one element. I'm curious though Naruto, what's your alignment."

"Well I have an affinity for water and wind, though I'm working on wind manipulation right now."

The jounin raised his eyebrow, "Two affinities at your age, somehow I'm not surprised."

Naruto nodded, "Yeah well there aren't that many futon techniques in Konoha that I can learn and even fewer wind masters, so advice is hard to come by."

The Sandaime emerged from the kitchen holding a laden tray and laughing, "Yes well today is your lucky day Naruto, I know one of the foremost experts on wind manipulation in Konoha."

Naruto gave the old man a hopeful look, "Really jiji, who is it? C'mon tell me." The elder laughed at Naruto's childish tone before shifting his eyes toward a smiling Asuma. Naruto followed his gaze before his jaw dropped, "No way. Can you help me out Asuma-sensei."

"Sure kid, I'll give you some tips before we leave. For now let's just have some tea and relax."

Hiruzen placed the tray down and took his seat, "Take what you want, I don't want any leftovers." After everyone had a cup of tea and a plate of pastries the Sandaime addressed his adopted grandson, "So Naruto, tell me what it's like leading a team so far."

Naruto wolfed down the frosted treat in his hand before sipping from the steaming cup in his hand, "Well it's going good so far. Everyone is working really hard and we're coming along nicely."

The old man finished his tea and took out his pipe, "Well that's good. When will Team Naruto be taking it's first mission."

"Heh, I like the sound of that old man. I was thinking in another week and a half."

"Well my boy, I didn't think you were the scared type."

"Take that back you old goat, I'm not scared of anything."

Hiruzen smiled at the passion, reminded of the boy's mother he gave Naruto a gentle smile, "Well then explain why you have a team with three people that fought in the finals of the chuunin exam and another that was only seconds away from being a participant himself and you won't take on a C-rank mission."

Naruto looked down at the table and mumbled, "But I want to make sure we're ready."

Asuma took this chance to interject, "I remember when I was given my first team as a chuunin. If I had my way we would've trained for a month before going on our first mission even though we were ready way earlier than that. It's the sign of a good leader to care for their subordinates, but not having faith in your teammates is the sign of a worse one. The other three shinobi on your team are capable in their own right and you must have faith that they can handle themselves and fulfill your orders. You shouldn't put them in a situation that they can't handle, but you can't do everything yourself."

The Sandaime lit his pipe before turning his wise gaze on the young blonde, "Asuma is right Naruto. When you become Hokage what are you going to do when you assign missions. I have to send hundreds of shinobi, including several I am quite close to, into the line of fire a week and I know that some may never come back, as you know even a simple C-rank can go awry. You cannot be everywhere and protect everyone Naruto, it's a lesson best learned now before it tears you apart.

Naruto was unnaturally quiet before turning to face the old man with a smile, "I just noticed you said when I become Hokage."

The Sandaime just sat with a knowing smile as smoke trailed from his lit pipe.

* * *

><p>"9,999 10,000." The Raikage dropped the heavy dumbbells to the floor and sweatdropped when the floorboards cracked and the weights broke through the floor and panicked screams echoed out as the people tried to avoid the falling projectile that would surely crush them in a grisly and embarrassing, for a shinobi at least, death. E ignored the frantic screams for a medic as he pressed the intercom, "Mabui send in Jay."<p>

Soon enough the doors opened and in walked a bald black man with a white Kumo headband tied around his forehead. He wore the standard Kumo uniform and sunglasses similar to Killer B's identifying him as a fan. The jounin gave his leader a bow before kneeling, "Raikage-sama Jay reporting for duty."

The muscly man gave his operative a firm nod, "Jay I need your reconnaissance skills for a mission. I'm growing concerned of Konohagakure's increasing power. Unlike us they demilitarized after the third shinobi war, and for a time I was confident that we were truly the strongest village, but that is quickly changing. Takigakure has fallen and Konoha ninja now patrol the country at the request of the Daimyo. Our intel shows that recent and future graduating classes have a high number of shinobi with great potential, and then to top it all off their alliance with Suna is strengthening and Suna is rapidly growing in strength after it appeared the village would rot. We need a foothold near Hi no Kuni, I don't want to have to extend our supply lines through the three countries between us, that is risky. This time we need to utilize our navy, especially because Kiri is weak and won't be able to stop us. I want you to go to Cha no Kuni and scout it out. Try to increase anti-Konoha feelings and spread rumors slandering them. I want us to have ports there to land soldiers in so we can distract them in the south while we approach from the north and the east."

Jay waited several seconds to see if the Raikage was done speaking. Once he was sure the man had no more to say the bald man stood with his left fist resting over his heart, "Your will shall be done Raikage-sama."

* * *

><p>Naruto looked at the tanto Kakashi gave him. The boy spent the better part of an hour looking at it and couldn't look away, almost like it was calling him. After receiving it from his sensei the chuunin put it on a pedestal on his desk that he picked up from a store and promptly forgot it. The blonde walked up to beautiful blade and traced his finger from the tip of the sheath to the base of the handle admiring the craftsmanship of its holster. 'Come to think of it I haven't even seen the blade yet. I bet it's even better made than its holder.' Naruto wanted to learn how to use Kakashi's gift, but didn't use the saber yet for fear of breaking it and hadn't bought a cheap one to learn with seeing as sabers aren't common in the shinobi world. Wanting to get a better look at the blade Naruto picked it up by the sheath and grabbed the handle before crashing to the floor in a heap. The blonde felt a strange burning sensation before the worst physical pain of his life and his mouth opened in a silent scream in response. The blonde was unable to call for help and felt something forcing itself into his body trying to take over it before devouring it. 'Could it be the Kyuubi?' Naruto wasn't able to explain it but he knew it wasn't the fox and felt that his very existence was at stake. Summoning up all his strength, mental and physical, Naruto began to push back at the invading force. It didn't work, but the progress of the strange sensation was halted as the young chuunin entered into a stalemate with this intense force.<p>

Naruto grit his teeth and began to feel despair, 'I can't do this. I'm a failure, it's because of me Sasuke died. How can I be Hokage if I can't save my friends? Maybe, maybe I should just give up.' Naruto was about to give in to the feeling of helplessness until his determination flared up inside him, 'That's not me. I don't know what's going on but I won't ever give up no matter the odds. Naruto channeled all the fury he felt at trying to be manipulated like that and was able to get his voice out and let out a roar filled with everything he had, pain, anger, desperation, hope, fear, and determination and managed to push back the force, and to his surprise he felt it return to the sword in his hands. The door to his room burst open as a frantic Tsunade looked around, "What's going on, Naruto are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine Tsunade-baachan."

The woman's honey brown eyes looked down to the floor before gasping in surprise. The blonde's skin looked like it was burned in several areas on his arms and torso, and on his hands you could see bone in some areas. "What happened to you?"

Naruto let out a weak cough as he lifted the sword by the handle and unsheathed it. "I picked this baby up and suddenly I was in more pain than I've ever been and this weird force tried to take over my body, I thought it was Kyuubi. I managed to force it back and when it disappeared I felt it go into the sword."

Tsunade stood cracking her knuckles, "I'm going to go kill Kakashi, I'll be right back."

"Wait Baa-chan, he didn't know."

Tsunade cocked an eyebrow as she looked down at Naruto surprised to see his wounds healing rapidly, "What do you mean, and why are your wounds healing that fast? The Kyuubi can't do it that fast unless you're channeling large amounts of its chakra otherwise there would have been no need for me to heal you."

Naruto once again presented the blade, "I can't really explain it Baa-chan, but after the force went back in the sword I changed somehow. I think that was some kind of test, I'm not really sure but it's like the sword is telling me something. Putting images in my head or coaxing me to think certain thoughts. After Sakumo died the blade went to Kakashi, but he didn't receive the blade properly and it didn't feel that he would be a worthy owner so never gave him the test or let him use it's powers. Apparently the blade has existed for centuries and has been passing from user to user, usually through the former's death, as it tried to find the greatest wielder it could. It has been known by many names through the centuries, though it says it really has none. The blade said it sensed great power in me and wanted to test it. I guess that I'm it's new user, and the sword is what's healing me. It says that it increases the user's vitality and is able to slowly gather chakra from it's surroundings over time and filter it before feeding it to the user in a pinch and it used that to fuel my healing ability."

Tsunade grabbed the handle but pulled her hand away as it steamed and began healing her wounded hand, "You will not use that blade Naruto. You heard what you just said. That thing is nothing but a magnet for trouble and wants to find the strongest person to wield it. That thing will only attract misery and I forbid you to wield it."

"But Baa-chan,"

"Don't but me kid."

"No listen here old hag. I don't know who you think you are, but I've been getting along fine for years without people telling me what to do and I don't need anyone to start now."

Tsunade turned her pleading eyes to the boy, "Naruto please, I'm just looking out for you. I don't want you to die. According to you that sword has left a bloody trail through history and I don't want you to be a part of it."

Naruto's expression softened at that, "I know baa-chan, but I'm not changing my mind. I'm going to become Hokage and nothing will get in my way, besides the sword has been mostly dormant recently so the legends have faded as other blades have become famous. Besides, didn't you get captured because you're a famous healer. And those Akatsuki guys are coming for me because I'm a Jinchuuriki and they can't be the only ones who want a Bijuu's power." I'm going to be hunted no matter what so I might as well be at my best. Also I can't die until I achieve my dream, I won't let that happen.

Naruto just stared at Tsunade as she looked at the Hokage monument through his window with a faraway look before giving him a strange one. She reached behind her neck and unclasped the necklace dangling in her cleavage before leaning over the frozen boy and clasping it around his neck before delivering a kiss on his forehead that left him blushing, "Okay Naruto, I believe in you and that necklace is a symbol of that so wear it with pride."

"I will baa-chan."

* * *

><p>And there it is. I hope you guys like the chapter, especially the bit about the saber, I know it broke but I tried to imply that the sentience was in the handle and not the blade which explains why it could break. The sword has a limited form of sentience and its only goal is to reach the peak of its power. I actually modeled that scene off of one from R.A. Salvatore's Servant of the Shard when Artemis Entreri takes control of the semi-sentient sword Charon's Claw, and the sword will also be based on it despite it's difference in appearance, also the goal of reaching the peak of it's power is from the crystal shard which is an artifact in the same series. Anyway read and review<p>

-Operaman Bye Bye


	21. Deploy Team Naruto CRank Mission in Tea

Has anyone noticed how on most stories on this site Koharu and Homura are written to favor Sasuke when they actually ordered his whole family killed with Danzo. I don't think they wanted him to survive and certainly wouldn't favor him after his family plotted a hostile takeover of Konohagakure. It's almost as widespread as Sakura's mom on the council and hating Naruto… this is so popular that it seems like canon but Sakura's backstory is completely blank besides the occasional flashbacks that didn't reveal anything about her family. Well enough complaining here's chapter 21, I'll probably just finish the mission off in one more chapter unless the fight scenes eat up a lot of space then I'll probably split it in two.

-Operaman

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><p>Pipe smoke drifted lazily through the air as the Sandaime Hokage exhaled a thick cloud from his nose. Turning his attention away from the dancing wisps of smoke the Hokage took in the team before him. Naruto stood at attention with a confident smirk on his face while Sakura and Temari stood on either side and Sai stood with a fake smile on Temari's right. Seeing the professor's eyes focus on his team Naruto took a step forward, "Team Naruto reporting for a mission Hokage-jiji."<p>

Gazing proudly on the four bright flames in front of him Sarutobi fingered through the C-rank mission scrolls on his desk before pulling one out of the stack and opening it before reading the details, "Your team shall undertake a mission to protect one of the runners in the Race to Todoroki Shrine. You will meet your client in Degarashi port on the coast of Cha no Kuni. The rest of the details are in the scroll. Dismissed, except for you Naruto."

The three genin gave the Hokage a sharp salute before exiting the office leaving Naruto alone with the venerable leader. After the door closed the Sandaime took a moment to gather his thoughts, "Naruto I'd like for you to think about what I'm going to say very carefully before answering. During the chuunin exams the Yondaime Raikage, who fought your father on several occasions, made the claim that you were the Yondaime Hokage's son. Before I could deny it the Daimyo, who was quite fond of your father, also made the connection after having it pointed out to him so I had no choice but to verify the statement. I have managed to keep the information smothered for now, but the Daimyo has been insisting that you meet with him and with the information in Kumo's hands it is only a matter of time before they sell it, most likely to Iwagakure.

To make matters worse, it said in Kakashi's reports that you used a small amount of the Kyuubi's chakra but enough to show that you were indeed a Jinchuuriki, though apparently Killer B knew it before you even used the Kyuubi. We have several different routes we can pursue, one would be to just come clean about everything right now to the shinobi of Konoha and let it slowly filter to the populous at large. I'll make the announcement in two days while you are on your mission, The Kazekage is already aware and I suspect most of his jounin know as well, so I shall make an announcement to Konoha's jounin and slowly filter it out and finally I will verify it to the other shinobi five days from now when the Suna nin in Konoha have their bi monthly assembly to address any issues with several high ranking officials so they won't be at the announcement, and from there it will filter into the civilian population which will cause the most problems. I would just announce it to them at the same time but I don't know what their reaction would be.

They were calling for your blood when they found out what happened to the Kyuubi all those years ago, and if it wasn't for some of my most trusted ANBU there would've been a riot. As you know most of your staunchest detractors are civilians and would use the opportunity to rabble rouse. The Yondaime was incredibly beloved by them because he didn't come from a shinobi clan so I don't want to test those waters. The rumors will circulate after the announcement, but I don't think anyone will act on it immediately. I estimate two months at the earliest so you will have time to get acclimated. You can also just reveal your heritage to the public but keep the younger generation clueless of the Kyuubi, or you can keep both hidden for as long as possible, and though it may be convenient now the most convenient option isn't always the easiest in the long run. I would like to hear what you think we should do."

Naruto scratched the whisker marks on his right cheek and stared at the picture of his father hanging next to one of a younger Sandaime. He then looked out the window towards the Yondaime's face on the mountain, the place he would always go as a child to seek comfort. "You know old man, I like the picture of my dad better than the mountain carving. When I become Hokage they better not make me look like I have a stick up my ass."

Sarutobi chuckled, "Yes, I agree. All the Hokages could put on the serious face, though in reality a smile would've suited their personalities much better. Even mine looks to stern for my liking, perhaps it is a tradition that you will change someday."

Naruto smiled and took a deep breath before making his decision, "I guess the best thing to do is just tell everybody. People are either going to like me or not like me when they find out either way, and there's nothing that I can do about that. But I know that I can change their minds and become Hokage so I think we should face it head on, after all running from your problems just makes it worse."

Naruto had the same fire in his eyes as his father had and said that with the determination and will that his mother possessed. Any doubts the Sandaime had vanished. "Well Naruto I agree, it is best to face it head on, so please inform Sakura and Sai of this on the mission discreetly so they know. Now I'll let you get on your way and prepare for the mission. I'd wish you good luck, but I'm sure you won't need it." Naruto gave the Sandaime a cheeky salute and jumped out the window while the old man looked at his back with pride as he leapt across the rooftops, "You're already influencing him a great deal Jiraiya. I hope for your sake he doesn't start picking up your more lecherous habits or I fear Tsunade may finish the job she left undone when you were caught peeping on her. Speaking of Tsunade…" Turning back to his desk the Hokage pressed the button on the intercom, "Can you please send in the next appointment dear." Soon enough the door opened and Tsunade strolled in followed by Tayuya and Shizune who held Tonton in her arms, "Please take a seat."

Taking one of the offered seats Tsunade relaxed into the cushion before addressing her sensei, "Well what's the deal old man? I've been sitting around for over a week and I'm starting to get bored. I thought you recalled me to do more than sit on my ass."

The old man chuckled as Shizune scolded her master and raised his hand to stop the brunette and his face lost all it's cheer, "Tragically the current head of the hospital committed seppuku after learning his adopted son was a spy for Orochimaru, and now the position needs to be filled. I figured that if you were going to improve the medical program the hospital would be the best place to start."

Tsunade crossed her arms under her tremendous bust while looking at the pictures of her grandfather and great-uncle, "My intention was to grow the medical program, and having to divert my attention to run the hospital would severely hamper that."

"Yes I too wish for the program to grow, but it's an exercise in futility to expand something if the base isn't solid. Unfortunately the high expectations of your time have waned and with the interest in the program dropping it becomes harder and harder to field skilled iryo-nin. I had hoped that after you return the hospital to its previous standards you could begin the classes with several doctors that you handpicked to assist you. When word gets around that the legendary healer of the Sannin is teaching classes interest and applicants will skyrocket."

Tsunade gave the Hokage a nostalgic smile, "What's with you and metaphors sensei? If you really think it's that bad then I'll take over. But once it gets settled I want Shizune to take my place, I wish to return to the field eventually."

Hiruzen leaned back in his chair and gathered his thoughts for a moment, "According to Jiraiya you have much training to undertake before you are at your previous level… I'll tell you what, if you can expand the medical program by fifty percent in two years while returning their standards to previous levels and regain or surpass your previous strength I'll allow you to return to active duty with whatever ridiculous stipulation you no doubt want."

Tsunade nodded, "Then you've found the new hospital head."

Turning his attention away from his student the Sandaime focused on the younger kunoichi, "While Tsunade turns her attention to the hospital I have a task for you as well Shizune. You can teach classes and help your master at the hospital, but I want your main focus to be Tayuya's training and integration into Konoha for the next six months. If she receives your stamp of approval then we will grant her the rank of genin and find a team to place her with. It should be close to the end of the next chuunin exams so there should be several openings in genin teams, especially if the last exam was any indication."

Shizune gave the man a determined nod, "Of course Hokage-sama, I shall do my best."

The elder gave Shizune a gentle smile, "Then that shall be more than enough. Now if you don't have any more issues please enjoy the rest of this beautiful day. Report to the hospital at nine tomorrow Tsunade and I shall make the announcement to the staff."

Sarutobi watched the backs of the three women hoping his efforts to solidify and prepare the village would be effective.

* * *

><p>Four forms blurred through the canopy giving no sign they were there and leaving none except for the brief shifting of the leaves when they leapt from branch to branch. After leaving the Hokage's office Naruto went home to pack making sure to strap his saber vertically down his back with the handle sticking out above his right shoulder for easy access and no loss of mobility. He then met his team at the gates, and after receiving some teasing from Sakura and Temari on their new team name he read them the scroll he received at the briefing. Now leaping from branch to branch Naruto traced his finger around the handle thinking about his crash course training with his new blade. Kakashi was due to depart for a mission the day after Naruto approached him for help so couldn't offer much help, but the copy-nin allowed his student to use the sharingan to copy some of the more basic movements that were needed to wield the weapon with any proficiency, and the blade would impart visions of some of the simpler moves used by its previous wielders as well as some of its lesser powers.<p>

The boy bought a practice weapon and had his clones spar using the normal blades, he also practiced the movements he was shown by Kakashi and the saber, Naruto had even tried approaching Sai for help on handling the small tool, but the pale boy somehow shifted the conversation to penises so Naruto didn't ask for any more help. Pushing distractions to the side the young chuunin turned his attention to the mission, and so far everything was going smoothly if he said so himself. Temari and Sakura would constantly argue or try to one up another during training, but now they both stayed professional and focused on the task at hand. Nobody spoke since they left the gate opting to save their breath until Temari broke the silence, "Naruto-taicho, I know a good dumpling place near here that would be a good place to break for lunch with your permission sir."

The chuunin ignored the sandy blonde's teasing voice and stopped to consider it, on one hand they were making good time so a break couldn't hurt, but on the other he was anxious to get his first mission as a chuunin commander underway as quickly as possible. Deciding that a good squad leader would want his subordinates to be rested and well fed he nodded towards the Suna kunoichi, "Alright, lead the way Temari. We'll continue to Degarashi Port after we refuel."

Naruto watched as the older girl leapt to the head of the pack with his eyes lingering on her backside as the team veered slightly off course. It didn't take more than five minutes for the foursome to reach their destination and they hopped down from their tree branches before entering the homely building. Grabbing one of the many open tables the four looked around to see the restaurant was deserted except a boy, probably around Temari's age with brown hair that resembled a mullet, except the party in back was pulled into a ponytail. He was wearing ANBU style shin guards with blue shorts that stopped above his knee with bandages wrapped around both of his thighs. He wiped some crumbs off his blue vest and plain white undershirt while giving the four shinobi a dirty look. The stranger quickly devoured the remainder of his meal and approached their table giving Naruto the evil eye, "What are shinobi doing out here in this peaceful area? Did you come to massacre some innocent civilians for some money?" He turned away from the chuunin cutting off his angry response to face the two girls at the table, "Obviously I don't include lovely ladies such as yourselves in that sentence. Why don't you quit being killers for hire and come with me? I promise you'll enjoy yourselves."

Naruto was about to give the punk a piece of his mind, and maybe leave a sandal mark on his ass to remember him by, but the blonde saw signs of Sakura's anger surfacing so sat and watched, waiting for the fireworks. Her warm green eyes froze over as she gripped the table with her hands cracking the sturdy wood. The boy backed off in fear as she turned her frosty gaze on him, "You have some nerve. Coming over to our table to insult my friends and profession, then trying to hit on us like a sleaze ball. You have ten seconds to get out of my sight or I'll make it so no girl will ever look at your face without recoiling in horror, and that will just be the visible damage. I don't think you want to know what I'll do to your little friend."

The teenager wisely heeded the warning, but Sai got the last word in, "Don't take his words to heart. I've read people that are overly hostile towards others are usually compensating for something, and most of the time it is an incredibly small penis."

The shinobi laughed at the retreating form of the fuming jerk and enjoyed the meals that the woman placed in front of them, but Temari saw something off, "Hey Obaa-chan, why are there two receipts here."

She stopped her shuffling towards the kitchen to answer the question, "Well that nice young boy said that his four friends inside would be paying for him."

Temari grabbed her fan and rose to give chase when Naruto held her down with a hand on her shoulder, "Don't worry about it Temari-chan, I've got it covered." Biting his thumb Naruto ran through four seals before slamming his bloody hand on the ground, "Kuchiyose no Jutsu." Seals spread along the ground before vanishing in a puff of smoke revealing a small frog with a strange device on his head, "Hey Gamaseki, this guy that was sitting over at that table and shoved his bill off on us and ran. I was hoping that you could track him and lead my shadow clones to him so I can get repaid along with some interest."

"No problem." The toad began to scan the area while turning his knobs, "That's quite strange, normally a civilian leaves a tiny amount of residual chakra in the area which is hard to isolate, but this one leaves behind a trail I would expect an average genin to."

Naruto looked out the door, "That's weird because he seemed to have a problem with ninja. Maybe he was trained as a samurai but was replaced with shinobi or something. Regardless I have a bone to pick with that guy, so if you manage to lead my clone to him I'll summon you back tomorrow and let you loose by the ocean, I'm sure you could find some interesting bugs there."

The chuunin summoned a Kage Bunshin and the frog jumped on its shoulder, "No problem Naruto, I'll be seeing you tomorrow."

Confident the problem was taken care of the squad finished their meals and paid the two bills before taking off towards Cha no Kuni once more. After making sure they were on track Naruto addressed his team, "It appears that kid is travelling in the same direction as we are. Hopefully he was caught and my clone is keeping him restrained for us, I want to Sennen Goroshi his ass after I get my money back. After a couple of hours they ran into the Kage Bunshin hunched over with Gamaseki perched on his shoulder while the bunshin was breathing heavily at the ledge of a cliff. "I couldn't catch up to him boss. I was right on his heels but he suddenly put on a burst of speed and my chakra started to drop because I had to use it to keep up, I hardly have any left, and to make things weirder his chakra trail practically vanished and we couldn't distinguish it from naturally occurring chakra, which according to Seki means he's suppressing his chakra which samurai aren't usually trained to do. There is more to that kid then meets the eye."

Naruto nodded and dismissed his clone and began sorting through the memories before his eyes widened, "Wow that is fast. There's definitely something strange about that guy. After we meet with our client I'll send Jiji a messenger bird telling him to keep an eye out in the area for that kid, he might be a missing nin or spy."

Temari shook her head, "I doubt he was either. If he was then it would've served no purpose to attract our attention and ire like that."

Sakura nodded, "She's right, though we should still alert the Hokage and give him a description because him escaping from a trained shinobi isn't normal, even if it's just a clone."

Naruto looked down from his vantage point at the forest, "Well there's nothing we can do about it now so let's just keep going, I'll still summon you tomorrow Seki." The toad dismissed himself before Naruto faced his team, "Alright, no point in waiting around here, let's get a move on to Degarashi Port double time."

* * *

><p>Team Naruto stood on a bluff overlooking the port town. There were massive docks where large ships were docked while getting cargo loaded or unloaded. From there it turned into a fresh seafood market, which gradually shifted into a more standard marketplace. From there the town expanded outwards in all directions with residential districts on the fringes, though the wealthier ones were the farthest from the docks. Two houses on the north and south sides dominated the view of the port town. Most of the houses were small two story buildings and were all similar shades of brown, but these two mansions had large stonewalls forming their perimeter with what appeared to be guard towers at set intervals. On the inside were well kept yards with what appeared to be a maze of bushes that were almost as tall as the stone wall, and were so thick that they appeared impenetrable.<p>

The house on the north side was a massive four story mansion with marble pillars framing an enormous front entrance with an ornate door that was at least fifteen feet high inlaid with gold carvings. The house itself was painted pearl white and had seven large wings that were as long as four average houses from the town. The one on the south side was only three stories but was much larger than the other manor when viewed from above. It was at least twice as long as the other mansion with twelve wings spread throughout the yard. This one appeared more modest though. It lacked the imposing front entrance and gaudy doors, and it was painted a tan color with brown shutters on all the windows matching the theme of the other houses in town. Not wasting any more time the four shinobi jumped down the cliff face then started traversing it until they got to the path that wound between the cliffs that lead to the front entrance. They walked into town and shortly after an older man with grey hair called out to them. He was well dressed wearing a light blue kimono with two symbols on the shoulder and a thin tassel holding it together over a green hakama. "Greetings Konoha-nin, my name is Wasabi Jirocho and I am your client."

The man reached out his hand and Naruto clasped it recognizing him from the picture in the scroll, "Hello Jirocho-san, I am chuunin Uzumaki Naruto and leader of this team, though the blonde kunoichi is actually from Suna and named Temari. The pink haired kunoichi is Sakura, and the boy is Sai. I understand we are supposed to guard a runner during a race."

The man motioned for them to follow and as he led them through town he explained the details, every four years there is an event called the Todoroki Shrine Race. It is a competition between my family and our rivals across town, the Wagarashi family, to see who controls Degrashi Port for the four years in between each race. The Daimyo started it to serve as a substitute for the growing bloodshed that was regrettably beginning to take its toll on innocent people. We both agreed with him, and though my family won the first three races we haven't been able to win one since and it's because our runners keep getting stopped by strange events, like rockslides blocking paths, leaky boats, and one man was found knocked out and couldn't remember the past four days at all. I began to suspect that the Wagarashi were hiring shinobi to sabotage our runners so I want you four to protect him. If it turns out shinobi are interfering I would like you to stop them, and please make sure that nothing happens to our runner Idate even if there is no interference from ninja." The group arrived at the mansion on the south side of town shortly after the explanation and their host skillfully led them through the maze of plants and they made sure to memorize the route. After arriving at the door he faced them, "I shall have a servant show you to your lodgings though you are free to come and go as you please. A guard shall escort you through the maze to make sure you don't get lost. Our runner is currently in his room, I shall have someone show you where that is so you can post a guard if you think it necessary."

Jirocho opened the door and left the group as an attractive brunette, who appeared to be in her young twenties, wearing a plain white kimono with a red obi approached them and bowed, "Please let me show you to your rooms for the night." She led them through the hallways and they took note that the floors chirped like birds as they walked down it their was a layer of paper covering the wooden walls with a large gap in between them making it impossible to walk on using chakra. The woman pointed out the runner's room as they walked and eventually stopped before pointing to four doors in the area. These are your rooms and are all the same so choose amongst yourselves." Before leaving she faced Naruto and Sai and bowed once more, "If the young masters wish it we can send some company to their rooms for the night if they get lonely and would like some entertainment."

Sakura looked like she wanted to rip the servant's eyes out and Temari was about to sodomize the girl with her fan, but it was only the confused face of Naruto that stopped them, "Umm I don't think I'll be lonely. Besides I don't really like board games so I'll just watch television."

The servant could only give the shinobi a wide eyed stare and walked away unable to form a sentence. After the four claimed their rooms and dropped off their gear they met in Naruto's. Each of the rooms was like an apartment containing a living room furnished with a three person couch and several chairs behind a glass table facing a wall mounted television. The room was connected to a small kitchen and there was a small hallway that led to a room with a king size bed and a full bathroom complete with a sit down shower. Currently Naruto sat in the middle of the couch sandwiched by the two kunoichi who were glaring at each other over his spiky blonde hair while Sai sat on a chair sketching in his notepad. Naruto found that the fridge was stocked with different drinks and snacks and was currently devouring a plate of cinnamon rolls.

After licking his fingers and lips clean Naruto outlined the strategy for his team, "Alright, I'm going to send my clones off to runt the race so I'll have to focus my attention on maintaining them that far away. After they dispel we can make our strategy for guarding the runner, but for now I want to gather some information. Sakura and Temari will go into town dressed as civilians and try to get some information on this Wagarashi family. While you two do that I want Sai to stand guard outside the runner's room in case he decides to go out for a stroll and send out some ink animals to infiltrate the Wagarashi house. I'll send one of the girls to relieve you when they get back and we'll stop our watch at midnight because I'm sure he'll be asleep. I'll get up at six tomorrow to resume the watch and I want you guys to meet at the starting before people start showing up to the race and survey the crowd."

The three set out to complete his orders while Naruto summoned several shadow clones and let them slink off into the night while he relaxed. After sensing that the girls left and went their separate ways Naruto sent two clones out to make contact with Sai and Sakura. One leapt out the window to head towards the town while the other located Sai. He found the boy lying down on the roof above the runner's room and sat next to him. They sat in silence for some time while Sai continued to draw, and when the pale boy rolled up the scroll Naruto decided he could wait no longer. "Listen Sai, I have some things I need to tell you and you can't tell Temari or anyone else from Suna. I never knew who my parents were and it turns out it was for my safety. You see my dad was the Yondaime Hokage and he sealed the Kyuubi into me. Apparently the Raikage uncovered this at the finals of the exam and his brother knew I was a Jinchuuriki because he's one too. The Hokage is making an announcement while we're on this mission and I just wanted you to hear it from me because you're a friend and teammate."

Sai's eyes widened when Naruto revealed who his father was, and he already knew of him being a Jinchuuriki. The Root agent felt a strange pull in his stomach and wished Naruto's father didn't die sealing the Kyuubi into him for some reason. Pushing the feelings aside Sai gave Naruto a blank look, "I don't know what to say. I'm glad that you told me yourself but I don't see how this makes you any different than you already are."

Sai was once again confused when Naruto gave him a wide smile, "You know what Sai, every once in awhile you somehow say something that's really cool."

"I am still confused."

The guards patrolling the grounds wondered what was going on when they heard someone roaring in laughter.

* * *

><p>Sakura walked back towards the Wasabi household chewing on her bottom lip. She managed to learn that the Wagarashi family were the main importers of various drugs cultivated on the many small islands that were impossible for the weakened Kirigakure and Mizu no Kuni to patrol, and they supplied most of the big time drug lords across the elemental nations and the kunoichi was willing to bet Gato was helping them before his death. She found a dockworker wearing the symbol of the Wagarashi taking a break and managed to spirit him away for interrogation. After subjecting him to some of the nastier interrogation genjutsu she learned from Ino's mom the girl was able to find out that the ships also imported weapons, slaves which were mostly women, and imported and exported anything illegal they could make money on. Shortly after he spilled his guts she put him to sleep with a medical technique and dropped his body into the water face down. All that was secondary though to what the clone told her when it called her into a decrepit warehouse.<p>

**Flashback**

Sakura followed the clone into the decaying building wondering what was so important. **"Maybe he wants to confess his love for us." **Knowing that Naruto wouldn't do something like that on a mission she pushed her inner self aside and looked at the clone's face. He appeared nervous about something. He kept fidgeting and looking anywhere but her, not to mention he opened his mouth several times but promptly closed it without saying anything each time. "Naruto, you can tell me anything, you know that right?"

The blonde took a deep breath after that before facing her, though Sakura could still see the trepidation in his eyes, "The Sandaime asked me to inform you and Sai of something during the mission because he'll be announcing it while we're in the field, but you can't tell Temari. The story about the Kyuubi we were told as children is a lie. The Yondaime defeated the nine tails, but you can't kill a Bijuu, they're just masses of chakra held together by a strong will. Knowing that he couldn't beat the beast by normal means the Yondaime took his newborn son and sealed the Kyuubi into him to stop the beast's rampage. The populous learned of it and called for the child's blood ignorant of his heritage and the Sandaime was forced to make a law saying you cannot speak the truth of the Kyuubi attack or tell anyone. If someone broke it they would be executed after it was proven."

Sakura stared at Naruto wondering why he was beating around the bush, but she got a bad feeling about the whole thing, "Well who was the baby… wait it's you isn't it. That's why all the adults treat you weird." Naruto's head dropped hiding his eyes from her, and even though she knew it was just a clone Sakura squeezed it so hard it almost popped, "I'm so sorry Naruto. It must've been so hard for you, I'm so sorry."

The bunshin wrapped its arms around Sakura and squeezed her back whispering comforts, "Shh Sakura it's okay. I know you have a lot of questions but we'll talk when we get back to Konoha." The pinkette nodded into the clone's chest and wiped the stray tears from her eyes on its shirt. The clone squeezed her one more time before letting go and stepping back. "I'll see you when you get back Sakura-chan."

**Flashback End**

Sakura ran along the outside of the stonewall before leaping over it while the sentries were looking elsewhere. She then jumped over the hedgerows until she reached the wing of the house they were in and walked up the wall until she reached a window and opened it before slipping in. Shutting it behind her the genin exited Naruto's bedroom to see the blonde in a meditative position. She crept out of the room careful not to disturb Naruto and breathed a sigh of relief before slinking off to her room to change out of the civilian clothes. Sakura returned to the blonde's apartment and she silently thanked god that Temari was in the room. Giving the older kunoichi a begrudging nod Sakura went to the fridge to get some juice and waited for their team leader to wake up. They didn't sit long as Naruto's cerulean blue eyes shot open shortly after Sakura arrived and he immediately opened a map and started furiously scribbling as he bent over the table.

The two girls tried to make sense of it but he was drawing so fast it was impossible to get a good look. Naruto put his pen down and laid the map on the table before unfolding a blank one and placing it next to his marked one. "Temari-chan I want you to go to your room and rest up after this because tomorrow morning you and Sai will be leaving early and heading to the boats to inspect ours and keep it safe from any sabotage, there's a map with the route marked in your room. Sakura and I will trail Idate and meet up with you guys at the boats. We'll all travel together from that point on until the end of the race, but thats the best case scenario. We need to have someone with Idate at all times so if we have to fight we'll be forced to separate because we can't slow him down, and if shinobi are behind it then we'll probably have to fight." Naruto pointed to four places that were heavily marked. "These four areas plus the boat ride are the most obvious places for ambush, but thankfully only one of them is before we meet up at the boats. The woods are abnormally thick in areas and the river is incredibly deep and fast moving and it makes crossing this river impossible except for one area where it turns into a fjord. It's an excellent choke point and the perfect place for someone with a water nature, fortunately I have some suiton jutsu of my own. After the boat ride we'll form a box around the runner and leap through the trees for maximum protection, that way."

The blonde slid his finger across the map before pausing at a line that stretched across the page, "Almost twenty miles down the trail is a ravine so when we get within five miles of the entrance Sai and Sakura will move ahead and check the area for enemy shinobi. This area is a ravine that is unstable on top of the cliffs so we'll have to go through. You two should have no problems moving on both sides of the cliff and making sure nobody plans to cave it in on us. After that we come to the densest area of the forest and it's impossible to get through unless you run through the designated path, but I think it looks more like a tunnel through trees. I'll send some clones ahead to flush out any traps because even shinobi would be hard pressed to strike quickly after entangling themselves in the trees so if the Wagarashi runner gets a lead I can guarantee that the path will be heavily trapped. Finally after that is a bridge. I'll go forward with Temari and we'll check out the area and keep the bridge from getting cut down. After that it should be a dead sprint to the finish so we'll stay near the runner and make sure nobody can get the jump on him. Sakura go relieve Sai and tell him to come to my room. You get to bed Temari, the race starts at eight and I want you guys at the boats by four."

The two girls left to carry out his orders while Naruto stared at the maps and reviewed his plan over and over again, looking for any flaws that could get his precious people killed.

* * *

><p>A beggar slunk through the north side of town, rummaging through the alleys until he neared the city limits. Seeing nobody was looking down the alley he was scrounging in the beggar slipped into a hidden tunnel to get into the Wagarashi household that was only known to several top members of the family. The tunnel was primarily used for sending out agents without anyone knowing though its original purpose was for a secure way out of the house if it needed to be evacuated. Once he emerged behind a thick bush near the greenhouse the man strode confidently across the grounds and through the maze looking like he owned the place despite the looks he was receiving from the residents and staff, but nobody would dare question someone who walked like they owned the place no matter how strange the person, though the guards were notified he was coming.<p>

The man rounded a corner and saw two burly men standing in front of carved oak doors. Reaching into his tattered brown cloak the man pulled out a fine jade figurine. It was a large tree with an intricate root system, and it looked like the small statue could buy him enough food for a month. The vagabond didn't break his stride while put the carving back into his cloak and the two burly men stepped aside and opened the doors to grant him access to the founder of the Wagarashi Family and it's leader, Boss Kyuroko. The filthy man looked out of place in the room filled with fineries like crystal decanters no doubt filled with whiskey older than he was, or the fine pieces of art that adorned the walls. Even his filthy feet, sans shoes, looked strange standing on top of the ornate Persian rug leaving trails of dirt on the pristine carpet. Despite this the head of the Wagarashi family appeared to defer to the man as he gave him a respectful nod, "I've done as you asked and hired Rokusho Aoi from Amegakure for an extra fee to sabatoge the Wasabi tomorrow."

The vagrant stared at the finely dressed man with cold eyes, "Do not make it seem like you are going out of your way Kyuroko, you know very well the reward promised will more than make up for any expense that you can incur. My master is generous and merciless, do not anger him, and since I am representing him do not anger me."

Boss Kyuroko placed his palms together and held his hands over his bowed head, "Yes I am sorry, please forgive me for my stupidity." Seeing the man gave no outward reaction to his plea Kyuroko continued thinking he was off the hook, "Yes well it seems Jirocho has hired a team from Konoha to protect the runner, but it seems they are all children, except one has a vest that the higher ranked ninja usually wear."

"Do not underestimate the leaf. It is a major power and therefore it can set a higher standard for promotion than a smaller village like Ame that needs the numbers. However you don't have to worry because their presence has already been accounted for. You shall receive your reward regardless of the outcome."

Kyuroko sighed in relief when the man turned and exited the room with door closing loudly behind the stony faced man and Kyuroko poured himself a tall glass of liquor before draining it in a gulp and pouring another, "I think I need to retire and take a trip somewhere nice after this job."

* * *

><p>The beggar slipped into the same abandoned warehouse that Naruto told Sakura about his heritage and burden in and placed the jade carving on top of a collapsed wall. He then sat in a metal chair before tying his feet to its legs. He then slumped forward before looking up and at his surroundings in a panic. Before he could scream an arm burst forward from the shadow behind him and a kunai slit his throat and cut his vocal chords leaving him unable to make noise as he thrashed about in death throes with blood spilling down the front of his body despite him blocking the gash with his hands. Suddenly a figure in a black cloak with the hood up and an animal mask with green marking stepped out from the shadow with the bloody kunai extended. He wiped the blood off the kunai on the dead man's soiled rags before placing it in his pack and grabbed the jade statue placing it in his cloak. Making sure the item was secure the figure sat in a meditative position and called out to his master, 'Danzo-sama, I have done as you ordered and the Wagarashi have hired Aoi."<p>

He sat patiently feeling for his masters thoughts before latching onto the thread he was looking for, "Here is your next task Fu, go to the Daimyo's city in Cha and place the documents I gave you in the drop point for our spy in his court. Once wind of it gets to the Daimyo he'll have the Wagarashi executed. I can think of no better reward than release from this cursed world for Kyuroko and his wretched ilk. Once the family is arrested I want you to take Team Epsilon and discreetly secure his illegal operations so we can increase Root's funding for the coming storm."

"It shall be done master."

* * *

><p>Sai was getting ready to go to bed when he remembered his orders from Danzo. Usually such things would be at the front of his mind, but the pale boy was trying to decipher the strange feelings he was getting as of late. Once again pushing the strange fluttering in his stomach to the back of his mind Sai undid the seal and began reading. As he got further down the scroll his hands gripped tighter and eventually the scroll ripped in two and Sai stared at the pieces in confusion, 'Why do I want to tear this scroll to shreds? It will simply disintegrate in two more minutes.' The pale boy frowned as he sat in the bed, all thoughts of sleep forgotten. He sat unmoving for two hours before he finally blew out the candle by his bedside. There was no way he was going to intentionally sabotage his team so he could retrieve the Raijin blade for Root. Sai lay in bed and looked up at the ceiling, 'I don't think I could live with myself if I put Naruto and Sakura in danger like that. I'll find a better way to accomplish the mission and strengthen Konoha.'<p>

* * *

><p>There's chapter twenty one, my story can legally buy alcohol in the United States now. I know the Tea mission was B-rank in canon, but Aoi ambushed Jirocho's men before they reached Konoha so the difficulty level would be increased in that scenario. On a different note I'm also closing in on two hundred thousand words and my review count is steadily rising which makes me happy. Anyway I wanted to get this out faster but I rewrote the first chapter because it was so short and it's so much better, though I still have a long way to go and you'll have to wait for it. Anyway a little more set up, bet you didn't see Danzo sticking his wrinkly sharingan covered hand in here, did ya? Yes it's another scheme to increase his power to protect Konoha, though he won't be involved in the next mission. I've also tried to make him and the Sandaime mirror images of each other trying to protect their village with different methods almost like how Naruto and Sasuke are two sides of the same coin. If Danzo became Hokage would Hiruzen be operating a clandestine organization under his nos? And I know I haven't given Akatsuki many pages but they aren't really active yet. I've hinted that the rebellion in Ame is complete, introduced Tobi and they've captured the Nanabi but they don't want to emerge from the shadows just yet because they still don't have Oro's ring and need to recruit two more members. Anyway more fights next chapter and I can't wait. The Tsunade ones may have been lacking, but it was to show how the generations keep growing. Naruto and Nawaki are roughly the same age and Nawaki probably got advanced training since he was a child but Naruto is stronger, at least in my story, I don't know how strong Nawaki was in canon. Also I wanted Jiraiya to vent and kick the crap out of Dan and give him more depth than I just forgive everybody because I want world peace, I've tried to make his character have a little more reality to it. He's still a nice guy but there is a feeling of bitterness buried underneath. Also had to have Tsunade and Tayuya underperform to motivate them a little and get them off their fat asses. I promise that these next fights will be much better and it won't just be Team Naruto vs Team Aoi. Two more chapters, then I'll jump right into the next mission. After that's done you'll have to wait till I edit the first part till you get the training trip, but it'll be worth the wait. Also I just realized that I rambled so sorry for the long author's note, read and review.<p>

-Operaman Bye Bye


	22. Mission Debriefing, WTF happened in tea?

This story is not abandoned, I've been working 11 hours a night at our family business because it's falling behind on a project so writing hasn't been high on my priority list, though I do have three chapters rewritten. Anyways I'll try to get something like a chapter a month or something until my schedule changes.

-Operaman

* * *

><p>The Sandaime Hokage used his wrinkled hands to massage his temples and tried to absorb the details from the mission debriefing. The wizened man closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and exhaled before opening his wise brown eyes to take in the team before him. It seemed young Naruto was a magnet for trouble, c-rank missions routinely turned into encounters with high level shinobi.<p>

The blonde chuunin was truly embarrassed about what happened, but there was no reasonable explanation. Even his teammates didn't understand what happened, it just didn't make sense. "Naruto there had to be something you left out, there's a missing piece of the puzzle somewhere."

None of the shinobi would make eye contact with the Hokage and Naruto furrowed his brow as he tried to recall any missing details, "I don't think I left anything out Hokage-sama."

The wizened kage smiled as he watched the young blonde continue maturing from a young prankster into a fine man, "Then we aren't making the connections that are there, perhaps you should repeat the story once more."

"Well it started like this…"

**Flashback**

Naruto and Sakura arrived with Jirocho to meet the two runners who had a private breakfast with the Tea Daimyo and his closest advisors before the race. The head of the Wasabi family was wearing a light blue hakama with the kanji for Wasabi on the back made of fine silk over a canary yellow kimono made of the same material. The two shinobi waited an appropriate distance away while the two rival family leaders exchanged a stiff handshake. The head of the Wagarashi family was a reedy looking man with shifty eyes and a cocky smirk under a black moustache. Like Jirocho his clothing was made using only the finest silk. He wore a lime green hakama over a black kimono. After the tense handshake the members of the two families let go of their hidden weapons and their leaders turned and bowed before the Daimyo as he emerged with the two runners behind him. Someone made an announcement proclaiming the runners name but as soon as Naruto saw the Wasabi runner his eyes narrowed and Sakura pulled on the back of his coat and gave him a look reminding him they were supposed to protect the boy and not do anything to hurt him or his chances of winning.

After a short introduction to the audience the two runners accompanied their sponsors back to their respective families and Idate's face paled when he recognized the two shinobi. Naruto slid through the crowd surrounding the two and confronted the teen who left his bill with them, "So I was lucky enough to see you again."

The boy took a step back and waved his hands in front of his body, "I don't know what you're talking about, I've never seen you before in my life."

Naruto growled and took a step forward, "That's bullshit, if it wasn't my job I'd side with the other runner. You shoved you're bill off on us and I want my money back, with interest."

Any reply Idate had was cut off by Jirocho's heavy hand resting on his shoulder and the disapproving frown directed at him, "Idate… after this race you will do exactly what this young man requested whether you win or lose. I also expect you to apologize for your actions and thank these fine shinobi for protecting you despite them."

The runner gave a defeated sigh and bowed to Naruto and Sakura, "I'm sorry for my actions, and I would like to thank you for continuing to protect me even though I don't deserve it."

The apology took the wind out of Naruto's sails and he lost some of his bluster, "Whatever, just don't do it again."

Jirocho clapped the two boys on the shoulder and gave the three teens a cheerful smile, "Well the race is about to start so get to the starting line Idate, and I expect you two to make sure he gets back safely."

Naruto and Sakura gave him a firm nod and watched as the official launched a flare into the sky signaling the start of the race.

* * *

><p>Naruto paused and tried to exam the race with more detail before continuing his report, "Sakura and I shadowed Idate. I made some Kage Bunshins and had most form a perimeter and sent the remainder forward to act as scouts. Everything was going smoothly until we got the fjord where the runners were supposed to cross."<p>

**Flashback continues**

Idate was running next to the trying to find where the river became narrower and shallower so he could cross, even a jounin would have difficulty water walking across the rapidly flowing waters. The runner went around a bend and smiled as he saw the fjord but seven figures burst out of the water holding kunai knives that glinted in the sunlight. Idate let out a scream and dropped to the ground as seven green and black blurs intercepted the ambushers, but they only passed through. Idate saw the kunai they launched and was confident it was just an illusion, until one hit him and scratched his cheek. The Naruto clones surrounded him and drew kunai of their own and attempted to deflect every projectile coming their way although most went through their knives.

More and more bodies slowly rose from the surface of the river and it became apparent they were clones of three different people with headbands bearing the symbol of Amegakure, four vertical lines in a row. One wore a bandana style headband covering his head, but the other two had brown hair. One stood up much like Konohamaru's and the other's was short and spiked straight up. They all had white bandanas around their eyes. The one with the bandana had a hole revealing his right eye, the genin with the short hair had both eyes covered, and the other had two eyes visible. All of them wore rebreathers and had matching pale yellow jumpsuits that looked like straightjackets.

The clones wasted no time and rushed at Idate only for the trees surrounding him to become engulfed in smoke as a horde of Naruto clones rushed out to meet the charge and one turned his head to the runner, "Keep going, we'll cover you."

The brunette heeded the clone's advice and burst into motion once more only for Sakura and the real Naruto to drop from the canopy and run beside him. When they got to the shallow stretch more clones rose from the water, but instead of summoning more clones the blonde smirked and made three quick seals and left his hands in the sign of the bird, "Uzumaki Hijutsu: Mizu no Tatsumaki." (Tornado of Water)

Sakura stared in awe as a massive cyclone of water formed and engulfed the entire fjord and cleared the way for the three to run across unhindered. As they got across more clones burst from the water but Sakura turned and launched five shuriken before forming a quick series of seals, "Shuriken Kage Bunshin no Jutsu."

The five shuriken multiplied into twenty five and went through the clones but deflected the barrage of shuriken that their approach hid. Naruto gave her a surprised look and she just gave him a smirk, "It was in the scrolls Kaka-sensei gave me, you didn't think I was going to let you have all the fun?"

The chuunin responded with a foxy grin and formed a cross with his fingers spawning more shadow clones to cover their retreat as the three put on a burst of speed."

* * *

><p>The Sandaime tapped his pipe on the ashtray interrupting the report, "You said earlier that you could feel them following you, but they veered off… do you have any idea why?"<p>

Naruto nodded, "I have a theory." Seeing the Hokage nod Naruto continued, "We were running up the beach to meet Temari and Sai at the boat we saw their runner coming from the dunes, they probably took the same shortcut as the runner to beat us to the boats."

**Flashback Continues**

Temari and Sai stood protectively in front of the Wasabi boat as the Wagarashi runner hopped into his. They sensed someone entering the boat from the water, but they let it happen because a fight could've damaged the boats. They didn't have to wait much longer for the rest of their team and Idate hopped right into the boat as Sakura, Sai, and Naruto started pushing. Temari just laughed at their effort, "Hop into the boat and open the sail."

They followed her instructions and she opened her fan to one moon then sent forth several gusts of wind pushing the wooden hull off the sandy shores before gliding into the boat on her fan. She touched down gracefully on the deck and folded her fan before facing her three squad members, "Am I glad to see you guys, waiting with pale face over there was like talking to a tree… a tree that makes dumbass comments."

Sai just rubbed the bruise under his jaw and gave the sandy blonde a plastic smile, "What, I was just complimenting you by saying your breasts are large and men like that, unlike flat chested women such as Sakura."

The root agent was slammed to the deck courtesy of a fist and iron fan. While Sai regained his bearings Temari would occasionally feed the sails allowing the boat to gain on the other runner's. When they were within fifty meters the clones started rising from the water and Naruto groaned, "Not again, don't these guys have any other tricks."

Temari raised her eyebrow at the clone army, it wasn't nearly as many as Naruto could summon but still impressive, "Is there anything special about those clones?"

Sakura shook her head, "There illusionary like the Bunshin no Jutsu, but the real ones are hidden among them and launch attacks from different angles and mix them with the illusions making it hard to discern the real attack."

Temari tore her gaze from the horde and started swinging her fan into the sail, "You guys keep them busy, I'll knock the boat off course if I use any fuuton jutsu. Once we get in front of them I'll be able to cover the rear."

Naruto nodded and summoned some clones to meet their enemies' charge while Sai pulled out a scroll bringing forth a school of ink sharks. The clones fell easily enough, but like Sakura said they kept reforming, and unlike shadow clones the chakra cost is miniscule-even Naruto had to run out of chakra at some point. To make matters worse after the initial gain it appears that they weren't making any more progress and Temari frowned, "They must be using a suiton jutsu to speed up their boat… I don't think I can get us ahead of them because they can keep theirs going constantly, but they have to be near the boat to do it."

Naruto looked on and was fearful to launch any jutsu and sink the boat. They had to protect Idate, not take out the competition. The blonde refused to stoop to their level, but the water between the boats was filled with the Oboro Bunshins (Fog Clones) and any clone that got too close was dispelled by a hidden attack. They couldn't pull away from the enemy boat and couldn't get close to stop it. Suddenly a devious grin made its way onto Naruto's face, "Temari on my signal I want you to give the boat as much wind as it can handle and Sai I want you to take the rudder and shift it so we're turning hard to the right."

Seeing they understood Naruto summoned another horde of Kage Bunshin and sent them to the water as the Wagarashi boat put some distance between them leaving the haze clones in their wake. Instead of charging Naruto's clones spaced out around the haze clones and got down on one knee with their right hands in the water. Many were dispelled, but three genin throwing kunai and shuriken had no hope of dispelling enough clones to make a difference. The water around the clone horde started to spin lazily and the real Naruto yelled out, "Now."

Suddenly the lazy spin turned into a full blown whirlpool as the Wasabi boat pulled hard to the right away from the dangerously spinning waters before correcting its course while the Ame genin screamed in pain through their rebreathers.

* * *

><p>Sarutobi tapped the end of his pipe on his chin, "You never detained the Ame genin, is it possible that they did it?"<p>

Naruto looked back at his team before shaking his head, "No, we already discussed that. Those three may have been able to do it, but they would leave evidence. There were nothing at the scene except for the body, no tracks or scents at all. Also after the defeat of their jounin sensei I doubt that they would want to continue the mission."

The Sandaime seemed to think it over before agreeing, "Yes that would be unlikely, but at this point we cannot discount any theory. Please continue."

"Right, well we saw the Wagarashi runner make land and we got there five minutes after. We then continued the race as a group until Sai and Sakura went ahead to secure the ravine we would have to run through. There was no sign of trouble and I sent clones ahead of us to take out the traps they set. It wasn't until a mile before the bridge where we split up that we ran into trouble."

* * *

><p>Naruto looked around trying to find the landmarks his clones saw that would indicate it was time to split up. Finally he saw the gnarled tree and hopped over to Temari after sending clones to tell Sakura and Sai they were splitting up. He couldn't help but admire the Suna kunoichi's legs as they propelled her gracefully through the trees and her skirt kept riding up. Shaking away the unprofessional thoughts Naruto landed next to her on the branch she was jumping at, "We're going to go ahead and scout out the bridge, I already let Sakura and Sai know."<p>

Temari gave him a nod and the two burst into motion and blurred through the treetops. As they got closer to the bridge Naruto got an uneasy feeling in his stomach and gave a hand signal to Temari that they had some company. She signaled she understood and as soon as they burst into the clearing in front of the rickety wooden bridge an open umbrella appeared above them and began spinning rapidly and spitting out senbon. Temari deflected the rain of needles with a blast of wind from her fan and Naruto turned rapidly while unsheathing his saber to parry the glowing yellow blade that looked like a lightning bolt.

The man holding the sword had his Ame headband obscured by his medium length green hair. He wore a black vest that had two wide white striped going down the side that met up with white stripes on the outside of his pants legs while the black stripe in the middle came down to the inside of his pants that were almost black. He had purple eyes that widened as he jumped back, "That's impressive, not many blades can parry an attack from the raijin no ken."

The Ame jounin burst into motion slashing at the blonde who managed to get an awkward block up, the green haired man did a full spin to the left slashing his sword horizontally at Naruto's torso but the chuunin managed to deflect the strike at the last second but it put him off balance. The jounin took full advantage and thrust the glowing point of the chakra blade at the blonde's chest but he allowed himself to tumble underneath the blade and rolled across the ground before facing the man once more.

The jounin wasn't a swordsman by any means, Naruto used his sharingan when he sparred Kakashi and his sensei's moves were more graceful and fluid whereas this man's motions were choppy and disjointed. However he was a fully grown man and a jounin. He was faster, stronger, and had a greater reach than Naruto and the Jinchuuriki wasn't good enough with the chakra saber to take advantage of the shinobi's flaws. Temari gave Naruto a pointed look and the blonde jumped back as the Ame nin charged again and dodged the slash as he brought his blade up parallel with his body but the jounin jumped back and dodged easily, but the blonde wasn't aiming for him. He used one of the abilities of his blade and in its wake was a thick cloud of white ash that blocked the jounin's view. Naruto took advantage of his blindness and shunshined away and Temari sent their opponent tumbling over the edge of the cliff. The fight was far from over though and he came charging back over the edge of the canyon and slashed the sword sending an electric arc at the blonde duo. Temari dispelled it with a swing of her fan and Naruto followed up with a kunai barrage.

The green haired man just laughed while raising his blade as it discharged electricity in long arcs and the kunai's course diverted and they all stuck to the raijin before dropping to the ground when the electricity faded. Temari sent another blast of wind at the laughing ninja but he collapsed into a puddle of water before impaling Naruto from behind with his sword. The blonde gasped before smirking and he disappeared in a cloud of smoke while Temari unleashed a blast of wind blades. The jounin had no time to dodge and was sliced by the vicious air blades, though he reinforced his skin with chakra so no major arteries or veins were sliced. He started to rise and before he could charge he heard a surprised gasp, "Aoi-sensei."

* * *

><p>The Sandaime was listening with his hands steepled on the desk until he raised one to halt the story, "Yes Aoi was Idate's jounin-sensei and was used by him much like Mizuki used you before running away, but we never placed enough value on him to attempt to bring him in. Perhaps Idate wasn't as fooled as we believed and was actually an agent of Amegakure in Cha no Kuni."<p>

Instead of Naruto it was Sai who spoke up, "That would be impossible Hokage-sama."

Sarutobi cocked an eyebrow, "Please continue."

"I was following Idate the whole time and he didn't use chakra except to increase his speed. The only way he could've done it is if he switched out with a shadow clone before the race."

The Hokage turned his attention back to Naruto, "Is there any point he could've switched that you remember."

The chuunin thought hard for several moments before answering, "No, and he could not have done it before the race because he was scratched by a kunai at the first ambush. Also he was genuinely surprised to see his sensei, and not pleasantly surprised."

The village leader turned towards the two kunoichi, "And what are your opinions on this matter?"

Temari answered first, quite comfortable in addressing a Kage because of her lineage, "I don't think he did either Hokage-sama. His chakra pool was nowhere near large enough to perform an effective Kage Bunshin, and other clone types can't use chakra."

Sakura followed up, "Also Idate looked at Jirocho with genuine respect and fondness, he could fool civilians but not a shinobi."

The Sandaime reclined in his chair, "Yes, but an important lesson you should all learn is underestimating someone is the greatest advantage you can give them. This boy was able to suppress his chakra well enough to throw off Kensuke's tracking and outrun one of your clones, but you don't give him any credit. For the record I don't think it was Idate either, but that is only because Ibiki confirmed that it wasn't his brother. Anyways please continue."

"Yeah well we were holding our own when Sai and Sakura showed up with Idate…"

**Flashback**

"Aoi-sensei."

Naruto turned to see Idate fall to his knees with a hopeless look in his eye and turned back to the Ame jounin"… sensei?"

The Ame jounin started laughing even harder, "That's right, I was Idate's jounin-sensei when we were both shinobi of Konoha. Of course that was before I tricked the pathetic fool into stealing the legendary sword wielded by the Nidaime Hokage, the raijin no ken."

Naruto looked between the two of them. He was confident that given enough time that Temari and him would've been able to win, but it could get risky and with the genin team defeated and the jounin here it didn't seem like there would be any more resistance, "Sai take Idate and continue the race, we'll hold him off."

The pale boy nodded and pulled the catatonic runner along only for Aoi to turn and cut the rope bridge with a lightning crescent. Naruto made a squad of clones and had some of them attack the jounin while the rest ran to the cliff edge and formed a human bridge across the canyon. Sai pulled out a scroll and summoned some ink lions that went into the foliage while Naruto created a clone bridge. "I'll leave some ink animals to give you some support, see you guys at the finish line."

Naruto nodded and turned his attention to the jounin. He dispelled all the clones and was fending off the combined attacks of Sakura and Temari. He ran towards the action while Sai dragged Idate over the bridge ignoring the cries of pain from the clones whenever a foot landed on their heads.

* * *

><p>Unbeknownst to Naruto a man was hidden in the foliage watching the fight. He was on a mission of his own when he stumbled across the battle, and an opportunity to retrieve two legendary swords was too good to pass up. Knowing that he wouldn't be able to explain his presence in an ally of Konoha the man silently removed his headband and put a slash in it with his kunai before retying it and turning his attention back to the battle. The three kids were good. The boy held the man's deadly sword at bay with his occasionally retreating to allow his teammates to get a shot in from afar. The man couldn't go on the offensive and he would eventually slip up. The kids could've gone far, it was to bad they would have to die today.<p>

One of the Suna girl's fuuton attacks almost pushed the man to the edge of the chasm, and if he fell in it would've made the raijin lost to the ages. Knowing it was now or never the man's arm was encased in lightning chakra and he burst into motion.

* * *

><p>Naruto felt a flare of chakra from behind him and as he turned a dark blur shot past him and by the time he turned back around Aoi's body hit the ground in two pieces. A black man wearing the standard Kumo jounin uniform stood behind the fallen body with his left arm extended and a sword of lightning crackling around it. He bent down to pick up the handle as he let the lightning dissipate and channeled his chakra into the blade causing it to reform before turning around and staring at the three shinobi from behind his sunglasses while speaking in a cold voice, "Give me the chakra saber and I'll let you leave peacefully."<p>

Naruto growled and held his hand up telling his team to wait for now, "Why would I do that? We outnumber you three to one and in case you didn't notice we were handling that other guy."

The bald shinobi started laughing, "That man didn't deserve the jounin vest he was wearing and he swung the sword around like an academy student. I was a jounin of Kumogakure before leaving and though I'm not an expert in kenjutsu I'm leagues ahead of either of you. One last chance, surrender the sword or die."

Naruto decided not to waste the opportunity given to them and disappeared in a blur, intent on using his saber to slice the man in half lengthwise. The jounin wasn't fazed though and casually shifted the raijin until it was perpendicular to his body and used it to block the chuunin's strike, "I guess I have my answer, if it's any comfort I respect your bravery and will make your deaths quick as possible."

Temari unfolded her fan until all three moons were showing and swung it at Naruto and the Kumo nin yelling, "Like it'll be that easy."

Naruto pushed with his sword against the raijin and lifted himself higher in the air allowing the wind to push him away and Sakura made several handsigns, "Ninpou: Dokugiri."

She exhaled a noxious cloud of purple smoke, which was caught in the wind and blew over the missing-nin. Naruto used a shunshin to escape the poison gas and took his place by the two girls, but when the smoke cleared only a log was there.

Naruto pushed the two kunoichi to the floor and just managed to deflect the strike from the raijin with his blade, but the jounin was undeterred and delivered a brutal kick to Naruto's ribs, but as he flew away he managed to let loose a brace of shuriken forcing the man to retreat and giving Sakura and Temari a chance to recover. The jounin landed and didn't push the attacks, just stood confidently facing his three opponents. Naruto reached down to where he was kicked and felt the cracks repairing themselves and took a deep breath. This opponent was on a whole 'nother level and he couldn't afford to hold back.

He reached up to his headband and one of the black man's eyebrows raised behind his glasses when Naruto began raising the cloth, but once the blonde revealed his sharingan a wicked grin was flashed his way, "This is too perfect. Not only do I get two legendary blades, but I also get a sharingan eye. Anything else I should know about before I rip that eye from your socket?"

He received no answer except for the three to charge him once more. He dodged a Goukuuhou launched from the blonde boy before blocking the follow up jab, but after he blocked the punch Naruto grabbed his forearm and used it to spin himself around the jounin's right side and deliver a spin kick to the side of his face.

The Kumo nin moved with the blow and let himself fall to the ground before rolling to put some distance between him and the charging teens. He heard something whistling as it flew through the air while he was rolling and used his chakra to propel him faster barely dodging the senbon the pink haired girl launched at him leaving a trail of steel behind him. When he regained his footing he had to channel chakra into his feet so he wouldn't get pushed over the edge of the cliff by the wind blast, but he figured it was the lesser of two evils when a handful of kunai were launched at him with burning explosive tags trailing behind them.

Jei cut the chakra flow to his feet and pushed the raijin into the ground allowing it to slow his progress enough for him to safely grab the side of the cliff and anchor himself using chakra, but as soon as he went over the distinctive thud of kunai piercing the earth was followed by the sizzling sound an explosive tag makes before detonating.

"Shit." Jei started running along the side of the cliff as the tags detonated destroying the cliff wall where he was just hanging. After moving one hundred meters away from the blast the jounin launched himself in the air and made several one handed seals, but instead of the jutsu launching itself from his hand the raijin blade crackled blue with electricity and when he announced the name it flew from the sword, "Raiton: Raikyu." A ball of lightning larger than anything Jei ever created before was launched from the sword towards the three teens.

Jei never expected the attack to hit, though it would've been nice, instead he used it to split the three up and it worked to perfection. These kids were better than expected and he couldn't let them regroup once more. The jounin focused on the pink one first. He already saw the medic pack attached to her leg so she would have to be taken out first so she couldn't heal the other two and keep them in the fight. The girl saw his intent and shakily held a handful of senbon in her right hand while throwing several pellets with her left.

To her surprise the black shinobi burst through the poison smoke so she launched her senbon, but they went through the man's body and Sakura could only mutter a surprised "Bunshin" before the ground under her began to shake and a pillar of electricity rose from the ground eliciting a scream of agony from the pinkette. The jounin then raised the sword and focused on creating a Raikyu and aimed it at the medic, but before he could launch it he had to turn and block a slash from the boy's chakra saber leaving him open for the other kunoichi to attack with her fan from behind. The jounin used his superior strength to push the boy away and turned to meet the girl and cut off her arms holding the heavy iron fan at the elbows. She only smirked and turned into her teammate before disappearing in a puff of smoke and her fan was engulfed with another cloud of smoke and the real girl emerged smashing the jounin in the side with her real fan.

The man was able to roll with the hit but was blown away by the blonde chuunin using a Daitoppa. He rose to his feet and saw more clones of the boy carrying the unconscious girl away from the battle. Taking note of the direction they were travelling Jei formed more one handed signs as the two conscious shinobi charged him and the raijin began crackling once more before he called out, "Raiton: Jibashi." Like before the jutsu was stronger than his usual Jibashi despite using one handed seals and a web of lightning surrounded him before branching off catching both blondes in its deadly grasp.

After ten seconds he dropped the jutsu and the two dropped to the ground while their bodies were smoking. Jei smirked and approached the chuunin, "Be thankful that I need you alive to remove the eye, it saved the life of your little girlfriend. Now I need to be careful when I take out the sharingan, don't want it to get damaged before I implant it."

To Jei's surprise the boy began pushing himself to his feet causing him to stop his approach, but when he stood up the boy had to brace himself against the tree to the black man continued his approach, "You've got guts kid, I'll give you that. You need more than guts though to thrive in the world of shinobi."

The missing-nin was within fifteen feet of Naruto and the Kyuubi's chakra wasn't healing him fast enough, and according to the fox using too much his chakra when his body was in this state would have bad consequences, like his organs failing. Knowing that his luck was about to expire along with him Naruto was about to let himself fall to the ground when a roar broke the silence and two ink lions burst out from the foliage and they both grabbed one of the jounin's arms forcing him to stop.

Naruto saw his chance and dug deep trying to summon and mold his chakra into a spiraling sphere. The blonde could see the man's eyebrows raise and watched as he struggled against the iron grip of the lions. Naruto couldn't summon anymore chakra and looked down to see the rasengan spinning, but threads of chakra were bleeding off into the air. Not wasting anymore time he rushed at the man intent on finishing the fight now while he could. The blonde ran at the restrained jounin, but as he lined the rasengan up with the man's chest the raijin blade extended piercing one of the lions and he used it to dispel the other one, but he couldn't dodge the jutsu.

The ball of chakra missed his chest, but hit his left arm at the elbow separating it in a shower of blood. The pain caused the raijin blade to dispel and the man turned before running across the bridge, but before Naruto could pursue he fell forward to the ground as his vision began to blur, but before it faded into black a pink blob bent down in front of him and put something in his mouth and made him chew.

Suddenly the blonde felt a surge of energy and rose to his feet to see Sakura being supported by one of his clones as she fed Temari a soldier pill. Once sure that everything was okay Naruto led the girls in pursuit of the missing-nin. They didn't get very far though until they came upon his body lying in a pool of his own blood, but the sword was nowhere nearby.

* * *

><p>The Sandaime Hokage raised his hand cutting the blonde off, "That's more than enough Naruto, I know what happens next. You summoned as many clones as you could and stayed to search while sending the two girls ahead to inform everyone the danger passed. However you couldn't find the blade or signs of anyone else in the area."<p>

Naruto just nodded unable to meet his leader's eyes, "Yes Hokage-sama. There was no sign that anyone else was in the area and no sign of foul play. Even Kensuke couldn't find anything."

The leader nodded once while stroking his beard, "That's fine Naruto, I don't blame you for this. You used everything at your disposal and didn't find anything, and I know that the raijin is a legendary blade but I think getting up and walking away is beyond the abilities of the sword. Team Naruto is dismissed."

The Hokage watched them walk away before flipping through the most recent copy of Kumo's bingo book that they were able to recover. It was almost three months old, but Kumogakure has one of the lowest defection rates, mostly because the defectors are all found and killed before they can get out of the country so only the best of the best are able to escape and become missing-nin, but those shinobi are also given many privileges so many of them don't want to leave, and like he suspected nobody matching the description of the man was in the book. Knowing that he was pursuing a dead end the aged Hokage replaced the book and sighed before lighting a pipe.

The only explanation that was feasible to him was the man wasn't a missing-nin but an actual Kumo jounin on a team. Once he failed they were forced to kill him and take the sword before retreating. However the old man couldn't shake the feeling that he was missing something, that Kumo didn't have the sword.

* * *

><p>Naruto dismissed the team after they left the Hokage tower and now Sai made his way back to his apartment confident that he completed the mission with no one aware that he did. The pale boy sent an ink clone with Idate, he used the substitution with the ink clone he summoned and then a henge to appear as the third lion that never appeared in battle. The boy sat in the trees and waited for his opportunity. Luckily nobody except Danzo knew that he needed to be within a certain distance of his creations and direct them personally unless he gave them very detailed instructions like he gave to the ink clone. As the jounin approached Naruto Sai knew he could wait no longer. Luckily the jounin was too caught up in his apparent victory to register the ambush and Naruto had enough left in the tank to make the rasengan. To make things even better he didn't need to command the ink beasts to let the man go because he was able to dispel them and he wasn't fatally injured.<p>

As the man made his escape Sai pulled out two small scrolls. One had five birds the size of a small owl, and the other one was filled with decorative insects. He touched his fingers on a bird and small fly and they rose from the scrolls before leaving to carry out his instructions. The bird flew above the forest while the fly took off after the retreating Kumo nin. Eventually the bug caught up and landed on his bleeding stump before forcing it's way into the blood stream allowing the poison laced ink to take affect. After another five minutes the man collapsed and the owl flew into the forest before picking up the handle of the sword in its talons and delivering it to its creator before flying a mile down stream and dissolving in the river allowing the water to remove all traces of its existence.

* * *

><p>There it is people the tea mission is finally done, I wanted to do a chapter like this for awhile (The flashback thing with brief interludes into the present). Team Naruto finally took on a capable jounin, I don't know Jei's stats, but the Raikage wouldn't send an incompetent to spy on Sasuke and Akatsuki. I didn't put him on Kakashi's level (Low S-rank in the story), but I wanted to have him above the level of an average jounin and tried to show the limitations of my characters, when they attacked like a team they were able to keep him on the run but not defeat him and when he split them up it wasn't that hard to take them out. They're strong for geninrookie chuunin but still small fish in the sea. There are consequences to the story, but I'll address them briefly next chapter. Also Sarutobi knows the Kumo jounin wasn't a missing-nin. Anyways I'm to lazy to make a jutsu list because I used all of them in earlier chapters. Also about Naruto not using the Kyuubi or sword healing power at the end. One Kyuubi's chakra is incredibly toxic despite Naruto being around it since birth, his body was shot and his chakra was running low so he wouldn't be able to handle the strain. The chakra wouldn't have killed him but he would've been put into a temporary coma. The sword used its stored chakra to heal Naruto after the test and it hasn't been long enough for it to completely recharge.


	23. It's good to be home?

Kabuto quickly made his way through the dingy corridors of the hidden base they were occupying wondering why he was summoned to the unpredictable Orochimaru. The teen approached a pair of ornate doors that swung open as he got close allowing him to walk through the threshold before slamming shut behind him. The room was dimly lit by a sparse collection of candles, but they blew out one by one and it became pitch black. Suddenly Orochimaru's serpentine voice echoed from seemingly everywhere in the lightless chamber, "You're early Kabuto."

The spy resisted the urge to look around the room knowing that even if the room was well lit he would still have no chance of finding his master if he didn't want to be found, "I came as soon as I received your summons Orochimaru-sama."

"Ah but you were in the middle of an examination if I'm not mistaken. What if I wanted the results?" Orochimaru asked before chuckling. His laughter softly echoed through the room then trailed to nothingness leaving the medic in silence until a voice came from directly behind Kabuto, he could feel the breath on the back of his neck, "Hmm, I can't help but feel you were trying to catch me of guard _Ka-bu-to_-_kun._"

He said the last part with a saccharine inflection, almost teasing, but it made Kabuto freeze with fear, "O-of course not, I received your summons and dropped everything."

Kabuto fell to his knees gasping for breath and clutched his heart, afraid that it would explode under the pressure of Orochimaru's killer intent.

As quickly as it started the sensation stopped and Kabuto took a deep breath before looking around in surprise seeing the room was well lit and Orochimaru was sitting in a large cushioned chair with his cheek resting on his fist looking incredibly bored, "How disappointing Kabuto… I didn't think you would succumb to that little trick, at least watching you scurry around for my favor is amusing."

It took Kabuto several moments before he could breathe properly and stand, but as soon as he did the medic bowed and asked, "What is it you require of me Orochimaru-sama?" in a shaky voice.

"You have cleared Kimimaro completely, correct? There have been no signs of the disease since Tsunade's procedure."

Kabuto pushed his glasses up and took a second to center himself, "None, it seems Tsunade-sama's medical genius wasn't exaggerated. There's no trace of the mutation but he's still not at one hundred percent because of how long he's been out of commission."

Orochimaru sat up straight in his chair and smirked, "It's time for me to stop looking at Otogakure as a stepping stone to greatness and make it a reflection of myself, perfection. I need to start consolidating my powerbase now, so go to northgate and send Kimimaro out to our potential recruit instead of returning with the others after they booby trap the base to blow for the boobies coming from Konoha. Tell him to get everything that he can take and leave. That operation has borne unexpected profit but I fear that we've been pushing it too far."

"I'll get on it right away, I'm sure Kimimaro will be happy to be of use again." Kabuto was about to turn and carry out the order but his curiosity got the better of him, "Might I be so bold as to ask, what you will be doing Orochimaru-sama."

The snake summoner chuckled darkly and hissed out, "Someone has been keeping secrets from me and I intend to do something about it." He followed his statement with a potent burst of killing intent that made Kabuto's entire body freeze, but his master spoke in a soothing tone right after, "Be at ease Kabuto it's not you, I know everything you're hiding from me."

Kabuto walked through the open doors and shuddered when they closed. He knew better than to relax around someone like Orochimaru.

* * *

><p>Naruto navigated the twists and turns of Konoha's back alleys after parting ways with his team. Normally he'd walk down more public streets, but considering what was just announced he didn't feel like dealing with people. After coming back from a mission and disappointing the old man he just wanted to shower, eat some ramen, and pass out until tomorrow. However as he got closer and closer to his apartment he noticed that more people than usual were on the secondary streets that he usually walked down. In fact most people took note that he used these streets and tried to avoid them in their attempt to deny his existence. People generally walked down the one main path that went directly through the middle of the village before splitting off onto a secondary street as they got closer to their destination, but today it looked like everyone had business around his house… which was in a sparsely populated residential neighborhood. Not mentally prepared for dealing with the villagers, negatively or positively, the blonde took to the rooftops to avoid the crowd and snuck in through a hallway window near his apartment.<p>

Naruto shrugged off his chunin vest and fished out his key, ready to relax in his quiet apartment, but as he opened the door a shuriken embedded itself in the doorframe next to his head and the teen yelped before losing his balance and falling backwards. The door opened wider and Tayuya poked her head out before noticing the blonde sprawled out in the hallway, "Oh it's you, come inside I guess."

Naruto sighed as he stood up, "Why did it sound like she invited me into my own home. She even made it sound like I was unwelcome too." Naruto trudged through the door and looked around, "Maybe this isn't my place after all."

It seemed like everything in his apartment had been changed. Before he had a small tan and maroon plaid couch and a recliner that was light green in front of a small table that he would put his ramen on while watching TV. Now there was a dark red couch, where Tsunade sat, that had two gold colored chairs with footstools in front of a six foot mahogany table that was about three feet high. His crappy television was replaced with a nicer one that sat on a mahogany stand. Even his shoddy fold out kitchen table and chairs were gone, replaced with a circular table made of maple with four maple chairs placed around it that matched the trim and cabinets in the homely kitchen. Naruto whistled and walked into his room, relieved to find it was untouched, "You guys were busy while I was gone."

Shizune came out of the kitchen and gave Naruto a hug, "Yes well your apartment was well… it needed a woman's touch."

Naruto sat in one of the new chairs and tested it's bounce before asking, "Where did you guys get the money, I thought baa-chan was shitty at gambling and was massively in debt, GAH! What the hell nee-chan."

Shizune loomed over Naruto with a stern scowl that made him want to swallow the soap in his mouth and curl into the fetal position, "Don't use language like that in the apartment."

Naruto grabbed a tissue and spat the chunks of soap into it, "What language should I use then, Swahili? Besides it's my apartment, I'll talk how I want."

Tsunade saw the signs of an angry lecture where Naruto would get guilt tripped and decided to spare him, but mostly her by proxy, two hours of it. "If the brat wants to be a pissy little teenager let him. And to answer your question Jiraiya has a lot of money."

Naruto closed his eyes and nodded sagely, "Ero-sennin does have a lot of money, and he loves boobs. It must have been easy to convince him to lend you some."

Tsunade sweat-dropped, "Yeah let's go with that." The busty medic decided to ignore any hidden connotations in that comment because Naruto didn't seem like a deep thinker. A point which was proven when Shizune placed some rice balls on the coffee table and he immediately shoved three in his mouth and started choking before her assistant performed the Heimlich maneuver and dislodged the blockage. Deciding to change the subject because she was overthinking things, not because she was curious about the subject at all, "So how was the mission brat?"

Naruto frowned as he started to eat at a normal pace, "Well the mission part went good. But we ran into some guy with the Raijin blade thing, and then he got killed by a missing-nin out of nowhere while we were fighting because he wanted the sword. He wanted to take mine too, but I cut his arm off and he died while trying to escape. The only problem is the sword wasn't anywhere near his body and he wasn't close to any rivers or gorges, and I searched everywhere within a five mile radius using my clones but found no sign of anyone out there but my team and our enemies."

Before he could go into more detail Naruto was shaking back and forth at impossible speeds while Tsunade yelled at him in a disbelieving tone, "You lost my great uncle's blade! That's a national treasure. How could you be so irresponsible? You say my eyesight is bad but I guarantee I would've found it. What about your advantages of youth that you always brag about?"

Tayuya and Shizune combined their efforts to get Tsunade to stop shaking Naruto and ranting. Thankfully she wasn't using chakra or it would've been impossible and Naruto would probably have a severe concussion and internal trauma at this point, but nobody should ever say the medic of the Sannin needed chakra to knock somebody out, it just makes it easier to separate the head from the body.

Naruto was sprawled out on the ground again, except this time he couldn't see straight, "Ugh, if it's such a national treasure then how come a genin was able to steal it. Besides you probably would've thrown your back out during the mission or something."

Tsunade's honey brown eyes gleamed with the promise of pain as she stared into Naruto's lone blue one that glared back at her from the floor, "Say that again brat, you'll be getting some more renovations but these will be coming out of your pocket."

Naruto popped to his feet and practically put his nose against the older blonde's "I'm getting tired of repeating myself baa-chan so I'm going to spend my money on hearing aides for you instead of a wall. You're old, O-L-D. Should I use Morse code and tap it into your palm. I'd offer to write it but I don't see your glasses anywhere around here."

A chunin should never stand up to an S-class ninja Jinchuuriki or not, especially if they're furious, even worse if you happened to be the reason for their rage. Shizune was glad that they had settled in Konoha permanently and didn't want to leave again, especially with hunter-nin on their trail because her master murdered Konoha's Jinchuuriki and she helped hide the body because she was guilty by association. "I'm sure he didn't mean it Tsunade-sama, I bet he's already beaten himself up about the sword enough."

That mollified Tsunade and she looked to the left and mumbled a sorry. Naruto looked towards the right while apologizing as well and a few seconds later they glanced at each other out of the corner of their eye and smiled before facing each other. Tsunade started stroking the right side of Naruto's head and he looked to the right, pushing into it more… because he thought he saw something out the window of course.

Shizune thought it was a touching moment, at least till Tayuya started gagging. A little soap fixed that right up though.

* * *

><p>"Hatake Kakashi reporting in."<p>

The Sandaime finished signing the paper he was working on and looked up at his shinobi. Though Kakashi was one of the most apathetic people he's ever known the man usually was professional when dealing with business, especially solo S-rank mission debriefings. Instead he stood lazily with Icha Icha in front of his face, dead to the world. The Hokage coughed into his hand causing Kakashi to look up, "Report."

The jounin snapped his book shut and placed it in his pouch but did not snap to attention, "Jounin Hatake Kakashi returned from classified S-rank mission requested by the Daimyo of Tsume no Kuni (land of claw). He believed that the Daimyo of Kiba no Kuni (land of fang) stole his limited edition unedited version of the first Icha Icha paradise-with several scenes that were cut because they were too risqué-that he took with him to the peace meeting in the neutral site of Mitsu no Kuni (Land of Honey)."

"As requested I travelled to Kiba no Kuni and infiltrated the Daimyo's palace in the capitol and searched it for seven days but did not find it. After some investigating around town I confirmed that he hadn't been anywhere since coming back from the meeting so it was doubtful it was anywhere else if he even had it."

"I returned to Tsume no Kuni to report in and during the debriefing his wife stormed in screaming and waving the book claiming she found it in the bag she was packing for the trip they were going on. I proceeded to use the sharingan to hypnotize her and made her think that she got the book to give him as a present to give him during the vacation and they were going to act out the scenes from the book, including the threesomes, foursomes, and *giggle* even the moresomes."

The Sandaime, whose face was getting more and more comical incredulous as the report went on finally fell out of his chair. He took a moment to gather his composure, smooth the wrinkles out of his robe, and wipe the trickle of blood coming out of his nose before motioning Kakashi to continue while rummaging around in one of his drawers.

Seeing that whatever semblance of seriousness the meeting once had was gone Kakashi pulled out his book and continued, "The wife then went to begin packing and took the book with her to wrap as a present. The Daimyo then gave me a significant personal tip, a tip that I am in no way obliged to share in any way, and sent me on my way with the promise to send any missions he had in the future to Konoha."

Sarutobi finished preparing his pipe and lit it. As he inhaled deeply Kakashi raised an eyebrow and the Hokage just looked at the Icha Icha in Kakashi's hand pointedly, "Smells like a skunk walked by outside. Anyways excellent work Kakashi, you're dismissed. I'll be summoning you sometime next week, I'm adjusting the academy curriculum and I'd like you and Shikaku to give me your opinions on the matter."

The third's eyes flitted between Kakashi and the door several times but the shinobi only lowered his book and cleared his throat, "Actually Hokage-sama I'd like to know how Naruto, Sakura, and Sai did on their first mission without me."

The Sandaime puffed on his pipe for a moment and smiled wide as he exhaled the smoke through his nose, "Of course Kakashi. They performed the mission admirably, but one thing has me confounded. They met up with Rokusho Aoi who was killed by a Kumogakure missing-nin, and after battling with him they managed to remove one of his arms forcing him to retreat with the sword. Naruto, Sakura, and Temari found the body, but the blade wasn't anywhere in the vicinity."

Kakashi rubbed his masked chin, "Where was Sai?"

"He was escorting the client to the finish line of the-" Sarutobi trailed off as he continued to toke his pipe. "Are you suggesting Sai took the blade?"

Kakashi stood at attention and nodded firmly, "Yes, Cha no Kuni is separated from Amegakure by Hi no Kuni. It doesn't make sense for them to hire someone from Ame, it would be cheaper and more convenient to hire missing-nin. If Danzo had the means to reclaim the Raijin no Ken then I'm sure he would."

The Hokage sat back and thought about Danzo as he watched the smoke curl up from the embers in his pipe. The man was a staunch patriot; he loved the village as much as Hiruzen himself. However his views on what the village is and method of protecting it were too radical. To Danzo Konoha was the village itself, followed by shinobi, then civilians and the way to protect it was eliminating any and all threats proactively.

To the Sandaime the village was the people, especially the next generation, and the way to protect it was to ensure the peace would last and the village would continue to prosper for unborn generations to grow. Danzo's method might work short term, but after enough time his quest to eliminate all of threats to Konoha would breed too many enemies to stop and the village would fall under the weight of the hatred sown.

Sarutobi knew Ne was still active, but he didn't realize Danzo's reach was this extensive. The man was obviously well connected and the Sandaime knew from personal experience that he was devious and cunning like no other. The warhawk cloaked himself in shadow and would use any means necessary no matter how immoral, they would kill a whole village down to the last child to get one man if that was what it took. That was why he shut Ne down in the first place, and when he found traces of its existence left it alone. The organization was small, and the cost of removing what he considered a lame duck would've been unacceptable.

But this, orchestrating something like this proved that Danzo was allowed to extend his roots too far. It was making him out to be far more dangerous than the Sandaime liked. The man's ideology made him a vicious dog, and it was better to keep an attack dog contained then let it run free.

Hiruzen finished his pipe and looked at Kakashi, "Yes, that makes sense. I didn't know that Danzo had this much influence. It makes me question how much he has in the village. I feel dirty to think this and I hope it isn't true with all my heart, but I've noticed my old teammates seem to be agreeing with Danzo more and more. Kakashi I want you to take no more than twelve of your most trusted ANBU from various branches and have them start investigating Danzo's connections. He'll know if we start surveillance on him so I want to know who he has in his pocket. Start with Sai, I told his original tail to allow himself to be sensed occasionally and recently pulled him so as far as they know he is no longer watched. Once we get a clearer picture we'll put a leash and collar on Danzo once and for all.

Kakashi saluted his leader and shunshined outside of the building before looking up at the Hokage's office window and frowning under his mask, "Stingy old man, not sharing any. See if I let him read my new precious." The eccentric jounin looked up at the sun, the person he wanted to see wouldn't be out and about till later so perfect time to check out his bonus. The Daimyo of Tsume no Kuni had four of the one hundred and twelve copies of the limited edition Icha Icha, the one he thought was stolen was the first one printed for commercial purposes and the most valuable of all so he was able to part with one after he got it back. A man had to have his priorities.

* * *

><p>Cat leapt the rooftops of Konoha on patrol. ANBU ran the most dangerous and important missions to the village and state, so having something mundane as night watch as a duty allowed the operatives to do something that they don't have to cover up their affiliation to their village and country for. Some complained that it was boring, but they were usually the untested rookies and most of them washed out anyways.<p>

Village patrol was Cat's personal favorite and served as a reminder of ANBU's real purpose, the reason for all the black ops, dirty deeds, and nightmares. Cat also appreciated the paradox. The unseen watcher that sees all, one of the village's elite that everyone knows about but nobody knows anything about.

The operative stopped patrolling and perched on the support of the water tower on top of the hospital and looked across the village skyline noticing that the horizon was brightening with the first rays of light. Cat was perfectly positioned, appearing to be part of the beam while the shadow made from the roof lights was hidden in the shadow of the water tower. Cat's stealth was flawless, the Hokage himself could walk by and be none the wiser. That's why the ANBU captain almost fell from her perch when she heard, "Isn't it a little late for a stroll kitty-chan?" in a lazy drawl.

Cat blushed under her mask and pushed a thick strand of her lustrous purple curls behind her shoulder and pretended like she knew he was there the whole time, "Kakashi-senpai it's been a long time. What do you need?"

Cat bristled when she turned to face the ANBU legend, to those with the clearance at least, and saw Kakashi's facemask shift as he smirked, "Well I have two things I need from you, but one can wait till later. For now I'm calling in the favor you owe me."

The agent was intrigued, she wouldn't be surprised if more than half of Konoha's ninja owed Kakashi multiple favors but he's never called in any of them as far as she knew, "Go on."

The lanky shinobi walked up next to Yuugao to watch the sunrise before talking, "Well I just gave Naruto my father's old chakra blade, but I was never really an expert on using it and I don't think the person who broke it should teach anybody how to wield it. I want you to take the next week off and teach him the basics and strategy of kenjutsu in general and give him the push towards making his own style."

Cat smiled under her mask, "You've really mellowed out senpai. If you've got such a soft spot for the kid I'll do it."

Kakashi nodded as the horizon turned purple and pink, "Enjoy the break because after I'm pulling you from regular duty for a long term classified assignment, oh and one more thing. I'd like you to make him approach you and ask for your help. Don't say I was the one that asked you to do it. I want the kids to not be dependent on me to learn new things and advance on their own. Naruto's been using training ground seventeen recently, so bring lover boy out there tomorrow and put on a show for him." Kakashi giggled and flipped the page, "If you show him enough he'll definitely come and beg to do it with you too. Well, thanks Yuyu-chan."

The elite jounin shunshined away as a katana sliced through his previous position and cut through the smoke he left behind. Yuugao just shook her head and continued her patrol after sheathing her fine blade. She didn't know anyone but Hatake Kakashi that could make a flat, monotone voice sound so teasing.

* * *

><p>Yuugao jumped backwards as she blocked the slash from her lover and changed its direction enough to send it out wide. She followed up with a half hearted counter slash that Hayate stopped before disengaging and they eyed each other down on even footing.<p>

The ANBU didn't tell her boyfriend that they were, for all intents and purposes, trying to look cool for a thirteen-year-old boy. She just said she had a week off before she started a long term classified assignment and suggested they spar and spend the day together while he was off duty as well.

The sounds of someone making their way through the woods reached Yuugao's sharp ears and she decided to stop dogging it and make her boyfriend earn his keep. It sounded like Naruto stopped walking and was watching them so she exploded forward with an aggressive stab that Hayate positioned his blade to block, but that was what she wanted and Yuugao stopped right before she hit her lover's blade and spun around to her right as she ducked low and ended up behind Hayate as her katana slashed at his midsection. It sliced him in half but he turned into two stubby logs.

Yuugao looked up and saw three Hayate's descending towards her. She leapt towards the one on the left and tried an overhead slash but it was parried to her surprise. Yuugao shifted her katana on top of her lover's and used that as a fulcrum point to deliver a punch to his face that Hayate couldn't stop because he had to use two hands to stop her. Her fist went through his face and he disappeared in a puff of smoke, but Yuugao used the little bit of resistance to turn herself around and block the second Hayate's attack before delivering a sharp kick to his kidneys causing him disappear in a puff of smoke as well. The third Hayate slashed through Yuugao but he realized his mistake when he felt no resistance and her image shimmered to nothingness. She left a bunshin behind just as she moved making it appear she was defenseless.

The sickly jounin tried to dodge but felt his girlfriend's katana impact his neck knocking him to the ground. It didn't draw blood though thanks to the stone skin seal which leeched the majority of the user's chakra reserves leaving them unable to use anything but e-rank jutsu like substitution and bunshin while it was on, but it was perfect for sparring with blades because nothing could pierce your skin until your chakra ran out.

Yuugao flopped onto the ground next to her lover and covered his face with her long curls, "Nice trick making those Kage Bunshins before we put the seals on. You almost had me."

Hayate frowned at being forced to use his trump card so soon as he pushed his girlfriend's hair out of his face, "You stole the advantage with that move. Even with my substitution I would've been reacting for the rest of the fight if I didn't pull something out. It got shut down anyway."

Yuugao gave a teasing laugh and covered Hayate's face with her hair again, "Well I am an ANBU captain and you're an infirm jounin."

Said sickly jounin gave his girlfriend a mock scowl as he lifted his head and cleared the hair from his face once more, "It's just bad allergies. I swear everybody thinks I'm on my deathbed. At least I get some form of payback by fake coughing and interrupting everything. When did you learn that move by the way?"

Yuugao gave Hayate a quick kiss as she stood up, "We fought a squad from Kumo in Ta no Kuni and one of them had a move where he got behind me using my blocking sword as a blind spot and almost took my head off, so after I killed him I started trying to adapt it to fit me." She brushed off some dirt on her black skintight version of the jounin top before doing the same to her fitted standard blue pants. She didn't wear the flak jacket like her boyfriend and watched as he shrugged his off.

She stopped looking at Hayate and tuned her senses outward trying to sense Naruto. She looked pretty badass in her professional opinion, and from past experience watching the boy expected him to have come bounding into the clearing begging her to train him at this point. It took longer than expected to find him but she noticed he appeared to be slinking away. "You can come out you know. There's no reason to lurk in the woods unless you're a spy." Yuugao hoisted her katana and it gleamed in the sunlight, "And I hope you're a spy because I love cutting them up before giving them to Ibiki."

Naruto was practically falling over himself to rush into the clearing, "No spy here, just little old me. I was going to use the training ground but since you guys already are I'll go somewhere else."

The cheerful blonde could always bring a smile to Yuugao's face with his antics and attitude, and apparently he could make Hayate laugh as well, "I know, I was just joking around. Hayate and I are actually done, I think we proved who wears the pants in the relationship."

Hayate's whole body slumped as he stopped laughing and wallowed in his own shame and misery, "Only because I didn't know you were taking it that seriously."

Yuugao just gave the emotionally castrated man a dismissive wave of the hand, "And that's why you made three Kage Bunshin before we put the seals on. Like I said it's all yours. Come Hayate, let's go home." Yuugao hated to just walk away like that, but sometimes you had to take the offer off the table to force a real bid.

The beaten man forlornly rose and lethargically trudged behind his girlfriend until Naruto called out, "Wait umm, could you maybe…"

The kunoichi smirked in victory on the inside as she turned around and tapped her foot impatiently with her arms crossed across her chest, "I don't have all day. If you have something to say then do it." The woman gave him a taunting smirk as she continued, "Unless you're scared or something."

Naruto pouted and puffed his cheeks out before using the air to blow his bangs upwards, "Stop teasing me nee-chan. I want you to give me some pointers on how to use my blade. What do you say… sorry I was so distracted by you're awesomeness that I forgot to ask your name."

"It's Yuugao Naruto. You should know you're supposed to give your name before asking someone else's. Good job covering your rudeness with flattery though, I know it is easy to get distracted because of my magnificence." responded Yuugao, she put on a thoughtful face like she was considering his request, "I don't know. Our weapons are pretty different." She felt guilty taking so much pleasure in the hopeful look in Naruto's eye as he leaned closer and closer waiting for her to continue, "Luckily for you I'm amazing and am knowledgeable of various types of weapons. Meet me here tomorrow at nine and we'll get started."

Naruto's face was literally beaming and Yuugao couldn't help but return the smile as she remembered when she broke protocol as a greenhorn and gave Naruto an ice cream when he looked particularly down one day. When the kid was genuinely happy his smile seemed to shine, and not in the cheesy way Gai's did. Yuugao hoped that she saw it around the village more often now.

* * *

><p>Naruto sat in front of Yuugao with an enthusiastic smile as she lectured him, "I can't teach you my style because it is bases around the use a katana and yours is based on stabbing, although that one is special and can cut with either edge." Yuugao extended her sheathed blade towards Naruto emphasizing the differences before putting it on her back. "What I can teach you is different grips and how to transition between them, the philosophy that the blade uses in battle and other ones so you know how to match up against them. I can also teach you the dance of swordplay."<p>

Naruto looked up at the purple haired ANBU with a confused look on his face, "Aren't you teaching me how to fight Yuugao-sensei? What are you talking about with this philosophy and dance stuff?"

Instead of answering his temporary teacher bent over and pat his head condescendingly while giving him a superior smile. When she finally answered it was with the tone of someone explaining things to a child, "I forgot I was talking to a baby ninja." Yuugao laughed as Naruto huffed and pouted and continued in a serious tone. "This applies to not only kenjutsu but battle in general. Most shinobi, those that don't achieve any significant rank at least, view battle in terms of attack and defense. I say that every motion is an attack and defense, and when two skilled opponents clash it appears to be a graceful, if deadly, dance. Every move can be the last, even what appears to be a block."

Naruto still appeared to be not getting the point as he asked, "What do you mean, how can a block be an attack?"

The purple haired kunoichi sighed, "Do you ever just plan to block an attack and wait for the next one?" Naruto shook his head and continued, "Exactly, when you block an attack you're goal is to counter while your opponents is to not give you a chance and force you to keep defending until you make a mistake. A true kenjutsu match is a battle of attrition. Whoever wastes less movement and can dictate the flow of a battle and adjusts to changes over time will usually win."

It appeared the blonde finally understood as his face lit up in understanding, "I get it, it's like Uzuken. When you dodge or block you try to force your opponents momentum to continue so they are off balance, and when you attack you try to get them to expose their side or back to you making it easier to attack because they only have one arm to defend."

Yuugao smiled at the blonde, "Exactly, who taught you Uzuken if you don't mind me asking? It's hard to learn not a common style because you have to be a jounin to learn it or be the pupil of a jounin that practices it."

Yuugao looked on in confusion as Naruto's face expressed two different things. One appeared to be genuine fondness, and the other was utter revulsion… maybe with the attempt to suppress some memories. A theory started to form and it was confirmed when the chunin said, "I trained with Gai-sensei and Lee. He's a really good teacher and taught me all sorts of cool Uzuken moves."

Yuugao palmed her face and sighed, "You're such a teenage boy, all about flashy moves. I said he was a good teacher because he instilled the philosophy of the style. Those 'secret moves' he taught you were probably mostly made by him and a few were probably from his sensei. The only real moves most styles have are a couple game breakers when you get to the upper tier. Take Gai's Goken style. He made that by combining the philosophies of Uzuken and several hard taijutsu styles he learned training with the monks of the fire temple where they use their chakra to harness kinetic energy for attacks."

Naruto pushed himself to his feet and followed Yuugao as she motioned him to follow her to the center of the clearing. As Naruto walked and stretched he asked, "That explains the dance part, but what about the philosophy."

Yuugao laughed awkwardly as she continued walking, "You didn't forget, good job."

Naruto cocked an eyebrow then grinned triumphantly, "I didn't, buuut you did didn't you?"

The blonde would've done a victory dance if it wouldn't have made him look like a moron as the jounin waved sheepishly, "Of course not, I was testing you to see if getting one objective would distract you from another. I'm very influential and my recommendation for when you wanted to advance your career would be important."

Naruto looked at her skeptically and she just coughed into her hand before continuing, "Right, well you have a philosophy or a style when you fight because of your body type and physical traits and different weapons have different philosophies as well. For instance someone using a battle fan, like your teammate, keep their opponents at long range and are suited to fighting and stalling multiple opponents because they use wide area attacks. Whereas someone using a war hammer is best used at eight to ten feet and fighting one person at a time and generally uses power and stamina over speed and finesse."

Yuugao glanced at the sheathed blade in Naruto's hand, a short weapon like that is fast and precise. Great in close quarters, like I can smell what you had for lunch close, and leans more towards the defensive philosophy."

"Alright!" Naruto banged his fist into his palm, "That answers those questions, now we can…" It was Naruto who was embarrassed now as he self-consciously rubbed the back of his head, "What was the point of all that again?"

Yuugao giggled, "Basically I'm going to teach you the basics and help you make your own style."

Naruto's face looked like a fish's for a brief moment before he burst into motion, "Make my own style, I'm just a kid and you don't even use the same weapon as me."

Smiling gently Yuugao placed a calming hand on the back of Naruto's neck and started rubbing where his hair met his neck under his blonde spikes, "Relax Naruto, nobody is saying that you have to have it done next week for a grade. It will grow with you and adapt itself as you change. You already have a solid base, you know your weapon is better suited for a defensive style and you already have a philosophy from your time with Gai so you just need to combine the two and move from there. And the whole weapon thing is no big deal. My sensei actually used a bo staff. I wasn't cut out for it but I took his philosophy of wide arcing attacks and constantly changing the level and angle of strikes and adjusted it to my weapon, but I don't think it would work for yours."

Both of them drew their respective weapons and placed the stone skin seal on and after Yuugao's nod Naruto launched himself at her, intent on surprising her with his speed. It didn't go to plan though because he felt the blade coming from his blindspot on the left but knew he couldn't do much and just managed to get his blade vertical and it extended its length with white chakra to block the strike, but Yuugao shifted her blade under his after contact and stabbed him in the stomach knocking the wind out of him.

The blonde found himself on his knees trying to draw breath as he looked at his sensei's disapproving frown, "Were you listening at all? I said your weapon was best used on the defensive. It doesn't have enough reach for a straight up fight, so you're better off playing angles and taking quick direct strikes that don't make you extend very far."

Taking a deep breath Naruto forced himself to stand and signaled he was ready. They tried several more times and though the chunin was improving his overall pain tolerance he wasn't doing much better. He was rubbing his shoulder, which wouldn't be attached to his body if he didn't have the seal on. Yuugao gave the bruise a once over and though her eyes widened when it started to fade she didn't say anything about it when she started talking, "Start using your sharingan."

Naruto frowned as he looked at her, "I don't want to rely on it and use it to learn things-"

The blonde hissed in pain when Yuugao poked him in the middle of his fading bruise, "Did that cure your stupidity? You're a shinobi and should use everything you can to get stronger. You especially because you used to run around yelling and screaming about how you were going to be the next Hokage."

Naruto saw from the warm smile that she wasn't making fun of his dream, "Yeah, but it feels like cheating using Sasuke's eye to train." Naruto hissed in pain and glared at Yuugao after she poked him in the bruise again, "Why'd you do that?"

Yuugao's eyes glittered with delight as she teased Naruto, "Because the first one didn't get the stupid out of you, but I have a feeling I'd poke through your ribcage before that happened."

Suddenly she disappeared and Naruto felt the fine point of her blade hit his ribs, "I'm not saying you need to use the sharingan for everything, but it can help you learn faster and once you get it down start practicing without it. Why would you learn the hard way first then learn the easy way, that would also make the hard part less difficult? And secondly."

Yuugao blurred in front of Naruto and he only saw a flash of silver before her strike sent him tumbling across the clearing. He stood and saw she was completely serious now, "I'm done holding back. It's your choice if you want to use the sharingan or be a bruise tomorrow for training. I'll have to work hard to make that happen considering your ability."

Naruto couldn't even answer before the assault began and he only roughly knew where Yuugao was because of the direction the strikes were coming from, but they were so rapid even that was hard to keep up with. Having enough he lifted his headband and answered her with a growl as he met her charge.

The sharingan was an amazing tool, but that's all Yuugao could say about it. Naruto went from looking like an academy student holding a stick to a somewhat decent swordsman if standards suddenly plummeted. He still wasn't fluid, but his basic attacks were getting better after each exchange and he was wasting less and less movement. It still wasn't perfect though. He could copy perfectly once like a mirror, but that was the first problem. After that he was doing it based on what he saw and felt, but his attacks and blocks were never perfect like they were the first time. The second issue was her movements weren't particularly suited for his body. So even though he was getting a rapid handle on basics such his grip, balance, and footwork he was also copying the angles and complex motions weren't meant for a pubescent boy and were hampering him. Still if he could take what he was learning with the sharingan and adapt it to fit him he'll learn at an astounding rate.

The sun was starting it's descent and Yuugao decided it was better to let what he learned today soak in so it was time to end it. She exploded into motion and appeared to be going for the stab and Naruto hastily raised his blade to block, but his left eye widened as he realized his mistake just before his vision was impaired by his ninjato. It was a feint like what she did yesterday and Naruto saw the path she was going to take milliseconds before she made it, but even with the sharingan he didn't see until too late and he couldn't even curse before the handle of Yuugao's katana impacted the back of his head.

He was laying on his back looking up when the ANBU leaned over him asking if he was okay. She was one purple and black blur and the same image flashed into his head from when he was a kid and shot up almost head butting Yuugao making her laugh, "I think the fight's over and I just kicked your ass, but I like your spirit kid."

Naruto ignored the teasing and pointed a finger at her, "I know you, you were the ANBU that would give me treats sometimes and when I fell out of the tree you took care of me."

Yugao's brown eye's glazed over with a faraway look as she smiled and reminisced, "Yeah, I could've gotten in a lot of trouble so don't tell anyone. You also can't tell anyone I'm in ANBU because our identities are covered because some missions we can't have ties to the village or country."

Smiling the blonde nodded and hopped to his feet, "You got it Yuugao-sensei."

The ANBU captain returned the smile before sheathing her sword, "Same time tomorrow Naruto?"

* * *

><p>Yuugao watched fascinated as Naruto devoured his tenth bowl of ramen and wondered where he put all of it in his small frame, maybe the Kyuubi liked it just as much as its container. At the request of Naruto the Ichirakus closed the stand down when they arrived and Ayame placed another free bowl in front of him before leaning over the counter and giving him a warm smile, "Eat up Naruto-kun, I can't believe you're the container of the Kyuubi and the Yondaime's son. Ever since the announcement business has practically tripled because people have been looking for you. It doesn't matter to me though, you'll always be our number one customer no matter what.<p>

The blonde finished slurping the broth of the bowl she just put down and as he placed it down Ayame picked it up and put a fresh one in front of him. "Thanks Ayame-neechan. I've been trying to stay low key, I know I'll have to deal with it at some point, but I don't even know what to think about it still."

The waitress gave Naruto a comforting smile, not that he could see it with his face buried in the bowl of ramen, and tousled his hair affectionately, "I wouldn't worry about it if I were you. From what I've seen it's mostly pretty positive, especially since the Chunin Exam Finals were released and there was a free public showing in the arena a couple days before the announcement. Everybody saw you win it for Konoha and beat all the Kazekage's children."

Naruto slurped the loose noodle hanging from his mouth before answering, "Yeah, the old man is sneaky like that… but still it's not like everyone changed their minds."

Yuugao decided to interject, because as interesting as it was to watch the blonde eat his body weight in noodles she had other things to do, "Obviously Naruto, that would be impossible. Even if you didn't have the Kyuubi sealed in you some people wouldn't like you. Your father had many detractors and critics when he took the office claiming he was too young or a butcher." She stood and patted him on the shoulder, "Still, I think that you'll be able to change most of you're doubter's minds. I need to get going, but if you ever need advice just look around for me or Hayate and we'll help you out."

The purple haired woman walked outside and disappeared in a puff of smoke and Naruto devoured his last bowl of ramen before bidding the Ichiraku's a warm farewell and made his way back to his apartment by way of rooftops. Most shinobi didn't care one way or the other about the Kyuubi before the announcement and he discovered shortly after coming back that besides a couple nods or waves nothing had changed. In fact more people have come up to him complementing him for some of his tricks in the exams than said anything about his heritage. As soon as the blonde slipped into the window next to his door he could hear the yelling. Sighing and palming his face the boy walked inside just as Tayuya started ranting.

"No, why do you keep getting me these stupid frilly dresses and yukatas? How many times do I have to tell you I don't wear fuc-freaking things like that?"

Shizune pouted as she held up a sundress, "Mou, these were on sale Tayuya-chan. I bet you'd turn heads wearing this pretty brick sundress, it matches your eyes perfectly and contrasts your hair just enough."

The jounin medic was quick enough to pull the dress back as Tayuya lunged for it with a kunai, "Just let me buy my own things."

Shizune did a full turn when she pulled back and stuck her foot on her temporary pupil's back before planting her on the ground and holding her there as the redhead struggled to break out, "You don't have any money, if you get a job or join the medic classes you'll get some extra money otherwise it wouldn't be you buying your own things."

The former sound kunoichi growled as she stopped flailing, "No way, you drive me like a lame slave for eight hours a day. I'm not getting a job and I don't want to be a pussy medic."

Shizune frowned and replaced the stuff in the bag, "Well that's your last clean outfit and I'm not doing your laundry anymore if you're going to insult my taste and career like that. Now I have to teach a medic class soon and need to get ready."

Naruto snuck behind the volatile Tayuya as she finished glaring at Shizune's back and rummaged through the bag for something to wear. He successfully managed to get by and hopped in the shower but when he walked out the door Tayuya was standing there with an angry look in her eyes. The blonde let out a squeal and almost dropped his towel in surprise. His face flared red in embarrassment as he stepped backwards, "W-what, can't you see I'm almost naked."

Tayuya scoffed and glanced down, "I was on a team with three moronic meatheads. You got nothing I haven't seen if I could even see it."

Naruto frowned as his mismatched eyes stared at Tayuya with anger. He had enough of people calling his dick small and he was about to whip it out and beat the redhead with it until she begged for mercy and called him Naruto-sama… way too much time with Jiraiya. Shaking the thought out of his head Naruto took a step forward, "I know you probably haven't gotten any since you got here and that's gotta be murder to a whore like you, but I've gotta change."

Tayuya didn't react negatively, just smirked at Naruto, "Maybe I was wrong, you do have some balls after all. Not enough to satisfy a woman but more than I thought you had. Now go get dressed, you're taking me shopping because I don't have money and Shizune won't take me."

Naruto really didn't want to go into the shopping district on a Sunday when the crowd was at its peak, "Nope, rather do nothing."

He tried to walk by but found his way blocked by a slender arm, "I wasn't asking, you can go get dressed and accompany me out or I'll dress you myself and drag you, maybe in drag. If I knew where to go I would've just taken your wallet but unfortunately I'll have to put up with your presence."

Naruto gave her a cocky smirk, "You're bluffing" and let go of the towel.

It barely took a fraction of a second for Tayuya's eyes to widen and another half a second for her foot to make contact with Naruto's chest which sent him careening into his room sans towel which was laying at Tayuya's feet, "Now get dressed and let's go."

The redhead walked away with a leer as she heard a yes ma'am and said, "Not bad for a thirteen year old Uzumaki" under her breath.

It didn't take long for a dejected Naruto to walk out of his room, "Let's just get this over with."

Tayuya frowned at his unenthusiastic demeanor, "What the hell? Usually you're like a coked out monkey on a sugar rush but you look like a man going to his execution. Do you really not want to go with me that much?"

Naruto looked up and shook his head rapidly, "Definitely not Tayuya-chan, it's just." The redhead seemed to be waiting on his answer but it wasn't something that he really wanted to talk about, and even though Tayuya was fun and could probably be a good friend he didn't know her that well now. Instead he just grabbed the girl's wrist and pulled her towards the door, "C'mon, if you want to spend time with me that much then let's go."

Naruto didn't pay attention to Tayuya's insult as he free hand reached for his doorknob, but it swung open and hit his hand away before the corner of the door hit his face. The blonde fell backwards with a manly yelp of pain holding what was probably a broken nose and he definitely heard Tayuya's "Serves you right dipshit."

* * *

><p>Sakura wiped the sweat from her forehead as she gulped the remaining contents of her water bottle. She just finished a particularly complicated training session with Rin and to her delight she would begin hospital rounds as a trainee medic soon to get the number of hours required to take the medic certification test, and then from there she could take more advanced classes to become a field medic.<p>

She tried to get her sensei to go out and celebrate with her but Rin turned her down and left immediately after lessons like usual. The woman had been nothing if not distant since the training started. She was an excellent, if not tough instructor, but if Sakura had any questions not related to medicine she felt like even Kakashi would've been a better option and he was the most bored and disconnected person the pinkette knew.

Shaking the thoughts out of her head Sakura got a whiff of her odor and decided to head back to her house and shower and she practically skipped there. Ever since the Chunin Exams her life had taken a major upswing. It finally felt like she proved to herself that she shed the skin of an inept, freshly graduated genin and stepped into one of a competent kunoichi with the world at her fingertips. And to top it off her mom got promoted to head of the new warehouse in Nami no Kuni. She had to go there for the first week of every month and if there was an emergency, but despite that Tomo had more time off to live life. Not to mention a significant pay increase that she was spoiling herself with at Sakura's insistence.

So it wasn't surprising to the pinkette to see the note saying her mom was going to the hot springs then shopping with Ino's mom despite the fact that her recently sparse closet was bursting with new items. The genin stripped her clothes off and threw them in the laundry room before hopping in the shower. She began humming cheerily as she washed the sweat and grime away from a hard morning and planned the rest of her day. She gave Naruto a week to come find her to talk like he said he would but she hadn't seen a flash of blonde all week, including Ino, though that might count as a blessing. Sakura giggled at her joke as she toweled off her freshly cleaned body and dressed in a casual red skirt and white tank top before setting off to find her team leader.

She didn't want Naruto to feel like he was pressured into talking with her. However after giving him plenty of time to come to her she was going to corner him because despite his random bouts of idiocy the blonde wasn't that stupid that he'd forget, so he was avoiding her. She'd let him explain then kick the crap out of him for being insensitive. Sakura looked down and blushed when she realized she raised a clenched fist in her enthusiasm and sheepishly lowered it before grabbing Naruto's doorknob. Ordinarily she'd knock but depending on the lengths the blonde was willing to go to avoid the conversation he might jump out a window. The pinkette swung the door open and heard a crack that sounded like someone's nose getting broken and a girlish yelp of pain. She peaked her head in the door before rushing in and kneeling next to her downed teammate, "Oh my god, Naruto are you okay?"  
>Tayuya was laughing her head off as Naruto mumbled about blue jays not being native to Hi no Kuni. Sakura ignored the background noise as she ran a diagnostic and was relieved to find that it was a broken nose but the break was clean. She quickly reset it and patched it up with chakra, and now that Naruto's unnatural healing was explained she was certain it would be fine.<p>

Sakura let Naruto lie on the ground and get his bearings back as Shizune came barreling out of the room and cradled Naruto's head in her lap while her hand glowed green. While she ran the diagnostic jutsu over his head she looked at the two redheads, "What happened?"

Sakura nervously twisted her toe in the ground, "Umm, I kind of, heh, opened the door into Naruto's nose. I patched him up but I don't have anything that advanced.

Sakura looked on in awe, her diagnosis could easily identify muscle and bones, but that was the most basic level. The one the woman was doing was able to feel nerve connections, blood flow, body chemistry, and pretty much anything else she wanted to know. The glow around the woman's hand faded as she stood up, "Well there was nothing wrong besides his nose." She gave Sakura a once over and the pinkette felt something probing her chakra, "I see you're a medic-nin, your chakra is very calm and controlled. I would offer to bring you to the medic classes with me but I think you're too advanced and it would be a waste of time."

Sakura puffed her chest out at the praise, "Thanks, I'm actually about to start hospital rounds to get my medic certification."

Shizune cocked an eyebrow, "And you're not even a chunin, that's very impressive." Naruto got to his feet and dusted himself off as Shizune continued, "What are you three going to be doing?"

This is what Sakura was waiting for. She wouldn't mention anything about a talk just yet, first you had to lure them in. She puckered her lips slightly and widened her emerald eyes, "Actually I just stopped by hoping to get some lunch with Naruto, I just finished training and we haven't spent time together out of team meetings."

Naruto's eye lit up but Tayuya spoke up, "Nope, blondie is taking me shopping because Shizune is trying to extort me into being a medic-nin by buying me crappy clothes."

All ideas flew from Sakura's head as she heard they were going shopping and her eyes began to sparkle like gemstones as thoughts of cornering Naruto were the last thing on her mind, "We're going shopping." Shizune was pouting and holding up a dress as Sakura turned to answer and Naruto was fearful death beams would shoot out of her eyes because they were glowing brighter Gai's teeth, "Oh my god that dress is amazing."

Shizune smiled, obviously happy that someone didn't tear apart her sense of style with their tongue, or try to with a kunai, "Oh, Tayuya refuses to wear it, but I'm sure you'll grow into them. Why don't you take them… home?"

The packages were in Sakura's hand before Shizune finished her sentence and the older medic chuckled, "Well I'm going to be late if I don't hurry, have fun and don't bleed Naruto's wallet dry."

Sakura tuned out Naruto's and Tayuya's bickering as she observed the reactions of people as they walked down the street. At the start she was abhorred at the language Naruto was using, but then figured he took Tayuya's mouth as a challenge and didn't want to lose. After five minutes or so she realized that they were walking down the side streets and put two and two together realizing that Naruto was aware of the effects of the announcement and it bothered him more than he was letting on.

Early on in team seven's career most people would go out of their way to avoid looking at them, but Sakura's fixation with Sasuke distracted her so she never noticed. After his death she became aware that people would be polite and offer her or Sai refreshments during missions but blatantly ignore Naruto who would always claim the tasks that would take him farthest away from the house or client. Sakura shot Naruto a glance from the corner of her eye and realized now she was getting to know him she knew so little about him. Initially she bought into the idiot act, but Naruto had proven himself to be anything but stupid. He grew at a tremendous pace since graduation, won the whole Chunin Exams in his first year as a genin, and he fooled a whole village into thinking he was a moron running around in orange shouting out an impossible dream.

Deciding those were just topics to be addressed when they talked Sakura focused back in on the conversation, "Don't think this makes us friends you bastard. If there was another way I'd be doing it right now."

Naruto just smirked, "That's fine, who'd want to be friends with someone like you. You're rude, have a foul mouth, are completely ungrateful, and worst of all you eat my ramen while complaining about it."

Tayuya grabbed Naruto, who never stopped smiling, and started shaking him, "Are you saying I'm not good enough for you?"

"But Tayuya I thought you didn't want to be friends, and the only reason I came was because you were making such a big fuss about us not going together."

The redhead huffed and dropped Naruto as Sakura giggled, angry at getting jerked around Tayuya turned and tried to loom over the younger girl menacingly, though it's hard to be scary when you're blushing, "You think it's funny pinky?"

Sakura snorted cutely as she tried to hold in her laughter, "Yeah I do."

She burst out laughing after she finished as Tayuya flew into a rage, "Well it's not. He's just a shithead blonde that I happen to live with. I don't care what he thinks."

Naruto mock pouted and got on one knee and took Tayuya's hand, "You wound me Tayuya-chan, I thought you were trying to be good enough for me."

The former sound kunoichi growled in rage and shook her hand free before stomping off in a fit of rage. Sakura was still laughing but Naruto turned his teasing gaze on her, "Oh, and what are you laughing at? I heard you snort, and you always used to call Ino a pig."

Sakura tried to channel their sensei and turned her head like she just heard him, "Sorry Naruto, I wasn't listening. I was just remembering when you made out with Sasuke in front of the entire class."

Naruto deflated at the low blow, "That was an accident, Sakura-chan is so cruel."

The girl stuck out her tongue and gave Naruto the sign of victory, "Datteboyo."

After turning the tables on Naruto Sakura shuddered as a familiar sensation overcame her. It was almost like killing intent, but it was watered down even if it promised a gruesome death. When Zabuza used his killing intent during their first real mission Sakura knew without a doubt that if he wanted to he could, and would kill her without a thought. However it didn't feel like he would go out of his way to cause her pain.

This felt like the person(s) wanted to skin her alive then cover her with lemon juice and vinegar before throwing her into a vat of salt, all while wearing her skin as an overcoat. Despite the graphic and sadistic nature of the intent it didn't feel like this person could actually pull it off. But who would have a mind that twisted and evil but not have any power. It almost felt like it used to when she talked to Sasuke back in the. Sakura started glancing wildly around the street before grabbing Naruto's wrist and taking off in a run. Tenten's shop was a couple streets over, if they used the shinobi highway they had a chance, no matter how small, to escape. She ran past Tayuya and yelled "Follow me" before taking to the rooftops. She looked behind to see a mob of pubescent girls forming around their previous position and Sakura sighed in relief.

Naruto and Tayuya were oblivious and the blonde just gave her a questioning look, "What was that about?"

Sakura rubbed the back of her head in an embarrassed fashion, "Umm Tenten gets off her shift soon and I'm assuming Tayuya wants shinobi clothes."

Naruto just sighed, this is what he was hoping to avoid. He knew the store Tenten worked at, and unless she was working alone he wouldn't have been able to go there before the announcement. He wanted to go to old man Kuro's store. It may have been a discount store but the prices were fair and the man was always nice to Naruto, though that might've been because of the senility. The blonde stared at Sakura's back as she talked about other major stores and attractions to Tayuya.

It was obvious why the pinkette showed up at his door, and it was a conversation that he was trying to avoid. When he told the old man to announce it and said he'd talk to Sakura about it on the mission he didn't think it was a big deal. Although as Naruto got closer and closer to Konoha he realized it was. When he made fun of Sakura he was hoping she would punch him so he could fly away and 'accidentally' drop his wallet, which just happened to have enough money to get Tayuya a couple outfits. The plan backfired, and though that made him happy because it showed how close he and Sakura had become, it also made him nervous. How are you supposed to tell a close friend, a friend that has your life in their hands on a regular basis, that you don't trust them enough to have that conversation?

What can he say? At times I hated everyone in the village, even you and the Hokage, and wanted to obliterate it. That some nights when he cried himself to sleep he thought about running until he couldn't run anymore and collapsed leaving himself to the mercy of an unmerciful world. That sometimes when he sat on the Hokage monument, on his father's head no less, that he thought about letting himself roll over the edge. It wasn't until he was older that it started to change.

The first year of the academy was just as hard if not harder than the others. Now he was in the presence of children and he went in hoping that he could make friends. That was quickly crushed though when he found the parents warned their kids away, and the kids whose parents did nothing went along with the other kids to fit in. Naruto's crush on Sakura started because she wouldn't call him a monster or demon like the other kids who copied their parents. She just called him annoying and he heard lots of girls call boys that. He thought that meant she might like him. How could he tell her that the only reason he pursued her so recklessly was because she treated him with dislike instead of outright hatred? I wouldn't be like talking to Gaara because he could understand where Naruto was coming from, what would Sakura think of him if she knew about his darkest thoughts and moments?

Naruto just ran a hand through his thick blonde hair and sighed as he followed the girls into the store, and just his luck Tenten wasn't working. The owner let the girls walk past and twitched nervously as he watched Naruto walk in. Should he call him Namikaze or Uzumaki, it was never said. He didn't want to offend the boy by using his first name like they were familiar, especially because he threw the blonde out of his store rather roughly several times.

Deciding it was better to offend him for being familiar than calling him the wrong name the owner greeted the boy, "Hello Naruto-sama, welcome to my store. I hope if you need anything that you ask."

The blonde just walked by hoping if he didn't acknowledge anything different about the situation the man would leave him alone. He felt a lot like Sasuke and paused to wonder if this is what Sasuke felt like. People look at him and saw his parents, it was like they weren't acknowledging him in a different way that was much nicer than before. Naruto looked up when he heard his name get called and was surprised to see he was lost in thought for some time. "Naruto, tell Tayuya that she can't just buy shirts."

The redhead scoffed as she held up what appeared to be a navy colored XXX large long sleeve shirt over her frame. The sleeves extended well past her hands and the bottom of the shirt stopped near her lower thigh and it looked like you wouldn't be able to see anything at all under the shirt, "Obviously, I may not be a pansy princess like you but I'm not retarted. I'm going to get it modified, I just want to know if the color looks okay."

Naruto nodded and said, "Looks fine" absently.

Tayuya rolled her eyes and turned to Sakura, "So does it work or not, I used to wear pale yellow but I want to mix it up."

Giving up Sakura sighed and waved her hand, "Yeah it's fine do what you want."

Tayuya smiled and victoriously walked to the owner to ask for some modifications. They went to the backroom and came out shortly after with it pinned up to give the appearance it was done. Above her waist, including the sleeves, was fitted to her body and everything waist height and below was loose and gave the appearance of a skirt. "Well, I'll probably get a red sash and I'll take some spates for underneath, but I think it'll work."

The redhead changed back after getting Sakura's stamp of approval and they waited in the store for the man to fit them for free saying he wasn't busy. Barely over an hour later Tayuya was walking out wearing one of her new outfits and Naruto had a couple spares in bags on his arm. The man said she could pick up the other ones anytime next week.

They walked around aimlessly after that giving Tayuya a random tour and explaining the layout of the village while munching on some dango skewers. Sakura looked around and realized they were in the Yamanaka district and she prayed Ino didn't become one of Naruto's fangirls because she was the de facto leader and they always used to meet in the Yamanaka Flower Park. Also the girl was devious and Naruto would never catch a moment's rest, although they always say the next generation always surpasses the old ones. She was broken out of her musings when a familiar voice said, "My Naruto, I never knew you were such a ladies man."

Naruto sheepishly responded, "Yamanaka-san you always tease me."

Sakura turned around and was surprised to see her mom and Ino's mom, though she realized she shouldn't have been. She just turned towards Naruto with a confused look on her face, "You know Chika-sensei… how?"

Naruto couldn't answer because Chika was pinching and mashing his cheeks together calling him a cutie so she did, "Oh Naruto-kun designed a section in the park when he was younger."

The chunin blushed and Sakura just pointed an accusing finger at him unable to make a sound. Tayuya didn't have that problem and was making fun of him when she had to stop laughing to breathe, "Oh that's just perfect… I always… always knew you were a pussy."

Naruto just blushed brighter and Chika went back to doting on him. Tomo took this opportunity to butt in, "Chika-san invited us over for dinner Sakura. We were about to stop by the house to tell you but this works too. Ino-chan just got back from a mission and I'm sure she would be excited to see you."

Chika continued to fuss over Naruto as she invited him too, "I'd love for you to come too Naruto. We're planning a new section for the park and I want your opinion."

She finally stopped smothering the blonde so he could respond, "Sorry Chika-san, but Shizune-neechan will kill us if we're not back at the apartment for dinner on a weekend."

Knowing that her time with the young blonde was cut short she turned him back into a life size teddy bear, "Okay, but you're always welcome."

Sakura sighed and accepted that her and Naruto talking wasn't in the cards so said goodbye, "I'll see you later Naruto."

Said blonde sighed in relief in his head, "Okay, I put in for a mission the other day so expect a bird tomorrow or the next day."

Sakura nodded and started walking with her mom, but before they rounded the corner she turned and waved which Naruto returned. He watched the spot where she disappeared for another couple seconds before Tayuya interrupted, "If you're done staring like a love sick puppy let's go, I'm starving."

Naruto started walking with the redhead, "You're not jealous, are you Tayuya-chan?"

The redhead blushed and started to walk a bit faster, "Of course not. What do I care if you like girls with the bodies of children. Take advantage of it now because it'll be illegal soon."

"Nope, there is no age of consent once you're a genin. I wonder when they'll let kids graduate early again, then I can have a long term relationship."

"Aaagh."

"That sounds like jealousy to me Tayuya-chan."

* * *

><p>Naruto stood with his team in front of the Hokage awaiting their briefing. The old man exhaled the smoke and smiled at the teenagers. They all held themselves with more confidence and their enthusiasm hadn't been dampened in the slightest since the last mission. The advantages of youth, "Team Naruto, this is a B-rank mission. A woman sent in a request because her grandson disappeared without a trace a week ago. There was no sign of struggle in his room and nothing was taken from it including clothes or other supplies he would need. At first she thought he was with a girl, but after five days with no word she sent the request in. This is B-rank because the state of the room indicates shinobi involvement is a possibility, but for what reason I don't know."<p>

The old man paused and puffed his pipe some more before asking the mandatory question that he's gotten the same answer to every time regardless of the danger, "Do you accept?"

Four Hai Hokage-samas rang out in unison, "Team Naruto dismissed."

The four disappeared using Shunshin no Jutsu and the Sandaime chuckled to himself. Team Naruto, that would never get old to Sarutobi no matter how old he got.

* * *

><p>Only one thing bc the first one was so long. I know Yuugao has straight hair that's about shoulder length but nobody has curls in the narutoverse (closest is Temari but that's more like tangled spikes) so I'm making a person with curly hair for all the mop tops that feel discriminated against.


	24. Old Lady Sansho

Here comes chapter 24, and not even two weeks after releasing my last one. There will be one more chapter after this to wrap up the mission and another one in Konoha before the training trip starts so my motivation for writing might be higher. Anyways this will be my last pre chapter AN as I'm just going to put it all at the bottom from now on, so enjoy the chapter because the secondary characters are rather OOC for the most part.

* * *

><p>"In goes the cumin, then comes the cayenne, oh from now on I'll only use my left hand." A strange old woman, rather short with impossibly thick glasses, continued to stir a large pot while she hummed to herself to keep the rhythm. She increased her pace until splashes of the broth got on her plain brown dress, dark pink scarf before turning the heat down.<p>

The peculiar lady hopped off her stool then walked towards a table at the far end of the kitchen, inexplicably taking several backwards steps and dancing to the tune playing in her head before performing the next task, "I step forward, two steps back, better not slip or my hip will crack. Chop up the carrots, then the potato. They say no one's crazy like batty old Sansho."

A bell tinkled merrily as the door to her roadside shop opened and the woman squinted behind her thick lenses as she looked at the clock, ten thirty… that seems a little early for curry. Wait, is it daylight savings time. The woman's eyes went wide and her glasses magnified it making it appear her eyes took up half of her face, "When was the last time I changed the batteries on the clock? Does it even use batteries?" The woman shrugged and went back to preparing vegetables forgetting that she had customers, "Oh if only Karashi were still around. With a pair of young arms I could feed an army a day, if there was a bathroom around that could service an army after they ate my curry."

The four shinobi just stared at the nutty old woman through the open space in the wall and sweat-dropped before Naruto spoke up, "Umm excuse me, are you a miss Sansho?"

An airy voice lofted from the open kitchen area, "I'll be with you in a minute." The old woman shuffled out and Naruto introduced the team, "We're the shinobi team sent to assist you ma'am. I'm Naruto, the other boy is Sai, the girl with pink hair is Sakura, and the blonde girl is Temari."

She gave the teens a warm smile that accentuated the wrinkles on her face, "I'm sorry but the curry isn't ready yet. Once the team from Konoha gets here to find my grandson I'll be back at peak efficiency."

The woman held her wooden spoon aloft like a sword, much like a general would before giving the order to charge. Sakura giggled while Temari palmed her face. It was obvious that they were shinobi; you'd think she'd be able to see with glasses thicker than most walls if she couldn't hear. Sai walked closer and scrutinized the woman, "Interesting, apparently as civilians get older their skin gets more wrinkled and leathery than a shinobi's does. Or she is just older than most people."

His three socially aware teammates stepped away as Sansho's eyes gleamed darkly, "Are you calling me old?"

Sai just gave her his creepy fake smile. "I think it is rather apparent that your age is quite advanced, so yes I did, I called you old because it is true."

The Ne agent found that when the handle of a wooden spoon gets jabbed into your groin it hurts, no matter whom the assailant is. "I'll have you know that sixty-seven is the new seventy-eight… or is it the other way around? Forget about that, don't insinuate things about a maiden's age."

"I shall remember that lesson in the future." Wheezed Sai.

The three able to sit upright took a table and Naruto created a clone to go help the woman out because she stormed off before they could get any information from her.

The door to the kitchen swung open easily revealing Sansho trying to carry a bowl that was wider than her. The bunshin easily lifted it from her grasp while asking, "Where do you want this Sansho-baachan?"

The woman pointed to the counter next to the bubbling sauce, "Oh my, how nice Nemotu. Most travellers are so rude and only think about their empty stomachs. Thank you though, it's been so hard without Karashi around to help me out. I hope those ninja from Konoha arrive soon."

Naruto fell flat on his face, but managed to keep the vegetables stable. He duplicated himself when she was in the same room. Deciding the woman wasn't particularly sane or all there the clone decided not to waste time and tell her they were the shinobi… again, "Oh, so he's you're grandson."

The woman glared at the blonde suspiciously and tried to appear intimidating and Naruto kept his lone eye on the spoon that left Sai curled in the fetal position on the floor, "Yes, how did you know. Are you the kidnapper here for ransom?" She began to fly around the kitchen frantically before digging through random drawers, "Where did I put the note with the demands."

The clone raised its hands non-threateningly, "No I just guessed. Most stands like this are kept in the family. Your grandson got kidnapped though, and they left a note?" The bunshin frowned and mulled that over, there was nothing like that in the mission report. She might have got it in the last two or three days, but usually ransom notes aren't left a week after the kidnapping.

That train of thought was halted when the woman blinked confusedly at Naruto, "Err, I don't know… I don't think I got a note." The woman adopted a thinking pose and rested her wizened hand on her chin before nodding confidently, "Nope there was definitely no ransom note."

The pot began to boil and the old woman rushed to the stove and dumped the vegetables in before stirring furiously while singing some rhyme in a frail, raspy voice. Naruto rubbed his temples and felt his patience waning. He was honestly surprised the woman even remembered she had a grandson after he was gone for more than a day. Sansho asked the clone to move the large pot onto the island in the center of the kitchen after she was done stirring and it tried to steer the conversation back on course, "So your grandson got kidnapped?"

The woman let out a weary sigh and plopped down on a small cushioned footstool that served her as a seat quite well, "I don't know. He just up and disappeared a little over a week ago Nerumo. Sometimes he would disappear for a couple of days, but it's been so long. Now why don't you go out with your friends Niguma, I'll be out to take your orders in a minute."

The clone couldn't take it anymore and followed the request. It thrust the doors open and ignored the curious stares it was receiving as it walked to the nearest support beam and bashed its head against it to dispel.

The real Naruto winced as he received the memory, "Poor clone, better him than me. I'm so glad that's the jutsu I picked from the scroll."

Sansho walked out of the kitchen with a notepad and looked at her guests, specifically their headbands, "Oh my, I didn't even notice you arrived. Well I guess that's why you're shinobi." She looked around the room carefully and began walking in between the tables glancing underneath the tablecloths, "Oh my, where did those nice traveller folks go? I don't even remember clearing their dishes. Wait, they didn't pay either. That's a shame, Neringo seemed like such a nice boy." She gave the four shinobi a bow, "May I ask your names as you place your requests."

The four introduced themselves once more and gave her their meal choices, "I shall go put these on and be right back to answer any questions you have."

True to her word Sansho rejoined them quickly, apparently hopes of rescuing her grandson pushed down some of the senility. "Karashi, he disappeared a little over a week ago. At first I didn't think anything of it because he's a young lad and sometimes he gallivants off, but he's always back within three days. I asked around some nearby towns and he wasn't at any of his usual spots. Even none of those nice, if underdressed, young ladies he knows quite well haven't seen him either, and they always know where he is for some reason."

The woman then leaned in conspiratorially and whispered as if someone could overhear her in the empty stand, "I did hear that a lot of healthy young men and adult males have been disappearing for the last three weeks when I was looking for Karashi."

"And you didn't feel the need to put that in your mission request." Said Temari disparagingly.

The woman just blinked at the incredulous kunoichi, "Why would I Tenini? It had nothing to do with Karashi."

Figuring that was the best he was going to get Naruto gave the woman a kind smile, "Thank you Sansho-baachan. I can't wait for the curry, I'm sure it'll be delicious."

The woman's eyes lit up, "That's right, what will you have? Anything is on the house and there'll be plenty more where that came from if you can find my grandson."

Sakura just gave the forgetful woman a questioning glance, "Don't you remember Sansho-san, we said whatever you had on the stove would be fine."

The woman gave an apologetic smile, "No I'm sorry, Karashi usually helped me stay on top of things like that."

The woman shuffled off into the kitchen and Temari slumped in her seat, "That woman is unbelievable. No wonder the guy ran off."

Naruto frowned at his fellow blonde, "I like Sansho-baachan. She's nice even if she's a little batty and frustrating, there's no reason to insult her like that Temari."

The Suna kunoichi glared back at him, "What do you know? You may be the team leader but you're not my keeper."

Naruto's eye turned to ice making Temari wince a little, but she didn't back down, "I know that I didn't like people looking down on me like that, and I'm sure Gaara didn't either."

That stole the wind from the older blonde's sails. Properly chastised she mumbled an apology and Naruto continued, "Well it's probably slavers, and it's apparent they've been active in the area for awhile so it's possible they left already."

Sakura nodded in agreement, "It does fit the pattern, abducting healthy subjects from towns clustered together and moving on quickly to not attract attention."

Not one to hold back her ideas from anger, and not wanting the pinkette to outdo her Temari said, "That's true, but we don't know how long they've been here, and this region is dotted with small hills, mountains, and covered with thick woods. There's a lot of hiding places and hearty people living out here. The smart thing to do would be leave, but people like that usually let greed control their actions. I think Naruto and Sai should send out a search party because it's more than likely their still in the area because it's a figurative goldmine for them."

The pale genin pulled out a large scroll and began drawing a multitude of animals, "I only prepare combat scrolls. I should have a decent number of scouts ready in an hour though."

The kitchen doors opened, and Sansho placed the steaming bowls in front of the young ninja, "Eat up now. You can't save my grandson on an empty stomach."

She smiled gratefully and watched the four dig in after swapping bowls before going to prepare more ingredients for the afternoon rush with thoughts of Karashi pushing everything else from her mind.

* * *

><p>Kimimaro walked through the mine complex unseen. He wasn't trying to go unnoticed, he just didn't feel the need to acknowledge the trash around him and announce himself. If they weren't capable enough to detect them it wasn't his problem, only one of them would directly serve his master. The white haired teen stopped and furrowed his brows, pushing the red dots above them together, and inspected the door.<p>

It was the same design as the other doors in the living quarters of the mine, but it had gaudy decorations all over the wood and the walls surrounding it were covered with burnt slash marks like an impossibly hot blade sliced into them when the user was in a fit of rage. Figuring this was his destination he opened the door. The teen immediately joined his radius and ulna together to form a sharp tip and a blade like bone extended from his palm to block the blue glowing blade with two spikes extended from either side near the tip where it jutted out from the blade and the handle where it came from the dull side. Kimimaro repeated the process with his left hand and crossed the other bone to block the glowing blade's twin before pushing his assailant back.

Suddenly the glow died out and a voice echoed from the dark room, "Who are you? I told everyone I was to be left alone while I prepared."

The bone user frowned, "That's no way to address your superior."

The man spat at Kimimaro and he tilted his head to the left to avoid it as the voice growled out, "Nobody here is my superior, even if you are a Kaguya."

"I am an agent of Orochimaru, now stand down or die." Kimimaro lifted his hand showing the dangerously sharp tip of the bone sword to his attacker in the room.

The lights flashed on revealing hunchbacked man whose body was wrapped in bandages from the neck down with waist length green hair, and loose green pants with the bottoms tied mid shin was bowing on his hands and knees "Forgive me, I did not receive word Orochimaru would be contacting me."

The bone user walked in the room, making sure to step on the green haired man's fingers till he heard a satisfying crack, "You are but a simple man, Orochimaru-sama has no need to explain or offer you anything. You may rise."

The man stood revealing an angular face framed by two long green bangs, blue eyes with a ripple around the pupil, and incredibly large lips set in a frown, "To what do I owe the honor of your presence, was there anything wrong with the last shipment?"

Kimimaro shook his head, "No, everything has gone perfectly Raiga. You have proven your worth to my master and he will accept you as a jounin of his village and deliver the reward promised to you. We leave tomorrow, noon at the latest."

The hump on Raiga's back began to shift and a small feminine head framed by shoulder length purple hair with strange red eyes popped out of the ample folds of cloth, "Y-you mean I'll finally be cured."

The man's lips stretched impossibly wide as he smiled at the boy, "Of course Ranmaru." He then walked to the door and screamed for a guard. One blurred in front of him and he gave the masked nin his orders, "Have some of the men start sealing what we have in the storehouse while the doton users go into the mine and excavate what they can safely. Also have all the workers go double time until we leave. Whatever is left here by twelve tomorrow will be buried under rubble, including the workers, so don't go easy on them." He then sighed longingly, "If only we could stay around a little bit after, that would surely be a service for the ages."

Ignoring his boss' last comment the nin stood and placed his right fist over his heart, "Understood Raiga-sama."

The man donned a black hooded mantle and made sure the frail boy was safe in his cloth cocoon before walking out, "I was in such a good mood because of the funeral we were about to have too. Oh well something joyous like that can't be delayed by a little bad news."

* * *

><p>The Naruto clone grimaced at the spectacle in front of him. He was searching the woods and heard a high pitch, mournful cry break the silence and crept as close as he dared after discovering what it was. A hunchback man in some type of black cloak was crying and mourning in front of a crowd with a casket behind him. It might've been a normal funeral except he had two fine swords strapped to his waist and the hole happened to be dug by shinobi using doton jutsu in the middle of the service. The man pulled the hood back showing that he had an ecstatic smile stretched across his face as tears steamed down his cheeks. The blonde was too far away to hear the specifics, but occasionally the speaker would raise his voice when he hit an emotional spot and the crowd would let out a wail in response.<p>

Suddenly the man stopped and the clearing fell silent as he faced the casket. It started the slow descent into the grave and Naruto could just make out the muffled screaming and banging coming from inside of it, and to his horror realized the person was still alive. Once the casket hit the fresh dirt at the bottom of the grave they undid the straps and pulled the hoist out before sealing the hole with another doton jutsu. With the gruesome spectacle over the crowd slowly dispersed, except for two men that had to stand guard until the air ran out if the unfortunate victim somehow escaped. The bunshin waited as long as it could then stealthily crept closer until it was in the patch of trees closest to the two guards and perched in the canopy. The clone created a second one with minimal chakra then had it step on a twig before leaving the area.

It caught the attention of the guards and one cautiously made his way over, but when he passed the tree Naruto was hidden in the bunshin flipped himself over the branch and held himself up by his legs before making eye contact with the guard.

Before he could even scream the man found himself being drawn in by the hypnotic pattern in the boys left eye and found himself calling his partner over so he could see the amazing thing because he couldn't even begin to describe it. The other guard came over and found himself entranced as well. Suddenly they forgot what they were talking about and just stood guard over the grave in silence like ordered.

The second clone already began digging loosening the dirt with small rasengans formed on his fingertips by the time the first one came over and helped as well. They quickly got the casket open and to their surprise recognized the body inside, "Karashi?"

The man shout up gasping for air, "Thank you, I-I thought I was a goner there. Dying by asphyxiation isn't my top way to go." He took several moments to gain his bearings and appreciate the sunlight before taking in his surroundings, "Wait, how do you know my name? And are you guys' twins? Dressing in matching outfits is so lame."

Naruto looked around quickly before answering the question, "Your grandmother hired a team from Konoha to find you, and that's a copy of me not my twin, well I'm a copy too. It's a shinobi thing."

Karashi looked confused, but he wasn't about to ask too many questions after getting pulled out of a casket buried six feet under. It didn't matter if his rescuer was the real one or not, "Whatever, can you take me back?"

The clone nodded, "Yeah, just fill us in on the way."

Karashi awkwardly jumped on the original clones back and tried to keep his feet from hitting the branches as it took to the trees. After finding a somewhat comfortable position he began the story, "Sometimes I just need to take a break from the shop so I take some money I've saved and stay with one of my friends in the nearby town for a couple of days. One night we were out at a popular spot and this guy was up at the bar throwing gold pieces around like nothing, legitimate gold nuggets. All the girls were around him and he buying bottles off the top shelf for his entourage. Eventually he came over to our table and bought into our poker game."

His story was interrupted when his shin hit a branch and he let out a hiss. Not wanting to look like a sissy in front of a boy he attempted to continue without gasping in pain, "He kept losing, but now I think that was more to show how much he had because he kept buying in without thinking about it. Eventually we got more comfortable around him after he ordered some drinks and asked where he got gold like that. He told us his boss owns a gold mine and hit a big vein. There's so much that he can't possibly pay enough miners in cash so they got the smaller gold nuggets and whatever was wedged in the corners of the carts at the end of the week. The guy would hire anybody that can lift a pickaxe and I saw it as the perfect opportunity to get awa- a way for my grandma to move somewhere nice and enjoy retirement."

Naruto didn't think that was his plan and shifted his weight so the next branch would hit Karashi's shin again. The man gave a yelp and Naruto said in a cheery tone of voice, "That's awfully nice of you. Well you know they say no good deed ever goes unpunished." It just so happened his next leap caused Karashi's forehead to impact a particularly thick branch causing a small gash to appear on his forehead.

"Dammit, watch where you're going kid."

Naruto just grinned victoriously, "Sorry, I'm not use to having a head above mine. You were saying though."

The man slandered Naruto petulantly under his breath like a child would before continuing, "Well we followed him and once we got into the mine we found ourselves in chains and forced to work hellish hours with almost no food or rest. I tried to escape but I got found so fast, I think some of them are shinobi."

"And do you know who was in charge?" Asked the blonde, wondering if denseness ran in the family. The guys obviously used jutsu at the funeral and he'd probably seen other earth jutsu used in the mine.

Karashi shuddered for a moment before answering, "He was the guy that buried me. He's completely insane. If anyone messes up he throws them a fucking funeral to celebrate their lives and is always saying we should be happy to die because that's the point of life when he walks through the mines. When somebody isn't working hard enough during one of his inspections, well the lucky ones got killed on the spot, others got fatally wounded and were made to keep working until they fell over dead, or you ended up like me."

Naruto mulled that piece of information over. This was apparently going on for some time without drawing attention from the Daimyo or Konoha, that's impressive considering gold was involved. That man was obviously a capable shinobi because you had to be to survive as a missing-nin, unless you were so pitiful it wasn't worth the villages time to hunt you down. However some raving lunatic that buries people alive to celebrate their life doesn't seem like the guy that can plan a long-term operation like this out. Deciding there was nothing more he could figure out based on the information the other clone dispelled itself and he suddenly stopped and gave an unmanly shriek before dropping Karashi and dodging to a different branch for nor reason. Of course he made sure to flip and watch the man's landing and subsequent squeal of pain with satisfaction. The man was riding on his back and his mouth was next to Naruto's ear, did he really think the blonde wouldn't be able to hear the insults he murmured?

* * *

><p>The clone dispelled itself at the front porch of the curry shop and Karashi rushed inside while rubbing his various wounds to see the blonde that rescued him and three other shinobi huddled around each other planning while his grandmother served them dinner. They all turned to him and the diminutive woman rushed at him and hugged him with incredible strength, "Oh Karashi, they said you were coming back and it's true. I'm so happy, don't worry me like that again. Oh my you're so banged up, what did they do to you? Go to the bathroom and wash up now."<p>

The man tried not to let his guilt show as he returned the hug, "I'm sorry grandma, I won't."

The woman turned to the shinobi and bowed, "Thank you so much. You're more than welcome to spend the night before your trip home."

Naruto just waved the woman off, "No that's fine, we still need to check this place out and get more information about this group before we return to the village. I had some other clones go check it out as Karashi was being brought back and they're getting ready to leave so we have to go tonight. We'll take advantage of the frenzy to get everything ready and ask some questions."

The woman just gave him a confused look, "Why? You completed your mission and I heard that's all a shinobi will do."

The blonde shook his head and gave the woman a warm look, "As a shinobi of Konohagakure no Sato I can't let a missing-nin run around the countryside terrorizing and abducting the citizens of Hi no Kuni."

The old woman just bowed and thanked them again, "I feel safer knowing that. If you ever need anything from me just ask, I can never repay you for finding Karashi."

Naruto just waved her off and pulled out a green leather book with the leaf insignia on the front before handing it to Karashi who was drinking some liquor instead of washing up, "Before you and your grandmother go can you leaf through this and see if you can spot any familiar faces."

He flipped through the bingo book for several minutes before stopping at a page and showing it to Naruto. The blonde frowned as took the book back and read it out loud, "Kurosuki Raiga, B-rank missing nin from Kirigakure. Former member of the Yondaime Mizukage's Blood Hunter Branch subdivision of Kiri's special forces which hunted and killed kekkai genkai users in Mizu no Kuni during the bloodline purges. He went rogue after stealing the Dragon Fangs from the village before a new user was chosen after Ameyuri Ringo's death, even though he was the favorite to receive them. Rumored connections to small time crime organization that trains thugs to use low level chakra tricks and shinobi tactics. Proficient in Raiton Jutsu and Kenjutsu utilizing his element." Naruto snapped the book shut and sighed, "I'm getting tired of ninja who steal legendary swords. We need to do this tonight. It takes about an hour of fast travel to get there so we'll leave at ten."

Sakura sighed and got up form the table, "We'd better get some rest because I have a feeling this is going to go to hell real fast if all our other missions are an indicator."

Naruto just nodded awkwardly.

* * *

><p>Kin put the finishing touches on her carefully constructed perimeter and then proceeded to hide in a hollowed out space under the roots of a tree outside of it. This would be the third time that she reached her limits and was forced to stop and rest, the third opportunity for them to catch her if she dropped her guard for a second. The first time the girl simply hid herself in the perimeter. The next time she hollowed out the area between the roots inside the perimeter and trapped her sleeping bag before placing it in the hole to look like she was inside resting. This time she trapped the area, but apart from making sure there were signs of her entering and leaving in the direction she was running nothing was there.<p>

The girl rolled over in the roots and curled into herself as she thought about what had her out on the run from shinobi of her own village. Kin was so proud when they told her Orochimaru deemed her worthy to perform a very important duty and she accepted even though it was just getting artificially inseminated. He recognized Kin's strength and wanted her to be the mother of his potential vessel, there was no greater honor in her mind.

That's why she was heartbroken when the doctor said the baby was stillborn. But then one day her spirits lifted when she felt a kick. At first Kin thought she was losing it because they were taken off active duty and she was so bored. Zaku and Dosu were just her teammates so they didn't fraternize outside of duties and she hardly knew anyone else around, but then it happened again and again. The teen almost ran around the base screaming in joy but she didn't want to be wrong and have it be something dumb like gas.

However the symptoms continued confirming her hopes, but something held her back. The woman who did get pregnant, her academy sensei and the founder and foremost user of sound based jutsu, Harumi, was taken from the small academy base and moved to a lavish mansion in the main capitol of the country. Oto shinobi and Samurai protected the property and it had servants to cater to her every whim. Obviously she was the envy of every woman in Oto including Kin, but still something didn't feel right so she didn't come forward with the information despite wanting that lavish treatment for herself.

Instead she dug out the pamphlet that was given to her containing information on pregnancy like phases and diet before going out and buying a baggy trench coat that would conceal her growing stomach, two gauntlets with senbon launchers on the wrists as an excuse for the trench coat, and the food it said she should eat.

It turned out that her caution paid off because a rumor began to spread that they put a seal on Harumi that would leach her life force and chakra and give it to the baby, and when she gave birth it would take what little the woman had left after the exhausting procedure and give it to the baby before the umbilical chord was cut, killing its mother.

When Kin heard that she knew she had to escape. Because of all the new purchases the genin said she wanted to improve her skills and her sensei jumped on that. The man was eager to get into their leader's graces like everyone else in Oto and wanted to impress Orochimaru who had plans for the upcoming Chunin Exams.

The kunoichi advanced her skills as much as she could during those few months, and just finished creating a new jutsu. She just wasn't ready to leave her life behind. Kin knew it would've been soon if not now, but she hoped to squeeze a little bit more out before going and leave on her terms. Then she caught a flash of red hair while in the underground cavern that held their base and knew she would have to leave then and there. The only people serving Orochimaru with red hair were the recently deceased Tayuya, and the girl who found out that Harumi was pregnant because she sensed the chakra being pulled into the fetus.

Kin thanked whatever deity was watching out for her that Karin wasn't around to perform her test before making her way back to her room, grabbing her pack, and running. Of course they knew immediately because that fucking bitch had freaky chakra sensing abilities, and from the start it was a furious race for freedom and survival.

An explosion ripped through the forest and Kin slipped from her hiding spot to sneak away in the chaos, but like always they found her trail in no time and were catching up quicker than the last two times. The kunoichi rubbed a hand on her slightly bulging stomach tenderly and thought, 'Four months, and not even in the world yet. I don't know you and didn't ask for you but I'm not letting you die here.'

Kin knew she had to make her stand now. It was becoming apparent there was no shaking her pursuers and she had been running for almost two days with little rest or nourishment. If the genin waited much longer she'd have absolutely nothing to fight back with when they caught up. The hairs on the back of the brunette's neck tingled and she launched a senbon into a tree in front of her from her wrist launcher. The shinobi made his move and dove at the kunoichi who shifted her arm and a senbon with a wire dangling behind it shot from the back of the launcher into the tree she landed on. The same tree that was also the next to the one with her first senbon in it that was connected to the one she just launched by shinobi wire.

Kin pushed some chakra to her legs and made a massive jump away as the unfortunate ninja hit the wire and detonated the exploding notes wrapped around it ending his life while the shockwave from the blast forced the other pursuers to fall out of the trees. She bought herself some more time but her chakra level wasn't rising and using soldier pills during pregnancy was a big no.

Suddenly the brunette threw herself from the branch to the ground and rolled, making sure her motions remained smooth and her stomach never impacted the ground. Kin regained her feet and looked at the branch she was just on to see a lanky shinobi swinging a net. Then a shinobi with long canines, slit eyes, and two scars on his face the shape of upside down triangles dropped from the treetops in her path. He wore the standard uniform sans mask with an Oto headband on his forehead but had a scratched out leaf one embedded into his chest plate over his heart.

He gave her a feral smile and Kin let out a savage yell in response before rushing him with a kunai drawn. He easily avoided it by sidestepping to Kin's left and slashed at her with the dangerously sharp claws on his left hand that ripped through the bark of a tree like paper.

The kunoichi dropped her kunai as she leapt over the strike and performed a flip and half spin in the air. She launched some senbon with wires trailing from them from her launcher and when they impacted bells tied to the string rang and the ends of the wires fell into her hands and she pulled them causing the bells to ring louder.

The man fell to the ground, crying in pain like he was passing a kidney stone and Kin was surprised at the exaggerated reaction. She was forced to let go of the wires and jump away as a black tornado cut through the air before stopping next to the downed nin revealing a massive dog that was completely black, except for the bloodshot whites of his eyes and his viciously sharp teeth that dripped with saliva as he snarled at the pregnant teen.

Suddenly a heavy net fell over Kin forcing her to the ground and she cursed herself for forgetting the other man in the heat of battle. The shinobi she was fighting had recovered and leaned down to give his captive a sneer and spat on her face before growling out, "You're lucky our orders were to not harm you physically because you killed two of my comrades."

Kin just managed to hold back her tears of defeat, "At least something good came from this." She looked around and realized there were two men and a dog left out of a four-man team and they were all close enough for it to work. As the former Konoha nin opened his mouth again Kin let out an ear splitting screech laced with chakra that forced the men to the ground while screaming in agony and clasping their ears. The dog also whimpered and rolled around the ground in pain. The kunoichi was able to get an arm out of the heavy net and pilfer a kunai from the feral nin that was next to her and used it to cut herself out before fleeing. She didn't get very far before the adrenaline left and exhaustion caught up to her. That last break was only half an hour and she needed so much more than that.

Kin all but collapsed and crawled pitifully, trying to get away with everything she had. The only thing keeping her going was the knowledge that the pain her pursuers were feeling wasn't real. It was induced from the genjutsu that took hold because of the high pitch of her scream that made them think the blast ruptured their eardrums while the shockwave knocked them to the ground making it more believable to the mind. Eventually they would break out of it and be back on the chase and all of it would've been futile. She would've been proud to know she made it half a mile on her hands and knees before losing consciousness.

* * *

><p>Team Naruto stood on an overhang about one hundred feet above the mouth of the cave watching the shadows cast from the light spilling out of the entrance. Sai's mice had just returned and dissolved into ink before forming into the floor plan of the complex with some areas a darker shade than others. The four looked at the map and committed it to memory before Temari asked, "Why are there different shades on the map?"<p>

"The lighter areas indicate a higher density of people." Answered Sai in his usual monotone.

"Wouldn't they be darker?" Said Sakura, as she looked closer at the map memorizing the varying shades.

Sai shook his head, "No, less mice run through the areas with more people so those areas aren't as heavily shaded."

The Suna kunoichi also scrutinized the map with more intensity, "How does this work anyways? How do they make an accurate map, they're just mice made of ink."

Sai explained somewhat animatedly and Naruto decided to let him have his moment because they were so rare, "The mice aren't really intelligent, but they can sense where they have been, where the other ones have been and the direction they are moving so they spread out to the areas less explored. Eventually they have a near equal distribution and can't spread out further so they come back and put where they have been in relation to the other mice on paper and it gives a rough floor plan."

Naruto was genuinely impressed but they were on the clock, and no matter how happy it made him to see Sai express some enthusiasm now wasn't the time for it so he refocused his team, "Okay here's how it'll work, none of the sentries they have out are garbed like the shinobi I saw earlier so I doubt they know anything important. We'll have to go in."

He pointed to a hallway that had three entrances, one wound it's way in from a small back passage, a passageway that was accessible from the front entrance with some careful navigation, and two that were next to two highly populated areas, perhaps the mess hall and bunks. "We'll go to this hallway from the unused passage and hide in a room while one of my transformed Kage Bunshin keeps watch. It'll dispel itself when we have an opportunity and Sakura will hit the guy with a fast acting paralytic poison so he can't scream then I'll pull him in. We'll give him the antidote, interrogate him, then get out here."

The blonde pointed to a small, natural chimney that a person could squeeze through in the tool storage area. "That's the best case scenario. If this mission turns into a clusterfuck like all our other ones we'll go out here, it's the most guarded but also the fastest, hopefully we can escape before they get their bearings."

Sakura gave the map a once over again, "Shouldn't we just try to sneak out the easiest way so if it does go bad we're closer. If Raiga is only B-rank then his subordinates can't be that strong. You don't want people working for you that can challenge you on even footing."

Temari shook her head and answered, "Even if we think the infiltration is going perfectly they may know and let us get our objective to see what it is, and the caves naturally funnel you to that exit and it's a massive choke point. The perfect place for an ambush. If they know and have it set up us going out a different way forces them to shuffle their forces so that exit will be less guarded when we do get there." The blonde highlighted how all the paths were carved to slant towards that tunnel and the pinkette realized it was probably an exit point for materials or waste.

Naruto nodded and gave Temari a smile. She turned away but he was able to see the corners of her mouth were turned upwards just a little bit. Glad she wasn't that mad about earlier he tried to assure his team, "That's just worst case scenario though. Like I said we should be in and out without anyone knowing we're there, it's not like they know that shinobi are in the area and those sentries seem more like token guys."

* * *

><p>Deep in the mines two blood red orbs glowed in the darkness as a soft voice whispered out, "He's back."<p>

The sounds of sheets ruffling broke the silence for several seconds before Raiga grunted, "Huh."

"The shinobi I saw at the funeral, he's back with a team."

The crackling of lightning was heard as the room was bathed in a soft blue. Raiga touched the tip of his glowing fang to the severed end of a wire that illuminated a light signaling the guards to get into position.

* * *

><p><strong>AN<strong> So there it is, the Curry of Life Arc. I know that Karashi is Sansho's son and she's not a senile old woman, but I like her as a senile old woman and this is the only chapter she's in so who really cares. Karashi also joined the Kurosuki family because he though power is everything but he might've been lying in my story so I'll let you the readers decide. Also Raiga was quite bipolar in canon. He buried people alive for jollies then killed himself at the end so Ranmaru can be happy and was given the swords. Well in mine he stole them before he was given them because he was insecure and the psychotic bury people alive to get off personality killed the repressed child inside Raiga so no suicide for him. Part 1 is coming to an end and the childhoods of the Konoha 12 are as well. This section was supposed to feel less serious and more lighthearted because team seven are only kids and are somewhat protected from the world by their sensei and village. Now they're entering the teen years and things will get darker. I never wanted the audience to feel that they were in over their heads because they never were supposed to be. Even in wave they didn't fight Zabuza or even kill anyone. Now I can put the characters in more dangerous situations that push them past their limits and bring more conflict into the story as well as focus on secondary characters more and build their stories. Till next time

-Operaman Bye Bye


	25. Battle in the Mines

Jiraiya walked out of a small border town of Yu no Kuni while grumbling disgruntledly. He was in the area to meet with a contact to get the last bit of information needed to finalize Naruto's training trip, but the informant didn't even have the decency to meet him in one of the famous, or infamous depending who you asked, resort towns. Not wanting to miss out on prime research material the hermit decided to stop on the last town on Yu no Kuni's border. The country itself was famous for it's hot springs and resorts, filled with bright lights, beautiful girls, and all the alcohol a man could drink. That little puissant town had none of that and it would be better for everyone if that experience became permanently repressed in Jiraiya's subconscious, never to be unlocked. Luckily the town was right next to Ta no Kuni and had an excellent selection of incredibly potent rice wine, so the hermit had all the supplies he needed for the day's to do list.

Unfortunately it was not to be when an explosion rang out a couple miles past the border. The spymaster knew that his old teammate had sunk his claws deep into the country so it was pretty much his duty to go see if anybody needed help. Jiraiya looked forlornly at his recently purchased booze before staring towards the blast site. He repeated the process several times before shrugging and taking off towards the smoke billowing in the air while swilling Sake straight from the bottle, moving at a pace few could hope to match.

Jiraiya was starting to feel a heavy buzz when he noticed that there was a path cut through the long grass that he was running parallel to, and it appeared to be relatively fresh. Figuring the person would probably be running away from the explosion he tossed the container over his shoulder before turning around and following the trail.

It didn't go far before abruptly ending, and lying unconscious in the meadow was a girl who appeared to be in her early teens carrying enough shinobi gear to supply several teams. Her clothes were ripped and shredded while what little of her body was exposed appeared to be littered with scrapes and cuts. A closer inspection of the injured kunoichi revealed the contours of her stomach showing through her baggy cloak and Jiraiya sighed, "Pregnant at that age, they just get younger and younger." Tears began falling down his face as he looked towards the sky, "Why couldn't girls be this loose when I was a genin? I would've been smart enough to pull out at least."

The sage ended his rant and gently cradled the girl's body as he blurred away, just before being engulfed by a large steel net. It snaked back into the thick weeds then two shinobi emerged from them. They wore the same outfits as the cronies who were with Kabuto when he captured Tsunade sans masks, probably because they wouldn't need them in their own country.

The one holding the net was rather skinny and on the tall side, probably a couple of inches taller than Jiraiya. He was bald with an ashy complexion, and had a large stitch shaped scar that started next to his right eye and wrapped under his narrow jaw. The net swung lazily while his beady black eyes stared down the living legend.

The other one had wild black hair that covered his ears, slitted green eyes, and two scars the shape of fangs on his cheeks. He moved his clawed hands, revealing the scratched out leaf headband embedded in his chest plate, and pointed the dangerous appendages at Jiraiya, "Not bad old man, but I don't feel like wasting any more time so just hand over the bitch."

Jiraiya feigned hurt as he carefully adjusted the girl so she was resting over his shoulder, "You're from Konoha, you work for Orochimaru, and somehow you don't know who I am. Allow me to fix that."

The toad summoner lamented he couldn't do his usual dance because of his cargo, but decided to make the best of it. After all it's not every day a world famous man gets to introduce himself to someone. "A legendary sage, feared by the unjust and loved by the righteous. He simply appears and the women swoon. Evil men cower in fear and jealousy because of his terrible might. I am the protector of the weak, upholder of justice, the Gallant-."

The feral man let out a roar and charged the sennin with his partner as a dog leapt out from the grass behind him, "I don't care who you are, just die."

Jiraiya bit his thumb made four hand signs so fast and fluently that the girl didn't even shift on his shoulders. The men had no time to react as he slammed his bloody palm to the ground while saying, "Kuchiyose: Yatai Kuzushi no Jutsu." (Summoning: Food cart destroyer)

Jiraiya disappeared and the charging men stopped their attack and looked up to see a cloud of smoke through which a large, green, and warty posterior was rapidly falling. The former Konoha shinobi finally realized why the old guy was so familiar just as the ass of a toad ended his life.

Jiraiya dismissed his summon and frowned at the three bloody and mangled corpses in the crater, "You didn't even let me finish. That was a really good one too, I should definitely put that in the next installment of Icha Icha."

The buzz from the alcohol was fading so Jiraiya brought the next bottle out and popped the cork before taking a better look at the girl on his shoulder, "Now what's so special about you that Orochimaru would send an Inuzuka to hunt you down?"

The toad sage felt he had a pretty good idea as he made his way to a nearby safe house, confident that nobody, save his ex-teammate, had a hope of following.

* * *

><p>The first coherent thought in Kin's head was that she was far comfier than she had ever been at the base and was surrounded by warmth. The kunoichi thought she was dead and panic set in. Her eyes shot open and she let out a groan because of the bright light pouring in through the open window. To make matters worse somebody started playing the drums in her head while every move made her body cry out in pain, "Nope, I'm definitely alive."<p>

A boisterous laugh rang out and the girl winced because it caused her headache to spike, "You say that like it's a bad thing."

"It's not, could you just keep it down a little bit?" Replied Kin as she hissed in pain.

The voice got much quieter before saying, "Sorry, I forgot what it feels like to have chakra exhaustion. Before you go back to sleep try to eat and drink. I've left some nutritious food and some cold water on the table to your left. I managed to feed you a little when we got here but the baby needs more."

The last few days came rushing back to Kin as she slowly opened her eyes to adjust to the light. In the far corner of the room sat a man at a desk wearing a red vest and green long sleeve shirt with thick white hair spilling down his back. "Thank you, but why did you help me? Who are you?"

He turned around revealing a kind face and gave her a gentle smile, "Some kind of man I would be if I just left a damsel in distress." He deflected her other questions as he placed the tray in front of her, "My friend is a great medic and I know chakra exhaustion while pregnant isn't a good thing. Now eat up and sleep because you must be exhausted still. When you're ready to travel I'll bring you to my village."

Kin knew the kind old man was right and mumbled another thank you before digging into the steaming bowl of hearty soup and warm bread before letting a peaceful sleep take her.

* * *

><p>Team Naruto had managed to navigate the mines and get to the designated supply closet with no incident. Currently the captain of said team was trying not to enjoy his position so much that he would be unable to react quickly enough. Temari was pressed tightly up against his back and he could feel her breasts move against him whenever she shifted positions. The older blonde was pushing him into Sakura and he was trying his hardest not to move so he didn't accidentally poke her. Sai stood in the corner staring at the doorway with a scroll of ink beasts easily accessible.<p>

The blonde definitely didn't plan it, it just so happened that Sakura needed to be closes to the door to move first and he had to go out quickly to get the target… and he didn't really want Sai pressing into him like Temari was.

Suddenly Naruto's blue eye shot open as he got his Kage Bunshin's memory. The blonde's creative mind worked frantically as he whispered, "Shit, follow my lead… Sai smoke bombs, Sakura prepare me a kunai with an exploding tag then get out some poison gas, Temari get a jutsu ready." He could clearly see the questions on their faces, but his tone told them there was no time to ask so they carried out the assigned tasks quickly. Naruto cleared himself some room before forming several hand seals. He held the last one and inhaled deeply while counting in his head. When it reached zero he exhaled and launched a Goukuuhou at the door. It smashed into the wooden portal making it shatter into splinters and before the shrapnel hit the other side of the hallway Sakura had the kunai in his hands.

Sai figured that was his cue and launched the smoke bombs filling the hallway and closet with thick, grey smoke. Naruto yelled out "Go, left." And the three genin burst from the closet and he quickly followed after coating the prepared kunai with wind chakra. When the chunin exited the room he threw it into the floor and activated the tag just as Sakura launched her gas bombs. A small explosion ripped through the hallway spreading the poison and Temari launched a wave of wind right after Naruto got behind her, keeping them safe from the fumes while sending them back towards their pursuers.

They started rushing through the hallways while the old lights in the mines flickered after the blast. Naruto drifted to the back while saying, "Sakura take the lead?"

"What, why?" Questioned the pinkette in a hesitant voice.

He gave her a comforting smile that calmed her nerves, "Because I'm sure you know exactly where we are and I have no idea."

Now it was her turn to smile and she gave him a confident nod before dashing ahead and Naruto fell to the back of the group while digging in his pack. He let out a triumphant shout and held up a roll of prepared trip wires before rifling through tightly bound groups. He yanked the short wires out of the bundle, the ones made for trapping the tightest spaces, before stuffing the rest back in his pack haphazardly. This was reminding him of the chases from his pranking days so he thought it was a good time to use some old, reliable ticks.

Usually his pursuers would rush blindly ahead, not assuming he would have traps because he appeared to be blindly rushing for his freedom. But he was a clever child, even if they never called him smart, and would plan out his escape routes before his pranks. The blonde would spend hours, sometimes days if it was worth it, secretly setting up traps so he could quickly finish them while running away and leave surprises for his pursuers set up in his wake.

Unfortunately he didn't have any prepared, but that could be even better because his victims wouldn't expect it at all. The Jinchuuriki began coating the kunai with wind chakra and randomly set the wires up, not caring which tags were tied around them. He was a little miffed about it too because he spent hours organizing them carefully since all the people he knew insisted that it was important to have things like that set up and organized. Well Uzumaki Naruto one, everybody else over prepared dumbass.

The shinobi rounded the next corner and saw a wall of at least thirty men blocking their way before another twenty came out from the hallway on their right. They closed in menacingly with weapons drawn, each step shutting potential escape routes. Before any of the ninja could prepare a jutsu to break the lines a bright flash of light went off before a sharp blast of sound cracked in the passageway behind them. Sakura turned and led Team Naruto in a hasty retreat while its captain left several trip wires for their pursuers.

It was a good thing too because they didn't get very far before six cloaked men rolled out of hidden compartments carved into the ceiling, wielding long kunai knives. They wasted no time and launched themselves at their younger opponents. Temari pulled out two small fans and began spinning around and swinging them wildly.

There was a method to her madness though as two of the attackers were killed or mortally wounded by crescents of wind while some had shallow wounds, but their attack was stopped and the initiative stolen. Sai used the time to summon ink lions that quickly attacked the four flunkies and the shinobi used that distraction to finish them quickly.

Unfortunately it wasn't quick enough because several men appeared from either end of the hall trapping them once more. Naruto formed some Kage Bunshins and they rushed at the group in front of them, supported by more ink animals courtesy of Sai. The clones leapt at the men while forming Rasengans. In response the front row planted their pikes, hoping to stop the blonde projectiles. They did manage to dispel some, but the swirling balls of chakra shred most of the flimsy weapons and armor killing many. The remaining bunshins and ink animals leapt over the melee in the first row and began to sow chaos in the enemy ranks. What was once a tightly packed score of men in formation was now a disorganized mess and a Daikamaitachi from Temari managed to clear the hall. Naruto left behind some shadow clones to discourage pursuit and set up some more wires as they kept running into a large room filled with tables.

Suddenly metal gates swung open at the tops of the large arches that led to the exit revealing more hidden cubbies and ambushers. One man in the arches would throw a steel rope to the one across from him and they all unrolled to the floor revealing it to be a net of meshed barbed wire. Suddenly more men came from the hallways and anchored the bottom of the nets trapping the team inside. The shinobi looked around frantically before Temari growled with frustration, "What the hell? I come on two missions with you guys and have to deal with all this bullshit. I went on ten times the amount of missions in Suna and saw less action on all of them combined than just one of these. I've had enough."

She pulled out her two handheld fans and they began to glow blue with chakra, "Which way Sakura?"

She timidly pointed to the one on her left and Temari turned a full spin and swung one fan vertically and one horizontally, sending two perpendicular blades of wind at the net. They easily cut through it and the two men anchoring in the hallway giving them an exit. Team Naruto quickly went that way and some well-placed poison bombs by the team's medic made sure the men in the cubbies wouldn't stop them.

Naruto looked at constantly flickering light at the end of the tunnel and saw that it stayed lit for almost three seconds before flashing again, except this time it was in half-second intervals. Testing a theory he ordered, "Switch exits Sakura, make it obvious."

She gave him a strange look over her shoulder, "But we're almost there."

"Just do it." He responded sharply.

She didn't ask another question and as they made the next turn he watched the lights at the end of the hallway. They once again stopped flickering for about three seconds before taking on a three second interval between flashes, "Now go towards the exit we were heading for after we got trapped in the mess hall."

He could see that the pinkette wanted to ask, but he didn't have time and she didn't want to get snapped at again so made the turn. Once again it paused for three seconds before flickering every half second, "Dammit, they somehow know where we are and when we change directions. The lights are a signal."

Sakura's face lit up in understanding, "But how do they know?"

"It doesn't matter." Said Temari. "We just need to get out of here."

Naruto nodded in agreement, "Just take us to the main exit in the most direct route possible Sakura. We're just going to have to muscle our way through."

* * *

><p>"They know Raiga, they're going straight for the waste dump."<p>

The man growled as soon as Ranmaru's soft voice finished, "Dammit, it's so hard to find good help." He took his charged fang off the severed wire tied into the main power grid before flashing it several times in the appropriate order. "Okay, everybody knows, but unfortunately we can't count on them Ranmaru. We'll have to do it together."

The lavender haired boy poked his head out of the bundle of cloth that was his cocoon and gave Raiga an affectionate smile, "Because I'm your eyes."

"And I'm your legs." Responded Raiga mechanically. He automatically returned the smile after he finished, but it lacked the warmth of the boy's on his back.

He started off but as soon as he opened the door to his private chamber he was confronted by the icy stare of Kimimaro, "What is going on?"

Raiga just waved him off, "Nothing really, just some uninvited guests that we prepared some surprises for."

The pale teen stoically lifted an eyebrow, "And you didn't think it prudent to tell me?"

Raiga gave him a stiff bow. "Forgive me. I didn't think such a nuisance should be the concern of an agent of Orochimaru's. I'm going to handle it myself now. I have my most expendable men giving chase while my more capable ones are in ambush spots or preparing the sealed gold for shipment. I'm about to go greet our guests personally and then we can leave with the gold if that pleases you."

Kimimaro just walked away dismissively, "Do what you want, we leave on my signal whether you're here or not."

Raiga just grit his teeth as the Kaguya walked away, 'Little punk. Just wait till Orochimaru gives me my reward, then we'll see who's higher on the food chain you freak.'

The former hunter stopped watching Kimimaro's back and began to stalk his real prey.

* * *

><p>The door swung open and smashed into the stonewall causing the wood to split and splinter. The guard defensively held a ten-inch kunai in front of him, a sign he was an elite among the Kurosuki. He tried to hide the nervous shaking of his knees as the sound of footsteps echoed around the corner. The cowardly guard almost sagged to his knees in relief when the person who appeared matched the description, a description filled with insults and curses, given by Raiga. Knowing that if he didn't obey this person's command he would be having a premature funeral the guard scrambled to attention, "What do you need sir?"<p>

The white haired man ignored him and walked past him to the vault door and the guard quickly turned and scrambled to follow. The pale shinobi just stood there tapping his foot and eventually the hapless sentry took the hint and opened it, "Is everything ready for transport?"

Taken aback by the suddenness of the command and the power behind it he stuttered out, "Y-yes, everything is, is sealed and safely packed."

Kimimaro ignored the man while other guards and fuuinjutsu users gathered around and watched with sick fascination as the fanatic grabbed his left hand, right above the wrist and began to pull. The joint let loose several sick popping and squelching sounds before it ripped from his arm. The shinobi didn't let loose a sound during the process and dropped the dismembered body part as a new hand began to grow in place of the old one. The Kurosaki henchmen just stared mutely in awe and horror for a couple of minutes until the hand was regrown. The bizarre shinobi then picked it up his dismembered hand off the ground before grabbing it with his new one and holding it like he was shaking the owner' hand.

The men thought it couldn't get any stranger, but from the back of the amputated hand sprouted the radius and ulna bones. They continued to extend from the hand and muscle and skin slowly grew to cover it. After the shoulder joint was formed it branched off to all the connected bones and continued to expand. The larger it got the faster it grew, but the ninja was obviously exhausted and he was barely halfway done with his creation.

The bones stopped growing but the skin and muscle continued to creep up and cover it. However no organs or body systems were created besides the skeletal and muscular, the creation would be fueled by chakra alone.

Unfortunately Kimimaro had poured over three quarters of his natural chakra pool into it and only the head and left arm were fully formed. The left leg was only beginning to grow and the right side of the torso was still forming as well. Luckily the Kaguya had a second source of chakra he could call on and the marks of his earth seal, thin lines that formed something like the diagram of an electrical circuit, spread across his skin. A thick, malevolent chakra began to foul up the room and the thugs fell to the ground, gasping for air. Kimimaro paid them no heed as the body continued to grow, but still not fast enough. He powered up to his level two form and the speed quadrupled as his clone took on the same changes as him. Eventually he was shaking hands with his exact copy, and as he powered down the curse seal chakra contained itself on the clone in a replica of Kimimaro's curse seal, but it was more like a storage seal in design.

This was the most hidden technique of the Kaguya clan, mainly because so few had the chakra to complete the procedure. To create one clone a group of high-level clan members with similar chakra signatures, usually family members, pooled their chakra together. Even then many strong Kaguya had died during the process. It created an exact copy that was capable of any Shikotsumyaku dance (Dead bone pulse). It possessed upwards of ninety percent of his chakra, including the curse seal, and could be controlled from up to a mile away. The technique's biggest weakness was a delay that could be taken advantage of by opponents of the same skill level. The only time the clan ever really used it was for incredibly dangerous assassination missions or gathering information on an exceptionally deadly opponent. The results usually weren't worth the sacrifice, but this time it would allow him to personally guard the gold and keep abreast of the situation.

Kimimaro ignored the gasping guards, and one who lay unconscious in a puddle of his own vomit, as he sat in a lotus position to form the connection with his creation. As he closed his green eyes the clone opened its pair, revealing the exact same icy stare before stalking into the hallway.

* * *

><p>Nobody had interrupted Team Naruto's progress through the tunnels since figuring out how they communicated so their pursuers were obviously preparing an ambush. That's why it wasn't a surprise when Naruto felt something in his stomach and grabbed Sakura's elbow before she turned into the next hallway and a literal river of lightning poured down the corridor. Naruto stepped out ahead of his team and launched a Daitoppa to block any follow up attack and they took off into an adjoining hallway.<p>

Raiga let out a scream of frustration after the windblast subsided as Ranmaru scanned the area they ran into, "Go straight and take the third left."

Now Naruto led the group while staying on the lookout for any sign of Raiga. Temari let out a yelp and he turned his head to see a ball of lighting as wide as the passageway hurtling towards them. The sandy blonde threw open her fan and countered with a quick Kamaitachi, but the lightning jutsu proved to be a more powerful and was only weakened by the move. However it did buy Naruto enough time to launch another Daitoppa that was able to scatter the remaining lightning. They took the closest side passage once again and Ranmaru immediately said, "Right."

Naruto had his sharingan out and it span rapidly as he scanned everyone's chakra to see if the man had done something to detect it. He was at his wit's end because every way they went was blocked off and eventually they wouldn't be able to break through the enemy line. But even a sensor wouldn't be able to pick the tunnels so perfectly so there had to be some trick. The blonde let out a sigh because everyone's chakra was the same as always, but the doujutsu did allow him to see the residual waves of chakra emanating from the corner in front of them. The chunin gripped his blade and pulled it out just in time to parry a sword covered in lightning.

The man tried to use the extension on the tip of his blade to disarm Naruto but he was able to maneuver his shorter weapon out of the joint before it could get caught. The blonde then slashed at Raiga's head and the more experienced swordsman easily backstepped the strike. The wide slash was a feint though and the chakra blade left behind a thick wall of white ash that blocked the swordsman's vision. Despite that he was able to dodge Sakura's senbon needles like he knew where they were.

Before Raiga could launch one of his deadly lightning jutsu to counter he moved his sword to stab a charging ink lion and Team Naruto retreated down the hallway before cutting to the left.

The blonde sheathed his sword and bit his thumb, waiting for the next encounter, and sure enough another river of lightning was barreling at them from behind. Naruto turned one hundred and eighty degrees as he made four quick and seals and slammed his bloody palm on the ground when he completed the turn, "Kuchiyose no Jutsu." A shield toad appeared in a puff of smoke and saw the approaching threat. It croaked and launched a large ball of water that absorbed the lightning attack and continued on its path.

Raiga cursed and ducked behind the corner and charged up his fangs to catch any residual lightning spread after the ball splashed into the wall. When he came back around he was staring at a heavily armored horned purple toad that was much taller than he was. It had two large, circular shields that were studded with inch long spikes on each forearm, and it appeared the edges were sharpened as well. Naruto stared awkwardly at the toad, slightly embarrassed that he didn't know its name, "Um sorry for summoning you like that but do you think you could maybe stall this guy? Not for long but we need a little breathing room to get out." It croaked in agreement before facing the swordsman, "Great, I'll ask someone what I should get you later."

Confident in his summon's ability Naruto led his team towards the exit after creating a horde of clones to clear the way. It wasn't long before they could taste the sweet air and the four ninja avoided the bodies of men as they leapt onto the side of the mountain. They didn't even get halfway down when another ball of lightning rushed down the mountainside before exploding when it got close to them. The shinobi leapt off the rock to dodge and used the debris to get back to the mountain but they were facing a very angry Raiga who had several slices and puncture wounds on him, "I swear I'm going to hunt that annoying frog down and give it a funeral, but for now you'll do."

Naruto just gave the man a cheeky grin, "First of all it's a toad, and secondly I told it to stall you and not beat you because I wanted to say we beat a seven swordsmen of the mist ourselves after fighting Zabuza in Nami no Kuni."

Raiga grit his teeth at the insolent remark, but before he could say anything the blonde with her hair in four pigtails cut in, "He's wasn't a swordsman Naruto. Remember it said he stole the swords and ran in the bingo book."

"Shut up. I never wanted to be in the same group with assholes like Zabuza and Kisame anyways, Raiton: Raikyu." (Lightning Ball). Raiga's eyes gleamed with rage as he launched his jutsu at the four gnats who didn't have the decency to die. He'd take their bodies with him and give them a special funeral that he could really enjoy.

* * *

><p>The lightning ball forced the four shinobi to scatter and Raiga made his next move, "Kirigakure no Jutsu. Do you really think numbers mean anything in this situation?"<p>

After the missing-nin finished setting up the jutsu Ranmaru whispered from his carrier on the man's back, "There's one directly below us on the cliff while two are at three and four o'clock and one is trying to get above us on our left."

Raiga grunted the affirmative and stabbed his glowing swords into the cliff face as they sparked with electrical energy, "Raiso: Ikazuchi no Utage." (Lightning Burial: Banquet of Lightning)

Lightning crackled between the fangs and a miniature storm of lightning surrounded the swordsman. He lifted his arms and laughed maniacally as the electricity branched out in the four directions indicated and the glorious screams of pain echoed out, except the one voice rose that above them, "Futon: Sensougouheki." (Rumbling wind wall)

Raiga looked up to see the mist swirling around a figure and let out a frustrated growl but before he could follow up Ranmaru said, "Move!" He knew better than to question the boy and leapt from his position just as a gas bomb exploded, releasing noxious purple fumes. The former hunter turned around and saw that the pink haired girl was flying on some type of bird with the pale kid while the blonde girl was gliding on her fan holding two small handheld ones.

Riaga formed a Raikyu between his blades and took aim at the bird while letting out an insane yell, "I hate pale people!" The bird managed to dodge, but he didn't care and let loose a steady stream of the blasts forcing the bird to take further evasive actions, but it left him wide open for a counterattack.

"Incoming." Once again the missing-nin was forced to abandon his position as two blades of wind left deep gouges in the rock. Raiga faced upwards to see several copies of the blond boy launching air bullets at him so he began running laterally on the cliff face. He managed to slow down or speed up whenever a bullet was about to hit him. The volley stopped for a moment and the crazed swordsman charged up a large Raikyu. He threw it in the middle of the clones and before it hit the cliff the ball burst into dozens of streams of lightning that dispelled all the bunshins, but there was no sign of the real blonde. Suddenly Ranmaru said, "He's inside the mountain."

Raiga stopped the flow of chakra to his feet and fell just as the mountainside exploded outward and the blonde chunin emerged holding a blue ball of swirling chakra. The teen stared down at him with mismatched eyes as the debris exploded out around him. The man dropped about twenty yards before reattaching his feet, but as he was still sliding the chunin was upon him wielding that white, glowing blade. "Pick it up Ranmaru." Harshly commanded Raiga.

The feeble boy timidly mumbled an apology as Naruto stopped running and stabbed. Raiga simply slid out of range before overloading his feet with chakra and launching himself at the charging shinobi. The white blade made a wide slashing arc from the left, leaving a glowing trail, but the lightning charged fang blocked it. The blonde's sword then extended as he slid the length of it along Raiga's and stabbed. Raiga was forced to disengage and spin to his left lest the blade stab through his head. Still the chunin's knee slammed into his ribs and Raiga grunted as he completed his turn. He then swiped his blades in an x patter launching two arcs of lightning at the descending boy forcing him to stop his attack and leap to the side.

The ex Kiri shinobi took advantage and charged Naruto, making several sweeping slashes that forced the boy back up the cliff. The Jinchuuriki leapt to the side and Raiga lifted his swords as they let out a small storm of lightning that stopped the senbon rushing at him. He looked up to see the kid's pink haired teammate had thrown pellets all around him while his vision was blocked by the swords and he was forced to backflip away from the cliff face.

Ranmaru shouted a warning as Raiga was flipping and he craned his neck to see the pale kid swooping in on his black and white bird as he launched a barrage of shuriken at the rogue nin. The ex-Hunter simply contorted his body around most of the projectiles and blocked what he had to. As Raiga completed the flip his boots landed on Sai's bird and the swordsman pushed off while slashing through its neck, destroying the creature. He landed safely on the cliff and watched while the pale boy fell, hopefully to his doom.

It wasn't to be however as the annoying blonde rat threw a kunai attached to a long strand of ninja wire towards the Ne operative who grabbed it and swung back to the cliff as well. The missing-nin turned to see the real chunin was charging down the mountainside with the pink haired girl hot on his heels. Raiga squared up to the assaulting shinobi and braced himself as he met their bull rush head on. The blonde led off with an overhead slash that forced Raiga to block with his left blade and the girl came under the boy's outstretched arm so the Kiri native couldn't use his right sword. She sent a glowing palm at Raiga's left shoulder so he disengaged and tried to slash at the girl, but she stopped and her blonde teammate sped past her. The older shinobi changed his angle and instead slashed at Naruto's right leg.

The boy simply kept his blade on the inside of the strike and swung it in a vertical, upwards arc as he charged Raiga. The swordsman lifted an eyebrow because the attack would have no chance of landing before his, but the white trail left behind deflected the lightning covered fang. Raiga's eyes widened as he just managed to get his other blade up to slightly deflect the attack, but it left a scratch just above his right eye that immediately began leaking blood into the purple orb. Raiga delivered a devastating head butt in retaliation that resulted in a satisfying crack and the assaulting boy let out a cry of pain as he lost control of his chakra and slid down the face of the mountain.

Naruto managed to catch himself by coating his free hand in chakra, but Raiga already launched a Raikyu at the helpless blonde. He watched the descending ball, but a Daikamaitachi, courtesy of Temari, impacted the attack and forced it to smash into the mountainside. Raiga let loose a howl of fury and tried to rush the Suna kunoichi, but found he couldn't move his legs. He looked down to see that nearly a dozen black snakes had constricted around his legs and anchored themselves to the cliff face. The Kurosuki boss turned his head around to see the blonde rushing at him holding that deadly ball of chakra once again, but before it could grind through his torso a pale hand caught the outstretched wrist and turned the jutsu into the mountainside, utterly destroying it.

Naruto followed the arm up to the owner's face, the same face that took a rasengan head on and came back unscathed. His blue and red eyes widened in surprise, "You."

The teenager's green eyes narrowed sharply and the red dots above his eyes shifted together as he looked at the blonde. The bone wielder threw him off the side of the mountain, but Naruto simply made a crossed shaped seal and used the clone that popped into existence to get back to the face safely.

He looked up at the dangerous ninja and took in the changes. He was no longer wearing a hospital robe but had on a loose lavender zip up shirt and the sleeves came down to cover his hands. He wore a lavender bow around his waist, just like Tayuya had when they captured her, and black pants that stopped mid shin. There was also a strange seal on his chest that appeared to be three fangs grouped together, one was vertical, the other two horizontal with about an inch between the ends. The bone user shifted his gaze to Raiga before looking back at Naruto, "You're lucky I got here in time. You wouldn't have gotten up from that jutsu."

"I had it handled." Replied Raiga angrily.

"Not from where I was watching."

Taking advantage of their distraction Naruto used the Goukuuhou and launched a barrage of air bullets that destroyed the rock under Kimimaro's feet. He then launched several more at the descending teen so the deadly shinobi couldn't get a foothold and climb back up. He then looked at his teammates, "Listen, that guy's on a completely different level and we can't handle them both at the same time. You guys stay here and deal with him, I'll stall the pale one."

Sakura frowned and looked down the mountain through the thick fog, "Are you sure? One of us can come too."

Temari looked like she wanted to agree but Sai answered for his captain, "No, Raiga isn't enough of a pushover that two of us can safely take him. Naruto has obviously seen that man before and has the perfect jutsu for stalling. We'll just have to finish up here quickly."

Naruto gave his male teammate an appreciative nod before saying, "Sai's right, I trust you guys will wrap things up and come help me out. Temari you're in charge so keep them safe."

The other blonde nodded and Naruto started running towards the Kaguya. He found Kimimaro waiting on a wide plateau carved into the mountain watching his descent, almost eagerly. The cliff ended and the plateau extended nearly three hundred feet before sharply dropping again. It was about seventy-five feet wide, but on either side there was a steep incline, much like the one Naruto ran down. The surface was jagged and uneven with piles of boulders were stacked all over it. The whole thing looked like some type of behemoth had taken a bite from the mountain itself. Naruto landed softly and drew his sword before taking a ready position as he faced the bone user, "What does Orochimaru want here?"

Kimimaro lifted his palm and held it towards Naruto, "That's no concern of trash like you. Now we didn't get properly acquainted last time so I would like to show you a specialty of mine. Tsubaki no Mai." (Dance of the Camellia)

His palm split open as a pointed bone protruded from his skin and a blade followed. It extended outwards until what looked like a handle appeared and it detached as the hole sealed itself quickly. His weapon appeared to be about the size of Naruto's and he held it with the ease of an expert. "This is my bloodline, Shikotsumyaku. It allows me to control my skeletal system and make my bones as hard as diamonds. Now, let us begin."

He seemed to disappear and Naruto could barely raise his blade to block the bone, but the pale teen was undeterred and spun to deliver a brutal kick to the blonde's midsection that sent him tumbling head over heels. It felt like a sledgehammer hit his ribs where Kimimaro's shin made contact.

Luckily Naruto was able to hold onto the blade because he used it to divert the bone sword so the tip only pierced the hard stone, not his head. The blonde scrambled to roll away, but Kimimaro delivered another kick to his midsection before he was clear.

Naruto was already moving away from the strike so he was able to absorb most of it and regain his feet. This time when Kimimaro attacked he was able to duck under the slash and stab towards the bone user, but a sharp tipped bone sprouted from the Kaguya's elbow when Naruto got behind his defense before retracting itself. The Konoha ninja fell to the ground and rolled out of the range of those deadly legs. The blonde regained his feet and braced for an attack, but his opponent was just standing lazily. Naruto made a cross shaped seal and summoned eight Kage Bunshin that all said, "Don't underestimate me."

Four charged with their blades ready while four stayed back and Kimimaro just gave a cocky smirk and walked towards them calmly while saying, "If this is all your capable of I don't need to try." The white haired teen burst into motion when he finished and stopped one clone's attack by grabbing its wrist and threw it at another, dispelling them both. He then opened his palm as he flicked his wrist and the hilt of the bone sword sword spun rapidly before he took it in the backhand grip, pivoted, and impaled one Naruto in the face who was approaching from the rear. He then flipped over the last clone's lunging stab and threw his bone saber into the back of its neck.

He then looked around to see the four remaining Narutos had surrounded him and the bones in the tips of his fingers poked out of the skin, "Teshi Sendan." (Ten Finger Drilling Bullets) He spun a full circle while firing a few bones at each clone. The projectiles moved so fast the copies had not time to react and were all dispelled. Suddenly ten more Kage Bunshin popped into existence on the outcroppings of rock surrounding Kimimaro, holding swirling balls of wind the size of a basketball in front of them, "Futon: Sattou Dangan." (Bullet Rush)

Each ball split into twenty-five, arrow like projectiles each and Kimimaro was surrounded by two hundred fifty of the wind bullets. They launched at him in waves of fifty in an attempt to inflict damage faster than he could heal. The seal on the Kaguya's chest pulsed and spikes of bone exploded from the ground around him, providing protection from the barrage. He emerged from the bones like they were water while holding a new blade, "Is this really all you can muster?"

Nine of the Narutos rushed Kimimaro with an angry scream and when they got close the exploding tags stuck to their clothes detonated. The Kaguya was engulfed in the smoke and fire created by the explosion. When the dust settled nearly half a minute later many pieces of Kimimaro's bones and muscle were visible, even his teeth could be seen through his torn cheek, but all the burns and lacerations from shrapnel were in the process of healing and Naruto cursed.

This guy was kicking his ass like Yuugao did and the blonde wasn't just limited to kenjutsu either. He hated to do it but he was going to have to use the Kyuubi's chakra. Not enough to create a shroud because he would still need the sharingan to have any hope of keeping up, but still enough that his speed and strength would be increased to the point that most jounin would have to try to be able to match it.

The bone user watched with interest as the chunin's remaining blue eye turned red, except unlike the deep ruby of the sharingan it was a blood red. The pupil then became slit like a predator and the markings on his cheeks got darker and wider. The blonde's fingernails turned to claws and his canines jutted from his mouth causing Kimimaro's eyebrow to lift in curiosity. Apparently Konoha had something like a curse seal too, "You may think your special, but you're not the only one. It still doesn't matter though, as you are it wouldn't be a challenge to leave you dead among the stones."

* * *

><p>Raiga stared angrily at the area where Naruto and Kimimaro went and the genin took advantage of this time to regroup. Temari looked at their opponent and put her sharp mind to work almost instantly, analyzing him closely. The man's most glaring weakness was the blood pouring into his left eye, and the fact that his primary element was weak against hers. However the swordsman was more experienced and probably had several jutsu that could overpower any of Temari's. To make matters worse Raiga was somehow able to easily dodge and anticipate attacks he couldn't see so neither of those could be counted on.<p>

The swordsman also had several long-range, wide area jutsu, jutsu that his blades allowed him to utilize almost instantaneously, which gave him the ability to switch between close and long range instantly. Couple that with his uncanny ability to locate them wherever they were made him a dangerous opponent no matter how approached.

Raiga's biggest downfall was his apparent instability. At first Temari was wary because elite ninja will often use mind games like that to mess with opponents, but this guy wasn't acting or somewhere along the line he started to live his role. The swordsman was prone to fits of rage and insanity and that was never good when you needed to stay calm to analyze the battle.

He should've attacked Temari at the start of the fight when she was gliding on her fan. Instead his anger and apparent hatred of his commander caused him to go after Sai, the more elusive target, because his mind linked them together due to their skin tone. He was also throwing around jutsu like crazy since the start to keep up with their coordinated assault so fatigue was definitely a factor.

It only took a few seconds for Temari to process all of that and come up with a plan before she relayed it to Sakura and Sai, "Alright, here's how we're going to do this. Sakura you're the only thing resembling a short-range fighter on the team now so you'll be the closest, but don't directly engage him and always keep a buffer zone between you guys. Sai you'll fly distraction, he hates you because you remind him of that other guy so make sure you stay his main focus, also take some poison bombs with you."

The Ne agent grabbed some pellets from Sakura as Temari continued laying out her plan, "He has the high ground but that isn't necessarily an advantage in this situation. The smoke from Sakura's bombs will rise and we can use that. I want you to pepper him with senbon and spread out the poison until it forms a wall in front of Raiga. When I think it's big enough Sai will throw his bombs above him on my signal, and once he's contained I'll use my fan to overwhelm him with the smoke. He'll have to leave the mountain face or inhale the poison and that will be our best chance. Sakura try to hit his landing area with more gas, I'll try to blow him away from the mountain, and Sai can use his ink birds to attack as well."

As soon as she finished Raiga turned his angry glare to them and Temari nudged Sai with her foot. He gave the man a fake smile while saying, "Do you think we could hurry this up? I don't want to get tan and the sun is coming out."

Sakura just stared blankly at Sai. He can get her and Naruto to want to kill him easily, hell they even planned out where to hide the body once… or future reference. Still, that was the best he could come up with.

The medic turned to face their opponent and to her amazement he looked furious. The man crossed his blades while lifting them above his to the sky and shouted in rage, "I'm going to crucify you above the cloud line and come back in a week just to see your sunburnt skin. Ikazuchi no Kiba (Fangs of Lightning)."

Apparently Sai just knew what to say to get under people's skin because lightning exploded upwards from the man's swords. He began laughing psychotically bolts of lightning began raining down from the sky towards the three genin. Sakura and Temari began running all over the cliff face, barely avoiding the strikes, while Sai jumped on the bird he summoned earlier before opening a new scroll and placing exploding tags on his drawings. Several smaller birds then rose up with the tags on their backs and dive-bombed their insane opponent.

Raiga's lightning managed to destroy most the I.E.D.s that were launched towards him, except for one that hit the mountainside by his feet and detonated. The smoke from the explosion engulfed the nuke-nin, but he never fell or emerged from the thick, black cloud. When the smoke cleared the swordsman was shrouded in a protective layer of lightning, several feet below his previous position, "Raigeki no Yoroi." (Lightning Strike Armor)

His coating of lightning raced up his body before forming a large ball between his swords that he launched at Sai. Sakura threw a poison bomb at his position, which forced him to dodge before launching another Raikyu. Raiga used one of his swords to block several senbon that she followed up with, then lazily sliced his sword upwards and a crescent of lightning raced towards Sakura. She easily dodged but a faster one was heading right for her and she hadn't landed yet.

Fortunately Temari had the younger girl covered and a blast of wind dissipated the attack. Raiga quickly turned to face the Suna kunoichi, but before she could draw his ire it started raining ink mice on him. The swordsman looked up to see the kid on the bird flying overhead and shouted in frustration. "Get down here, I want to kill you the most."

Raiga tried to launch another attack at his aerial opponent but a warning from Ranmaru had him dodging another poison gas and senbon barrage. When he landed the green haired swordsman was forced to roll the other way as an arc of wind sliced through the rock he was just standing on. He managed to get a lightning crescent off in response but more exploding birds were chasing him and that damn bubble gum ninja kept throwing poison everywhere.

Suddenly the furious assault was cut off and Raiga looked down the mountain to see a thick wall of yellow smoke. Right behind the wall was the kunoichi with the fan and she was preparing an attack, a futon attack.

The ex Kiri-nin may have more than a few screws loose, but he was still able to put two and two together and get four nine out of ten times. Thus he was able to tell what was coming next and tried to retreat up the mountain. The pale bastard had other ideas though and threw more poison bombs in his path, cutting the retreating shinobi off. Raiga turned around to see the rapidly approaching wall of poison and screamed in defiance as he lifted his fangs.

The heaven's boomed and answered his call. A bolt of lightning struck Raiga and formed a pillar around his body before he began spinning. The electricity surrounding him formed a twister that pushed the gas away, but that was only the first part of the attack. A dragon's head formed at the top of it and it rushed down the mountain towards the fan wielding kunoichi.

Temari thought the shinobi was going to jump and was braced for her next attack, not set to dodge. She watched helplessly as the elemental dragon obliterated the rock beneath it and rushed towards her with its jaws gaping. The blonde tried to move and avoid the jutsu, but the beast was too wide and she wouldn't be able to make it. The Suna genin closed her eyes and waited for it to end, her only regret was that she wouldn't be able to deepen her relationship with Gaara now that he was open to the idea.

Suddenly the air was knocked out of her and Temari opened her eyes to see nothing but pink. The wind began whipping past them and blew the hair out of her face and she realized Sakura had tackled her off the mountain. The blonde raised her voice over the howling wind to question the younger girl, "Why? Now we're both going to die."

Sakura let out a helpless laugh, "We're teammates now and the first lesson we learned on our first day was to never abandon a comrade. There was a chance I could've saved you so I took it."

Temari had no answer so just squeezed the pinkette tighter and Sakura returned the gesture. Suddenly an ear splitting screech drowned out the wind for a brief moment and the girls turned to see Sai in a nose-dive on top of his bird. Temari squeezed her left arm around Sakura tighter and reached her right towards the pale artist's extended hand. She stretched as far as possible but just couldn't reach their salvation. Sakura began shifting in the blonde's arms and suddenly Temari felt the girl heave upwards and she was able to grab Sai's wrist, but the pinkette pushed herself out of the Suna Kunoichi's grasp began falling faster as a result of her action. The sandy blonde let out a desperate cry and Sakura smiled sadly as she fell.

Suddenly Sai pulled out a scroll and propelled himself off the diving bird as it pulled out of the dive. The extra speed he gained from the maneuver allowed the boy to catch up to his tumbling teammate. He wrapped his arms around the pinkette and unrolled the scroll, flooding the first drawing on it with chakra and managed to summon another bird. Once they were secure on its back the animated drawing flew them away from the mountain before ascending to meet the other ink creature.

Less than a minute later they were flying side by side, and as soon as it was safe Temari jumped on Sakura's bird and hugged her tightly. She let go and looked at the younger girl strangely before slapping her sharply, "What the hell was that? You talk about not abandoning comrades then pull a stunt like that. How do you think I would feel knowing that you saved my life twice then died, some comrade I would've been?"

Sakura rubbed the welt on her cheek and smiled at the distraught girl as she ranted incoherently, "I think it's because I would've had one up on you."

Temari huffed and turned away from the kunoichi and Sai butted in, "Focus please. I know females are more sensitive and prone to emotional outbursts but we are fighting for our lives right now. Please get your estrogen under control."

Sakura counted to ten in her head while Temari grit her teeth and said, "You're so lucky you just saved us because that was your one freebie."

The pale boy just nodded neutrally, not really caring either way. "So what's the plan?"

Temari looked up the face of the cliff and started thinking out loud, "Raiga has to be feeling exhausted after that jutsu. It was probably an A rank and he's been throwing B and C ranks around like nothing before that. As the fight wore on his attacks kept getting weaker, and at the end he was mostly using raw elemental manipulation with a few Raikyu mixed in. I think we just need to press the attack like we were doing in the start and wait for him to slip up." She looked at the other kunoichi pointedly, "He's going to be more susceptible to genjutsu now as well. I know that's not your forte but you're a hell of a lot better at it than me. All we need is something to throw that freak off a little bit, or make him uncomfortable. Anything to force him into a mistake."

Sakura could only nod at first. She wasn't used to hearing respect like that in other people's voices when directed at her, and the girl never though she'd hear it from Temari of all people. After getting her thoughts back under control the pinkette started looking up the cliff with determined eyes along with her team. The birds launched skyward before leveling out and they scanned the mountain for signs of their opponent. They glided in front of the sun to avoid being seen, but when they spotted Raiga on the mountainside he was already looking directly at them.

Sakura cursed and Sai placed more exploding tags on his scroll before summoning birds to attack. All three of them smiled when Raiga began running along the mountain to avoid the exploding birds, supporting their theory. Temari pulled her battle fan out of its holster before delivering her orders, "Sai stay on the bird and look for the kill. Sakura get close to the cliff and stay on the bird as long as possible, keep me covered. I'm going to drop to the face and try to go jutsu for jutsu to wear Raiga down. I doubt he has any more A-ranks left in him and I have more than enough chakra to use Daikamaitachi several times if I need to."

Confident in their ability to adapt and adjust her vague orders when necessary Temari opened her fan and used it to glide towards Raiga without waiting for a response. She angled it to avoid the lightning crescent that the swordsman launched and threw a kunai with an exploding tag attached in retaliation before pulling back on her fan. Raiga jumped to the side to avoid the counter as the hot air from the blast boosted Temari upwards. She folded her large fan and flipped to the mountainside, seizing the high ground.

No lightning surrounded Raiga's fangs as he looked at his newest opponent. She stood confidently with her battle fan at the ready, waiting for the first move to be made. The man growled and charged at her but pulled back and slid down the mountain as a cloud of blue smoke exploded in front of him. The blonde sent the poison towards him with a wave of her fan and Raiga started running along the cliff to avoid the cloud, but ink bats swarmed him and he skidded to a halt.

The insane man growled and his swords let off an electrical discharge that dispelled the creatures before he launched a Raikyu at one of the ink birds. It gracefully avoided the ball and Raiga launched a smaller one at Temari who blasted it away with a simple Kamaitachi. She followed it up with another and Raiga was pushed down the mountainside because of the force. She sent one more at the former Kiri-nin before he could get his bearings and Ranmaru shouted a warning as he saw several gas pellets that would intercept the wind attack and the deadly fumes would rush over them.

The missing-nin's blades flared with electrical energy as he stabbed them into the rock, "Raiso: Ikazuchi no Utage". A stream of lightning met the wind attack head on and they cancelled each other out in an explosion, scattering the poison harmlessly. Raiga lifted his swords out of the ground but he felt Ranmaru flopping around limply in his carrier. The green haired ninja started frantically calling for the boy over and over but there was no answer. "Ranmaru, answer me Ranmaru, are you dead?"

The genin looked on in confusion as Raiga ranted until a boy strapped to his back poked his head out and kept on saying he was still here. The frantic man didn't acknowledge his actions at all and looked at the Konoha ninja as he let out a low growl. "You killed Ranmaru. You bastards."

The boy realized his friend was in a genjutsu and was about to break it when he started laughing maniacally, "I guess I should thank you. I was wondering how to say I didn't ask for Orochimaru to heal him. All I need to do is kill you and I'll get his seal of power. I wouldn't have needed his eyes after this anyways, they just would've been a bonus."

Tears began to stream down Ranmaru's cheeks as the implications of what Raiga was saying set in. A hollow feeling overtook him; his chest got tighter and the distraught child let out a pitiful wail as the pain consumed him. The one person who accepted him, befriended him, cared for him… the frail child was just a tool, it was all a lie. There was never any companionship or care involved. Ranmaru felt betrayed, he was no better than the lightning fangs in Raiga's hands and his tiny heart shattered at the realization.

The high pitch of Ranmaru's screech pierced Raiga's ears and released him from the genjutsu. He looked around in shock and confusion before seeing Ranmaru's tearful face and nervously asked, "What's wrong Ranmaru, did they put you in a genjutsu?"

The boy shook his head and answered without his usual cheer, "No I can't be put in genjutsu. You'd know that though if you actually listened to me, cared about me."

The child's voice trailed off and the mist began to thicken around Raiga. Suddenly everything went black and all the swordsman could see were two red orbs that simmered with hate and rage as they glared at him. The swordsman realized what was happening and bellowed as he stabbed one of his blades into the hump on his back. The boy in the cocoon let out a yelp as the fine edge of his sword slashed through his carrier and flesh. He started rolling down the mountain picking up speed, luckily they were close enough to the ground that the slope was more gradual and he slid down the mountainside instead of freefalling. That being said the boy violently tumbled down leaving seemingly hitting every rock on the way and leaving a trail of blood.

Sakura stared in horror as the poor child disappeared down the mountain. She put the man in a genjutsu that made him believe his greatest advantage lost. The kunoichi just assumed it would be his swords, but apparently that boy had a special power. In all likelihood he was the one tracking them for Raiga. Guilt welled up inside her as she realized it was her genjutsu that had gotten a child killed.

The genin hated herself for it, even if the boy was technically the enemy. The hate began to boil over and transfer to Raiga and Sakura looked coldly at the man with frosty emerald eyes. Her hands flared blue as the furious kunoichi leapt off the ink bird and four more Sakuras phased into existence behind her as she touched down on the mountain. Raiga's blade stabbed towards what he thought was the original in the center, but it kept going through and the clone didn't disperse or show any damage like a bunshin normally would. Confused he turned back around and blocked a kunai strike before feeling a sharp pain in his stomach.

The swordsman dropped the blade hanging by his side as it grabbed his torn abdomen and he coughed up blood. It dribbled down his chin as he kicked through the Sakura attacking him, ignoring the pain in his stomach. His attack went right through her once again, but suddenly it felt like his lower leg was disconnected from his thigh, as he couldn't lift it. Raiga screamed in fury as he dumped chakra, what little he could spare, into his one remaining sword and it discharged a small storm of electricity.

The pink haired girl suddenly appeared behind the man, and with a squeal of pain slid down the mountain before grabbing a handhold to stop her descent. Raiga started to run down towards her, intent on returning the pain and then some, but a blast of wind forced him to slide across the mountain, away from the dazed kunoichi. He looked at the blonde who interrupted his attack and realized there was one more genin just as a small ink bird flew into his line of sight.

Even though his eyes weren't as good as Ranmaru's he could clearly see the tag fizzling on its back and couldn't even let out a cry before it went off, sending him careening down the slope. The lightning fang in his hand glowed blue and he stabbed it into the face of the mountain before he slid over the edge of a cliff with a seventy-foot drop. The right side of Raiga was missing most of his hair and his eye was burnt shut as a result of the explosion, his body was blackened with burns while his whole torso was battered and cut from the fight before. Still he somehow mustered up the strength to yell defiantly at the genin, "You can't kill me. I won't let you kill me. I can't die here."

Sakura's free hand rummaged around in her pouch for the bomb she was looking for and pulled out a green pellet with a black number one on it. She took aim and threw it next to the missing-nin's face just as he started to yell, causing him to inhale the fumes on his last roar.

Before the medic in training left, Rin gave her several doses of an experimental poison she was working on for the last year or so for the ANBU. When Shizune came back she immediately jumped in to help in an effort to rekindle her old friendship with the brunette medic. Rin gladly accepted her help because of Shizune's skill with poison and this was the first useable dose ready for testing.

It was a nerve toxin that shut down all communications between the brain and the muscles so the target wouldn't even have the strength to lift an arm. At the same time it hyper sensitized the pain receptors and the area of the brain that communicates with them so even minor discomforts are more pronounced.

The concoction was made for capture and interrogation in the field so it also wouldn't let the victim pass out from pain. Raiga deserved to die and feel every hit on the way down like Ranmaru. It was just an added bonus that it would hurt more. She was supposed to use it on a live subject in battle to test the effects, but if the kunoichi could hear Raiga's screams after ten seconds or so she'd say it was effective when talking to her sensei.

The missing-nin felt his grip loosening after inhaling the gas. No matter how much he willed his fist to close it just wouldn't respond. Eventually he could hold on no longer and plunged into the morning mist. Sakura counted to seven before she couldn't hear anything, she just hoped the howling wind covered the screams.

The pinkette set her feet on the cliff and was about to jump in the general direction Ranmaru fell when a hand landed on her shoulder. Sakura looked behind her to see Sai shaking his head, "Naruto needs our help more."

Sakura's emerald eyes shimmered as she looked in the direction Ranmaru tumbled. She just wiped them and turned towards Sai and Temari. The sandy blonde looked down the mountain before glancing at Sai, "While we have a second I have to ask, how does a bird made of ink screech?"

The pale boy just stared at her with something akin to annoyance on his usually blank features, "You ask too many questions."

* * *

><p>Naruto sneered at Kimimaro, revealing his elongated canines, as he formed the seal for Kage Bunshin no Jutsu. The Kaguya prepared himself for another batch of the clones, but he was taken aback at the amount of blondes surrounding him when the smoke cleared. The bone user cocked an eyebrow and faced in the general direction the real Naruto was originally in, "This is somewhat impressive, but you can make any amount of copies you want and it won't matter. You're so pitiful I won't break a sweat if you number one or one thousand."<p>

The clones ignored his boasts and many leapt into the air forming a dome of bodies around Kimimaro. Half of the Naruto copies transformed into Fuuma Shuriken and the remaining clones launched them at the pale teen while shouting, "Shihohappo Shuriken." (Shuriken From all Sides)

The bone user ignored the approaching weapons, confident they couldn't pierce his bone armor, but when they got close the shuriken transformed back into clones and dog piled Kimimaro. More Naruto clones rushed the pile holding Rasengans, intent on drilling through their brothers to get to the prize in the middle. A muffled "Karamatsu no Mai," (Dance of the Larch) reached their ears from under the pile and grunts of pain followed as Kimimaro walked out with needle like bones protruding from what seemed like every inch of his body. He brought his hands together in the ram seal and the bones all launched from his body into the crowd of clones, dispelling scores.

The remaining ones were undeterred by their staggering losses and charged recklessly while letting loose battle cries. Kimimaro just calmly stood there and long, sharp bones began to protrude nearly two feet out from the tops his knees, the back of his elbow, up out of his shoulders, and two sprouted out of his palms as he intoned, "Yanagi no Mai." (Dance of the Willow).

He launched himself like a torpedo at one clone and his shoulder bones pierced through it before he flipped and landed. Kimimaro lifted his right knee and used the bone to block the sword of one clone before his left hand blade impaled its face. As he turned one hundred and eighty degrees his elbow bones dispelled four more clones, and after the teen completed the turn he planted his right foot and flipped over a blonde missile that was thrown by two clones.

While in midair the bones in the tips of his fingers poked through once again and as soon as the teen landed he launched his barrage of projectiles, "Teshi Sendan." The bone bullets passed through the first clones like nothing was there and each went on to dispel several more before clearing the circle of clones.

The Kage Bunshin horde began to back off out of respect. Seeing that simply rushing the juggernaut in front of them would do nothing they changed tactics. The bunshins began to use the Goukuuhou to distract him from range while others were getting in position for ambushes. The bone user appeared to dance around most of the blasts and the occasional clone that would try an ambush. Occasionally a Goukuuhou or Naruto's blade slip through his defenses, but that resulted in nothing more than a quickly healed flesh wound.

Kimimaro crossed his arms forming an x in front of him to block the windblast and was pushed back several feet. The small gashes inflicted by the attack were already healing as he turned to meet the next charge. The short delay between the real Kimimaro and the clone allowed the attacking Kage Bunshin to close the distance between them and deliver a stab that should've gone under the teen's ribs, but was simply deflected by a plate of bone. The Kaguya pivoted and delivered a stab of his own to the attacking clone with the bone protruding from his right elbow, but when he impaled its chest and completed his turn Kimimaro found he couldn't pull his arm back around for his next move.

Orochimaru's agent cocked his head to see a clone holding onto the bone tightly and tried to bring his left arm around to dispel it but another clone had grabbed the bone coming out of that elbow too. A third Naruto burst from the ground in front of him and grabbed the two bones coming from the Kaguya's knees as six more charged him with Rasengans swirling madly in their hands.

The seal on Kimimaro's chest pulsed again and bones rose from the ground around him, dispelling the clones. The circle continued to grow outwards as seven-foot tall spikes of bone sprouted from the rock like miniature trees and dispelled the remaining clones. Kimimaro floated out of the bone meadow, without any bones sticking out of his body, and looked around for the original Naruto. Suddenly the area around him was blasted with multiple Goukuuhou from above and the stone around Kimimaro exploded upwards, launching him airborne. The Kaguya torqued his body and was once again looking into those furious eyes as the blonde launched himself airborne with a Rasengan the size of a small melon in his palm, and the bone clone watched as it slammed into his torso.

If that were the real Kimimaro the pain would've been excruciating, easily worse than the first time judging by the damage inflicted, but it was simply a copy without nerves and pain wasn't transferred through the link. The creation raised its arm like nothing was happening and a bone spike extended outwards. He watched the boys' mismatched red eyes widen in terror as he gripped the blade and brought it down to behead the chunin.

Naruto instinctively overloaded the Rasengan like he would a Hahonryuu and it exploded outwards, sending the combatants spiraling away from each other. The blonde received a deep gash down the length of his forearm from one of the whirling blades of chakra inside the Rasengan, but it was better than getting decapitated by far. The wound was almost completely healed as he unsheathed his chakra saber and it glowed a brilliant white, exuding power. Kimimaro just stood there as his torso finished knitting itself together, holding his dull, grayish white bone sword that looked unremarkable but was harder than diamond. They carefully scrutinized each other, ready for the next round.

On some unseen signal the two exploded into motion. Kimimaro slashed at Naruto's left and he lifted his blade, careful to keep it on the inside. He retained his forward momentum after blocking the swipe and tried to stab his opponent in the mouth. Kimimaro was forced to disengage his sword and spin to Naruto's right, so the blonde couldn't gain any leverage with his blade. Naruto stopped his stab quickly and delivered a short slash at Kimimaro's neck that forced the teen to hop backwards as soon as he completed the spin.

The bone user brought his blade down in an overhead slash but Naruto used some of the stored chakra in the saber to encase it in futon chakra. It howled with fury as he pumped chakra into his legs and aggressively launched himself forward, under the strike, and stabbed into Kimimaro's armpit. To the teens surprise the blade sunk over an inch into his bone before the blonde wrenched it out and tried to eviscerate him.

A bone extended from Kimimaro's left arm that stopped Naruto's slash, even though the wind encased blade almost cut through it, and he slammed his forehead into the blonde's after hardening it. A gash opened up from the blunt force trauma and some blood began to leak down the chunin's face but the wound was quickly healing and Naruto wiped the red liquid away.

Kimimaro was wondering how the blonde was improving at such a rapid pace. The chunin got fast and strong enough to make him work after the transformation true, but the difference in their techniques was great enough that there wasn't any major concern for the older boy. However it seemed like with every exchange this infuriating brat was getting better. Realizing now wasn't the time to worry about such things Kimimaro rushed at his opponent and attacked with seemingly wild slashes.

Naruto couldn't find room to counter the Kaguya's onslaught because no matter how crazy and unplanned it looked the elder teen was never out of control. He didn't lose his balance or waste energy by overextending himself, and all the transitions between strikes were made quickly and fluently. Naruto leaned back and watched a slash go over his face that was aimed at his jugular. He was about to drop to his back and try to take Kimimaro's feet out, but the pale warrior stopped his attack and reversed so quickly there was no time to react and backhanded the blonde, sending him skidding across the ground.

The Konoha-nin regained his feet quickly, but Kimimaro had already blurred behind him. The Kaguya's eyes widened though when the saber's hit spun rapidly in the chunin's palm before he took his blade in the backhand grip to parry the stab and pushed off to put some distance between them.

Naruto smirked as he watched his opponent's eyes narrow in frustration, "That was lucky, but trash like you won't be able to copy my moves again."

"It was all skill, maybe you're just not as good as you thought," replied the Jinchuuriki with an arrogant smirk.

Naruto lifted his sword to parry a wild overhead strike that Kimimaro telegraphed but never came. The sharingan was able to pick out the change in movement but Naruto couldn't react in time as the Oto shinobi delivered a brutal rising knee to Naruto's chin that had him seeing stars. He grabbed the disoriented boy's head before he could hit the ground and began smashing it repeatedly into a nearby boulder.

Blood began pouring down the blonde's face as Kimimaro continued to maliciously slam the blonde's head into the rock, almost like he was trying to prove a point. Naruto could feel his grip on consciousness fading and knew he had to escape immediately and pulled more of Kyuubi's chakra out until he was glowing orange. The bone user kept the assault up as long as he could, but the strange chakra was literally eating through his skin and bones like acid and he couldn't heal the damage fast enough. When it began to spread up his arm he was forced to throw the blonde across the plateau.

Naruto slowly regained his feet and wobbly turned to face the Kaguya who as slowly walking towards the Konoha-nin, however before Kimimaro could take advantage of the Jinchuuriki's weakened state the rest of the his team arrived. Fortunately the superficial damage from the white haired teen's brutal assault was already healed so they were more worried about to Oto shinobi staring them down.

The chunin grit his teeth as he looked between Kimimaro and his team. They were good, but this guy had already proved numbers wouldn't matter in a fight. And even though they brought different skill sets to the table Naruto still couldn't think of a way to bring him down by conventional means.

The blonde reached up and began to rub his eye knowing what he had to do, "Back off guys, I'm about to finish this."

The white haired ninja sneered in response, "How are you going to do that, make me beat you so much I can't move anymore?"

Naruto lowered his hand revealing his sharingan had morphed into a red six-pointed star, formed by three intersecting ellipses, that was outlined in black instead of three tomoe circling his pupil. Kimimaro was growing tired of the blonde's seemingly endless bag of surprises and prepared himself for anything. The star began spinning rapidly; causing the bone user to tense up and Naruto formed some hand seals. The clone spread a thin but hard layer of bone under its skin, ready for the attack.

The chunin finished his seals and pointed both palms towards Kimimaro and said, "Amaterasu." A stream of black flame erupted from his left pupil and Naruto quickly followed it with, "Futon: Daitoppa."

A violent gust of wind exploded towards Kimimaro and the stream of black flames became a firestorm that engulfed almost the whole plateau in front of Naruto, including the Kaguya. But the black flames hid the sinister markings of the seal spreading across his chest as he lay on the ground, covered by black fire.

* * *

><p>The real Kimimaro opened his eyes in the storage room and looked around to see that the only things in it were packed bags and people waiting for his orders. He had a minute at most before he would have to transform the clone into stage two for it to still be usable so he sat back to think. His technique worked flawlessly and the Konoha ninja thought themselves victorious so he could quietly sneak away with Raiga's men, but that left a sour taste in the teen's mouth.<p>

There was no logical reason for him to keep fighting. The flames would be nearly impossible to put out if they were burning so strongly this high up, and at the rate the clone was spending chakra to regenerate it would only have a couple of minutes after transforming before its well ran dry. Still Kimimaro wanted to inflict as much pain as possible on that blonde shinobi and that would be plenty of time to obliterate the annoyance.

The Kaguya stopped his train of thought to wonder where this irrational anger was coming from. He certainly didn't hold a grudge from the rasengan when they first met, in fact he didn't give the shinobi a second thought until he saw the teen holding that swirling ball of chakra again. The blonde was doing his duty and Kimimaro took his figurative pound of flesh from Naruto as well. It was on the mountainside when their eyes met, that's when Kimimaro knew he hated the blonde with every fiber of his being.

As he waited for the chunin on the plateau that stare haunted him. The bone wielder couldn't give any rational explanation why, the shinobi's mismatched eyes were unique, but at the same time they seemed so familiar to him. When Naruto finally landed on the plateau and stared at the pale teen with that same defiant gaze, the one that screamed he would never give in to any adversity but also hid something so eerily familiar, well one thousand ways to kill the blonde rat crossed Kimimaro's mind and he tried to pick out the most excruciating one.

The Kaguya looked around the room for the most capable looking man and decided it was best if he just gave them some simple orders before returning to battle, "Make sure everything is ready one last time. We'll be leaving soon whether you're ready or not, and whoever isn't won't be leaving at all." With that said he closed his eyes and reconnected to his bone clone, ignoring the frantic questions that were fading away.

* * *

><p>Naruto fell to his knees in pain and exhaustion. He reached up to cover the sharingan with his Konoha headband and it reverted back to normal as blood began to spill from the socket. The chunin was able to steady himself for a moment and summoned a horde of shadow clones before taking a small scroll from his vest. He unrolled it and wiped his thumb over one of the many spots of blood on him before swiping it over the storage seal. What had to be fifty scrolls with the kanji for fire appeared on them and the clones grabbed them before spreading out along the plateau, careful to avoid the deadly flames.<p>

The three genin watched in amazement as each bunshin opened the scroll they held and raised their voices causing the black fire to be sucked into them like some type of vortex.

They turned their questioning gaze to Naruto and he explained while breathing heavily, "When Sasuke's eye was transplanted it evolved into a higher level of the sharingan that was one of the greatest secrets of the Uchiha clan. It allows me to use that black fire, Amaterasu. Unfortunately I can't really control them after the attack and nothing we've tried can put it out so I have to seal it." The teen's shoulders sagged as he whined, "Now I have to buy the supplies and make a bunch more."

The clones had the fire sealed before the explanation was finished and one bunshin took the last scroll before approaching the burning body of Kimimaro while the original said, "He had some type of freaky bloodline that allowed him to control his bones. I think the village would want us to bring back what we can."

Sakura frowned as she examined the body curiously, a good distance away because the heat from the flames was too intense, "Do you think that's a good idea? Just the fact that you needed to use this makes me think we should just let it go until he's nothing but ashes."

The clone unrolled the scroll and started chanting and his creator explained the attack more, "That's really not necessary Sakura-chan. A huge bear got within three feet of it and burst into flames, it was regular fire but still fire. There's no way anyone could survive that, unless he was a zombie or something."

The flames were sucked into the scroll revealing the half burnt body of the last Kaguya. Sakura got a little closer and gasped, "Oh my god, that attack completely destroyed all his organs. There's nothing left but bone, muscle, and some blackened skin."

Suddenly, dark chakra began pulsing and a strange pattern grew across what was left of Kimimaro. It looked like some type of circuit that was pumping a dark chakra through his body, his rapidly healing body. The markings then glowed an orange red before engulfing what they thought was his corpse and covering the gaping wounds. Then the silhouette slowly sprouted a tail and three long curved bones burst from each side of his torso as his spine sprouted out of the skin along the tail like plate armor on a dinosaur. The glow faded and there stood a monster that strangely resembled the Kaguya.

His skin was no longer pale but an ashy black and he had dark rings around his eyes like a raccoon. He did sprout a long, ridged tail and the tips of those curved bones were hollow, but still came to a dangerously sharp point. The thing lifted his hand and Naruto yelled, "Duck." But Sakura was to close to dodge the projectiles and one went through her right shoulder, taking out a circle of flesh about an inch in diameter.

The emerald eyed genin collapsed to the ground in pain and Naruto stared in shock. His heart cracked and two red eyes shot open deep inside his subconscious in response to his anger. An orange red chakra burst from the boy as blonde's lips were outlined by a thin black line and his hair became thicker and wilder. He crouched over on all fours as the shroud surrounding him sprouted two long ears and a single tail. The mountain itself seemed to tremble in fear of these monsters as it shook violently.

Kimimaro quirked an eyebrow at the new transformation and reached behind his neck to pull out his spine. When it was all the way out the cartilage stretched spacing out the vertebrae until it resembled a whip. Once that was done the bones in his left forearm burst out of the skin and grew ridiculously large until it formed a solid drill like bone. The bone looked like a large morning glory and was about as long as the Kaguya was tall, three feet wide in the back, and tapered to a sharp point, "I doubt you can understand but let me explain. This is my most powerful dance, Tessenka no Mai: Hana and Tsuru. They use the hardest bones in my body, nothing you do can stop them." (Dance of the Clematis Flower and Vine)

* * *

><p>Blood red eyes snapped open deep inside Naruto's subconscious. The Kyuubi no Kitsune could feel the blonde pulling on his chakra and simply let it flow without resisting. Despite what most humans thought the nine tails wasn't just a mindless beast. He had been sealed for over half a century in two different containers before this one and it learned a thing or two during that time. The bijuu knew that if it pushed the chakra out too fast on some level the host would recognize it and resist. No, it was better to let the chakra naturally feed the anger and they would subconsciously leech more power until it overwhelmed them.<p>

The giant fox grinned revealing razor sharp teeth larger than most skyscrapers. Eventually its host would start to lose themself in the raw hatred that his chakra contained and then it would be able to push out more and more until the blonde rat was consumed by it. The Kyuubi flexed his claws eagerly as Naruto began pulling on its chakra even more. First he would rip that damnable sharingan out, then it was playtime.

* * *

><p>Sai held a scroll at the ready and watched Temari as she snuck into position. The sandy blonde was attempting to grab Sakura before she got caught between these two titans. He was supposed to summon some ink lions to distract them if they focused on Temari, but he didn't think they would provide much time if any. He'd heard from Danzo that an out of control Jinchuuriki was something to be avoided at all costs, and from the look on Temari's face she knew from personal experience. Even Sai's root training couldn't repress the shudder that ran down his spine from the dark chakra permeating the air.<p>

He looked closely at his blonde teammate. The reddish orange chakra swirled around Naruto protectively before taking the shape of the fox. Sai looked closer and narrowed his eyes as he looked closer at the back of the shroud. It appeared that the Kyuubi's chakra was swirling around Naruto's chakra blade before continuing to flow up his body. He could only guess what it meant.

* * *

><p>The two leviathans stared each other down over the scarred plateau. Kimimaro looked at the feral blonde with a calculating gaze while Naruto stared eagerly, almost hungrily at the bone user. Suddenly the Kaguya was forced to lift his bone flower and block the rocks stirred up by a gust of wind sent his way by the Suna kunoichi.<p>

Kimimaro disappeared from his spot and ran through the wind like it wasn't there and was on a collision course with Temari, who had picked up the injured Sakura. The dinosaur like beast readied his spear, intent on running them both through, but he was shoulder checked by Naruto and they rolled away from the two Kunoichi. Kimimaro sprung to his feet and gained some separation, but the Jinchuuriki was closing in fast. The Kaguya sidestepped a slashing claw and spun as the blonde passed before smashing his tail into the chunin's back.

The hit combined with Naruto's momentum sent him bouncing across the uneven ground, but he was able to slow himself with a chakra claw and used it to propel himself back towards his prey. Kimimaro snapped his left wrist and the bone whip encircled the charging shinobi, but before he could ensnare Naruto the Jinchuuriki roared and the shockwave left the whip flailing uselessly.

The chunin had his claw poised for a strike but the Kaguya raised the large bone horizontally across his body and Naruto landed on top of it. He tried to throw the blonde off but a red claw of chakra shot out from his hand and gripped the bone user's head. A vicious smile spread across the Jinchuuriki's face as he smashed Kimimaro's into the ground before using his chakra claw to drag him across the plateau, leaving a large trench in his wake.

Naruto then started to use Kimimaro as a battering ram to take down the boulder piles. The ashy monster smashed through nearly a dozen of the piles before he was slammed back into the ground repeatedly. The blonde quickly grew bored of his game though. The captured teen didn't let loose one scream of pain through the whole process, in fact the expression on his face never shifted and he managed to keep his icy eyes on Naruto the whole time.

The chunin hated those eyes, the ones that said he was insignificant, second place, that no matter what he did the bone user would always be better. He let out a frustrated roar before throwing Kimimaro into the cliff side. The bone user disappeared and cracks spider webbed out from the point of impact before a large portion of the face collapsed on top of him.

The boulders exploded upwards as the prehistoric beast stood up with a roar and charged towards Naruto. The hollow bones protruding from his back began launching large bone bullets at the blonde, but they bounced harmlessly off his chakra cloak. The Jinchuuriki responded immediately and launched himself forward with a chakra claw raised, but Kimimaro ducked under the blonde before pivoting one hundred and eighty degrees and wrapping his whip around Naruto's right leg.

To the Kaguya's amazement the poisonous chakra was already agitating the cartilage of his whip so he threw the blonde into the air before launching himself skyward. He appeared upside down above Naruto when the blonde hit the apex of his flight and finished the flip causing his tail to hit to the feral shinobi's chest like a whip and sent him careening towards the earth.

Kimimaro let his satisfied smirk show before letting out a curse as he landed. The blonde hit the ground hard and created a large cloud of smoke, but the jagged ground became a sinkhole and started imploding. The mountain itself was honeycombed with passageways and not stable enough to absorb too many blows like that. The Kaguya didn't feel like finding out if he could level it, especially when his real body was inside. The bone user wouldn't be able to use his large attacks and would have to absorb the Jinchuuriki's because he obviously wouldn't hold back.

Kimimaro returned his focus to Naruto and realized that the chunin's orange tail wasn't waving wildly behind him. Said tail burst through the ground at the bone user's feet before wrapping around the pale teen and squeezing tightly. The acidic chakra combined with the pressure was starting to damage the clone severely so the real Kimimaro pulled forth more cursed seal chakra from the reserves. His arms broke free from the chakra tail and the sickly black chakra encased them before he grabbed the tail with his whip hand, while still holding the weapon, and gave a mighty pull.

Naruto let himself be pulled towards the white haired shinobi and charged up a crimson rasengan, about the size of a grapefruit, in his right hand. Kimimaro pulled the chakra tail to the left to change the blonde's direction and jumped to the right as he cut through the tail with the point of his bone flower while smashing the blonde with his tail.

The chunin didn't get very far before the bone whip extended and wrapped around his body allowing Kimimaro to pull him back in. Naruto stopped the stabbing bone with his hands but Kimimaro kicked him in the stomach before yanking back in once more. Naruto batted aside the point of the flower this time and tried to slash through the cartilage of the whip, but Kimimaro's forehead found his nose before the bone tail smashed into his ribs.

The Kaguya continued to play yoyo with the enraged Jinchuuriki. Naruto would manage to avoid the initial stab but would take heavy damage from the various other natural weapons covering Kimimaro's body. The blonde let out a maddened roar as a second tail sprouted from the cloak and his hair became wilder, his fangs longer, and the dark line around his mouth deepened. The influx of corrosive chakra ate through the bone whip as Kimimaro tried to pull back in and the feral chunin went flying as a result.

Naruto did several barrel rolls before landing on all fours and let loose another howl, except the shockwave from this one pushed Kimimaro back several feet. As soon as the reverberations ended Naruto seemingly vanished. Kimimaro turned and tried to backhand the attacking blonde with his bone, but the Jinchuuriki stopped it with one hand and used it to throw Kimimaro into the air. Much like the bone user Naruto appeared above his target at the apex of his flight, but that's where the similarities ended. The blonde was right side up and his hands were interlocked behind his head. He let Kimimaro fall as the red chakra extended from his hands and he swung them over his head and the two-handed chakra fist smashed into Kimimaro.

Red and black chakra began to collect in front of Naruto's mouth as soon as he delivered the strike and formed a sphere about sixteen inches in diameter. The blonde roared and the shockwave sent the ball speeding towards the falling Kaguya. It impacted his torso and increased his already impressive rate of descent. The beast smashed into the ground and the mountain began to quake from the impact.

The shaking loosened the debris on top of him and Kimimaro emerged slowly. His ribs were completely visible as was his empty abdomen, and his back was completely cut up from the impact. The clone was almost completely out of chakra so the wounds were healing slowly while the beast in front of him was only getting stronger as the fight progressed. The bone user's eyes widened when a third tail began to form and he began to regret the decision to finish the fight.

* * *

><p>A wicked grin spread across the Kyuubi's face when an avatar of his host appeared in front of his cage, surrounded by a thick ball of his chakra. The blonde was floating about fifty feet off the ground with his eyes closed and the bijuu knew it was time. A red mist began to leak through the bars of the cage and circled around Naruto. When it completely surrounded him the vapors became more substantial and the Kyuubi had completed the connection. Just a little bit more and he could take control. Once the fourth tail came out the boy's body would be his and he would play his favorite game, see how much of Hi no Kuni he could destroy before his chakra was suppressed once more.<p>

* * *

><p>"We need to get out of here. Eventually one of their attacks will hit us."<p>

Sai frowned at the frantic blonde in front of him before looking at the two fighters behind him. "As much as I agree we can't leave. It was a big enough risk moving Sakura this far and if we try to leave the plateau she'll definitely die. As long as there's a chance I won't leave."

Temari rubbed her temples as Sai started to rummage through Sakura's medical pack. They had secured the pinkette to Temari's fan and moved her as quickly as they though prudent. Now they were on the opposite side of the plateau from the two beasts, but in Temari's opinion Konoha would be too close. She'd seen a raging Jinchuuriki before, it gave her nightmares for years and it was something she didn't want to ever be near again.

Hoping that Naruto saving her and Sakura was a sign he was still there she turned back to her injured teammate. The kunoichi was constantly getting paler and colder, soon it would be a moot point and they would have to leave, but that only filled Temari with more despair.

Sai finished crushing and mixing some pills up before filling a syringe from a test tube labeled adrenaline. He injected Sakura and her eyes shot open. When she began coughing he put the powdered pills in her mouth before gently pouring some water into her mouth. The pinkette's voice rasped out as her hand glowed, "Thanks Sai, get more blood pills ready. I also have some small clear tubes in my pack, get those out."

The medic gritted her teeth as she disinfected the wound, she wished that she could numb the pain but then Sakura wouldn't be able to treat herself because she wouldn't feel anything. The green eyed girl began feeling around the hole in her chest after she cleaned it and she left her fingers in several spots. By the time Sai came back she was ready to go.

"Sai, I'm going to remove my fingers from the left side one at a time. I want you to match up the diameter of the vein or artery with the tubes, cut it to length, and then slide it in. I'll take my finger off the corresponding blood vessel and you need to slide it in there too. Once there all done they'll keep the blood flowing and you can give me another pill."

The pale artist had incredibly steady hands, even for a shinobi, from drawing all his life so was able to carry out the assigned task with ease. Soon enough Sakura had the artificial veins and arteries set and had another blood and soldier pill mixture fed to her. The pinkette stubbornly took her feet and tried to walk towards Naruto before Temari grabbed hold of her, "What do you think you're doing? You just got healed and now you want to walk to your death. Naruto might have some semblance of control now, but we don't know how long that will last. Now that you're stable we need to evacuate right now." To punctuate the older blonde's point the chakra exploded around Naruto and the killing intent became almost palpable.

Sakura's eyes never wavered despite that, "I know that I won't be able to help in the fight, but, but I can't sit here and do nothing anymore. I did that for so long and I promised myself I wouldn't any longer. That I would be there when my teammates need me."

A comforting hand landed on Sakura's shoulder and she turned her head to look at Temari. The older kunoichi had a far away look in her eyes before they focused back on the spectacle in front of them, "I know how you feel, but I've seen Gaara like that and there's nothing you can do, nothing anyone can do."

Emerald eyes narrowed as soon as Temari finished and Sakura coldly said, "So people tried, or is that what you told yourself to sleep at night?"

Anger welled up inside Temari, but it was quickly overtaken by shame, something she was feeling a lot since meeting Naruto and Sakura in Sunagakure no Sato. Her baby brother's first connection was with a rookie genin from outside of the village. That was something that she always wanted to say, that she was Gaara's first real connection, but in the end fear held her back.

Then she came to Konoha, and despite the fact that she had gotten stronger, become faster, her chakra reserves had increased, and she improved her close range capabilities Sakura had still closed the gap between them. A kunoichi from a civilian family was improving faster than one descended from every Kazekage Suna had ever known.

A couple of minutes ago she wanted to abandon the pinkette and run because of her own fear. And now Temari was saying they should abandon Naruto, the person that she owed so much to.

Her teal eyes hardened with resolve as she nodded to the pinkette, "Let's go then."

Sakura looped her right arm over Temari's shoulder and the blonde grabbed her wrist. Before they took off Sai coughed from behind them and they turned, "Do be careful. I'll prepare to extract you two should it come to that so don't get to close, otherwise I won't have time."

The girls nodded and Sai melted into a puddle of ink, revealing they were talking to a clone. They turned back to Naruto to see the red and black chakra was swirling around him wildly, destroying the surrounding area. Now that the third tail was grown in, even Kimimaro couldn't get too close. Temari turned to Sakura with determination in her eyes, "I take it you have a plan."

"Nope."

* * *

><p>Tranquility. That was the only way to describe it. Naruto felt as if he was floating like a cloud thousands of feet above the ground, miles away from any troubles or worry. There was no pain or discomfort, it was neither too hot nor too cold. The only sound was the rhythmic dripping of water, so soothing and relaxing. Everything was at peace, everything was perfect. The only problem was he couldn't remember who he was, what he was, anything beyond this contentment.<p>

Was that a problem though? If he remembered his identity then he'd have to deal with all the pain that came with it. The trials and tribulations, heartaches and sorrows. No it was better to just forget, to float freely without a care forever.

Something echoed in the distance and disturbed the stillness, but the dripping of the water covered it up. It came again, louder this time, but still the rhythmic dripping soothed him and he forgot. Except the noise kept getting louder and eventually the blonde strained his ears trying to hear it, but the water only got louder. He stood on the water he was lying in and tried to hear again but the water got louder and angrier.

A geyser burst up next to the teen and he rolled to the side as another followed. The water then pulled away to the edges, leaving the ground dry, and the Konoha ninja saw that it formed into a giant wave. As it got closer he realized that it wasn't water at all. It was bright red and bubbled crazily, the Uzumaki knew that if the tsunami engulfed him it was over, he'd never find out what the sound was.

But it was so big, how could he stop it? As if he knew the answer all along his blue and red eyes hardened and he remembered he never gave up because he was Uzumaki Naruto. The chunin of Konohagakure no Sato, student to Hatake Kakashi and Jiraiya of the Sanin, the future Hokage of Konohagakure no Sato opened his left eye and the three tomoe swirled wrathfully, propelled by his fury. The wave of malicious chakra parted and the darkness faded.

He was then standing in front of a giant cage with golden bars, once again staring down the strongest being on the planet who glared back angrily, "Are you going to hypnotize me with your fancy eye now boy? It just shows how weak you really are. Always relying on borrowed power."

"You say it like I enjoy it," harshly responded Naruto. "If you weren't such a bastard I wouldn't need to. You would've killed my team after killing Kimimaro, then you'd probably hunt down anyone close by for fun."

The hackles on the back of Kyuubi's neck rose as he snapped to his feet and responded, "A bastard am I? Well you only have yourselves to blame. I'd like to see how you act towards people after the human race tries to hunt you down and harness your power for centuries."

Naruto gave the Kyuubi a deprecating smile, "I see what's going on here. The great Kyuubi no Kitsune, strongest of the bijuu, is throwing himself a pity party. You think I asked to have you sealed in me? That I enjoy hosting your fuzzy ass? You're not the only one that's had it rough, but I bet you never tried to change anyone's opinion."

"What? Why would I bother?" Roared the nine tails. "Everywhere I went people responded with fear and attacked, or tried to use my power for their own gain. Human's are no better than any other animals. In fact they're worse, just as instinctive and bestial as anything else but try to claim they aren't. At least a chimpanzee doesn't claim to be civilized before killing its rival to mate."

"And how many people attacked you before you decided that? One hundred? One thousand? That's not a lot compared to the millions of people everywhere. Either way I'm not here to argue with you about how crappy your existence is. When you decide to stop feeling sorry for yourself we'll talk, until then just stay in your cage."

With that the blonde disappeared after dispelling some of the chakra surrounding him and the Kyuubi was alone once more. The great beast lay back down and rested his head on his paws before closing his eyes. It would allow Naruto to use his chakra as he pleased, just this once. Not many people would ever say anything like that to him, even behind a cage. He resembled his crazy bitch of a mother in more ways then one… at least he didn't have those damnable chains.

* * *

><p>A single red eye snapped open and the storm of chakra surrounding Naruto receded. He turned to the two girls calling his name and gave them a comforting smile, at least he hoped it was comforting with his darkened whisker marks and long fangs. It appeared to have worked as they sagged in relief and he narrowed his eye at the transformed Kimimaro as two tails waved crazily behind him.<p>

The bone user was slouched over and his arms hung by his sides, he hadn't even formed a new whip. Naruto stood back up on two feet and tried to suppress the rage coursing through him. He just wanted to go over there and smash the Kaguya until his bones stopped regenerating. The blonde closed his eye and took a calming breath before opening it and smiling cockily at Kimimaro, "Getting tired?"

"No." Responded the bone clone. He stood up straight and lifted his bone flower defensively in front of him. He had about ten percent of his chakra left, enough for one good attack. It was too risky to use Sawarabi no Mai (Dance of the Seedling Fern). The mountain had already proved to be unstable and creating a giant forest of bone spikes wouldn't help it in that regard. Kimimaro considered making another whip, but that proved ineffective against the chakra cloak and it cost a lot of chakra to regenerate all the nerves in his spinal chord. Kimimaro lifted his right arm and held it next to his left as he backed into an outcropping behind him and coiled his tail against it like a spring, "I was hoping you would regain your senses, not that I thought trash like you would be able to. But I really wanted you to understand what was happening as your entrails spilled out. Now allow me to show you my original move."

Suddenly the bones grew out of the Kaguya's right arm and combined with the large cone on his left. They grew and twisted around each other until the bone drill was seven feet long and four wide, supported by both his arms. The bone user then stuck his feet to the stone before overloading them and his tail with the tainted chakra and exploding at the blonde, spinning rapidly.

Naruto wasn't sitting idly while Kimimaro's bones were forming and had started gathering as much of the Kyuubi's chakra as he could handle. The Jinchuuriki swirled individual strands of the chakra faster and faster as he added more of it to the mix. By the time Kimimaro had completed his drill he had a Rasengan about two feet wide swirling furiously above his palm. The blonde's eye widened when the bone wielder exploded off of the cliff, but he got the ball of chakra up in time and it collided with the drilling bone.

The blonde was pushed back nearly twenty feet, but Kimimaro couldn't pierce the incredibly dense chakra. However his bones could become harder than diamonds, and although wind chakra was able to cut into them the Rasengan was made for grinding, not cutting, and couldn't damage the hardest bone in his body.

Still Kimimaro knew he would lose this exchange. His rotation was quickly coming to a halt while the spiraling sphere of chakra continued to rotate angrily. After nearly ten seconds the bone user stopped his spin and the Rasengan forced the clone upright before drilling into its abdomen.

The dinosaur like monster flew into the cliff, disappearing from view. Sai appeared next to the two girls with an ink shunshin and all four of the shinobi stared into the hole for what seemed like hours. When it became apparent that he was finally finished Naruto let the chakra cloak recede and laughed, "Alright, I kicked that guys ass hardcore. It's to bad that he decided to quit now, I could've gone for hou-."

Without finishing his sentence the chunin blacked out without the Kyuubi's chakra powering his system. Sakura sighed then grunted in pain as Temari lowered her so she was sitting with her back against the boulder. Sai just looked up the mountain like he was agitated, "There are no trees around to make a stretcher. They probably have one in the mines but that means I'm going to have to take a soldier pill to fly up there and back."

Temari punched the grumpy boy in the arm, "Lighten up, you're such a stick in the mud. Who worries about something like that after dealing with everything we just went through?"

Instead of answering Sai just plopped down with a grunt, "I don't know, I feel rather strange right now."

Temari just lifted an eyebrow at the abnormal boy, she was definitely missing something about him but that was a mystery for later. "Well it's a good thing that you have a kunoichi of Sunagakure with you. Living in a desert makes you learn the importance of versatility." The sandy blonde unhinged her large battle fan before carefully, almost ceremoniously, removing the paper between it and rolling it up neatly. Temari stuffed it into a pocket inside her pack before pulling out a roll of canvas with two rods at the end. She then unfolded the two iron pieces so she had two five foot long pieces of metal with a slot running down one side

"Paper is at a premium in Kaze no Kuni so sealing basic items is generally frowned upon. Instead we create items that can be used for multiple things. That canvas can also be unfolded a couple more times and made into a tent." After answering Sai's unspoken question the wind mistress tossed him all the components, "There are the pieces to the stretcher, put it together while I check on Sakura."

Without waiting for an answer, although she heard Sai whisper bossy and something else that was forgotten for his sake, Temari went to check on the other kunoichi. She knelt down and Sakura tiredly mumbled, "Hey."

Temari sat next to her and rummaged through the medical bag that was lying in between them, "How are you feeling?"

Sakura cracked open her left eye to glance at the fan wielder, "Tired, the adrenaline is wearing off and I just want to take a nap."

"Is that okay?" Asked Temari with a worried frown.

The medic smiled and turned so the Suna ninja could look into the wound and see the blood running through the tubes. Part of the blonde wanted to turn away but she couldn't make herself. "See everything's fine. The only thing I really need to worry about is infection now. I have plenty of blood after the mix Sai gave me." Temari pulled out a roll of bandages and Sakura giggled, "You're quite the amateur. Just wrapping bandages around this won't do much. Take some gauze and cut some strips large enough to cover the wound then use medical tape to hold them in place. If you really want to you can bandage it after."

Temari pulled out the items and cut Sakura's right sleeve to have easy access to the wound. While dressing the wound she heard Sai approaching and without turning around said, "Don't come closer, I don't want you getting an eyeful."

"It's not like there's anything to see."

Temari closed her eyes waited for the outburst but it never came, she opened them to see Sakura breathing deeply and evenly, "You're lucky she's asleep."

"I'll kill him later."

Sai pulled out a blank scroll while answering in a neutral tone, "Considering I just saved your life I think that's an empty threat. I finished scouting the mountainside and there's no easy path. I'll summon two ink birds and we'll carefully fly down before going the rest of the way on foot."

Temari just nodded before standing up to help the artist load their teammates. Shortly after they had the two large birds ready and took off in the direction of Konohagakure no Sato.

* * *

><p>Kimimaro opened his eyes in the storage room. He had cut the connection as soon as the attack hit, knowing that it didn't have enough chakra left to regenerate the wounds the Rasengan would inflict. The fanatic stood as the feeling of disappointment set in. He'd have to improve greatly if trash like that could destroy his bone clone, the time he spent in a coma was no excuse in his mind.<p>

The white haired teen put it out of his mind and stood up to address Raiga's men, "It's time to move out." The men followed the stoic shinobi without a question as he led them out of the waste dump where he jumped out of earlier. The Kaguya led them to the right, knowing that the plateau was off to the left and set a brutal pace. Many of the men that didn't have the rudimentary chakra training fell, but Kimimaro always managed to save their packs by throwing a bone saber through one of the loops. He probably could've saved the people too but gold was worth more than trash.

As they neared the bottom Kimimaro heard a pitiful groan of pain carried by the wind. He signaled for the men to continue the descent and went to check it out as they sighed in relief. The bone user was hoping it was Raiga so he could kill the man himself, but he wasn't disappointed when he recognized the effeminate boy with those strange eyes. He was incredibly pale, and there was a nasty gash going up his right leg, but it was slowly leaking blood meaning the child was still alive.

The Kaguya fumbled around in his pack before pulling out a vial of bluish green liquid the consistency of liquid jello. It was Kabuto's latest experiment, the medic was obsessed with Karin's healing ability and this was the result of a failed experiment to recreate it. It was basically a mixture of medical drugs and herbs that were made to hold Karin's chakra. It took a little bit of fuuinjutsu work but they were able to replicate the results and create this. Although it was incredibly hard to make and could only be done in limited supply because it needed so much of Karin's chakra just to get such a small amount.

He tilted the vial to the boy's lips and he drank. What little color the frail child had returned and his red eyes slowly opened, "Am I dead?"

"No, you were hurt but I gave you a healing mix. You will live."

"Oh." Said the boy neutrally as he looked away from the Kaguya.

"You don't sound very enthusiastic?" Said Kimimaro with an eyebrow raised.

The child sniffled and shifted uncomfortably, "You should've let me die. I'm just going to be all alone again."

Kimimaro sat down next to Ranmaru and looked at the sunrise, "You know, I used to be all alone like you. Abandoned by the people I cared about." The lavender haired boy turned to look at the teenager, "I didn't want to live either, but then Orochimaru-sama found me and gave me a purpose. It hasn't always been easy. I've bled and sweat many times my body weight for him, but I have a reason for living."

Ranmaru leaned into the older boy seeking some sort of comfort, comfort that Kimimaro awkwardly provided by wrapping his arm around the frail child, "Do, do you think he would accept me to?" Kimimaro nodded as he looked into the distance, "Could he heal me?"

"Of that I have no doubt. He offered to heal you even though Raiga asked for the seal of power, but the swordsman refused because he wanted to keep your eyes for himself." Kimimaro was making things up now, but he knew his master would be interested in this strange doujutsu, and maybe some small part of him wanted to help Ranmaru in the only way he knew how.

* * *

><p>Kin was on the verge of ripping her brown hair out by the roots. The childish man in front of the girl had been nothing but annoying since they left hot spring country. He would deflect all of her questions about who he was and where they were going by trying to get details about her "night of passion" that led to her pregnancy. The one night they stopped in town she had to use the crappy tubs in the seedy inn he brought them to because he skipped out of the room while singing about the joys of peeking.<p>

He didn't even really hold basic conversations with her. When they travelled the pervert said he had to keep his senses sharp in case of pursuit, even though it wasn't very likely, and when they camped he would have his nose buried in his notebook, constantly giggling perversely.

Now they were in fire country and the kunoichi wasn't taking it anymore, "Alright, I'm not taking another step till you answer the questions I've been asking since the start of this trip."

The man turned with the same cheerful smile, and his tone was nothing but kind, however Kin couldn't keep the shiver from her spine. "Considering I was skilled enough to defeat or escape the pursuers that had you dead to rights I don't think you can make me do anything." Jiraiya didn't project any killing intent, just the magnitude of his presence was enough to cow Kin. However he could never stand to see any woman unhappy. "But since I'm such a nice guy I'll tell you. I know you were a shinobi under my bastard ex teammate, and I have a pretty good idea of what's baking in the oven too." Kin flinched when he finished before understanding dawned on her features, "Ah you recognize my glory now."

"Yeah, you were Orochimaru's and Tsunade's teammate, what was you name?"

Jiraiya forced down his frustration, it was obvious she was just joking to get back at him for the past two days. "I'm the Gallant Jiraiya, legendary sage, bestselling author, strongest shinobi alive. That guy."

"Yeah him," said Kin dismissively, "Everyone said you were a massive pervert that would get distracted by a girl glancing at him."

Jiraiya palmed his face and dragged his hand down to his neck, "Sure, anyways considering I can knock you out and get you back to Konoha faster and not have to explain things to you I'd shut up now." After making sure the kunoichi followed his advice the hermit continued, "Well I'm taking you back to Konoha, we'll go the hospital and you can get a physical from my teammate while I get the Hokage."

He turned and started walking again, waiting for a snarky response, but to his pleasant surprise she was sufficiently cowed by his awesomeness and didn't say a word. The man was pleasantly surprised and thought that he should make her his apprentice instead of Naruto, the sennin was starting to get tired of mouthy blonde know-it-alls.

* * *

><p>Kimimaro got on one knee and bowed in front of Orochimaru while Ranmaru poked his head out of the sling the Kaguya fastened on his back, much like Raiga had, "I have returned master. Our shinobi are putting the gold in the store room as we speak. However Raiga's men aren't worth outfitting."<p>

"Excellent Kimimaro, we'll send them off to a base in need of test subjects, but where is Raiga?" Questioned the serpentine man.

The bone user stood and frowned at the mention of the name. "The blonde chunin who was at the base I was healed at was leading a team to investigate the mines. The fool fell in battle instead of telling me they were coming so we could evacuate."

Kabuto stepped from behind Orochimaru's throne and pushed his glasses up his nose, "Uzumaki Naruto eh, the Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi no Yoko. Was he the one who killed Raiga? The man was far from elite but that would still be impressive."

Kimimaro frowned after discovering the blonde's name, the Uzumaki clan had killed many Kaguya during the sacking of Uzushiogakure. Many of his clan members had claimed it was the start of their downfall. "No, his team killed the swordsmen. Uzumaki Naruto battled my bone clone, although him being a Jinchuuriki explains that strange chakra."

Orochimaru's eyes lit up with interest, "He used the Kyuubi's chakra you say? How did the fight go?"

The bone user forced his rage at the memory of the fight down to give his master a neutral viewpoint, "At the beginning I was dominating him, even though he was using the sharingan. Then his eyes changed color so he began drawing on some of the beast's chakra, but he still wasn't too much of a challenge." The teen frowned as he remembered the rest of the fight because it went downhill from there, "The boy seemed to improve with every exchange though, he even stole some of my moves and used them as his own."

Kabuto chuckled at Kimimaro's obvious frustration, "The sharingan is an impressive tool. Probably as formidable as the Shikotsumyaku, if not more so."

The silver haired teen gloated inwardly as the Kaguya ground his teeth together, "Indeed. I still had it well in hand until his team arrived. Instead of engaging me with them he called them off and his eye morphed."

The snake summoner leaned forward as his face lit up in surprise, "What do you mean morphed? Gained an extra tomoe?"

The bone user shook his head, "No, it became a six pointed star."

Orochimaru leaned back as he turned an accusing eye towards his chief spy, "You never said anything about a Mangekyou Kabuto-kun."

The teen shrugged as if he wasn't worried, "My father wouldn't tell me if the Hokage ordered him not to. Honestly I had no idea. I just helped with the surgery and it didn't happen then, I can tell you that much. We only put in a regular sharingan, not even fully mature."

The two turned back to Kimimaro and he took it as a cue to continue, "Yes, well this new form of the doujutsu allowed him to summon black flames that consumed my clone. He put them out and I injured his teammate. This caused him to go berserk and draw on more of the Kyuubi's chakra."

"And how much did he use? Did he lose control, what types of abilities did he display?"

Kimimaro blinked at the sudden barrage of questions from his master, usually the man never showed this much interest even if he was obsessed, "He summoned three tails, but then went back to two. It appeared the Jinchuuriki was about to lose control but he calmed himself and my clone ran out of chakra because of the damage inflicted over the course of the fight. I'd say its abilities were based around chakra manipulation, and his chakra was like an acid or some other corrosive substance."

The former Hokage candidate leaned back in his chair and digested the information for several moments, "Naruto-kun seems to be growing into quite the impressive Jinchuuriki. Still that's a subject for another day. Is that young boy on your back the same one that came with Raiga?"

The boy timidly ducked behind Kimimaro now that he was the center of attention, however a nudge from the bone user got him to answer, "Yes Orochimaru-sama. I found out Raiga was lying to me and when I tried to help the Konoha ninja he cut me out of my backpack. Kimimaro saved me and said, he said you could heal me and give me a purpose."

Orochimaru chuckled while trying to sound gentle, "Yes he wasn't a very nice man. I don't know if Kimimaro told you but I offered to heal you for free but he refused. I didn't think it was my place to tell you though."

The frail child nodded, "Kimimaro did tell me sir, I know I'm weak now but I'll train really hard to get strong. I promise."

Kimimaro placed a comforting hand on Ranmaru's leg that stopped the boy's panicked rant before it got out of control and interjected on his behalf, "What he says is true Orochimaru-sama. I thought that since Raiga was no longer around to claim his prize it should go to his second."

"Did you now?" Said Orochimaru, not giving anything away as he eyed Kimimaro strangely. He was quite surprised that the normally merciless warrior would go out of his way for somebody like that, but in hindsight he shouldn't have been. Ranmaru probably reminded the Kaguya of himself as a child. The serpentine man leaned back and thought about it, honestly there would be no real harm. The boy had an interesting doujutsu and was already quite attached to Kimimaro based on their interaction. That attachment would grow to affection, and then loyalty. The Kaguya was blindly loyal to Orochimaru and Ranmaru would probably follow in his idol's footsteps.

The madman smiled wide as an interesting idea flitted through his undeniably brilliant, albeit twisted, mind. He could get Kabuto to heal the child the regular way, but the scientist in Orochimaru was always quite curious to see how a child whose chakra network wasn't developed enough for regular use would react to the juuinjutsu. The nature chakra generated from the curse seal would also heal Ranmaru if he survived the procedure. "Yes that does make sense. After all I'm sure your eyes did most of the work in the mines anyways. Now Ranmaru, I can heal you and make you strong like Kimimaro, but it's going to hurt and it is very likely to kill you."

The boy looked scared for a moment but a glance at the stoic Kimimaro, who gave him a nod, hardened his resolve, "I accept."

Orochimaru chuckled gleefully. He already knew the answer to the next question based off Ranmaru's tone, but asking it would only make him look better than Raiga, which was very important right now if he wanted to secure the boy's loyalty. "My, my, how enthusiastic. You didn't even let me finish. I can get Kabuto to heal you the regular way. It won't hurt and you won't die unless there's some type of freak accident." Ranmaru looked interested, but now time to pull the hook away before he could bite, "But you'll never be anywhere near as powerful if you choose that procedure."

Any interest the violet haired boy had faded, "No, I still want the first one."

Kimimaro gently lifted Ranmaru from his cocoon and softly laid him on the floor while Orochimaru explained, "Excellent Ranmaru, now this looks scary but don't panic."

To the child's credit he only let out a squeak when the man's fangs elongated and Orochimaru's neck extended as his head shot forward. He clamped down where the boy's neck met his spine and watched the seal form, "Oh, the heaven seal. How interesting."

"The equal of the earth seal in every way." Continued Kabuto, "He has just as much potential as you had Kimimaro."

To the Kaguya's surprise it didn't bother him that someone may be able to serve Orochimaru better than him someday, even though that was always his greatest fear. It was probably because his master had another loyal and competent follower because there was no doubt in his mind Ranmaru would survive this, he needed to. "Then perhaps I should be the one to train him."

Orochimaru tittered as Kimimaro gently lifted the comatose child, "If that would please you." That went even better than planned, he just loved it when others did his dirty work. Especially when they had no idea they were doing it.

* * *

><p>Karashi left his room quietly, trying to sneak out without alerting his grandmother, although he didn't really need to be this careful. The old bat slept like she was dead, probably because she should've been. For some reason this crappy old shack raked in customers and she had received several offers for the stand and her recipes over the years, offers that would allow his grandchildren to live comfortably. The man smirked as he crept down the stairs, that was only if he didn't blow it all himself.<p>

The old plan to get his grandmother out of the way was to leave for a while because Sansho had a hard time taking care of herself. He was hoping she would have an accident while he was away, but every time guilt would get the better of him and he'd return home quickly. Karashi had decided to ditch his old half baked plan and started baking another one when he returned yesterday. According to that blonde brat those men that kidnapped him left today and the mine would be abandoned for some time before officials came to investigate. He was going to sneak in, grab all the gold he could carry, go on vacation for a month or so, and drink so much he'd forget he had a grandmother.

Karashi cackled inside his head as he reached the bottom of the stairs, sure of his success. His heart stopped when he saw a short, shadowy figure in the corner of the room sitting on the windowsill with their legs dangling outwards. "Ah, I'm sorry. Don't hurt me, I didn't want those ninja to take you guys out I swear."

Moonlight streamed through the window revealing it was just his grandmother looking at the night sky and the cowardly grandson sighed in relief, "Grandma, what are you doing up right now? You should be in bed, it's very late."

Sansho didn't respond in any way or turn around to acknowledge Karashi, she just continued to stare out the window. The brown haired man approached hesitantly while softly calling for his grandmother, wondering if he didn't need to go to the mines now. He finally stood next to her and placed a hand on her shoulder, "Are you alright grandma?"

"Yesss Karashi, I've never felt better." Answered the woman, except her raspy voice seemed smoother, almost serpentine.

"Are you sure grandma, you're acting well… not senile, but that's strange for you."

The woman turned revealing she had golden snakelike eyes and her wrinkled cheeks were stretched in a wide smile, revealing wicked fangs. The man screamed, turned, and ran, scattering all the tables and chairs in his path. The demon in his grandmother's skin just cackled before letting out a high pitched wail. Karashi turned his head to see she had opened her mouth impossibly wide, like her jaw had unhinged, and a large white snake about a foot wide and three feet long jumped out of it. Karashi let out a girlish yelp of his own and burst through the kitchen door. It swung loosely on its hinges, squeaking repeatedly, as Sansho's grandson frantically rummaged through the knife drawer.

He cut himself on several of the sharp blades before pulling out a large meat cleaver and a his grandfather's old stiletto, according to his grandmother it was a knife so it went in the knife drawer, and the door stopped squeaking as it thudded into something solid. Karashi heard the hiss and gulped loudly while rapidly looking in both directions. The sound of the snake's scales rubbing over the rough stone floor was audible and the man looked directly at the demon when it came around the corner of the island in the middle of the kitchen.

The coward panicked and threw the stiletto at the slithering reptile, but the handle clattered harmlessly off the ground and the short blade fell harmlessly next to the white serpent. Karashi looked at the monster as it approached, confident that if snakes had lips it would be smiling. He raised the meat cleaver over his head with both hands and charged with a battle cry. Unfortunately his valiant charge was halted when he struggled to lift his foot and tripped on the stool that his grandmother hauled around the kitchen to stand above the counters.

The cleaver slipped out of his hands as he used his forearms to break his fall, but when he landed he was staring into those terrifying golden eyes. The snakes jaw unhinged, revealing dripping fangs, and the man tried to roll away, but found he could no longer move. The demon unhinged its jaws and darkness was all that Karashi knew from that moment on. The snake finished devouring him before shedding his old skin and stepping out as the cowardly grandson of his former host. The old bat didn't have enough energy to get him back home but this one certainly did. The snake dumped some of the woman's strongest alcohol all over the stove and stone floor until it got out to the dining area. It then grabbed a lit candle from a candelabra mounted on the wall and threw it into the kitchen.

The stand exploded in a ball of fire and an unseen silhouette leapt high above the flames before disappearing into the forest.

* * *

><p>Here it is, the conclusion of the final mission in part one and it's longer than expected. For the final mission it had a lot of firsts. The first chase scene of which more will follow so I'd appreciate your thoughts, the first Mangekyou use, the first time team seven really gets their asses kicked, and there was also a lot of chemistry developed in the chapter as well. I know its really long but it almost had to be and by the time I realized that I was too far into it and couldn't find a good spot to split it up. The scenes after the genin v Raiga and Naruto v Kimimaro were also supposed to be short. There's a lot of things in this chapter hinting towards the future so I hope you read carefully<p>

On a side note Kishimoto is really pouring out the backstory here. We finally learn something about Kabuto and I have to say I think his backstory is the saddest by far (in my opinion used to be held by Haku and Sasuke before he turned into a total asshole and I lost all sympathy for him). I don't want to spoil it but just looking at the situation as a whole it's f'ed up, like really f'ed up. I almost feel bad for what I'm going to do to him but he's still an asshole. Just an asshole with a rough past.

**Jutsu List**

Kuchiyose: Yatai Kuzushi no Jutsu (Summoning: Food Cart Destroyer)- Summons a large mid-air over a target

Goukuuhou

Kamaitachi

Daikamaitachi

Raikyu

Kirigakure no Jutsu

Raiso: Ikazuchi no Utage (Lightning Burial: Banquet of Lightning) B rank-Raiga generates electricity in his blades then stabs them into the ground and unleashes the stored energy in a river of lightning that varies in size. Someone without the Lightning Fangs generates a dense ball of electricity between their hands that explodes outwards into countless bolts of lightning, as narrow or wide as the user wishes.

Ikazuchi no Kiba (Fangs of Lightning) C rank- Raiga raises crosses his fangs and raises them to the sky. They send electrical energy into the clouds allowing him to create and control bolts of lightning

Tsubaki no Mai (Dance of the Camellia) Taijutsu- Kimimaro creates a saber of bone by modifying the bones in his arm

Teshi Sendan Ninjutsu (Ten Finger Drilling Bullets) Taijutsu- The only real ranged technique Kimimaro has and very vital to his fighting style. He launches the tips of his finger bones at the enemy, they are capable of incredible damage because of their velocity and rotation. Can fire as fast as the bones regenerate, and infinite supply.

Futon Sattou Dangan

Raigeki no Yoroi (Lightning Strike Armor) C rank- Defensive Jutsu, Raiga coats himself in a protective layer of lightning that is capable of turning away middle level attacks

Rairyu no Tatsumaki (Lightning Dragon Tornado) A rank- Raiga is struck by a bolt of lightning, but instead of dispersing the energy concentrates around him. The man begins spinning, forming a twister of lightning, and then the head of a dragon forms at the top before it attacks.

Shihohappo Shuriken

Karamatsu no Mai (Dance of the Larch) Taijutsu-Sharp, needlelike bones protrude from what seems like every inch of Kimimaro's skin protecting him from physical attacks.

Yanagi no Mai (Dance of the Willow) Taijutsu- Large bones protrude from every major joint (shoulders, knees, and elbows) and his palms. He then uses very acrobatic maneuvers such as spins and flips, sudden bulrushes, and wide sweeping slashes. Very unpredictable, predicated on parrying and countering an opponent

Bone Clone Kinjutsu- Forbidden Technique of the Kaguya clan. Allows a person or group of people closely related to create a replica of a clan member's skeletal and muscular systems. It is very chakra intensive and even when performed as a group can result in deaths. The clone has many advantages over the original. It doesn't feel pain, has a faster regeneration time, powered by chakra not blood, can perform any Shikotsumyaku based move. Major disadvantage is the lag time between the original's thoughts and clone's actions making it useless against a faster opponent, one on a similar skill level, or a superior one.

Tessenka no Mai: Hana (Dance of the Clematis: Flower) Taijutsu- Kimimaro concentrates a large amount of chakra and compresses as much bone as he can into a fine tip. The hardest bone created by the Shikotsumyaku

Tessenka no Mai: Tsuru (Dance of the Clematis: Vine) Taijutsu-Kimimaro pulls out his spine and regenerates it immediately. The cartilage and nerves extend until a whip is formed, though they can still extend or stretch allowing Kimimaro to adjust the length easily

Sawarabi no Mai (Dance of the Seedling Fern) A rank-The only ninjutsu of the Shikotsumyaku. It allows Kimimaro to create a dense forest of bones that he can merge with much like Hake could merge with his ice mirrors. The Kaguya can then attack from any position and move unhindered through the forest


	26. Goodbye Konoha, A Journey Awaits

Jiraiya merrily strolled through the corridor of the Hokage Tower and flashed a lecherous grin at the pretty receptionist. The cute brunette gave an exasperated sigh at the action, but Jiraiya saw the corners of her lips turn up as he rounded the corner. He entered the Hokage's office without knocking and found his sensei doing paperwork, "Hey old man, if you keep looking that hard at the paper what little eyesight you have left will disappear."

Sarutobi chuckled instead of responding and finished signing the document before pulling out an ornate pipe that Jiraiya had given him years earlier. It was dark green and about two feet long with a thin, slightly curving stem and was dotted with tiny glass toads in a lighter shade of green. The man then pulled out an ashtray that was covered with slugs and gently tapped the pipe on it three times before spinning it upright. A secret compartment popped open and the Sandaime pulled out a satchel shaped like a snake that curled around the inside of the ashtray. The set was a gift from Jiraiya, Tsunade, and Orochimaru that was given to him after they were promoted to chunin.

Jiraiya cocked his eyebrow as the Hokage packed the pipe, "Getting out the good stuff today sensei, I hope you're sharing."

"You're possibly the richest man in the elemental nations and still the biggest mooch I know." Replied Sarutobi without looking up.

"That's a shame, I guess Kakashi gets to be the first to get a sneak peak before next book comes out."

The sennin grinned triumphantly when the man began grumbling under his breath. Once the Hokage was ready he finally acknowledged Jiraiya as he lit the pipe and erratically tapped his finger on the end, just below a yellow spotted toad. "You've been gone longer than expected. Did something come up?"

Jiraiya took the pipe and smiled, it had been such a long since the shinobi had seen it. He examined it fondly before he drew circles around his favorite toad, a Gamabunta lookalike and breathed in the smoke, "Well you know what it's like being famous. Nothing ever gets done on schedule. I actually stumbled upon some bandits attacking a girl, of course being the chivalrous gentleman that I am forced me to intervene and save her. I actually dropped her off at the hospital before coming here."

The Sandaime nodded as he took the pipe back and ashed it before putting it away. "Well that's the world we live in, it's a harsh reality. But did you finalize Naruto's training trip?"

Grinning widely the sage gave his teacher a thumbs up, "Of course, he'll be a real powerhouse when he comes back. Worldly too… and probably a ladies man if I rub off on him at all."

The floor groaned as the Hokage stood and pushed his chair away from the desk, "That's good, if there's anything else I need to know you can put it in a report. I have to make an appearance at the academy and now that Konohamaru is attending I can embarrass him."

Jiraiya threw the window open and hopped on the ledge before giving the Hokage a wide smile, "That's fine, I told the girl I'd check in on her and see what she wanted to do after getting a clean bill of health. See ya Sarutobi-sensei, don't go to hard on the kid."

Jiraiya leisurely hopped over the rooftops faster than most shinobi could follow before leaping into a window near the top of the hospital, and once inside the sage was confronted by fierce honey brown that were drilling holes in his head. Hoping to not get hit he started explaining what he could, "Sorry Hime, but this needed to be done discreetly and I trust you. Just wait a minute and you'll know what's going on."

Tsunade just sighed and sat in the chair, knowing there was nothing she could do but listen to the perv. It was only a couple minutes later when the Hokage entered followed by Kakashi, whose lone eye glanced around the room as he tried to figure out what was going on. After motioning everybody to take a seat Sarutobi asked, "So what is this about Jiraiya? What's so important that you had to enter through my door?"

Giving the Hokage a lopsided grin Jiraiya said, "Well you get the best stuff around…" Seeing his humor wasn't appreciated by the other four occupants in the room the hermit coughed and got serious, "Right, well this is Kin and I found her near the border of Ta no Kuni and Yu no Kuni, actually it was a couple miles on the Ta no Kuni side. She was an Otogakure kunoichi who was pregnant and running for her life."

Kakashi and Tsunade glanced questioningly at Kin who had her head down, but Sarutobi had all the information and his eyes widened, "You don't mean?"

Jiraiya nodded, "That's what I expect. I didn't want to make her too uncomfortable so I didn't really pry, but that is what all the pieces point to."

"What's this all about, I know Orochimaru has his hands in Oto somehow, but what does her having pregnant have to do with anything?" Asked Kakashi with none of his usual apathy.

Kin tried to make herself as small as possible in the presence of all these legends, but she could feel their intense stares so looked down at the ground timidly and explained. "I don't know much of the details, nobody really knows any details of any plans, but Orochimaru-sa, Orochimaru got his hands on Uchiha DNA and attempted to inseminate several kunoichi. I was one of them but they thought the baby was a stillborn so I slipped under the radar. Apparently only one kunoichi did conceive, that they knew about, and I heard rumors there was a seal put on her and the baby was leaching her life force while in the womb... she would die after giving birth." The brunette's eyes hardened while remembering the feeling of betrayal when she first heard the rumor. "I didn't want that to happen to me so I ran."

The three men's eyes shot open in shock, but Tsunade wasn't paying attention so didn't see them shushing Kin. The medic narrowed hers while giving the pregnant girl's belly another scan, "I'm not surprised they said it was stillborn, I'm having trouble getting a clear picture myself. But as far as I can tell you're five months pregnant and the mother of a healthy Uchiha baby."

The medic's eyes shot open as she finished the scan, but before she could say what she discovered the door swung open and Naruto and Sakura fell to the ground in a heap. The blonde shot up like a rocket, but before he could say anything Kakashi had his hands over the boy's mouth.

* * *

><p>Naruto finished changing out of the hospital robe and threw on his regular clothes. The blonde had been cooped up in the hospital for two days on Tsunade's orders to see if the fox's chakra had any negative effects on his body, but the hyperactive boy couldn't stand it anymore so broke the chakra suppression seal they put on after his first escape attempt and sent a clone to get clothes. He slipped on the new flak jacket they gave him and picked up his saber.<p>

After getting removed from the stretcher the medics said his sword was glowing red in the sheath, but whenever they tried to grab it orange chakra would shoot out and stop them. Naruto didn't have that problem, but the shinobi still knew something was fundamentally different about the blade when he picked it up. It had some semblance of sentience before, but it was more like a tic in the back of Naruto's mind, or sometimes the blonde would a strange flash of inspiration on ways to use the sword or an ability it had. Now though he could… feel it in his thoughts. The blade was happy now, satisfied.

Deciding that nothing more could be gained by keeping it in the sheath Naruto pulled the weapon out and gasped at the metamorphosis. The handle was still the plain black, but the metal no longer glowed pure white. The chakra saber was a metallic red that shone brightly in the artificial light and seemed to give of some of its own, but the edges were a deep black that seemed to be completely absent of light. It was a strange contradiction, "What the hell? How did this happen?"

As if to answer his question the memory of the first night he unsheathed the blade popped into the teen's head and his eye widened as he realized what happened, the chakra saber had answered his question.

After the weapon had nearly burned his skin after picking it up the first time it used the chakra stored to heal him and immediately began pulling in the ambient chakra in the air around him to refill its store. Even when chakra isn't being used it circulates through the system and trace amounts leak out of the tenketsu. The blade is able to catch these small amounts and filter them into white chakra over time. When Naruto pushed out heaps of Kyuubi's chakra the potent energy overloaded the filter and the sword absorbed pure demonic chakra.

The chunin tried to call on the white chakra that was usually stored in the saber, but his stomach heated up and when he lifted the black spandex his seal was visible as the sword began leaking out Kyuubi's chakra. Naruto shut down the connection and quickly shoved the sword in its sheathe before the potent killing intent set off any alarms. After hastily forming a string from the hospital ties the shinobi used it to anchor the blade before quickly sneaking out. Normally the rounds wouldn't come for another hour or so but if the Kyuubi's chakra leaked out they'd come running.

Because of Naruto's many escape attempts over the years they placed him in an area of the hospital that was extremely isolated and had few exits into the village. All windows in this section overlooked a courtyard, however there were several in the stairwell he could squeeze out of. Before the Jinchuuriki attained sweet freedom he heard Tsunade's voice coming from a nearby room, but she was whispering so he couldn't make out any details. Knowing that hushed voices meant juicy information Naruto tried to creep closer, but froze when he heard somebody calling his name.

The blonde stiffly turned his neck and sighed in relief when he saw Sakura running towards him wearing a hospital robe, "Did they let you out Naruto?"

"Shhh." The blonde quickly silenced his teammate before pointing at the door, "I heard Tsunade-baachan whispering in that room. Whatever it is I know it's gotta be good."

Sakura looked hesitantly at the door while chewing on her lower lip, "I don't know Naruto. If they're whispering it's for a reason, and doctor's appointments are supposed to be confidential."

The girl was about to continue but her teammate had ignored her and was already sneaking to the door so she just palmed her face and followed, knowing she'd be guilty by association anyways. The kunoichi was glad she did too because the first thing they heard was "Uchiha baby," just before the door fell open.

Sakura looked around embarrassedly while Naruto hopped to his feet in an outrage, but Kakashi moved at what was thought to be an impossible speed when he proved to be faster than the blonde's mouth and restrained the chunin. The Sandaime mumbled under his breath before speaking up, "You have a nose for trouble my boy. Now I'm going to tell Kakashi to let you go and you will NOT open your mouth."

Naruto dumbly nodded his head, surprised by the authority in the gentle voice he'd grown so accustomed to. "Good, now what you just heard cannot be repeated to anyone." Tsunade closed the door and the Hokage gave a grateful nod as the jounin let his student go, "Yes Kin is pregnant with an Uchiha child and it is Sasuke's. However for her safety, the safety of the child, and the safety of the village we cannot let that information be spread outside of this room."

After calming himself down Naruto stared determinedly at Sarutobi, "I want to help take care of it, Sasuke was my teammate."

"Me too." Said Sakura as she stood up and faced the girl in the room, slightly curious about her identity, "It's the least we can do."

Kakashi and Jiraiya looked out the window awkwardly because they knew what was coming next and the old man gave a weary sigh, "I'm afraid that's impossible Naruto because you have a large target on your back. I doubt people would be able to figure the child's lineage if you had a relationship with it, but any interaction with you would put the infant under intense scrutiny. I don't like it, but it will be best for Kin and Sasuke's baby if it lives anonymously."

"Because that really worked out well for me." Replied the blonde bitterly.

Hiruzen's face softened as he quietly said, "Naruto-"

"No." Interrupted the blonde, "It's not fair. You can't do that to another kid."

"Enough." Harshly responded the Hokage, "I am the leader of this village and I will not have my decisions questioned by a chunin with less than a year in the field, especially when that chunin is a child and largely ignorant to the ways of the world. If becoming the Hokage is really your dream then it's best you learn that not every decision makes you happy. You're life was undoubtedly hard, but it's one life stacked against tens of thousands as cold as that sounds. We can play what if games all you want but you are alive right now, healthy, a promising shinobi, and a bright young man with amazing friends and limitless opportunity ahead of you. It may have been hard getting here, but are you unhappy now?" Sarutobi paused and continued in a more composed manner, "Your ultimate goal as a shinobi and Hokage should be protecting the village not sleeping peacefully or making everyone happy, even those closest to you. It is a life of hardships and sacrifice, I'm sorry Naruto I really am."

Naruto grit his teeth and turned away from the old man, "Fine."

Kin felt slightly guilty and tried to calm everyone down, "Umm, I don't really know the whole story but if that's what the Hokage thinks is best than it's okay. I never knew Sasuke but apparently he was important to you two so if you'd like, you could name the baby."

Tsunade smirked as Naruto forgot his anger and started jumping in excitement, "Really. Can we name the baby Sasuke if it's a boy?"

Sakura whapped Naruto across the back of his head and the boy grabbed the lump in pain, "Don't be insensitive. You can't name a child after the father if they'll never get a chance to meet." The pinkette looked at the Hokage and asked, "Umm, do you know Sasuke's mother's name Hokage-sama?"

The old man smiled gently at the genin, "Yes I do, it's Mikoto Sakura-chan."

Naruto's blue eye widened to impossibly large proportions and watered, "That's so beautiful. Can we name it that, please Saaaakuuuuraaaa-chaaan?"

"I like it." Said Sakura as she smiled, "What about you Kaka-sensei, you should have a say too."

The jounin eye-smiled at Sakura, "Mikoto sounds fine for a girl, but if you don't mind I'd like to suggest a name for the boy. See, I've always been partial to Obito."

It didn't seem possible, but Naruto's eye got even wider as tears and snot streamed down his face, "That's a great name Kaka-sensei."

All in all Sakura thought it was a little goofy, but she could tell it was important to her sensei so nodded, "Alright it's settled, Mikoto for a girl and Obito for a boy."

Tsunade coughed into her hand and everybody looked at her, "Now that we have everything settled can I finish what I was saying before the brat and his girlfriend barged in?"

Seeing that nobody was interrupting she continued, "Like I was saying, even I was having trouble performing the ultrasound so it wasn't a surprise that they failed." A wide smile flashed across the blonde's face, "You see, I wasn't looking for it at first so I was having trouble getting a good outline of anything, but then... well let's just say it's a good thing you picked two names out."

Everyone, sans Naruto's, eyes shot open as Kin stuttered, "Y-you don't mean?"

Suddenly the chunin's eye shot open like everyone else, "You mean she's having a freak monster baby that's two people in one."

This time Tsunade smashed Naruto's head into the wall, "Don't be a jackass. When that happen it's called Siamese twins and that's not happening to Kin." The slug summoner calmed down, "She's having regular twins moron."

Naruto popped up like nothing happened and began running around the room and freaking out. Kin just deadpanned at the frantic boy, "Is he having the twins or am I?"

The Hokage chuckled as he placed a calming hand on Naruto's shoulder, "Now that we have everything settled why don't you two get going. You were both getting released today if I saw the schedule correctly."

Tsunade nodded and ushered them to the door, but before she got there Jiraiya said, "Oh Naruto remember I mentioned something about having a semblance of an idea that we might possibly go on a training trip for a couple of years… well we leave at the end of the week."

Naruto couldn't answer before the door was slammed in their faces courtesy of Tsunade. Once they were sure the coast was clear the Sandaime spoke up, "This may work to our advantage. You said she was five months pregnant, well Jiraiya I want you and Tsunade to come to my office in forty minutes and report that Kin is seven months pregnant. One of the ANBU currently on guard duty has been linked to Ne so Danzo will find out quickly, and if my hunch is correct won't let an opportunity like this pass him by. We'll hide her in one of the Senju safehouses outside of Konoha let it leak that she's giving birth a few days before the fake one and leave crumbs that point to a location. Tsunade you'll henge as a pregnant Kin while a clone of you and Shizune fake the procedure and allow a decoy clone baby to be captured. Kakashi will head up an ANBU tracking and capture squad that will follow the thief and we'll spring our trap once Danzo is sighted and his identity confirmed.

He looked over at the silver haired man, "Will we have enough evidence by then."

The jounin nodded, "Yes, every day we are finding new contacts and discovering how deep Danzo's claws go. We should be ready to move in a month if necessary."

The Hokage nodded, "I know that we can't draw this investigation out too long lest our target catches on, but if we rush and miss something it will only come back to haunt us. Be as thorough as possible Kakashi." After finishing the Hokage disappeared in a puff of smoke, revealing he was a shadow clone.

* * *

><p>The Sandaime paused mid-sentence as he was addressing Konohamaru's class and Iruka asked, "Are you okay Hokage-sama?"<p>

The old man smiled kindly at the instructor, "Yes I'm fine Iruka. You see I had some broccoli earlier and it always gives me gas." The class started laughing as Konohamaru sank into his seat, but the boy turned into a puddle out of embarrassment when his grandfather continued, "If you ever see Konohamaru eating it watch out, that happens runs in the family."

* * *

><p>Naruto and Sakura walked in silence, partly because the blonde was in shock at the two bombshells that were just dropped, but the other reason became apparent when the pinkette shoved him into a vacant room and locked the door. The Jinchuuriki had several dreams that started like this and a blush dusted his whiskered cheeks, but from the look on the kunoichi's face that was the last thing on her mind.<p>

"It's kind of ridiculous that I had to resort to this to get you to talk to me." Said the girl in an accusing voice.

Naruto winced and rubbed the back of his head, "Umm Sakura-."

"Why did you say that we would talk and then just blow it off like I'm not important?"

"It's not like that Sakura-chan, you're really important to me… it's just not the easiest thing to talk about."

The girl just sat on the empty bed next to the window and looked into the courtyard, "I know-"

"No you don't." Interrupted the blonde, "That's why it's hard to talk about it."

The kunoichi's jade eye's softened and her tone became less harsh, "You're right, but I used to ignore you and treat you terribly, and now that we're friends I just. I just noticed that I hardly know anything about you even though you never stop talking."

Despite the situation Naruto couldn't keep the smile from his face, "That never bothered me Sakura-chan. Just the fact that you noticed me and said my name made me happy."

"But that's terrible." Replied Sakura emotionally, "The fact that I yelled and hit you was enough to make you happy is awful. Please Naruto, I'm not trying to judge you… Why can't you tell me?"

Naruto's blue eye was fixed on the white tiles that made up the floor, "When I said we would talk I didn't think it would be a big deal, but it is."

"It's just, you would always run around smiling and make it look like you didn't care so I always thought your life was perfect as a kid, but there's no way all those smiles were real."

The chunin was surprised at how heated Sakura's voice had become and when the boy looked up he was shocked to see tears in her eyes, "They weren't, it was easier to deflect things with smiles. But a lot of them were real. Iruka-sensei came around after a little, and Hokage-jiji was there, and the Ichirakus. Sometimes Chouji, Shikamaru, and Kiba would play with me." Now Naruto looked out at the clear sky, "Maybe the Hokage was right, my life wasn't easy but it wasn't all bad either."

Sakura didn't appear to be satisfied with that snippet, "Then why is it so hard to tell me?"

Naruto looked down and grimaced as the good memories faded away and the harder times flashed through his memory like a slideshow. He knew that it wouldn't hurt his friendship with Sakura if they talked, he'd make sure to gloss over some his weaker moments and she seemed genuinely interested.

Naruto just couldn't bring himself to do it. Something inside the teen held him back so he remained silent and Sakura whispered, "Do you not trust me?"

The chunin was desperate for any out so he jumped on it, "It's not that Sakura, but we've really only just become close and it's not easy to-"

The girl exploded out of the room as soon as she heard her name and Naruto didn't chase after her, even though he was willing his body to follow. The blonde eventually walked out ten minutes later and dragged himself to Ichiraku Ramen to try and cheer up, but even that wasn't enough to lift the distraught boy's mood.

Naruto left the stand feeling down and wanted to be alone so he walked aimlessly through the village. The blonde walked around in a stupor until he heard someone repeatedly calling his name. He turned to acknowledge the speaker and to his surprise it was Ino. She was quickly running towards him, sliding through the crowd with practiced ease, while waving, "Naruto hold up."

The boy stopped and waited for his fellow blonde. When she finally caught up the kunoichi took a couple of seconds to catch her breath before inhaling deeply and rapidly chattering, "Oh my god I just heard from Asuma who overheard Kakashi and Jiraiya saying you were leaving on a training trip for a couple years so I got Chouji to tell his parents to book his restaurant and we're having a going away party."

Naruto stared incredulously at the girl who somehow managed to say all that without a pause or breath, "Umm thanks?"

Ino smiled and managed to talk like a normal person, "Sorry, so I called Sakura and left a message, then I invited team Gai and my team obviously, but I couldn't find team eight anywhere and found out they were one of the teams transferred to Suna. You can obviously invite anybody else but I figured those were the big ones."

The chunin smiled gratefully at his fellow blonde, "Actually can you invite Iruka-sensei too, I'll take care of the rest."

Ino nodded and took off while waving, "Okay, it's tomorrow night and it starts at eight. You'd better be grateful because we skipped out on team practice to get this organized."

Naruto returned the wave and walked back towards his apartment feeling just a little better.

* * *

><p>When the blonde opened his apartment door he was greeted with a surprise. Shizune was wearing the jounin uniform and checking over some tightly bound packs. She looked up from her work and gave the boy a smile, "Oh, hello Naruto-kun."<p>

"Hey nee-chan. What's with the getup?" Questioned the chunin.

The medic closed the bags up while answering, "Tsunade-sama and I are going on an A rank mission with a Nara and Yamanaka to study a rare flower. It only blooms for one month a year in a small area, and because of the limited supply and beauty of the plant it is highly sought after as a sign of devotion and love. Unfortunately that now means wealthy nobles hire shinobi to find them and we end up fighting to the death. We've recently discovered that the flower has several medicinal benefits so we're going to procure some while studying the flora, fauna, and climate of the area to find out why it only blooms there during that short time period because all documented attempts to grow it elsewhere have failed."

Tsunade walked out of their room, also wearing the jounin uniform, with her hair in a single ponytail. She stopped and gave her fellow blonde a pointed look while Shizune's back was turned, "That's right, so we won't be back before you leave." She walked up to Naruto and ruffled his hair, "And unfortunately we're running late because Jiraiya's a lazy ass and didn't want to do the paperwork at the hospital so we have to get going."

She leaned down and gave him a kiss on the forehead before grabbing one of the backpacks, "See you in a couple years brat, hopefully you'll manage to grow some."

Naruto stopped blushing and yelled back good-naturedly, "I'll definitely grow baa-chan, but you can't get any younger."

Much to the surprise of the other occupants of the room Tsunade just opened the door and smiled, "Don't worry, you'll get yours Naruto. Every. Little. Bit."

The slug summoner chuckled ominously and walked out the door while Shizune gave the teen a hug, "Take care of yourself Naruto, I can't wait to hear all about your adventures."

The brunette walked to the door as the Jinchuuriki gave her his foxy grin and a thumbs up, "You bet Nee-chan, take care of Baa-chan for me. Don't let her forget, SHE'S AN OLD HAG."

"YOU"LL GET YOURS GAKI."

Shizune sweatdropped as she walked out the door, "Goodbye Naruto-kun."

As soon as the front door closed the bathroom door opened and Tayuya walked out before flopping on the couch, "Oh my God yes, a month without that psychopath Shizune. She seems nice on the outside but she's a sadist I tell you."

Naruto chuckled as he sat on the couch next to her, "I think you may be over exaggerating a just little bit."

"And you're not a dipshit." Quickly responded the redhead.

The Uzumaki's blue eye widened as he remembered the mission, "Oh yeah Tayuya, I fought somebody that had a bow belt like you used to."

She cocked her head in interest, "Oh, one of my old teammates. Was it the fatass, or maybe that pussy Sakon?"

"I don't know. He wasn't fat, and definitely wasn't a pussy. He was pale with white hair, he had two little red dots over his eyes, and he could use bones. It was the guy Baa-chan healed at the base where we captured you."

During Naruto's description of the shinobi Tayuya's eyes gradually got wider before she started poking him, "Are you a ghost then? There's no way you fought Kimimaro and are still breathing."

The chunin pinched himself before smiling, "Nope, I'm definitely still alive… although he's not."

The redhead shot up in surprise and grabbed the blonde before shaking him violently, "There's no way you hurt, let alone kill Kimimaro. He could fight me and my three teammates at the same time and it wouldn't even be close. I don't believe that some little asslicker could kill a juggernaut like Kimimaro."

Naruto huffed indignantly, "I don't see what the big deal was. Sure he could use his bones as weapons, and make them harder than diamonds, and take hits that would kill a regular shinobi without blinking, and he's really fast and graceful, and has a lot of different maneuvers, and can transform into a dinosaur… okay I see what you mean now. But I hit him with a huge rasengan and he got smashed really far into the mountain and didn't come back up."

Tayuya dropped Naruto onto the couch before taking her seat again, "There must have been no point in him continuing the fight then. I've seen tons of rock fall on the freak and he came out like it was nothing. I just don't believe it."

The kunoichi disappeared into Tsunade's room before emerging with a pack full of shinobi equipment and holding her flute while standing in a taunting pose, "I'll need to test this out myself, let's go to the training field."

Naruto hopped to his feet and checked his pack before giving her a cocky grin, "Better be careful Tayuya-chan, I've been cooped up for two days so I might be too much for you to handle."

* * *

><p>The former Oto kunoichi collapsed in the shade of a large oak tree, breathing heavily because of exhaustion, "That was almost an hour and you're still not even sweating much."<p>

The chunin gave her a cheeky grin in response, "I told you Tayuya-chan, I'm just awesome like that."

She lazily threw her flute at the blonde and he sidestepped neatly and caught the improvised missile while she stuck her tongue out at him, "Whatever, I've just never had anyone dodge my genjutsu before."

Naruto pointed to his spinning sharingan to answer her question, "After I couldn't get out of the first genjutsu I brought this out and I was able to see the chakra lacing the sound waves. It was actually pretty awesome."

He covered the doujutsu before handing Tayuya back her flute and she dropped it to the ground by her head, "Yeah, well the flute is designed to funnel chakra through some seals into the sound generated in the chamber. It gives you a medium to start the genjutsu and make it harder to break out from." She grumbled and turned her head sharply, "That is if they can't cheat and see the sound waves."

The blonde ignored the jab at his eye and leaned back to watch the clouds, "So can you use other instruments? Like, what if you used a trumpet?"

That threw the redhead for a loop because she never really considered it and as far as she knew nobody else in Otogakure had either. The kunoichi was never really the best student under their sensei, Harumi, so she didn't know the fine details of how sound based jutsu worked, but she did know that they all revolved around high frequency or high pitch sounds. What would happen if she tried something that had a low frequency? "I don't know… that's a good question. It's surprising coming from you."

"Hey."

She ignored the boy's protest while giving her flute a closer inspection. She'd have to get the Hokage to send it out for study on how the fuuinjutsu aspect worked. In the meantime Tayuya would have to learn to play some other instruments. "Whatever, I'm hungry. Let's head back."

Naruto groaned and stood up, "Alright, hey Tayuya-chan, I guess some people are throwing me a going away party before I leave tomorrow. I was thinking you should come and meet some of my other friends."

"Sounds like fun shithead."

* * *

><p><strong> "<strong>Did you get us lost dumbass? I knew I shouldn't have come, this is gonna be stupid anyway." Tayuya and Naruto had been walking for nearly half an hour. The blonde knew the general location the restaurant was in, but he wasn't that familiar with the district because there was generally no reason for him to be in the district.

Fortunately a sign came into view with a rather rotund individual cut from wood behind, "See Tayuya-chan, you just got to have a little faith."

"That's why we passed the same sushi stand three times." Grumbled the redhead.

Naruto ignored the complaining and led them into the homely buffet. The tables and chairs were made from the same hearty wood as the floor and spread out around the perimeter of the room. In the center was a massive table, nearly twelve feet long and four feet wide, with inserts for different platters of food spread down its length on both sides. As soon as the door closed behind the duo Ino bounded towards them with a smile on her face, "And the guest of honor arrives last, I didn't know you of all people would be fashionably late Naruto." The gossip's smile turned mischievous, "Are you two?" Ino held up her pinky and swirled it around.

They blushed and Naruto just changed the subject, "This is Tayuya, she came to the village with Tsunade and Shizune."

The sociable girl smiled and took the redhead's hand, "Nice to meet you, c'mon I'll introduce you to Tenten. She'll love hearing about Tsunade, she's a huge fangirl."

Tayuya let herself get dragged across the floor, "She's just an old drunk, there's nothing great about her."

Naruto looked around the room to see who else was here. Team Gai and Team Ten were here with his team. Yuugao, Kakashi, Gai, and Asuma were spread across the room and Iruka was catching up with some of his old students. Seeing that his sensei was alone, oblivious to the world with his face buried in Icha Icha, Naruto strolled across the room while waving to some people and eventually ended up next to the silver haired jounin, "Hey Kaka-sensei, I haven't seen you in awhile."

The man lowered his fancy gold and white book and eye smiled at the teen, "Hey Naruto, it has been awhile. But as shinobi advance in rank they tend to branch out and work where there skills are needed. Still I'm glad to know you missed little old me."

"Well I kinda did, I guess. But I got a lot stronger. I can't wait to show you." Said Naruto, "I bet you couldn't poke m-"

The blonde didn't even see his sensei's hand move as it covered his mouth for the second time in as many days, "Now, now, Naruto. Don't want people thinking we're too close… like Gai and Lee." Naruto shivered and Kakashi continued like nothing happened, "Besides I think you still have a ways to go before you can give me a workout."

Naruto leaned his head back and gave his sensei a determined look, "Well just wait till I get back, then we'll see whose stronger."

His statement wasn't taken that seriously because as soon as it was made the copy ninja ruffled Naruto's hair, "First you should focus on growing tall enough so we can look eye to eye, literally. Have you been eating your vegetables?"

"Geez sensei you're always trying to embarrass me." Said the boy as he pushed his teacher's hand off his head and mussed up his hair.

Kakashi chuckled good naturedly, "It's my right as your teacher Naruto. Still I'm not your only one, this is quite the opportunity you have here. Not many people get the chance to train with a shinobi of Jiraiya-sama's caliber, let alone get his exclusive attention."

"He's just a dirty pervert." Complained the boy.

Kakashi was quick to add, "And a literary genius, perhaps the greatest author of our time. But that's a different discussion, I really just dropped by to say hello and goodbye. My plate is quite full right now and I can't waste time fooling around with Gai." He raised his new book to his face and started to walk to the door, but turned around before he got too far away, "But I am looking forward to seeing how strong you are when you return Naruto."

The blonde raised his fist and declared, "Just wait Kaka-sensei, I'll get payback for the genin exam."

The jounin just acknowledged his student by raising his empty hand as he strolled away. Naruto started forward to mingle with the crowd, but before the blonde could go three steps a hand clamped over his shoulder, "Still trying to get away from me Naruto. I thought we left those days behind us."

A wide smile broke across the boy's face as soon as he heard the voice and turned around with an excited, "Iruka-sensei. Do you want an asskicking before I go on my trip?"

The chunin instructor laughed heartily, "You may be a hotshot rookie that got promoted in his first year, but I have valuable experience in the field." The ponytailed shinobi then coughed into his hand, "I would accept your challenge but I have a class to teach, and with Konohamaru in it I need all the energy I can get."

"That sounds like an excuse to me sensei. I think you know your 'years of experience' were mostly behind a desk." The blonde impudently retorted.

"But chasing little hellions like you around every day is the equivalent of an ongoing A rank mission." Was Iruka's speedy, almost rehearsed, comeback. "Still I'm proud of how strong you've gotten. I always knew you'd be a terror someday, but if somebody told me you'd improve this quickly after you graduated I would've laughed in their face."

Naruto deadpanned at the backhanded compliment, "Thanks sensei… I think."

The man clapped the younger chunin on the back, "See, you wouldn't have picked that up a couple months ago either."

Naruto deflated momentarily, "I feel so loved."

Yuugao cut his moment of self-pity short when she strolled up to the bantering duo, "Sorry to interrupt your moping but I have an early mission tomorrow. Have fun on the training trip Naruto, don't forget to practice your kenjutsu."

Naruto smiled at the purple haired beauty, "Of course not Yuugao-sensei. You better pick up some new tricks or I'll be teaching you some things when I come back."

The woman returned his smile and gave his whiskered cheek a little pinch, "How about we teach each other some moves you cheeky bastard?"

Iruka cuffed the back of Naruto's head and the boy grabbed the spot while letting out a hiss, "What have I told you about being polite to women?"

"Stop trying to look cool sensei, she has a boyfriend."

Iruka grabbed the collar of Naruto's vest but the boy substituted himself with a chair, "Dammit Naruto. I miss the days when you couldn't do that."

Yuugao's laughter broke them up and she squatted down to give the blonde a hug, "See you when you get back Naruto."

With that she walked away. Iruka was preparing to ambush the boy while his guard was down, but the kitchen doors swung open and the plump Akimichi servers wheeled out the carts. Somehow, in the midst of all the aroma's Naruto still got a whiff of a familiar one and almost cried tears of joy when he saw Ayame wheel out a steaming pot of ramen. The blonde practically skipped to the table, but he ran into a rather wide, and incredibly spongy barrier that left the boy on his backside. The wall began to turn revealing a drooling Chouji, "Oh hey Naruto, great party right?"

The shinobi's blue eye watched the lone pot of ramen while he answered, "It's pretty good so far."

"And it just got better!" Exclaimed the chubby teen.

Shikamaru took a step forward revealing he was on the other side of the human meat wall, "Take it easy Chouji. You don't want to go to the hospital for overeating… again."

"You worry too much Shikamaru. It's training so I have to push my limits." Said Chouji as he eyed the spread.

Everything was set up and a triangle was rung and Chouji burst into motion. Naruto made sure to beat him to the ramen pot though, "Hey nee-chan."

Ayame opened the lid and giggled as Naruto deeply inhaled the aroma, "Hello Naruto-kun. That Yamanaka in your grade came into Ichiraku after you left and said that you were getting a going away party for the trip you were talking about, and she said it needed ramen to be complete."

She filled up the teen's bowl and he quickly devoured the contents and held it up for seconds, "Yeah, Ino-chan's not that bad, sometimes at least." He inhaled the second serving of Ramen before continuing, "This was actually a really good idea."

"I know." Agreed the brunette, "I can't believe you'll be gone for three years."

Naruto sighed, but his despair only lasted as long as it took for the next refill, "It's going to be torture for me too Ayame-neechan. Three years without Ichiraku Ramen, I don't know how I'll survive."

The girl laughed as Naruto devoured his latest helping, "Well you'd better hurry back. We might not survive for long without our number one customer and then you'll never get our ramen." Naruto's eye widened in horror, but before panic set in Ayame reassured him, "I was kidding Naruto. We've always done good business, especially with the shinobi."

Naruto sighed in relief, "That's good. I almost couldn't eat another bite because I was so worried."

"That would be tragic."

Naruto turned around to see the owner of the dull voice while saying, "Oi, that would be worst than death."

The Hyuuga gave the chunin a small nod, "It is good to see you Naruto"

"You too Neji."

Before the blonde could continue Lee smashed into the ground next to him, "Yosh, it is my other eternal rival. I have heard that you are going on a three year training trip, but don't think this means you will pull ahead of me. I shall harness all the energy generated by my youthful flames to train as much as possible and surpass you."

Naruto didn't really know what to say so he settled on nothing. Seconds after Lee finished another green blur landed next to Naruto, "Alright Lee, your springtime of youth is at its peak. We must take advantage of this and begin training immediately. Naruto-kun is already a worthy foe and will train incredibly hard as well. The only way a genius of hard work like yourself can win is to work harder."

Fires sprouted in Lee's charcoal eyes, "You're right Gai-sensei. Naruto-kun comes from a prestigious clan, is the son of the Yondaime, and trains hard. If I want to keep up I'll have to train twice, no three times as hard as he does."

Gai put his left hand on his hip while pointing to the door, "That's the spirit Lee. Let that youthful passion overwhelm you and drive you to new heights. Now, EXPLODE!"

The green duo seemed to vanish and the doors blew off their hinges because of the sonic boom they created. Naruto smiled at the fact Lee didn't mention the Kyuubi as an advantage before turning around to get a refill. However he found Chouji dumping the contents of the pot straight into his mouth with no pause in sight. "Oi the ramen. Stop hogging it fa-."

Naruto found he couldn't control his body and lifted is hands to his mouth before he could finish the sentence. The boy could move again shortly after and turned his head to see Shikamaru shaking his. Chouji was staring at the blonde like a raging bull so he stepped away cautiously while silently thanking Shikamaru. Don't want to drop the F-bomb in a restaurant full of Akimichi clansmen.

He finally caught a glimpse of Sakura and wanted to go talk to her, but his body wouldn't respond to his commands. The chunin thought it was Shikamaru again but he looked down to see no shadow connected to his. For some reason he just couldn't make his body move unless it was in the direction of the table, away from the pinkette.

Naruto just filled a plate with food other than Ramen and made sure to at least say hello to everyone else at the party. Near the end of his rounds Tayuya came over and appeared to be trying to frown, "I got roped into going to that ditzy blonde's for the night so I'll see you tomorrow."

The chunin finished what was left on his plate and stood, "Alright, I'm feeling a little tired myself. You think after doing nothing for two days I'd be ready to go."

"The last thing you are is normal shithead." Said Tayuya, "Well, catch you later."

Tayuya headed back to the girls and Naruto got up to leave. After thanking the Akimichi family for hosting the party he headed out into the crisp night air and took to the rooftops. It only took him a couple of minutes to get back to the apartment where he found his most perverted sensei devouring some of the food Shizune left them, "What are you doing Ero-sennin?"

The man belched, spraying rice and meat chunks all over the table, before answering, "You didn't expect me to pay for a hotel and food when I can stay here and eat for free. And to top it off I don't need to worry about Tsunade castrating me in my sleep because she's on a mission."

Naruto just stared blankly at the leech, "Considering you have more money than God…"

The blonde trailed off and Jiraiya pushed himself away from the table, leaving his droppings and dishes. "Ah, but I have more money than God because I don't spend it." Lectured the man sagely.

Unfortunately his pupil was looking over the village and ignoring him. The sennin was considering taking on that Oto kunoichi more and more, but his contemplation was cut short when Naruto turned around and spoke up, "Hey Ero-sennin, can we leave tomorrow?"

Jiraiya scratched his cheek, "Well I had everything set up to leave this weekend so you could have some time with your friends. But if you can't wait to bask in my glorious presence we can leave tomorrow morning, bright and early." The hermit twisted his torso and made for the door, "Well Gaki, if we're hitting the road I'm going to take advantage of Konoha's fine cathouses because it'll be awhile, don't want to have any regrets or anything."

Naruto just nodded and headed towards his room, "Alright, I'm going to pack."

The sage gave his student's back a concerned stare before walking out the door and closing the portal.

Naruto paid the exit no heed and began sealing all his clothes, shinobi equipment, and camping supplies by himself to try and numb his mind. He was becoming pretty proficient at drawing seals and could do basic storage seals with his eye closed so the aspiring fuuinjutsu master finished quickly, even without the use of his clones. The chunin stepped out into the living room to put his pack by the door just as it opened and Tayuya stepped in saying, "Thank God, I somehow managed to get away."

She walked past Naruto into the girls' room while the blonde smiled, "So you're not going back?"

The kunoichi poked her head out, "No, I just need some stuff for the sleepover. Did anyone come by?"

The blonde gave her a strange look as she went back into the room, "Yeah, Ero-sennin was here earlier. We talked and well… we're leaving tomorrow."

A red and navy streak came out of the room and Tayuya stopped in front of the blonde, holding her own pack, "What?"

Naruto gestured to the pack by the door, "Tomorrow morning we're hitting the road. So unless you're coming back really early I won't see you until I get back from the trip."

The redhead looked around the apartment before closing the blinds and giving the room one last lookover to check for surveillance devices. Once she was sure they weren't being spied on or observed she walked towards Naruto and wrapped the blonde in a hug, "I'm going to miss you."

"I'll miss you too."

"If you tell anyone about this they'll never find a body."

Naruto smiled as Tayuya let go and left without another word before heading off to bed.

* * *

><p>Sakura sprinted out of her house before taking to the rooftops towards Naruto's apartment. She left the party shortly after he did and was going to talk to him then, but the teen chickened out and decided to go home instead of reporting her failure at the sleepover.<p>

Last night Ino and Tenten made her realize that her and Naruto were both in the wrong and she wanted to apologize. The blonde shouldn't have avoided her and the subject when they were together true, but she shouldn't have tried to force him to open up when it was clearly hard for him to do so. He did somewhat in the hospital and the kunoichi was sure the rest would've come with time. Instead Sakura acted the same as she did in the academy and ignored any of Naruto's thoughts and feelings on the matter, only seeing things from her point of view.

She banged furiously on the door and a sleepy looking Tayuya answered, "Oh it's you. We missed you at the sleepover."

Sakura looked over the redhead's shoulder, "Well I kinda chickened out and I didn't want to hear it from you guys."

The former Oto-nin just stuck her pinky finger into her ear and rubbed it around, "I don't really care, but you definitely should've come here last night because Jiraiya moved up their departure date and they left this morning."

It was like somebody punched Sakura and knocked the wind out of her as a rush of emotions hit the girl. Sadness, anger, guilt, regret, disappointment, and a myriad she couldn't identify in the jumble. Tayuya opened the door and led the younger girl in as she deflated. The pinkette sat on the couch and fought her tears, "But it's not fair."

Tayuya snorted as she got two cups down from the cupboard and put some water on to boil, "Life hardly is, but the world isn't ending. You're both alive and you'll get your chance when he comes back. In the meantime you better whip into shape because somebody might snatch him up."

Sakura stiffened and prepared for a verbal spat, but found she couldn't gather the necessary energy. The former Oto-nin looked worriedly at her and sat down next to the distraught girl without saying a word while awkwardly wrapping an arm around the pinkette's shoulder. Sakura felt so confused, she didn't know what to do and just leaned into the older girl, grateful for the offered support.

* * *

><p>Naruto adjusted the straps on his back as Jiraiya led him down a dirt road and looked back in the direction of Konoha for what seemed like the hundredth time in the last five minutes, though the village was no longer visible and hadn't been for a long time. "We can go back if you want too. There's nowhere I need to be until next week."<p>

The blonde turned around and was surprised to see his sensei hadn't taken his eyes off the road the whole time but knew he was glancing back, "No that's fine. It'll be good to get away for awhile, even after the announcement people don't look at me like a person."

Jiraiya's laughter boomed through the wilderness, "Take it from someone who was normal once kid, it's way overrated. I have so much more fun being awesome." The man's voice took a more serious turn, "Besides it's not negative anymore. You're a symbol to the people, a sign of strength and greatness to the village and the world. You give the villagers hope and a feeling of security, so man up and accept it, be classy."

Naruto snorted, "Classy? You're just a perv ero-sennin."

Jiraiya stopped and sat on a fallen tree near the side of the road, "Correction, I'm a super pervert, and that's only around people I'm close to. If we had a working relationship I'd be acting a lot different right now." Naruto sat next to the man and the sage placed a comforting hand on his apprentice's shoulder, "I can understand you feeling negative about it now since people look at you like that because of Minato, but you're his legacy so it's expected. Eventually the people will look like that because of your strength." He stood up and struck a gallant pose, or what he thought was one anyways, "And that will be because of the great Jiraiya-sama's training, and since we have some time let's get started now."

Naruto hopped off the tree in excitement, "Alright, now you're talking Ero-sennin. Are you going to teach me a new jutsu?"

In response Jiraiya wagged his finger in front of Naruto's face, "Hold on a second now, I appreciate the enthusiasm and energy but first we need to polish you up if you want to be a decent shinobi. If it wasn't for the sharingan you'd be hopeless at genjutsu, and without it you have no defense against them so we'll start there." The sage bit his thumb and performed the ritual for summoning, "Kuchiyose no Jutsu: Mr. Gamariki"

When the smoke cleared a light green toad, that looked more like a frog, with yellow, lightning like markings, purple eyes, and despite being called mister the amphibian wore a scarlet bow on his back, pink blush on his cheeks, and had orange lipstick on. When he spoke it was in an incredibly comical voice, almost like a tube trying to pass off for a flute, "Oh you must be the new summoner Naruto-chan. Come give Mr. Gamariki a kiss."

* * *

><p>One solid red eye, and one sickly yellow snapped open in an underground base. Malevolent black chakra rose from the small form, fouling up the air, but the boy ignored it and laughed innocently as he sat up. There was no inherent malice in any of his actions, despite the evil feeling of the chakra, as he swung his arms around in circles before gingerly placing his foot on the stool then jumping off. Ranmaru ran around the room in excitement while hooting in joy. The boy stopped however when the door slid open revealing Orochimaru, Kabuto, and Kimimaro.<p>

The snake summoner stepped forward and his slit pupils roamed over the transformed boy curiously, "I take it everything is to your liking?"

Ranmaru brought his hands together and bowed ninety degrees at the waist, "Yes Orochimaru-sama. Thank you for healing me."

The nuke-nin just chuckled and patted the boy on the head, paying no heed to the malevolent chakra, "Kukuku, no need for thanks dear boy. I just gave you the seal, the rest was your doing. Now would you like to see what the mark looks like when active?"

The boy nodded and Kabuto handed him a simple sheet of glass. The left side of Ranmaru's body was completely normal, but the right side appeared to have black flames running over it. His right eye was a putrid yellow, and he could see the pupil, "I, I feel great, better than I've ever felt in my whole life. It's like I could fight an army right now."

The serpentine man motioned Kimimaro forward and said, "I'm glad you are enjoying yourself, but it's best not to overdo it the first time using the seal. Try to find where the power is emanating from and will it back there."

It took the boy nearly a minute, but the flame like markings receded and the malevolent aura faded. However as soon as the mark stopped Ranmaru began to collapse. Fortunately Kimimaro was prepared and caught the child before gently placing him on the bed and soothing the upset boy. "Don't worry, that's to be expected after never using your muscles. The seal may have been what allowed you to do that now, but in time you will be able to do all that and more without it, because Orochimaru-sama has allowed me to train you.

Ranmaru's red eyes lit up with joy, "Really?"

Kimimaro nodded and Orochimaru opened the door, "I'll leave you two alone to discuss the schedule."

Satisfied Ranmaru would willingly serve his cause the snakelike shinobi signaled Kabuto to follow as he walked through the dimly lit halls, "Send a small amount of money and supplies to the Fuuma, just enough to reaffirm their loyalty. And also tell them to pull out of the base and begin strengthening themselves. That experiment is a failure, even if it looked so promising."

The medic bowed and disappeared while Orochimaru continued walking and the man let his fertile mind plan the next moves in the chess game. It was almost time to pay the 'Daimyo' a visit.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: The new sword-<strong>Let me begin by saying although the sword absorbing Kyuubi's chakra will be a boon it's not all positive, in fact one negative was already hinted at, though not overtly. Also I hope the transformation was believable. There has never been anything really saying this in canon but I think demonic chakra is a catalyst for mutation, look at Sora's beast arm and the traits most Jinchuuriki gain. So the transformative properties affected the sword. The way I look at it I can't make the blade any more absurd then Samehada, although I don't even want it to get close to that. There is really only going to be one over the top thing power that comes from the new mutation, but he won't be able to merge with the sword or become it. I don't even know where the idea came from, but I think everyone will like it.

Part one is done people and part two is coming up. Chapter four is edited and five should be up someday so check that out if you want. If you haven't yet noticed not many characters will be fighting like they did in canon, although their will be similarities. Ex. Shikamaru will still be a lazy genius and try to take down his opponents with the least amount of work possible and his skill will be based on shadows, just different than canon. I will try to explain any changes based on what physics are apparent in the Narutoverse and real life. Let me know what you think.

Also a warning now. This story is not oh my god love at first sight I can never date anyone else now (Unless I get an obscene amount of reviews and messages against it). There will be relationships and not all of them will succeed, they're teenagers despite the profession. Romance is not a theme of the story so they won't get much attention, but they won't appear out of nowhere. I'll try to show some interaction or that spark that started it and mention them in the story, but the plot doesn't hinge on most pairings. Anyways because of this I am open to secondary pairings if you the readers have a suggestion. I have a pairings list somewhere that I kind of had planned out, but it was never important, except for a couple that won't change, so if you really want to see something let me know. Also enjoy my first Omake, I wrote it to get my creative juices flowing after the unintentional hiatus and forgot about it. I guess saying team eight went to Suna reminded me that I had it tucked away.

**Omake- Shino gets a fanclub**

Team eight, sans Kurenai, was one of the first leaf squads to enter the massive sandstone gates of Sunagakure as part of the shinobi exchange. The two genin and chuunin took in the sights of the village once more before Shino, their de facto team captain, led Kiba, Hinata, and Akamaru to one of the hotel the shinobi would temporarily stay until they constructed the barracks. Once Kiba entered the plain hotel room he whooped and exclaimed, "Alright guys this is the life. No parents to tell us what to do and the only thing we have to worry about are the missions. I'm gonna go buy some Sake and get drunk first. Me and Akamaru aren't cleaning our room the whole time we're here right boy."

Shino pushed his slipping sunglasses up his nose causing the sunlight to glint off of them as Akamaru barked his agreement, "That is both disgusting and irresponsible Kiba, because tomorrow we have an assembly where we will meet the Kazekage and other important figures of Sunagakure no Sato, and giving them the wrong impression would be unbeneficial to Konoha. Also we are guests here and leaving your room unclean will result in negative feelings being fostered, which would affect the teamwork of inter-village squads, and that could lead to many shinobi deaths, because of that the relationship between our villages would become strained, and that could possibly lead to a conflict."

Shino turned his attention to his two teammates, confident that they were listening to his wise and logical words with rapt attention, he was their captain after all, but Hinata was quietly scolding Kiba and neither was listening to him in the slightest. The bug-user sighed, "I'm going out for a walk."

Hinata and Kiba stopped their discussion and turned to look at the chuunin as the dog user asked, "Did you say something buddy?"

* * *

><p>Shino sulked through the streets of Suna while scrutinizing every area that unique desert insects could dwell. It was acceptable to mope every once in awhile, but you should at least try to be productive when doing so. This was the first lesson taught to all Aburame clan members and Shino made sure to follow it. The clan heir was so caught up in the search that he didn't notice his boisterous teammate until Kiba clapped a hand on his shoulder, "Hey buddy, it got boring at the hotel so me and Akamaru sniffed you out."<p>

"… Kiba that sounded wrong."

"Whatever floats your boat man."

The two walked in silence and noticed that the crowd separated in front of them leaving an alley to walk through. The reason became apparent when Sabaku no Gaara walked through wearing a tan colored flak jacket over his regular robes. Kiba froze in fear but Shino didn't even notice because he spotted an ideal hiding spot for an assassin bug. The silent boy kept walking until he found his way blocked by Suna's Jinchuuriki. The two stared at each other with stoic faces until Shino slightly inclined his head and greeted the boy with an emotionless, "Gaara-san."

The redhead quirked an eyebrow at the Konoha chuunin and responded with a, "Shino-san," that was equally detached. The two looked at each other in silence for what seemed like an eternity to the villagers, then the youngest son of their Kazekage asked, "Would you like to spar? I would like to fight a fellow competitor from the chuunin exam finals, especially one who also received a promotion."

"Of course, it is important to train with comrades because that will foster a tighter bond and improve teamwork." Responded Shino.

The two walked through the Suna crowd, oblivious stares following them while Shino expounded upon the logic of training together to strengthen the alliance between their villages. Nobody moved or said anything for the next several minutes until a high-pitched squeal broke the silence, "Kyaaa! Shino-kun is so cooool!"

"I know, did you see the way he stared down Gaara, **THE** Gaara, and greeted him like he was his neighbor?"

"I know. He's so brave, handsome too."

"And I know that he's really kind, polite, and gentle under that emotionless mask."

Kiba just gaped at the squealing schoolgirls before a sly smile formed on his face. He approached the nearest group of gushing thirteen year olds in what he thought was a suave manner, "You know Shino is my teammate and best friend. I could set us up on a double date if you wanted."

The blonde girl closest to him scrunched up her face in disgust, "My eyes are up here you pig. No self-respecting girl would ever go out with a pervert who stinks like wet dog. She sighed and her eyes glazed over before she continued, "Besides Shino-kun would never stare at a maiden's breasts while talking to her, he's too stoic and polite."

Kiba sputtered for several seconds, "Are you kidding me? Where are you getting all of this? The guy wears sunglasses, for all you know the only thing he might look at are boobs."

* * *

><p>Shino and Gaara walked through the streets of Suna and the crowd once again parted for their Jinchuuriki. The two shinobi quickly came to the intersection where they would have to separate and stopped to say farewell. Gaara inclined his head towards the Aburame, "Thank you for the spar, it was quite… entertaining."<p>

Shino muttered, "No problem" and started towards the hotel with stares following his every step until a group of girls started squealing "Did you see that? Shino-sama sparred with Gaara and not only is he alive, but Gaara said he enjoyed it."

A random girl agreed, "Yeah, he must be amazingly strong. It doesn't even look like he's injured. Hey, we should follow him and see where he's staying."

"Good idea, we'll follow him and you spread the word about Shino-sama."

"Hell no bitch, I'm following Shino-sama."

"Yeah right, a slut like you would try to jump him and then they'd go to a different hotel."

As the two started a catfight between the small horde of teens a different group of girls trailed behind Shino. The shinobi was completely aware that he was being followed, but to be frank he didn't give two shits about it because his body was one big bruise. Gaara trapped all his bugs inside a sphere of sand at the beginning of the fight then made a flyswatter out of his gourd that he used to smack the bug user around the training field until he grew bored. It wasn't the first time, and it definitely wouldn't be the last, that Shino thanked his parents for getting him a trench coat.

-Operaman Bye Bye


	27. The Trip Begins Naruto's First Challenge

"You all packed up shrimp?"

Naruto deadpanned at his perverted sensei, "I'm standing in front of you wearing my backpack Ero-sennin."

The man's large hand slapped his student's back, which caused the teen to face plant, "Doesn't mean you forgot anything. You were awfully excited to get going."

The blonde popped to his feet and dusted off, "Well yeah, now I don't need to train with Mr. Gamariki." The chunin adopted a hopeful look and leaned closer to the sage, "Does this mean we're done with him for good?"

Jiraiya boisterously laughed as he started down the road, "Nope, you still suck ass at genjutsu without that fancy eye, and a shinobi that relies on something is a dead one."

The boy grumbled while following his teacher, "Well can you at least give me a jutsu scroll to have some Kage Bunshin work on while we walk?"

After sighing the sennin couldn't help but smile as he reminisced on another young blonde he helped mold, "When I took your father out on his own trip he was always asking me for jutsu too." Naruto couldn't help but smile at the comparison, however it turned to a scowl as Jiraiya continued, "But he had the talent to learn them quickly so when he asked it wasn't obnoxious. I'll tell you what, come up with an original variation of the Rasengan and I'll teach you a shinobi skill."

The Jinchuuriki's fist slammed into his palm, "Yosh, I'll come up with one in no time Ero-sennin. You better have something ready."

The hermit slowed so his pupil could catch up and ruffled the boy's hair, "That bragging comes from your mother though, of course she had the skill to back it up."

The chunin huffed and jerked his head away from the man's hand, "Whatever you old loon. Why are we leaving if I'm not done training with the drag queen?" A dreamy look came over Jiraiya's face and Naruto palmed his own, "Don't tell me we're going to a mixed bath or something."

The sage's look briefly became more lecherous and blood started dribbling from his nose, however he quickly regained his composure and wiped it away before answering, "No, though we may stop at one or several on the way." After rumbling around his coat the author pulled out a worn book, "We're going to the premier of the motion picture version of the first Icha Icha Paradise. Fujikaze Yukie was lined up to play the female lead after her next Princess Fuun film but they pulled the plug and we moved up shooting." The spymaster leaned in closer and whispered conspiratorially, "Rumor had it that the film was awful and just trying to capitalize on the name so she turned it down."

Naruto looked scandalized hearing his favorite actress was going to be in a movie based off his sensei's trashy novel, "WHAT! How could you make the Fujikaze Yukie play a character in one of your dirty books ero-sennin?"

Jiraiya gave his apprentice a disappointed stare, "You just heard that the most beautiful actress in the business was going to be in Icha Icha Paradise the movie and were outraged. I'm glad I took you away from your fruity teammate while you're still impressionable and can be affected by my manliness." Naruto glared at his sensei and he raised his large hands defensively in response, "Hey I'm kidding. I don't have a problem with gays so I'm not judging. It's your choice." The man casually dodged the boy's furious barrage of attacks and tried to calm the him down, "Actually she signed on the condition we use a body double for the risqué scenes."

The blonde stopped his flurry of punches and was only slightly relieved after hearing that, then discovered he was mostly disappointed. The teenager pushed those thoughts aside and made sure his pack was secure, "Let's hurry up Ero-sennin, I always wanted to meet Yukie-chan."

After finishing his sentence the energetic boy sped down the dirt road, leaving a trail of dust in the air. Jiraiya watched his apprentice disappear into the horizon and promised to never train another blonde before quickly following.

* * *

><p>Naruto stood in a massive crowd gathered around a stage with a bitter look on his face. Jiraiya and Fujikaze Yukie were on stage answering a barrage of questions… well mostly Yukie. Nobody really cared about the hermit much to his dismay. The chunin frowned at the woman as she dazzled the audience with her grin and demurely answered a question, she may have been a total bitch but was a great actor. Everybody in the audience thought she was a decent person, but if they actually met her like the shinobi did earlier then public opinion would swing instantly.<p>

**Flashback**

After entering the roped off area of the set Naruto was given a pass by security as his sensei was dragged off to get ready for the interview. It was kind of weird seeing people get excited about meeting Jiraiya after spending so much time with the man.

With nothing to do the teen ended up wandering around the set and thinking of a possible Rasengan variation. He didn't make much progress because Fujikaze Yukie hurried past with cameramen following her every move.

The blonde's eye widened in excitement as he scampered in front of the woman and held up the movie poster he was given when entering and a pen.

The actress tried to walk past the boy, but he quickly backpedalled and got in front of her again. She stared frostily at him but the chunin wasn't deterred, "Umm Yukie-chan, can I have your autograph?"

The woman just started walking away and her entourage swiftly followed, "Beat it kid I'm busy. Besides I don't do autographs because you're just going to sell it anyway."

Naruto started walking with the black haired actress while trying to convince her otherwise, "No way, I'd never sell your autograph. I'm a huge fan."

The boy was forced to stop when she walked up the steps of her trailer and stepped inside before facing him with a frigid look in her grey eyes, "You must have me confused with someone who cares."

Naruto stared in disbelief and anger as she slammed the door shut, "Fine, I wouldn't have asked if I knew you were such an asshole. Who would want such a shitty person's autograph anyways?"

**End Flashback**

The shinobi still couldn't get over what a glacial bitch the actress was. She was one of the most famous people of all time and loved by everybody, but still acted like the world was completely against her.

Deciding he didn't really care the blonde tuned back into the interview just in time to hear a female reporter professionally ask, "The contract information that leaked for the next Princess Fuun film indicated that it would've been your highest paying movie yet, why did you turn it down?"

Naruto curiously glanced at the actress just in time to see her face contort with grief before quickly schooling her features. The shinobi doubted anybody in the crowd noticed, but he definitely caught it. 'Dammit I guess I do care, just a little though.'

Yukie took a sip from her water bottle to hide the pause, "Well I looked the script over and thought the quality had really dropped. It seemed like the studio was trying to capitalize on the franchise's name to generate money. I didn't want to deliver a subpar movie to my fans so I shot down the script."

Even though Naruto felt empathetic to the woman he couldn't help but snort, like she really cared about the fans. However they bought her act so a mother and daughter viciously hushed the blonde. The boy huffed as he scanned the crowd for the reporter asking the next question. A man wearing a tan, high collared trench coat that went down to his feet, a navy baseball cap, and sunglasses stepped forward with a notepad and pen clenched tightly in his hands. The man's tongue shot out and eagerly licked his lips before he spoke in a raspy voice, like his mouth was too dry, "The studio confirmed that you would use a body double in the movie, but there have been rumors that you do act in one… risqué scene."

The black haired woman palmed her face and tried to fight down a blush while Jiraiya sat next to her and grinned triumphantly, "Well my agent messed up the contract negotiation. I did get a body double, but only with scenes involving nudity or penetration so I had to do a," the actress made air quotes as she said, "naughty scene."

All the men in the crowd leaned closer, but she remained silent. Eventually the creepy journalist coughed into his hand to regain her attention, "Would you care to elaborate."

For all her talent Yukie couldn't suppress the blush any longer and her face flared red as she held her hand up and limply jerked her wrist up and down a few times. All of the men, and several women, collapsed to the ground with nosebleeds. Naruto would've joined them if he didn't pick up something whistling through the air.

The crowd was engulfed in grey smoke, but the chunin had trained extensively to overcome his blind spot and was able to sense somebody using it for cover while running towards the stage. Naruto gauged the distance in his head while creating some Kage Bunshin. Once they popped into existence he formed the ram sign before disappearing in a puff of smoke, and Yukie was the one there when it cleared.

* * *

><p>A lavender haired shinobi with teal eyes that had small, triangular, lavender marks rushed through the smokescreen laid down by his teammates. His hitai-ate was mounted into a solid headband with two protrusions over his temples that came down over his sideburn to protect his neck. The metal plate had three diagonal dots across the center with another one in the bottom right corner of the formation. The ninja wore light blue armor. It appeared to have no seams, but several joints, and dark blue wires running across it.<p>

The armored man violently shoved anybody in his way to the side in the quest for his target. He spotted her silhouette through the smoke and slightly adjusted his course. The girl tried to dive to the side but the shinobi had no problem snatching her before she got off stage, however for some reason it didn't feel like he was holding a woman in her late teens.

The man's teal eyes narrowed and inspected his cargo while leaping across the rooftops and he instantly saw the headband, then who was wearing it. Rage welled up inside of the ninja, "Konoha again. And it's another child!"

The Naruto formed a swirling ball of chakra in his palm and shouted, "And a kid's going to kill you motherfucker!" He brought the Rasengan forward but the shinobi paid him no heed. The reason became apparent when the chakra vanished before even hitting the hard plastic.

The lavender haired man gave the chunin a cocky smirk, "Tch, you're about twenty years too young to kill me brat."

The shinobi stopped and heaved his burden into the building he was speeding towards before reversing directions. Naruto was able to recover and launch a quick Daitoppa that smashed through the wall and slowed him down. However the man was already a speck in the distance by the time he hopped onto the rooftops.

Nadare made it back to the stage quickly and found the area abandoned, but he instantly spotted the unmistakable black hair of Fujikaze Yukie. Although that was only an alias for the exiled Princess of Snow Country Koyuki Kazahana. The snow ninja grabbed the hiding woman, but she turned into the blonde from before and the teal-eyed man quickly punched it in the face. As soon as the clone disappeared in a puff of smoke the real Naruto kicked the jounin squarely in the back and sent him rolling.

After regaining his feet the man's eyes simmered with rage and he began forming seals. But before he could complete the sentence two clones burst from the earth and wrapped him in ninja wire. The chunin had a cocky smirk on his face as he threw a handful of exploding kunai towards Nadare's feet.

Before they could explode a large man with short purple hair came from nowhere to dispel one of Naruto's bunshins. A pink haired woman grabbed her teammate as the wire went slack and disappeared before the explosion went off.

The chubby man turned and raised his gauntlet and launched several rods towards the chunin. Naruto dodged them, but when the projectiles impacted the ground and walls around him they shattered and the shrapnel dispelled the remaining bunshin. The blonde loaded his legs with chakra and leapt onto a nearby rooftop to escape the ricocheting shards.

His blue eye stared down at his three opponents and couldn't help but wondering out loud, "Where the fuck is Ero-sennin?"

* * *

><p>Jiraiya held four gorgeous brunettes that were clutching to his body like a life preserver in a stormy ocean. The hermit was reassuringly rubbing the women's backs, but sometimes they shivered in fear and he accidentally copped a feel. The man had a lecherous grin as he drooled and enjoyed the crisis while it lasted.<p>

What were apprentices for if you had to do all the work? And since his student was taking care of things the sage could take the credit and impress his new lady friends, "Don't worry girls, the great Jiraiya-sama will keep you safe. I'm sure my disciple Naruto will be able to handle these chumps while I protect you. I've molded him into quite the fighter." It never hurt to lay some groundwork

* * *

><p>Naruto stopped worrying about his mentor and looked back at his immediate problem. They were all wearing similar armor, however there were some differences. The large man had thicker gauntlets and spiked shoulder pads. His beady black eyes stared at the blonde, but the teen switched his focus to the woman's armor.<p>

It had two small protrusions from the back that looked like something slid into them and her hitai-ate was different as well. She wore a soft hat that came down to cover her ears and two pink tufts of hair stuck out the top like ponytails. She also had green eyes and despite the different shades Naruto winced as Sakura flashed through his mind. However he knew that it wasn't the time for thinking about his teammate and created a slew of Kage Bunshin.

The three Yuki-nin tried not to let their amazement show as the blonde army bombarded them with smoke pellets. Thick grey clouds engulfed the shinobi followed by rapid thudding noises came from all around them. They left the ground as small explosions ripped through the area.

When they emerged from the smoke shadow clones were already leaping towards the three with weapons drawn. Wings sprouted from Fubuki's armor and she flew higher while Nadare shifted closer to Mizore. The ninja's shoulder spikes crackled with electricity and a field of blue lightning surrounded the armored-nin before shooting outwards. It dispelled the attacking clones, but the smoke from their deaths effectively cut the two men off from their teammate.

Fubuki either didn't notice or didn't care as she jetted towards the blonde. He pulled out his red saber and reflexively called on the chakra to test her armor's capabilities. Instead of the white aura the chunin was so used to it glowed a sickly orange, his stomach heated up and the blade left a trail of red as it slashed through the air. The fine black edges cut through the pinkette's armor like it wasn't there, however she avoided the worst and it only nicked her hand, leaving a superficial wound. The kunoichi's feet skid along the ground as she turned to counter, but instead of attacking the woman collapsed to the ground clutching her cut hand and screaming in agony.

Her teammates landed next to the fallen woman. Nadare removed the glove to examine the cut while Mizore stared down the blonde in case he attacked. Naruto took note of him but just stared in confusion at her injured hand. The bleeding had stopped, but the wound had inflamed as was flaring an angry red. Sickly black lines began to spread from the cut and covered the kunoichi's hand like veins.

The two shinobi stared hatefully at the chunin after Nadare said, "It'll have to get amputated. We're retreating for now but we'll be back." The lavender haired man pulled out a ball of snow and compressed it over his teammates wound before turning it to ice that encased her hand down to her arm. Fubuki looked away as he pulled out a short blade and cut the hand off at the wrist before picking her up and leaping away. The veins continued to spread until the hand was engulfed by Kyuubi's chakra and quickly turned to a husk.

Their rotund teammate stayed behind momentarily to cover their escape and watched the spectacle with sick fascination. Once it was finished his spikes crackled with electricity and launched a series of bolts towards Naruto. The teen quickly formed a hand seal while saying, "Futon: Sensougouheki." A swirling wall of wind erupted around the chunin and dispersed the attack, but by the time it died down the heavy shinobi had already ducked into a side street and was out of view.

Naruto sighed in relief as his hidden clones dispelled themselves, but suddenly an older man wearing a brown beret and sunglasses with shoulder length grey hair came storming out of nowhere. He had on a beige turtleneck with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, slate shorts, and long white tube socks that disappeared into the shorts.

The man was energetically waving his arms and talking excitedly as he ran towards the ninja, "That was amazing, better than any fight scene I've ever seen on film. Tell me our cameramen kept rolling.

Several men held up tapes as they emerged from various places like sewer drains and dumpsters. One crewmember had even pretended to be dead during the fight and curled around his camera to hide it. The flamboyant older man sent an assistant to collect the tapes before continuing, "Great job kid, that was pure gold. I'm Director Makino, and my seasoned eyes can tell this is the start of something magnificent."

Naruto ignored the older man's ranting as he got a memory from one of his clones, "Let's go get Yukie and find out what's going on."

The shinobi saw an older man in glasses with grayish brown hair shift uncomfortably, but just made sure to remember the man's appearance because he was tagging along. Instead the teen thought about what happened to the kunoichi during the fight. He forgot about the sword's metamorphosis and pulled on the Kyuubi's chakra, which must have been the source of her pain. However there was something else that happened after that, Naruto felt the weapon stirring in his mind while the woman was writhing in pain. However as soon as her hand was severed and consumed the blade became dormant once more.

They were nearing the actress and his sensei so the blonde stopped musing on the mutated sword, but vowed to explore it more as soon as he had time. Jiraiya was sitting in the far corner with four attractive women hanging off of him and giggling at something the man said. The old lecher turned his attention to the chunin and directed the women's there as well, "That's my student now girls, see I told you that I'd keep you safe."

Naruto wasn't surprised the hermit was 'protecting' some women instead of helping his student. "What do you mean YOU kept them safe? I was the one that beat the attacking shinobi back."

Jiraiya glared from behind the girls' backs, "Yes but you're my student, so according to the transitive property of asskicking I stopped them."

Naruto just ignored the sage, however he watched the blonde intently as his focus switched to Koyuki. To her credit she didn't waver under his scrutiny, but the woman was an award-winning actress. "So why were those guys after you?"

Her cool grey eyes appeared unconcerned while she answered, "I don't know. I'm incredibly famous, perhaps it was somebody looking to capture me for ransom."

The actress appeared to be more at ease when Naruto turned towards the film crew and crossed his arms. The boy addressed all of them, but made sure to stare at the man who flinched near the attack scene. "Have any of you seen something strange recently? Anything can help, even if you thought it was nothing."

The bespectacled man looked around nervously before stepping forward, "Forgive me Princess, but your life is in danger."

The raven haired actress stared in shock as he continued, "My name is Sandayu, I served Lord Kazahana Sosetsu when he ruled Yuki no Kuni before his brother Doto's coup de tat. More specifically I looked after his daughter Koyuki. Fortunately she was able to escape during the attack and assumed another identity. It took me years but I was finally able to track her down and get a job to stay close."

The exiled princess became the center of attention. She crossed her arms and dismissively turned away, "No, I was once known as Kazahana Koyuki, but that was a long time ago in a different life. Now I'm just Fujikaze Yuki."

Sandayu fell to his knees in front of the woman, "Please princess, the people need you. We need a symbol of hope."

"No, I have no interest in ever returning to that frozen wasteland."

Everybody stared at Koyuki until Naruto growled at her, "I don't think this Doto guy cares if you want to come back. He sent those ninja today and he'll send more whether you're interested or not. I don't think a heartless bitch like you would be a good leader, but even you should understand it's in your best interest to take your Uncle down. After that somebody that deserves to lead can take over while you run away."

The actress' frosty grey eyes bored holes into Naruto, "Nobody asked you runt."

Jiraiya regretfully abandoned his position and stepped forward, "You'll have to face him one way or another so you might as well bring the fight to him and do it on your terms."

The exiled princess turned her ire to the sage, "Oh, and how is going back to that lifeless place that he controls my terms?"

The man shrugged nonchalantly, "Well it's that or you could spend the rest of your life looking over your shoulder for the next attack. You'd have to go into hiding and live in a state of constant fear, unable to enjoy yourself." The man grinned as the four women behind him cooed at his intelligence.

Koyuki didn't think he was very bright though, "So why don't I just pay you to take him out? You're supposed to be some legendary ninja."

Jiraiya puffed out his chest, "Oh I could tear that place down no problem, however I'm a high ranking shinobi of Konoha. Doing that would make it seem like we're trying to expand our sphere of influence, and that creates all sorts of problems internationally. But let's say you hired us to take you back to Yuki no Kuni to collect a family heirloom and our path takes us through Doto, well that's plausible deniability and it's all Naruto needs."

"Tch fine."

The chunin stared at his mentor with disbelief while Koyuki went to sit in a corner. Before the blonde could make his ire known the director's fist slammed into his palm, "It's settled then, this is going to be the last Princess Fuun movie. She returns to her homeland to find the appointed steward has- no we don't need to change the story, it's better than any script I've seen. This is going to be the world's first action documentary. I shall call it an… actionmentary, dactionary, acumentary. Well there's no need to worry about that now, nobody has ever filmed a real takeover before. This is going to sweep during award season. I can hear it already, 'And the award for best movie in the history of film goes to… Director Makino for his groundbreaking work in-."

"Absolutely not." Broke the man out of his daydream. Everybody turned to Jiraiya and saw the stern expression on his face, "There's no way we'll be able to maneuver affectively with a film crew following us."

Most of the cameramen slunk away, but not Makino. He had pitched radical movie ideas to some of the richest and most powerful men in the business, men that could destroy his career and make the director a laughingstock with but a word. "There's two ways this can happen master Jiraiya. You could let us come along and we do things your way. Or we can chase after you and do things my way. It may be dangerous but this is cutting edge stuff so the risk is worth it."

The sage stared down the director, but he knew the man wouldn't back down. Jiraiya had seen that determined look on many faces, both shinobi and civilian, and they were all extraordinary people. Not afraid of any challenge that they may face. "Fine, you can bring a skeleton crew, five people"

"Twelve."

"Six."

"Eleven."

"Eight."

"I can't go lower than eleven master Jiraiya."

"Four."

"But you went down." Nervousness laced the man's voice

"You can bring a handheld camera with you."

The director sighed in defeat, "Maybe eight would work."

Jiraiya nodded, "Eight, but they have to be your best men. Physically fit, brave, and have the ability to stay cool in dangerous situations. I don't know what's going to happen over there, but I do know overthrowing a government is always harder than it sounds."

* * *

><p>Fubuki held her bleeding stump while Mizore bound it with disinfected bandages. Nadare was busy fiddling around in his pack until he pulled out a small box, with several knobs and screens along with a metal triangle that was slightly contoured from tip to base. The triangle pivoted around the point and the man was holding a dish. He then placed it over a hole in the box before screwing an antenna in to secure everything.<p>

Next was the most important piece. The shinobi pulled out a small, insulated metal box and delicately opened it before pulling out a little cylinder. These devices were incredibly hard to manufacture, but Snow Country was slowly improving the efficiency of the procedure. As soon as Doto-sama found the treasure they would be able to produce them at a much higher rate along the rest of their amazing technology.

The shinobi reverently placed the battery into the box, tuned the knobs to the desired frequency, and began talking into a handheld microphone attached to the case, "Come in base, Team Doto reporting in."

This miraculous device took the shinobi's voice and changed it to an electromagnetic wave with a specific frequency. The wave could then travel hundreds upon hundreds of miles before being received by a much larger version of the device in the capitol tuned to the frequency. After being received the box would retranslate the waves into sound. Almost instantly the jounin got a reply, "Report captain."

"The princess has shinobi protection, we were caught off guard and Fubuki lost her hand."

Nadare let go of the transmission button and growled as he remembered the blonde punk, "Withdraw."

"Wha-"

"Are you questioning my orders soldier?"

"No Doto-sama, of course not." Quickly replied the shinobi.

A deep chuckle crackled over the radio, "Good, she knows that we're coming now so the ball is in her court. Let's see if Koyuki tries to retake the throne or not. Besides, Fubuki is all but useless as she is."

The kunoichi looked down at the ground in shame, "However that can be fixed. Return quickly and don't let her wound heal over."

Their leader cut the connection and his shinobi made to do as ordered. They would go back to port and board the Land of Snow's newest steamboat that was two times faster than any other vessel.

* * *

><p>Naruto and Jiraiya stood on the deck of a movie company's old boat that was being crewed by shadow clones while wearing white travelling cloaks, light blue jackets, and thick white pants. The moon was shining over the water and with no lights around nearly every star in the sky was visible. It was quite a humbling sight to the boy, but he still couldn't resist ribbing his mentor, "What's Baa-chan going to do when she finds out I died because you were off chasing women?"<p>

The sage shivered, but it wasn't from the cold air, "I didn't think you needed help with those amateurs. I'll remember that you want me to hold your hand from now on." The blonde scowled at the man, "Take it easy kid. Obviously I'll be there to protect you when you need it, but you're strong Naruto. Have a little confidence."

One of the bunshin opened the hatch on deck, "We're nearing the port and should be there before dawn at the current speed."

Jiraiya started for the hatch, "Let's go then, slow the boat to a crawl." The trio went underneath the deck before the clone went towards the engine room to carry out its order. The Konoha shinobi drew the camera's attention when they strode into the mess hall to meet with the other ten people onboard.

Koyuki made sure to keep her distance, but everybody else gathered around Jiraiya while filming as the shinobi headed for a table and laid out a marked up map, "The last few years have been incredibly cold, even for Snow Country, so all of the cold water ports don't open for another month or so. That means the only feasible place we can land is here."

The sennin pointed to a large dot on the coast of the mainland, "This is the only port the country has that can stay open all year so it will be loaded with people right now. However the temperature is colder near the shore and it is harder to survive meaning that only shinobi guards and paid dockworkers are there. I'm also willing to bet it's all shinobi until Doto gets a clear idea of our next move."

Jiraiya pulled out large scroll from inside his vest and handed it to his apprentice with a nod, "This contains my sealing ink, you know what to do."

The blonde nodded and created fifty shadow clones and gave the supplies to one before they spread throughout the ship. The sage continued without missing a beat, "Now create five shadow clones with more chakra then normal. The Kage Bunshin will take a lifeboat and land away from the port. It's imperative that they aren't seen. Once they get to shore their job will be to scout the harbor out. If there are no civilians set up a diversion that will draw the men to the docks. Have one dispel and we'll create one on the boat to signal when we're ready to go. However if innocents are in port then have one dispel and the rest will wait for different orders."

* * *

><p>It took nearly two hours for the clones to land far enough away from the harbor to escape detection, then almost another one to sneak into the port. Contrary to Jiraiya's predictions there weren't a lot of people, but they were all shinobi, poorly trained if the ease the bunshin snuck in was any indication. A skeleton crew of ten to twenty ninja worked the docks, and the clones estimated there were another four score at the most, either on guard or off duty. They efficiently set up their diversion before the one with the least chakra remaining dispelled itself.<p>

* * *

><p>Naruto's eye shot open and he looked at his sensei, "It's ready Ero-sennin."<p>

The sage nodded, "Good, did you set those seals up around the ship and near the fuel tanks."

The blonde excitedly nodded, "Yup, as soon as the seals are structurally damaged the ship will go boom."

Jiraiya patted his apprentice on the head and the teen half-heartedly tried to get away, "You're getting pretty good with modifying the basic seals, I'd say it's time for some more advanced stuff after the mission."

Naruto beamed from the praise as they entered the wheel room. The sennin looked at the compass and map before lining the ship up with the harbor and locking the ship on course. When the two could make out the docks on the horizon Jiraiya snapped the throttle to full speed and broke it off before giving orders to the clone that sat in the corner of the room, "Make sure this stays on course at all costs. We'll be sitting ducks if it doesn't work."

The clone hopped up and snappily saluted, "Aye aye sir, full steam ahead."

After leaving the clone behind Jiraiya and Naruto met the film crew near the remaining lifeboats. The hermit nodded towards a vessel and Naruto hopped in it as he got in a different one. Makino and four crewmen got in with the sennin while Sandayu, Koyuki, and three of the workers rode in Naruto's. Once the boats hit water the engines started and Jiraiya veered west calling, "Follow me."

* * *

><p>Some puissant that Nadare didn't care to know threw open the door and saluted before hastily reporting, "Sir, men in the tower by the docks have reported a boat heading straight for us at a high speed. There is no schedu-"<p>

"You think I don't know that fool?" Roared Nadare before he regained his composure and affixed the grunt with a cold stare. The man knew of the commander's brutality and whimpered in fear. Luckily for him the Yuki Jounin had more important things to worry about as he walked over to a window that overlooked the town, 'Just what are they up to? Coming straight at us like that is suicide.'

"Have communications radio Doto-sama. Also send a crew of men up to the artillery. Everybody else get ready to board our gunboats. Tell the men to begin firing once our attackers are behind their ship." Once Nadare finished giving his commands massive explosions ripped through the docks and warehouses. Many shinobi scrambled to get fire equipment, but a horde of blonde clones came from the rear of the town after a couple of minutes. They killed many and forced most of the Yuki-nin to retreat towards the harbor.

The Snow commander looked at the smoke rising from the town as the acrid smell of blood and burning flesh filled his nostrils. The jounin raised his view and saw the boat was much closer now and still showed no signs of slowing down. Then he realized their plan and summoned Mizore and Fubuki to his side. It was more than likely too late for the fighters in town, but Nadare wouldn't let the Konoha shinobi slip by undetected.

His teammates flashed in front of him as he looked at Fubuki's new blue hand. It was completely animatronic with wires connecting to her nerves and completely functional. The device was crafted from metal capable of channeling chakra and had several other interesting capabilities. Nadare was thinking about cutting off his own hand to get one.

The other two jounin gave their captain a nod of respect and the man easily returned it, "The ship is a diversion, they're trying to sneak in while we focus on the chaos here." They waited patiently, and eagerly, knowing their captain was finalizing his plan, "Fubuki, fly to the west and scan the coastline for boats. Mizore go to the mountain on the east and see if you can spot them, once either of you sees any sign of our guests launch a flare and keep them in sight."

The two disappeared after receiving their orders and Nadare looked out over the port. He winced as he imagined the carnage, but there was nothing he could do to stop it, 'But I won't let those Konoha dogs escape with Koyuki.'

* * *

><p>A red eye with a slit pupil scanned the shoreline, searching for any sign of movement. Naruto was channeling a minute amount of Kyuubi's chakra to enhance his night vision, and it was lucky he did too because the Jinchuuriki just caught the moonlight glinting off a kunai with something trailing behind it.<p>

The chunin let go of the wheel, much to his passengers displeasure, and rapidly formed seals, "Futon: Daitoppa." He was unable to make out the actual path so launched a wide area jutsu. The blonde was able to follow the kunai after it was deflected and the water where it impacted exploded upwards before turning into a jagged ice pillar.

Makino began frantically shouting instructions to the crew while Naruto located their assailant. To his surprise it was the pink haired kunoichi, and she had two hands.

The chunin had to ignore that realization when the hand she lost began sparkling with electricity. Her eyes gleamed maniacally and she shot a blast towards the teenager's boat, intent on revenge. Sandayu had grabbed the wheel and jerked it to the side while Naruto deflected the lightning with a Goukuuhou. The woman raised a strange device and launched a flare before restarting the pursuit.

The two boats raced across the water while the cameramen worked furiously to catch the chase scene under their director's orders, "That's it boys, we're on the forefront of cinema. Just think of the glory, have you ever filmed a chase like this." Makino's eyes widened when he saw the ship approaching the harbor, "Northeast! Northeast you fools! Not all of you dammit."

Some of the crew turned to catch the ship slam into the port. A mushroom of fire rose nearly one hundred feet above the water and lit up the sky like it was daytime for a brief moment. The director was forced to grab onto the side when Jiraiya jerked the boat right and a smaller explosion rocked the surface of the water next to him, however the man seemed to thrive on the chaos. "Now this is what it's all about. Imagine what the audience will think, have you ever been a part of something so grand?"

Makino's exhilaration seemed to make the kunoichi angrier as she furiously formed seals, "Hyoton: Tsubame Fubuki" (Ice Release: Swallow Snow Storm). Bird shaped ice carvings, with wickedly pointed beaks, formed around the flying kunoichi before speeding towards the ships. Naruto tried another Daitoppa to block them, but to his surprise they flew around it before heading towards the boats once more. Sandayu and Jiraiya managed to avoid the birds, but Naruto saw the kunai with ice bombs that would land in their paths.

He rapidly formed his own set of seals and held a swirling ball of wind about the size of the basketball. "Futon: Sattou Dangan." It only split into six arrows, but they precisely hit all the kunai and deflected them so the weapons harmlessly hit the water away from the boats and created more ice pillars. The chunin angrily turned to his sensei to find the man casually cleaning his ears out, "Dammit Ero-sennin, a little help here would be appreciated."

The man grumbled and stood up, "Fine, lazy brat. Grab the wheel Makino."

The sage stood and formed a series of seals faster than any Naruto had seen, "Ninpou: Hari Jizo." The boy sweat dropped when Jiraiya's hair completely covered his body like a shield, but then gaped when the man said, "Hari Jigoku." And thousands of needles shot out from his hair towards the flying kunoichi.

As impressive a display as it was the projectiles bounced harmlessly off her armor and the white hair looked like snow as it floated to the water. Naruto pointed an accusing finger at his sensei and the man shrugged before retaking the wheel, "I tried."

"You're the laziest piece of shit ever Ero-sennin!" Screamed Naruto.

Jiraiya huffed and yelled over the engines, "Hey I'm a member of the Sannin and recognized as one of the most powerful ninja alive throughout the world. This nobody knows I could kick their ass with no arms, legs, eyes, ears, or nose, just a mouth to talk shit. There's no point and it would be boring."

Naruto's eyebrow twitched when Jiraiya pulled out a Sake bottle and porn magazine. "That makes no sense."

"It makes perfect sense." Countered the man without looking up from his reading material, "Now get to it."

Fubuki wasn't enjoying being forgotten and her hand popped open just above the wrist, "Do you not even care I'm about to kill you." A small cone rocketed out from the opening. Naruto ran through a set of seals and a compressed ball of water formed in his palm, "Suiton: Hahonryuu." The ball exploded in a torrent of water, but it only slightly deflected the rocket's course. The chunin was forced to create clones that grabbed his passengers before leaping into Jiraiya's vessel. Koyuki screamed as she soared over the ocean while the rocket hit next to their boat. The explosion sent it flipping through the air and it shredded to pieces as it bounced off the water like a stone. The princess ripped herself out of Naruto's grasp without so much as a thank you once they landed on the other boat.

Jiraiya scowled as the extra weight slowed the lifeboat down considerably. Although the weight limit still hadn't been reached it was getting close. "What did you go and do that for?"

"What, save our lives?" Sarcastically questioned the blonde.

"No, suck so much that you let her destroy your boat. Don't you have anything that would've blown it up?"

Naruto twitched that his sensei was so casually disregarding him and showing no concern in the slightest while drinking Sake and driving in a zigzag pattern, "Well maybe if you taught me a cool jutsu."

Jiraiya turned around and began to sagely advise Naruto as the boat randomly bounced and veered with the waves, "Now what have I told you before? Jutsu aren't the answer for everything. Just for that I'm revoking all elemental jutsu from your arsenal for the duration of the mission."

The passengers began screaming in terror and the sage saw that a poison bomb had blew in front of them. He jerked the wheel to the right and managed to avoid it, but edited his previous statement, "Correction, they're eliminated after this chase. Now take care of that bitch, she's only like a six on the hotness scale, maybe seven and a half on a good day."

Naruto decided it would be better off to ignore the useless man and turned his attention back to the kunoichi. Her wrist once again opened and another missile launched, but the chunin created a shadow clone and threw it towards the projectile. The bunshin formed a Rasengan as it flew through the air and destroyed the rocket before it got into range, however the boat still swerved from the blast and Jiraiya ended up slowing down to regain control.

Fubuki took advantage of the delay and flew in close as a hole opened in the palm of the artificial hand. As she neared the boat a stream of flames shot out from it, but Naruto formed some seals and channeled his chakra into the water, "Uzumaki Hijutsu: Mizu no Tatsumaki."

A cyclone of water rose from the ocean and doused the flames, it also forced the kunoichi to abandon her charge which gave them some distance. She was undeterred and easily caught up to the loaded boat. The woman launched a blast of lightning and forced the boat to veer left. Once the pinkette was able to determine their course the fingertips of her artificial hand opened and several pellets launched out. They hit the water in front of Jiraiya's boat creating several patches of noxious purple smoke. The man weaved around them but he was an easy target on a predictable path.

Naruto unveiled his sharingan as Fubuki formed another set of seals and copied them perfectly. They both completed the seals, intoned, "Hyoton: Tsubame Fubuki" at the same time, and formed the same amount of ice swallows. The birds launched at each other, and though the kunoichi's tried to dodge Naruto's followed and they all collided. The blonde followed up and threw an exploding kunai at her, but she raised her hand before a large chakra shield that covered her entire torso formed in front of it. The kunai bounced off it and protected her from the blast, however it couldn't stop the concussive force and the flying ninja had to quickly deactivate and reactivate her wings to regain control.

The Jinchuuriki smiled from his boat as he watched the pinkette get out of her free fall and pull up just before hitting the water. He could make out the scowl on her face as he created a clone and pulled out several smoke bombs. The kunoichi tried to gain altitude but a Hahonryuu from the clone forced her back down. Naruto then scattered the bombs over and in front of the kunoichi before his clone hit them with shuriken.

Fubuki's vision was blocked as she tried to fly above the smoke clouds and her sharp ears picked up a distinctive hissing noise. She formed the chakra bubble for protection, except this time the blasts surrounded the woman. The pinkette was nowhere near the altitude she was after the first blast and the second damaged the wing's mechanism. The kunoichi could only hopelessly stare at the frigid water as she plummeted.

Naruto covered his sharingan when it became apparent she wasn't emerging and the rest of the ride was uneventful, except for Makino's gushing of course. The blonde directed Jiraiya towards the sheltered ice cove that his clones found earlier and they scuttled the boats to hide signs of their landing.

Of course it didn't matter because a voice rang out, "Hyoton: Ikkaku Hakugei" (One Horned Ice Whale).

A massive whale of ice rose from the glacier surrounding them and Naruto's mouth fell open before he yelled, "Ero-sennin!"

Jiraiya lifted his hands above his eyes to shield them from the sun as he stared up at the frozen behemoth unconcerned, "Really, you need my help for this?" He quickly scribbled a seal onto a sheet of paper, "Now watch Naruto, fancy jutsu aren't really that great by themselves, an amateur with an exploding tag is still an amateur."

The sage seemed to soar as he leapt into the air above the whale and slapped his tag onto the creature's forehead, just below its horn. The beast let out a moan as the chakra fueling it disappeared and the ice shattered into insignificant shards. The crew underneath filmed as a rainbow formed in the tiny crystals from the sunlight and Makino went on a rant, "Oh my, did you imagine that? Nobody would ever do that in a movie. No, the whale would have to be destroyed with a massive explosion that created giant ice blocks, which would destroy everything. Impressive true, but this is so much more unexpected, majestic, better than any special effects I've seen, pure genius I say. Keep filming boys, our dedication will be rewarded with the most succulent fruits, and if we die it's doing what we love."

The film crew's faces took on fearful looks but they kept rolling. The Konoha shinobi ignored his rambling completely as Jiraiya lectured Naruto, "See kiddo, I used a simple seal and destroyed an A-rank jutsu in a way that wasn't dangerous to any bystanders."

The chunin nodded mutely, amazed at the power of the simple tag. Jiraiya nudged him out of it and they scanned the cliffs. Once the sun peaked over the ocean they were able to make out two forms on the ice bluff and the skinny one started clapped mockingly. "Very impressive, but I should've expected nothing less from a member of the legendary Sannin."

Jiraiya buffed his fingernails on his cloak before blowing them off, "Oh, so you've heard of me then."

Nadare pointed an armored finger at him as he said, "Yes, and everybody will know of me after I kill you and avenge my teammate."

The sage nodded sadly, "So what happens if a nobody like you manages to kill me? Do you think my student will like it, my teammate Tsunade, or my sensei the Sandaime Hokage? It's unfortunate that your comrade died, but it's the life of a shinobi." Jiraiya snapped out of his serious moment before shrugging, "Of course that'll never happen so I guess it's a moot point."

The jounin chuckled in response, "Ah but I have chakra armor and home field advantage. I think you might be getting a little bit cocky in your old age as you hear the exaggerated tales of your exploits. Do you have a hard time remembering them yourself old man?"

Jiraiya cocked an ear in response, "Can't hear you in my old age, not that I'd want to."

The Snow-nin grit his teeth, "Mizore, take out the kid. I'm going to put this geriatric farce out to pasture." Two boards popped out from the shinobi's boots and connected before he used it to slide down a path cut into the ice cliff. Nadare leapt at Jiraiya as he threw five brace of shuriken that looked like snowflakes. The sage effortlessly dodged most of them and deflected the ones that would've hit the crew behind him. The Yuki-nin then followed up with a barrage of attacks, but Jiraiya had little problem avoiding them and let out a yawn. The jounin growled as he tried to hit the toad-summoner, "You can play games all you like, however you're only putting off the inevitable."

The sennin laughed playfully in return, "You're right, but it'd be boring to kill you myself so I'll let my student do it." He then turned towards the boy, who was forming some seals to respond to Mizore's charge, "No elemental jutsu Naruto, it won't be worth it. Trust me."

* * *

><p>The blonde growled as he stopped mid seal and tossed some smoke bombs instead. The chubby nin plowed through it unconcerned and just barely avoided an eye getting taken out by a shuriken. Mizore growled and lifted his gauntlet before the hand launched out with cables behind it. Naruto jumped to avoid the appendage but it grabbed a chunk of ice and threw it towards him while retracting before he could land or form a defense.<p>

The chunin managed to turn so it only hit his ribs, but he felt them crack on impact. The blonde suppressed a wince when he landed and thrust a Rasengan into the ground as Mizore snowboarded towards him. The ice shattered underneath the boy and forced the Yuki-nin to stop his charge, but it also left some of the crew teetering on ice sheets as they disconnected from shore.

The teen felt a piece of ice smash into the back of his head, leaving a large welt. He lifted his head to find his opponent more confused than he was and looked towards Jiraiya to see a disapproving frown on the man's face, "What were you thinking gaki? You can't just do stupid things like that. Take care of it now."

Naruto created thirty Kage Bunshin and most charged towards the Snow Jounin, but some went to rescue the cameramen. Mizore slid up and down snow banks like rollers, avoiding the attacking clones and dispelling the ones that got to close with brutal strikes. They finally managed to encircle him, but he smirked as lightning flashed between his armor spikes before shooting out in all directions and dispelling the bunshin. He was surrounded by smoke but heard a cry of pain behind him, when it finally cleared he saw Naruto lying on the ground in the fetal position. The man raised his gauntlet and shot a rod towards the prone boy, but the blonde dispersed into a puff of smoke when it hit.

Mizore looked around and heard a shout from above, but when he looked up a heel smashed into his face. The Yuki-nin growled as he tried to grab the boy's leg, but he used the man's chin to backflip away. The jounin still managed to launch his cable arm and grab the teen's leg and threw Naruto into a cliff, which caused the ice to shatter and collapse on him.

A cocky smirk broke out across Mizore's face as metallic rods covered in explosive tags poked out of his gauntlet. The man began speeding across the small hills of snow when two clones burst from a mound at insane speeds, holding a wire that was covered with exploding tags the same design as the ones on the ship. Their speed combined with the snowboarders was too fast for Mizore to react in time and he broke the wire and seals, which caused an explosion to engulf the jounin.

Naruto sighed in relief thinking his job was done, but Jiraiya's voice rang out, "Don't get lazy now, I've been keeping this guy warm for you."

Nadare growled in anger while the chunin stared in disbelief, "Really Ero-sennin? I just kicked that guy's ass."

The hermit wagged a finger at Naruto before using it to block a roundhouse kick from Nadare, "Hey now, this is your training trip not mine."

Jiraiya jumped in front of the film crew and the chunin faced the Yuki-nin while pulling out his sharingan.

The man's eyes widened as he saw the doujutsu and was overcome by fury as he remembered the last time he saw it, "You remind me of another Konoha shinobi I fought, Hatake Kakashi. It's unfortunate, but you'll have to take his place on my shit list for now."

Naruto's head tilted in confusion, "How do you know Kaka-sensei?"

The anger melted from Nadare's face as he looked eagerly at the blonde, "We fought some time ago, though he ran away like a coward. Of course he was just a boy like you so I can't blame him."

The chunin tilted his head in response, "Are you sure? He probably didn't need to fight you so didn't bother with it. He's pretty lazy and you're not really that strong so I doubt he ran for his life." The Yuki-nin fumed but the teen ignored the man as his fist slammed into his palm, "Still this is a great opportunity to compare myself to sensei, the first step in my road to surpassing him."

Nadare chuckled mockingly and the blonde focused back in on him, "I think you're getting ahead of yourself. It's hard to surpass anything when you're dead."

The jounin seemed to vanish right after he finished his sentence, the only sign he was there was the displaced snow. The cameramen had a hard time locating the shinobi, but Naruto was able to easily follow him with the sharingan. The Jinchuuriki backhanded Nadare's jabbing forearm with his right hand, which forced the ninja to veer to his left. The blonde then pivoted on his right foot and his shin impacted the lavender haired man's left leg which sent the jounin into a barrel roll, and when he completed it his teal eye met Naruto's right hook."

Nadare could feel the area around his socket swelling as it closed, but he was able to recover and backflip away. The snow-nin landed with good footing on the ice and was able to cross his arms over his head and block the blonde's axe kick. That was just a distraction though a copy of the chunin came from underneath and kicked the jounin in the stomach. The hard plastic absorbed the blow, but the Yuki-nin lost his footing from the attack and there was a barrage of exploding kunai headed his way.

The lavender haired man pulled out several blue balls and threw them in front of him before he started rolling across the snow. When the pellets hit the ground a small field of ice spikes sprouted up and blocked the kunai. The tags exploded, destroying the ice and sending shrapnel everywhere. It also blocked the fighters' view of each other and Nadare went through a series of hand seals before waiting for a sign of the teen.

When several copies of the blonde burst through the black smoke he released the stored chakra and slapped the ground with his palms, "Hyoton: Roga Nadare no Jutsu." (Wolf Fang Avalanche Technique). The cliff behind the man shattered and formed an avalanche that took on the shape of a pack of wolves. Naruto really wished he could send the cool technique back at his opponent, but even if he could use elemental jutsu there wasn't a cliff behind him.

The wolves howled as they veered around their creator and headed towards the film crew and shinobi. The sharingan wielder formed a cross shaped seal and summoned an army of Kage Bunshin which charged the ice technique. The front row thrust Rasengan into the frozen wolves, but was quickly overtaken by the rest of it. However some of the clones behind them had jumped over the stalled jutsu, and after the attacking bunshin were dispelled the remaining ones detonated exploding tags they placed on themselves.

A blizzard of ice scattered everywhere as Nadare smirked and formed more seals, "Hyoton: Haryu Moko." (Tearing Dragon Fierce Tiger)

The cloud of ice merged with snow rising from the ground to form a tiger fifteen feet tall and twenty feet long. Naruto faced down the tiger unconcerned, he was more worried about the man using that whale technique again… although copying it would be awesome.

The chunin formed twelve clones that rushed past him, and he jumped into their midst. The bunshin all leapt towards the tiger with Rasengans raised, but the real one pushed chakra to his legs and used wind manipulation to reduce the air resistance as he launched towards Nadare and began channeling chakra for another jutsu. The jounin abandoned his actions and prepared to meet the human missile, but he wasn't prepared for the blonde to multiply once more. Several clones smashed into the man, forcing him to stumble backwards and dispelled after contact to block his vision. The real Naruto came through the smokescreen and drop kicked Nadare, sending him tumbling across the ice.

The jounin pushed himself to his feet as the Konoha shinobi drew the red saber and slowly approached. The lavender haired man kept a wary eye on the dangerous blade as the chunin began talking, "You might've been able to fight Kakashi-sensei at some point, but not as you are now. Those jutsu were pretty cool," the blonde pointed to his revealed sharingan, "and I'll be sure to use them when I can. But my sensei continued to improve and hone his skills while you relied on the chakra armor and let yours slip."

Nadare felt his temper flaring as he was lectured by a child, but quickly suppressed it knowing he couldn't win here. The man could still live to fight another day though. The last survivor of Team Doto allowed some of his anger slip through and let out a roar as he charged.

Naruto stopped as the jounin burst into motion, but the Yuki-nin revealed it was a feint and halted. His hands started glowing blue with chakra before he easily smashed them through the thick ice. A clear gas bubble sprouted out from the back of his neck and covered his head before latching in the front. The lavender haired man let out a laugh as he jumped into the glacial waters to escape.

Jiraiya walked to the hole and saw a trail of bubbles coming from Nadare's suit as he retreated, "Well you suck. How did you let him get away?"

Naruto's eyebrow twitched as he lowered his hitai-ate over the sharingan and angrily responded, "Gee I don't know, did you think he'd be able to swim in below freezing waters because I sure didn't."

Jiraiya looked through the hole in the thick ice again, "We're shinobi kid, the unexpected comes with the territory so expect it."

Naruto clenched his fists, "If I'm expecting it then it wouldn't be unexpected."

Jiraiya glared at his student, "I know you don't have anything in that noggin of yours but that doesn't mean you have to be such a wise ass."

Naruto's blue eye stared right back, "Well maybe you shouldn't be such a dumbass then."

"Will you two shut up." The bickering shinobi turned to see a fuming Koyuki, "I don't even want to be here and you two are joking and goofing around like nothing is wrong. Let's just get what we came for and leave this god forsaken land."

Sandayu worked to keep the frown off his face at the princess' words because he had always hoped she would come back and rally the broken population. Doto forced civilians to work non-stop in the factories and mines. Breaking up families and lovers without a care in the world. He was a true tyrant that must be stopped, however if people found their princess didn't even believe there would be no chance.

The only thing that kept the forlorn citizens going was the knowledge that their beloved Koyuki had escaped and would return to reclaim the throne one day. But somewhere along the line the sweet, charitable, innocent girl had hardened her heart towards the country and its people, had tried to run away and forget the past. Sandayu could lie to himself no longer. Koyuki had indeed died during the coup.

Still the rumor of her presence would bring hearts back to the men, if he could return and take advantage of it maybe there was hope yet. "If I may make a suggestion Master Jiraiya." Everybody turned to the snow rebel, "We have just struck a mighty blow against Doto. Two of his top commanders are dead and his army watches with uncertainty. He knows we are in the country but not where so his forces will have to spread out or let us run free."

The older man turned to the three cameramen he recommended for the trip and subtly nodded, "If I can reunite with the rebels then we can rally and launch a series of guerilla strikes that would further disorganize his forces."

The sennin shook his head when it became apparent Sandayu was finished, "Absolutely not. The last thing we need is to split up. Besides you know the country and landmarks so we can't let you go."

The former servant fervently tried to convince him otherwise, "That's not true, Director Makino knows it as well as I do. We were going to film the last Princess Fuun movie here."

The director adjusted his fuzzy beret and earmuffs nervously, "Well I do have a pretty good idea of where everything is."

Jiraiya held up a hand to silence the man before he weakened his argument any further, "Even if that's true going off on your own would be suicide, and Doto is bound to have patrols all over the place."

The three cameramen Sandayu nodded towards stepped forwards and the one in the middle spoke, "He wouldn't be alone, we're rebels too. There's a camp less than a day from here, and then it will be another four hours with transportation to get to the main base."

Jiraiya sighed and kneaded his forehead, seeing the man weakening Sandayu pressed harder, "All we ask is three days. There's a small town that's about a six hours march northwest of here. It isn't on any map and only known to supporters of Sosetsu. They won't ask any questions so just wear disguises and hide there. Wait three days then go to Doto's castle, his forces will be out responding to our attacks. We can't let foreigners do all the work Jiraiya-sama."

The plan was solid and left the hermit with no leg to stand on so he gave in, "Fine, we'll wait three days from tomorrow. But be careful, don't directly engage anybody."

The four rebels nodded as Makino fumbled through a bag before pulling out some headbands, "These are helmet cameras, your journey is just as important as ours so it must be documented."

Jiraiya snatched the bands out of the air before Sandayu could, "Don't turn them on until we are out of sight and you aren't near the coast or any recognizable landmarks."

The sage handed them to the old rebel who nodded in understanding, "Okay." He then shouldered his pack, turned to his brothers in arms, and gave a firm nod before walking away from the group.

* * *

><p>Jiraiya, Naruto, Koyuki, and the remaining crew made it to the town with no problems and were given an abandoned cottage and provisions for three days with no questions asked, just like Sandayu said. They waited the allotted time before bidding the generous people farewell and heading towards Doto's fortress.<p>

After hooking small cameras to Jiraiya and Naruto the two shinobi snuck in. However all of their stealth was wasted because the castle was completely abandoned. Every door they checked shocked them, but when they got to the top floor there was one open and light spilling out of the room. After tiptoeing closer it became apparent the room was also abandoned, except for a small wood table with a helmet camera.

The sage felt his stomach drop as he picked the device up and jumped out the window. Everyone stared at the camera with trepidation until one of the crew hooked it up to a camera so they could watch. It started normal enough. The rebels turned the cameras on once they were far away like ordered and started walking. Makino urged the man to fast forward and he did until the screen went fuzzy for a moment, then black. Once a tall muscular man with a chiseled jaw appeared on camera he pressed play, "Hello Koyuki, long time no see. Well we haven't seen each other in person yet, but I'm about to correct that."

The man stepped to the side and revealed nearly fifty battered men, tightly bound together. "Now if you don't want these people to die you will come to the rainbow glacier the day after you receive this. I know what your timetable is, these gentlemen were kind enough to tell me after some persuasion, so please don't be late. I'm a busy man but rushed to clear my schedule after getting a chance to reunite with my long lost niece. You're the only family I have left after all."

Doto began chuckling darkly, but Sandayu called out and interrupted him, "Don't cry for me princess, it will all work out."

The tape cut out after the man received a club to the face and Koyuki sharply turned away from the screen, "You fool, I can't cry because you have my eye drops."

She began walking away from the fortress and everyone scrambled to catch up with her. Naruto jumped in front of the retreating woman with a growl and yelled, "How can you say that? He dedicated his life to protecting you and then you spit on him like that. That's so cold, I hope I never become like you."

The princess' grey eyes gained a faraway look, "My father once told me that if I wished really hard spring would come, but he lied. There is no spring in the Land of Snow. I'm cold because this country shaped me in its image."

"That's bullshit." Naruto's blue eye was frostier than the air, "The country didn't make you anything. You just gave up."

"What do you-"

The blonde cut off the fuming princess, "I could've given up too. When I was a kid I was always alone for something I had no control over. I had no friends or family. It seemed like everybody in the village hated me too. They would either ignore me or stare with cold eyes, calling me a demon, denying my existence. There were days where I wanted to give up and just become the monster they claimed I was." The teen's blue eye flared with determination, "But I never gave in and eventually things got better. I made some great friends and people started to acknowledge me. My life's still not perfect, but it' getting better every day because I make it that way."

Koyuki's anger melted somewhere in Naruto's monologue and she stared at him with surprise and awe on her noble features. Then he focused his eye on her and the exiled Princess was overcome by emotions for the first time in years. Shame, guilt, regret, grief, anger at her uncle, but most of all she felt strength rising inside her. Hope was coloring her vision for the first time since her father's death. "I don't know what you felt after your father died because I never knew mine, but I do know that if you want to then you can change things now because it's never too late."

Koyuki felt a fire burning in her stomach, but before she could say anything a the director let out a loud sniffle an the cameramen broke out in tears, "That was beautiful kid. I've never heard anything so inspiring in my life."

Naruto blushed and Jiraiya proudly clapped him on the shoulder, "Okay, now that we have things settled let's get going. We'll need to make a plan on the way.

* * *

><p>A tall man wearing a high collared white cloak with a yellow and maroon collar lifted a muscular arm and ran it over his black slicked back hair, all the way down to his neck. He was standing in the middle of a glacier and looking out towards the east, waiting for the sun to rise. The glacier was almost completely barren, except for six spires of ice that rose into the sky and cracks that spider webbed through the ice, leading from the pillars to what appeared to be a well. A metal barrier stretched across its opening with a hexagonal keyhole in the center. This was the only thing standing between Doto and his prize.<p>

He began plotting against his brother almost twenty years ago, when his niece could barely babble and crawl, and today the tree would finally bear fruit. The Kazahana treasure would be his. Then the Shinobi-Daimyo would be able to outfit his army with chakra armor and the latest technology while increasing the funds for research and development.

Soon enough the great nations would be clamoring for an alliance, and once he had allies Doto would be able to secure fair prices on staple goods. The Land of Snow had large deposits of different ores and coal in the mountains and plenty of lumber from the forest, but growing season was too short. Other countries knew this so they inflated the prices of basic things like vegetables, meat, clothes, rope, glue, medicine, plastic… pretty much anything that came from nature, raw or manufactured. Once Yuki no Kuni got fair prices on those goods so it would be able to sell its natural resources it had instead of giving them away for basic needs. Then the impoverished country could climb out of debt.

His foolish brother chose to ignore the crisis and horded the Kazahana treasure to fund his little invention fantasies. Year after year they gave away more iron and coal for less food, but the scrawny fool didn't care because he refused to see reality. Instead his brother locked himself away in the palace, living luxuriously and inventing while the country began to rot. Because of a twist of fate the spineless, simpering, pathetic, craven, pantywaist became Daimyo while Doto was relegated to lead the shinobi village. Sosetsu took over when their father died and started destroying the country with his incompetence. The head shinobi couldn't just sit by and let it happen any longer, it was his duty to protect the Land of Snow.

The Shinobi-Daimyo sensed the remaining cameramen clumsily sneaking into position. He extended his senses and found the director scaling a mountain of ice to get a vantage point. The man paid the crew no more heed than he would an insect and allowed them to set up. Let the rest of the world watch Yuki no Kuni's ascension. Soon enough he spotted Koyuki walking across the frozen lake, flanked by the two shinobi that caused him so much grief. An evil smirk broke across Doto's handsome face as they came to a halt, 'Fools, you stopped on top of the ice lake. That just makes it so much easier.'

The thick man extended an arm encased in black armor, "Hello Koyuki-chan, I hope you've brought my hex crystal." His only response was three confused faces, but the shinobi wasn't deterred, "Always the excellent actress, but you know what I'm talking about. The hex crystal is an heirloom that the heir to the throne receives after birth. It was given to your father, and then to you."

The princess' face contorted in anger and her grey eyes simmered in rage, "All this for a sign of legitimacy."

Doto's laughter boomed out over the lake, "It's so much more than that my dear niece. I don't need any symbol to rule this land. My claim was saving the country from your father. There was an old legend that told the story of how our ancestor founded Yuki no Kuni. He discovered a treasure of unmatched proportions, but he knew that it would never be safe so the location is only passed onto the next Daimyo. Sosetsu was hoarding the treasure so he could invent his fanciful devices that served no real purpose while the country spiraled into debt."

The shinobi placed his right hand over his heart while extending his left and gesturing dramatically, "I didn't want to kill my beloved brother, but he gave me no other option. I even gave him a choice. He could step down and tell me the location of the treasure or die. The poor fool denied it existed, even under torture, so I had to kill him. It was extremely hard on me but I hung him over the ocean before cutting the rope for his crimes against the country and started the treasure hunt immediately. I scoured the countryside for years and searched every possible location, every square inch, but all I found was this keyhole shaped like a hexagon."

The man let out a mocking laugh, "I know it wasn't up to your standards, but with some practice I think I could've been successful in movies. Now give me the crystal."

The raven haired princess stared hatefully, but Jiraiya calmly said, "Let me see Sandayu and the others first."

Doto cracked a wide grin at the three, "Oh yes, I completely forgot about the rebels. You see they just wouldn't shut up and were slandering my good name. It was incredibly annoying so I had them killed. Well I guess you won't give me the crystal now so I'll have to take it from your corpses." The shinobi threw aside his cloak revealing a black version of the armor his minions were wearing, except he had wing slots and gauntlets. The Konoha shinobi watched him form a single seal before holding his hands out, "Hyoton: Kokoryu Bofusetsu." (Ice release: Black Dragon Blizzard)

A black, ether-like dragon made of ice shot out from Doto's palms towards the three and destroyed the ground under their feet, however the Daimyo's keen eyes saw them disappear in a puff of smoke. Suddenly hordes of clones jumped from the crew's positions while staring at him with red and blue eyes. Half of them transformed into shuriken before the other half threw them saying, "Shihohappo Shuriken."

Doto just stood there unconcerned, and once the projectiles got close a blue pulse of chakra went out from his armor and dispelled them, "Your ninjutsu won't be able to touch me, but I can hit you, Hyoton: Kokoryu Bofusetsu." He made a seal and launched another dragon and it split like smoke before reforming into dozens of smaller ones that snaked through the remaining clones, destroying them.

Several bunshin burst from the ice around him and detonated exploding tags before he could let off another pulse. The Shinobi-Daimyo simply leapt above them before the blast and extended his wings, allowing the updraft from the explosion launch him skywards.

Doto looked around for the real blonde, but another squad of clones jumped from the director's position and got above him before launching exploding kunai. The large man sped through the blasts and the winds shot him at the clones as he let out another pulse. Doto laughed as the chakra from the clones flowed through his armor and he went through a short series of seals, "Hyoton: Soryu Bofusetsu." (Twin Dragon Blizzard)

Two large dragons shot out of his hands before curling around each other and creating a massive tornado that ripped across the landscape. Copies of the blonde leapt out of various spots towing the camera crew with them while they filmed the spectacle over the teen's shoulders. Smoke bombs burst into thick gray clouds around Doto and he quickly ascended above them as more blasts rang out from below. Despite the height he was flying at the shinobi heard a shout above him.

He did half a barrel roll and saw Jiraiya had thrown the blonde skywards. Hundreds of bunshin formed around the Jinchuuriki before transforming into fuuma shuriken and they were launched towards the muscular shinobi who just laughed, "This trick again?"

A chakra pulse dispelled all the weapons, but the smoke created a thick cloud that blocked the man's vision. Then what seemed like hundreds of kunai with exploding tags trailing behind them flew through it. Doto retracted the wings and entered a free fall before extending them again, but the shockwave from the blast still sent him crashing into the frozen lake. The remaining clones dispelled themselves and Naruto looked down with a satisfied smile until Nadare came running across the glacier with a screeching Koyuki in his arms.

The jounin dragged the princess to the keyhole before ripping the necklace off her neck and shoving the purple crystal into the slot. As it disappeared the well cover cracked open and began to glow rainbow colors in the pattern of a snowflake. Six lines shot out and followed the cracks leading to the obelisks, leaving behind a snowflake pattern. Once the light reached the six pillars they glowed with the color of the rainbow as well. Nadare looked on in awe, until his jaw dropped with disbelief after he understood what was happening, "It's warm, the treasure is a heat generator?"

The princess laughed, but it didn't sound very feminine. The snow-nin turned around and watched as Koyuki turned into the blonde chunin, although he still wore her robes, "This the third time you fell for the same trick, like I said you really let your skills slide because you rely on that armor."

Nadare growled and began a series of seals, but the clone opened the dress and revealed it was lined with exploding tags. The jounin managed to stop his jutsu and punch the Kage Bunshin, but the clothes and notes were real so they remained behind. The man's teal eyes widened as the notes burnt out and exploded into a fireball.

The real Naruto stood on the edge of the Rainbow Glacier with a triumphant grin, until the ice behind him cracked and Doto emerged with a glass bubble around his head. The man raised his hands and screamed out, "Hyoton: Kokoryu Bofusetsu." The chunin tried to leap away but the dragon turned and launched him skyward. Doto flew above him and delivered a brutal overhead punch with two hands before following up with another black dragon blizzard.

The Jinchuuriki let out a grunt after smashing into the ice field, but he cried from the pain and cold when the ice dragon smashed him further into the glacier and another quickly followed. Doto laughed insanely as he continued his barrage until a chunk of ice smashed into the side of his glass helmet, shattering it. He turned to face his assailant with an angry glare and was surprised to see his niece, "I had forgotten about you Koyuki, it would've been smarter to just run away."

Her grey eyes stared at him defiantly, "No, I'm tired of running away because it only makes things worse. Naruto showed me that and I won't let you hurt him."

"I guess after today I'll be the last Kazahana, goodbye dear niece. Hyoton:"

Doto formed the necessary seal and raised his hand, but before he could finish calling out the name an angry voice yelled, "Rasengan."

The Daimyo reflexively activated his pulse and absorbed the swirling chakra before turning and delivering an armored knee to the boy's stomach which left him coughing up blood."

Doto stared triumphantly into the blonde's eyes and watched him fall to the ice before feeling an inexplicable urge to gloat. And why wouldn't he? The Daimyo waited years for his moment of his glory and should savor every second. He slowly floated to the ground and let his wings retract, "Don't you ever give up? This model is the newest prototype. All that chakra you've expended is helping to power my suit. It absorbs the energy you put out and then stores it for me to use. I get stronger as the fight goes on and you're getting weaker. You don't have a chance against me and my armor."

Naruto stood up and summoned two shadow clones as he pushed massive amounts of chakra out of his hand, "Oh yeah, I bet I've got more chakra than that thing can handle. The two bunshin took the energy and shaped it until he was holding a massive Rasengan about the size of a beach ball. After the chakra shell was stabilized the clones gripped the chunin's vest and threw him towards their opponent like a human torpedo.

The sun peaked over the horizon causing the pillars to give off more light. The giant Rasengan absorbed the colors and the swirling chakra took on a rainbow hue. Doto's eyes widened in panic, but he regained control of himself after staring into the boy's mismatched eyes. Did this child really think he could overcome the cutting edge technology of the Shinobi-Daimyo's armor?

The man shoved out his chest and waited for the boy's attack. The blonde pulled his arm back before thrusting it forward and shouting, "Odama Nanairo no Rasengan." (Giant Seven Colored Spiraling Sphere)

The ball of chakra hit Doto's chest and the man felt the energy supercharging him, he had never felt this powerful before. This brat was surely doomed now. However after ten seconds he started to panic because the Rasengan's size hadn't diminished in the slightest. His limbs also started hurting from all the excess power the suit was pouring into him after the storage unit was full.

The Daimyo wailed in agony as the boy's momentum pushed them over the cliff and the chakra crystal in his suit exploded, sending them crashing into the lake. Koyuki followed the Naruto's path and let out a scream as she scrambled across the ice while throwing her robes off before jumping in after him. The actress' legs kicked furiously and she found the unconscious shinobi by following the trail of bubbles as he sunk to the bottom. The raven haired princess grabbed the teen and pulled him close to her before swimming with all her might towards the light coming through the hole.

Koyuki broke the surface and gasped for air before she started shivering as she pulled them out of the freezing water. She leaned over and stroked the blonde's damp hair affectionately, "The knight is supposed to save the princess you idiot, not the other way around."

With that she joined the chunin in unconsciousness. Jiraiya wrapped them in a towel he unsealed before carrying them over to a heat generator. He looked at his student as he shifted in Koyuki's arms and she pulled him closer. The cameramen came over to them and Director Makino was wearing a satisfied smile, "Now that was better than any Hollywood ending I've ever seen."

Jiraiya smiled down at the two, "Damn blonde's get all the luck."

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><p>Koyuki cut an elegant figure as she sat on her throne in full regalia. The princess had on a lavender Kimono the same color as the hex crystal with dark purple cuffs. She wore a flat pink hat that had six purple tags equidistant from each other that matched her cuffs. The newly coronated Daimyo smiled and rose from her jewel encrusted silver throne, set with red velvet cushions, to approach Jiraiya and Naruto.<p>

After giving the sage an appreciative nod she bent down to give the blonde a kiss on the cheek, that left him blushing, and handed the teen an envelope, "You can open that whenever you want, it's a thank you present from me to you."

The chunin began fumbling with the packet before ripping the top open, "Are you kidding, why would I wait?" The blonde's blush deepened as he looked at the picture of Koyuki kissing him while he was wrapped like a mummy in the hospital with her signature on it. Steam shot out of the boy's ears and he passed out.

The raven haired princess chuckled as she plucked the picture out of the air and safely placed it in Naruto's bag before turning towards his sensei, "Thank you Jiraiya-sama, you two are always welcome in Yuki no Kuni, although hopefully it will be Haru no Kuni next time you visit. The generator may have run out of power for now but I have our best engineers working on it."

The woman's face took on a more somber expression, "However my Uncle was right about one thing, the country is deeply in debt." A mischievous glint entered her eye as she continued, "Fortunately my agent called and said Icha Icha Paradise is the highest grossing movie yet."

A cocky smile broke out across the author's face, "Oh really? I knew it would break all the opening weekend sales just by the number of reserved tickets."

The actress shook her head, "No you don't understand. It's the highest grossing movie of all time, like total sales of everything related to a film. I've made three times the money I usually make in a year already and we haven't even released the action figures, posters, or other merchandise either. That money can fund the project for a couple years and I'll act in other movies to help us climb out of debt."

Dollar signs replaced Jiraiya's eyes after what he just heard set in, "Oh baby, daddy hit the jackpot."

Koyuki coyly put her index finger below her lips, "You know with those kind of sales I would definitely sign on for a sequel in a couple years when the money flow from this one starts to slow down. That's if you can find the right male lead of course."

Blood trickled from Jiraiya's nose as he gave her two thumbs up, "I'm available for shooting now."

Naruto started to groggily rise from unconsciousness Koyuki deadpanned at the lecher, "I said the right male lead Jiraiya-sama."

The man's body seemed to lose all strength as he slumped over in depression, "Fine, I see when we're not wanted. Let's go Naruto."

The teen followed his sensei in a daze after bidding his favorite actress a farewell, "See you later Koyuki-chan."

The princess giggled as she watched the blonde stumble out, "Bye Naruto, hopefully we can work together again in the future."

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><p>The weather was still warm so Naruto and Jiraiya walked through the country in their regular clothes, "Did you see that giant Rasengan I used against Doto? Now that I've created my own variation you have to teach me a technique."<p>

Jiraiya deadpanned at the boy and held his palm skyward before creating a Rasengan that was nearly a yard in diameter, "Making the technique bigger isn't really an innovation Naruto, and even if it was I've already done that so it's not original. Keep trying though. Well after we finish with Mr. Gamariki that is."

Jiraiya felt his spirits rising with his student's frustration and merrily whistled as he strolled strolled while Naruto stopped and let out an angry yell, "Dammit Ero-sennin, I'm going to kill you and that toad."

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><p>Yeah, first training trip mission complete. I didn't think it was as good as the other chapters at the start so I went back and reworked that for a little, but I think I wrapped it up nicely. Let me know if I portrayed the closeness of Team Doto, but their disregard for other Yuki-nin. What about Nadare's inferiority complex from a young Kakashi embarrassing him? Or the interaction between Naruto and Jiraiya? I know they weren't really serious, but it's the first mission and I hope you take note of Jiraiya's heavy involvement, for the most part, and watch as it phases out. Also I tried to relate Doto to Danzo character wise while explaining his background. He loved his country and wanted to fix it, he just didn't care about the methodology used, and he's a huge dick. I think when you only deal with cloak and dagger stuff like overthrowing the Daimyo you're afraid to go and honestly talk with someone face to face so he didn't see the whole picture. Review and let me know what you think about how I did, they're like crack and Adderall combined into one. I'm addicted. I'm seriously you guys… and gals.<p>

Also I have a proposition for you the reader. The Konoha exams are planned out, and the forest of death scene is currently in the team seven P.O.V. however someone asked for more detail into secondary characters and I've considered changing the perspective. So if you want me to keep it team seven let me know in the poll I put up, otherwise the choices are Team Ten from Shikamaru's or Ino's viewpoint, Team Gai from any of the genin's perspective, or Team eight, minus Shino plus Kankuro, from Hinata's view.

There will be cutouts to the sound teams regardless, but I have something big planned for the second exam. It has been hinted at and all the main participants will be coming together before the finish so it won't change the ending, just the journey. I have two people from the list that I would like to see take it, but it really doesn't matter and I don't want to influence your choice. There're two more missions before the exams start and we switch to Konoha, so maybe three chapters until the poll closes. Also Kudos if you can guess Kin's replacement, though it really is kind of obvious.

-Operaman Bye Bye

**Spoiler Alert: **Izanami might be the most badass thing ever, apparently Uchiha Clan is the cheat code for god mode. This is my theory on what it does. Itachi trapped Kabuto in a loop, but if he makes the wrong decision and attacks Itachi it starts over. Here's where it gets fuzzy to me, if Itachi was alive would they be forever trapped in the loop or would the user be able to make it like a computer program so if something specific is input the loop breaks? But since Itachi is dead the point is moot because Kabuto controls if he's alive or not, by releasing Edo Tensei he would end the jutsu. That's what Itachi meant by he controls it but Kabuto decides it, but then it would be up to Sasuke to kill him and he might not because Itachi would shit on him and disappear when the jutsu is over without talking unless Kabuto decides to let them talk first… what are the odds of that?

**Line Break**

Jutsu List

Futon: Sensougouheki

Hyoton Tsubame Fubuki Swallow Snow Storm

Ninpou: Hari Jizo, Hari Jigoku Ninja Art ,Hell Needles

Futon: Goukuhouu

Futon: Sattou Dangan

Suiton: Hahonryuu

Uzumaki Hijutsu: Mizu no Tatsumaki

Hyoton: Ikkaku Hakugei One horned ice whale

Hyoton: Roga Nadare no Jutsu (Wolf Fang Avalanche Technique)

Hyoton: Haryu Moko Tearing Dragon Fierce Tiger

Hyoton: Kokoryu Bofusetsu Black Dragon Blizzard

Hyoton: Soryu Bofusetsu Twin Dragon Blizzard

Odama Nanairo no Rasengan Giant Seven Colored Spiraling Sphere- a giant rasengan turned rainbow colors because of a heat generator.


	28. Welcome to Sea Country

I know I said I wouldn't put any more Author's Notes up. I just want to say there is a poll in my profile about the upcoming chunin exams, so check it out.

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><p>What seemed like an army of people walked out of the Konoha Theater after the premier of Koyuki Kazahana's latest move, and it wasn't Icha Icha paradise. Makino went to work immediately after the mission was completed and had a finished version on the cutting room floor six weeks later. With a picture of Uzumaki Naruto on the posters everybody in Konoha tried to get tickets for the first show, and that included his old classmates. Of course being heirs of prestigious clans had its advantages so they were all able to attend and sit in the balcony at the premier.<p>

"Who thought Naruto would be the knight in shining armor type? I mean he dethroned a tyrant and saved the princess… sort of. If only we knew back in the academy, eh forehead."

"Yosh, Naruto-kun's youthfulness has increased greatly in the short time he's been gone. It's apparent I haven't been working hard enough. If I cannot get a noblewoman to kiss me by the time he returns I will run around the village until my legs give out, then I shall do it on my hands until my arms no longer support me."

Everybody backed away from the spandex clad teen except for a man that was wearing the same getup, "Lee you are filled to the brim with hot blooded passion, don't underestimate yourself because it is you who are the shining example of youth. We should all strive to emulate you for you are truly in the springtime of your… youth." Gai looked around to see that they were the only people left on the once crowded street, "Where did everybody go? Well you know what this means Lee, laps around Konoha."

The green clad genin saluted his sensei, "Ossu!"

"Now my pupil, EXPLODE!" The two disappeared after reaffirming their sensei student bond, only leaving behind dust outlines that were hugging in the abandoned street.

For their sanity's sake everybody had decided to ignore the green beasts and keep walking. Chouji had finished dumping an extra large bucket of popcorn into his gullet and popped open a fresh bag of chips. Since the rare moment came when his mouth wasn't chewing anything and nobody was talking he took the opportunity to say, "The princess seemed to really take a shine to Naruto. What a lucky guy."

Shikamaru sighed, "I don't envy him at all. Imagine having to deal with all those duties and responsibilities. That's way too much work for a woman, even if she wasn't troublesome. Although having servants waiting on your every need sounds perfect. Oh well it's not like an uncool guy like me could get a princess."

"Ha, the brat is turning into a ladies man just like his father. Although that almost got him killed by Kushina more times than I can count, even before they started dating."

The genin's heads jerked in surprise after hearing the voice behind them, and Tenten nearly squealed with joy, "Why are you here Tsunade-sama?" Asked her more levelheaded teammate.

The blonde pointed her thumb to the side, "Well I was going to wait for it to come out on video, but Shizune really wanted to see it?"

Everybody sweat-dropped because the brunette wasn't around and they couldn't find her, not even Neji's Byakugan could locate her. They all gave the medic a skeptical look and she coughed into her hand, "Well it's not my job to keep track of a grown woman." She then made eye contact with her newest apprentice, "Don't forget training starts tomorrow Sakura. I hope you're ready."

The pinkette gave a determined nod, "Of course I am Tsunade-shishou."

Tenten stared at the younger girl with jealousy, "That's so unfair, how did you manage that?"

The legendary medic gave Sakura a proud look before recounting the story.

**Flashback**

"This has got to be the worst excuse of a sling I've ever seen. How did any of you get licenses?" Tsunade stormed through the hospital in a rage. She had just returned from her mission with Shizune and it was her first day as head of the medical division… well the first day of her second term. The blonde was doing an inspection of the patients and she wasn't pleased, not one bit. Bandages and medical tape were loosely wrapped; one man had gauze on that was so old it merged with the scab and plenty of other embarrassments that she would be surprised to see in a free clinic.

The irate doctor stopped at one patient and lifted up his arm that was attached to an IV, "Who placed this in here?" A brunette nurse timidly raised her hand and Tsunade's glare forced the frightened crowd to frantically scatter, revealing the cowering woman, "Did he call you fat, or old maybe?"

The woman could only meekly shake her head, "Then why does it look like a woodpecker got at his arm?"

The slug summoner ignored the terrified nurse's babbling and thundered down the hallway as the rest of the staff scampered to keep up. Her sharp honey brown eyes scanned over every patient they went by in seconds, until she stopped at a small section of beds. "Who was tending these patients?"

The medics immediately separated again to reveal a familiar pink haired teen, "You're the brat's little girlfriend right?"

Sakura blushed and weakly shook her head, "We're just teammates."

Tsunade's lips turned upwards into a comforting smile, "Makes sense, better off playing the field at your age. But you can't be shy if you're going to hang around that little buffoon."

The pinkette had a small grin on her face as Tsunade continued, "I'm sorry to say this Sakura but I'm pulling you from the medical program," the girl's face dropped with disappointment while the other medics gasped, "because I'm making you my apprentice."

Emerald eyes widened in surprise and the girl stuttered, "W-what, why?"

The blonde pointed towards the various patients, "Because you've impressed me. All of these are done textbook and I'd hate to leave your development up to chance, or these people."

Before the girl could answer Rin stormed through the crowd, "Hold on a damn minute. Sakura's great because I've been teaching her. Just because you're one of the Sannin doesn't mean you can steal my student."

Honey eyes stared fiercely into cold chocolate ones, "You're right, but being the best damn medic to ever exist should give me some leeway. And on top of that I'm your boss."

"You wish you were my boss. I work independently, answering directly to my contractor and the Hokage. You can't intimidate me like everybody else. Besides, you've been out of the game for over a decade. Maybe you should get yourself up to speed first before taking a student."

Tsunade's eyes narrowed dangerously at the haughty woman and her voice carried enough authority to cow almost anyone, but not a student of the Yondaime Hokage. "Watch your tone. Last time I checked Sarutobi gave me the position."

Rin laughed derisively, "What's it feel like to be the second choice miss Senju?"

"Umm excuse me." The two looked over to Sakura who had weakly interrupted, "Naruto trained with two people and I trained with Rin-sensei and Kaka-sensei too. Now he's just having us hone our existing skills so I don't see why I can't learn under you both."

The two kunoichi huffed and turned away from each other while simultaneously answering, "Fine."

**End Flashback**

Tsunade finished her narrative and looked around, "And that's how Sakura became my second apprentice, but I still want to know where my first one went. She has the apartment key."

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><p>Shizune was in a daze as she walked through town. The brunette had bought a large Naruto plushy and squeezed it tightly to her torso, the blonde spikes covering her blushing face. She needed some time alone to get control of herself. The usually demure medic had a dark fetish hidden from everybody, even her mentor. You see, a young pubescent boy was the only thing that sexually excited Shizune.<p>

She recalled one particularly arousing scene and managed to fight down a squeal while remembering how valiant and heroic the blonde looked, yet somehow managed to retain a youthful innocence and exuberance. A stinky, hairy, disgusting, smelly man that burps and farts and has all those other disgusting habits could never do that.

The brunette sighed and squeezed the stuffed chunin tighter. Her only regret was she didn't spend more time with Naruto before he grew up into one of those brutes. Of course THAT would probably happen again, just like the boy whose scrape she healed and then 'babysat' until the mother came along.

The woman would be lured in by his adorableness and snuggle her head into the top of his. Coincidentally nestling him to her breasts, preferably in the middle of her cleavage. Then she'd start swinging side to side while rubbing him up and down her body, feeling how his small frame contoured into her curvy one perfectly. Then Shizune would begin caressing his hair, then neck, his back, tickle his sides then his cute little legs, and before you knew it she'd be dry humping herself to orgasm on his leg.

To this day Tsunade still wondered why Shizune woke her up from a drunken slumber to escape a small town and never return. Fortunately they were running from debt collectors so her master never asked. It was a good thing too because to this day the brunette still didn't know what to say.

* * *

><p>Orochimaru elegantly stepped out from a hatch in the earth before locating his chief spy and medic. The silver haired teen was out gathering herbs for a poison, or so he said. The snakelike man stood with his back against a tree, and once the bespectacled shinobi walked past with a basket of herbs he said, "Enjoying the fresh air and sunlight Kabuto-kun?"<p>

The unassuming boy froze in surprise before slowly turning with a smile, "It is a nice change from time to time. But what is it you require from me Orochimaru-sama?"

"I'm about to leave on some personal business before heading back to the main base for the body transfer. I want you to summon Kimimaro, the remaining sound trio, and have your puppet Rinji fetch Guren for me." The snake summoner continued into the wilderness, but stopped before adding, almost as an afterthought, "Are you finished with Suigetsu-kun yet?"

The medic smirked cruelly, "Oh I forgot all about him. Yes we've been done for quite some time. It's just… he keeps saying that he'll do terrible things to me after getting out, so I've kept him in the tank for my own safety."

Orochimaru smirked, "Oh dear, then perhaps Rinji should collect Suigetsu-kun and you can get Guren."

Kabuto pushed his slipping glasses up and the sunlight reflected off of them, "It would be interesting to see if Rinji's abilities are able to match up to the Hozuki clan's, but I'll stick with Suigetsu. Guren could actually kill me if I'm not careful."

* * *

><p>Ever since the movie about reclaiming Yuki no Kuni was released Naruto had to change his appearance, but they discovered that nobody recognized Jiraiya so he didn't have to. The blonde spotted a facemask like Kakashi's one day and used that to cover his whisker marks and a started wearing plain black bandana with long ties in back to cover his sharingan.<p>

The shinobi hoped it was enough, but his outfit was quite popular too. Everywhere they went people saw a one eyed blonde wearing it and put the pieces together, so he had to change that as well. The boy found a jumpsuit that was burnt orange from the legs up, except a black T that was on both sides of his torso, though two stripes of orange were on the side, and covered the tops of his arms and shoulders. Since nobody was around to hate on the greatest color ever he had an Uzumaki seal stitched onto the back, in the middle of the T, and had several copies made.

It had been just a little over six weeks since they left the Land of Snow and the two were in Umi no Kuni (Sea Country) to investigate rumors of a monster that was sinking ships. Jiraiya claimed his old teammate used to have a base in the area so it was his responsibility to check things out.

Naruto had finished training with Gamariki ten days after leaving Yuki no Kuni and they had taken up the study of fuuinjutsu, which Naruto took to like only an Uzumaki could. Of course he had the inherent stubbornness of one too, "Dammit Ero-sennin, this is the dumbest thing I've ever heard."

"Listen brat I've been doing this longer than you've been alive."

"Then you've been doing it wrong."

Two charcoal eyes met a steely blue one and Jiraiya waved around a weathered scroll, "See this gaki, it's one of the most respected discourses on barrier seals and you're telling me it's wrong."

Jiraiya had been trying to explain the basics of creating a barrier to the blonde. One would create an array to channel chakra across before the edge curled up to form a bubble, wall, or whatever it was designed it to do. That was the most basic and important concept. From there you could increase the layers, change the composition to elemental, create a detection barrier, just like everything else in fuuinjutsu the possibilities were literally endless. There was another way that involved creating 'broadcasters' or 'antennae,' as some people called them, but that involved more advanced knowledge. "Then how would your expert ass pull it off, because I know it wouldn't be your head?"

"I'm glad you asked." Naruto grabbed a blank scroll and the ink jar next to his teacher and began fluently drawing. He created two concentric circles then drew a set of seals inside the smaller one before inverting them and drawing the array outside the large circle.

The chunin held up his creation and began explaining, "The reason that guy is stupid is because the size and strength are static with that seal. With this one you can adjust its strength, and size to a degree. All I have to do is channel chakra into the seal and it flows up from the inner seal, then the outer array pulls the rising chakra towards it, creating the barrier. The chakra can only get so far away from the outer seals so after that point the strength increases. I know it's not perfect but still better than that. The only thing that is static is the effect and shape of the seal."

Jiraiya started grumbling after his student's explanation and began fishing around his vest. Once the man found the stitching for the right seal he channeled chakra into it and a black, leather bound book popped out with a puff of smoke. The sage tossed it to his student and Naruto was able to make out the name Namikaze Minato etched in gold letters at the bottom.

He stared up at his teacher and the man smiled proudly, "I thought something like this might happen so I've kept that close. When I tried to teach your dad the more advanced stuff he looked at it from a higher level and was able to see things I couldn't. He actually learned most of his stuff from Uzumaki Mito before she passed on. After her death she bequeathed the Uzumaki Fuuinjutsu scrolls in her possession to him as, 'an early wedding present.'

Naruto stared at the man wide eyed, "He also learned some stuff from your mom too, but sealing wasn't really her forte. She'd always say her talents lay in the field of asskicking." Naruto gave the book a teary smile as he rubbed the cover affectionately. The orphan was holding a link to his father, a peek into the man's brain.

Jiraiya shivered and looked around quickly, but the boy was so absorbed in the book he didn't notice. The hermit rose and started walking out of the clearing after tossing a roll of bills by his student's feet, "I'll let you read that in private. When you're hungry get something in town, my treat." The chunin nodded vacantly and pocketed the money before opening his book, forgetting the man usually took his money.

Jiraiya went a good distance away before performing the sequence for Kuchiyose no Jutsu, with one extra seal at the end. After slamming his bloody palm on the ground a small cloud of smoke appeared. It dispersed and a small rotund toad that was a dull brick color with bright red markings and wore a blue vest stood there. The amphibian's voice was gruff and sounded quite grumpy, but there was an unmistakable whine buried in there. "What do you want Jiraiya? The salty air is drying out my skin and you know I hate being summoned in my small form. It reminds me how the other toadlets made fun of me for being chubby and warty."

"Calm down Bunta." Hushed the sage, "I think Orochimaru is in the area so I want you to keep an eye on Naruto while I check things out. I'm going into town and renting a boat to visit this 'haunted island' I've been hearing about."

Gamabunta's eyes narrowed, which warped his scar, and he huffed, "Fine, but only because I like the kid so much. And you owe me big time. I hate the ocean."

* * *

><p>Naruto finally opened the book after staring at it for several minutes and immediately began reading.<p>

_Hello Naruto, Naruto's children, and hopefully Naruto's children's children and so on. My name is Namikaze Minato. I'm writing this book so my descendants can take advantage of the knowledge I've gained and add theirs for future generations. You'll notice that the last page is blank, but when you fill it up a new page will appear so please add your techniques and skills. The book can only hold so many pages though, so when this is filled you can create another one with the guide I've placed inside. Also don't worry about messing up and ripping a page out, the book will form another blank one. But once the page is fully written it can never be removed so write carefully._

_This book contains everything I've learned about seals that go beyond the basics. Fuuinjutsu is a diverse art that is only limited by the imagination. Naturally I could only focus on a couple of areas, namely barriers and space-time manipulation. I would also like to explain a theory for a side project I never really started because the Flying Raijin took all of my time and focus._

_I once fought a rogue member of the Tsuchigumo clan and he possessed the ability to project seals through the air without the use of paper. For years I thought they created them from pure chakra until my lovely, intelligent, and caring wife, who is not looking over my shoulder, called me an idiot and said they shaped the ink into the seal before projecting it. Despite being wrong I was fascinated with the idea because of the potential, however it needed more time than I had to give. _

_This is what I theorized. Fuuinjutsu at its core is using ink to channel chakra into a shape. The seal's creator uses the ink as a medium, like hand seals, to dictate where the chakra will go. Once the circuit is complete and the chakra density sufficient the seal will activate and will react depending on how the chakra is being molded. I wanted to take the ink out of the equation completely and just mold my chakra into the seal. Despite not going anywhere it helped lead to the Rasengan, and my ability to apply seals simply by making contact was a step I created to learn it._

Naruto sat back to digest what he just read, and before the book absorbed him again the chunin created some clones to brainstorm Rasengan ideas. Usually the blonde would have his copies go over books and scrolls, but he wanted to personally read this one.

After the bunshin went away to start thinking Naruto fell back into the manuscript. The teen wasn't really learning anything about techniques, just trying to get a feel for his father through the writing. He lost track of time, and it wasn't until the clone group interrupted him that the boy realized it was well past noon and he was starving.

The shinobi had an annoyed look as he stared up at his copies, "Why didn't you just dispel?"

His bunshin looked at each other nervously, "Well it looked like you were really into the book so we didn't want to disperse because it might not sink in, but we can dispel now."

Naruto put the book down and grumbled, "Don't bother, if I think it needs more work I'll leave you guys here to keep thinking on it while I recharge."

What appeared to be the spokesclone nodded, "Okay, well we went over all of our missions and figured out we need a good defensive jutsu, something like that snow kunoichi's shield except not shitty. The Sensougouheki is cool for lightning and projectiles, but against anything else it's useless."

The chunin got up from under the tree and nodded, "Try creating it."

The bunshin all tried to form a flat version of the Rasengan, but it blew up in their faces and they dispelled. Naruto sighed and tried to decide if he should leave clones behind or work on it later, because the constant flashes of memories would be annoying. The teen's belly interrupted his thoughts and he vowed to get to it after lunch. Gamabunta followed quietly, but he couldn't fight down the bad feeling in his stomach, the toad hoped it was seasickness. He probably shouldn't have had that third helping of ma's cooking.

* * *

><p>The room glowed yellow from the artificial lighting reflecting off the stack of twenty-four carat gold ingots. A short skinny man, a little over five feet tall that had shoulder length grey hair in a ponytail with a white buttoned up lab on coat stood in front of the stack. It was about twice the height of the scientist, and if he decided to lie down on the ground it would take three of him to approach the pile's length. The man could spend hours a day staring at the gold. It was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen, almost erotic in a way.<p>

His mood was broken by the sound of slapping footsteps echoing in the underwater base, and the complaining of his… pet. "I've done everything you asked me to Amachi-sama, when are you going to change me back?"

The man's beady eyes glinted with anger, "Shut up you wench, my assistants never came so the research has been slowed. I'll do it when the process is ready."

"Kukuku." Amachi would know that laugh if one hundred years passed, and to him it felt like they had. However the silky smooth voice that followed sent shivers down his spine, "That's no way to talk to the girl, it's not her fault those two incompetents died. Besides, Isarabi-chan might have willingly helped if you told her the truth."

Unlike her tormentor the girl was entranced by the shinobi's voice, "How do you know my name sir?"

The pale man stepped forward and gently slid his fingertip down the part in the middle of her hair, "I am aware of many things child. For example, I know the process can never be reversed." Her charcoal eyes shot open before they stared accusingly at the scientist, however the serpentine's comforting hand fell on the girl's shoulder, "But I didn't say it was hopeless. Amachi sent me a letter detailing the finished process and how he used it on himself. It doesn't look like he has scales to me. Well Amachi, do you have scales?"

"N-n-no Oro-o-Orochimaru-sama. I d-don't have scales." Stuttered the petrified man.

The teen looked pleadingly at the snake summoner, "Will it work on me."

Orochimaru smiled at her. Unbeknownst to Amachi the serum that he received so long ago was extracted from Juugo's glands. Isaribi was the result of an experiment to see what the nature chakra would do when not delivered through a seal.

For years the subjects became mindless beasts so Orochimaru lost interest and left. Amachi thought he was doing his master's bidding though and stayed behind. The scientist sent reports that were thrown away more often than not, but one day a letter came saying a subject retained their sanity. After that he became very interested. Isaribi was a diamond in the rough and the nuke-nin loved glittery things.

"Of course I can dear, however I would like to try something else first. If it doesn't work we can do it the other way." The half transformed girl nodded meekly and Orochimaru's neck extended to deliver the juuinjutsu and bit a patch of scales on her left shoulder while wondering if the placement had any affect.

Isaribi gasped in fear, then pain, before falling to the ground unconscious like every other recipient. However that's where the similarities ended. The seal expanded and covered her skin in a wavelike pattern while absorbing the scales. Once it wrapped around her body the comatose girl was outlined in black chakra before it covered her completely and exploded outwards. She stood up and when the malevolent energy finally died down, although it still leaked off her body.

Isaribi stood there in Kaima form and tears started falling from her sickly yellow eye. Orochimaru stuck his hand through the vile chakra like it wasn't there and reassuringly patted her on the back, "This doesn't feel like the second level of the seal, but there's still more energy than usual. Try powering down."

It took almost ten minutes, but the two scientists were patient and the black chakra eventually lessened before Isarabi was just covered in the wave like markings with no scales. "Remarkable, it was like level one and a half." Theorized the pale man.

Isaribi stared at her body and rubbed the areas that used to have scales before prostrating in front of the man, "Thank you so much, I don't know what to say."

"Oh you don't have to say anything, but I can offer you more. Would you like to come with me, come to a place where you will never be judged for who you are or what you were? Do you really think those people in the town will suddenly be accepting when you appear? Let me tell you something Isaribi-chan, people love to point fingers, to hate. They need something and be scared of and to look down upon just to feel better about their miserable existence."

The sealed girl lifted her head and smiled, "Yes Orochimaru-sama, I want to come with you."

The serpentine man looked down upon her, "Is there anything you would like to do before we leave? I doubt you'll ever be back"

Isaribi's smile turned bloodthirsty, "Well now that you mention it… is Amachi important to you master?"

"Kukuku, of course not dear, do what you will."

The man fell to his butt and pushed backwards with his hands, so petrified he didn't think to activate his Kaima form and try to escape. "You don't need to do this Isarabi, I never really lied to you. I was trying to reverse the process, I didn't think you would want to complete it." His former experiment's yellow eyes held no pity, only eagerness as she launched forward.

Orochimaru ignored the dying man's wails as his newest disciple tore him to shreds and just stared at the gold. 'Amachi was always a short-sighted fool, focusing on the goal for the goal's sake. The scientist could never see the big picture because of his hyper focus. What good was knowledge if it was useless? Still his desire is what allowed the boob to amass this fortune. It's a shame he wanted to waste it on this worthless project.'

The yellow-eyed man smirked and turned around when the shrieks stopped to see limbs and blood splattered across the walls and floors while the girl jumped on his broken torso. 'Well, it wasn't totally worthless.' "Is there anything else you'd like to do child?" Isaribi looked towards the mainland longingly and the snake smiled, "Don't take too long, I'll get you when I'm finished. Or you can get me." The girl's step had that bounce it was missing for so long as she hopped through the opening into the sea.

* * *

><p>Naruto knew something was wrong almost as soon as he left the clearing. Smoke rose up in the distance, and shrieks of fear and pain reached him well before the town was visible. From his perch on a treetop the Jinchuuriki watched the villagers stampede through the narrow streets like cattle while parts of their town burned. They all seemed to be running away from a singular point that was clear of flames. The chunin noted the location and sped toward it, jumping on rickety shacks to avoid the mob.<p>

What he came upon surprised him, and made him suspect Orochimaru really was involved. This had to be the sea monster Jiraiya came to investigate. It was about six inches taller than the blonde and covered in lime green scales. The beast's forearms bulged and short fins that extended down the backs of them. It also had a large dorsal fin in the middle of its head with two long ears that came down to its neck that looked like ponytails.

Naruto guessed it was a she because of the dress, but after training with a cross dressing toad he wasn't jumping to any conclusions. The blonde could feel the Kyuubi's chakra flaring because of the gruesome scene around him and pushed it down, "Why are you slaughtering these people? What did they do to you?"

The creature sneered, revealing a mouth full of dangerously sharp teeth, "They deserve to die. I was treated like an outcast and shunned by everyone. Called a freak and a monster, now that I have the power to make them pay I will."

The Jinchuuriki let out a throaty growl. "You weren't a monster until your first victim, no matter what anybody said. Now you're just a beast."

"Shut up! What do you know?"

Isaribi launched a ball of water at the chunin that was easily eight feet wide. Naruto hopped left and started running towards the creature while avoiding several smaller shots. The blonde cocked his fist back and the girl flinched in panic when he got close. The move was only supposed to be a feint but the chunin wasn't one to pass up an opening so delivered a solid left cross to her chin.

She rolled across the ground and regained her feet before facing down the charging shinobi. The creature leapt into the air and spread its claws to deliver vicious slashes, however she left her torso wide open and Naruto shoulder checked the beast before the deadly swipes made contact.

Isaribi gasped as the wind was knocked out of her, but needlelike teeth pierced the Jinchuuriki's neck in response. Her dangerous jaws weren't near anything vital and Naruto quickly jabbed the monster in the stomach before it could start thrashing. The creature opened its mouth again and the chunin dropped before sweeping his opponent's webbed from underneath her. The mutant fell backwards before howling in pain when she bounced off the ground and Naruto's heel drove her back into it.

The untrained girl slashed wildly at the Jinchuuriki's calf, but he was able to pull his leg away and the sharp claws only nicked his skin. The blonde ignored the scratches and avoided more blasts of water as she regained her feet, "We don't have to do this. I know what it's like to be alone and hated and I have a friend who gave in when he was younger. He turned his life around and so can you.

Her yellow eyes stared hatefully at the boy, "No, you don't understand me. Stop saying that!"

The scaled mutant sent dozens of water bullets at the blonde and he was forced to take cover behind a sturdy building. Despite the raw power now in her possession Isaribi knew there was no way to beat the kid… on land at least. Anger welled up inside of the creature as she looked around the town that ostracized her, but she shoved it down. The girl managed to figure out which direction the river was, but had no idea how to get the shinobi over there. She didn't know how to maneuver an opponent in the heat of battle, and the boy was too skilled to just run past.

The sea monster's finned head turned after hearing some rubble move and a small group of ten people ran across the street, in the direction of the water. She let out a triumphant howl and charged them while Naruto futilely called for her to stop. Isaribi's wickedly sharp claws easily disemboweled a middle-aged woman before she turned and ripped a chunk out of a child's torso that left his organs exposed. After the quick strike the beast leapt away from the remaining citizens before the blonde got close. Naruto could only ignore the people's cries of pain as he gave chase, hoping he could stop this before more innocents were slaughtered.

The transformed teenager's head turned to see the blonde had an angle to intercept her up ahead, however a trio of giant water balls launched towards a crowd of people slowed him down. The shinobi responded with a Daitoppa, but it only destroyed the one closest to him. The other two flattened the townspeople into the earth. Naruto fought down the hot tears as he forced chakra to his legs and exploded towards their killer. She saw him coming and adjusted her path to intercept a group of small kids that used to bully her.

Isaribi hissed in glee as she raised her claws for some payback and the boys all huddled together. Blood sprayed through the air as the monster slashed her claws, but all the children were unharmed. The one eyed shinobi absorbed the blow with his arms then brought his fists together and raised them above his head. The sliced skin flopped and leaked blood, which turned his hair red, but anger pushed the boy past the pain and his fists came down on her head like a hammer.

The mutated girl saw stars as she collapsed to the ground, but she also saw a bridge over the river between the blonde's legs and remembered her plan. Naruto formed a Rasengan in his palm and the kid's eyes went wide as they recognized the jutsu, but before he could bring his the swirling storm of chakra down a high-pressure stream erupted from Isaribi's mouth. It launched the four boys into the running waters and she quickly dove in after them.

The monster made sure to tear apart the helpless children in front of the blonde and let their torn carcasses sink before speeding towards him. Their blood turned the water crimson as Naruto prepared a kick, but he found the move was ineffective underwater as it spun him around. The chunin craned his neck to see Isaribi lower her dorsal fin and head-butt his side. Bubbles exploded from the shinobi's mouth and he had to try not to inhale water after she drove him into the rocky bottom.

The chunin's arms held the girl at bay, but her claws easily tore into them while reaching for his vital areas. Naruto ignored the pain and just tried to buy some time while he used wind manipulation to pull oxygen from the water into his mouth. With refilled lungs the Uzumaki channeled chakra into the water around him and used his family's chakra control exercise to create a whirlpool. The two combatants were ripped away from each other and flung in opposite directions, but the sea creature quickly gathered itself and shot towards the shinobi like a bullet.

Naruto formed some seals and used the Mizu no Tatsumaki to create a large twister that forced his opponent to veer to the side. Then he whipped through another set and launched two Hahonryuu, one on either side of the cyclone.

Isaribi chose to go right and the torrent of water sent her backwards, but it did the same thing to the Jinchuuriki. Naruto smirked as the beast made a sharp u turn and launched a Hahonryuu towards the bottom after it got close. The blonde was rocketed upwards as the high-pressure stream blasted the girl into the rocks.

The chunin refilled his lungs again as his opponent scowled at him. Naruto sent a taunting smirk her way and she charged up at him. The shinobi formed some seals and launched another Hahonryuu, but Isaribi swam around it and under the Jinchuuriki. The shinobi lost track of her so stopped the jutsu as she appeared from nowhere and gripped him in a bear hug so tight a whirlpool wouldn't rip them apart.

The air was crushed out of Naruto's lungs and his airways were blocked so he couldn't pull oxygen in, form seals, and his palms were pointed upwards so a Rasengan was useless. The blonde was trapped and the black spots in his vision were making it hard to focus his chakra. The Jinchuuriki thought he was going to die, but a memory from his last near death experience flashed through his head.

Chakra swirled around Naruto's palm before forming a Rasengan. Isaribi smirked as she watched the chakra bleed away from the technique, unlike the one he used in town. However the ball suddenly glowed bright blue and exploded, sending blades of chakra everywhere as the shield collapsed. However it damaged Naruto as much as Isaribi.

Still, it gave the blonde space and he was able to create another bubble of air before jetting towards the surface with a Hahonryuu. The Jinchuuriki looked down at the sea monster as he rose to the light, but she didn't follow. Instead the beast swam towards sea while leaving a trail of red. Once the chunin's head rose above water he sighed in relief, until he saw the carnage around him.

It was apparent that the creature entered from the river because of the sheer amount of bodies and damage in the area. People were crushed into the ground and rows of houses were torn apart by water blasts. Limbs were scattered everywhere along with chunks of human flesh, mothers were reaching for their children's corpses, and the bodies of their husbands were almost always nearby. They were usually slaughtered with weapons in their hands and he doubted they had a chance to use them.

The boy vomited and ran away from the scene, but as he rushed through town it was impossible to not see the victims' gruesome deaths. Children's eyes stared vacantly upwards, and many times the heads weren't attached to bodies. There was even a large pile bunched together in the corner of a soccer net, like the girl kicked them there for fun.

In the main area of town restaurants and other businesses were destroyed with the patrons still inside. Whole streets were ripped up by blasts of water leaving people half buried under rubble or flattened. Naruto purposely ignored the massacre as he ran back to the clearing and threw himself into training, his appetite forgotten. He had the Rasengan variation, but now it needed fine-tuning and the boy didn't want clones to break his focus.

The problem with the technique was that chakra went everywhere after the blast so he was liable to get damaged by it. There was no way Jiraiya would ok a technique that caused him as much, if not more pain, than his opponent received. As far as the boy could tell the problem lay in the shell. The blonde was able to push the memories from the village away as he focused on the swirling chakra in his palm.

* * *

><p>Orochimaru just gave the scroll containing the gold to one of his snakes when he felt another presence nearby, "I must say you've gotten quite sneaky. Back when we were genin it was never hard to find you, even though I never wanted to."<p>

The man's golden eyes stared at an innocuous spot on the wall before his old teammate seemed to materialize, "Kukuku. Hello Jiraiya, it's been quite some time."

A hard look was on the usually jovial man's face, "I'd say not long enough, but I can kill you so I guess it's worth it."

The serpentine man placed a pale hand over his heart, "You're being so cruel. Is that anyway to greet your old teammate?" The sage's face remained stony, "I see, well as we are there's no doubt you could kill me. I have no answer for your trump card, but I'll fix that in time."

"You have no time left Orochimaru." Jiraiya channeled chakra to his legs, but a sea snake burst from the water behind the nuke-nin and swallowed him before diving back in. The sennin cursed and rushed through the base towards the exit. He made it out quickly, but his traitorous teammate had a good lead and was moving fast.

The hermit pushed the boat off shore and ripped the tiny engine off the back before forming two Rasengan and shoving them into the water. The boat zigzagged all over the choppy surface before he got the hang of it and sped off in pursuit.

Orochimaru was sitting on top of the serpent and tittered when Jiraiya pulled up on his left "You were always an idiot, but nobody could call you uncreative."

The toad summoner didn't answer instead formed a seal-less Kage Bunshin that used Doton: Dorosandon (Earth Release: Mudshot) to launch a wave of mud balls at the snake like man. Orochimaru managed to contort his body into unnatural positions to avoid the barrage. Once he was able to set his feet a snake burst from his open mouth with a sword protruding from its. Jiraiya slowed down to avoid the thrust, but the kusanagi slashed as the reptile looped around and took a chunk from the back of the sage's long mane after dispelling his clone.

He cursed and craned his neck to see the shoreline was getting closer, however he felt something moving in the water. The hermit was able to sense its intention well in advance and veered the boat. Something green and scaly launched out of the water, right where his vessel used to be. The creature gracefully soared through the air and landed on the snake before transforming into a girl around Naruto's age with black hair, however she blacked out right after.

The traitorous member of the Sannin grabbed the teen's shoulder before she fell and nodded towards his old teammate, "Well I've got everything I came for, ta ta."

The serpent disappeared in a puff of smoke along with its passengers and Jiraiya cursed at the missed opportunity. Orochimaru even admitted he couldn't win. Instead the sennin looked at the damaged boat and cursed, 'How am I going to explain this to the guy I rented it from.'

The sage shrugged before forming two more Rasengan and heading back to town at a leisurely pace. After arriving at the docks Jiraiya found that he didn't have to say anything to the owner because he was eviscerated, lying in a pool of his own blood and vomit with eyes wide open in terror. The hermit sighed and closed the dead man's eyes while saying a short prayer. Once finished he ran through the town so fast it was a blur until the smell of blood, human waste, and bile left his nostrils. After several miles he slowed down and headed towards the area where he left his apprentice.

Some of the worry left him when Naruto was lying in the grass, but the defeated way he laid there didn't let it completely vanish. The hermit sighed and sat down next to his godson. The boy's blue eye cracked open after his mentor took a seat and he smiled weakly, "I got the variation down ero-sennin."

Jiraiya's eyebrow raised, "Did you now? Well let me see it."

The blonde rose to his feet and held his palm up before forming the Rasengan, except strands of chakra were leaking from the top. When the sennin looked closer he noticed the technique was almost see through because of the escaping threads. Naruto pointed the ball away from them before flooding it with chakra. The sphere glowed bright blue before thin blue blades exploded outwards about three or so feet before dispersing, "It does some damage, but it's mostly shallow cuts. The technique is really for defense. It can deflect or disperse everything I've tried.

The chunin formed a Kage Bunshin and it powered up the variation, "I don't know any Katon though, so can you use one?"

Jiraiya index finger and thumb formed a circle before he lifted them up to his smiling lips and said, "Katon: Boya Kasui" (Small Fire Stream).

A jet of fire about two feet wide burst out of the circle when the sage breathed into it. The clone raised the Rasengan and the resulting blast managed to stall the flames momentarily, but after the chakra died out the copy was overtaken. Naruto sighed but Jiraiya gave him a hearty pat on the back, "Hey that's actually pretty impressive so don't get down on yourself. No technique is ever perfect, and you just made it so I'm sure it'll improve with time." The blonde gave an appreciative smile to his godfather, "Now teach it to me please."

The boy's blue eye narrowed before gaining a mischievous glint, "Nope, I'm more of the do it yourself kind of guy. If I tell you how it works then you won't learn anything."

Jiraiya huffed as Naruto started setting up his tent, "I was going to teach you something awesome, but now you'll get my first original technique and it's only a D-rank."

Naruto's eye flared with determination, "I don't care as long as it helps me get stronger. I know I've been pestering you for jutsu, but I want to become a better shinobi so what happened in that town never happens again." The boy looked down at his hands, "I was too weak to stop it. The girl had no training and I still let her get the best of me because I was reminded of my childhood. I, I could've saved them Jiraiya-sensei."

The man sighed and made a bench from stone with his chakra for them to sit on before creating a fire pit, "Listen Naruto, if you learn one thing from me I hope it's this. You can't do it all. Tragedies are going to happen despite your best efforts. If you blame yourself for everything that goes wrong it'll eat away at you until you're nothing but a shell of your former self. There was nothing more you could've done today, I sensed people alive in the town so you definitely did more than you think. If you measure failure and success based on everybody living then you'll always be a failure. I like to look towards the future to determine if I was successful in something. If it allows the generations that come after us to live, prosper, and be happy then it was a success. Because of you the people will be able to rebuild Naruto, and that counts for something."

The boy's blue eye stared at the ground and Jiraiya sighed, he didn't expect the teen to get it immediately. "Why don't you go catch some fish or something? I'll get the firewood and rustle up the ingredients for a stew."

His student nodded before heading towards the stream and once Jiraiya thought the teen was far enough away he formed a Rasengan and started to modify it. Did the chunin really think a member of the Sannin, legendary ninja, and overall badass would need him to explain a jutsu? Naruto may have the sharingan, but the sage had a seasoned eye and was able to pick apart the jutsu at first glance.

The boy weakened the shell at the top of the Rasengan and the space allowed the chakra to seep out so he had to constantly feed it. Then once it was ready he would overload the ball with chakra. Since it was already flowing out the extra burst of chakra would continue on the designated path before the shell burst outward. Because chakra has an elastic quality the middle of the shell pinched together as the top stretched and exploded so it didn't have any other exit except outwards. Jiraiya let the swirling chakra dissipate and smiled in the direction of his apprentice, 'He doesn't show it all the time, but there's definitely a little bit of you in there too Minato.'

* * *

><p>In the northeastern part of Ta no Kuni there was a steep hill. It had two large rivers on either side and was just over one thousand feet above the earth at its highest point. The 'peak' itself was one hundred and fifty feet long with a width that varied from eighty to one hundred twenty feet, and the base was a little over eight hundred feet long. The waterways were fed from two different springs in the mountains and at some points were nearly half a mile wide before they converged into one river about three quarters of a mile past the hill.<p>

The one easy way to the summit was a path that looped around it with several checkpoints that were heavily guarded. The only other way was straight up the northern slope because the other three had several sheer drops that would make ascent suicide for an army. However a charge up the north slope wasn't much better because the grade was thirty-two degrees at some points. If a commander tried that approach and somehow managed to get past all the traps, archers, and cannons they'd be easy pickings at the top. It was a perfectly defensible position and that's why the new Daimyo chose it for the location of his home.

There was nothing gaudy about the building at the top. It sat in the middle of the widest part was carved from the hill itself. The walls were twenty feet high, and extended the width of the peak at its narrowest points. There were also cannons and catapults dotting its length. The building itself was circular, only fifty feet high, but it was forty feet wide and dug into the ground about twenty feet. The inside was sparsely furnished but filled with enough supplies and weapons to withstand a siege for years. It was also a veritable maze to confuse intruders and guests so they couldn't get a feel for the layout.

The Daimyo of Ta no Kuni, Amakusa Shiro, was related to the previous ruler but never in line for the throne, nor did he want to be. The man was a hair over six feet tall, had sharp, angular features, and brown hair in a ponytail that reached the base of his neck. His slate eyes gleamed with intelligence and cunning, and he sported a finely trimmed goatee to show respect for the Amakusa's customs. The lord was practical as the fortress, his office and wardrobe showed it. The floor was bare stone and the desk was carved from it. The only decorations that hung were a large world map on the left wall, a detailed map of Ta no Kuni on the right, and behind him was the code of law so his guests would see that when looking upon him. No pictures were hung because that would show visitors a potential weakness to exploit, expose his humanity.

The only other thing besides the stone desk was four cushioned chairs, one behind it, and a mannequin that proudly displayed his old special forces armor. Tan shin and forearm guards along with chest armor that was imbued with seals and an Oni mask hung on the wooden doll. The man wore standard grey shinobi pants with the ends tucked into bandages that wrapped up to the middle of his shin, and his black, long sleeved spandex revealed his honed muscles as he reached for the next paper.

As a boy Shiro looked upon his slovenly relatives that basked in the luxuries handed to them with disdain. He was never very close to the other children in the court, but he met people with beliefs he could respect after befriending the guardian clan of the royal family, the Amakusa.

The Land of Rice never adopted the village system, instead the clans pledged allegiance, and taxes, to the Daimyo. They were then given the right to divide his country into territories they would protect and take a tithe from. When the Amakusa demanded the largest and most populated piece the other clans weren't in a position to refuse. Afterwards they were given the honor of guarding the Daimyo's family in recognition of their strength.

The clan was so large and powerful because it had a unique practice. The Amakusa would take in anybody under the age of fifteen, but they only had five years to pass an intense course. Many failed and simply became vassals, including those born into the Amakusa, and performed domestic duties that were needed. They lived a comfortable lifestyle and were still respected as clan members, but those who passed were given the name Amakusa and treated as a blood relative with limitless opportunity. Because of this they didn't specialize in anything, however if you were to ask one they would say winning was the specialty of the Amakusa.

Shiro practically grew up among the clan, spending less and less time with his blood relations as he got older. When the time came for his friends to begin the program he asked the clan leader for permission to take part. The boy was allowed to enter with the condition he would become a vassal if he failed, just like everyone else.

At first the 'royal' child was humored in person, but mocked when they thought he was gone. However Shiro reveled in it, finally he had to earn something instead of getting it handed to him on a golden platter. Their mocking drove the boy harder and he passed in less than two years. Then the degrading whispers became awed ones as Shiro continued to grow until there were only a few Amakusa stronger than him.

His birth family could hardly recognize their forgotten son when he returned with finely honed muscles, tan skin, and the stray whiskers that would eventually grow into the clan's traditional beard. Thankfully the stay was brief. The teen had only come because he was the eldest child and needed to pass the right to succeed their father to his younger brother, and forfeit his inheritance.

The family looked at him strangely after, unable to understand why he gave away his position and wealth. But Shiro didn't understand how people existed as they did, it just didn't seem like living to the teen. Politics was for weak men with deceitful minds. Always surrounded by fake people with honeyed tongues. Stroking anybody's ego to curry favor, then slandering that person to rivals. These frail men were ignorant of the outside world. Never leaving the gates of the wealthy districts in their various gilded palaces except to attend festivals or high court in the capitol once a year, possibly more if necessary. The only travelling nobles did was on the main roads to other large cities, but the pompous fools still claimed to know what was best for the nation they governed.

Shiro was the one who explored the countryside and saw what it had become. The basic infrastructure of Ta no Kuni was decaying and there was more traffic heading out of the country than in. Villages had to be abandoned when dams broke and perfectly good farmland was overgrown because there was nobody to cultivate it. Famine was clearly on the horizon if this trend continued.

Still his grandfather did nothing. Shiro learned from his friends that guarded court the senile fart continued to sign unfair trade agreements while accepting bribes from the countries to line his pockets. Rage almost overtook the shinobi, but his brothers managed to calm him down before doing anything rash. Then that man came.

Orochimaru appeared and offered him and his family, his true family, a chance to change things. The serpentine ninja was a legend and his mere presence was enough to convince the most hesitant Amakusa to join. After the legendary shinobi sided with Ta no Kuni's strongest clan the others got in line before getting taken out. The traitorous member of the Sannin could probably kill most of the smaller clans himself.

What came next was a nearly bloodless execution, except for Shiro's blood relations. With the other clans secretly retracting their support to the Daimyo it was easy for their personal guards to kill them with no repercussions. They were slaughtered to the last child.

Then came the deconstruction all the old noble's mansions, palaces, vacation homes, and any other property before selling everything related to the old regime for funds. Unfortunately the new Daimyo couldn't reverse the trade contracts immediately. That could lead to outside intervention from an angry government, but he had managed to pack away enough to start rebuilding the country and he took to it immediately.

Large numbers of displaced peasants were collected and pooled together on the most fertile land. Agriculture did an immediate one eighty and they were now producing a surplus, although the mass emigration under his grandfather made that easy. Once the agricultural economy started recovering the remaining workers started rebuilding the roads and dams. Soon enough the old farms would be usable again and the country could continue to grow. And the trading agreements expired at the year's end so Shiro could finally demand better prices. Now that he was firmly entrenched the cost of blood wouldn't equal the extra money the other nations would be spending, they would have no choice but to bend. The Daimyo had a content smile on his face that only grew larger before he spoke, "Hello Kotaro."

A jovial looking man with long black hair and a thick beard that extended past his belly button appeared out of nowhere. He had a round face, though it was impossible to tell through his facial hair, and wore a black hakama with white trim around the edges, a white belt, and wooden geta.

His name was Amakusa Kotaro, head of the clan and Shiro's best friend since childhood. Unlike most leaders the man didn't inherit his position, instead the shinobi claimed it by emerging as the clear cut favorite after a series of challenges designed to test one's physical and mental aptitude, "One of these days I will sneak up on you Shiro."

"I don't see why you bother, you helped design the security for the building and know it's almost impossible not to know when somebody is approaching me."

The shinobi made a point of playing with his untamed beard while his friend continued filling out paperwork, "Well when I do sneak up on you it'll expose a flaw and possibly save your life. You should be thanking me for my efforts."

The Daimyo finished his papers and glared at his friend, "Stop doing that, you know why I had to shave it off."

Kotaro hands dropped to his sides, but he started fidgeting uncomfortably, "You have a visitor."

Shiro's eyebrow lifted, "Oh, there were none scheduled today."

The clan leader coughed into his hand, "Well he kind of just appeared outside the building and asked to see you."

The slate eyed man had a sinking feeling in his stomach, "Well out with it, who's here?"

The Daimyo couldn't help but frown after hearing, "Orochimaru-sama," and had to suppress a sigh. It had been such a pleasantly long time since the man's last visit and whenever he showed up it was always to ask seemingly impossible things, but the worst part was it's impossible to say no.

"Send him in."

The doors opened and the head of Otogakure no Sato gracefully strolled in before offering an awkward bow, like he wasn't used to the motion. "It is good to see you well Shiro-sama, too much time has passed since we last spoke. Tell me, is everything about the building acceptable? Just say the word and I'll have my Doton users return."

This was how it always began, the niceties and generous offers that cost the man nothing. However the tables would soon turn and he would 'ask' for some 'insignificant favor.' Still the Daimyo had to tread carefully because the Amakusa was the only clan he knew was absolutely loyal. His family had been the big bully on the block for too long and most, if not all the minor clans would side with the snakelike man over Shiro. "No, everything is perfect. I couldn't ask for more."

"We'll see if you say that after you hear what I'm offering."

Orochimaru summoned a four-foot long snake that was half a foot wide and two scrolls came out of its unhinged jaw. The twisted shinobi picked up one with an amused grin and unsealed the contents. The two Amakusa's eyes shot open when the smoke cleared and sizable portion of the office was filled with gold ingots and nuggets of various sizes. They were speechless for nearly a minute before Shiro managed to speak, "What, what is this?"

The snake summoner dismissed his pet and placed the other scroll on the smooth stone desk before taking a seat, "I'm glad you asked. This is approximately forty percent of the gold in my possession, that other scroll contains another fifty. I haven't been keeping track of the minor loans I've taken out but I'll assume this pays it off while giving me some credit, and I'd wager that other scroll makes it unlimited. I know the trade contracts are coming up and you're assuming the other nations will cave at the negotiation table after such favorable trade contracts for so long…"

The serpentine man let the thought settle for a moment, "However if you begin to improve your infrastructure now it can give the country some leverage. Discreetly turn that into liquid capitol, then buy a large amount of concrete from Iwagakure and pay up front. After get some lumber from Fire country and iron from Tetsu no Kuni (Land of Iron) with cash as well. After showing you have money and will take the best offer other countries will listen. I can assure you Hi no Kuni has no desire to see the Land of Earth gain a wealthy trading partner."

Shiro and Kotaro stared at each other, the two friends knew each other so long they could almost have full conversations with their eyes. It was another deal with the devil, but one had already been made. It's not like he could steal their souls twice. The Daimyo nodded, "Thank you for your generosity, but can I ask why you need unlimited credit?"

Orochimaru chuckled, "Kukuku, of course you may Shiro-dono. We are friends after all." An awkward silence settled over the three before the pale man said, "Well, are you going to ask?"

Kotaro's smile became strained as he tried to interpose, "I think we're a little overwhelmed at this… I don't even know what to call it. We've never been very material, but this is too much for any man to take in. It could tempt even the stoutest of monks. Would you please explain why you're just giving it over Orochimaru-sama?"

"I believe I gave permission to the Daimyo to ask, no?"

The Amakusa leader stopped smiling for what seemed like the first time in years, or the last time he saw the snake, but stepped back when his friend coughed, "Why do you need unlimited credit Orochimaru-dono?"

The serpentine man nodded towards the world map, "Because Ta no Kuni never formed a shinobi village it hasn't been a player on the world stage, but I have seen the birth and death of two great wars. Believe me when I say the winds of change are blowing and the landscape looking more uncertain, the fourth war is on the horizon. We are in a tenuous position because of the treaty that ties us to the Land of Fire and its allies. They may not appreciate the fact that I am in charge of the village and I doubt Iwa or Kumo would sign a treaty with us during the war. Otogakure and the Land of Rice could very easily find itself standing alone in the middle of giants."

Orochimaru stood and approached the Daimyo's armor before lightly running a finger over the fine metal, "You could be wearing this quite soon Shiro-dono… I am taking steps towards rectifying the problem, but without being allied to a great nation we wouldn't have enough steel or coal to arm ourselves for a long war. The major countries rose to prominence because of their natural advantages, the smaller ones were cut from the leftovers."

The former Konoha-nin seemed to glide over to the world map and pointed at Ta's neighbor to the northwest, "Yu no Kuni has little natural resources like us, but it's blocking the way to Shimo no Kuni which holds large ore, coal, and lumber deposits. Not to mention it would give us access to the other ocean without having to circumvent Kumo."

"I'm proposing a secret war against Yu no Kuni and Shimo no Kuni with the latter being the prize. Yu's shinobi village shouldn't even be called that anymore, and the standing army is weak because it's surrounded by vices, they can barely keep control of regular criminals. Oto could easily steamroll through there without open conflict. All we have to do is stir up the populous. Start sabotaging roads, dams, manufacture fake disasters, supply bandit and nuke-nin cells, anything to make life hard. Once it becomes apparent their village can't do anything they will naturally hire us because of the discounted price of missions. But why do I need more money?"

The man's golden eyes narrowed as they stared at the gem he so coveted, "Shimo will be a little more difficult to subdue. The village is small in numbers, but the environment and proximity to Kamanari no Kuni have hardened them. However I have confidence we can keep it isolated and win without major cost before subduing the population and setting up a governor. They absolutely hate Kumo and won't want to reveal any weakness to them, but they could get a message to Konoha by sea. Oh my you are importing all that lumber, steel, and concrete. You could easily build some ships and bases. It's such a coincidence too because I already have a fleet admiral in mind."

Shiro was torn, this put him in serious danger. If the major nations found out they were trying to subdue two countries the intervention would be swift and brutal. The alpha dogs didn't want another one to grow up. Still, if Orochimaru could pull this off Rice Field Country would be a big dog too. The resources of Yu and Shimo, their population, and former shinobi would make Ta no Kuni an elite nation, and if it failed he might be able to make Orochimaru the scapegoat.

After considering it for several minutes the brown haired man nodded, "You have your credit, but I want a detailed strategy, progress reports, and a complete record of your expenses as they develop."

The snakelike man inclined his head, "Of course, you are too kind Shiro-dono. I shall be in touch."

The Daimyo let out a sigh of relief after the deadly shinobi sunk into the floor and his barriers indicated he left their range. Still, if someone could bypass the system Shiro would bet on Orochimaru. The Amakusa's system never sensed the man until he passed the final and most powerful detection ward. "You play a dangerous game old friend."

The brown haired man stroked his trimmed goatee out of habit, "We already had a foot in brother and he wasn't going to let us take it out. At least this way we get something."

Kotaro nodded absently but still looked troubled, "He may bring us to new heights, but Orochimaru is not the foundation I want to build a country on. He doesn't seem very stable."

Shiro could only nod because he completely agreed, but they were trapped. The Daimyo handed him the other scroll before saying, "I doubt this is ninety percent of the gold in his possession, but its still more liquid capitol then we've ever had. Get somebody in here to seal the rest of this up and put these in a safe place… places. Also get somebody to look over my armor to see if the snake did anything, and if not have them wash it until his stink is gone."

The bearded shinobi gave a respectful bow and put the scroll in his sleeve before heading out to fulfill his orders. Once he was gone the Daimyo slumped in his chair and sighed, it was still strange giving orders to Kotaro. Shiro reached into his hidden drawer before pouring himself a generous saucer of Sake and sipping. The one good thing about this job was the booze.

* * *

><p>So it ends, and like all my other chapters it went longer than planned. The hardest part (and reason) was definitely the Isaribi Naruto fight scene. The girl had gobs of raw power, but no training. Not to mention the Jinchuuriki could relate to her and didn't want to just kill her. That's why she was able to put up a fight, but if Naruto wanted to end it at the start he could've. I think I did a good job, but let me know.<p>

Also if you're curious I'd put the blonde at high chunin level around this time. So compared to his peers only Lee, Neji, and Gaara are around the same level. Although with proper strategy somebody like Shikamaru could win in the right circumstances. Maybe Sakura or Sai too because they knows him so well.

The Shiro and Kotaro scene was so long because they could potentially, if you guys liked them, become more involved. I think it would be interesting to explore the power struggle between Orochimaru and them. But Kotaro and Shiro will be back regardless so I wanted to describe them, the government of Rice Field Country, and flush out their character a little bit. Also they're high jounin level, a shade below elite. To give you a better idea Kakashi would win 9 out of 10 times against either individually (the tenth he slipped on a banana peel in the deadliest warrior simulation program), but they'd run over him in a _**straight up**_ 2 v 1 fight. And before anyone calls me a communist… well I'm not a communist. They just used some things like collective farming and state funded work to get the country on track, even though those don't work in real life. The goal is to restore the villages and cities so life can return to normal.

Also hoped you guys like the Rasengan variation, I was watching some Naruto Jiraiya training scenes and watching it blow up in his face inspired me. Then there's the whole seals idea. It won't be like he can magically make them appear everywhere with a thought and do everything. There will be a process to learning the technique and making it work. It won't be easy at all and will need massive overuse from his Kage Bunshin, so they really can't work on anything else. Naruto is probably the only person who can use it. And though I keep saying anything is possible with fuuinjutsu, but it's a complicated art so he can only delve into so many areas. Even Minato only got into two areas so it won't get out of control. I will also explain the concept more in theory later. I won't just say it's my story and I can write it how I want cuz like whatever, whatever I do what I want… Anyways the whole thing is based of Kishimoto's universe so I'm trying to use his laws, or at least the ones he doesn't contradict later. I will say the concept involves some ideas taken from the rasengan… or the rasengan came from a concept related to that move, so there is a basis and it sounds plausible, I think. Like I said, got the idea from the Tsuchigumo arc and ran with it. Hopefully it's not too farfetched, although I am bracing for the hatemail.

I'm also beginning to understand why Onoki said Madara wouldn't need anyone's help at the Kage Summit.

-Operaman Bye Bye

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><p>Jutsu List<p>

Futon: Daitoppa

Kaima Form- The user transforms into a sea monster with several advantages for marine combat. Once transformed the user can breathe underwater, sharp claws and teeth allow the Kaima to efficiently attack opponents in the water, the webbed appendages and fins allowed for increased speed, and the user and can shoot water blasts from its mouth. However they can't do that too much or the body dries out.

Mizu no Tatsumaki

Suiton: Hahonryuu

Pulling Oxygen into Lungs-can be done by Futon users to breathe under water, but not over long periods of time because of the inefficiency and buildup of C02.

Rasengan Variation- Because of the weak point in the 'top' of the chakra shell the strands leak out of it and set up a pre-existing flow instead of random blades grinding together. Because the chakra leaks the technique needs a steady supply. Once ready the user will flood as much chakra as possible into the technique. Because of the current the new chakra will flow outwards and stretch the shell out, causing the middle to pinch. Eventually their will be too much chakra and the casing will explode allowing a veritable storm of chakra blades that can stop or deflect most attacks. Not a lot of offensive capabilities because of short burst, shallow cuts are the only result but there is always the chance of hitting a vein or artery, but imagine it with wind chakra…

Doton: Dorosandon (Earth Release: Mudshot) C rank- The user launches a sticky mud ball(s) at the opponent that can bind, choke or create sticky patches on the ground for traps.

Toton no Jutsu (Transparency Technique) D-rank- Jiraiya's first original jutsu, it allows the user to become invisible as long as there is no sudden movements. Interestingly enough it was the first technique he taught to his sensei, the Sandaime Hokage. The boy created it for the purpose of spying on girls in the hot springs.


	29. Rise of the Serpent

Second time in a row that I'm breaking the promise, but they also updated with that new Image Manager thing and apparently people are more likely to read the note at the top so I figured I'd announce it here, from now on only important things will be announced before the chapter. Anyways you can now have covers on stories so I'm looking for anyone that has a scrap of artistic talent (that's a scrap more than me) and wants to design one or more covers that I can put up as the story progresses. Even though there are some specific details I'd like to see in different covers I'm not going to list any of them because I want to hear what your ideas are. The people I really like will get contacted about the specific ones I want because they'll have some spoilery pieces. I will accept and review any submission so pick your favorite part of the story, draw a cover, and send it to me. If it's good I'll post it, if not I'll politely decline or ask for a redraw. It says the best images use a width to height ratio of 6/9 and a minimum 300x450. If nobody submits anything don't expect a cover, my drawing skills consist of staying inside the lines.

-Operaman

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><p>Kabuto stood just outside the entrance to Otogakure's main base nearly two months after assembling the requested shinobi. He was reclined against an outcropping of rocks and appeared to waiting for something, even though nothing seemed to have changed the teen shoved himself upright and pushed the slipping glasses up his nose while saying, "Hello Orochimaru-sama."<p>

The former Konoha-nin seemed to float through the earth until his feet emerged, "I see you got my message then, excellent."

The medic bowed low before nodding, "Of course, although you were gone longer than expected. I hope you didn't run into any trouble."

A pale hand waved dismissively before the unasked question was casually pushed aside, "Oh no, I just stopped by to have a chat with the Daimyo. Since we're both important men in this country I think it's beneficial to have a healthy working relationship. After that I had to talk to some new friends, but never mind that. Tell me, what have you learned about Isaribi-chan?"

Kabuto was curious about these new 'friends,' the snake summoner's previous ones were the Akatsuki after all. Still, he knew better than to revisit a subject after it was changed. "Something quite interesting actually. Amachi managed to isolate an enzyme that triggers the transformation and injected her with it, however I'd wager the batch he used on himself was a more refined formula. The girl's cells were literally waiting for the influx of power from the seal, but without it she couldn't control the transformation on a fine level. I managed to isolate the code in her DNA and replicate the process, unfortunately only two in nine survived. On top of that half turned into mindless beasts after the metamorphosis and lost the intelligence to change back."

Orochimaru nodded and considered the possibilities, 'Having the ability to almost guarantee survival of the curse seal could be a major boon, however it took Amachi years to get to that point and his formula might only produce the Kaima transformation. Isaribi and Suigetsu are more than enough to control the seas right now, and I'd rather have Kabuto focusing on other things. Amachi was one of the better scientists working for me, despite his lack of common sense.'

The nuke-nin opened the hidden entrance after making his decision, "Save the notes and store them somewhere safe. There is potential in that, but it's not a priority for someone with all the time in the world. Now fetch me a prisoner for the ritual. Have them ready within the hour."

After entering the base they saw a tan shinobi who immediately bowed. He had light brown hair that stopped at the base of his neck and a lavender vest with a matching scarf wrapped tightly around his neck, with both ends tucked in. The spy straightened his torso revealing his bare chest under the clothing and a roll of bandages wrapped around his abdomen. He also wore black bracers that went up his forearm, tan pants, and dark brown sandals. Kabuto glared at the man. He made sure nobody else got the message, so how did the bat user know to follow him? Oto's leader tittered at his second's ire before greeting the newcomer, "Hello Rinji, thank you for fetching Guren."

The brown haired shinobi put an arm behind his back and gave a half bow in response, "Anything for you Orochimaru-sama."

"Oh, then perhaps you could prepare a prisoner for me and bring him to Medical Bay S." Brown sandals scraped against the ground as he hastily turned to carry out the request, but the golden-eyed man interrupted, "So eager, just make sure they're the strongest available."

With another more bow Rinji headed towards the prisoner's quarters while Kabuto asked, "Why did you let him do that?"

The serpentine man smirked and lectured the medic like a child, "It's simple really, he feels more important now and it increases his loyalty. Why, did I make you jealous Kabuto-kun?"

The teen's head shook side to side as he answered the mocking question, "Of course not Orochimaru-sama, I just wondered if you were going to let him watch the procedure."

The traitorous member of the Sannin actually laughed while navigating the corridors, with his long black haired billowing behind him as they headed towards the medical bay. "I won't deny him if he longs to witness my true glory. Now prepare the surgery table. Today is a big day, so many things to do, so many possibilities."

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><p>Rinji watched the victor separate the head from his last opponent's body with the metal leg of a table he wielded like a club. The remaining survivors had tried to overpower the juggernaut with a combined assault, however the strategy was ineffective and they were efficiently slaughtered one by one. The bat user had walked into the prisoner's mess hall during mealtime and proclaimed the last one standing could leave, which ignited a brutal free for all. Some tried to gang up and overpower the shinobi at first, but he easily dispatched them and their corpses served as a deterrent to the others. All the prisoner's chakra had been sealed off so the most physically capable ones held an advantage in the fight, but that's what he wanted. The 'winner' had white hair and was half a foot taller than Rinji, quite muscular too. The smaller man still took the lead without concern and walked towards their fate. He forced the prisoner to prostrate after entering the Medical Bay before bowing himself.<p>

Orochimaru stood and gestured for the brown haired man to move aside before spreading his arms. When Rinji was clear the serpentine man opened his mouth while looking to the ceiling. Pale skin fell like a discarded costume as a large white snake with spiky black hair and the nuke-nin's features burst from his mouth before swallowing the horrified prisoner. The serpent twisted and turned on itself after the meal and progressively got smaller until just the white haired prisoner was standing there, although the predatorial gold eyes clearly pointed out the body's new inhabitant. Rinji was awestruck as Orochimaru's vessel nearly collapsed, but Kabuto caught the man before that could happen. He put the limp body onto a table and strapped a mask over his mouth and nose.

The silver haired medic didn't appear phased by the events as he set the limiter on the valve before opening it, but the teen's mind was racing. As the drug took affect Kabuto spaced out slightly while remembering the orders Sasori gave him on the Tenchi Bridge. Akatsuki wanted the snake summoner dead, and this was his best chance to complete the task. Because of the snakelike man's awesome resistance to drugs and poisons they had to invent an incredibly potent concoction every transfer just to knock him out. A slight overdose of these deadly mixtures would do anyone in, even Orochimaru. He just needed to loosen the limiter on the end and act like nothing was wrong, he could probably use Rinji as a scapegoat to appease Guren and Kimimaro too.

Unbeknownst to the other two occupants Orochimaru kept his consciousness in a small white snake, less than a foot long and an inch and a half wide, inside the discarded skin of his old body. Slit pupils were locked onto the teen's hand, truly curious to see what he would do. The serpent eagerly waited the choice because it would determine the course of his ascension, the direction of all his plans hinged on this moment. Kabuto's fingers twitched several times near the lever before they gripped a scalpel and started the procedure that would better facilitate the transfer to his new vessel. Once the procedure was done and his new body bandaged the monster made its move. Orochimaru left behind orders before transferring his consciousness to the receptacle on the table.

An ear splitting screech pierced the air as Kabuto turned in surprise to see a smaller version of Orochimaru's snake form burst out of his shed skin. It moved so fast the medic had no time to react as the creature became airborne. His eyes closed and the shinobi felt the air being displaced next to his head before a muffled cry of pain forced the boy out of his stupor. He turned in surprise and saw Rinji trying to pull the snake out of his throat by its tail, but the fight was futile from the beginning. His attempts barely slowed the creature down and it disappeared into his esophagus. After settling in the bat user's stomach it pierced the lining and melted so its DNA would merge with the unfortunate victim. Rinji howled in agony as the real Orochimaru weakly sat up and slid off the table before hobbling towards the door, "Help me to the throne room and gather everybody there, it's a little too noisy in here."

Kabuto escorted his master to the chamber and gently lowered him into the cushioned chair, but before he pulled away the bandaged shinobi hissed into his ear, "Congratulations on passing the test, Kabuto-kun." The boy jumped back in surprise and Orochimaru chuckled mockingly, "Did you think I didn't know about your last meeting with my former partner, and that nasty little order to kill me. I don't like the fact these measures of your loyalty were necessary... but you passed and I am glad. Now run along."

The teen opened the door but stopped when he heard, "Would you like to know why you didn't fail Kabuto?" He turned and nodded so the man continued, "Because you're scared, if I was gone you wouldn't have a direction and that terrifies you. You'd just be a lost little boy without his mommy. So the little mouse made himself useful to the snake hoping to not get eaten, and make no mistake about it my little rodent. When the day comes that you are more useful to me dead I will devour you like the fool back there. Now go and fetch everybody."

Kabuto quietly scurried away to carry out the order as Rinji's pained cries echoed in his head.

* * *

><p>Ranmaru stared curiously at a bandaged man he knew was Orochimaru, but also wasn't at the same time. Kimimaro had no reaction, except for the slight feeling of disappointment that he shared with a woman across the room, so the ninja in training didn't make a big deal out of it.<p>

The boy had changed greatly these last three months. The Kiri native's pale skin had taken on a healthy tan and small muscles were starting to show on his bare arms. The student now wore an outfit that resembled his idol's, black shinobi pants with holsters on both legs, a small rope belt, and a sleeveless lavender shirt that matched his hair. Ranmaru also had a wooden bo staff on his back that was about three feet long and blackened by ash. It served as a walking stick when needed, although not much anymore. He had made remarkable strides in his recovery since receiving the curse seal. With proper nutrition and a strict exercise regime enforced by the Kaguya his health had greatly improved. Now he looked like a small kid his age instead of a five year old.

He stared up and Kimimaro and would've giggled at the look on his sensei's face as he glowered at a kunoichi across the room, but the Kaguya had made it clear that in public they had to remain serious despite the familiarity between them. The boy adjusted his gaze and looked at the woman who was the recipient of the teen's ire. He wondered if she turned Kimimaro down for a date request, even a child with no concept of the word could tell she was beautiful.

The kunoichi's light blue hair was pulled into a spiked ponytail on the back of her head, except for two long strands that framed her angular face. She had dark eyes that contrasted her pale skin, while glaring frostily at the pale teen, and ruby red lipstick accentuated her pouting lips. The woman wore a green dress over a red full-body jumpsuit, brown leather gloves that had intricate designs etched into them, and matching boots that had the same patterns etched into them. The dress' left sleeve came down to her wrist while the right one stopped at the elbow, and it had a thick white collar made of fur that covered her neck.

Another white haired teen that stood alone against the wall and revealed his sharpened teeth as he grinned wolfishly at Isaribi, causing her to blush and avert her gaze. A redheaded teenage girl around the same age as them, with black-rimmed glasses and red eyes, was staring worriedly at a large orange haired boy that was a couple years older standing near the bone user. The child wondered why though, he had a serene smile and seemed incredibly calm.

The only other people in the room were three boys that were about the age of the other teens. They all wore sleeveless grey tunics with four crystals drawn around the hem, black pants, black sandals, and black bracers on their forearms. The largest boy was quite fleshy and had two three inch stripes shaved out of his head, leaving a Mohawk and two orange strips above his ears. His narrow reddish orange eyes stared at the tan boy with six arms, all with bracers, and dark brown hair pulled into a ponytail. He had black eyes that were staring intently at his hands while playing a three way game of Jan Ken Pon with himself. The third was a rather effeminate boy with pale skin, grey hair that came down to his shoulders and covered his right eye, a necklace of purple prayer beads, and green . The ninja was ignoring them and appeared to be so deep in thought he was having a conversation with himself.

The room was blanketed by an awkward silence that was finally broken when the door opened revealing a peculiar sight, and among Oto shinobi that was saying something. A porcelain man that had scales covering his hairless body stepped into the room and looked at the occupants with the same golden eyes as Orochimaru, although the creature's were glossy and vacant instead of calculating and ravenous. The only thing it had on was a pair of tattered tan pants that were completely destroyed just below the knees, and stretched tightly around his thighs.

The albino monster was six foot ten with a wingspan of seven feet tipped by wickedly sharp black claws. He also had a matching set on his three hooked toes with large dew claws coming off the back of his feet to complete the set. Dripping four-inch fangs protruded from a lipless mouth that had a forked tongue rapidly snaking in and out, but those weren't his only, or most dangerous, natural weapons. A large snake sprouted from the base of his spine like a tail. It was eight inches wide and the length kept changing while it swayed side to side behind the thing's bald head.

Their forked tongues were synchronized while flitting in and out and Orochimaru spoke through the bandages, which muffled his voice. "Say hello to Rinji everyone, the man wanted to become my second so I gave him a chance. It appeared he survived, but couldn't manage to control my DNA. I guess he just can't measure up to those gathered here."

He smirked under his bandages as they all preened at the compliment, "Oh well. His wish will be granted, but I doubt he'll have the mental faculties left to enjoy it. Now the poor thing is no better than a mindless drone, albeit one that's considerably faster, stronger, has the ability to use venom, heal at a faster rate, and many other wonderful things. Now that everyone is here we shall begin."

The room's occupants paid the transformed man no heed as he blankly stared at a wall, "Things are rapidly shifting in the political landscape and opportunity is ripe for those who can seize it. The great nations gaze at rivals across the continent while strengthening their militaries, a tiny nation like Ta no Kuni is nothing but an inconvenience in their eyes. We will take advantage of that lax guard. From this point forward Oto's army shall be divided into three divisions, the first headed by Guren."

The woman in the green dress looked honored before giving Kimimaro a haughty smirk. "You shall be my crystal sword. Your first task is to covertly sabotage Yu no Kuni. Hire nuke-nin, supply bandits, use disguised troops, I don't care about the methods. Just wreak havoc on the country and kill any Hot Water shinobi that's seen. I have lowered our mission prices so once it becomes too much they will surely use us because of proximity. The nobles I've been talking to will help that along too. This is where the second division led by Kimimaro comes in. He shall be my bone shield."

The Kaguya had no outwards reaction except the slight upturning of his lips as he sensed Guren's fury at his position, "We shall pull our shinobi out as you go in and subdue the rogue elements still active in the Land of Hot Water. While you're doing this Guren will use the northern part of the country as a highway into Shimo no Kuni. Her troops will be escorting the third division led by Isaribi."

Orochimaru looked at the surprised girl directly before continuing, "You two will discreetly lead your soldiers to the largest harbor on the eastern seaboard and capture it. Once it is done Isaribi shall fortify the city and consolidate as many boats as possible before setting up a blockade. The official reason shall be piracy to any visiting ships. You will be authorized to pay market value and safely transport the goods to land, but the true purpose will be stopping any distress calls from getting out. Shimo won't reach out to Kumogakure because they're more likely to come as conquerors instead of saviors, their only real option is Konoha. I can assure you they won't slip through Ta, or Yu when we're done with it. After the ships are in place and the city secure Guren will unleash her army on the countryside and break their spirit by any means necessary."

The man paused to make sure everyone was following him before continuing, "While this is going on Kabuto will take over the responsibility of supplying the bandits and nuke-nin in Yu no Kuni so our reputation and influence continues to grow. I will set up a puppet government once the instability is ripe, and Kimimaro shall move on to Shimo as well. His duty there will be to stop the uprisings from rebel factions in captured areas while recruiting so Guren can push forward quickly. Hopefully we can install a governor and begin harvesting their resources in three to four years at the most."

The serpentine shinobi nodded towards the unmentioned occupants, "The others in this room shall be lieutenants. Karin and Jirobo shall be under Guren's command." He turned towards their appointed leader, "Her chakra sensing abilities will be invaluable on the front lines and his earth techniques shall be your shield." The pudgy teen had no reaction to the announcement and redheaded girl glanced at the woman while scrutinizing her chakra. However she couldn't get a feel for the commander, almost like the kunoichi's chakra was just taking up space.

He then looked at the Kaguya, "Kimimaro's lieutenants shall be Ranmaru, Juugo, and Kidomaru. The boy's eyes shall be invaluable when searching for rebels, as will Juugo's ability with birds. And your former subordinates ability to capture enemies alive will be a boon for capture, interrogation, and possible recruitment purposes. Show the prisoners how much better life can be on our side." Ranmaru beamed at the pale Kaguya and Juugo also seemed pleased about the assignment. That was the exact opposite reaction of the six-armed boy who looked like he was getting hung within the hour as he eyed the older teenagers.

Finally he looked at his most recent acquisition, "Isaribi shall be in command of Suigetsu, Sakon, and Ukon." The sharktoothed boy looked eager while the effeminate teenager sized the girl up.

He turned towards her subordinates, "She hasn't had much shinobi training, but her potential far outstrips both of yours. Help her along and I'm sure everything will go swimmingly."

The former member of the Sannin turned towards Guren, "I hope you don't mind but I'd like to make Isaribi your pupil. She could learn much in your care."

The crystal user bowed, "It would be an honor Orochimaru-sama." The blue haired woman glared at the two assigned to her, "Besides, I can sense the incompetence of my lieutenants and already planned to correct the problem."

He gave a quick nod towards her before dismissing them, "Excellent, I leave you to prepare and will have more information about the assignments delivered later. Now if you don't mind, I'm feeling quite tired."

Everybody but Rinji walked out the door. Once it closed the transformed man stared vacantly at the sealed portal and only knew he had to protect the man behind him at all costs.

* * *

><p>It had been four months since Naruto had last seen Konoha and they were camping in Ta no Kuni. The stars were twinkling brightly and a merry fire crackled as master and pupil ate dinner. They had been moving at a slow pace recently, but that was because Naruto's training had intensified like Jiraiya said it would. The chunin mastered the Toton no Jutsu in no time and continued to plow ahead in fuuinjutsu with help from his father's book. The sage even had to send a toad back to Konoha to get Uzumaki sealing scrolls to fill in some gaps.<p>

The hermit had taken the limits off the Kage Bunshin training and nearly every day there was a veritable army of them working on applying different seals to things with chakra. It was more complicated than it sounded because the chakra had to be molded into the shape of the seal before application. To make things harder he had to increase the flow and density just before contact to 'brand' the target. Fortunately the blonde already had some experience with shape manipulation so his clones were making progress, albeit slow. It really picked up when the copies stopped practicing with exploding seals. Instead he took some inspiration from Tayuya and created a seal that launches a sonic boom.

While his bunshin worked on one style of chakra manipulation Naruto worked on perfecting the next futon exercise. Whenever they stopped to train Jiraiya raised a platform from the earth and created a small waterfall for him to work on. He also trained his physical skills and sparred with the sennin daily, although it was more of a glorified asskicking. However the most important part of his development came when he finished training. Every night the two would have a conversation over the fire.

Even though he acted like a large child, Jiraiya was well travelled and had met many different people in dozens of countries, big and small, with varying traditions and beliefs. The sage would regal the boy with different stories that highlighted them and prod his mind with leading questions to get an opinion. For the most part he was quite surprised at how deep and well thought out some of the answers were, they weren't things people spewed out after a couple seconds of reflection.

The hermit put down his bowl and let out a healthy burp before starting another discussion, "You'd never guess this in a million years, but more of the military budget goes into spying on our allies than enemies." The blonde cocked his eyebrow in response and the sage elaborated, "I know that sounds assbackwards but everybody knows that Iwa wants to wipe us out, yet Kusa can tell us anything while doing something else."

Naruto's blue eye stared into the flames, "I kind of understand, but it's still stupid. I heard an example in Takigakure... that was only the higher ups right? The shinobi were just following orders?"

The sage smiled at his godson and shook his head, "It's not that simple my boy, nothing is. The Hokage only has power because we give it to him. The old man may be impossibly strong for his age, but eventually he'd fall to numbers. Hell, I know a couple Jounin that could take him down with a competent team for backup. Following orders is never an excuse Naruto, there are always things more important than the mission… although it's not an easy thing to decide. Look up the story of the white fang someday."

"What about our alliance with Suna?" Immediately questioned the chunin. He understood what his sensei was trying to get at, but it just seemed fundamentally wrong.

"That's the most remarkable thing I've ever seen. There's been nothing like it before and I hope it paves the way towards more solid alliances in the future. However you're only looking at the surface again. Who's the Suna chick that was put on your team?"

JThe man was giving Naruto a knowing look through the explanation, which threw him off for a moment. "Temari-chan…" the boy trailed off before his eye flashed with recognition, "She's the Kazekage's daughter."

Jiraiya picked up right where his student left off, "And was put on the same team as the Yondaime Hokage's son, who's also one of the last known Uzumaki to boot. Did you know that the Hyuuga, Aburame, and Inuzuka heirs went to Suna to team up with his oldest son? A lot of the younger shinobi were handpicked by the old man and the Kazekage because of their future positions or influence over their peers. Adults are already set in their ways, but a kid's opinion can be swayed pretty easily, especially by a well liked one."

The blonde couldn't help but frown after hearing that piece of information, "It sounds kind of dirty when you say it like that."

Jiraiya let out a boisterous laugh, "I guess you're right. That's why the path to peace will be challenging as long as the shinobi system continues. I think the only way for everyone to live together is to understand one another, but that's impossible if your motives are cloaked in shadow. How can anybody accept a hand extended in friendship that traditionally stabs allies in the back? Have you heard about the Tragedy of Yosuga Pass?"

The blonde shook his head and Jiraiya told the story, "After the third war Iwagakure and Kirigakure were allies, and to further seal the alliance they each sent a squad a joint mission to retrieve stolen documents from a Kumo team. The mission was a success, but after completing the objective Kiri was betrayed so Iwa could take them for itself and blame the Kumo team. It didn't go as planned though, one Mist shinobi escaped the ambush and lived to tell the tale. Ever since the villages have harbored a bitter hatred towards one another, and it started a cold war that's spawned many proximity battles across the continent using nuke-nin, minor villages, and terrorist cells. The conflict has died off recently, but I'd bet my life savings that a Kiri-nin would stop at nothing to hunt down an Iwa-nin if they thought one was close by, and vice-versa. When that happens the cycle of hatred is perpetuated because their loved ones will seek revenge, but if they succeed then it starts over again. It's a vicious circle that feeds itself."

Naruto looked at his godfather with awe, he'd never heard Jiraiya be that serious about anything. The sage seemed unaware of his student's quiet astonishment though and continued, "Still, I hope to find a way to overcome those obstacles and spread peace. If I fail I'm going to entrust my dream to you Naruto, and if you can't do it then I hope you'll pass it on to your children, your many children."

The man trailed off with a lecherous giggle and the boy saluted his sensei while a grin split his face, "Yes sir, you can count on me."

"Ah, your smile is my salvation Gaki. Now douse the fire and get some sleep, we have an unscheduled stop to make tomorrow."

The blonde looked at Jiraiya strangely, "Unscheduled, is anything scheduled? I thought we were wandering."

Jiraiya opened is tent before letting out an exaggerated yawn and laughing awkwardly, "Ha, ha. Well look at the time, I'm going to bed. Goodnight Naruto."

* * *

><p>It was early afternoon the next day when the two walked into a town filled with traditional architecture. A majority of the buildings were old and rickety, but it was apparent that most of the village was getting an overhaul. Almost immediately a young man with violet hair and pale green eyes stopped working and walked over to greet them. He was wearing grey pants and a green t-shirt that had cream-colored sleeves with a matching collar while an inviting smile stretched across his cheeks. "Hello, you must be Jiraiya-sama, my name is Arashi and I'm the leader of the Fuuma clan. Kotohime said you might show up at anytime."<p>

The silver haired man showed no reaction, but was really quite confused that the Fuuma knew the identity his informant was, or that he even had one. Although the most recent messages indicated that the clan was becoming disillusioned with Orochimaru she still shouldn't have said anything. He just played it off like it was expected and nodded "Yes, I was hoping to talk to her."

A girl slightly younger than Naruto ran out of one of the better-kept houses, she had long orange hair that was under a blue hat and her brown eyes varied shades. The teen was wearing army green pants, a dull lavender vest that had slightly darker collar and stitching around the armholes, and purple forearm bands. Kunai holsters were strapped to her shapely thighs and she moved with grace that spoke of shinobi training. The teen also offered a kind smile to the duo and bowed, "I'm Fuuma Sasame. Nee-chan's group is on duty for a couple of weeks so she's at Northgate. You'll have to go there."

Jiraiya nodded, "Thank you Sasame-chan, but how-"

The man trailed off when it became apparent she wasn't paying attention to him. The brown-eyed girl turned her sparkling orbs onto Naruto and had a light blush on her face, "Are you really Jiraiya-sama's apprentice?"

When the boy nodded her blush deepened and she pulled out a kunai. The chunin noted that it was made from ANBU grade material when the light didn't reflect off the metal, but he didn't give it much thought. They were more expensive than regular equipment and almost never given to genin or chunin, however she was acting very familiar with the clan leader so was probably an exception.

"Umm, I really liked the movie that just came out, and uh… I think you're really strong. Can I maybe show you my moves and get some pointers?"

The black fabric of Naruto's mask shifted as he smiled beneath it, "Of course, take me to the practice area. I love training."

The girl grabbed his wrist and was about to take off, but Jiraiya interrupted before they got too far, "Remember what we talked about last night Naruto." The chunin's eye narrowed in suspicion, but Arashi caught it. The renowned author immediately put on a perverted grin and gave his godson two thumbs up, "Lots of children my boy, lots of children."

Sasame immediately dropped his wrist and Naruto face-faulted before he sprung up and angrily waved a fist at the lecher, "Dammit Ero-sennin. Why'd you have to make it awkward like that?"

The orangette started scurrying away and the blonde stormed behind her. He also noticed the Fuuma's face twist in suspicion and knew when his sensei was being serious. The shinobi decided keep his guard up and eye roving.

As the two walked away the lavender haired man coughed into his hand, "That was rather inappropriate Jiraiya-sama. They're both too young to think about that sort of thing."

"Old enough to get it up, old enough to put it in. That's what I always say."

The shinobi punctuated his sentence with two thumbs up and Arashi decided to forget the last minute of the conversation happened. "Right, well like my cousin said, Kotohime went to Northgate because it was her shift. Although some people in the base are not from our clan, we are the majority and hold positions of power there. We're stealing from Orochimaru to rebuild our village, he promised to raise us to glory, but we've been left to rot and wither instead. For now the Fuuma will continue to play along, but our plan is to break away at the first opportunity."

The sage gave a noncommittal grunt, "Alright, but I still want to talk to Kotohime because she knows what I want to know. So if I could get directions I'll be off and hopefully back before tomorrow morning. You won't mind watching Naruto?"

The Fuuma nodded, "That shouldn't be a problem, he seems like a cheerful boy." He then turned and pointed to the southeast, "Despite its name the base lies in that direction. After twenty miles there's a large spire of rock, you literally can't miss it. The entrance to the base in on the north side and will open after tapping the exact center three times."

Jiraiya nodded and set off. He wanted to leave a Kage Bunshin behind, but the sennin felt eyes watching from everywhere and was betting they would follow him for quite awhile. He had faith in his apprentice though. The boy was a crafty devil and a real bastard when he wanted to be. The Fuuma would have their hands full if they tried anything, or possibly cut off by that nasty blade. "Thanks again, I'll be back as soon as possible."

Arashi gave a cheery wave as the man started running towards the base, but his smile turned sinister when he disappeared, "No rush, take your time."

* * *

><p>Naruto walked back through town with Sasame as his sharp eye roved around. Obviously Jiraiya knew something he didn't, but the boy hoped his teacher was wrong. The girl by his side was nothing but nice and he had fun all day, yet something definitely wasn't right. The town didn't look like the damage happened recently in a storm or attack, instead the buildings appeared to have simply decayed over time. Not performing basic maintenance indicated the clan's funds weren't exactly solid, but Sasame wasn't the only one with carbon steel equipment despite the hefty cost. The lumber was also expensive, Naruto had practiced sealing long enough to notice they were using chakra treated wood. It had more resistance to attacks and decay than regular lumber and was specially made for sealing. The cost was ridiculously high for just one chord, but all the repairs were being done with it. He knew Orochimaru was active in the country so the clan obviously had some type of connection to him, good or bad, but the chunin hadn't heard one whisper about the mysterious shinobi either way.<p>

He was broken from his thoughts when Sasame wrapped her arms around his right one and nestled her head into his shoulder. Naruto knew he was leaving soon, but tried not to think about it because the girl had an undeniable charm about her. The kunoichi was incredibly positive and was constantly laughing or smiling. Not to mention she was just as determined as the blonde and worked on something until it was up to her standards. The best part was that Sasame wanted to hear more about his actual missions than the movie she'd already seen. After getting a picture, and asking a couple questions, that were more about the fights and ice jutsu than gossip, the genin didn't even mention it. The fact she was cute was certainly a plus too.

The orange haired teen eventually let go of his arm as they walked into the Fuuma's banquet hall for a communal dinner. The room was spacious enough to fit the clan twice over with a massive table in the center of the room that was ten feet wide and approaching fifty feet long with benches on every side for seating. They chose two open spaces on the bench near the entrance and got comfortable. Arashi was at the opposite end and on his left sat a hunchback. Shaggy brown hair came down to the man's neck and buck teeth jutted from his upper lip making for an ugly picture, the rest of the Fuuma's disfigured body was completely covered by a brown cloak. Two other shinobi sat on the clan head's right. The man on the outside had on a green vest with no shirt underneath and towered over the other three. He was bald with thick brown eyebrows and a scar over his right eye that forced it closed. Between him and the lavender haired ninja was another man, he had thick black hair and had bushy eyebrows as well. He was wearing a sleeveless brown shirt and impatiently drummed on the table.

After Arashi stood up to address everyone Sasame leaned in and whispered to Naruto as a woman placed cups in front of everyone, "The one on his left is Kagero, she's actually a woman and that's a disguise for her technique. The black haired man directly on his right is Kamakiri. He's pretty fast and is the only one in the clan that can challenge my cousin at Shogi. The big guy on the outside is Jigumo and he can do crazy things with spiders. They're the four strongest Fuuma right now, but I'm going to be better than all of them someday."

The blonde reached over and squeezed her hand in a show of support and tuned in after hearing his name, "He is Jiraiya-sama's apprentice and an honored guest tonight, so please make him feel welcome." The clan members gave a polite applause as the chunin waved and smiled sheepishly. Once it died down the green eyed man raised his glass and continued, "Now I would like to offer a toast to the bright future of the Fuuma and our young movie star, Kanpai!"

Naruto blushed and raised his glass, but after taking a sip he almost spit it out. Apparently Jiraiya was right. The boy had been hit by enough of Sakura's poisons and tasted enough of her cooking to tell the difference when something just wasn't right or had been tampered with. He made a swallowing motion when it became apparent everyone's eyes were on him before taking a bite of some food and spitting everything into a napkin while pretending to wipe his face. Nobody was paying any attention to the blonde after the first bite so he hoped it was a slow acting one. The chunin pretended to get a little drowsy and started to eat the delicious fish, which thankfully wasn't drugged. He randomly dropped bits of food and acted disoriented while periodically sipping the drink, but he always made sure to spit it into his napkin at the first opportunity. Once it was halfway gone nearly everybody started glancing at the teen before looking away.

Naruto started to sway dramatically before pretending to black out. He fell off the bench and heard heavy footsteps stomping across the wooden floor before stopping next to him. The boy thought he was going to get picked up, he wasn't expecting a boot to descend onto his cheek and really knock him unconscious.

Jigumo spit on the teen before kicking him in the ribs for good measure, "Little punk, did you really think we wouldn't know? That was supposed to knock you out first sip." He picked up the limp Konoha-nin and turned to Arashi, "I don't see why we had to go through all of this trouble. He's just one kid."

The clan leader's smile turned vicious, "You saw the movie. This, 'kid' as you call him is literally an army by himself. I didn't want to risk anything." The man turned to his cousin and she suppressed the guilt churning in her stomach, "Great work Sasame, he didn't expect a thing until tasting the poison. Who thought a brat would be able to recognize something like that?"

The girl didn't answer, instead she stared at her food and started mechanically eating while the boy was carried towards the doors. Arashi smiled and dug into his plate with gusto, "I told you everyone, Orochimaru-sama has truly brought about the rise of the Fuuma. He gave us the supplies to rebuild our town, helped ferret out a spy, and now we will usurp the treacherous Amakusa as Ta no Kuni's premier clan. All we have to do is deliver that prize to our master."

A lower ranked clan member tried to grab the spectacular blade off the shinobi's back, but a flash of red chakra burst from the sheath and overtook his hand before eating away at the flesh. He let out a pitiful wail of agony until the handles of large, scissor like blades rotated around his neck before the shears snipped closed and decapitated him. The energy faded away as Kamakiri raised his arm as the weapon circled back to him on the rope. He frowned at the crimson trail flowing down the blade and dispelled the peculiar weapon before it dripped blood into his food, "What a fool, nobody else try to grab the saber unless you want to end up like him. Just bind the Konoha-nin so he can't use it."

Sasame lost her appetite and pushed her plate away in disgust, but the rest of the clan was too busy stuffing their gullets and celebrating to notice.

* * *

><p>And thus ends chapter 29, there was supposed to be more but I cut it off. It just so happened that right here was the perfect spot to cut it off. The next installment will be longer because of the fight scenes and finish off part 1 of the training trip. After posting it, which should be next Monday or Tuesday, I'm going to take a short break. This chapter was mostly Oro centric and we get to see his plan for the next three years, there will be glimpses into that war but not many, and before any of you say there's no way people wouldn't know about the war think about this. Hanzo was deposed and nobody had a clue the regime changed, and Kiri has been in a bloody civil war and not many people know the details of that either. Really not much to say here, let me know what you think as always and the poll is still open for voting. Team seven leads Shikamaru by two votes while Tenten and Lee each have one. Till next time readers.<p>

-Operaman Bye Bye


	30. Adventure in Ta no Kuni, Naruto's Escape

Naruto could feel his jaw pounding through the haze as he regained consciousness and let out a muffled groan. After another minute or so passed he felt a steel cord digging into his skin and tried to break out using wind manipulation, but discovered chakra couldn't be expelled from his tenketsu. The chunin recognized the signs of a basic containment seal designed to keep his chakra in his body, and tried to clear his thoughts before doing anything else. As the blonde's focus returned he tried to constantly pull on his chakra, and after identifying where the block originated he started circulating more and more around it until the thing broke. No containment seal could hope to restrain the Jinchuuriki's ocean of chakra. Once that was complete he formed a seal less Kage Bunshin that untied him before it was bound by the wire.

After making sure the saber was still on his back Naruto pushed his bound copy against the back wall and reached into the creased cuff of his right leg before pulling out a small hairpin. He easily picked the lock, then quietly swung the door open. After gently closing the cell and locking it once more he silently crept down the hallway, however the teen heard footsteps before getting too far. After leaning back against a wall he formed a hand seal and breathed out, "Toton no Jutsu."

The chunin seemed to shimmer out of existence, and a couple seconds later the two men who were sitting on Arashi's right came in with another clan member. He was a couple inches taller than Kamakiri and had a black bowl-cut that came down to cover his eyes. They walked right past the invisible teen and stopped in front of his cell at the end of the hall. Jigumo smirked as he took in the decoy laying against the far wall, "I must've hit the brat harder than I thought, he's still out cold. Some shinobi he is."

Kamakiri wasn't paying attention to the man's bragging, 'The blonde may be a ninja but when a grown man stomps on a teenager's head it's going to hurt no matter what.' "Don't get cocky, this brat is a slippery one." He looked towards the third man and pointed at the prone chunin, "Yoshi, toss something at our guest."

The man picked up a decent sized stone to throw at the bunshin, but it disappeared in a puff of smoke before he could and they saw a seal glowing orange on the wall. Before the Fuuma knew what was happening a sonic boom exploded outwards and bent the metal bars of the cell. The three men to slammed into the stone wall behind them, leaving cracks, and Jigumo hopped to his feet in a rage, "Dammit, the gaki got loose. I'm going to find that little punk and rip him to shreds."

His teammate let out a groan and pushed himself up slowly before helping the other man regain his feet as well. Kamakiri made sure the back of his head wasn't bleeding and then summoned a pair of scissor pincers, "Don't be an idiot. We need to capture the kid alive, otherwise he's useless to Orochimaru-sama. Now calm down."

Jigumo's good eye squinted, "I don't like your tone Kamakiri, remember who's stronger here."

The smaller shinobi scoffed and raised his peculiar weapon so the light glinted off the dangerously sharp blade, "Please, I never use my pincers when we spar, otherwise I'd cut you down to size. But this isn't the time to worry about that." He looked towards the other Fuuma, "Yoshi go check the other prisoner, we'll rouse the clan."

Naruto watched as the two walked past and waited for the third to exit before following, 'I wonder who this prisoner is.' Unfortunately he couldn't make sudden or large movements while using Toton without dispelling it, but the chunin had plenty experience being sneaky from his pranking day. He was skilled enough to avoid detection while keeping the Fuuma in sight.

Eventually the unsuspecting man entered a small weapons warehouse and the blonde peered through a dusty window on the far side of the structure. He saw Yoshi grab the only Fuuma shuriken on a rack before walking across the room and pushing one of its points into the wall. The area next to it swung outwards, and Naruto slid the window open as the hidden door groaned while scraping across the stone floor. He tiptoed through the building before grabbing the pen on the inventory board and charging it with futon chakra. The clansmen lazily hung the shuriken on an empty sconce next to the secret tunnel's entrance before going down the staircase. Naruto managed to get in behind the hapless man before the door slammed shut, and threw the wind-encased pen into his neck where the brainstem and spinal chord joined.

Yoshi died immediately, and after hitting the stone with a sickening thud he rolled down the steps, trailing smears of crimson behind him. The chunin made sure to avoid the liquid while descending, and at the bottom was a small room with a black haired woman chained to the wall. She wore a purple halter top with a small green vest over it and standard issue Oto camouflage pants with a matching scarf. Charcoal eyes stared at the blonde inquisitively, but he was the one who asked, "Who are you?"

"Kotohime." Was the one word reply.

His eyebrow shot up after hearing the name, "You're Ero-sennin's contact."

Her stare turned suspicious, "Jiraiya-sama? How do you know that?"

Naruto closely scanned the area around the woman to check for any nasty surprises, "I'm his student. They took me captive, and after escaping this Yoshi guy led me here. He's not a problem anymore, but everyone else is. Are there any traps I should worry about?"

Kotohime's face lit up with recognition before taking on a hopeful look, "No, just a chakra seal, now where's Jiraiya-sama?"

"Not here." Answered the chunin while picking the locks. He located the rudimentary design on her shoulder after she was freed, but since they took his supplies, sans sword, the boy had to bite his thumb and draw the counter-seal in blood, "He actually went to meet you at Northgate."

The woman's mood instantly dropped, "They abandoned the base and rigged it after the leader, Tayuya, was killed."

Naruto finished tracing his thumb around the seal and channeled chakra into the design. Red lines traced around the black containment seal on her shoulder before absorbing it and evaporating off her skin, "Tayuya-chan's not dead, she's living in Konoha now. And the last thing we need to worry about is Ero-sennin. The perv may not look or act like a legendary shinobi, but he is. Right now we need to worry about getting ourselves out. I could summon a toad, but this the middle of Orochimaru's territory so we need to keep a low profile. I'm technically trespassing in a sovereign allied nation with no excuse so that's plan b. Let's just stock up and get out of here for now."

The Fuuma led him to the top of the stairs before she channeled chakra into a brick, and a seal appeared as the door swung outwards once more. They exited the dank chamber before grabbing some stocked holsters off a shelf, and Naruto was lucky enough to find a folder stuffed with blank sealing paper and several exploding tags. He wrapped some around the stolen kunai before carefully sliding a handful of blank sheets into a holster with the rest of the tags.

Kotohime rummaged through what seemed like all of the boxes until she emerged with a Koto and some glass tubes filled with a green liquid. The instrument was secured to her back with chakra and the vials stashed inside a hidden pocket on her vest. She silently motioned towards the door and the escapees were about to sneak out when Jigumo's voice boomed from behind it, "Yoshi hasn't returned yet. It shouldn't have taken that long to check on the traitor."

When he finished two flash bombs burst in through the window Naruto had left open after entering. Fortunately the kunoichi was quick with some smoke bombs that smothered the flash of light, although a sharp crack left their ears ringing. Naruto heaved some exploding kunai towards the open window, then stuck the some tags he found on the floor before hopping up and sprinting through the door with his unlikely companion. They ran into the empty streets, and after the explosion went off the Jinchuuriki created hundreds of Kage Bunshin. Half transformed into the black haired woman and they split into pairs to throw off pursuit.

The real Kotohime pulled the blonde into a side alley before slipping through a revolving door that was hidden on the side of a building. The Konoha shinobi cocked an eyebrow and she smirked, "We have tons of secret passageways if you couldn't tell by now. When we were attacked decoys lead enemy pursuit into an alley or cul-de-sac where an ambush would be waiting. Now I don't know how you usually operate, but I'd rather have a plan than run around like a chicken with its head cut off. And even though I know how you fight, you don't know my moves."

The blonde nodded sheepishly, "Well I usually have a rough sketch of how I like things to go, but right now I have almost nothing to work with and just wanted to escape. It was pure luck I even heard about you, so why don't you teach me something."

The kunoichi slowly traced a finger up the teen's jawline and cheek before she stroked his hair back while purring, "Oh I can teach you lots little boy."

Naruto gave a silent thank you for his mask and nervously coughed, "Maybe later."

She leaned in closer until her lips were right next to his ear and the teen could feel her breath on his neck, "If we both get out of here alive I'll give you a reward, think of it as some extra incentive. So listen up and stay alive for me, okay."

The older teen pulled back, and he fervently nodded before she got serious and explained, "I can cast genjutsu with an instrument, although my techniques are mostly for misdirection purposes. I'm Doton natured but don't know many elemental jutsu, instead I mainly use my hair for ninjutsu. I managed to get a couple poisons as well. You're more of the heavy hitter type so take the lead, I'll stay close and intervene when there's an opening." The kunoichi pointed out the window behind the blonde, "That's the direction of Northgate, but the village thins out as we go move away from the center. Once it opens up we'll have to move fast."

When she finished Naruto noticed a green and orange spider crawling through a crack in the floor. There was another one nearby, and both had webs trailing behind them. He looked around the room and saw the arachnids were pouring in anywhere they could. Kotohime saw what he was looking at and cursed, "Shit, it's Jigumo again, they know we're here. Make some noise kid."

Naruto pulled the woman close and formed a seal while the spiders jumped and tried to entangle the two in their webs. The chunin took the opportunity to use his newfound skill at elemental manipulation and beef up the jutsu, "Futon: Sensougouheki." A veritable twister rose up around the two and the spiders were sucked into it by the screeching winds. Once a majority of them were airborne the blonde switched to the ram seal and the cyclone burst outwards in a flurry of small blades. All the webbing was shredded and the walls were covered by gash marks from the attack.

The teen followed up with a horde of Kage Bunshin that streamed out of the house, then he blasted through the roof with a Goukuuhou before leaping out the hole with his partner. However when they landed the earth was ripped up while a voice called out, "Doton: Arijigoku" (Earth Release: Antlion Technique).

The clones were pulled into a sinkhole that opened up around the house and swallowed it, the attack also forced Naruto and Kotohime to abandon the high ground and leap away. Once the Jinchuuriki landed he felt something latching onto the tenketsu around his heart, and turned to see a portly green haired man that had chakra strings protruding from the left of his chest as well, with a shit eating grin spread across his face, "I've got you in the Fuuma clan secret technique boy, Chakura no Ito (Chakra Threads). Now our hearts are connected, so if one speeds up the other does as well." He lifted a kunai to his throat, "And if one stops then we both die. Now come quietly."

Naruto smirked and grabbed his sword faster than the chubby man could blink and it slashed through the air, leaving a red trail. The Kyuubi's potent chakra easily severed the link, but the connection led to an unforeseen side affect. Red chakra rushed down the blue strings before engulfing the green haired shinobi completely. The sword continued to pump the deadly energy into the shinobi, then Naruto felt it pulling on his reserves as well and the red strand gained a thin blue coating. The Fuuma fell to the ground and cried out in agony before curling into the fetal position.

Everybody was taken aback by the spectacle and watched with morbid curiosity. They had seen what had happened to their clansmen in the banquet hall, but this was something else entirely. The potent chakra quickly started to dissolve the man's flesh, and his blood began to mix with the sinister energy that engulfed his body. The cloak became a deep black color with blood red streaks in it, and after it was impossible see anything through the whirling chakra it began to take shape.

Two long, pointed ears sprouted from the head while amber eyes turned pure white. The area around its mouth shaped into fangs, and an acrid smelling vapor began leaking out of it. The shinobi hunched over on all fours and one tail sprouted from the base of his spine before another started to form. Naruto called out 'Enough' in his head, and the flow of red chakra died down after the second tail grew in. Now there was just a strand of blue connecting the transformed man to the sword. It formed a collar around his neck before the leash vanished, however the chunin could still feel the connection thrumming in the back of his head.

The beast turned at Naruto and tried to attack, but the blue chakra collar burst apart and ripped over the pseudo-Jinchuuriki's frame like lightning. It cried in pain before trying to jump towards Kotohime instead, but the torment only continued. Once the mob of Fuuma became its target the blonde's chakra receded to its neck, stopping the debilitating pain, and Naruto's creature launched itself towards the horrified clansmen faster than any of them could follow.

A sharp claw tore one kunoichi in half before it leapt towards an older teenager and tackled him to the ground. After ripping the jugular vein from his neck with its teeth the beast let out a challenging roar. That seemed to break the spell over the Fuuma and they charged their former kin. A black claw slashed and extended while swinging, and though most of the ninja avoided the strike some were caught off guard. They moaned pitifully after it cut through their armor like paper, and even the smallest wound caused incredibly painful, if not fatal, chakra poisoning.

The shinobi fell back and launched a wave of arrows at it, however the viciously sharp steel tips bounced off the black and red chakra like they were no more significant than gnats. Two tails waved madly through the air after the attack, and the transformed Fuuma's primal roar boomed through the demolished area before it leapt towards the closest group. They hastily retreated, and their clansmen wrapped chakra strings around the faux Jinchuuriki when it landed where they once were. The putrid chakra made the beast impossible to bind and started to creep up the blue threads, almost as soon as they made contact with the cloak. The fighters released the strings in fear of its effects, and eyed the beast warily as it stood on all fours with a smirk on his face. They wondered why until two massive chakra claws exploded from the earth around a small group of shinobi and clapped, killing seven.

Any cowardice left in the Fuuma's hearts was gone as they watched their possessed clansmen gleefully slaughter his former kin. They let out a defiant battle cry while charging the juggernaut. One man slashed his Naginata at the beast, but a black claw extended and grabbed the pole before using it to swing the shinobi into the other fighters. Once he threw the makeshift weapon away a massive blast of fire engulfed the faux Jinchuuriki, but when the flames died down it flashed a taunting smirk towards its relatives.

Two kunoichi came from his flanks while a shinobi approached from the rear with no better plan than a furious assault. Fear, rage, and desperation had driven them well beyond rational thought. The shockwave from a piercing howl stopped their charge in its tracks, and his tails impaled the two women before throwing them both into the Fuuma charging towards its back. Archers took position on surrounding rooftops during the attack and launched a wave of arrows towards the monster before a clan member used a variation of the Kage Shuriken technique, a gift from Orochimaru, to multiply them.

The volley blocked the moon from view, but the monster looked at them unconcerned. This time the steel points didn't bounce off of his armor though, instead they exploded on impact and left a massive scorch mark on the earth. The foxlike creature was sent flying out of the black smoke, however he was completely unharmed from the explosion, and after rolling nearly fifty yards gracefully pushed off the ground and did several barrel rolls before regaining his feet.

Battle lust took overtook the Fuuma and transformed them into berserkers, they let out defiant snarls and charged en masse despite the spectacular failure of their last attacks. The monster's tails extended and impaled several attackers before tossing their corpses into the crowd, but the rest were beyond the point of caring. He ducked under the slash of one katana for no apparent reason, as several more bounced off the black chakra cloak, before one of the chakra tails flattened and easily sliced through the swordsman's waist.

It sounded like the monster was sniggering as the shinobi looked at his torso disbelievingly while it slid off his legs. After he hit the ground and let out a pitiful wail, and the possessed Fuuma burst forward, spinning like a twister as he flew through the attacking mob. The black and red tornado got wider the farther it flew, and the fighters were forced to leap aside or get torn apart.

When the beast landed its claws scraped along the earth as bubbles of black, red, and blue chakra bubbles separated from the cloak and floated into the air. They came together and formed a large black ball over the battlefield as the Fuuma renewed their attack. It jumped over the charging shinobi and their weapons before landing on top of its creation. Then the pseudo-Jinchuuriki used his arms, legs, and tails to condense the potent energy while spears and arrows bounced off the chakra orb.

After it became the size of a basketball the fake Kyuubi didn't have the strength or energy to compress it any further and complete the attack, so it just forced as much of the chakra as it could towards the Fuuma. However the beast was still hit with backlash and sent crashing into a house getting rebuilt, completely demolishing it.

The landscape and buildings around the epicenter of the attack was totally obliterated, a crater thirty feet deep and nearly fifty feet wide was all that was left of the immediate area. The battle rage that had overtaken the clan members faded as they took in the carnage that was once a main street in their ancestral village. The few survivors of the massacre slunk away as the creature exploded out of the debris and let out a victorious roar.

* * *

><p>Naruto and Kotohime escaped in the initial confusion sown by the transformation, however they were unaware that wind spiders were tracking them and leaving a web trail for their master to follow. They stopped to regroup in a partially constructed house and found a half bath that was fully built to hide in. The rogue Fuuma began pacing nervously in the tight quarters while frantically trying to scrap together some kind of plan to get them out quickly. She found her mind was too jumbled though and gave up quickly before sliding down the wall facing Naruto. She'd have to trust the surprising boy could get them through this, despite the kunoichi's bravado an extended imprisonment had severely weakened her.<p>

She stared curiously at the blonde, he had pricked his thumb with a kunai and was tracing an intricate design on one of the blank tags. She wanted to know what he was making, but another question had been dominating her thoughts and pushing everything else aside. "What was that back there? I've never seen anything like it."

The chunin barely acknowledged her, he continued tracing the seal and didn't look up from his work while answering. "Honestly, I have no clue, that's the first time I've ever seen it too. The blade went through a transformation recently and I'm still figuring out the abilities it gained."

The Jinchuuriki started blowing on the wet blood, signaling he was done talking, and Kotohime sighed. She knew that wasn't the whole story, but also realized it wasn't that important right now. Naruto's blue eye narrowed as he carefully put the seal into one of his jacket pockets, and two large scissor shears burst through the windows, scattering glass across the floor. The blonde went through some hand signs and launched a massive Goukuuhou through the opposite wall to provide an escape route.

They ran through the series of holes it created and jumped into a clearing full of construction supplies, but four forms immediately blurred around them. Arashi stepped forward with a deceptively easy smile, "I'll tell you what, I'm a merciful guy so give me that blade and we'll let you go and meet Jiraiya. Of course I'll want Kotohime to deliver it, and stay too."

The Konoha-nin easily held the chakra saber in front of him, "No thanks, it was a gift from my jounin-sensei. Besides, I don't think you can follow up on that threat."

The lavender haired man's smile turned bloodthirsty, "Well don't call me unmerciful with your last breath, I gave you a chance. Jigumo."

The shinobi went through a set of hand seals before holding his palms out, "Kazegumo no Jutsu" (Wind Spider Technique).

Countless spiders burst from the man's green vest with thin strands trailing behind them, crisscrossing to form a mesh like net. Naruto launched several red crescents of bubbling chakra that easily cut through the webbing as Kamakiri threw two Scissor Pincers towards the duo. Kotohime spun around one while the fine onyx edge of Naruto's blade easily sliced through the shear's tips while he rolled over the attack. The black haired man glared in the boy's direction as spiders sprung up from the grass and tried to bind him.

The chunin's saber glowed red before and extended before it easily sliced through the trap. Then he charged towards the spider user with Kotohime right on his heels as three clones popped into existence around them, and two rushed ahead. The first bunshin jumped at Jigumo and tried to kick the baldhead, but he caught the foot with his left hand while his right fist smashed through the attacker's face. He then pivoted right to avoid the other clone's stab, and after completing the turn his knuckles passed through its back, dispelling the copy in a puff of smoke. However the clones were only supposed to distract the large man, and block his vision. Six shuriken flew through the smoke created by the first bunshin, and the shinobi was forced to raise his arms and take the hits. He ignored the stinging wounds and braced for the blonde to follow up, but black hair burst through the smoke instead and wrapped around his neck.

The muscular ninja grabbed the black strands and easily pulled the smaller girl towards him, however the hair disappeared as the remaining bunshin substituted himself with Kotohime and gave the bald Fuuma a bear hug. The scarred man heard a distinctive burning noise and tried to break out of the iron grip, but he couldn't free his thick arms.

Fortunately for him a broken pair of oversized scissors cut through the clone and he was able to use Kawamiri before the tag blew. When Jigumo reappeared he avoided looking in his cousin's direction so he wouldn't see the cocky smirk that would surely be directed at him. A bucktooth head silently rose from the ground behind him like it was liquid, but the bald shinobi wasn't surprised in the least when he heard it ask, "You two used to be best friends, the least you could do is say thanks." The scarred Fuuma grunted and turned to respond, but there was nothing there but unmarred earth.

Naruto veered towards Kamakiri while Kotohime sunk into the earth after witnessing Kagero do the same. The blonde halted his charge as the black haired Fuuma threw his remaining shears forward and jerked the rope connecting them back towards him. They snipped closed just in front of Naruto, barely missing the zipper on his jacket. The chunin burst into motion after the attack fell short and tried to slice through these pincers as well.

Kamakiri desperately yanked the weapon back and was able to keep the steel intact, however the string that helped them hold their unique form was cut. His shears sprung open as they flew towards him and became two straight blades connected by a metal loop. Despite his weapon transforming the shinobi didn't miss a beat and spun the ring around his palm after catching it until he held the converted shears so one blade went past his hand, and the dull side of the other rested on his forearm. He easily danced between a pair of red chakra crescents before ducking under the slashing red saber that followed like it was a limbo pole. The Fuuma then brought his right arm forward and was able to leave a cut on the Jinchuuriki's side with the blade that extended down his arm before the boy could leap away.

Naruto switched the saber to his left hand and held it in front of him horizontally. He snapped his wrist as the Fuuma rushed forward and tried to eviscerate him with a wide slash from right to left. The black hilt spun rapidly in the chunin's palm before he snatched it in a backhand grip and hopped backwards while slicing through the large blade that extended past Kamakiri's hand, causing the man to lose his balance and stumble forward. Then, at the apex of the swing the chunin let go and the hilt did another half a rotation around the side of his hand before he grabbed it and smashed the pommel into the top of his opponent's head. The older shinobi wasn't prepared for the surprising move and was knocked to the ground in a daze, but before Naruto could finish the maneuver, and his helpless opponent, the earth shook and he lost his balance momentarily.

The blonde saw a Fuuma shuriken flying towards his knees, so he flipped away from the projectile and saw Arashi readying another in the middle of his maneuver. The leaf shinobi threw a barrage of shuriken towards the man, which were deflected by the oversized throwing star, but he wasn't able to line up the shot. After blocking Naruto's attack the Fuuma grinned eagerly as the boy landed and rushed towards him.

Kamakiri shakily retook his feet and a smile split his face as Kotohime got thrown out of the ground before landing hard with a grunt of pain. The short man raised his good blade up while smiling down at his cousin, "Well this is goodbye little princess."

He stabbed the point through the fallen teen, but it went through her like a bunshin. The Fuuma realized what happened after he heard the melodic notes of a Koto while black hair tightly bound his arms and legs so he couldn't move. The real woman seemed to materialize behind him, and whispered into his ear while stabbing a poisoned senbon deep into his neck, "You always overestimate yourself fool, nobody could offer any support because you think you are an elite and didn't try to disengage. You'd always tag along with Jigumo and I when we were kids, and nobody had the heart to say you'd never measure even though you were older. They put you on our team and called you strong to spare your feelings, but in reality it was to protect our helpless cousin." Kamakiri wanted to deny it, but as the world faded to black the shinobi found the only thing he could do was fall. Kotohime looked up from her kill to see Naruto and Arashi in the middle of a furious battle. She was actually surprised the blonde was keeping up, especially without his sharingan.

The older shinobi launched a right hook towards his opponent as an oversized Shuriken appeared in his hand. Naruto ducked under the strike before trying to slash up the man's body, only to find another Fuuma shuriken was in the way. The clan leader smirked as the blade sliced through the steel like water, and before the red saber cut through it he twisted his arm and jerked it backwards, throwing both weapons away. The blonde looked shocked and was sent rolling across the grass when a rising knee hit his chin. He was seeing stars after the brutal strike, but luckily Arashi's heel impacted next to his head. The boy shook it off and could see Kotohime furiously plucking the strings on her instrument.

He tried to take out any part of the man's leg with a hastily formed Rasengan, but the Fuuma was one step ahead of the disoriented chunin and substituted with a board long before Naruto could bring his hand forward. The rotating chakra easily splintered the wood before the blonde flipped back to his feet and regrouped with his partner while their opponents did the same.

The three Fuuma discovered their fourth teammate was dead and Jigumo scoffed, "Bastard deserved it, he'd been acting like a big shot ever since we joined Orochimaru."

Arashi didn't react to the comment, he was too busy creating a plan with their depleted numbers. However the coldness that the muscled shinobi exuded when talking about their friends death struck a nerve with their other teammate, "How can you say that? Kamakiri was our family and friend for years. He didn't deserve to die."

The spider wielder had the decency to look ashamed, "I'm sorry Kagero, you're right."

The lavender haired man interrupted, "Enough, this isn't the time to worry about any of our fallen clansmen. All we can do now is avenge them." He looked down towards the bucktoothed ninja, "Deal with the traitor while we handle this kid. Let's split them up first though." The hunchback's face was unreadable while wordlessly sinking into the ground.

Kotohime narrowed her eyes as she watched the hunchbacked Fuuma disappear into the ground, and when Kagero popped out of it holding the seal of the tiger she screamed, "Move!"

The fugitives hopped in opposite directions as the ninja's gravelly voice intoned "Katon: Kasumi Enbu no Jutsu" (Fire Release: Mist Blaze Technique). A hazy gas covered the area as Jigumo and Arashi each threw a shuriken into it. They collided and sparked, which ignited the fumes and created a fiery explosion that propelled the escapees farther apart.

Kagero had already dove back into the ground while Kotohime tried to push herself up and quiet the ringing noise in her head. The bucktoothed Fuuma popped out of the ground once more and launched the woman into the air before diving back into the earth like she was swimming. The kunoichi recovered gracefully and glared at the hunchback after its ugly head popped out of the soil. Not many people knew because of her awkward disguise but Kagero was possibly the strongest Fuuma, or at least the hardest to defeat. "Why do you bother hiding behind that hideous disguise? You have nothing to be ashamed about, well except your cup size."

Those ugly buckteeth moved as a gravelly voice answered, "The mayfly's lifespan is only one sunrise and sunset. Beauty is a fleeting concept and unimportant, however if you pity the mayfly because of its short existence then I pity you."

The deformed head disappeared into the ground as the area around Kotohime became a sinkhole. She had to jump before being sucked into the churning earth and lamented, "Maybe I shouldn't have teased her like I used to." The kunoichi knew this was a bad matchup and substituted with a chunk of stone outside of the technique's radius. The earth became solid once more as Kagero's head popped out and a stream of fire burst from her bucktoothed mouth.

The raven-haired teen did a no handed cartwheel to get out of the way while strumming the pilfered Koto, yet it didn't affect her opponent because the next blast was on target too. She cursed as the heat blistered her red skin, however that was the least of her problems because several smaller sinkholes formed around her. The kunoichi tried to navigate the swirling deathtraps without being pulled in and crushed, but whenever she picked a safe course their boundaries would adjust and try to capture her.

Kotohime spotted boards of lumber rotating around a sinkhole near the end of the technique and jumped on top of the largest one. She was able to ride it like a surfboard around the spinning dirt and maneuvered closer to the center, accelerating rapidly, before using the momentum she gained and natural rotation of the technique to slingshot out. After she leapt off the board and landed outside of the jutsu Kagero popped out of the earth and grabbed her neck. The younger girl's grip was like a vice, and the kunoichi couldn't think to do anything else except futilely hit the hideous shell with her fists and feet. Black spots started forming in Kotohime's vision as her air started to run low, but Kagero's eyes widened and she frantically screamed, "No," before throwing her opponent to the side as blue and green chakra burst from her hunchback.

* * *

><p>Naruto ended up on his back when he stopped rolling and could barely hear anything through the ringing in his ears, or see through his blurred vision. Despite this the chunin could sense the horde of green and orange spiders leaping out of the grass and cursed as they tried to trap him against the earth. The shinobi blindly created a Rasengan that leaked threads of chakra towards the sky before it glowed bright blue. Countless blades burst outwards and sliced through the web net with ease as he heard a kunai land next to his head and start sizzling. He pushed himself away but couldn't clear the shockwave created by the blast. The blonde was sent rolling, but flipped to his feet after tumbling nearly ten yards and saw the two men smirking cruelly at him as his vision cleared. The Jinchuuriki's responded with a cocky grin before he whipped through a set of hand seals, "Futon: Sattou Dangan."<p>

Both of his palms were facing the Fuuma, and two basketball sized orbs of wind formed in front of them. Each one split into fifty arrowheads before speeding towards the duo and forcing them to separate. He ran towards them while twelve Kage Bunshin appeared around him and joined the charge. Naruto split off from his copies once their enemies' stances became defensive and headed towards his chakra blade. He grabbed the saber and turned to see that Jigumo was having some trouble with the attacking bunshin, but the unpredictability of Arashi's style made it hard for them to survive. He sent reinforcements towards the muscular spider user and formed a spammer clone to create more as needed. Naruto then unveiled his sharingan and ran towards the clan leader, this time conscious of the fact his weapon's fine edge wasn't always an advantage.

Arashi began summoning shuriken and tossing them in waves towards the blonde, forcing him to zigzag and lose momentum, then prepared for the assault while watching the deadly blade. Instead two clones appeared near him and slid across the ground before kicking the man skyward. Naruto jumped after and formed a rasengan before shoving it into the Fuuma's stomach, and that was the only thing that saved him. When the spiraling ball of chakra hit the torso a storm of kunai exploded outwards.

His implanted doujutsu was able to detect the Kawamiri just before it happened so he weakened the top of the Rasengan's shell as much as possible before overloading it with chakra. The technique had more spread because a large area of the shell was thinner, not just a small point, so he only received minor cuts from the occasional blade or chakra thread. However the initial attack was turned against the chunin when Arashi grabbed his ankle and did a flip for extra momentum before heaving him towards the earth. Naruto cursed as the ground rapidly approached while thinking, 'I hope my clones are having more luck.'

And indeed they were. Jigumo was one of the more powerful Fuuma, but Arashi was known and respected as the strongest for a reason. His physical capabilities outclassed any clansmen, and nobody had the wits to outmaneuver him either. The spider user was nowhere near his level and could only react to the onslaught of the clones. Jigumo was so pressed by the coordinated assault he didn't even notice there were more of the copies now than at the start, or that no matter how many he killed the numbers never decreased. The scarred man smirked when his spiders wrapped up several copies, however when he got close to destroy them a Sensougouheki ripped the webs apart and exploded. Lacerations formed in the Fuuma's dense muscles before he was sent him tumbling across the ground. The spider user was so dazed he barely saw the Shuriken Kage Bunshin technique dispel the clones.

The clan leader lifted the bloody man off the ground while saying, "Pick it up Jigumo, me and Kagero might not be able to win if you die too." The man muttered a quick apology before going through the seals for his Kazegumo, but Arashi stopped him, "That's not going to work, his futon techniques and sword can cut through your webs like normal ones."

The lavender haired shinobi was about to summon his partner a weapon when he realized they had taken their eyes off the real blonde. It was a certainty the one pushing itself up was a bunshin, and he couldn't sense him in the clearing. Arashi had a bad feeling in his stomach and yelled a warning as he leapt away. More clones burst up from the ground, but the injured Fuuma wasn't fast enough to escape the orange and black sphere they created. The clan head kept his senses peeled as half the clones transformed into various throwing weapons before getting heaved towards the prone shinobi. The only thing Jigumo could do was curl up to cover his vital areas as the barrage approached. Kagero's anguished shriek echoed through the construction zone when her teammate and friend went limp with weapons protruding from seemingly everywhere on his body.

Arashi turned and watched as chakra exploded from her hunchback disguise, causing it to fall to the ground like shed skin. Bluish green chakra wrapped around the lithe form that emerged before taking the shape of four dragonfly wings as the excess energy pulsed around the petite girl. Kagero's real form had two green bangs that framed her face, and the rest came down her neck and tapered to a point just above her back. She had a gold choker on neck and wore a white toga with a golden hoop just above the waist. The Fuuma's voice had changed as well. When she spoke it was no longer rough and gravelly, but smooth and melodic, "Kagero Ninpo: Utakata. This is a once in a lifetime technique, but if there is a chance to save my family then I will use it." (Antlion Ninja Arts: Ephemeral)

The clan head smirked as he went through a series of seals and began gathering chakra. Usually it took too long to prepare the jutsu so it wasn't practical to use in combat, however with that move being played he had more than enough time.

* * *

><p>Kotohime was considering abandoning the blonde, hoping he would be the target of the green haired kunoichi's rage. She was proven wrong though when Kagero's opening move was to teleport and kick her into a pile of lumber. The raven-haired kunoichi lay unconscious in the wood as the Fuuma's upper right wing began to collect the blue-green energy around her. It coalesced at the tip and formed a volleyball-sized orb before launching a devastating chakra beam, just under a foot wide, at the prone girl. The real Naruto burst from the ground and grabbed his partner as she fired the attack before landing on a pile of bags filled with concrete. A squad of clones popped into existence around him and carried the unconscious kunoichi away from the battleground.<p>

After making sure Kotohime was clear the blonde faced down Kagero. All four of her wings began glowing, and after deciding discretion is the better part of valor he started running for cover. The bicolored blasts were rapidly closing in, so the chunin pulled out the seal he made earlier and slapped it on the ground. A blue dome of chakra was erected around him and was able to absorb the beam, but the next ones hit the area around it and the ground underneath the barrier imploded. As Naruto lay among the rubble he finally realized an advantage of the traditional method. Having chakra flowing through the array on the ground stabilized the immediate area, which made it harder to disrupt, 'I'm never telling that to Ero-sennin.'

The blonde tried to move, but found his right arm was trapped under several large boulders created by the attack. He frantically tried to dig it out while Kagero teleported above the crater and charged up another beam. Fortunately the spammer clone had the presence of mind to substitute with his creator before the deadly ray hit. Naruto breathed a sigh of relief under the deck where his bunshin was hiding, but it didn't last long. Two Fuuma Shuriken covered in exploding tags landed next to him with the papers already hissing.

The Jinchuuriki sent chakra through all his limbs and burst through the floor of the solid deck, receiving a large gash on the back of his head. He was clear of the blast when the tags went off but was still sent flying after Kagero teleported and delivered a solid kick. Naruto landed on his right arm and discovered it was fractured before yelping in pain. The boy torqued his body so he was sliding across the ground on his back instead of continually rolling onto his injured shoulder.

The blonde's left arm cradled the broken limb as he felt the strangely soothing warmth of the Kyuubi's chakra. It started knitting the bone back together before he even stood up. The chunin wondered how much worse the day could get when Arashi landed in front of him. A multicolored pyramid hovered in between his two hands, and after saying, "Jubaku Mandara." An upside down replica that was about ten feet high and every color imaginable formed around Naruto before rapidly shrinking as the one in his captor's hands did.

The blonde managed to get his good arm up so stop the momentum, but he couldn't push it back out. The Fuuma's leader called out across the field, "Stop your technique Kagero."

The girl nodded and floated to the ground while the chakra around her faded away. Once the kunoichi landed and her wings disappeared she lifelessly collapsed to the ground and didn't move. Arashi smirked when he turned his head back to the teen and pushed together the pyramid in his hands, causing the larger version to shrink too. The blonde pushed back with all his might as the lavender haired man cackled and explained, "This is the most secret technique of the Fuuma clan, the Cursed Mandala. It forms a barrier around you, one that I control the size of. So if I want too," he grit his teeth and managed to close the pyramid a little more, "I can crush you like a grape."

Naruto felt some strength returning to his broken limb, "I'd like to see that because you can barely do it while I have one arm." Despite his boast the construct was slowly getting smaller.

Arashi laughed at the teen's bravado, "You've got some spirit for a little guy, but it's always the smaller dogs that yip the most. Besides, I think it's more fun to go slow and savor the experience." He took several steps towards the barrier and sneered at the sharingan wielder's face, consciously avoiding the dangerous eye's gaze. He wouldn't make the same mistake as Doto, "It's funny that a kid like you thought he could stop me. Orochimaru has promised the revival of the Fuuma, and power is his way of keeping it. All I had to do was round up some unsuspecting fools for his experiments."

The clan leader was about to continue compressing the pyramid when a primal roar echoed through the area. He turned to see the beast that was left behind with over fifty of his best fighters. The man cursed and knew it would be impossible to capture, or even kill the infuriating Konoha-nin with that thing nearby. He stopped the jutsu and shunshined to Kagero before running towards the village center. On his way out Arashi saw Jigumo's chest weakly rising and falling so he grabbed the wounded man by the collar and continued sprinting without missing a beat. The dense muscles Orochimaru gave the spider wielder apparently kept the weapons from penetrating too deep, although he would need a blood transfusion to live. With one last look back at the area he yelled, "You have made an enemy in the Fuuma clan, and we never forget a slight."

* * *

><p>It didn't take long to reach field where the massacre happened. The clan leader suppressed a shudder and was glad Kagero was unconscious. This would break her heart. The green-eyed man looked around the field and was surprised to see his younger cousin frowning at the scene, "I thought I told you to stay in the bunker with the other children Sasame."<p>

She appeared chastised but still said, "I'm not a baby Nii-san, I don't need protection."

He walked over and wrapped an arm around her shoulder, "I know, but we needed someone to protect the other kids." Despite the situation a smile came to the girl's face and Arashi pointed her towards their house, "You shouldn't see this Sasame-chan, please go home."

The kunoichi nodded and ran away from the slaughter. She didn't stop until the door to her room and slammed shut behind her. The teen went into her closet before channeling chakra into a specific spot on the wall, which caused a seal to appear on the opposite one. She bit her thumb and pressed the wound to the new seal before the five second timer ran out. A small book with a lock popped into Sasame's hands and she appeared to reverently stroke the cover, although she was really disarming the lethal traps. The girl opened to the last entry and pulled out her new bookmark, the photo she took with Naruto. They were in front of a row of targets that were bulls-eyes, Sasame managed to do that after the blonde gave her some pointers. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she silently mouthed sorry over and over.

* * *

><p>Naruto paid the retreating man no heed as he looked at the transformed shinobi. The chakra was nowhere near as dense as it was before, and the vapor wasn't leaking from his mouth anymore. It appeared the beast couldn't even walk straight either, the thing didn't even take twenty steps into the clearing before falling over. The Jinchuuriki walked up close as the chakra dissipated, and when it was gone the only thing left was a burnt out husk.<p>

The chunin shuddered at the grisly sight and turned away before heading to the clearing his bunshin retreated to. He arrived just as Kotohime let out a groan and started to sit up, "How am I still alive?"

Naruto smiled and dismissed the remaining clones, "Well, I'm just awesome like that."

The kunoichi wasn't expecting an answer and looked surprised after seeing her rescuer, "You saved me?" Guilt overtook the girl after the blonde nodded with that wide smile splitting his face so she looked away, "Thanks. Now where are we?"

"We're southeast from the village because that's the direction you said Ero-sennin was."

She nodded vacantly and looked away from the shinobi while testing her legs out, "I feel fine, let's put some distance between us and the village. Although I doubt they'll want to mess with you anytime soon."

Naruto let Kotohime walk out first and take the lead before following. The two had travelled less than an hour in near silence when the mountain that held the base was blown skyward in a monumental explosion, sending giant boulders all over the countryside. They shared a worried look before taking off full speed towards the smoke cloud. The chunin couldn't suppress the anxiety twisting in his stomach, that's why he almost cried tears of joy after hearing a familiar voice, "Where are you guys off to so fast?" The duo stopped and turned around to see the Toad Sage grinning confidently and looking no worse for the wear, "It sure looks like you're worried about something Naruto."

"Why would I worry about a dirty lech like you?" The blonde's words weren't convincing anyone because of the teary smile on his face.

Jiraiya clapped the boy on the shoulder and pointed a thumb at his travelling companion, "Who said anything about me? I thought you knocked her up." The sage was curious when a blush broke out across the boy's face instead of his usual angry retort, but let it slide as he finally faced his informant, "Long time no see Kotohime, nearly four years. I would've visited earlier if I knew you'd turn into such a beauty. Now, what have you got for me?"

The spy wasn't in the mood for any formalities or small talk and cut right to the chase, "Rice country fell on hard times three years ago because of rampant corruption. Orochimaru came shortly after and allied himself with the Amakusa, Ta no Kuni's premier clan. The smaller clans came together after hearing that and decided to throw in with them because the Daimyo didn't have the strength to protect us. After massacring of the royal family Amakusa Shiro took over and immediately sold everything he could before instituting a series of changes. Agriculture was collectivized because it was failing, and after turning that around infrastructure became the focus of his efforts.

Despite my personal feelings for his clan Shiro has done many good things for the nation since coming to power, however Orochimaru is the one who gets the lion's share of the credit for his policies. The Amakusa were never well liked. They have always been the strongest clan and made sure everyone knew it too, but over time more and more people were coming around to his side because Orochimaru hasn't been supporting us like he promised, at least until recently. Not that long ago all the clans were outfitted at his expense and gifted with Ninjutsu and powerful alterations. The Daimyo also imported large amounts of lumber, steel, and concrete from across the continent recently and distributed some of it to the clans. Of course, Orochimaru gets credit for that too. Before I was imprisoned a month and a half ago I noticed that a lot of different personnel were coming and going at the base and village. There's something big going on, but I don't know what. Not that many people do."

Jiraiya nodded after going over the information, "Alright well it's not safe for you here anymore so I'll send you back to Konoha in a toad."

Her charcoal eyes discreetly flitted in Naruto's direction and she said, "Actually Jiraiya-sama, I'd like one night for myself after sitting in a cell for over a month. Take a nice long shower, eat a hot meal, and sleep in a comfortable bed before getting shipped off to Konoha and going through the hassle of getting assimilated. There's a collective farm nearby that the Daimyo started so it's a good opportunity for you to check it out too."

The man nodded, "Lead on then."

* * *

><p>The trio approached an open gate in a twelve-foot high stonewall that surrounded the collective farm. They were wearing the traditional brown rags of traveling peasants, and had bags stuffed to make them appear heavy. Jiraiya walked up to the gatekeeper and asked in a strange tone, "Dis a collective farm?"<p>

The gatekeeper gave him a once over, "It is. What's your story?"

The disguised shinobi gestured towards the two teenagers, "Dat's me daughter dat married into de family, and me grandboy. Migrated when a dam busted and killed most our family when da water went everywhere, but den heard dat tings was on the up an up so came back."

The guards nodded and let them pass "There are many inns throughout the town housing new arrivals. You can't be processed till the end of the week, but prices are fair so it shouldn't cost too much."

The workday had started already so the streets were abandoned as they walked through. Naruto looked around the village before asking, "Why did they let us in so easily? Spies could get in whenever they wanted."

Jiraiya was about to answer but Kotohime nodded towards the sage and spoke first, "Well first of all your sensei pulled off a perfect Ta no Kuni accent. Most people don't talk like that nowadays because it's considered uncultured, but all the older generations still do so that gave us some credibility. And secondly there's not really anything important to learn here. Anybody could confirm its purpose and schedule from far away, except the pickups and shift changes because those vary. If a spy actually came inside they would be forced to work nearly twelve hours while getting food for the labor, and maybe they'll pay you if there's a surplus. The workers are always in the fields when good stuff happens too. Basically they get free labor and you don't learn anything you couldn't have by watching it from afar, maybe even less. The only people that can access the food stores are the guards, and they're from a clan across the country. Shiro didn't want to give clans control of the farms near their territory for obvious reasons."

Naruto nodded, but still asked, "Then why did we come here?" Kotohime palmed her face as Jiraiya explained, "Well I want to have a look around and see it for myself because no information is ever useless. Our lovely friend here is right, the Land of Rice has fallen on hard times. It was becoming a favorite hideout for nuke-nin, and many poor emigrants were coming over the border and becoming Highwaymen in Hi no Kuni. At least until recently."

The kunoichi nodded and picked up where he left off. The sage just sat back and let Kotohime explain because she had apparently taken it upon herself to teach the blonde, and the toad summoner was learning some interesting things too. He would make sure to remember the name Amakusa Shiro.

The kunoichi continued to talk in a hushed voice until they arrived at the inn and Jiraiya purchased two rooms. The trio stayed inside and ate dry rations instead of going to lunch and being forced to work after because they had food from the stores. Eventually night settled in and the hermit asked, "Is there a brothel or bar in town?"

Kotohime nodded towards the door, "There's a tavern downstairs, and probably a couple others spread out. I doubt there's any cathouses, but many women here are single or widowed."

The man had a spring in his step as he walked out the door and the kunoichi turned on Naruto with a seductive look when it closed. The boy backpedalled until he fel onto the bed with a blush covering his whiskered cheeks, "Now it's time to reward my knight in shining armor".

* * *

><p>In reality Jiraiya had perched on a neighboring roof and used the Toton to stay out of sight. Did they think he wouldn't be able to sense the sexual tension? Tears streamed down the hermit's cheeks while drops of blood leaked from his nose, "You make me so proud apprentice, give it to her good."<p>

* * *

><p>And chapter thirty is complete. Now we go back in time and see what's been happening in Konoha. Remember Danzo is still at large and has the Raijin while Kin is scheduled to give birth… twice. The poll should be coming to a close soon, and there will be probably a three week break between this chapter and the next one. Also ch 5 edit should come out around that chapter as well. I went back and read the terms of service after a review from junky, thank you very much sir, and decided to take the lemon out... even though their are fics based completely on sex... Anyways if people really want to read it I'll find somewhere to post it and link it to my profile. I searched for other FF sites and found one called adult fanfiction, so I'm assuming I could post it there. I'll call it Icha Icha Whirlpool<p>

Now onto the new stuff, the sword's new power has been revealed. Badass, but it is limited to one fake Jinchuuriki at a time and the duration depends on the strength of the person infected and amount of demonic chakra being channeled. What happens is the sword constantly pumps Kyuubi's chakra into the person until it overloads their chakra pathways. Then they undergo the same type of Jinchuuriki transformation as Sora. Also they are not controlled by the nine-tails either. The Bijuu are chakra therefore the chakra is the Bijuu, it has some sort of sentience that guides the user. The saber can also put just a little bit in that causes chakra poisoning, but in case you haven't noticed Naruto doesn't have complete control over the new weapon. He dominated the old one, not the new one (that is important mofos). However it doesn't want to give itself away so won't push too hard too fast. Also fun fact, the vapor steaming out of the man's mouth was his organs getting cooked.

Next we go to Konoha for the exams, that'll be 3-5 chapters before three more short training arcs where Naruto meets up with most of his peers and gets a handle on his new fighting style. Then comes the uncharted stuff that should be fun. And for all of you people that are wondering what I'm doing with Ame, well you'll see before the trip is over during the Chronicles of the Gallant Jiraiya. I've been waiting for an opportunity to allow the toad sage to cut loose.

-Operaman Bye Bye

* * *

><p>Jutsu List<p>

Utsusemi no Jutsu (False Cicada Shell Technique) E Rank- The user projects their voice like a ventriloquist to trick opponents

Toton no Jutsu

Futon: Sensougouheki

Doton: Arijigoku (Earth Release: Antlion Technique) B Rank- The user creates a sinkhole that causes the surrounding earth to be sucked into it in a swirling motion

Chakura no Ito (Chakra Strings) B ranked Kinjutsu- The user connects their heart with their opponents by connecting chakra strings to the tenketsu around the heart. Once completed the hearts mirror each other, speeding up and slowing down in unison. The reason why it is a Kinjutsu is because it gives the target a sense of control because their death kills the user.

Shuriken Kage Bunshin

Kazegumo no Jutsu (Wind Spiders Technique) C-rank- The user summons incredibly versatile wind spiders to use in battle

Futon: Goukuuhou

Katon: Kasumi Enbu no Jutsu (Fire Release: Mist Blaze Technique) Supplementary B-rank- The user blows a large cloud of flammable gas from their lungs that can be ignited by the smallest spard

Kagero Ninpo: Ephemeral (Antlion Ninja Arts: Ephemeral) Kinjutsu A-rank- A once in a lifetime technique, not necessarily fatal but can burn out chakra network completely or limit the max amount that can run through based on how much damage it receives. Creates four dragonfly wings of chakra that can fire beams, and the user can teleport as well.


	31. While You Were Gone

**AN: **The poll will be closing within the next couple days, whenever I write the first word for chapter 22, so vote while you can. It looks like Team Seven will win but who knows

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><p>The sound of footsteps echoed through the dimly lit corridor as a shinobi wearing a hooded black cloak and white taper mask uneasily traversed the passage, nervously clutching a scroll at his side like it was his only lifeline. It wasn't that anything was suspicious, everything was exactly as it was supposed to be. The entrance was left open, only one path was lit, the hallway was abandoned, and Taper was the only one who was able to release the sealed object from the scroll. Yet despite all that the ANBU was ready to react to the slightest oddity with lethal force, knowing that anyone who dropped their guard around this man was a walking corpse.<p>

The shinobi came to a stop in front of a large set of stone doors with an intricate Relief carved into them. The design was strangely hypnotic and he leaned closer in fascination, trying to decipher the specifics. Taper saw that it was an inconceivably long snake was twisting and turning around itself and something else, but the doors swung inwards before he could investigate further revealing a lightless room. A voice that was somehow silky, melodic, seductive, and chilling at the same time hissed out of the darkness behind the archway, "Do come in, it's not often that I entertain guests."

Taper could understand why, the innocuous statement stopped his heart for a moment, and it took several more for the muscle to restart. It began pumping the chilled blood through his veins as he entered the chamber, and after stepping into the dark room torches lit one by one, starting on his left and going around the room clockwise. The flames illuminated a slim man with waist length black hair and alabaster skin. He was sitting in a plush throne and staring at the scroll eagerly with his terrible golden eyes and voracious slit pupils. The ANBU nodded stiffly towards the intimidating shinobi, "Orochimaru-san, I am here on behalf of my master-"

The serpentine man cut him off with an upraised hand, "There's no need for formalities, Danzo and I are old colleagues and it was my pleasure to do business with him. Now I believe the agreement was my delivery first."

The masked shinobi nodded and a snake slithered out of Orochimaru's sleeve before approaching the Konoha-nin. He eyed the creature warily as its jaw dislocated, and the summon vomited up a scroll that opened while it rolled across the floor, revealing a design in the center. After the seal was fully exposed an arm wrapped in tags appeared in a puff of smoke. Taper made sure the deadly serpent was a good distance away before he resealed the arm and opened his scroll. The man started pulsing his chakra in a complex pattern to unlock the seal and the handle of a sword appeared in his open palm. He tossed it towards the traitorous member of the Sannin and Orochimaru snatched the tan hilt out of the air while he eagerly inspected it. "The Raijin no Ken. A fair trade, wouldn't you agree?"

He looked up to see the shinobi was long gone and chuckled, "Kukuku, smart man. I probably would've killed him to keep that, now where did my favorite little mouse scurry off to? Oh that's right."

* * *

><p>It was always a challenge to figure out what Danzo thought or felt about something unless you knew him very well, and few of those people were still drawing breath. Taper, along with the rest of Ne, didn't care what the old war hawk thought though. They were just tools that were forged for the betterment of Konoha, which is why the shinobi wasn't expecting any praise from his master and promptly shunshined away after delivering the package.<p>

Danzo's charcoal eye surveyed the arm with what seemed like a longing glint before handing it over to an ANBU that was standing behind him. He was wearing a bear mask that had an upside down green triangle in the middle of its forehead and strands of auburn hair poked out of his hood. "Prepare the medical wing and our best surgeons immediately Fu."

He carefully, almost reverently, took the arm and prepared to shunshin away like Taper had when another Ne ANBU entered the room without waiting for permission, which would be the equivalent of a normal person kicking the doors in. "Danzo-sama, the area around Target Orchard has seen a pickup of activity. It appears they are preparing to covertly move it."

The bandaged man nodded and looked at his new arm, "The surgery will have to wait Fu. After the medics perform the inspection bring it to the fuuinjutsu team and have them create a stasis barrier. I need to oversee this operation personally, it is too important." The bear masked shinobi saluted before shunshining away. Danzo then looked towards the newest arrival, "Sparrow, mobilize the designated strike teams then resume watching the target. Once you confirm the new location relay it so Operation Harvest can begin."

The bandaged elder rose from his seat and started walking through the steel hallways as the shinobi carried out his orders, 'This is just one more example of why Hiruzen does not deserve the Hokage seat. Letting information of this magnitude slip is just another sign of his incompetence.'

The secret door that accessed his study opened and he exited into the only spot that was concealed from view. The shadow clone he left behind furled the scroll it was reading and went over to the nook to replace the manuscript and dispel. Danzo walked out with a new scroll after the smoke cleared and placed it on his desk, then he approached the window facing west and watched the sun set over Konoha, 'It's quite poetic. Hiruzen's reign is nearing its twilight, and I shall lead the village to greatness in the darkness that follows.'

* * *

><p>It was almost midnight and the top floor of Konohagakure's hospital was blacked out, except for one window that spilled light into the darkness. Rin sat behind a small desk in her cluttered office while massaging her temples, the poison she had been working on was proving itself to be incredibly stubborn and resisting her at every turn. The batch Sakura received was pretty much wasted, not that she expected much, and the researchers in T&amp;I claim it worked too well. The pain was so intense the subjects would black out before anything substantial could be learned. She had made some progress when Shizune jumped onboard, but after the brunette realized Rin had no interest in rekindling their friendship she began slowly phasing herself out of the project.<p>

The kunoichi let out a long sigh before dropping her pen and replacing the folder of notes in her stuffed filing cabinet. It was already late and fatigue was blurring the medic's thoughts, she had been trying to write that last sentence for nearly a minute. Rin decided she didn't want to walk through the hallways and opened the office's window before swinging outside into the refreshing autumn night, and after anchoring herself to the outside wall with chakra she closed the window and jumped into the streets. They were surprisingly barren for a Friday night, but she figured most people were probably getting smashed in a bar somewhere.

Rin hustled down the well-lit road that ran through the center of the village, but reflexively stopped when she heard a familiar dry laugh, although the brunette didn't particularly want to. She easily spotted Kakashi's peculiar silver hair outside a popular shinobi hangout, he was holding an Icha Icha volume and talking to Asuma in an apathetic tone of voice, but all of the people on the patio were looking at him with respect or awe anyways. Rin huffed and stormed off while gritting her teeth, unaware the man's sharp eye had spotted her when she stopped.

The medic was about five minutes from her apartment when the jounin strolled out of a side street, whistling cheerfully like he was on a casual stroll. Kakashi put his porn away and gave the woman an eye-smile, "Hello Rin, fancy seeing you out here. It's not often you're out on the town" She was looking anywhere but him, but her coldness didn't deter him, "Why don't we celebrate this random encounter by getting a couple of drinks? My treat."

"Stuff it up your ass Kakashi."

He raised his hands defensively in response, "No need to be so hostile."

The medic finally glared at him with her smoldering brown eyes, "Well it's late and there's a gigantic dick blocking the way to my apartment, you can understand why I'm a little grumpy."

"Look Rin, I'm sorry okay. I've tried saying it a million times but you always blow me off." The jounin took a deep breath before continuing, "I just… I was so lost. I was leading that mission and then I used Chidori knowing it was flawed, it's my fault-"

The woman furiously cut her old teammate off, ignoring the desperation that laced his words "Shut up, did you ever think about how I felt. I was captured and he died because of it. If I wasn't so weak then none of that would've ever happened. I know that you weren't in the best place when we were in a relationship, if you can even call it that, but you never offered any comfort, not even a warm embrace or a shoulder to cry on when I needed it. We would have sex, but when nightmares made me wake up screaming later that night there was only an empty space next to me, even though I just needed someone to hold. I had to hug myself and cry until I fell back to sleep. Then I caught you fucking that skank and didn't hear from you again until years later when you randomly waltz back into my life like nothing happened and ask a favor. The only reason I said yes was so you wouldn't waste Sakura's potential."

The kunoichi was breathing hard after venting her rage and Kakashi looked like her bitter tone physically punched him in the stomach. He stared at the ground despondently and muttered, "You asked me to leave you alone."

Rin let out a bitter laugh, "Ha, for a genius you sure are dumb." Her head dropped until she was looking at the road as well, "I was hoping you'd realize that you didn't want to lose me too and chase after me. I stupidly thought it would bring us closer."

"I'm sorry, can we try now." The woman stormed off without answering and Kakashi took that as a maybe.

Rin walked over a mile and a half before she wasn't seeing red anymore, and after looking around she realized her feet took her to the park that Team Minato first met. The kunoichi sat against the tree she did in her genin years and cursed out Kakashi in her head, 'The nerve of that man. Walking up and talking to me like nothing had ever happened. If I ever see him again it will be to soon, I don't even know what I saw in him. He was just a little masked weirdo with strange hair. How all those people can stare at the conceited bastard like he's some type of hero is beyond me. He doesn't deserve it, why does everybody like him so much? Why don't I…'

It was at that moment the medic came to a realization, "I'm jealous of Kakashi."

* * *

><p>The feared copy-nin wouldn't have been able to intimidate a child right now, let alone an enemy shinobi. He looked like a beaten man while his charcoal eye stared at the memorial stone, specifically the name Uchiha Obito. It was the anniversary of his death and Kakashi's least favorite day of the year. This time was even worse than usual because of the dressing down he got from his only surviving teammate before visiting. He promised the fallen Uchiha he would protect Rin, but only ended up hurting her more. The jounin looked up at the sun and debated if he should leave or not, but there was an unspoken pact made between him and Rin about this day after their fight. Midnight to noon was his time at the stone, and then noon to midnight was hers. It was still a little early but he doubted she wanted to see him right now.<p>

The man was about to pull Icha Icha out of his pocket and walk away when he heard the bushes rustling. "I'm sorry if I took too long, I'll leave now."

"Wait Kakashi." The silver haired man turned in surprise and saw Rin was walking towards the grave with a bouquet of white lilies. He watched the kunoichi kneel and place it in front of the stone before offering short prayer. When she was finished the one eyed shinobi became the center of her focus, "We should talk, and last night shouldn't count. I think I needed to get all that off my chest, but it came out harsher than I intended."

The man eye-smiled at his teammate while she looked away and scratched her cheek, a nervous tic he hadn't seen in years. "That's okay, things like this usually happen like that. If anything you went easy on me, I recall you always had a quite a temper."

A small grin broke out across her face, "Stop it, I'm trying to have a serious talk here." Rin took a deep breath and continued, "What would Obito say to us right now if he came back to life. He gladly sacrificed himself so we could survive and be happy. Instead we spit on him every day by blaming ourselves, and then we don't talk for years."

"He'd probably prank us to hell and back."

The medic tried to glare her teammate into submission like she did when they were younger, but it wasn't as effective when she was smiling at the same time, "I told you to stop that. It was a rhetorical question."

Kakashi held his hands up apologetically, "I'm sorry, you know I'm not good with serious emotional stuff."

Rin palmed her face in frustration, "Tell me about it, so just shut up and I'll talk." After making sure the jounin took her advice she continued, "I had already started shut myself off from people after Obito died. The only ones I talked to were you and Minato-sensei, and after he died it was only you. Shizune left with Tsunade when we were younger, and everybody else kind of gave up. After our fight I was so angry and sad with nobody to lean on. Eventually it got worse, and the only thing I could do was throw myself into work, my career replaced everything and it was the only thing I lived for. I thought it made me happy, but then I saw you sitting at the bar with people, joking and laughing… I was jealous. I wanted to have friends and go out, but I just, I just couldn't. If I don't work myself to exhaustion I can't get to sleep or nightmares will wake me up."

She stopped talking and tried to gather the courage to continue when Kakashi did the most surprising thing she'd ever seen him do. His arms engulfed the medic and he pulled her into his chest. The woman started to sob as she wrapped her arms around him and returned the hug, then Kakashi started to rub her back while gently swaying side to side, "I'm so sorry Rin. I wish I knew, I wish I was enough of a man to look past my own pain and see yours, I wish you didn't have to suffer because of me, I wish I held you like this years ago. It seems the only things I truly excel at are wishing and regretting. If only I had half the drive that Naruto has."

Rin continued to cry in his arms and Kakashi just rubbed his hand up and down her back comfortingly while gently rocking back and forth and repeating, "It's okay," in a soothing voice.

She gave a hiccup and looked up at him with teary eyes, "This is what Kushina-neechan did to me."

His charcoal eye curled up while he smiled, "She did it to me too, although I had to be chased down first."

The medic dipped her head back into his vest while he continued rubbing her back, 'Obito, I promise that I won't let go this time. I won't let anyone hurt her, especially me.'

Kakashi felt the blue cloth of his hitai-ate getting damp around his eye so raised his left arm and touched it with his finger. After pulling it back he saw red and realized it was blood. Rin's curiosity was piqued when her teammate started shifting around, she looked up and saw a trail of red on the left side of his face, "Let me see."

She lifted up the cloth to see the eye and gasped in shock, "Kakashi, the sharingan looks different."

The medic untied the damp headband and allowed him to look at his reflection in the polished metal. Three black bars extended from his pupil and stopped where the tomoe usually are. Then black arcing lines jutted out of the right side of them before curving around the outside of his iris, tapering off to a point as they approached the next bar. The jounin knew exactly what this was, the Hokage told him all about it after Sasuke's funeral. He was completely shocked by the turn of events and unconsciously muttered, "Mangekyou."

Rin looked confused and mouthed the word before asking, "Mangekyou, what's that?"

"A dark secret of the Uchiha clan. It's an evolved form of the sharingan, however it requires an awful price. It was thought that you needed to kill your best friend, but then Naruto unlocked it during the funeral. I thought maybe blaming yourself enough caused it, however I've been doing that for years. Maybe the guilt, regret, and the desire to prevent something like that from happening again are what cause the eyes to manifest. The raw need must trigger it somehow, maybe there's some type of a genetic limiter in place..."

The kunoichi gave Kakashi a questioning look when he started hypothesizing, "What do you mean desire to prevent something like that from happening again?"

He eye-smiled at her, "I'm sorry Rin, did you say something?" She lightly punched his arm and glared at him with her teary chocolate-brown orbs, so he gave her a serious response, "Well after learning about it I wondered why Naruto unlocked it and I didn't, and I think that's what I was missing. I just wanted to protect you, make sure that nobody hurt you again. Especially me."

Rin's left arm came up and stroked his right cheek while she mumbled, "Kakashi." Neither of them really knows why to this day, they like to joke that it was Obito's ghost, but their heads slowly drifted closer together before their lips smashed into each other like magnets. Tongues began a heated duel as the two ninja desperately pulled the other closer. They stopped when a strong breeze gusted and a small cyclone swirled around them, kicking up multicolored leaves everywhere. The wind was strangely warm and Kakashi swore till his dying day that his sharp ears picked up a familiar laugh.

* * *

><p>The famous Sharingan no Kakashi whistled a cheery tune as he walked through the streets while reading his special edition Icha Icha. Many people waved as he passed them, and the man returned every one without looking up from his literature, he only lowered the book after arriving at the oak doors of the Hokage's office. They swung open on well-greased hinges and the old man looked up from the documents he was reading, even though no sound was made, "Hello Kakashi, I'm just giving the information another once over before the big performance."<p>

The jounin chuckled as Sarutobi lit his pipe, "Nervous Hokage-sama."

He smiled at his subordinate while exhaling a cloud of smoke, "Of course I am my boy, nerves don't disappear with age or accolades. You should know this because you're piling up both."

"Ah, but I have a long way to go before catching up to you."

The old man chuckled good-naturedly before answering, "Very true. Now tell me, is everything ready?"

Sarutobi started blowing smoke rings while Kakashi answered, "Yes, squads are in position. Any shinobi we can trust that is chunin or above are waiting for orders and posted around key positions, although they don't know why. Tsunade is ready to do her part, my team is waiting for me to return, and assassination squads have been placed around Danzo's most powerful supporters so we can cut down his power base if it proves necessary."

The Hokage nodded and got up to look over the village and eyed the hill where his old friend's house was built. "Let's hope it doesn't come to that, now get to your post. This old man needs a walk to calm the nerves."

* * *

><p>"Push! C'mon, you can do it." A Kage Bunshin of Tsunade was in between the legs of her creator who was using the perfect henge to appear as Kin and hide the decoy baby simultaneously. An unsuspecting Shizune held her disguised master's hands and whispered encouraging words while using medical chakra to make her more comfortable, although it was really doing the opposite. It was quite a challenge for Tsunade to maintain the perfect henge while forcing her chakra flow to imitate childbirth so her apprentice wouldn't become suspicious. The brunette was never a great actor so didn't get informed about the charade, but she was going to be playing a vital role.<p>

After deciding ten hours was long enough the blonde medic let out an anguished scream while her bunshin pulled out the decoy, it began crying immediately while getting covered in fake blood. Tsunade's Kage Bunshin handed the baby to Shizune for its cleaning and pretended to perform medical scans on her creator. The brunette cooed and smiled at the bloody infant before gently sponging it down. She made sure it was clean and wrapped the faux baby in a knitted blanket before placing it in a crib, then Shizune turned to get a scale.

After the medic took several steps away from the table dozens of smoke pellets hit the ground, covering the room with thick clouds of grey. The baby started crying immediately, but it quickly faded away like something was moving it. The smoke cleared twenty seconds later and Shizune looked horrified, she was about to say something to her master, who was strangely unconcerned, when the medic of the Sannin disappeared in a puff of smoke.

The real Tsunade took on her usual appearance and sat up while the brunette looked between her and the dispersing smoke several times. She would get her answers later, right now the blonde had to go to a bar and drink away all the unwanted feelings that faking a birth created. She gave a quick nod to the wolf masked ANBU, which he returned before silently disappearing into the shadows.

Shizune blankly stared at the departing woman's back before lying on the bed that her transformed mentor just gave pretended to have a baby on. "What the fuck is going on?"

* * *

><p>Danzo stood nervously in a small clearing outside of Konoha proper, although it was impossible to tell, so when the capture team arrived it felt like a huge weight had been lifted off his back. The war hawk inspected their cargo before nodding his approval, the Uchiha gene was running strong in the child. He took the infant from his shinobi and they blurred away while he headed back towards an entrance to the base that was hidden nearby. Danzo pulled the large root of an overturned tree and the ground next to it slid open, revealing a spiral staircase.<p>

He entered the hidden passage and slowly walked through the sterile hallways, savoring every footstep. If there was one thing Danzo allowed himself to enjoy it was the satisfaction of a plan coming together, although that only motivated him for the next one so it wasn't really an indulgence. After arriving at the child's room the bandaged shinobi punched in the code on the keypad next to the door, it slid open with a whoosh of air and his uncovered eye narrowed as he took in the scene in front of him, "What are you doing here?"

In the middle of the room and a pile of unconscious bodies was the Hokage, comfortably sitting in a rocking chair next to the empty crib and smoking a pipe. "Hello old friend, quite the nice place you have here. Why was I never invited?"

The Ne Commander fixed his good eye on his rival while planning a retreat, "What are you doing here Hiruzen?"

Danzo was prepared to turn tail and run when four ANBU wearing standard body armor blocked his way. One had a wolf mask on and vertical silver hair while the one standing to his left had short spiky brown hair and wore a lion mask with green and red crescents along the sides of it. On the other side of a door was a man with duller brown hair than Lion that was also slightly longer, he wore a dog mask that had two maroon triangles in the center of his cheeks and one in the middle of his forehead. The other member of the team was a woman with long curly purple hair, she was wearing a cat mask that had two a horizontal stripes on the cheeks and a vertical one in the middle of its forehead.

The war hawk gripped a kunai in his sleeve and prepared to use the Uchiha as a hostage, but Sarutobi stopped him, "Don't bother, the baby isn't real."

Lion made a half seal and the infant turned into a tangled mess of branches that was roughly human shaped as a seed fell to the ground, and Danzo cursed, 'Damn you Hiruzen, was their even an Uchiha in the first place? It seems I underestimated your cunning.'

The Sandaime tapped out his pipe before he stood and looked at the crippled man, "I'm sure you've already pieced everything together, but this is the coup de grace in our trap. We've managed to discover just how far your… roots extend into Konoha, and are prepared to pull them out if it proves necessary. Don't cooperate and everything you've built over a lifetime will be torn down tonight."

Danzo shifted uncomfortably and looked at his opponents, four of the strongest shinobi in Konoha and the Hokage, it was flattering in its own way. He knew there was no feasible chance to escape and turned back to his rival with a neutral look on his face, "You make it sound like there's another option."

Sarutobi nodded, "There is, I'm sure you're well aware of the political landscape and the changes it is undergoing. Soon we shall need everything we can muster and I'd be loath to throw away a division as affective as yours, it's quite extensive for a clandestine organization. I shall allow you to continue running Ne, but you will meet all of my stipulations, and know that none are negotiable."

A flash of surprise showed on Danzo's face, but it disappeared almost immediately when the Sandaime continued, "Firstly you must slowly withdraw your people from the council while supporting my appointments and proposals. Then I want to see a comprehensive budget including of all your income and expenses, and don't forget your hidden accounts too. I also want a detailed report of your standing forces as well as any reserves or spies spread across the continent. You'll give me their real identity, strengths, weaknesses, etcetera. I will allow you to maintain a decent number of soldiers, more than you have now, and a small reserve that will serve with the regular forces until they are needed. You can recruit enough to maintain it, however you cannot use blackmail or intimidation to convince people. I want a complete list of all the recruits as they come in, and you are NOT allowed to break them like you did or do now. There should also be a detailed list of your operations and goals somewhere in there too. Most can continue as I agree with them, however several will have to be shut down."

The Hokage flashed a bit of his killing intent to remind the war hawk exactly who he was dealing with, "Keep in mind Danzo, all of this is a test to see if you can be trusted… to a certain extent anyways. I already have a good idea of all these numbers, like your income from the tea ventures you recently took over, or how about the partnership with Gato shipping that has been incredibly beneficial, I'm also quite impressed with your smuggling and counterfeit rings…"

The Sandaime trailed off and the bandaged elder crushed his irritation after hearing the extensive knowledge his rival was displaying, both subtly and overtly, "Do I have a choice?"

Sarutobi looked his old friend in the eye, crushing the hesitance that started to form in his gut, "There's always a choice, and this is an easy one."

Danzo nodded after a handful of tense seconds, "I accept, all the information will be waiting on your desk when you come in the day after tomorrow." The war hawk passed between the ANBU and out the open door, he silently walked down the hallway that led to his house, 'I'll play along for now Hiruzen, but you'll slip up soon enough.'

* * *

><p>Tayuya let out a long groan while reading over Shizune's grocery list once more. The brunette medic asked her to do the shopping for the week and the former Oto-nin made a big deal of it, but it was mostly for show and the older woman knew it too by the smirk on her face. After staying in Konohagakure for nearly half a year the redhead couldn't imagine living anywhere else, especially her old village. Everyone here was really nice and was friendly for the sake of being friendly, on the other hand it seemed like being a massive dick was one of the requirements to join Orochimaru's forces. Unlike her the Sound village she actually liked some people here enough to call them friends, although not to their faces. Tayuya smiled when some kids ran passed, and realized the scowl that used to permanently mar her features was becoming increasingly rarer as well. The teen thought nothing could ruin her good mood, at least until she heard a familiar voice say an uncommon name, one that she knew too well.<p>

"Jirobo stop spending all the money on food. What if we have to restock our supplies?"

A fat orange haired shinobi turned to address his green haired teammate, "Take it easy Sakon, we won't need ninja tools to deal with the trash in this exam."

The effeminate boy shook his head and scoffed before walking away from the chubby teen. Their six armed teammate scared a group of nearby children before following, "Well don't ask me for money later. I just hope the food these pussies serve doesn't make you soft, well softer."

He laughed at his own joke as they passed the spot their former teammate was just standing, however the only sign of her presence remaining was a discarded piece of paper. The kunoichi vacated the area right after she confirmed their identities, and started sprinting through the crowded streets towards the Hokage tower. The girl ran into the building and rushed past the secretary, ignoring her shouts, before she burst through the polished oak doors.

* * *

><p>The only explanation Sarutobi had was that it was one of those days. He had to get up at the crack of dawn to prepare for meetings with dignitaries from foreign villages, and visiting nobles here for the Chunin Exams. If that wasn't bad enough the Hokage also had to approve the new academy budget because enrollment was at an all time high, then he had to finish redistributing the Ne budget and the money the fire lord granted them after his last visit. There was a small feeling of satisfaction that his plans were succeeding, but it also created more work exactly when he didn't want any so it was minimal.<p>

To make matters worse his pipe was still at the estate, his secret stash was gone, and there was a council meeting later about new academy curriculum for larger class sizes. The Hokage cursed Tsunade as he put down the paper and rubbed his temples, he hated dealing with the council and usually enjoyed a little stress relief before the sessions. He was hoping the next one wouldn't be as long and tedious because Danzo's cronies would be supporting him.

The old man wearily put the paper down and started wishing for a distraction. It came when his doors nearly exploded off their hinges, revealing a frantic Tayuya, "Hokage-sama-"

An upraised hand cut off the redhead and she stopped to catch her breath while the Sandaime spoke, "Calm down Tayuya-chan, unless what you have to say will determine the village's fate in the next ten seconds you can wait a moment or two." She blushed, but quickly regained her composure as he continued, "Now, what is so important that you almost shattered the doors created by the Shodaime."

Tayuya stood at attention and reported, "Hokage-sama I just saw my old teammates from Otogakure in the market."

"Yes, the village is participating in the exams this time. They are technically allied because of the treaty between Hi no Kuni and Ta no Kuni. I couldn't refuse their entry without severe backlash, especially after the large amount of lumber they bought… although I don't necessarily think that was a good thing."

The girl gave him a betrayed look and seemed almost desperate while saying, "But you don't understand, we answered directly to Orochimaru. If they're here then he has something planned. How are you so indifferent about this?"

Sarutobi gestured to a seat and she slowly took it, "Don't get me wrong Tayuya I'm very concerned, however I'm only playing the devil's advocate because it's my job to look at every possibility. Oto is a new village so they need to make a good first impression on clients. Since there are only two teams representing them I had already assumed they were 'ringers."

The kunoichi gave him a curious look, "There's another team?"

The Hokage rummaged through his desk before pulling out a thin folder with a musical note on it. He opened it and inside was two pages with team pictures and names. She ignored the one about her old team and looked at the other one. The two shinobi were vaguely familiar, but her focus was on the one in the middle. It was a picture of a redheaded girl around her age that was well known in her old village, "Shit! This is not good. That's Karin and she's an incredible sensor, completely unmatched by anybody. She definitely knows I'm in the village."

Sarutobi's eyes narrowed as another implication set in and he looked at the former Oto-nin appreciatively, "Thank you for bringing this to my attention Tayuya-chan, if you would like I can have some ANBU bring you to a safe house in southern Hi no Kuni."

The kunoichi shook her head, "Naw, I'm not scared of those pussies. I just wanted you to know that there was something going on."

The Hokage nodded his head, "That's commendable, but I think it's safe to say that they'll be coming after you to discover what happened."

The redhead flashed a cocky grin that was naggingly familiar, yet he couldn't place it, "I hope they do, it would be a pleasure to kick their asses."

Sarutobi started rummaging in his desk, "Well then Tayuya, I think it is time for your first mission as a proud member of Konoha's Shinobi Corp. Upon completion you shall be rewarded with B-rank mission pay, removal of your loyalty seal, and this." He put a metal plate on the table with a swirling leaf engraved in the center, "I'd like to remove the seal now as a show of faith, but it will allow us to know when there are large fluctuations in your chakra flow. If this sensor is as good as you say then I can't afford to have ANBU tailing you, when the fight starts we'll know and capture them. Unfortunately teams go missing before exams start all the times, industrious shinobi like to cut down the competition a little early every now and then. Now why don't you head back to the apartment and wait, I'll keep Shizune busy until the exams start."

The redhead gave him another salute while proudly smiling, "Understood Hokage-sama, I'll giftwrap these dickweeds for you."

After she left the Sandaime called for the lion masked ANBU, "Tenzo," he appeared on one knee with his left fist on the ground and head raised, "I take it you heard that?"

The man nodded and Sarutobi continued, "Then you understand what I want done. Take our guest to safe house Green, and exit through the eastern side of the village. Clue in Shizune as well, unfortunately Tsunade's presence is required for the exams. You may return with everyone a week after they end."

The masked shinobi's fist thumped against the left of his chest before he bowed, "Hai Hokage-sama." The ANBU then disappeared in a swirl of leaves.

Hiruzen pushed himself away from his desk and decided to take a walk back to his estate and get his pipe, he got the distraction he wanted, but it only led to more stress and work. The old Kage let out a fatigued sigh before strolling out of the office, 'You'd better hurry up Naruto, otherwise I'll have to pass the hat on to someone else. I'm getting too old for this.

* * *

><p>Tayuya was going insane with boredom. It had been almost two weeks since her meeting with the Hokage, and although she occasionally sensed her old team they never approached. The kunoichi figured they knew that she knew and wanted to annoy her as much as possible, and considering the closet psychopath was gone somewhere she had nothing to do. Tayuya looked at the clock to find it was almost time for her daily training session, and started gearing up, 'Those fuckers better show up today.'<p>

She stepped out into the warm fall afternoon and jogged towards the training ground when she sensed Sakon pick up her trail. The kunoichi slowed down noticeably and took a different route than usual, hoping that cluing him in would get some results. As Tayuya got farther away from the populated areas the other two started shadowing her so she burst into motion. The teen kept sprinting past the abandoned fields until she came to the place she knew best in Konoha, the practice area where Shizune trained her. An added bonus was the distance away from the village, it would take longer for the ANBU to respond which gave her more time to play. Tayuya knew it would be all but impossible to defeat the three of them at once, but the kunoichi was banking on the fact they wouldn't use the cursed seal. "Long time no see faggots."

They all laughed a little bit, and some of the tension evaporated when Sakon said, "But you still haven't changed Tayuya."

Jirobo grunted his agreement, "Indeed, you know a lady shouldn't use such language."

She rolled her eyes while Kidomaru spread his six arms, "Well, Kabuto told us you were captured. We figured you were brutally tortured, then killed after spilling everything you knew."

Tayuya crossed her arms and smirked, "Tch, these leaf pussies. Please, if I wanted to I could've been queen of the village by now."

The green haired boy nodded absently while a near copy of his head grew out of his neck, the only difference was his opposite eye was uncovered, "Oh so it is true, hello Tayuya-chan. Why didn't you come back, or at least write?"

The spider like boy narrowed his eyes at her, "Ukon raises a good point, why didn't you come back?"

The kunoichi turned around and pulled her navy collar down, showing the design on the back of her neck. "There's a fucking binding seal on me. If I go anywhere they'll know and can track me."

Jirobo stepped forward menacingly, "Are you saying Orochimaru-sama wouldn't be able to remove a seal from his former village?"

"Stop putting words into my mouth fatass, stick to shoving food down your meaty gullet instead." Replied the girl angrily, "Do you really think they haven't changed the seal since he left? When a high ranking shinobi leaves I hope they'd update their security measures."

Tayuya thought she heard a high pitch whistle and put her back against a tree as the smaller boys split up and took positions on her flanks. Jirobo sneered at his former teammate, "I think you're lying. You've gone native and become one of these tree huggers."

Her response was a smile and they charged. The kunoichi spun around the wide tree then jumped into a leafy bough when she was out of sight, and when the three shinobi came around the trunk they confusedly looked at the empty area. This was the first trick Shizune played against her, and it taught her to know and use the environment.

The redhead gripped a kunai and burst out of her hiding spot while trying to stab the back of Jirobo's head, but the fat teen easily avoided the strike. Tayuya dropped the knife when her attack failed and spun immediately after she landed, launching a barrage of shuriken that forced the other two to retreat. She danced around the webbing that Kidomaru shot from his mouth in retaliation, and launched another wave of throwing stars that curved around the nets and forced him to dodge, stopping the assault

The kunoichi then rushed towards the fat shinobi as he started a set of hand seals. He cancelled the jutsu and crouched while spreading his arms in a defensive stance, but the redhead stopped and threw an exploding kunai into the ground before she entered his reach and jumped away. Jirobo was sent rolling by an explosion as Tayuya looked at the other two Oto-nin. Sakon chuckled while cracking his neck, "Does that seal keep you from using chakra too. Not that it matters, your pathetic genjutsu won't work on a real Sound ninja anyways.

The girl was about to respond when the ground under her feet exploded upwards as the heavyset shinobi jumped out of the earth. Tayuya saw several web nets flying towards her and automatically performed a Kawamiri to escape the perilous situation. The kunoichi ended up behind a bush and breathed a sigh of relief, 'I'm glad I prepared this log to use against the crazy bitch.' Tayuya grabbed a scroll in the thick tangle of branches, and activated the tag on the kunai she dropped during her first attack before summoning a pair of windmill shuriken.

The bright flash blinded her former teammates, but they heard the weapons pop into existence and turned towards her while trying to clear their vision. She stood up from her hiding spot and launched the shuriken towards Jirobo and Kidomaru, but they heard them whistling through the air so dodged. Ukon was guiding Sakon as his twin charged the redhead between the windmill shuriken and saw light glinting off the wires trailing behind them. He shouted a warning to the other two and Jirobo raised an earth wall for protection while Kidomaru's lower arms to propelled himself to safety.

Tayuya cursed and let the wires slip off her wrists as Sakon aimed a spinning kick aimed at her midsection. The redhead sprang over the shinobi and dodged the attack, but when he completed the turn another torso burst from his back yelling, "Surprise!"

Ukon connected with a brutal right jab and the airborne girl was sent tumbling across the ground. Jirobo was already going through hand seals and ripped a chunk out of the earth that was slightly bigger than him. "Doton: Doryo Dango" (Earth Mausoleum Dumpling).

The kunoichi pushed across the ground to increase her momentum and barely rolled under the boulder before it shattered on the earth. She looked at her former teammates from her position on the ground, they looked slightly worse for the wear, but weren't showing signs of fatigue while staring angrily at her. Tayuya decided it was time to use chakra and elegantly flipped to her feet while pulling a toy-sized trumpet from one of the hidden pockets in her red cloth belt. After channeling chakra into it the seals activated causing it to grow to its normal size, and Sakon laughed, "Gave up on the flute, it's probably for the best because you were awful. There's no way you can be any worse at this."

Kidomaru launched another wave of web nets at her and she pressed the first button down before blowing into it. A low note blared from the trumpet as a compressed ball of sound launched out of the bell. It easily blew the nets away before continuing towards the spiderlike teen and sent the surprised boy flying with a sickening crack. She turned and launched several more towards the green haired shinobi that forced him to leap away or take the punishing hits too.

Tayuya jumped straight into the air when a dome erupted from the earth in an attempt to trap her, then she used it to push herself towards Jirobo. The pudgy teen threw several kunai towards the airborne girl, but another sound ball forced him to roll away and deflected the projectiles. He clumsily came out of it to see the girl had stopped nearly a foot away from him with the second and third buttons pressed down. A twister of sound burst out with an airy note, and the heavy shinobi tumbled backwards several feet as lacerations covered his meaty body.

She heard footsteps approaching from behind and jumped forward, but not fast enough to completely avoid the combo. A foot slammed into the redhead's side, and a hand reached out of it to pull her back in before the other foot delivered a brutal spinning kick to girl's midsection that left her wheezing on the ground.

The musician couldn't play a note because the two strikes knocked the air out of her so she tried to scramble away before the next attack hit, unfortunately Tayuya was too dazed to move quickly and Jirobo body slammed her. She sucked in a breath of air as he rolled off and randomly swung her head while blowing her trumpet and pressing the third button.

Blades of sound wildly erupted out of the instrument with a high-pitched note, and the Oto shinobi were forced to back off or risk a serious injury before the exam. The kunoichi suppressed a wince after completing the attack and somersaulted to her feet. Tayuya ignored the pain as she cradled her ribs that were probably broken, and prepared to continue attacking her former teammates when she heard that faint whistle again. Sakon scoffed, "Looks like we'll have to finish this some other time."

The three of them disappeared and Tayuya started coughing up blood, then she fell to her hands and knees before curling up on the ground. A couple minutes later an armored ANBU team arrived and she felt medical chakra soothing her painful wounds. A shark masked operative leaned down, "What happened here?"

"What does it look like? They kicked my ass and ran away before you got here. That bitch Karin is probably around playing lookout. I thought I heard a whistle before they attacked and retreated."

She hissed in pain and Shark looked at the bird masked ANBU with bright yellow hair pulled up in a short ponytail, "I don't sense anybody else in the vicinity, not even those three."

The apparent captain looked at kunoichi after Finch answered his unasked question, "Why were you so far out of the village?"

"Because this is my training ground bastard. I know it best, I wasn't going to change my routine up and make them suspicious, they might not have approached me if I was too close to the village. Choose one."

Tayuya let out a pained cough, and he sighed as the medic carefully picked the injured girl up, "No use crying over it now. Let's just go back, unfortunately your word isn't enough evidence to arrest foreign shinobi."

She was about to bitch some more when the iryou-nin put her to sleep with a medical jutsu. Shark looked at his teammates, "Let's report back to the Hokage and get her to the hospital after he removes the seal."

* * *

><p>Shigure cut an intimidating figure walking through Konoha's streets with his two teammates. He was just over six feet and walked through town with a large cloak that only came down to his waist in the front and was secured by a button on each shoulder. Foreign shinobi weren't supposed to walk around armed so he donned fitted blue clothes to show off his imposing muscles. His teammates were shorter, five foot six and five feet respectively, and that only increased his threatening presence.<p>

Civilians cleared a path for the foreigners, but the older ninja quietly chuckled at their strutting. Size didn't mean much in the shinobi world, especially in an exam for the lowest level ninja. This group was probably sixteen or seventeen years old and still hadn't attained the chunin vest, apparently everybody had already forgotten rookies dominated the last tournament.

The Ame genin were oblivious to the silent patronizing and basked in the fear, something that they probably didn't get much of, and the heady feeling it gave them. The leader started walking with a swagger in his step, so when a redheaded foreign kunoichi approached them Shigure naturally assumed she was impressed, "I usually don't go for women from other countries, but I could make an exception if you wanted to have some fun."

The girls piercing red eyes caused his confident posture to become more submissive and frightened. She smirked when they cowed and responded, "No thanks, I don't 'have fun' with losers that can't pass an exam." They bristled at the insult and tensed their muscles, but the posturing didn't threaten her in the slightest. "I'm here to ask if you're with us or against us?"

Shigure gave her a perplexed look, "What? I don't even know you."

The Oto-nin ignored his confusion, "When you see a team from one of the minor villages feel free to attack because they'll do the same, but say that during the fight if you want to know more. Tell the other Ame genin or don't, it doesn't bother me either way. You're not the first team I've told and you won't be the last." The older ninja were about to question the strange girl some more, but she went around a corner and blended with the crowd.

* * *

><p>Team Seven casually walked through a park near the Konoha Shinobi Academy completely in sync. They followed a winding trail through the lush park while allowing the autumn beauty soothe them, at least the kunoichi did, Sai was never one to get nervous. As the genin got closer to the schoolhouse they saw nine other ninja around the same age waiting at the designated meeting spot. Team Ten, Team Gai, and the reformed Team eight consisting of Kiba, Hinata, and Kankuro were near a group of park benches. Although none of them were savvy veterans by any means they had taken the exam once and learned some tricks. Nearly half of them were in the finals last year, and if they walked in separately it could put a target on their backs. Going in as a group would seem more intimidating to the competition.<p>

Nearly everybody looked the same as last exam, although they all were bigger, but it was easy to tell they had grown as shinobi. Ino still had a whip wrapped around her midriff over the bandages, and two tessen strapped across her lower back. This time she wasn't fiddling with them either, instead it seemed like they were a part of her body. Chouji had grown more than any of them and now towered over the group, but he didn't appear uncomfortable sticking out anymore. He was sitting on a bench comfortably and looking at the foliage with a tranquil smile. Shikamaru was the only one thagt didn't appear to change on Team ten. He still wore the tan coat over fishnet with the Konoha hitai-ate tied around his bicep, and the same bored look was on his face while he looked at the clouds. It probably would've been too troublesome to change.

Team Gai appeared to have grown a great deal as well. Neji seemed more serene and no longer projected an air of coldness, especially at his younger cousin. He had a small smile on his face and nodded when the new arrivals came. Tenten gave Team Seven a quick wave of acknowledgement because she was busy staring eagerly at the academy. There was a large scroll strapped to her back along with several holsters located on various points of her body, and her posture screamed confidence. It even appeared Lee had calmed down somewhat, or was so hyper he couldn't focus long enough to rant.

All three genin of Team Eight, and the dog, stood together comfortably even though they were from two different villages, and they gave a nod to Team Seven that was returned. Kakashi gave his genin a long talk about how the pressure would be on them to perform and prove that bivillage teams could work, and they assumed Kurenai's squad got a similar talk, although theirs probably had a lot less allusions to Icha Icha paradise.

Hinata had foregone her heavy jacket, probably because of the heat in Kaze no Kuni and adopted a windbreaker that was royal purple on the bottom half and lavender on top. A pair of tight fitting black pants and matching sandals completed her new look. Kiba had a leather jacket on over a red t-shirt with the Inuzuka emblem on the front and black shinobi pants, the biggest change was that Akamaru was no longer in his hood, now the dog came up to the middle of his master's thigh. Kankuro stood with the two Konoha genin like they had been working together for years. He still had "war paint" on his face and wore a black bodysuit, except this one didn't have a hood with cat ears. He smiled when Temari started walking towards him, "Hey sis, good to see you. How's it going?"

The blonde gave her sibling a hug so he wouldn't see her grin, "Pretty good, at least until a minute ago."

"That hurts."

He was about to continue but Sai walked up to him, "Who are you? No wait, I know. It was hard to recognize you now that you're not dressed up like a pussy cat."

Kiba started laughing while Akamaru let out a bark. The puppeteer glared at them before gritting his teeth and responding, "I hate you so much. I don't know how I forgot about such an annoying guy, but I am looking forward to beating you again."

Sai smiled at the Suna-nin, "I doubt that, now that you're not dressing up like a five year old girl I probably won't feel the need to hold back. Was that the strategy behind the first suit or did you just like playing dress up?"

A soft voice interrupted before anything escalated, "We should go to the exam, it starts in half an hour." Everybody looked to see Neji was already heading towards the academy with his team. Figuring the older Hyuuga was right everybody hurried to catch up. The walk was strangely quiet considering Lee was around, although no words were needed, they all knew what was coming this time, but their nerves might have been worse because of it. However when they walked into the academy determination and focus replaced the butterflies.

The group went up the first floor staircase and headed to the gym because there was no direct access to the third floor. On their way they came upon a large group of people outside of a room, and the genin backtracked around the corner as Hinata activated her byakugan, "It's a genjutsu. Probably some sort of preliminary test like the one in Sunagakure."

They looked at each other and nodded before preparing to slip out a window to get to the third floor when three shinobi wearing hitai-ate with an unfamiliar symbol approached the crowd from the opposite side. A boy their age that was completely covered in bandages and wearing a grey cloak with long sleeves, grey camouflage scarf, matching camouflage pants, and a large pelt of fur that covered his back stepped in front of his teammates. A red headed kunoichi with glasses and red eyes wearing a tight black t-shirt and miniskirt with a pair of spandex underneath, and another boy with brown hair like Kakashi's wearing a yellow shirt with the Kanji for death on the front, the same pants and scarf as his male teammate, and a black belt.

The bandaged genin let out a derisive snort once he was sure people were paying attention to him, "Drop the genjutsu and let me pass, this isn't even the third floor. It will take more than a petty trick to fool the ninja of Otogakure."

His teammates smirked cockily behind him and the two Konoha genin guarding the door were covered by clouds of smoke and transformed into Kotetsu and Izumo. The chunin with wrappings that covered his cheeks frowned, "Why'd you have to ruin the fun kid. One of them would've tried to force their way through eventually."

The mummy like genin just started walking away, "What's the point of cutting all the weaklings out now, it'll be more fun to trim them down ourselves."

He started away with his team and the genin who were in front of the fake room followed the Oto-nin towards the third floor, even though it was the long way. The twelve shinobi that watched the scene hopped out a nearby window and came back through after the crowd passed. They shared a confused look before eleven of them started walking the opposite direction of the sound-nin, but Shikamaru stayed behind and looked at the backs of the other participants, 'Why did they come from that way. The only way to the second floor from that side of the building is the gym, but there's a third floor access in there. They shouldn't have even been here… unless they wanted to let those people through. That doesn't make sense though, not all of them were necessarily pushovers, they just have weakness for genjutsu, and more participants decreases their chances no matter how skilled they are. Luck is a big factor in the outcome of the exam.'

"Let's go Shikamaru, Chouji isn't carrying your lazy ass again."

The Nara started after his friends, "I'm coming you troublesome woman. Nag, nag, nag, all day. Ino must be hanging out with my mom or something."

"I heard that!"

"Haaah, what a drag."

* * *

><p>Even though the hinges were well greased and the door was gently pushed open the entirety of the room glared at the twelve genin after they entered before it broke into whispers. Some shinobi looked away quickly, but the minor villages seemed to glare at them, they simply ignored the attention and quietly took an empty spot on the wall. It died off shortly after that and the room was silent until the door opened again several minutes later and nearly twenty teams of genin walked through before it closed. The atmosphere became tense in the cramped room for the next ten minutes as the teams looked at each other in silence, and projected what KI they could. The oppressive air was broken when twenty-one puffs of smoke appeared in front of the chalkboard.<p>

There was a score of chunin standing behind a bearlike man wearing an interrogator's uniform under a black trench coat and a matching bandana with a Konoha insignia on the metal plate. He had two diagonal scars going from right to left on his face, one started just below his right eye and extended across his cheek, while the other started next to his left eye and came down across his lip and stopped at his chin. "You maggots have five minutes to find the seats that have the same number as your entrance paper. If you're not seated in your assigned spot at that time you will be disqualified with your team."

The examinees stared dumbly at the massive shinobi, "Well, what are you standing there for? Tick tock."

The room burst into a flurry of activity and four minutes later everyone was seated. The proctor chuckled darkly before starting, "Not bad, maybe you're all not completely hopeless. My name is Morino Ibiki, and I will be your first proctor. For the next hour you're under my authority, and I am your god. Now put your books and notes away children. It's time for a pop quiz.

* * *

><p><strong>Timeline: <strong>Exchange done around time of premier, 6 weeks after the snow country mission, so 7-8 weeks after leaving and time for the trap. Kakashi and Rin argue day after the exchange/day before Obito's death, Kakashi goes to stone after dressing down, and then day after that trap is sprung. 3 months after last Chunin Exam, Kin just under 7 months pregnant.

1 month later is Orochimaru's body ritual and Fuuma Clan, 1 month after that people start to arrive for exams which is 1 month away. Tayuya IDs her teammates less than a week after as Kin is nearing her due date, she gives birth out of the village. The fight scene is with a little over two weeks to the Exam.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: <strong>I love when people are vaginas, especially online where you have a user name that isn't your real name anyways. To evilanonymousmouse who left an anonymous review saying he/she wasn't reading my story because I took out the lemon (although I bet they will read the chapter and see this). I have two things to say to you, if you think the lack of sex scenes detract from a story then you have issues, secondly if you go around this site looking for stories with lemons then you have issues. Seriously go to a porn site, that's kind of what the internet was made for. I don't want all my hard work to go down the toilet because I was pandering to get more hits, because that's all the lemon was. Like I said if people want lemons that much I'll post the story on another site and put a link in my profile, but you guys need to tell me. I'm not doing extra work for nothing.

**Semi Spoiler Alert: **After watching Blood Prison I feel much more confident moving forward. Seriously that thing is completely filled with plot holes and doesn't fit into the timeline anywhere at all. Also the last fifteen minutes are so stupid, I ended up laughing even though it was supposed to be kinda tragic.

Jutsu List

Doton Kekkai: Doro Domu B-rank (Earth Release Barrier: Earth Dome Prison)-The user raises a dome of earth around his/her opponent(s) that also allows them to absorb the chakra of those trapped inside

Doton: Doryo Dango (Earth Mausoleum Dumpling) A rank-the user rips up a large chunk of earth before throwing it at the opponent

Kumo Soka (Spider Web Flower) C-rank-The user launches nets of spider webs from their mouth


	32. Battle in the Forest of Death Pt 1

Ibiki was an intimidating presence standing like a statue in the front of room three hundred one, staring at the examinees while randomly flashing minute amounts of killing intent to increase the tension. He did another sweep of the classroom with his cold black eyes and silently observed the different methods being used by the genin, 'There are some worthy candidates in this exam, however most of them don't have what it takes yet. That's my job though, to weed out the incompetents.'

The bearlike shinobi silently laughed when another inept ninja's number was called, that is until the boy from Kusa rose up angrily and slammed his fist on the table, "That's bullcrap, there's no way you can know. You're eyes are completely covered by wrappings."

The blue haired proctor calmly placed his clipboard onto his knees, "You're so hopeless that I didn't even need to see to know you were cheating, now get out."

It was apparent the teen wasn't going to listen so Ibiki used the Kanashibari no Jutsu and directed a concentrated blast of murderous intent that froze the unruly contestant, "That's enough, you're only embarrassing yourself and your village. Don't make excuses for your lack of skill or cunning, develop your skills for next exam instead, or stay pathetic for the rest of your life, which I'm sure will be brief if you pick the latter."

The Kusa genin almost fell over when Ibiki released his technique and hurriedly walked out of the room. His teammates slowly pushed their chairs away from the table and followed the retreating boy while furiously staring at his back. The remaining contestants went back to work and the intimidating shinobi resumed his scan of the room. He saw the veins bulging around the two Hyuuga's eyes and his sharp ears could make out the soft yip of a dog. The head of T&I then found his mentor's daughter after hearing a thump in the room that made him look up at a blonde girl who appeared to be asleep, he hoped she got marked for that. Clans were at an obvious disadvantage because their abilities were known, so as long as they weren't overt with their skills the proctors wouldn't mark them down. However using them carelessly like she did would get your score lowered.

Ibiki's charcoal eyes drifted up to meet the gaze of the six armed Oto-nin who smirked like he just pulled one over on the special jounin, 'Who does this kid think he's fooling?' The scarred man kept his eyes locked on the genin while calling out to one of the proctors, "Miyagi, remind me to call an exterminator." He put extra emphasis on the last word and blasted a wave of murderous intent at Kidomaru while giving him a bone-chilling smile. The boy reflexively shivered in his seat and Ibiki continued, "It appears we have a spiders nest somewhere in the building." The Oto-nin's head dropped with his shit-eating grin, and the head proctor continued observing the room.

The scarred interrogator caught the light getting reflected off the mirrors at the top of the room and saw there were wires attached. He followed them down down to a Konoha girl that was adjusting them while staring at the back of the Gai-clone, apparently somebody had taken tests in this room before. Ibiki gave the kunoichi a knowing smirk that made her quickly duck her head before watching the Hyuuga girl deactivate her Byakugan and begin tapping her pencil on her desk. Coincidentally the Suna puppeteer on her team picked up his pencil and started scribbling hastily on the empty sheet in front of him. Ibiki was impressed by their teamwork despite the different villages, 'I wonder how the other bivillage team is doing.'

He looked up at Kakashi's brats who were operating like a well-oiled machine. That pink haired girl finished the questions in fifteen minutes, then the proctor felt her pale teammates molding his chakra before several mice ran up to her desk and dissolved on the paper, then reformed several seconds later. After that they returned to their creator and the Suna kunoichi on the team before dissolving once more. 'That kid's a smooth operator, I doubt anyone else here noticed that besides me. Hell I might not have even caught it if I hadn't trained myself to sense chakra being molded.'

Ibiki looked up at the clock to see that it was nearing the fifty-minute mark, time to up the pressure. After he quietly signaled the other proctors they started to leak out traces of murderous intent and subtly raised it over the next couple of minutes. The tension hit its peak as the head examiner spoke when the second hand on the clock reached twelve and the minute hand ticked forward slightly, "Pencils down, it's time for the tenth question. There's a catch to this one though… if you get it wrong then you can never take the Chunin Exam again. Anyone can leave now, just raise your hands and-"

He was interrupted when the redheaded girl from sound let out a snore and his brow twitched in irritation, "You might want to wake up one-hundred fifty four. Your career is on the line here, if you sleep through this question and get it wrong then you'll never be a chunin. In case you missed my explanation it's possible to withdraw now, I'd understand completely. It's pretty risky considering you can try again next time."

She slowly lifted her head and gave him an annoyed frown, "Why'd you wake me up for this bullshit? You don't have the authority to do that, not even the Hokage has that authority. You're obviously bluffing, if that was one of the requirements to enter this exam it would've been boycotted."

Ibiki's coal eyes stared frostily at the girl while the proctors that were closest to her started ramping up the KI, however the redhead was unperturbed by it all and sat confidently like there was no way she could be wrong. The man could tell she wasn't bluffing too because there wasn't a shred of doubt anywhere in the girl's posture, and no child would be able to completely hide that. Hell, a lot of jounin couldn't either. He silently cursed when her confidence started rubbing off on everyone else and tried to crush it quickly, "Those are big words for a little fish. Tell me GENIN, are you willing to risk your entire career on them?"

Karin didn't rise to the bait, instead she just sat there unflinchingly with a triumphant look on her face. Nobody was raising there hands anymore and Ibiki's sharp mind raced to think of a substitute tenth question, 'Maybe if I rework the scenario I was going to give them and allow them to get back together in teams before explaining it… dammit. I didn't think that a genin would be able to think clearly under this much pressure, that's what I get for underestimating them though. Oh well, it's not like Anko is going to complain about more teams passing, although I'm going to hear about it forever.'

"Last chance maggots." He blasted them with a wave of killing intent that shook the contestants, but didn't dissuade anybody. Everyone here was ready for the tenth question, "Fine, you all pass."

Ibiki purposefully ignored the kunoichi's smirk, "Although I doubt half of you would have stayed if it wasn't for one-hundred fifty four. This was supposed to test your mettle, if you were willing to risk your future without knowing what was coming. If you're not then you should leave now because you'll never make it as a chunin."

Temari glared angrily at the bearish man, "So what the hell was the point of the other nine questions if you were going to pass us anyways?"

"Information." Everybody looked at the special jounin confusedly, "To test your ability to gather information. Not everyone specializes in it, but every ninja should be capable enough to get by. The limit of five was to simulate suspicion, if you do something strange once or twice people won't give you a second glance, but any more than that and you'd start to stand out. It was also to prove that no matter how much information was gathered you can never be sure of it or the future. Information is the lifeblood of shinobi and many times is the difference between life or death, failure and success… but it can always be faked. However, even if you think the information was falsified you cannot turn your back on a mission."

The man pulled back the bandana he wore revealing a hideously scarred head, "A true shinobi knows that the future is always uncertain and puts his life on the line anyways. That is one of the traits necessary to become a chunin. Now-"

The interrogator was cut off again when a light brown tarp wrapped up like a ball burst through the large windows. It unfolded and kunai knives stuck into the ceiling and floor revealing the writing inside that said, "The Proctor for the Second Exam, the incredibly sexy and single Mitarashi Anko." A scantily clad woman in her twenties wearing only a trench coat, fishnet bodysuit, and an incredibly short orange miniskirt over it with her violet hair pulled back into a spiked ponytail stood in front of it. "Don't get too excited pussies because I'm your next proctor and the second exam is about to…"

Anko trailed off and leaned closer while counting the remaining genin with her finger, "Two hundred four genin Ibiki, sixty-eight teams? Did you enjoy a delicious brunch with them, or maybe let them take relaxing a nap before the real challenge, oh I know. I bet you had them organize your stuffed animal collection, you've been talking about that for a long time."

A gloved hand made its way to Ibiki's scarred face before sliding down to his chin, "You're early Anko. They got off on a technicality and I was going to give them a backup question I had planned, but then I figured why ruin your fun?"

The woman seemed to tingle with excitement while answering with a sweet tone, "You're too kind, I can't wait to smell all the delicious crimson blood that's going to get spilt." She turned towards the nervous genin with a bloodthirsty grin, "Hurry along now kiddies it's playtime… well I'll enjoy it at least. Now get a move on and follow me. Unlike my colleague here I'm going to make sure at least half of you are gone by the end of my portion." Anko jumped out the broken window and the examinees shuddered before hesitantly following the psychotic woman like they were walking to the gallows, except four genin from sound. They followed excitedly knowing it would be far more than half.

* * *

><p>The gate finally opened and three blurs jumped into the canopy and leapt through the massive trees into the Forest of Death. After going nearly half a mile they skidded to a stop and a bandaged genin questioned the redheaded girl on their team, "Okay Karin, what's this all about?"<p>

The kunoichi just shrugged with an irritating grin on her face, "What makes you two think I know?"

The boy wearing a yellow shirt with the kanji for death on it sneered, "You were completely pathetic in basic training and were only good at sensing. They thought you were so useless that you weren't even put on a team. Then all of a sudden you come back with some impressive jutsu, and we were told to listen to your orders. It seems a little suspicious."

Karin laughed derisively at the brown haired boy, "Did Dosu tell you all that Zaku? It was surprisingly well thought out, especially coming from somebody with a pea sized brain. But tell me, why would Orochimaru-sama tell his plans to a genin? I'm sure the other three know, but they're not exactly genin."

"Then how do you explain such a rapid improvement for somebody labeled incompetent."

The redhead flicked her hair while facing her mummified teammate, "You shouldn't be jealous because I'm strong without Orochimaru's enhancements Dosu. Your guys' balls will drop someday, and then you'll become real men." They both tightened in anger, but Karin knew the duo wouldn't be able to do anything if they had the guts to try. She could sense their nervousness, "You two need to learn to relax and take a joke. I have a lot of chakra so it was hard to control as a child, but now it's a major boon. Now if you want to know what's going on crack open the fake hitai-ate because they told us the orders are in there."

They all undid their headbands before breaking them in half and snatching two pieces of paper that fluttered in the air. One had their mission objectives written down, and the other had a map of the forest with x marks near the perimeter. Karin ignored the written orders because she already knew them, instead the redhead intently studied the map. She glanced up and saw their eyes widen as Dosu looked up at her with an anxious glint in his, "So this is what's going on."

The kunoichi nodded while looking back at her map before they did the same, "We entered gate seventeen so we need to go to this meeting area, it's about three miles from here." She turned her map around and pointed to the red X closest to them before taking off with her teammates following excitedly. It didn't take long for the shinobi to arrive, and they saw some familiar faces. Sakon, Kidomaru, and Jirobo were waiting impatiently in the canopy of the large trees and Karin looked up at the boys with a wicked smirk, "This worked out perfectly, are you guys ready?"

The three older ninja jumped down and Kidomaru's six arms began twitching excitedly, "Of course, the sooner the trash gets here the better."

Minutes later a team from Tanigakure arrived, it was three boys all around a year older than Karin's team wearing matching uniforms, light blue pants with a skintight black t-shirt on under a dark blue vest. The one in the middle was the shortest of the three. He had light brown hair with an angular face, and his lips were set in a frown. The shinobi on his left was incredibly thin, almost emaciated, with large flaps of skin hanging from his skeletal frame, and long black hair that stopped at his shoulder blades. The final member had green hair that came down to the middle of his round cheeks that curved up in a smile, "Hello, my name is Aki, the chubby fellow on the end is Daiki, and the cheerful fellow in the middle is Taisho."

His teammates nodded when they were introduced, and the Oto-nin gave their names after. They stood in silence after that until the last team, from Kusagakure, arrived several minutes later. The boys were about five feet tall, although one was wiry and compact while the other one was more muscular. Both had bald heads and no shirts on with yellowish green pants cinched around their waist by a black belt. The girl had short green spiked hair and was a couple inches taller than her male teammates. She wore a yellow halter-top under a green vest with matching green pants that hugged her curvaceous legs. Her eyebrows shot up into her bangs almost immediately after entering the clearing, and she angrily marched up to Karin, much to her teammates confusion, before hissing in her face, "What are you doing here traitor? We all thought you were dead."

Karin smiled at the trio when recognition flashed across the boys' faces, "If it makes you feel better I was never loyal in the first place."

The wiry Kusa shinobi spit in her direction, "Screw this Akemi-chan, let's just leave."

Before they could Jirobo stepped forward and shoved his chest out, "That's not a smart idea trash." The two males glared at the imposing Oto-nin and he flared his chakra in response, "If you decide to leave then you'd be defying a direct order from your superior and end up returning to your village in disgrace. That's if we decide to let you leave of course."

His two teammates quickly came forward and Kidomaru stopped at his side while Sakon walked forward unconcerned and showed his back to the green haired kunoichi, "You guys need to relax a little bit." She moved closer to him when a copy of his head popped out with an insane grin, "I wouldn't do that girlie."

Akemi let out a squeak and the Sound shinobi continued walking while the head merged with his body, "So what's your guys' name?"

"Natsuo."

Said the wiry one at the same time the muscular one responded, "Katsuo."

The effeminate boy smiled at the two, "Well then Natsuo, Katsuo, shut the fuck up and stop complaining. Save it for somebody who cares."

Sakon walked away calmly and the muscular one threw a kunai at him with impressive speed, this time a whole torso came out of his back and caught the blade before bending it to a ninety degree angle, "That wasn't very nice, do it again and I'll devour you cell by cell."

Karin sensed the three from Kusa were cowed by the display and started, "We'll start moving towards the tower in a zigzag path to cover as much area as possible. We should arrive sometime tomorrow and meet with the other teams to set up a perimeter, we're one of the teams farthest from the tower so we can take our time. Remember to kill every Konoha and Suna shinobi you see."

* * *

><p>Team Kakashi moved stealthily through the treetops in Training Area Fourty-Four as the sun dipped lower in the sky, hunting for any sign of another team. It had been several hours since the start of the exam, but they had only been searching for the last few. The trio decided to go a couple of miles into the forest and set up a hidden camp while everybody else was jumping around and expending energy in the initial frenzy. Now they were fresh and had an advantage over the tired ones that were probably starting to settle down.<p>

The genin came to an immediate stop when they heard wood clunk together and a string of muttered curses. Sai motioned for the girls to stay and snuck closer to the noise while the kunoichi waited in silence. A few minutes later a black squirrel landed on a nearby branch and signaled they should follow. The girls found their teammate in a large tree watching a lone kunoichi from Getsugakure collect firewood. Sai pulled the heaven scroll they received from his pouch and shook his head before putting it back and the kunoichi nodded. The team wouldn't have been nominated for the exams if they let the person gathering firewood carry their scroll, so the three ninja allowed the foreign ninja to finish her task and followed in silence. She came to the edge of a clearing less than a minute later, and when her teammates asked for the password Team Seven burst into motion.

The fine edge of Sai's tanto easily sliced through the left side of the genin's chest. The firewood clattered together as it hit the ground while her teammates stared in horror at the blood spilling out of the large wound. Despite the shock they were skilled enough to avoid a barrage of senbon and retaliated by launching a wave of kunai at the charging kunoichi. The girls split up to avoid the attack, and once it passed Temari stopped and used a Kamaitachi to push their enemies into the trunk of a gigantic tree as Sakura launched a handful of poison bombs. However they exploded into red clouds after shuriken pierced them from a variety of angles before Team Kakashi was surrounded by six other genin from two different villages.

There was a kunoichi and two shinobi from Tanigakure, and the team from Ishigakure consisted of two kunoichi and a shinobi. The bivillage team looked around confusedly, but before they could analyze the strange alliance it had to be defeated. Sakura threw poison bombs in a circle a couple of yards away from them before Temari span around while swinging her fan. Their opponents were forced to jump out of the clearing and Sai threw several smoke bombs at their feet. When the grey cloud reached its zenith three forms burst from the top and were immediately pierced by a variety of shinobi tools before turning into ink.

The remaining Getsu ninja shouted a warning as blades of wind burst from the smoke, but one of the Tani kunoichi couldn't react quickly enough and was bifurcated the long way. The two pieces of the girl's body hit the ground while her teammates shouted in rage, however their charge was halted when an Ishi shinobi yelled, "Stop! If you run at them now it's playing into their hand."

They hesitated and Sakura smiled before bursting into motion and rushing the genin from Ishigakure with poisonous needles in her right hand. The ninja were momentarily surprised by her daring charge, but were able to get into defensive stances and prepare for the attack. However they were caught off guard when the ground around them shook and ink badgers emerged from the upturned dirt and leapt at the foreign ninja. The medic got a kunoichi with her senbon and immediately turned towards the other, confident the poison would do its job.

The lone shinobi on the team retreated while going through some hand signs to support his teammate with a jutsu, however an ink snake was in the grass at his feet and wrapped around his legs. The boy started to rush through his hand seals even faster, but momentarily paused after a kunai impaled his stomach. He tried to grit his teeth and continue through the pain, yet not even a second later the genin burst into a shower of gore when the exploding tag around the handle detonated.

Temari turned towards Sai with a slightly disgusted look on her face, "Don't you think that was overkill?"

"No." Was his one word reply as Sakura's glowing palms hit her opponent's stomach, heart, throat, and then she clapped her hands on the girl's temples.

The four remaining genin tried to run away after watching the team get demolished in a matter of moments, however when they broke the tree line the sound of monkeys could be heard and a troop of ink primates ambushed the retreating genin and wrapped them up. Their struggle to break free was ended moments later by four poisonous senbon. "What just happened?" Temari and Sai looked at the pinkette as she continued, "I don't understand why genin from three different villages teamed up."

The pale artist sheathed his blade after cleaning it and responded in a monotone while searching the bodies, "A team from the minor village hasn't appeared in the finals for the last three years, they probably figured it would be easier to advance in a group." The boy held up two earth scrolls that he collected from the same team, "And they might've been onto something."

Sakura and Temari started looking through the other corpses and found three heaven scrolls. They each held two scrolls and the Suna Kunoichi looked up at the sky, "Maybe we should skip camp and just make a dash for the tower. We could probably make it before morning."

"I wouldn't advise that." The girls looked over at Sai, "The real predators come out at night, and I wouldn't assume the other teams are going to take it easy either. We may be easier to see in the daylight, but so are ambushers. Besides, I already used two of my prepared scrolls and need to make some more."

The pinkette began rummaging through her pouches, "I agree with Sai, based on the amount of poison bombs that I used in that fight I'll need to make more to get through the forest too."

Temari just sighed after seeing she was outnumbered, "Fine, but I think we'd be smart to get out as quick as possible, and if I'm right you guys will be hearing about it for a long time."

* * *

><p>Sakura was on watch and using the time to craft more poison bombs. Unfortunately she wasn't allowed to carry the ingredients that were necessary to create the gas because they were incredibly volatile, and mixing them in an uncontrolled environment was not recommended. Instead she had a jar filled with a goop that had the consistency of soft wax. The medic used the tip of a senbon needle to scoop a little bit of it into a container before dropping a reactant that liquefied the mixture and quickly capped it while her face twisted in disgust. She really didn't like using the liquid bombs for multiple reasons.<p>

They were about two and half times bigger so it was impossible to throw more than three accurately, even though the primary ingredient didn't become lethal until mixed with the reactant it was still dangerous to touch without some sort of protection, and it wasn't… efficient. Sakura had come to accept that she would end many more lives than she would save in the course of her career as a healer, however the girl didn't have the stomach to make her opponent suffer. She even felt bad for Raiga after her actions sunk in awhile later.

The kunoichi gripped some bombs she just made after sensing a group approaching. They were skilled enough to cover up signs of their approach, however they couldn't control the animals that had stopped making noise. She quietly roused her teammates and the trio waited tensely until they heard a voice, "I'm telling you their scent is all over the clearing, I'd ask you to use the Byakugan if you didn't already use it so much Hinata-chan."

"S-sorry Kiba-kun."

"Hey relax, I know it's bad to abuse your doujutsu so don't worry about it. Me and Akamaru will find them."

"He's right Hinata, if it weren't for you who knows what would've happened. The only reason we were prepared both times was the Byakugan, I don't know why dog-breath is bragging when he couldn't detect any of the teams we came across. Not to mention he's been leading us in a big circle for half-an-hour."

Team Seven nodded towards each other before they flipped out of their makeshift hammocks and surrounded Team Eight, "Take it easy guys, we're all friends, remember. We have both scrolls anyways."

Kiba had raised his hands to show he wasn't holding a weapon while Sai answered, "You can say anything you want, everyone has seen the team compositions and the skills of the Hyuuga and Inuzuka are well known. Until we know you are who you claim to be…"

The Ne operative trailed off and Kankuro sighed, "I'll handle this, Temari sleeps with a small, OUCH! What the fuck sis?"

"I'm going to kill you bastard." Hissed the blonde through clenched teeth.

Despite the fact she just attacked a member of the other team everyone relaxed their guards, "So you'll never believe what happened to us?"

They all looked at Kiba, except for Kankuro who was rubbing a welt on the back of his head, "You got ambushed by a multiple teams from different villages."

"Twice. Wait, how did you know?"

He looked at Sakura as she put her weapons back into the well-organized holsters, "Because it happened to us too. We got ambushed by three teams from three different villages." They all looked at the forest apprehensively before facing each other again, "Maybe we should stick together, we already have six scrolls."

"And we have four." Said Kankuro as he adjusted the scrolls on his waist, "We defeated two full teams, and a team of four from different villages so we're beat, let's rest for tonight and start moving again tomorrow. Then we'll start looking for other squads from Konoha and Suna to even the odds."

"Sounds good to me." Temari jumped back up into the canopy and everyone else followed quickly, nobody wanted to remain exposed longer than necessary.

* * *

><p>The genin from Team Seven were grateful to be traveling with a tracking team, it had saved them from several conflicts so far, however the twelve chasing them now were impossible to shake. "This isn't working, we should pick someplace defensible and make a stand while Sai makes some badass ink creatures to buy us a little more time to get away."<p>

Nobody had a better strategy to offer than Temari's so they began scanning the forest for a suitable battlefield, and eventually the six genin stopped at an outcropping of rocks in front of a thick grove of trees. The approach was open enough that they'd be able to see their opponents coming while the rocks and copse of trees offered some cover. Sai slipped into the thicket with Kankuro as the shy Hyuuga warned, "They're almost here."

"Shit, Hinata and Kiba fight up front, Sakura will be mid-range while my brother and I will cover you guys at a distance." Three puppets came out of the dense trees, his first puppet, Karasu, was in the center with its four arms, tattered brown cloak, three eyes, and spiky brown hair. On its left was a horned puppet that also had three eyes, matching hair and cloak, large red horns, and six arms called Kuroari. Finally there was a massive puppet on four legs that vaguely looked like a salamander with a large Iron mask that lay flat on its back and a long pointed chin named Sanshouo.

Everyone took their position as the twelve shinobi approached, and after they stopped about twenty feet away the fat one said, "So you decided to stop running trash."

The lipstick wearing boy next to him smiled eagerly, "About time too. I enjoy a good chase as much as the next guy, but that was starting to get ridiculous."

"Don't be too harsh on them, I'd run away from us too."

The twelve ninja laughed when the six armed teenager finished and Kiba felt the hackles on the back of his neck raise at the taunt, but he knew not to start the fight, the enemy was giving Sai more time, "Look at 'em all, scared stiff. Let's show a little mercy and put them out of their misery."

The boy with brown hair like Kakashi raised his arm up and pointed his right palm at the six genin standing on the outcropping of rocks. They saw the small holes in the center of his hand, and as he said "Zankuuha," concentrated streams of wind burst out of them. The Konoha and Suna-nin leapt off the boulders and Akamaru landed on Kiba's back before transforming into a copy of his owner and leaping off.

The feral duo charged towards the foreign ninja with Hinata, and when they were within ten feet of their opponents the trio jumped straight up revealing Kuroari. The puppet's six arms folded up at the wrist and launched a wave of poisoned senbon that forced the surprised genin to scatter. It charged towards the Kusa team with the other two puppets on its tail, intent on keeping them out of the fight. Sanshouo launched purple smoke from its mouth, which forced them farther back, then Karasu separated into pieces that had large spikes on the joints, which ferociously attacked the Kusa genin so they had no chance to counter.

It seemed Temari was trying to level the forest while Kankuro kept the other team occupied, although she doubted her strongest jutsu would make much of a dent on the ancient woods. The kunoichi repeatedly swung her battle fan and sent blast after blast of chakra infused wind towards their enemy and scarred the trees they took cover behind. She didn't give up even though her attacks were all but useless because it kept their opponents pinned.

Unfortunately for her they were shinobi and had a variety of ways to escape. Sakura shouted a warning and they looked up to see a blast of water heading towards them. A Daikamaitachi from Temari easily dispersed the attacks, however it gave the Oto-nin a chance to move. The mummified shinobi was rapidly closing in with the effeminate white haired boy and the chubby one trailing close behind. The Inuzuka duo used the Gatsuga and two grey twisters ripped through the air towards the Oto-nin, but they weren't deterred.

Dosu simply flicked his melody arm, which caused Kiba and Akamaru to stop spinning and fall to the ground in pain while clutching their ears. Hinata gasped at what she saw while the Oto-nin rushed passed the dog and his master who whimpered pitifully on the ground. Zaku aimed two Zankuuha at the downed Inuzuka from a distance, however Salamander landed in front of the two as the iron mask lifted up and unfolded at the sides like a frill until they hit the ground, blocking the attack. Then its back opened up as a pair of Karasu's arms picked the two up and tossed them into the opening before the tail pulled up, creating a shielded environment. Sanshouo returned to the thicket before emerging in its original form and rejoining the other two puppets battling the Grass team.

As Kankuro saved his teammates Hinata shouted a warning to the others, "That gauntlet emits sound waves that travel into the eardrum."

"Just because you know doesn't mean you can stop it."

The hunchbacked genin veered off towards the Byakugan wielder, however she widened her stance while pulling her palm back, and as Hinata thrust it forward she said, "Hakke Kusho." (Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm)

Dosu was surprised when a concentrated burst of air hit his stomach and sent him tumbling back to the others. He looked up after regaining his bearings to see the Hyuuga had teamed up with the pink haired girl and was directly assaulting Sakon and Jirobo while the other kunoichi supported her with poisoned needles. The two shinobi were hard pressed by the vicious assault of Jyuuken and the deadly senbon, however they smirked after hearing "Suiton: Mizurappa (Water Release: Wild Water Wave.)"

The Oto-nin jumped out of the way as a high-pressure stream of water rushed towards the Hyuuga, however a Kamaitachi impacted it from the side and cancelled it out. The grumpy and skinny looking Tani-nin ran towards Hinata and she met their charge while Aki went through a series of hand seals. The kunoichi ducked under Tomio's clothesline as he flew past, then blocked the emaciated boy's surprisingly strong jab with her forearm. Daiki tried another jab with his left arm while his surly teammate was approaching her back with the intent of landing a devastating kick. Hinata started pivoting on her feet while expelling chakra from various tenketsu on her body and yelling, "Kaiten." A blue sphere formed around the rapidly spinning girl knocked both boys away and blocked another Mizurappa from Aki.

Hinata jumped back into formation to see the three younger Sound ninja surround Sakura before charging the pink haired girl, who was left on an island when the Hyuuga was forced to deal with the Tani-nin. She looked back at Temari to call for help, but the blonde was diligently keeping the various web jutsu the six-armed boy was launching at bay with her futon attacks. The blue haired kunoichi was about to rush forward and offer what support she could when the pinkette exploded into motion. She kept the boy using the gauntlet at range with a barrage of senbon, then seemed to dance around the air streams being launched at her, even barrel rolling between two before throwing some poison gas to protect her flank from the charging redhead. After that kunoichi propelled herself towards the brown haired shinobi who smirked and took aim once more. He said, "Zankuuha," at the same time Sakura said "Kawarimi no Jutsu."

The boy looked surprised when the blast of air shattered a branch and he shifted his gaze upwards when the kunoichi on his team warned, "Above."

Two air blasts scattered the senbon, however they were only a feint and poison bombs were also speeding towards him. Zaku was forced to retreat as the bombs exploded into yellow smoke, and Sakura silently cursed her attack didn't work before taking stock of her supplies while flipping back into position. After finishing her count she looked up to see the opponents were regrouping as well, and the girl took a moment to catch her breath. The pink haired medic liked to think that in a little over a year she'd fought in some intense battles, but never anything like this. Eighteen ninja, three puppets, and a nin-dog were contained in the small area they had chosen to defend and were having a death match because the scrolls obviously didn't mean anything. It was pure chaos.

The pinkette noticed Karin whisper something into the fat one's ear and he smiled evilly. The boy rapidly went through a series of hand seals while his spiderlike teammate shot large nets of webbing towards the Konoha-nin. Temari easily rendered the attack useless, however it allowed Jirobo to complete the series of hand seals, and he lifted a piece of rock out of the ground in front of him that was about fifty yards long and twenty-five wide. The bulky Oto-nin shouted, "Doryo Dango," and heaved the jutsu.

Everybody scattered except Sakura because her sharp mind had already calculated the trajectory milliseconds after it left his hand and she knew where it would land, the copse of trees behind them. The kunoichi had already started doing the math for where she would need to hit the jutsu and at what angle, she was just hoping to generate enough force. Sakura's fist glowed blue with chakra as she smashed it into the front of the rock, cracks spiderwebbed out from the point of impact before it burst into fifteen boulders. A couple hit the grove while others went wide, and Sakura could only hope it was enough for Kankuro and Sai to dodge while biting back the pain coming from her fist. Apparently she hadn't quite mastered Tsunade's strength technique.

As the pinkette fell to the ground shaking her right hand Daiki appeared from nowhere and delivered a vicious kick to her torso, however the girl burst into a noxious, purplish black liquid that covered the emaciated shinobi's right leg and torso before dissolving skin and muscle. The boy was screaming of agony until Aki landed next to him before shoving a pill in his mouth, and the mutilated shinobi triumphantly roared after swallowing it. His nonexistent muscles began expanding and the loose skin was slowly filled with them until it was tightly stretched over his brawny frame. The five foot ten ninja had a twenty-six inch neck, fifty-three inch chest, thirty-four inch thighs, and his wrists were nine inches wide.

Aki laughed when the transformation was complete, "Consider yourselves blessed to witness Tanigakure no Sato's most hidden technique, only one in one thousand born in our village can survive it. A gland was surgically implanted into his body that only allows it to use the bare amount of nutrients necessary to survive at any given time, and more gets created as it's needed from the food in his stomach, at least until that pill comes into play. The gland secretes all of the enzymes it has stored and breaks down the calories, sugars, carbs, fats, and anything else in his body into huge amounts of proteins and amino acids that rapidly turn into muscle and increase his physical capabilities."

Kidomaru looked in awe at the transformation as the acidic poison battled the rapid regeneration created by the technique, "So that's how he eats more than Jirobo and is still a toothpick."

Daiki stared at the real Sakura when she emerged from a patch of forest that survived and rejoined her comrades. The muscular boy let out a growl and charged while his teammates moved closer as well, forming hand signs the whole way. The ground underneath the four shinobi turned to mud and strands rose up to grab them as the juggernaut approached. Hinata broke herself and Temari free before the blonde partially stalled Daiki's bullrush, however more mud ropes bound the kunoichi faster than the Hyuuga could destroy them as the transformed genin started charging once more.

Suddenly a loud "Yahoo," echoed through the ravaged clearing as two grey tornados flew over the mud, destroying the bindings around the trapped shinobi and dispersing the viscous substance enough for them to reach solid ground. The twisters continued and bounced off Daiki before he swatted them away like flies. The Inuzaka rolled back towards their comrades as poisoned senbon fell harmlessly to the ground after failing to pierce the massive genin's skin. The Tani-nin roared as he advanced and cocked his right fist to deliver a devastating strike, however a large ball went into the genin's mouth and he instinctively swallowed.

Daiki began to scream in defiance while his transformation started to slowly recede, and his teammates looked on in shock. Sakura smirked triumphantly while her left hand came back down and started to heal the broken one, "I wonder if those muscles will help him against the poison he just swallowed. It's like the one on his skin so it should be destroying his energy source as well."

Hinata and Kiba charged the stunned Tani genin as they looked at their downed teammate, the teammate whom they thought was invincible. The tenketsu in Aki's arms were sealed when he futiley raised them in defense against the Hyuuga's assault, and while his limbs fell uselessly to his side the kunoichi delivered a brutal palm strike to his chest. He shifted enough so it only hit a lung instead of his heart, but the boy immediately started coughing up blood when it burst and limply collapsed to the ground.

Taisho wasn't faring much better against the Inuzuka, and it was becoming apparent they relied on Daiki for close range combat. Kiba's right jab broke through the grumpy shinobi's feeble guard and broke his nose before his claws left deep gashes in the boy's neck. The feral shinobi went in for the kill while Taisho's hands came up to stem the bleeding, but he and Hinata were forced back by two Zankuuha.

"Some of you pathetic tree huggers aren't complete trash after all. It's a nice change of pace from all the other weaklings we've already killed."

The effeminate boy was about to continue when two twelve-foot tall ink behemoths emerged from the woods. They lumbered towards the genin from the minor village while a small patch of the thicket exploded in motion. A literal stampede made up of predatory animals, birds both big and small, mice, snakes, and many other ink creatures stormed passed the four genin, and dog, in the clearing. Before they reached the shocked enemy the ground around them exploded as six-foot badgers emerged and tried to kill them.

The Oto-nin began systematically slaughtering the creatures and once the Kusa team rejoined them it was quick work, but by the time they were finished their prey had escaped and put a considerable distance between them. Karin walked over to Daiki who was still moaning in pain and held out her bare arm, which was scarred by bite marks, in front of his face, "Drink my blood, it has healing properties." The boy did and he immediately returned to his normal ashy complexion instead of the sickly grey it was before.

The girl allowed the other two Tani-nin to drink it as well, and they began to rest peacefully when their wounds finished healing. Akemi stepped closer to Karin after the redhead finished. Her breathing was haggard, she was covered in cuts, and her complexion was incredibly pale. Her teammates Natsuo's and Katsuo's bodies were also littered with scratches and they had the same symptoms. The lone kunoichi on the team approached with an open mouth when Karin pulled down her sleeve laughing, "Do you think I'd waste my blood on worthless shinobi, the three of you couldn't even deal with a squad of puppets."

Akemi grit her teeth, "What the hell, we're allies bitch."

The redhead smirked and walked back to the other shinobi, "Actually we're really not, you see we were going to kill you at some point." The three genin from Kusa looked shocked, "Are you really that stupid? Am I glad I was never loyal to that dump. Did you really think the higher ups in Kusagakure would've allowed a foreign agent into the village when two factions were already vying for control?"

The betrayed shinobi were about to muster their remaining strength to try and capture the girl when the ground underneath them turned to mud. Aki stood up with his hands in a seal and nodded towards Karin, "Thank you for the save Karin-san."

The kunoichi returned the nod while answering, "No problem," she then cocked her head towards the trapped ninja as strands of mud wrapped around them, and Toshio stood up holding a seal as well. "Unlike them you actually proved your worth."

The trapped genin glared defiantly at their captors until balls of webbing covered their heads, "You can drop the technique, they can't break my webs and eventually all their air will run out." The Tani genin did and everybody watched Kusa-nin fell to their knees in the mud while desperately attempting to pull the sticky substance out of their airways. Once they stopped convulsing on the ground Kidomaru spit on them, "What a pathetic bunch, I couldn't stand to look at their faces anymore."

Daiki slowly regained his feet and groaned, "I'm hungry."

Aki reached into his pack before pulling out a white hunk of something that smelled awful, "Here's the emergency nutrition."

The emaciated shinobi made a disgusted face at the substance, but ate it without complaint before standing up like nothing was wrong. Once everybody was ready they looked towards Karin and Zaku asked, "Well, which way did they go? I want to destroy those leaf bastards."

"Get in line." The brown haired Sound genin looked over and saw Toshio's surly face looking at the redhead.

She pointed east, "They're in that direction, but we need to get to the tower soon. I'm sure we'll see them before the end of the test."

* * *

><p>The genin from Konoha and Suna didn't slow down even after their pursuers were well out of Hinata's Byakugan's range. They made a beeline for the tower after putting considerable distance between them and the Oto-nin, only adjusting their course after the girl saw her cousin's team in a fight against twelve shinobi while trying to defend three fallen genin. They got closer to the scene to see Neji and Lee each fighting four ninja in close quarters while Tenten kept the remaining four at bay with a seemingly endless rain of steel. Lee ducked under a boy's kick before hitting him into one of the foreign genin with a kick of his own. He then turned and delivered a brutal chop to a charging boy's neck, breaking it and killing him, before spinning around a running jab from the other genin and kicking him backwards. The ninja on top of the other two who were trying to untangle themselves, "Yosh, I shall defeat my opponents first Neji, I am already ahead."<p>

The longhaired Hyuuga didn't respond vocally, however he did move with more urgency while fighting his set. It appeared that Team Gai already had the fight won, however it was guaranteed when Teams Seven and Eight joined in. Their combined strength easily overpowered the surprised genin. The three older Konoha-nin walked over to their friends and Tenten smiled, "Thanks guys, this forest is pretty dangerous. I'd say it more than lives up to the name."

Neji nodded in agreement, "Indeed, it seems the smaller villages are tired of getting pushed around. We've come across several slaughtered teams, all from Konoha or Suna."

Surprisingly Lee didn't mention anything about the competition or interference ruining it, instead the bowl-cut shinobi stared forlornly at the bloody Leaf-nin and sighed when the surviving member's chest stopped rising seconds later. Tenten stared blankly at the bodies before looking away and trying to convince herself they weren't there while Neji stoically watched as Sakura confirmed their deaths and closed their eyes. The boy seemed unaffected, but the anger rolling off his body was palpable.

Tenten turned away from the scene and faced the six genin, "So what brings you guys to our neck of the woods?"

The two bivillage teams were shaken out of their stupor and remembered their last encounter with foreign shinobi. Kankuro looked back at the eerie forest and tightly gripped the scrolls his puppets were sealed in, "We actually just fought twelve shinobi ourselves before escaping. The six from sound are pretty tough, and there's a Tani-nin that's strong too."

Neji activated his Byakugan and extended its range as far as he could, "I don't see anyone, perhaps they decided to go after some easier targets."

The branch Hyuuga was about to continue when Sai interrupted, "I sent out ink mice to locate Konoha and Suna shinobi when I released all those animals and they've located Team Ten. We should hurry and meet up with them before doing anything else." Everybody nodded and followed the pale artist as he took to the trees.

* * *

><p>The nine genin reached Team Ten quickly and found them horrified at what could only be described as a massacre. Wide slashes of blood covered the ground and trees in the area while various organs and limbs were spread around the foul smelling clearing, along with four bodies of contestants from minor villages. The three mutilated bodies of the Konoha team were crucified to the trunk of a gigantic tree so it appeared they were hugging it.<p>

Ino was on her knees and appeared completely distraught, her red eyes and cheeks indicated she had been crying. Chouji looked incredibly lost as he stared at the gruesome scene, his skin was tinted green and the Akimichi wasn't eating any food. There was also a large pile of vomit next to him that contained various snacks. Shikamaru's left fist was tightly clenched and his usually lazy eyes were hard with anger while his right hand gently rubbed his blonde teammates back, "I'm sorry Ino, I wish we didn't have to do this, I really do. But following the killer's trail is the best way to make sure we don't run into them ourselves. This looks pretty old so we can probably start moving directly towards the tower, although I don't know if I want to after seeing this."

The distressed girl hiccupped as the other nine genin walked into the clearing in various states of shock. Team Gai had seen several teams left for dead, but this was easily the worse, and the other two teams had been spared the gruesome sight of dead comrades until meeting up with the older nin. Tenten looked horrified as her hand came up and covered her mouth while tears leaked from her brown orbs, the kunoichi doubted she could make herself forget this anytime soon, if ever. Neji's pearl eyes narrowed dangerously at the scene while Lee seemed to fall into himself in depression.

Kiba had already thrown up after entering the clearing because the stench was too much for his sensitive nose and was already a good distance away. Hinata collapsed to her knees much like Ino did and began shaking her head and whispering no while her salty tears hit the grass. Even Kankuro and Temari, who had seen Gaara mutilate scores of people, were abhorred by the sadistic display and had to look away.

A look of pure shock momentarily appeared on Sai's face before his eyes fell and posture slumped. The boy felt something wet on his cheeks and touched them with his left hand. When he pulled it back his fingers were damp and he wondered what was going on.

Sakura had immediately gone up and kneeled next to Ino, shedding silent tears with her friend. None of the twelve know how long they sat in shock, completely silent. And despite no words being said they all felt themselves growing closer because of the tragedy, and if any one of them spoke at the moment it would be the same thing, "If these fuckers want a war then we'll give them one."

* * *

><p><strong>And After a depressing ending to the chapter I bequeath upon ye an Omake, they are all related to the story, unless stated otherwise, however aren't important.<strong>

Master and pupil walked down a dusty road in the middle of the countryside. The young boy was blonde with a plain black bandana that came down to cover his left eye, a black cloth facemask, an orange and black jacket with a high collar, matching pants, and black shinobi sandals. His sensei was a tall man, and slightly more eccentric. The man wore wooden Geta, then fishnet covered his lower shins until it met his olive green pants, which matched his shirt under a bright red vest. Fishnet was visible where the shirt dipped, and also on the end of his forearms where leather padding protected his knuckles. The man had waist length white hair that was completely uncontrollable with a large scroll on his back. Perhaps the strangest thing was the fact he was wearing fake glasses with black dots for pupils that had a plastic nose and phony moustache attatched.

The blonde boy kept stealing glances at his mentor and sweatdropping, "Dammit Ero-sennin, aren't we supposed to be incognito. That's the worst disguise ever."

"Please Gaki, I'm a legendary ninja. You're a hundred years to early to give me any pointers."

The blonde deadpanned at his teacher's answer, "So you're one of the Sannin, and you still think that's going to work.

Jiraiya was about to respond and defend himself when they finally saw another traveller on the road, something they hadn't seen in days. It was a pudgy farmer with a thick black moustache wearing a loose fitting white tank top and tan shorts. The hefty man was pulling a cart by himself that appeared to be loaded up, but was covered by a tarp so it was impossible to see what he was carrying. He gently set his load down and wiped his forehead before greeting the duo, "Howdy strangers." He didn't spare Naruto a second glance and the boy gave his master a cocky grin when the farmer began investigating Jiraiya closely, "Hey… that's a really nice moustache."

The chunin faceplanted when the man finished speaking and the sage grinned cheesily while gently pulling on the left side of his phony facial hair, "Why thank you, I've been perfecting it for years. You have quite an impressive one yourself though."

The man began running his hands on both sides of his moustache as well while they continued the conversation, "You should enter The Annual Mustachioed and Bearded Men Competition held in Ta no Kuni. It's always a good time and a great opportunity to pick up great information and tips."

"Thanks, that sounds like a good time."

Jiraiya and the farmer bowed simultaneously and the man picked up his cart before setting off once more. Naruto regained his feet and stared at the chubby man's back, "That guy was drunk or the sun was getting to him. There's no way he could've thought that was real."

The sennin smiled at his pupil while taking the glasses off, "Nope, they're just as awesome as I am." The man started wiping them on his sleeve before they broke apart at the bridge. Naruto was laughing at the crying man and he sharply turned on the boy, "Don't laugh, those glasses were much better than your Kakashi imitation. We should hurry though, somebody might recognize me now that my disguise is ruined."

"No way, you were hardly even in the movie because you're so lazy ya big perv."

"Now listen here." Jiraiya grabbed the blonde's facemask and started pulling, unfortunately it wasn't made of shinobi grade material like Kakashi's and ripped as well.

Naruto was the one with tears in his eyes this time while his mentor giggled, and after a brief scuffle the duo was on the road once more. To their surprise passed another group of people an hour or so later, a large trading caravan consisting of several families… families with teenage girls who were avid movie watchers. They stared awestruck at the duo and Jiraiya grinned triumphantly while the blonde tried to hide behind his sensei's muscular legs, "Oh my god it's Naruto-kun!"

In the brief silence that followed the sage covered his mouth and said in a high pitch voice, "And the Gallant Jiraiya-sama."

Nobody paid him any heed because seconds later the girls burst into motion and trampled the sage before chasing his pupil around the clearing. The man moaned pitifully on the ground while lamenting, "Why does everyone forget about me all the time? I'm awesome too, right?"

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note<strong>

Daiki's transformation is kind of loosely based on Bain from batman, but let's not forget that he was probably based on some other villain of yesteryear that we all forgot about, and a villain of tomorrow will probably have the same power. Also those measurements are all based on the world's strongest man ever, Paul Anderson. I'd advise you guys to look at his Wikipedia page or at least his records, insane. And I hope you guys have liked the Konoha exams so far and Oro's interference with the second exam. Not a lot to say after this one, except for those of you who care to remember the Tani team was the one the wind Daimyo was talking about during the last exam.

-Operaman Bye Bye

**Jutsu List**

Kanashibari no Jutsu

Kaiten

Hakke Kusho (Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm)- Hyuuga Technique that launches a compressed shockwave of air towards a specific opponent

Poison Clone- A clone created by forming a mixture of poison and other liquids into human shape and mobilizing it with chakra, extremely hard to make

Doryo Dango

Zankuuha (Decapitating Air Waves) C rank– Using the tubes implanted into his arm Zaku builds up the air pressure to large levels and releases it in a blast strong enough to damage stone

Gatsuga

Daikamaitachi

Suiton: Mizurappa (Wild Water Waves) C Rank- The user launches a crashing wave of water, differs from more advanced form (water trumpet) b/c pressure not as high

Poison Clone Kawamiri B rank- The user substitutes with a prepared clone made from a liquid poison


	33. Battle in the Forest of Death Pt II

In a clearing nearly half a mile away from the tower in the center of training area forty-four was a small camp set up where the oppressive trees thinned, affording the occupants a glimpse of the sky. A redheaded girl sat with her eyes closed and thirstily gulped water from a canteen while taking a moment to relax on a log near the remnants of a small fire. The sun had just started peaking over the horizon on the last day of the second stage, and from what Karin was sensing there would be no teams from either Konoha or Suna advancing to the third. The kunoichi was constantly scanning for approaching chakras and hadn't felt any foreign ones in the last day and a half, she was beginning to think the other teams were either dead or found a hole to cower in until the proctors rescued them.

The mental picture of Leaf genin squeezed together and quivering in fear caused a sadistic grin to flash across the Oto-nin's face for a moment, at least until she remembered it was a pyrrhic victory for the minor villages. Only forty-five of the one hundred twenty-six genin that represented their alliance remained, so if they managed to kill every enemy shinobi in the forest, which she highly doubted, then their forces still died at a ratio greater than one to one despite outnumbering the contestants from major villages.

Karin put her canteen down with a sigh and used the Kagura Shingan (Mind's Eye of the Kagura) to see the allied genin spread around the forest along with those in camp with her, the other five from sound, the Tani team, and Team Shigure from Ame decided to join the fun as well. When everybody arrived on the second day they spread out evenly and formed a perimeter around the tower to stop Konoha and Suna teams from advancing. However several enemy squads almost slipped through the weaker teams, so now the twelve of them were responsible for one half while the remaining thirty-three patrolled the other.

The redhead's eyes snapped open and she looked east before talking to her teammates who were preparing breakfast, "There are twelve chakra sources approaching. Six we've encountered before, and the other six don't feel like pushovers either."

Zaku and Dosu excitedly roused the others and quickly explained the situation. As they talked vicious smiles to spread across the other Oto and Tani-nin's face, attesting to their eagerness for a rematch. Daiki's grey eyes gleamed maliciously, and the anticipation was apparent in his raspy voice when he echoed everyone's thoughts, "I can't wait."

* * *

><p>The corpses of fallen shinobi were becoming more numerous as the twelve genin from Konoha and Suna traveled deeper into the Forest of Death. Some were picked to the bone by the many scavengers that patrolled the woods, while others were so bloated and decomposed they had to move around the area because of Kiba's sensitive nose. However, the gruesome scenes only gave the group extra motivation for the battle they knew was coming.<p>

Shikamaru traveled in the center of the formation while scanning their surroundings with a grim face. He noticed the forest was starting to become more open, which allowed him to see the top of the tower in the distance. Realizing they were moving closer to the enemy he held up a hand and called out, "Stop." Everyone listened to the command and came to an immediate halt, surprised by the authority lacing the boy's usually weary tone. "We're getting closer to the tower now so we need to stay on guard."

The Nara turned to face each of his comrades with a hard look in his eye. Lee's frown and defeated posture was the most striking thing at that moment, it looked completely unnatural to Shikamaru. Still, he knew the taijutsu specialist could be counted on because of the determined way his jaw was set and the silent fury smoldering in his charcoal orbs. Tenten had been especially quiet these last few days, and even now it was hard to gauge what she was feeling. The way she was fiddling with a weapons scroll betrayed her hidden anxiousness.

Chouji's face was darkened with rage, something that Shikamaru had never seen on his jolly friend's features. The lethargic genius almost felt sorry for their enemies, and after seeing the murderous fury in Ino's sky blue eyes he did for a moment. Even if they knocked the kunoichi out of the fight her mouth would continue to emasculate them.

Kiba's eyes seemed feral as he gazed towards the tower with hate burning in his slit pupils. He stopped staring and turned to Kankuro after the puppeteer clapped a hand on the Inuzuka's shoulders with a grim look on his face and nodded. Hinata stood near her teammates for support, but she wasn't sinking into herself at the thought of the coming battle. The girl didn't appear to be excited for the bloodshed, but there was an air of acceptance about her. The Hyuuga heir would not cower or hide.

The members of Team Seven shared a quick glance before nodding in unison, they all knew the stakes and what was ahead. Sai's lips were set in a grim line as he rolled up the scroll he was working on while Sakura began counting her supplies with a grim look on her face while Temari walked over to her brother and squeezed his arm. The two Sand Siblings seemed to communicate silently with their eyes before embracing each other tightly for a brief moment.

Shikamaru's gaze shifted to Neji when the branch Hyuuga spoke with a tone that was as cold as his posture. The Hyuuga boy hadn't said much in the past couple days, but his fury seemed to electrify the air around him, "Twelve shinobi are approaching our position. Three have incredible chakra, three are above average, five are around genin level, and one has less chakra than an academy student."

Sakura's emerald orbs met the milky white of the Byakugan as she shook her head, "The person with the weakest chakra has the Kinjutsu that greatly increases his capabilities. We shouldn't underestimate any of them."

Shikamaru nodded and crouched before he put his left knee on the tree branch, then he placed his thumbs and fingers together in a circle. The boy closed his eyes and took a deep breath as a vein throbbed above Temari's left eye, "This isn't the time to sleep lazy ass."

Chouji popped a bag of chips open and began munching on the contents, trying to get some last second calories before the fight, "He's thinking not sleeping. Shikamaru's the smartest guy I know and he'll definitely think of a way to get us through this."

"Tch, whatever."

Temari put her sharp mind to work and tried to think of a strategy, but the Nara stood up before she could finish analyzing the situation, "This whole thing was never about the scrolls. Everything was a set up from the beginning."

The genin stared at Shikamaru as he continue explaining, the shinobi's brow was furrowed while his eyes appeared to be staring at a complex diagram on the tree behind them. "One of them has to be a sensor. Based on how they followed you and the scene before the exams it's the only logical explanation."

"Wait, what?"

The Nara turned towards Kankuro who looked confused at his deduction, "It would be pretty hard to track an Inuzuka and Hyuuga in a forest as dense as this one, if not impossible, but the way they broke up the preliminary test is what really convinced me. Those three from Sound should have never been there. They came from the gym."

"And there's a third floor access in there."

"Right," Shikamaru nodded towards Ino after she cut in, "they wanted all those teams in the exam for the survival part. This is no longer a fight for promotion. Now we're battling for our lives and to avenge our fallen comrades, it's time to fight dirty."

* * *

><p>"They just retreated about one hundred yards, and I'm assuming the area in front of them is heavily trapped." Everyone stopped when Karin broke the silence, "We can easily bypass it and surround them though."<p>

Sakon nodded, "Good idea, you guys take the Tani team and loop around the right while the rest of us circle to the left. Once you get halfway around split into your normal teams and box them in."

Karin wasn't really paying attention because she felt numerous chakra sources in the sky, but none of them were large enough to be a person so it was probably some sort of spying technique. Of course it was impossible to peer through the thick canopy created from the imposing trees in the Forest of Death so it was nothing but a wasted effort. 'Although why would they need a spying jutsu when they have a Hyuuga?'

Sakon grit his teeth when he noticed the redhead was staring upwards with a vacant look in her eyes. He was about to repeat the instructions when she frantically dove behind a nearby tree while yelling, "Scatter."

Countless spiked metal balls burst through the thick green leaves and exploded into thousands of pieces of shrapnel. Nobody escaped unscathed, however they all made it behind cover before getting hit by one of the larger pieces. "They're coming from above."

Jirobo sped through a series of hand seals before ripping a large chunk of rock from the earth that was easily six times as large as he was. Karin started trailing the chakra sources with her index finger and the pudgy boy launched the massive projectile that ripped through the trees, which allowed growing sunlight to shine through the hole and onto the forest floor-perhaps for the first time in years.

Sai dove underneath the boulder as Temari jumped off the ink bird and opened her battle fan to glide down, however Zaku shot several airblasts that forced her to close it and she violently tumbled across the ground.

Dosu hopped into the crater made by Jirobo's Doryo Dango and sped towards the stunned blonde while revealing his melody arm, but he was forced to stop and use the gauntlet to deflect a barrage of senbon instead. The shinobi let out a growl and hopped backwards as several poison bombs exploded at his feet, coating his jacket with black goo. The noxious liquid began eating through the cloth and the boy tossed it aside, revealing his torso was completely bandaged as well.

Sakura lifted Temari off the ground after her attack as Sai landed next to them gracefully with an unrolled scroll that released a pride of ink lions. The animals charged across the destroyed ground as Dosu jumped back to his teammates, but the predators were dispelled by a storm of needles that was getting closer to the trio in the open as three voices echoed, "Jouro Senbon."

A windblast from Temari deflected the rain of steel causing the Ame shinobi to curse silently. As the three were about to pull out more umbrellas they found it impossible to move their bodies, then their heads started turning to the left against their will. The older teens struggled against it with everything they had, but their necks didn't stop twisting until they were looking at a brown haired boy with a ponytail that was standing on the same branch as them and facing the opposite way. The genin's hands were clasped together in a rat seal, and there was a tense smile on the his face while he said, "A little advice in case you get reincarnated. Don't yell out your attack while hiding, it kind of defeats the purpose."

Team Shigure found they could move again milliseconds before getting squashed like a trio of gnats when a massive fist crashed into them, sending their end of the branch hurtling towards the earth as gore splattered everywhere. The Nara lazily wiped the side of his face before waving at Chouji as the boy's arm returned to normal size. The Akimichi rubbed his fist on the ground to clean it and nodded back before moving to his next location while his oldest friend scanned the battlefield.

The two Hyuuga were doing their part and directing their teams as they performed hit and run tactics on the stronger enemies from cover, Team Seven was able to keep most of them engaged in the open, and Team Ten picked off anyone on the perimeter. Shikamaru knew the sensor would stop to group everyone up after they retreated, so he had Sai and Tenten prepare an ambush that would lead the attack and create chaos. It worked brilliantly so far and they were able to seize the advantage from the start, of course the funny thing about momentum was that it often changed sides.

The lazy genius cursed when he saw Kiba take a ferocious hit after more arms emerged from the girly shinobi's wrist and curved around the Inuzuka's block. The dog user managed to push one of them out wide, but it opened a hole in his guard and the other hit him with a fierce uppercut to the jaw. Sakon then pivoted to deliver a spinning kick as the arms went back into his body before emerging from his ankles. They pulled Kiba back towards the Oto-nin after his shinobi sandal hit the feral boy's kidney and the effeminate teen's foot came down hard, delivering a ruthless heel drop into the back of Kiba's head that smashed it into the dirt.

The Sound-nin was preparing to finish the downed genin with a brutal stomp when a palm encased in jagged chakra hit his kidney. The boy grunted and stumbled backwards a couple steps as Sakura pulled back her left hand while spinning to the right. She hit the injured organ with her left shin as the effeminate teenager gasped and hunched over in pain. Then the medic pivoted on her heel and rotated the other way, ducking under Sakon's desperate jab, before delivering a crushing blow to the effeminate shinobi's ribcage with her gloved fist that sent him flying back towards his teammates with a sickening crack.

The rest of team eight landed around the medic to protect her while she began a diagnosis, "Kiba has a fractured Ulna, broken ribs, and a possible concussion. There's nothing I can do for him right now, but his injuries aren't life threatening. Can you guys get him out of here?"

"I don't think so."

The four turned to see a hulking behemoth rushing towards them with an eager grin. Sakura didn't wait for an answer and sped past them as Salamander opened to extract Kiba from the battlefield. Her left fist met Daiki's right and the kunoichi's chakra enhanced strength allowed the girl to hold her ground against the muscular shinobi. The pinkette slid her palm onto the back of his hand and used it to flip over his kick before trying to pierce his skin with a poisoned senbon in her other hand.

The tip bent uselessly on the steely muscles, so Sakura pushed herself airborne and flipped over the brawny genin as his left fist came across her previous position in a sweeping hook. Three poison bombs exploded across her opponent's wide back causing Daiki to hiss in agony, but the wound was already healing and consuming the acidic poison. The juggernaut ignored the throbbing pain as he spun around and retaliated by hitting the annoying girl with a jab as she crossed her arms defensively.

Fortunately the kunoichi was able to reinforce her limbs with chakra so they didn't shatter, but the blow sent her tumbling across the ground helplessly while pain flared up and down her arms. Daiki saw his opportunity and charged with a raised fist, reminding himself to keep his mouth closed.

Green eyes widened after registering the behemoth's charge, and if possible they widened even farther when he pulled up in pain. The physically enhanced Tani-nin's giant hands came up to cover his scorched eyes while he grunted in agony and Ino triumphantly landed in front of the pinkette. She was holding a whip that was smoking at the end and snapped it tauntingly, causing a wisp of fire formed at the tip, "Well, well forehead. Looks like you need a hand from the best kunoichi in Konoha."

"I can't help myself more than I already am Ino," replied Sakura as she got to her feet.

The girls matched smirks before turning towards their muscular opponent as the scarring around his eyes healed, "Watch and learn."

"Hey, I said it first."

"Stop doing that."

* * *

><p>Kidomaru spat a handful of large web nets towards Kankuro as he retreated with Kiba. The Suna-nin cursed and knew he wouldn't be able to outrun the attack, however two forms jumped above him and intercepted the attack, getting wrapped up by the nets. The bundles fell to the ground with a thud, and though one lump futilely struggled to free itself from the sticky threads the net was easily shredded, revealing Hinata.<p>

She jumped to her feet and turned to meet the spiderlike boy's charge, however he was kicked away as Neji landed gracefully in front of her. The older boy turned and gave the kunoichi a small smile before charging towards Kidomaru, but the Oto-nin bit his thumb and summoned a colony of spiders that scurried towards the Hyuuga as their master retreated and chuckled darkly.

Neji hopped backwards and took a defensive stance to fight the summons, however dozens of explosive Kunai rained onto the large swarm and detonated, killing a majority of the group. After the death of their brethren several larger spiders angrily dashed out of the woods in front of an enormous one, but Lee blurred into the middle of them fearlessly and started hitting the arachnids with devastating blows that killed many in one shot. "Yosh, Shikamaru has directed us to exterminate the spiders so you can safely take out their master. We shall finish our task before you or I shall do one thousand push ups in ten minutes."

Neji didn't answer his eccentric teammate verbally, instead the Hyuuga just gave him a quick nod before chasing after the spiderlike boy.

Seeing that her cousin's team had things handled Hinata freed Akamaru and scanned the battlefield with her doujutsu. She found the gauntlet-using boy and put the dog on the ground while saying, "Go guard Kiba-kun Akamaru. I have to fight the bandaged one, and Kankuro will probably be busy too."

The dog let out a yip to let her know he understood and sped off while the midnight haired kunoichi rushed towards her assigned opponent.

* * *

><p>The Sound genin with implanted tubes in his arms and his bandaged teammate stared cockily at Chouji, who faced them from across the clearing they stood in. The Akimichi was originally with Ino, but she kept glancing in Sakura's direction with a worried look on her face. He knew the blonde wouldn't be completely focused on the battle so let her go, but that left him facing two enemies alone. "Well what do we have here? Looks like a weak little sapling all by himself," taunted Zaku.<p>

His teammate appeared to smirk under his bandages before responding, "I wouldn't call this one little, just weak. Of course-" The mummified genin abruptly stopped his insult mid-sentence and jumped backwards while snapping his head to the left. The ground in front of him cracked as a pressurized burst of air hit, and Dosu glared at the blue haired kunoichi as she landed near the Akimichi and skid across the dirt. Chouji smiled gratefully at the Hyuuga's back and she inclined her head towards him without looking away from the two Sound-nin, "I'll take the one with the gauntlet, I can see his attacks."

The Akimichi nodded before responding, "Alright Hinata, I'll leave him to you."

She charged towards Dosu and forced him out of the clearing with a fierce Jyuuken assault while Zaku faced the remaining Konoha genin with a vicious grin, "Well, looks like I'll get to skin the fatty by myself."

Steam poured out of Chouji's ears as he brought his hands together in a seal, "I'm not fat I'm big boned. Baika no Jutsu," the portly shinobi turned into a massive ball as his arms and legs retracted into the sphere. Hot air burst from the openings they created and propelled the Akimichi towards Zaku while he screamed, "Chubbies rule."

The Oto-nin's eyes widened in surprise as he brought his arms up to defend himself, "Chubby and fat mean the same thing idiot, Zankuuha"

* * *

><p>Kankuro placed Kiba in between the roots of a large tree and hastily turned around while drawing a kunai after hearing a branch break, although he used the motion to covertly hook a chakra string onto Karasu. The Suna genin breathed a sigh of relief when his teammate's dog jumped out of the bushes and pocketed the blade, "Geez Akamaru, don't sneak up on me like that. Go stay with Kiba and keep watch, I'll be the first line of defense."<p>

The canine yipped in understanding and jumped into the hole while Kankuro started towards a defensive position he eyed out, however the puppeteer barely made it fifty feet before pulling Sanshouo in front of him to block a wave of mud. The viscous liquid broke around the puppet's mask and frill as its master stood safely behind it, glaring at two forms standing on a tree branch in front of him.

Taisho glowered at the boy from the limb while Aki held his hands in a seal and said, "You won't be going much farther Suna-nin, prepare to witness the power of Tanigakure. Our village has sat in the shadow of yours far too long and it's time to rectify that."

Kankuro smirked at the two genin, "You know, there's a good reason why the shit hole you live in survives on The Sand Village's scraps." Kuroari and Karasu burst out of a tree near the River shinobi and split them up with a barrage of poisoned Kunai. The puppeteer continued his assault while retreating into a defensive position in front of Kiba, "It's because Suna shinobi are superior, however I wouldn't discount how pathetic Tani's are either."

* * *

><p><strong> "<strong>It looks like things are breaking off." Temari turned towards Sai as he muttered the statement. "There's only two left for us."

"How do you know that?" The pale artist looked at his confused teammate before nodding towards an ink mouse scurrying by their feet. "Right, so who is it?"

Sai didn't have the chance to answer because they had to jump away as the ground beneath them morphed into a field of earth spikes. Sakon rushed at the ink user, but Temari launched a blast of wind that pushed the effeminate shinobi into a large copse of trees. The kunoichi took off after the green haired teenager while shouting, "I'll take the close range fighter while you deal with the fat one. I don't even think my attacks could move him."

The Ne agent faced Jirobo with a disarming grin, "Do you find women running away from you to be a common experience?"

"What does that have to do with anything trash?"

Sai kept smiling at the fuming Sound-nin, "I'll take that as a yes. You see I was just wondering if being outrageously fat affected the way men interacted with the opposite sex. It probably has to do with the fact that women can't find your penis under all the flab."

The pale shinobi felt the pressure around him increase as Jirobo flared his chakra angrily, "I was going to kill you anyways, but now it's going to be slow."

The boy was unfazed as the meaty ninja charged towards him, "You're not the first to say that… actually that's what most people say to me."

* * *

><p>Shikamaru watched over the battlefield from his perch on a large branch and cursed as the fights spread out. The Nara knew no plan survived first contact with the enemy, but he was hoping the battles would remain close enough so he could maintain some sort of control over the situation. It was a good thing they had a plan for this scenario too. The boy sighed while trying to locate the person sneaking up on him, 'At least the strategy allowed us to get a number advantage.'<p>

Shikamaru tilted his head to the left as a shuriken sliced through the air inches from his neck, then he took a step to the right as a redheaded kunoichi flew past him. She turned around angrily with a glare on her face while pulling out a kunai in the backhand grip, "Most people would've done more to dodge those attacks you know."

"I'm not most people, it would've been too much work to move more than I had to." Shikamaru cracked his neck, "Man, this is such a drag."

"What, that I'm going to kill you?" Replied the kunoichi while smirking cockily.

"No, of the twelve possible opponents I could've fought it turns out to be the one woman. I had a ninety-one percent chance of not fighting a girl, but I ended up having to anyways. Troublesome…"

Karin growled indignantly at the lazy boy before regaining her composure, "I promise to kill you quickly, so if you don't want to work you can just let me do it. You're going to die anyways."

The Nara sighed while looking at the girl, "As tempting as that sounds I'll have to turn you down. If my ancestors found out a woman killed me they would be ashamed, and dealing with prissy family members for eternity in the afterlife sounds awful. Especially if any of them are like my mom. Although maybe they'd cut me some slack because you're a sensor."

The kunoichi grinned wickedly in response, "Oh you're a smart guy to figure that out, although that's not that surprising considering you're a Nara." Shikamaru narrowed his eyes at the girl as she continued, "Did you really think they wouldn't brief us about possible enemies that we might face? I know that your clan has a talent for outsmarting opponents and uses shadow jutsu, but I can't be caught by surprise. I know whenever you use chakra and can track your jutsu without seeing them."

The lazy genius sighed, "Don't be cocky, it's not like you're a jounin or something. And here I thought blondes were the stupid ones."

Karin snarled and burst into motion, launching towards the Konoha-nin with her kunai pulled back to strike. However Shikamaru just swung down from the branch and left an explosive surprise. The redhead twisted around the trunk of the tree and pressed herself against it as the tag blew on the other side, sending the limb flying to the ground while starting a small fire. The kunoichi growled and started climbing higher after sensing the chakra in Shikamaru's shadow jutsu. She circled around the gnarled tree and launched a handful of shuriken towards the Nara while flipping off the trunk.

The shinobi dropped his hand seal and jumped backwards to avoid the attack before responding with a barrage of kunai as Karin landed. She burst into motion and easily weaved between them while running towards the Konoha-nin, but gasped when Shikamaru formed the sign of the ram. The sensor could feel his chakra flowing into the tags before they activated, creating quick bursts of light that elongated her shadow.

The Nara had a small smile on his face after capturing the kunoichi while she glared angrily, "So what? Now I have to copy you, but there's not much you can do in the middle of a clearing that can only hurt me."

"This is only the beginning though, Kage-Kubishibari no Jutsu." (Shadow Neck Binding Technique)

The Nara's shadow started to snake up Karin's body as the top morphed into a hand that wrapped around her slender neck, but when it squeezed the girl burst into water and he heard, "Suiton: Hahonryuu."

Shikamaru could only turn his head before a torrent of water slammed into his back and sent him careening towards a tree. The boy smashed against the bark and grunted in pain as it splintered beneath him. To make matters worse several kunai hit the tree around his body with burning tags attached to the handles and exploded, sending flames, smoke, and shards of wood around the clearing.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note<strong>

Finally it's done. This chapter would've been out sooner but I wrote the whole chapter before picking the split point after I saw the word count, and I was pretty sick for the two weeks after I released 32... it really wasn't conducive to writing. The other half of this chapter isn't necessarily coming quickly either despite being written. I got Charon's Claw in the mail the day it came out and haven't read it because I wanted to finish this chapter first. I'm still debating whether to read it first then go back and re-read the trilogy, or read the first two and then go back and read Charon's claw… and I might read it twice too. What I'm saying is don't hold your breath.

-Operaman Bye Bye

**Jutsu List**

Kagura Shingen (Mind's Eye of the Kagura)- Karin's ability that allows her to detect shinobi at long distances and hide herself from other sensors (not simultaneously). The girl can also get a feel for a person's mood or state of mind based on the flow of their chakra.

Doton: Doryo Dango

Jouro Senbon

Zankuuha

Kamaitachi

Ino's Whip- The blonde channels fire chakra into the weapon, and the sonic boom from the snap creates an air blast that gets ignited by the heat and creates a streak of fire.

Hakke Kusho

Kage-Kubishibari no Jutsu (Shadow Neck Binding technique)- Second technique learned by Nara clan members. After capturing the opponent in the Kage Mane the Nara extends part of the shadow up his/her body while morphing it into a pair of hands capable of strangling a person.

Doton: Doryuso

Kumo Soka


	34. Battle in the Forest of Death Pt III

The spinning ball of meat was stalled by the high-pressure blast of air, however, it quickly broke through the Zankuuha and Zaku was forced to leap aside lest the chubby ninja crush him. Chouji continued past him and rolled up a tree near the edge of the small clearing before his stout head and limbs popped out of his torso, then the excess fat created by the jutsu moved towards his arms and elongated them. The Akimichi grabbed a branch above him with the expanded limbs and swung towards the Oto-nin before launching a devastating overhead punch that demolished the earth where Zaku was standing moments ago.

The smaller genin had jumped aside and rolled across the ground to get away from the raging teen's deadly fist, and the shockwave from the Konoha-nin's attack propelled him further away. The Sound shinobi growled and pushed his hands into the ground, using the momentum to flip to his feet, and launched another Zankuuha at his opponent. Chouji simply raised his enlarged arms up for protection and the air streams only displaced the fat, causing it to ripple but doing no damage to the chubby ninja.

The Akimichi's arms shrunk as his body expanded once more and he began rolling towards Zaku, propelled by bluish steam. The Oto-nin jumped above the attack and blasted another wave of air that squished the ball of fat so it was shaped like an egg, but the chubby boy kept rolling and started to turn around. When the sound genin landed Chouji's head popped out of the ball as his arms expanded again and grabbed the earth, using it to pull himself Zaku. The Akimichi's head retreated once more as he smashed into his surprised opponent and left Sound genin dazed after rolling nearly fifty feet across the ground, but even in his muddled state he was still able to hear, "Death to chubby haters."

Chouji's massive fists were clasped together as they crushed the earth and log Zaku substituted with. The Konoha genin looked alarmed as he tried to displace the fat to his entire body for protection after hearing an angry voice above him yell, "Zankukyokuha" (Extreme Decapitating Airwaves), but a blast of air nearly fifteen feet in diameter slammed into his back before it was fully inflated and sent the Akimichi deep into the ground he just destroyed. Zaku landed while breathing hard and sneered at the devastated earth, "Take that fatso."

The Oto-genin's eyes widened when he heard an enraged, "I already told you I'm big boned," before the shattered ground in front of him burst upwards as a large fist smashed into his whole body. Zaku shakily regained his feet after tumbling across the clearing and stared fearfully at Chouji, who skidded to a stop fifteen feet away from him. The Akimichi spread his massive hands and prepared to squish his opponent between them like a cockroach, "This is for all my comrades!"

Zaku lifted his arms to his sides with his palms facing outwards and screamed in defiance, "I won't die here, I won't let a weakling kill me!" Compressed streams of air exploded out of the tubes implanted into the teen and hit the rotund genin's hands, stalling the chubby boy's attack. Chouji grit his teeth and tried to ignore the pain, tried to outlast his opponent and win, but with another shout of rage Zaku pumped out more air that caused the giant hands to fly apart. The Akimichi's arms returned to normal size as he cradled his bloody palms to his jacket and moaned in pain, to make matters worse the wounds on his back began to hurt as the adrenaline pumping through his veins subsided.

Zaku didn't care for his opponent's state at that moment though, the only thing he knew that desperate windblast used up the last of his chakra, so the Sound shinobi dragged himself out of the damaged clearing as fast as possible before the blackness encroaching his vision overtook him. However the wounded Akimichi couldn't see the boy retreating, he was to busy digging in his pouch for a food pill to fight off unconsciousness. Chouji found one and popped it into his mouth before biting it open.

The genin felt a burst of energy flood his body and noticed his opponent was gone but had left a trail of depressed grass with streaks of blood leading into the woods. He tried to push himself upwards to give chase, but his legs gave out and he fell face first into the dirt. Chouji sighed as he got up slower this time, and after looking at the path for several moments he turned away and headed towards the area they designated for the injured quickly as his wounds allowed.

* * *

><p>Neji eventually caught up to the spiderlike boy who eagerly turned to meet his charge head on. Kidomaru tried to jab the Hyuuga's face with his upper left arm, but it was pushed back and he used his lower right arm to block the Konoha genin's follow up finger thrust. The spiderlike shinobi shoved the attacking hand away and tried to uppercut his opponent's chin, however Neji's left palm came up and pushed the arm out wide before disengaging, "The fight is already over, I've closed enough chakra points on your arms to render them useless."<p>

Kidomaru had a wicked smirk on his face as pieces of gold webbing fell off the areas Neji hit, and the vulnerable areas were quickly filled in by more of the substance, "I can secrete webbing through my skin that's as tough as steel, your glorified pokes can't hurt me."

The six -armed teen formed golden daggers in all of his hands and rushed at the Hyuuga before attacking from multiple angles. The white eyed shinobi's face didn't so much as twitch while arms moved in a blur and parried all the attacks, then he thrust a palm into Kidomaru's heart, but the boy only smiled before stabbing towards Neji's face as the Hyuuga leapt backwards. He began to give up ground to the Oto-nin, deflecting furious slashes and stabs when needed, until there was a small lapse and he was able to hop backwards to create some separation.

Kidomaru tried to close the gap, however Neji threw two shuriken were flying straight for his eyes, forcing him to stop and duck under them. The Hyuuga prodigy took advantage and pulled his right arm back before thrusting his palm forward, then doing the same to with his left. Pieces of golden web shattered after two compressed balls of air slammed into Kidomaru's torso and sent him skidding across the earth. Neji saw his opportunity and pulled out several kunai with exploding tags wrapped around the handle and rushed towards his opponent, intent on ending the fight.

The Hyuuga began tossing the exploding knives at the spiderlike boy one by one, but the strange ninja used his palms to control himself as he rolled across the ground, increasing his momentum and dodging the blasts. However, they were only meant to be a distraction.

Neji managed to herd the Oto-nin into a tree with the kunai, and was rapidly closing the distance between him and his trapped adversary. There wasn't enough space for Kidomaru to dodge and the genin's vicious palm thrusts smashed into his heart and lungs, but the irritating web armor had regrown and absorbed the damage. The Hyuuga tried to follow up his attacks and hit the area where the golden armor was once again crumbling off his body, but Kidomaru spat webbing out of his mouth, trapping the Konoha-nin in a sticky cocoon. A basic Jyuuken strike rendered the bindings useless, however the spiderlike ninja delivered a brutal kick to Neji's side that sent him rolling across the ground.

The Hyuuga hissed in pain while gracefully propelling himself upright and took a defensive stance as Kidomaru charged with more daggers in hand. Neji watched the dangerous blades carefully, but his focus was on one point in particular. He knocked the first thrust upwards and grabbed the lower wrist that was slashing from his left, then the long haired teenager threw it aside and jumped back to avoid a horizontal slash from the right. The Konoha-nin saw his target as the strike passed harmlessly in front of him, and hit that one area twice in rapid succession before repeating the process several more times along the arm as it flew by.

A golden knife bounced harmlessly off the ground after Kidomaru's middle right arm fell limply onto the one beneath it. The spiderlike boy pushed it behind the limb, however it continued to swing awkwardly as he shifted nervously. Neji had a cocky smirk as his opponent growled at him, "How did you do that?"

The Hyuuga charged the surprised ninja with his index and middle fingers on both hands separated while they glowed blue with concentrated chakra. Kidomaru stabbed with his lower left arm, however Neji sent the blow out wide with his right wrist before staggering his strikes on the Oto-nin's tenketsu with the two glowing fingers on his left hand, then the Hyuuga repeated the process up his opponent's forearm.

The spiderlike boy felt the stinging hits, unlike before, and fell backwards onto his functioning arms before mule kicking the Hyuuga away. Neji tumbled across the dirt, however he flipped upright and used some kunai to deflect the golden daggers that were thrown at him before following his weapons. He passed between the projectiles after they collided and Kidomaru tried to retreat while creating more, however Neji overloaded his feet with chakra and seemed to explode forward twice as fast. The spiderlike teen raised his arms in a futile defense as the Konoha genin rained stinging blows onto them.

The Sound-nin threw his arms out wide, the three that worked anyways, and gained enough space to launch a web ball from his mouth. It engulfed the prodigy's face and he leapt backwards while peeling the sticky substance it off with his fingers, while Kidomaru formed daggers with his remaining hands and prepared to launch them towards his blind opponent. However, before they were thrown a foot impacted the side of his head and sent him careening into the dense forest as the deadly knives dropped to the loam. "Yosh, I have come to the rescue."

"Thank you Lee, but that was unnecessary." The green clad boy looked confused after the body of his rival with webbing covering his face dissolved into mud, and Neji emerged from the canopy of a nearby tree. "I had a trap set."

The boy looked embarrassed and apologized while their third teammate landed next to them and scolded the spandex clad shinobi, "Dammit Lee, you were supposed to go to the injured area and prepare to move anybody that needed assistance."

Neji nodded when Tenten finished, "She's right, as you can see I have things handled here."

The spandex wearing shinobi nodded sagely, "Ah, I see my eternal rival wishes to test his flames of youth. Very well, I am off."

Lee disappeared in a green blur as Hyuuga grit his teeth, Tenten ignored the scene and looked towards the woods before Kidomaru emerged, the enemy ninja was seething with rage after getting blindsided by the powerful kick and stared murderously at them. "Well I'm supposed provide back up people who need it before playing my part, so I'll let you test your flames of youth and help the others."

The bulging veins above Neji's eyebrow twitched visibly as she jumped into the woods. He suppressed his irritation before turning and throwing several shuriken at the Sound-nin who was forming something elaborate with his webs. The spiderlike teen didn't stop spitting up the golden substance as he took cover behind a tree and Neji cursed when he saw the boy finish creating a bow and two arrows. When the Oto shinobi jumped out from behind the trunk he fired both shots at once before quickly forming more and notching them on the string.

Although he was surprised by their speed Neji was able to roll underneath the web arrows, however, despite dodging the lethal projectiles he cursed because there were two more golden arrows nearly completed. The Hyuuga pushed himself airborne and spun rapidly while expelling chakra from his tenketsu, then when the genin's foot landed on the earth a blue dome of chakra surrounded him while he said, "Kaiten."

The chakra shield easily deflected the arrows, and when the hemisphere disappeared Neji launched several Hakke Kusho towards his opponent before following them. Kidomaru launched a strand of thread at a tree behind him and pulled himself backwards to avoid the blasts while rapidly firing arrows one at a time. Neji zigzagged between them without losing any momentum, and stopped about ten feet short of his opponent while the Oto-nin jumped and tried to ready another shot. The spiderlike boy wasn't even able to form the arrow before he gasped in pain as another vacuum palm impacted his stomach, smashing him into the tree. He dropped the bow and slid down the bark while the Hyuuga spread his legs and raised his arms.

Kidomaru tried to pull himself to his feet, but found he couldn't move as Neji intoned, "Hakke Rokujuyon Sho" (Eight Trigrams Sixty Four Palms). He charged the frozen Oto nin and began the assault, "Two palms," the Hyuuga made sure to hit the same point twice, "Four palms," two more tenketsu closed, "Eight palms, sixteen palms, thirty two palms, sixty four palms."

Neji finished his assault with a vicious two-palm strike to Kidomaru's stomach that launched him into the trunk once more and cracked the wood. The Sound Shinobi coughed up blood as he stared at the Konoha-nin who approached him with a glowing palm raised, unfortunately Neji didn't take one thing into consideration.

The Hyuuga Prodigy brought his palm down to finish the fight, but gasped in surprise when his opponent vomited sticky goop onto him that began hardening immediately before rolling away. As Kidomaru stumbled into the forest he laughed, "Spiders use more than webs to trap their prey."

Neji easily cracked through the shell and prepared to start after the Oto-nin, but when he looked up into the sky a frown split the teen's face while he muttered to nobody in particular, "It seems you've gotten lucky, we'll finish this later."

* * *

><p>"Doton: Doro Hoshi." (Earth Release: Mud Silhouette)<p>

Kankuro silently cursed as he brought Sanshouo in front of him and raised the mask. The frills at the side unfolded and parted the mud until Aki finished his second sequence of hand seals, "Suiton: Mizurappa."

The water fed the mud river and Kankuro was forced to leap into the air and use his chakra to stand on the viscous liquid that now covered the battlefield. The puppeteer cursed that he couldn't attack from the shadows, but he wasn't willing to leave Kiba open like that. The Suna-nin's musings were cuts short when strands of mud tried to wrap around his ankles. He jumped above the swinging tendrils while the mud shot upwards in pillars and sent Karasu and Kuroari speeding forward, and two puppets separated the Tani ninja with a barrage of poisonous senbon after looping around mud columns created by Taisho.

Kankuro pulled Sanshouo in front of him to block as Aki called out, "Suiton: Mizudeppo" (Water Release: Water Gun).

Iron deflected the speeding ball of water before the mask fell backwards and Salamander charged forward, spraying poison gas from its mouth. Taisho went through a series of hand seals as his teammate jumped next to him and a dome of mud protected them from the gas, however the hemisphere was stuck with dozens of exploding kunai launched by Karasu. Mud flew everywhere as the explosion destroyed the dome and displaced large waves that rolled over the field, but there was no sign of the two genin.

Kankuro's neck twisted frantically as he looked around the battlefield until his opponents emerged behind him with their palms raised in his direction. The puppeteer silently cursed as he heard, "Doton: Doro Hoshi," and "Suiton: Mizurappa," at the same time, before another giant mudwave rushed towards him.

The Suna-nin jumped skywards and pulled Karasu underneath his feet before using it to vault to the safety of the trees while pulling his arms back. His opponents looked up as dozens of Crow's compartments popped open before a plethora of weaponry was launched out of the puppet and spread over the mud field. Poison gas and explosions burst around the clearing while what seemed like thousands of senbon, shuriken, and kunai blocked the fighters' vision of each other.

When the attack ended an unnatural stillness overtook the area until two heads came up from the mud and gasped for air. Taisho and Aki looked around the clearing for any signs of their opponent, however there was no trace of Kankuro or his puppets.

They knew he wouldn't have retreated that easily, so the Tani-nin headed for the cover of the forest until a creepy chattering sound echoed around the clearing, and Kuroari burst out of the treeline with spinning blades extended from its arms. The two shinobi turned and headed in another direction, however Salamander popped up from the mud and expelled a strange black powder towards the two genin. They didn't know what it was, and they also didn't want to find out, so the duo turned sharply to the right. However before they could gain traction on the gelatinous liquid a shower of sparks emerged from Sanshouo's nose and ignited the gunpowder.

A massive explosion that dwarfed the others propelled the Tani shinobi away from Kankuro, but they were heading right towards Black Ant with no way to change their course. The puppet's chest opened as it moved in front of Taisho and the surly genin tried flailing his arms to slow down or change direction, but it was futile, and he flew into the opening and sent the puppet speeding backwards with a sickening crack as the trap door closed. Aki lifted his head out of the mud and looked on in horror as Karasu separated into seven pieces and rushed towards Kuroari before sliding into conveniently placed slots on Black Ant, causing streams of blood to gush from the holes and stain the mud underneath it red.

The remaining Tani-nin tried to retreat the other way until he ran headfirst into an iron mask that popped up from the mud. The dazed shinobi tried to regain his bearings and escape to the safety of the forest, however, he saw a flash of orange and green before a shinobi sandal crushed his ribcage, causing the bones to pierce the organs they were protecting. Aki fell lifelessly to the mud and began to sink as Lee gave Kankuro the thumbs up, "Yosh, I have stopped his escape."

"A little help here Lee."

The spandex clad boy's ridiculously large eyebrows shot up into his strangely shiny bowlcut, "Ah, sorry Chouji-san. I saw the enemy trying to get away and reacted on instinct. I did not mean to drop you, to make up for my mistake I shall do one thousand push ups on my pinky finger while baking an apology cake, and if I cannot do that-"

"It's fine Lee," the chubby teen cut off the eccentric genin before he could continue, "Just try to be more careful next time."

The spandex wearing teen emerged from the treeline moments later dragging the injured Akimichi, and gently laid him near Kiba on a patch of dry earth, "Of course Chouji-san, and if I cannot do that I shall-."

The taijutsu specialist continued listing his series of self-imposed penalties as the two conscious shinobi groaned in annoyance, wishing they were blissfully unconscious like Kiba.

* * *

><p>Dosu growled as he backpedalled, trying to create some space between him and the Hyuuga Princess, but he couldn't get his feet underneath him to counter her determined assault. Every time the Sound-nin tried to gain some distance and retreat the kunoichi matched his movements, and to make matters worse he couldn't risk getting hit by her strikes so she was able to keep his gauntlet from getting struck and vibrating, which rendered his primary attack useless. The boy frowned underneath his bandages while trying to leap backwards, and once again the Hyuuga matched him and lunged forward, but Dosu knew he would have to take a risk to stop Hinata's attack. This time the genin exploded forward after landing and blocked her fingers using his gauntlet before loading it with chakra and flicking the steel with a black ring on his right index finger.<p>

Hinata retreated when she saw the sound drill forming and was able to avoid it easily, she lost the initiative though and was forced to take a defensive stance while the Oto genin charged. The kunoichi ducked under an uppercut and the sound drill that followed before trying to hit his stomach with a palm strike, but she was forced to abandon the attack somersault backwards after seeing the vibrating gauntlet reverse direction and smash into the earth. The Konoha-nin retook a defensive stance while calmly eyeing her opponent.

Dosu lifted his bandaged arm while swinging his weapon of choice side to side in a taunting manner, "You can try all you want little girl, but you'll never get close. I know better than to let a Hyuuga touch me."

The kunoichi's white eyes narrowed while she glared at her opponent, "I… I will not fail here. I won't let my friends down."

The Sound-nin chuckled, "That didn't sound very confident, are you telling me or trying to convince yourself? Because saying it won't make it true, you weak bitch."

The boy sprinted towards her after finishing his sentence and Hinata started expelling chakra from various tenketsu, "You're right, Kaiten."

The girl started spinning rapidly and a blue sphere formed that deflected the sound drill and its creator. Dosu recovered in mid-air and gracefully flipped before landing on his feet. He waited for the dome to vanish and charged as the chakra began to fade, revealing the spinning Hyuuga, but when the genin was within ten feet of the girl he stopped and hit his gauntlet with the rings on all five fingers.

Hinata frowned when her trap failed and quickstepped backwards when the Oto-nin slapped his weapon, but she wasn't prepared for five drills forming and spreading out in an attempt to surround her. The kunoichi saw the escape avenues closing rapidly, but the tag she planted before the Kaiten disappeared exploded and the Byakugan allowed her to watch the concussive force disrupt the sound waves, scattering them harmlessly. The Hyuuga Princess's milky white eyes widened slightly after seeing that, but the girl knew there was no way to take advantage of it now so she vowed to tell somebody after the test.

Hinata pushed it out of her mind because Dosu was already rushing towards her. His left arm came in a wide hook and she ducked under the accompanying sound wave before rolling away from the gauntlet as her opponent's swing reversed directions. She gracefully regained her feet and back flipped away from the bandaged teen before facing him in an offensive stance, "It's time to end this."

The sound genin laughed mockingly at her proclamation, "That's funny princess because you can't even get close."

She ignored the taunt and burst into motion, rushing towards the enemy shinobi. The Hyuuga watched as Dosu moved to flick the left side of his gauntlet, and as his thumb hit the metal she turned right and watched the wave go to her left. The boy growled as Hinata adjusted readjusted her course, and went to flick the back of the gauntlet above his wrist.

The kunoichi jumped as he hit the weapon with his ring and cleared the sound drill that formed before launching a Hakke Kusho. Dosu jumped straight up as the ground behind him was crushed, and the Hyuuga Princess exploded into motion after her feet hit the dirt. She seemed to close the distance between her and the airborne shinobi in the blink of an eye while saying, "Hakke Sanjuni Sho." Hinata zeroed in on the arm containing the gauntlet, intent on disabling the dangerous weapon first, "Two palms, four palms, eight palms," then the Hyuuga transitioned to his torso, "sixteen Palms, thirty two palms."

The girl jumped back after closing Dosu's chakra points and the boy grabbed his dangling left arm. "Dammit, I guess I'm outclassed here. Good thing I know when to retreat and call reinforcements."

The boy's right arm snaked into his pouch and pulled out a tuning fork. Hinata realized he channeled chakra into the gauntlet when he grabbed it, and now he was loading the fork too. Dosu slammed them together and flipped back into the trees as a series of massive sound waves emerged from the instruments, shaking the surrounding forest and causing the earth to rumble. The Oto-nin dropped his tuning fork, which continued to emit the powerful waves, and hastily jumped through the canopy, preparing to rally the allied shinobi from minor villages.

When the trees stopped swaying back and forth in the clearing, a patch of dirt began to move before blue hair and white eyes popped out. Hinata pulled the rest of her body out of the earth and breathed a sigh of relief. The kunoichi was glad all Suna shinobi were required to learn Doton: Moguragakure no Jutsu (Hiding Like a Mole Technique) for desert ambushes.

Her relief was short lived after realizing how long it took to complete her assigned task, and she started berating herself while rushing back towards the others. The Byakugan allowed her to see Dosu's attacks, which is why Shikamaru made the shinobi her opponent, but the Doujutsu didn't have the predictive or analytical abilities of the Sharingan, so Hinata had to figure out the pattern herself so she could safely attack him. 'I hope nobody got hurt because of me.'

* * *

><p>After Daiki's eyes finished healing he growled at the two kunoichi in front of him. The enraged shinobi suppressed the urge to charge in there and smash them to pieces, knowing he couldn't afford to waste energy this time. The forbidden technique wasn't supposed to be used more than once a week if possible, but he had been binging and resting while anticipating this moment. The Tani-nin also knew better than to underestimate his opponents, nobody had ever hurt the genin after he transformed as badly as the pink haired girl, not even the jounin of his village. Still their bickering was annoying him.<p>

The enlarged teen ripped a chunk of wood from the tree next to him and threw it at the arguing kunoichi. They jumped in opposite directions, and Daiki rushed towards Sakura as she launched a barrage of senbon and poison bombs. The boy grit his teeth through the pain caused by the acidic poison while his steely muscles kept the lethal needles from penetrating his taut skin.

Sakura cursed when her attack failed and the juggernaut didn't slow at all, the kunoichi knew she wasn't fast enough to avoid the attack with his extended reach and enhanced speed. Not seeing any other option the medic clenched her right hand into a tight fist before running towards Daiki. Ino desperately called out for her friend as she moved to intercept the muscular shinobi's punch with her own, but the blonde gasped in surprised after hearing a large crack and watched in shock as the Tani-nin's muscular arm crumpled and streams of blood burst from the shattered limb.

Daiki hissed in pain as the bones and joints from his fingers to his shoulder were crushed, and he wailed after the girl shattered his cheekbone with a vicious left hook. He felt the healing kick in and soothe the pain somewhat, but the throbbing ache as his bones knit themselves back together distracted him, allowing a hot blade sliced into his left side. The cut was mostly superficial, at least to the juggernaut it was, but the pain from the cauterized wound was enormous and took more energy to heal because of the scarring and extra tissue damage from the intense heat.

Ino jumped back and began cracking her flaming whip, but the raging behemoth shook off the stinging bites as he wildly swung his monstrous arms. Sakura ducked under the muscular appendages and jabbed Daiki's abs, causing the massive boy to tumble across the clearing until a tree stopped him with a loud crack.

He growled in frustration as he brought his fist down and splintered the earth beneath it. The Tani-nin pushed himself upright as his wounds finished healing and angrily stared at the Konoha-nin in front of him. The boy wanted to yell and scream in frustration, but he was wary of getting another poison bomb thrown into his mouth. Daiki looked at his opponents, but something seemed strange. They were standing completely still and didn't look to be winded at all.

The shinobi realized it was a genjutsu as the girls in front of him disappeared and a burning pain erupted from both sides of his abdomen. Daiki saw a flash of yellow and purple blur away from him before a black-gloved fist flattened the front of the hulking boy's face, and sent his head into the tree.

Sakura retreated and growled in frustration when their opponent started blindly swinging his arms and kicking his legs. He could seemingly take as many hits as she could land, but one good blow would probably end it for her. Simple projectiles didn't work and Ino's whip was all but useless because it could only injure his eyes. The pink haired kunoichi watched with disgust as Daiki's face reformed before he sneered, however the genin eyed them warily from a distance.

Ino began making motions with her tessen while Sakura watched from the corner of her eye. The blonde kept tapping the folded one against the sharp edge of her open one, picking up speed each time, before the pinkette gave a small nod.

Daiki was tired of waiting for the Konoha genin to move, he was only giving them more time to plan while his energy source burnt itself out. The juggernaut bent over and ripped a huge boulder out of the earth, and with a grunt of exertion he split the rock in half before throwing the two pieces at the kunoichi. The blonde one retreated out of the clearing as the pinkette ran towards him and vaulted the rock. Daiki pivoted to face the girl and kicked the end of the hole he created when ripping up the boulder, which sent a wave of debris flying at her.

Sakura ignored the stinging wounds and shallow cuts as she sprinted through the shower of rocks, letting the smaller pieces bounced off of her and crushed the ones that could cause seriously injury. When the kunoichi got closer to Daiki he raised his right arm over his head and prepared to crush the charging girl, but when he brought his fist down Sakura loaded her feet with chakra and jumped onto the tree trunk on Daiki's right as his fist blocked his view of her. She stuck to the bark for a moment before blasting towards the transformed shinobi, and as the Tani-nin's fist smashed the earth Sakura punched him in the kidney.

Seeing her chance Ino started running at the flying genin while channeling fire natured chakra into her tessen. The blades flared an angry red as she brought it forward and tried to use Daiki's inertia to inflict a crippling wound to his stomach, however the force was too much for the kunoichi to hold on and her fan was ripped from her grasp after sinking several inches into the boy's abdomen.

Both of the girls knew it wasn't enough to kill him and ran towards the downed juggernaut while he pushed himself up, trying to inflict the killing blow before he healed. Ino's tessen flared a fiery red while Sakura's fist glowed blue, but when they got near Daiki he growled furiously and smashed his massive fists into the earth. Large chunks of rock exploded in every direction, some of which smashed into the charging kunoichi, knocking them away.

Daiki shakily regained his feet to see the girls were disoriented and trying to support each other while retreating. He let out a victorious roar and prepared to charge the vulnerable kunoichi when several dozen paper-balls rained down onto his head. The muscular genin looked closer to see the balls were about ten explosive tags wrapped around each other, and his yell turned desperate for a moment before getting silenced by a massive explosion that sent smoke high above the forest. An area with a radius of thirty feet was completely annihilated by the blast and the damage spread even farther, the only sign of Daiki's existence was several dismembered body parts and a pieces of his muscular torso that were spread across the devastated area.

Tenten sighed after the dust settled and pouted, "That was almost all my exploding tags."

"How can you still have more?"

She looked at the two younger kunoichi as Ino finished speaking and sheepishly rubbed the back of her head, "I like explosions."

* * *

><p>Sakon regained his balance after rolling across the ground and scrambled behind a tree while another windblast ripped through the area, stirring up debris. The Oto-nin peeked out from behind the trunk after the winds passed to search for Temari, but another Kamaitachi came from his right this time and sent him tumbling again. He flipped to his feet and launched a barrage of exploding kunai towards the area of the last rush of wind, but they were deflected by another gust and blew up harmlessly in mid-air.<p>

The shinobi retreated after his attack failed and darted up a tree before travelling in the canopy in an attempt to flank the girl, but a kunai with a strange tag hit the wood next to his head and he was blinded by a bright flash, which caused the effeminate boy to lose his footing. Sakon fell out of the tree and felt a blast of air hit his back while falling, adding to his momentum, before he smashed into the ground with a gasp of pain. The Sound-nin ignored the burning in his ribs and retreated deeper into a thicker part of the woods before Temari's next attack was launched.

He growled from his hiding spot behind the tree and tried to think of a way to get close to the girl when several shuriken curved around the trunk with wire trailing behind them. The effeminate shinobi strained against the tightly bound steel chord as a voice on the other side of the tree said, "I may be from Sunagakure, but I've been in training in Konoha long enough to pick up a few tricks for fighting in the woods."

Sakon grit his teeth and forced down his anger while the bitch from Suna taunted him. He took a deep breath and grinned after realizing Temari did the work and closed the distance for him. An arm emerged from his torso and grabbed a kunai out of his pouch before slicing through the metal strings. The wind mistress' teal eyes widened in surprise when she felt the wires go slack and her opponent rushed around the large tree, but the blonde kunoichi was still able to jump backwards while swinging her battle fan. The attack pushed Sakon against the trunk he was just tied up to and propelled her back into the safety of the treetops.

The Oto-nin once again suppressed his frustration knowing he'd get his turn. The boy sharpened his senses while waiting for a disturbance with his back against the bark, and after several seconds he was able to sense the next attack flying towards him and used the Kawarimi no jutsu. Temari narrowed her eyes when the Kamaitachi hit a log and used it to substitute as she saw Sakon leap at her from a nearby branch. When the kunoichi reappeared she swung her fan while calling out, "Daikamaitachi."

A sharp wailed echoed through the woods as the cutting winds slashed through the branch easily, but it also went through the Sound shinobi like he wasn't there before he disappeared in a puff of smoke while the limb fell to the ground. Temari looked around frantically before hearing some rustling above her, which caused the girl to look up and see Sakon dropping from the canopy of the tree. She jumped backwards as his heel sliced through the air and tried to keep him at a distance, but her opponent exploded forward as he hit the ground and didn't allow her any room. The iron of Temari's fan blocked the effeminate shinobi's jab, but two fists emerged from his forearm and punched the blonde in her kidneys before yanking the fan from her weakened grasp and tossing it aside.

She grunted in pain while her battle fan was ripped away and pulled out her two smaller ones, blades emerged at either side of the fans and she began channeling elemental chakra through them. Sakon spun around the slashing knives and tried to hit the kunoichi's eye with a right hook when he completed the turn. The wind mistress winced after blocking the attack with her left forearm and ignored the pain while quickly pushing the appendage away before more arms emerged. Then the blonde swung her right fan in an attempt to decapitate her opponent.

Sakon leaned back and avoided the steel of Temari's dangerous blade, but his eyes widened in surprise as the attack cut the tip of his bang off and a line of blood formed on his cheek. The Oto shinobi growled and jumped left as the kunoichi launched a vertical crescent of wind at him, then, after the dangerous wind blades passed by he retaliated with a barrage of kunai. The kunoichi gracefully danced between the lethal projectiles and sent an X of wind blades towards her opponent after avoiding them, but Sakon predicted the attack and quickly pushed himself to the left before exploding towards the surprised blonde and shoulder checking her.

Temari painfully rolled across the forest floor and flipped to her feet when she finally slowed down, but her opponent was rapidly closing in. The shinobi blocked the girl's left arm as she swung the deadly fan before he pivoted on his left foot and kicked her stomach. Two arms burst out of his ankle, and the right one grabbed her before she flew away as the left smashed her chin with a vicious uppercut, sending her airborne. The kunoichi dropped her fans and hung in mid-air for a moment while Sakon jumped and delivered a brutal spinning kick to the girl's midsection, which sent her tumbling across the grass once more.

The dazed genin could make out the battle fan through the haze clouding her vision, but before she could reach out for it the white haired ninja picked her up with his right hand. Two fists emerged from his arm and began pummeling the defenseless girl mercilessly for several seconds, and when he got bored Sakon threw her across the clearing. However the woozy kunoichi managed to somehow land on her feet before she rolled to the left to avoid several lazily thrown shuriken. Temari's efforts amounted to nothing though, the Oto-nin blurred behind her and hit the base of her spine with a brutal front kick.

The Suna kunoichi groaned after skidding across the ground, and when she lifted her head she saw Sakon approaching, however, she also saw her fan was right there too. Temari watched her tormentor grin when she desperately reached for the weapon before he seemed to disappear. Suddenly the blonde found on the other side of the clearing with a new bruise, and though her sharp mind was fuzzy she recognized her opponent kept launching her near her fan intentionally for his own amusement.

The beginnings of a plan formed in the girl's head as she sensed the Sound ninja's approach. She shakily pushed herself up before taking a defensive posture as he neared. Sakon just smirked at her wobbly stance before he charged and cocked his fist back. Temari lunged under the jab and desperately tried to tackle him to the ground, but the shinobi pivoted one hundred and eighty degrees around her futile attack before hitting her stomach with a brutal roundhouse kick.

Despite the throbbing pain that wracked her body the blonde smirked from her position on the ground. She lunged at the correct angle and his counter-attack sent her near the large battle fan, not to mention she managed to move with the attack to lessen the potential damage. Temari snuck her right hand into her left sleeve and gripped the handle of a hidden kunai sheathed a holster sewn into the sleeve. She slowly pulled the blade out and curled around it while Sakon approached.

The Oto shinobi stood above her and sneered when she futilely tried to reach for her battle fan from the fetal position, but to his surprise the blonde grinned in response and swung a kunai coated in wind chakra at his ankle after he lifted his right foot up to viciously stomp her. Sakon was forced to backflip above the attack and Temari launched towards her favored weapon with a burst of chakra. He rushed towards the kunoichi, hoping to get close before the annoying fan came back into play, but she had already run her right thumb over a cut and swiped the blood on the design in the middle of the canvas. The wind mistress swung the massive weapon while yelling, "Kuchiyose: Kirikiri Mai" (Summoning: Quick beheading dance).

It seemed like a typhoon broke out in the surrounding forest, and Sakon was stopped in his tracks by the intense winds. The shinobi was forced to raise his arms to protect his face when small cuts began to cover his body and he desperately looked for anywhere to hide, however deep slashes were being made on every side of every tree around him. Sakon briefly wondered why he was receiving less damage than the trees before he screamed in pain, and seconds later the top half of his torso slid off the bottom as the legs limply collapsed to the ground.

The winds abruptly stopped revealing a one eyed white weasel that was perched on the end of a giant sickle near his wounded mistress as she leaned on her battle fan. The loyal summon had picked up her smaller fans during his attack and was staring at the girl with his one eye, reminding her of a certain blonde teammate, before saying, "What kind of place is this? I've never met a tree that I couldn't cut down."

Temari looked around the clearing and realized all the massive trees in the forest around her were heavily scarred, but none were felled in the assault. "Well, maybe you should train harder."

Kamatari began grumbling while he hoisted the sickle onto his back and began floating on a pocket of dense air he created, "Save your life and this is the thanks I get… maybe next time I won't come."

The kunoichi sighed and began rubbing the weasel behind his ears, causing him to purr (yes weasels purr, look it up). The ermine pushed his head up into her hands and opened his mouth expectantly as Temari pulled out a piece of jerky from her pouch and threw it up, "Here you go Kamatari, it's teriyaki."

"My favorite," was his muffled reply as he gnawed on the dried meat, "maybe I'll come around next time too."

The weasel and his oversized sickle disappeared in a puff of smoke as the blonde finished regaining her bearings. The kunoichi suppressed a wince as she slung her fan around her back and started towards the meeting spot, only stopping to spit on the top half of Sakon's unmoving body.

Nearly a minute after she left the Oto-nin's eyes shot open and he cried out, "Shit that hurt, get out here you asshole."

A full copy of Sakon emerged from his torso, except his left eye was covered by the white bang, and it wasn't sliced at the tip. "Well you got your ass kicked nicely."

The torso growled up at his near copy, "Shut up Ukon, if I could've used the seal she wouldn't have lasted five seconds."

"Kind of pathetic that you'd have to use the seal against a genin."

Sakon stared up at his twin while the boy grinned tauntingly, "Put a sock in it and help me up here." The annoying smile never left Ukon's face as he bent over and absorbed the torso before doing the same to the legs, and when a head popped out his neck it said, "I need some sleep, this could take a few days, maybe a week or so."

Ukon nodded and headed back towards camp, "Okay, I'll take over for now bro."

* * *

><p>Jirobo snarled as he charged his pale opponent, however, Sai easily avoided the lumbering shinobi by flipping over him while pulling a brace of shuriken out of his pouch. He threw them at the fleshy boy's back, and the projectiles embedded themselves in his fat as Jirobo hissed in pain. He turned around angrily while forming hand seals and slammed both palms onto the ground after finishing, calling out, "Doton: Doryuso." Several lines of four-foot tall earth spears appeared in front of the hefty ninja before sinking back into the ground. After those disappeared more rows appeared in front of them and the process continued as the spikes sped towards the artistic shinobi.<p>

Sai stared at the wave of earth spears unconcerned and jumped onto a nearby tree while unrolling a scroll, "Disappointing, and here I was expecting better from you."

A flock of crows emerged form the scroll and began swarming around Jirobo. Meaty arms swung wildly as the shinobi tried to dispel the birds that were blocking his vision, and though he got some several kunai and shuriken flew through the flock and pierced his skin. The meaty ninja screamed in rage while forming several seals. The Oto-nin slammed his left foot into the ground like a sumo wrestle and slabs of rock burst out of the ground and formed a protective tent around their creator.

Sai pushed himself off the tree as the dirt underneath him burst upwards and his opponent flew out of the earth. Jirobo growled after he emerged and missed Sai, but he used a tree branch to swing towards the Ne operative, attacking him with a fury of taijutsu. The Konoha-nin danced just out of the pudgy teen's range for several seconds before he sidestepped a jab and speedily unsheathed his tanto. The pale artist spun the deadly blade upwards and it left a deep gash in Jirobo's arm as he retracted it. Then the pale artist ducked under a left hook and lifted his short blade higher, causing the sharp edge to slice deeply into the fleshy shinobi's forearm. The Oto-nin tried to body slam Sai after his failed attack, but the teen just backpedalled and watched the chubby boy fall onto his ample stomach.

Instead of taking advantage of his opponent's position Sai just taunted the boy with distaste lacing his tone, "I see why you're so fat, the blubber provides a protective layer to compensate for your incompetence."

Jirobo furiously turned to face his opponent and gathered his strength before charging the boy in a fit of rage, but he didn't realize it was much slower than his earlier assaults. Sai effortlessly sidestepped the attacking boy at the last second and slashed deep into his side with the tipless tanto. The fleshy teen fell to the ground with a gasp of pain while clasping the vicious wound with his pudgy hands, it wasn't fatal but it made him unable to fight affectively.

The Oto-nin could only hold the two flaps of skin together as the artist continued in a condescending tone, "You'll find that you are far outclassed here. Like you I am no ordinary genin, Jirobo of the South Gate." Orochimaru's former bodyguard looked up at his opponent with surprise covering his blubbery face, "Did you really think we wouldn't know who you were? I know you three had a reunion with you former teammate recently… are you really dense enough to believe we would let Tayuya walk around freely if she held anything back?"

Sai raised his bloody tanto and stepped towards his downed opponent for the kill, even though the logical part of his brain kept telling him access to Jirobo's knowledge would benefit Konoha. He didn't care about that right now. His body was moving on its own, the pale artist just wanted to murder the shinobi in front of him, and if he suffered all the better. Sai raised the tanto in a daze as he stood over his oblivious enemy, however before he could finish him a lightning bolt streaked across the sky and broke him out of the trance.

The Ne ANBU shook his head to clear it quickly before unrolling a scroll. He pumped it with chakra and watched as hundreds of small hawks emerged before flying over the forest. He looked back at the prone body briefly before paying it no mind and heading back towards the designated area.

* * *

><p>Karin smirked for a moment after the explosion before she frowned and jumped backwards as several shuriken pierced the dirt in front of her. The redhead growled while staring up at a tree near the explosion to see a singed Shikamaru, who still somewhat wet and staring at her with narrowed eyes, "And that was supposed to kill you too."<p>

"You only have yourself to blame." Gone was the boy's lazy tone, now his voice sounded cold and dangerous, "The water protected me from the initial heat so I was able to Kawarimi with a piece of debris created by the explosion."

The redhead went through a quick series of seals, "Then I'll kill you by hand, Mizu no Tatsumaki."

Shikamaru jumped off the branch as a whirlpool of water burst up from the ground and destroyed the limb, along with several others above it. Karin blurred through another set of hand seals and pointed her palm at the airborne boy as he yanked a kunai from his back pouch, "Suiton: Hahonryuu."

Shikamaru heaved the kunai at a nearby tree and yanked himself towards it by using a wire attached to the knife's handle. The blade was yanked out of the bark after the initial pull, but the genin had enough momentum to escape the attack. He slid across the ground on his back before flipping up and grumbling about the fact she was almost on top of him.

Karin pulled out a kunai of her own and lunged forward when she got close, trying to stab him. Shikamaru's left hand grabbed her wrist and pulled her back as he sidestepped while his right delivered a jab to her cheek with his other hand. The redhead ignored the throbbing and twisted mid-air while throwing the kunai. Shikamaru jumped backwards and formed the rat seal, causing his shadow to shoot towards the kunoichi.

She did a backwards somersault before performing a back handspring, and when her feet hit the ground and darted to the left with clenched fists. Karin managed to outpace the black tendrils chasing her and ran towards the Konoha genin, however when she got close to its master the shadow underneath the Nara snaked out in an attempt to catch her. The only way she could dodge was by jumping in the path of a different tendril, so the redhead propelled herself forward and threw the dirt she had collected while sliding across the ground.

The soil hit the surprised shinobi's eyes and he reflexively brought his hands up to wipe them clean, cancelling the jutsu as the kunoichi tackled him. They tumbled across the ground in a heap, and when they came to a stop Karin managed to get on top of Shikamaru and pin his arms to his side with her legs. She pulled out a kunai and raised it over her head, but before she could bring it down a feminine voice called out, "Hakke Kusho." A blast of compressed air smashed into the redhead and sent her into the woods as the kunai clattered helplessly to the ground near Shikamaru's head.

Hinata ran towards the downed Nara while pulling her canteen out of her backpack, when she him the Hyuuga princess helped the lazy boy up while pouring water onto his eyelids to wash them out. Shikamaru wiped his eyes with a sleeve, "Thanks Hinata, I thought it was game over for a second there. I had no idea she picked up that dirt."

"The Oto kunoichi is falling back, and my opponent has retreated to get reinforcements," replied the Hyuuga.

The Nara pulled out a scroll unsealed a hollow shoot of bamboo with a cork bearing a seal on top, "Thankfully this is waterproof." Shikamaru uncapped the tube and it shot a flash of lightning into the sky that was accompanied by a loud crack. The two Konoha-nin looked up as a countless swarm of black birds flew into the air before flying circles above one area. The reason became clear when Tenten jumped up onto an exposed branch and unrolled a scroll. After swiping her bloody thumb down it hundreds of wooden kunai flew upwards with tags trailing behind them. The ink birds managed to catch most of them and the knot came undone so the practice kunai fell to the earth, the ones that hit with the tag exploded into firebombs that scorched the surrounding areas.

Hinata and Shikamaru were already jumping back towards where they first made contact and found they were the last to arrive. The Nara cursed when he saw a wounded Chouji being carried by Lee, and as his mind shifted through all the possibilities for a new formation he realized Kiba was tucked inside Sanshuou. "Sai and Sakura will run ahead of Lee and Kankuro, who will bear the wounded. Tenten and Temari will be in the back while the rest of us travel in between them and watch the flanks."

Everyone nodded hurriedly and formed up as Neji called out, "They're getting close, the lead ones just came into the range of my Byakugan."

Nothing else needed to be said and they all began the mad dash to the tower. It didn't take long for the twelve of them to break through the tree line, and after they were clear the ink birds began suicide diving the forest, causing wails of pain to ring out. Lee burst ahead of everybody to kick open the door, and they all rushed in and slammed the door behind them, silencing the shrieks.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note<strong>

I really wish I could've put more time into it, but with all the crap I've been doing ever since starting school makes writing impossible. This was already written and probably needs another editing run through, but I never find the time. Hopefully the next one will be out by the end of thanksgiving break. Also weasels do purr. And no jutsu list this time… I tried multiple times and it didn't happen all the way through so I gave up and just wanted to get the chapter out.


	35. The Burden of Leadership

In the center of the lone camp that survived the firestorm stood six Sound-nin, trying to take stock of the remaining genin. The attack killed nine instantly and another three didn't look like they had much time left either, however, the worst thing it did was seriously injure a majority of the contestants. It was hard to tell who was fit to continue. Karin stood on top of a large tree stump and raised her voice, "Okay everyone line up with your teams, we need to find out how many are advancing."

It took awhile for the demoralized ninja to get into formation, but several minutes later they were all lined up and able to assess the damage. Of the forty-five they had less than an hour ago only thirty-three were standing. There were six full teams besides those from Otogakure, four teams of two, and one lone shinobi. However of those six teams four had members that were seriously injured. One shinobi lost his arm, a kunoichi on the other team wasn't able to stand, another kunoichi had third degree burns covering her body which didn't allow her to move, and one genin lost his right leg.

The Oto-nin shook their heads in disgust and started to walk away, Kidomaru remained behind momentarily to say, "Just get your things and get to the tower." The spiderlike boy looked like he wanted to add more, but instead he just spit off to the side and followed the others.

* * *

><p>The Hokage was impressed as he stared down at the eight teams—two from Konoha, two of mixed villages, two from Otogakure, one from Kusagakure, and one representing Ame—from a balcony overlooking a large floor, he couldn't remember the last time there were this many. Sarutobi easily stood up from his chair and strode to the railing before clearing his throat, "I congratulate all of you for making it past the second stage and will explain the third momentarily, but before that I would like to take a moment and reveal the true purpose of the exam. Most people believe it exists to promote genin to chunin, yet the exam is intended to serve as a substitute for war. Contestants from each nation compete and put their lives on the line to prove the strength of their village."<p>

"Why do we have to risk our lives for such a stupid reason?" Exploded a bandaged Kiba.

The old Kage looked down at the genin in surprise, Kiba had already competed in the third stage and knew this already, but the Inuzuka's words were laced with venom and rage. "I can assure you the reason is anything but stupid. The third stage is a public tournament that is watched by countless people, from farmers to Daimyo, and how you perform reflects upon your village. Doing well will cause its reputation to grow and more people will seek its services, yet failure only leads to the opposite. This is how the balance of power is maintained throughout the nations."

The aged leader finished giving his speech and sat down before a sickly jounin stepped forward, "May I commence with the third exam Hokage-sama?"

The Sandaime's eyes roved over the participants for several seconds and saw an opportunity, "Sorry Hayate, but I don't know if a preliminary is the best option here. Having twenty-four genin make it to the third round is unprecedented."

The old man paused for Anko's huff before continuing, "And as such it needs something equally unique. There can only be nine contestants in the final round, and if we were to do a preliminary now it would consist of sixteen battles. No, I think a change is in order. There are nine slots available and eight teams gathered here, so we shall have a tournament consisting of team battles. Obviously changes to the format have to be made, and they shall do so in the month between now and the finals. You shall find out what they are on that day."

The examinees began muttering complaints amongst themselves before the Sandaime harshly cut them off, "Enough, as shinobi you must realize the future is never guaranteed in this line of work, so finding out more information the day of the finals is appropriate. I shall see you all in a month, dismissed."

The main doors opened and the Hokage watched the young ninja exit before leaving through a door on the balcony. When it closed a proctor wearing the standard shinobi uniform with neck length black hair and grey eyes rushed up to him before hastily bowing several times, "I'm sorry Hokage-sama but I have something you should hear immediately."

The wizened leader recognized the man as one of the people responsible for documenting the participants' successes or failure and felt his stomach sink, "Go on then."

The man coughed nervously into his hand before beginning, "Well the rescue teams that have been scouring the forest have bad news. Besides the twenty-four in the tower we have only found fifty-six other survivors. There were twenty-one genin from the minor villages were near the tower, and thirty-five from Konoha and Suna that were hiding near the fringes of the training grounds. Some of the things getting reported… quite frankly sir, it was a massacre in there."

The Hokage's eyes hardened as he heard the news and took the folder from the chunin, "Thank you Jurou, tell the Jounin-sensei of the teams who passed to get a report from their students and keep me abreast of the situation. We will interview the other survivors at a later date if necessary" The man recognized the dismissal and hurried off while his leader swiftly scaled the floors of the tower before standing on the roof. Sarutobi gathered chakra from his ample reserves and molded it while forming the sign of the ram. The man disappeared in a cloud of smoke before reappearing outside of his office. He effortlessly walked into the building though most of his shinobi wouldn't be able to shunshin to the edge of Training Ground Forty-four without passing out, let alone to the middle of the village. He was the Hokage for a reason though.

The Sandaime raised his left fist and two ANBU materialized behind him, "Ferret go retrieve Danzo and tell him to come to my office immediately. Weasel, send a message to the Kazekage to inform him of the early casualty report and tell him to expect an update on the situation soon."

The two operatives disappeared as silently as they arrived and Sarutobi entered his office before a small smile flashed across his face. There on the desk was a steeping cup of tea. His secretary was one of the best sensors in ANBU and probably realized he was coming long before he performed the shunshin. Fortunately she knew that fresh tea calmed him down and allowed his more rational thoughts to take hold.

The old kage sat in his chair and sipped from the warm mug before sighing briefly. His anger was slowly ebbing away, but it was being replaced by guilt and regret, things that plagued him often since retaking the hat. He knew what had happened seconds after the report and wished he didn't push Tayuya's panic aside, but the thing the old man regretted most was letting his former student live. How many lives would be better today, how many innocent lives had he condemned that day by showing mercy? Now he may not even be able to finish the job if the opportunity arose.

Those thoughts didn't plague the old man long because the oak doors swung open and his rival walked in before sitting across the desk, "What is so urgent that it required me to report immediately?"

Sarutobi slid the manila envelope he took from the proctor across the desk before Danzo picked it up. His lone black eye surveyed the documents inside for several moments before handing them back to the Hokage, "I see, what do you need me to do Hiruzen?"

"Send a message," replied the Sandaime, "you can use Taki no Kuni as a base to deploy your troops into Grass Country and The Land of Rice Fields while sneaking into Kawa no Kuni using our border with them. Under no circumstances are you to enter Ame no Kuni, that land is too unstable and a large unknown. Make them pay Danzo, terrorize the countryside, blow up dams, destroy roads, burn farms, anything that tells them we are not to be trifled with. Remind them why we are recognized as a major power. I also want you to leave small traces that it was Konoha right before ending the operation, obviously nothing substantial can be found though."

The war hawk nodded and rose from his seat before heading towards the door, "Consider it done."

When the oak doors shut the Hokage pulled out a blank piece of paper with his seal on it before writing a message. After proofreading it several times and rewriting the letter he rolled it up and sealed it with a drip of wax before stamping it. Then the Sandaime held it up as a panther masked ANBU appeared in a puff of smoke on one knee. Sarutobi handed it over to the operative while saying, "Take that to the hawk tower and send it to the Daimyo please."

Panther took the scroll without a word before disappearing as the Hokage sipped his tea while trying to relax. Danzo would be able to handle the minor villages with little effort, Sarutobi just hoped his letter would convince the Daimyo to push hard at the upcoming trade negotiations between the allied countries. It was time to remind everyone who the predominant power on the continent was.

* * *

><p>Kakashi let out a sigh as he walked away from Asuma, Kurenai, and Gai after they finished reporting their students' ordeal to the Hokage, the silver haired jounin had a day to digest the tale but it still left him stunned. He was immensely proud of his genin for making it through, yet raw anger had been churning in his gut since hearing the gruesome report. Most of it was towards himself though, there was nothing the legendary shinobi could do to retaliate against someone like Orochimaru, 'Just another reason to pick up my training I guess.'<p>

The lazy jounin was shaken out of his thoughts when he turned onto an empty side street and Rin landed next to him, "People might think it's strange that you've stopped reading Icha Icha Paradise while walking around town."

Kakashi smiled at his girlfriend from behind the mask, "Are you telling me to whip it out here?"

The brunette blushed at his innuendo before huffing, "No, because people would think it was weird that you were walking with me while reading it."

Kakashi's smile dropped before he started down the street as the medic sighed and followed him, "I don't see why revealing our relationship is such a big deal to you Rin."

The man received a light punch to his bicep, "Because."

The silver haired jounin resisted the urge to massage the bridge of his nose in frustration—something he hadn't done since the early days of Team Seven. The two had talked about telling their friends multiple times, but Rin wouldn't bend in the slightest.

The medic recognized the signs of Kakashi's annoyance and stopped to suppress the voice in her head telling her it wasn't going to work out. It took a few seconds before the whispering stopped, but Kakashi didn't "Why didn't you wait for me?"

"I didn't want people to think something was going on." Was the sarcastic reply.

Rin winced at the comment and felt the despair that constantly gripped her bubbling under the surface. She really didn't want to push Kakashi away after their reconciliation so tried to shove the issue aside, "Fine, do you want to come to my apartment for lunch."

The man looked up at the sun for a brief moment before responding, "Unfortunately I had to meet my students two hours ago, and I don't think I can make them wait another two."

The jounin-sensei received another punch to his arm, "Well come by after, I took the afternoon off."

Kakashi feigned shock as the attractive kunoichi started walking away, "Wait, you're taking a day off, somebody is definitely going to realize something is up. You should definitely go back to work."

The legendary shinobi disappeared in a swirl of leaves after finishing his sentence, just before a rock flew through them. Rin let out a sigh as Kakashi disappeared and realized he never answered her.

* * *

><p>Sai was sitting in the shade under a tree and looked up from the sketchbook he was drawing in. Temari was aggressively polishing her fan for the twenty-eighth time while a dark aura surrounded Sakura as she was lying down with her head resting on a medical book. The pale shinobi just shook his head at the girls' annoyance. They knew Kakashi was perpetually late, so why not bring something to do instead of daydreaming about physically hurting the man.<p>

As Sai looked back down at his book he felt a familiar chakra collecting in the area around him and nearly let out a sigh, it was like their teacher wanted to see how long he had to make the two kunoichi wait before they attacked him for it.

The lanky man appeared in front of them with a puff of smoke, holding his customary book open and giving the genin an eye smile. "Sorry I'm late, but a horde of odd makers tried to corner me and get information about you guys. I had to lose them before coming here and they were persistent. It was worth the effort though because my students would've been in danger if I didn't."

The customary response of "LIAR" didn't phase the jounin and he continued like nothing happened, "Now let's get down to business. You three already have exceptional teamwork so you all need to learn some new tricks because every other team saw most of them in the forest already. I've talked with your other teachers and we've worked out a schedule. The first three weeks will consist of individual training like before the last exams. After that we'll do some team exercises so you can familiarize yourselves with everybody's new moves and do some light activities the last three days to stay loose. If you guys need me for anything I'm always available… if you can find me. Now then, I have things to do so-"

The silver haired shinobi disappeared in a swirl of leaves and the three genin looked at each other while the kunoichi sweatdropped. After a few moments of silence Sakura let out a groan, "He's probably just going to be banging Rin-sensei."

Temari stared at the pinkette in surprise, "They're dating?"

The younger girl just shrugged, "I think they're trying to hide it, but she's not as hostile towards him when I see them together, and she's been acting like a teenage girl."

The sandy blonde had a taunting grin on her face when Sakura finished, "So basically she's acting like you."

A vein throbbed over the medic's green eye while she grit her teeth, "At least people don't mistake me for a man."

"What, who said that?"

"All sorts of people you cow."

Electricity sparked between the girls' eyes as Temari pushed her breasts upwards, "That's weird people say that since I have these and you're flatter than most preteen boys. I'm surprised people don't think you're a cross dresser."

Sai just shook his head and prepared to shunshin away as Sakura launched herself towards the blonde. He didn't want to get caught in the crossfire… again.

* * *

><p>Soft pink lips curled upwards into a satisfied smile as Sakura tilter her head towards the sun and let the rays warm her attractive face. The genin had convinced Tsunade and Rin to give her the day off before team training began and now she was trying to relax a little, forget about all the pressures of a ninja's life and enjoy the moment. After the second exam finished nightmares plagued the young medic's sleep for the first time since Sasuke's death. Visions of the forest haunted her for nearly a week, but they served as a harsh reminder of the realities she has to face as a kunoichi, and helped her realize that sometimes you had to appreciate the peaceful moments.<p>

Sakura came to a stop at the top of a hill and looked over a small valley of wildflowers near the outskirts of the city. The girl's smile became wistful as she remembered the time Ino first brought her here, but the pinkette didn't want to be dragged down by the bad memories that followed thoughts of their early friendship, so with a laugh she ran down the hill and into the meadow of flowers before letting herself fall to the ground. Sakura's momentum caused her to roll several feet until she came to a stop on her back. The pink haired kunoichi let out a content sigh and tried to push everything out of her mind. It wasn't meant to be though, her sharp hearing picked up the pitiful whine of an injured animal.

After following the pained yips to a nearby stream Sakura saw a small fox with a hook through its cheek. There was a steel line with multiple hooks going across the river and some had large chunks of fresh meat. She felt bad for the poor creature and started towards it. The animal started to struggle as she approached, but the hook cut deeper into its cheek and with a high pitched squeal it stopped. The pinkette placed a calming hand on the nape of the fox's neck as her nimble fingers undid the knot holding the hook to the cable. The creature tried to make a break for it, but it had no chance of escaping the firm grip of its savior, then Sakura gently cradled the fox so its paws were facing away from her and its mouth could only bite the tough sleeves of her shirt.

The animal struggled in the grip for several moments but eventually gave up when it realized the futility of its actions. The medic barely noticed the squirming fox as she tried to figure out what to do. The animal could potentially move if she went to fast meaning it could scratch or bite her and get free, but the main city was pretty far away. The girl's sharp mind came to a quick conclusion shortly after though as she remembered the Inuzuka's compound was a ten-minute walk from here if she took it easy. Deciding that was the best option the pinkette started towards the clan's home.

As Sakura got closer alarm bells started going off in her head so she turned sharply on her heel and grabbed a wrist reaching for her shoulder. "Ouch! What the hell Sakura, let go of me."

A sheepish smile momentarily spread across the girl's lips before her face took on an accusing look, "What were you doing trying to sneak up on me?"

Kiba finished rubbing his wrist and returned the look, "Well this is my compound and I wanted to make sure you weren't trying to spy on my training-" the boy trailed off as his keen nose picked up the metallic scent of blood and he saw the wounded animal nuzzling into Sakura's arm. The Inuzuka gave the pinkette a surprised look before taking off down the path, "Follow me."

The kunoichi hurried after him as fast as she dared and it wasn't long before they came to a small building outside the main complex of houses. Kiba pushed open the door and yelled, "Hey sis we got an emergency patient out here."

An attractive brunette that appeared to be sixteen or so stepped out from the back room and looked around in confusion until Sakura came in carrying the wounded fox. Her face took on a worried look as she gently took the animal and carried him into the examination room. The two younger teens sat in the waiting room chairs in silence until Kiba asked, "So how'd you stumble across that poor guy?"

Sakura looked up at the feral shinobi before answering, "I was in a flower meadow trying to relax a little bit when I heard some whining. I followed it and found him hooked onto a big fishing line across a nearby stream."

Kiba nodded absently before his eyes widened slightly, "That wouldn't happen to be the place I met you and Ino?"

Sakura looked confused as she thought about it for a couple seconds, then the girl burst out in laughter, "Oh yeah, I remember that now. You came out thinking you were some sort of stud and tried to play feel me and Ino up."

Kiba rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment, "I wanted to be a vet so I thought it would be a good idea to play doctor." The kunoichi stared at him in disbelief and he looked at the ground dejected, "Okay that was a pitiful excuse, but I was just a little kid," the Inuzuka looked up hopefully, "I've gotten better, right?"

Sakura looked over the mollified shinobi and realized he was right. Kiba wasn't a little runt talking big anymore, he had grown up into a strong young shinobi. The boy showed how dependable he was in the forest and was always taking the wellbeing of everyone into account before acting. He was definitely a comrade she could trust. The girl smiled at the Inuzuka and he quickly returned it, "I guess you're right Kiba."

A few moments later Hana walked out holding a happy looking fox that had a bandaged cheek. The pretty chunin smiled at the two before saying, "Well he's good as new. I put dissolving stiches in and the bandage will fall off in a day or two after the wound starts to heal."

The orange fox let out a cheerful yip and Sakura couldn't help but let out an, "Aw," the pinkette looked up at the older girl with a hopeful look in her emerald eyes, "Do you think I can keep him?"

Hana gave the younger kunoichi a sad smile, "Unfortunately not, foxes are related to dogs so it's possible you could've tamed him if you found him as a kit, but now he's set in his ways and living in captivity wouldn't suit him."

"But it's not like he'd be locked in my house."

The brunette chunin raised her hand and cut Sakura off, "I'm sorry, but after most animals can't make the change after learning to survive in the wild. He'd be miserable if you tried to keep him no matter how much you took him outside or how much attention you gave him." The older girl looked at the pinkette's disappointed face and sighed, "I'll let you bring him back to where you found him though."

Sakura nodded and carefully took the fox before heading to the door, "Goodbye Kiba, Hana. Thanks for all the help."

"No problem, I'm just glad you found the little guy." The pink haired kunoichi walked through the door after the older girl finished and she looked over at Kiba, "Not bad little bro, but maybe you should ask her out." The boy started sputtering as his sister continued, "Don't make excuses to me, do it or don't."

Hana walked in back as Kiba ran out the door. He saw Sakura quickly after and called out, "Hey, wait." She turned around and he continued after getting closer, "How about we hang out sometime after the finals."

The kunoichi blushed momentarily and thought about the question as the fox looked back and forth between them. Her earlier thoughts about the boy rushed forwards and she said, "Maybe, if you impress me in the finals."

Kiba smiled and gave the girl a thumbs up, "If that's the case I'll definitely see you later."

With that he turned away and Sakura giggled before taking the fox back to the stream.

* * *

><p>Cream and Maroon colored robes billowed behind the aged Hokage as he walked down the hallways of the new stadium Konoha built for this event with an escort of two ANBU. He had just finished greeting the Daimyos of Suna and Konoha first, which is customary because they would be insulted if they had to wait for him to visit somebody else. The wizened shinobi figured that was a good thing too because they were already drinking heavily and the concubines were losing their fragments of cloth quickly, if he visited any later the two might have been completely belligerent.<p>

Sarutobi stopped in front of a door with twenty men—wearing different uniforms that signified their allegiance—and waited to be let in. The doors slid open smoothly as the guards nervously shifted aside for the powerful shinobi, and he entered the room built for the Daimyo of the smaller village. It was nearly forty feet from the door to the viewing windows, sixty feet long, and thirty feet high. It was split into two level, both had tables loaded with various exotic dishes and different games for the men to pass the time between matches. The only difference was the bottom level had a hot tub next to the viewing window while the top level was normal seating. Like the other Daimyo's booth it had plenty of alcohol, and it was apparent these men were thoroughly enjoying it.

The Hokage gracefully stepped inside and greeted the nobles who were on the first level while waiting patiently for the ones on the second level to come down. Of course they made sure to do it slowly as possible because they wanted to demonstrate their "superiority" over him, never mind the fact the old man could effortlessly kill all of them before the guards outside noticed. Of course he could kill all their bodyguards without them noticing that as well. Once the Daimyo were all assembled the Hokage began, "Thank you all for coming, Konohagakure no Sato is honored to host such great men as you. I hope you find the features of our new stadium accommodating. After receiving the first wave of ticket reservations we realized it was necessary to build this or we would've been forced to turn too many people away. It also allowed us to create a more unique battleground for the team fights.

Only the Ta Daimyo was able to cover his amazement at the feat, the rest looked on in wonder. After several moments the Kusa Daimyo coughed, "That is quite impressive Hokage, I only wish my village was as efficient. The drought that has plagued my country was made worse when wildfires broke out recently, The Hidden Grass' reaction was horrid."

Sarutobi smiled inwardly as the Kawa Daimyo chimed in after, "Yes, it seems this is a year of uncertainty. The summer was incredibly hot in my country and the temperature didn't fall too much in autumn. Ice caps in the mountains that feed the rivers running through the Land of Rivers melted and caused massive flooding. Entire towns were destroyed and it wiped out whole tracts of fertile land."

The Daimyo of Tsuki no Kuni chimed in from the back, "It seems the whole continent is getting affected. I've heard dams in Ta no Kuni had burst and bandits were moving into the region."

Sarutobi turned to see the Daimyo of Rice—Amakusa Shiro—gritting his teeth when the whole room began staring at him. The Hokage took particular pleasure in his anger knowing the man had teamed up with Orochimaru. He had read Jiraiya's report on the Land of Rice Fields and had told Danzo to strike that one hardest. The aged leader couldn't help but be impressed by his old rival's results, 'Excellent job leaking that information Danzo. The bargaining power Ta gained after the large purchases they just made would all but disappear if it was discovered the country was facing desperate times.'

Eventually the Amakusa surrendered to the silent pressure, "Yes, some dams that were built after the countries founding were neglected by my predecessors, the same men that left me without the funds necessary to repair them either. However, if the rumors about Yu no Kuni's challenges are correct then my country's problems seem relatively insignificant."

The Daimyo from the Land of Hot Water grit his teeth and prepared to continue the pissing contest the Ta Daimyo had unwittingly started, but Sarutobi wanted to leave before it devolved completely, the room was tapped so he would learn everything anyways. "Once again I would like to thank all of you for gracing Konoha with your presence and I hope you find everything to your satisfaction. If you need anything just press one of the intercoms located throughout the room and ask." 'The same intercoms that will record everything you say.'

The Daimyo all clapped and the lord of Nami no Kuni stepped forward to say something, "Thank you for your hospitality Hokage, and I would like to say I myself look forward to seeing such a unique final round. The fights should be most interesting and I can only hope the betting will be the same."

Sarutobi bowed after the man finished while saying, "Thank you for your kind words Daimyo-sama. I will take my leave and allow you all to enjoy the accommodations."

After finishing the Hokage walked outside before towards the Kage booth as his ANBU materialized behind him. As the wizened leader walked he couldn't help but silently complement his old rival once more, 'Excellent work Danzo, making the minor villages look incompetent while impressing their Daimyo with our strength will lead to increases in our funding. It's unfortunate most alliances are less valuable than the paper they are printed on. Hopefully the one with Kaze no Kuni proves to be different, but that too is subject to the whims of the Daimyo.'

Sarutobi pushed the thoughts out of his head and walked into the Kage room where his counterpart from Suna was already waiting. The older leader walked over and inclined his head towards the man as he sat down, "I hope your trip was easy Kazekage-dono."

The leader of Sunagakure nodded while facing Sarutobi, "Easy enough Hokage-dono. I'm sure my trip was much more enjoyable than the leaders of the minor villages who are attending."

The older Kage agreed, "Yes, I was just talking to some of the Daimyo about the disasters that have struck their countries. It is quite unfortunate but one cannot control the whims of nature."

"Yes, we can only do everything possible to help. Many countries have hired out Suna teams to help assist recovery efforts."

Sarutobi pulled a pipe from his robes and began packing it while answering, "Konoha has teams out in the field as well, we can only hope to ease the suffering of our allies as best we can."

The Kazekage chuckled darkly at the statement before turning to look out over the field as the contestants began filing out onto the large field and the crowd began cheering wildly. The arena floor was three hundred feet by three hundred feet and largely flat, except for the various rolling mounds that were spread across the ground at random intervals, and the large cliff that stretched halfway up the east wall and extended out fifty feet. In the center of the arena was a flat circle with finely trimmed grass that had a diameter approaching seventy-five feet, which didn't provide any one village an advantage, but there was another twenty-five feet of thick grass twelve feet high that extended out from the circle which separated it from the other features, and the ground wasn't even in their. On the north side of the stadium a series of streams made the surrounding ground a mud pit and ran into the wooded area on the west side, then the woods eventually turned into a sandy field with small dunes on the south side.

As the participants entered the circle at the middle of the battlefield a proctor that had a senbon needle in his mouth and straight brown hair that went to his shoulders appeared in a puff of smoke. He was wearing the standard jounin outfit appeared and raised his right hand to silence the screaming audience. The cheers continued for another half a minute before it started to die down, and then jounin began projecting his voice

"My name is Shiranui Genma, I am the proctor for the third exam and now I will explain the rules. This tournament shall consist of battles between teams, and under no circumstances can any participant climb above the wall while competing. The fight is over when all three members of a team are unable to fight, that means they are unconscious, have been forced to surrender by the other team, I declare them unable to continue, or they have been killed. To determine the fighting order teams have been given a seed based on when they entered the tower, a bracket of the fights shall be displayed now."

Everyone in the stadium directed his or her view to the screen that was suspended above the center of the battlefield as it lit up with the bracket detailing the final round.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's note<strong>

Sorry I didn't get this out during Thanksgiving break but I did my best and it's not that long after it. Most of this chapter was written because I cut it out, and I cut out a lot of superfluous junk without taking away anything I wanted to accomplish with this chapter so it was a super win. Now here is an Omake that I've had sitting for awhile, enjoy.

* * *

><p><strong>Omake<strong>

Doto made sure to carefully sneak through the castle while anxiously clutching a wrapped package to his chest. The man continually ran small circles over the paper with his fingers while praising the perks of being a Daimyo. Not many people got an uncut bootleg edition of the new Icha Icha movie that was stolen from the studios warehouse and copied before the editors got their filthy hands on it. The man suddenly stopped and looked around hastily, the hallways were usually abandoned this time of night but he couldn't shake the feeling he was getting watched.

* * *

><p>Two Yuki shinobi were sitting in the camera room, staring at the screens while watching their leader and sweatdropping at his behavior. The man ordered these new cameras installed less than three months ago because they focused in on movement, how could he forget about them? The bizarre spectacle was over moments later when Doto arrived at his private chamber and walked inside, the shinobi didn't allow cameras in that room.<p>

* * *

><p>The Daimyo of Yuki no Kuni breathed a sigh of relief as the feeling of being watched ended after he entered the room. Doto walked over to the TV and placed the film reel into the projector he bought for this occasion. The man skipped through the movie to find the best parts, and once he started getting close he switched it to his favorite. It was easy for a shinobi to realize they had a body double for Fujikaze Yuki in the sex scenes, but there was one scene he could tell she partook in. The famous actress was fully clothed in it, but she still gave the lead male a handjob and knowing it was really her was almost too much. The camera had a perfect shot of her cleavage and the cute look on her face as she concentrated on the member… well, it was starting to look strangely familiar to him.<p>

Doto paused the movie on a close-up of her face and sped up his ministrations. The shinobi knew it would be easier to think if he stopped, but he was so close he craved release. The man stared at the beautiful actress while she stuck the tip of her tongue out the side of her mouth and scrunched her nose up cutely while furrowing her brow ever so slightly. The man felt his orgasm approaching so pushed the thoughts aside, but as he was about to blow a memory flashed in front of his eyes. That look was the same one his niece had when he saw her drawing on a visit to the castle. The Daimyo's brain made the connection when he reached climax and he screamed out "KOYUKI!"

Nadare was passing by Doto's room when he heard the man yell his niece's name, a niece that nobody had seen in over a decade. Curious Nadare cracked the door slowly to see what his master discovered, but he nearly slammed it shut after what he witnessed. 'Why was Doto-sama doing that while thinking about Koyuki? She's related to him and the last time he saw the girl she was barely over five. Deciding some things were best forgotten the head shinobi of Yukigakure went to the nearest liquor store.


	36. Interlude: Live! The Chunin Exam Finals

The sun beat down upon a black haired teen and the older brown haired man he was travelling with. The boy was wearing blue cargo shorts and an orange t-shirt that had large red waves going across it. Black spikes of his hair came down to his blue eyes that eagerly surveyed the crowd and took in the palpable excitement. The man next to him was wearing black pants, a plain white t-shirt, and a red vest. His long brown hair swayed with each step while his black eyes watched the teen with a mixture of pride, and amusement at the childish behavior. They were late to the start of the Chunin Exam finals, but despite that the black haired boy had a wide grin that stretched across his face as he scanned the mob around the stadium. Of course he was only a teenager and the loud cheer that erupted from the stadium easily changed his mood. He turned and scowled at the older man who was watching him with a bemused smile, "Why'd you have to get shitfaced last night? Now we'll probably miss the first round, ouch."

The brown haired man held a lecturing pose after smacking the back of the boy's head. The black haired teen stared at him angrily while rubbing the sore area with his hands, "Don't give me that look it was a love tap, stop being a prima donna. Besides, you shouldn't use such language around pretty ladies and children. Now relax we're on vacation, forget about everything that's bothering you. I know hitting a roadblock is frustrating, but all it needs is time, so why don't you unwind now and try to enjoy yourself while we're here kiddo. Kinda like you were five minutes ago… teenagers, why can't they just skip that age completely and become adults?"

The boy let it drop as they walked into the stadium, but it seemed they were only taking ten steps every minute in the crowded hallways. The roars were nearly deafening as they echoed through the wide hall, it was almost impossible to make out the voice of the shinobi who was describing the fight to the audience. Eventually the crowd started to separate as they got farther into the stadium and it became easier to navigate. Eventually the duo arrived at their seats and the dark haired teen eagerly sat into the chair, but when he looked up at the screen the announcer called the fight as the cameras zoomed in on a scuffed up Team Eight. The boy was surprised to see the lack of excitement on their faces after the win, instead there was only a cold determination as they glared up at the contestants' booth.

The genin headed back towards the box as they announced an intermission, and the black haired teen groaned in frustration before punching his godfather in the arm. They boy bit back a yelp after hitting the sturdy man who laughed heartily, "I've been hit by plenty of people stronger than you Arashi so you'll have to do better than that. Look on the bright side, there's still one more fight in the first round so we didn't miss much." The man stopped and looked around their section before waving at a food vendor, "Oi Yakatori Man I need four over here."

The man came over and delivered their kebabs after receiving the money. The long-haired man handed two to the boy before tearing into one of his, "That hits the spot, I didn't get to eat because you were in such a rush." He stopped to take a few more bites before continuing, "Well, we're here now so just relax and enjoy the moment because we'll be back to the grind soon."

Arashi found it hard to ignore the man's advice because the crowd's energy proved to be infectious. The wide grin returned to his face as he happily munched on his yakitori and looked around. Their seats were okay because the screen was gigantic, but they could be better because the performers on the field were barely visible. Sharp blue eyes scanned the crowd and he was able to see some empty seats, but whenever the boy looked back they were filled once more. He saw that one remained open while he was eating his food and started to stand up, Arashi looked over to see the brown haired man was looking at the generous cleavage that belonged to an attractive woman several rows down. "Ero-jiji I'm going to find a better seat, I'll meet you at the hotel later."

The man waved at the teen dismissively as he got up and agilely weaved through the crowd until arriving at the section with the empty seat. He was pleasantly surprised to see that it was still empty and next to an attractive blonde whose hair went her lower back. She was a mini skirt that came to the middle of her shapely thighs and a pink tank top—with a sparkling emerald flower on the left side—that stopped just above her navel while covering her modest assets. The girl's green eyes looked at him in confusion before he asked, "Hey is this seat open. I'm here with my uncle but he's just up in the nosebleeds and probably has one because he's perving on the women up there."

The blonde giggled and shook her head, "No, my friend was here too but she got sick and the stadium medical team took her home."

The black haired boy slid into the seat and smiled, "Thanks, I'm Arashi by the way."

He extended his arm slightly and gently shook her hand as she answered, "Nice to meet you I'm Emiko, and this is Ai." She leaned back to reveal a girl with black hair cropped at her neck. She wearing tan capris and a red belly shirt, her back was turned to them because she was talking to two boys wearing fake Yugakure hitai-ate, although the craftsmen was skilled because they were convincing forgeries and it was unlikely the girl knew. Ai gave a quick nod while continuing her conversation causing a sight to escape Emiko's full lips. "I'm sorry about her, she's really into shinobi and has always fantasized about helping one on a mission. I mean it's pretty silly because a ninja wouldn't need a civilian's help, but it's still kind of romantic I guess."

The black haired teen smiled at the girl and shrugged, "You never know, it's probably easier to blend in with a pretty girl that would distract people."

Emiko looked at him and smiled as a blush dusted across her cheeks revealing the light freckles there, "Maybe."

After a few seconds later Arashi checked the clock before looking back at Emiko, "There's still some time left before intermission and I passed some food stands close to here, how about I get you something as thanks for letting me sit here."

The girl pursed her lips momentarily before excitedly saying, "Chocolate Mochi."

The boy nodded before heading off, "Alright I'll be back soon." As he stood up to leave the screen lit up and the faces of the contestants flashed across with information for the gamblers, and he quickly turned away after staring intensely at Haruno Sakura's page when it popped up.

Emiko looked away from Arashi as he rapidly disappeared and up at the screen before her eyes popped open, "Wow, that girl is lucky. I can't believe that she used to be teammates with the Uzumaki Naruto."

The teen sighed wistfully as Ai leaned back with a grunt and interrupted her train of thought, "Dammit, those guys were total posers. I was actually hoping to meet some shinobi here too."

The blonde shrugged, "Well it's only the first round, there's still plenty of time."

The girl let out an aggravated groan as she slumped in her seat, "Maybe, but this is my best chance to meet one. These tickets were super hard to find and expensive so getting them next time isn't guaranteed, and that's only if this place makes enough money for it to be profitable enough to do again."

"Don't be such a downer, I'm sure you'll meet one."

The black haired girl ignored Emiko as her purple eyes scanned around the stadium, "There's definitely no shinobi in this area, I can tell."

The green-eyed girl shook her head in exasperation, "And how can you tell?"

"I have a sense for these things, if a shinobi is around I'll definitely know. Anyways I need to move around and increase my odds."

Ai stood up and squeezed past her friend who mumbled inaudibly, "But you've never met a ninja before."

The black haired girl nearly ran into Arashi as he returned with the food but she didn't spare him a glance before hurrying out of the stands. The boy shrugged and sat down before handing a bowl of mochi to Emiko who looked at him with surprise on her pretty features, "That was fast."

He shrugged in response, "I got lucky, there weren't many people in line at the stand.

She smiled gratefully before eating a spoonful, "Delicious, thank you."

"No problem." The black haired teen looked over his shoulder, "So where was your friend off to in such a hurry."

Emiko grinned before she swallowed some of the treat, "Well her senses were saying that no shinobi were around so she went to look for some."

The boy let out a hearty laugh after hearing that, "At least she's got plenty of determination."

Arashi was about to continue but the speakers began crackling as the screen flashed to the stadium in the leaf village, "The intermission is over and the last fight of the first round shall begin. Will Team Seven of Konohagakure and Team Dosu from Otogakure please report to the arena floor."

The stadium roared as the doors opened and the black haired teen's head snapped up to the screen. Emiko looked over at the boy before nudging him quickly, "What else were you going to say?"

The boy's crystal blue eyes seemed dull for a moment before returning to their normal vibrancy, "Oh, well I forgot."

He laughed flatly as the blonde giggled, "You're pretty excited, is this gonna be your first shinobi battle?"

Arashi tilted his head in an amused manner, "Yeah, my stupid Uncle made us late so I missed the ones before. I guess you'll have to help me out because it's apparent you're an expert."

Emiko put her arms around his and pulled the boy closer, "The key is to watch really close because a sometimes they move too fast to see, but when that happens there is a shinobi in this stadium that delivers a play by play. Still, the parts that we've seen are pretty cool." The dark haired teen maneuvered his arm around Emiko's back and she rested on his side as they looked up at the screen while the teams were announced.

"These three proud genin represent the newly formed Otogakure," the proctor stopped as the stadium in Konoha erupted into boos. Once it quieted down he introduced them, "Kinuta Dosu, Abumi Zaku, and Karin." The foreign nin were once more showered with boos from the crowd, but they seemed to revel in it until the audience queited down, "And now presenting three genin of mixed villages, one from Sunagakure and two from Konohagakure." This time cheers overpowered those who were booing, "Temari of Sunagakure, Sai of Konoha, and Haruno Sakura of Konoha."

When the pink haired girl was announced the black haired boy began flexing his arms tensely, "Are you okay Arashi-kun, you seem upset."

He faced the girl and grinned, "It's fine, I'm just really excited to see the fight, and sort of mad because I could've seen three already."

Emiko's question was cut off as something flashed in front of the two of them and pierced the concrete at their feet like it was paper. The girl let out a scream, but the cheer from the crowd around them drowned it out as the fight started on the screen. Arashi put his fingers on her lip and pulled her with him into the concession area. Most people were pushing to get back into the stands, but the boy was able to effortlessly maneuver through all of them without losing the girl's hand. Eventually they reached an abandoned stairwell and the blonde tried to organize the millions of questions swirling in her head, however, the only thing that came out was, "What?"

The boy leaned closer, "The thing is… I'm a shinobi."

The dumbfounded girl could only repeat herself, "What?"

"The guy I'm with isn't really my uncle. We were on a mission to retrieve something and now some missing-nin are chasing us for it. The plan was to put on disguises and lose them in the crowd, but apparently that didn't work."

Emiko took another moment to gather herself before speaking, "So this isn't even what you look like…" She trailed off before continuing angrily, "Basically you've been lying to me this whole time. How do I know you are who you say you are? Maybe you're trying to kidnap me."

The dark haired boy didn't answer verbally, instead he lifted his hand up to his left eye and touched it with his finger. When he pulled it away there was a colored contact lens on the end and Emiko gasped at what was behind it. As she did the man peering from behind the doorway pulled back and slunk back into the crowd. He waited for the two to reemerge and carefully followed them back to the exit, making sure to never get too close. The cloaked man never confirmed the boy's identity, but if a civilian recognized a shinobi they had to be famous, and his age only narrowed the possibilities, yet her knowing based on an eye made his identity almost indisputable. The ninja smiled, happy he was lucky enough to see a bunshin attack the teenager, this opportunity could prove profitable to the organization and allow him to advance in rank too. He summoned the basic messenger rat after getting outside of the stadium and had it scurry to his teammates to tell them which gate he went out of. There was a tracker in every unit that had a summon which would be able to pick up his scent and follow.

* * *

><p>Naruto rubbed his dyed hair and tried to suppress the guilt bubbling in his stomach for deceiving the civilian by having a shadow clone throw his old kebab skewer at him to fake an attack. After Emiko found out who he was she got pretty excited and tried her best to help him "escape," so that helped ease it somewhat, but it still felt weird for tricking the girl like this. The whole plan was really spur of the moment, the Konoha-nin really wanted to watch the matches and see all his friends in action, but after Sakura's face flashed onto the screen the only thing he wanted was to be anywhere else. The Jinchuuriki felt terrible about their argument and the cowardly way he left. He really should've trusted his teammate, but instead old insecurities get the best of him and the chunin pushed her away.<p>

Emiko pulled on his arm to turn at the next street and he pushed thoughts of the pinkette out of his head, he was already lying to the blonde girl and didn't want to do her any more disservice by thinking of another woman. The chunin adjusted the hat he bought and leaned closer to her as they walked down the street arm in arm, "We should probably move to the outskirts and lay low for a little, wait for the danger to pass."

Emiko placed her head on his shoulder and whispered back, "Okay, there's a forest nearby that we can take some back alleys to get to quickly."

Naruto nodded and allowed her to lead him through the streets until they arrived at the forest. After walking in a little bit the boy scooped her up bridal style and started leaping through the trees, causing the girl to grip him tightly. Eventually they came to a small clearing near the center of the woods and he stopped in the center of it. The chunin gently placed the civilian down before looking around the forest. The blonde patted the ground next to her and he took the seat, "Sorry for getting you involved, I didn't mean to put you in any danger."

Emiko shook her head rapidly, "Don't worry about it. I'm safe now and it was pretty exciting. Today has been the craziest day of my life, and it would've been harder for you to get through the city easily without knowing the layout."

Naruto flashed Emiko a dazzling smile and grabbed her hands, "See, I told you a civilian could help a shinobi"

The girl blushed as she leaned closer to the boy and Naruto quickly closed the distance. Their lips met and the chunin was surprised when it was her tongue that asked his lips to open, but he quickly complied before pushing the invading muscle back. Emiko pulled away slowly and bit his bottom lip gently. When she let go the shinobi lifted the blonde girl up and had her pinned against a tree before she knew what happened. Her dark green eyes were clouded with lust, desire, and some fear as she looked up at his bright cerulean orbs that stared hungrily at her, but Naruto placed a soft kiss on her lips before trailing his lips down her neck until he got to the top of her cleavage, then the black haired teen brought his lips back up the other side of her neck before kissing her again.

Emiko relaxed against the tree and let his tongue explore her mouth. She was pleasantly surprised by his gentle nature—the shinobi was treating her like she was glass—however, it also made her somewhat mad. The girl wanted to show him that she didn't need to be handled like a porcelain figure. She pushed off the tree and tackled the boy to the ground before straddling his waist. Emiko pulled off her pink top and threw it aside as she smiled down at him tauntingly, "I thought shinobi were supposed to be tough."

The foxlike grin that answered her made the green eyed teenager uneasy, and she let out a meep when the boy disappeared in a puff of smoke moments later. Suddenly Emiko was alone in the clearing and she looked around frantically for a moment, until the ground beneath her started to shake and the blonde smoothly emerged from the dirt and scooped her up before turning the tables. Now she was pinned and he formed a cross with his fingers while straddling her. Suddenly two-dozen disguised Narutos were around her, but they all quickly vanished into the woods. She looked up at him in confusion and he answered the silent question, "I don't want anybody but me to see you," before leaning down to kiss her.

* * *

><p>Naruto and Emiko were naked as they cuddled in the clearing. They had been there for quite awhile and the tournament was probably nearing completion, however, they were comfortable and in no rush to go anywhere. Things change quickly though because the shinobi untangled himself from the girl's embrace while sitting up, "Shit. My clones saw some people approaching and they don't look friendly."<p>

The shinobi pulled his boxers and shorts on before helping Emiko pull up her panties, then he threw his shirt on over her head before moving to the west end of the clearing and looking across to the east. Four men emerged from the tree line and faced the half-dressed couple with confident—and slightly lecherous—grins on their faces. All four of them wore red shinobi sandals, black pants, red vests with gold and white kanji that meant "Guardian" and "Fire," and a hitai-ate with the kanji for Hi no Kuni on it.

The one on the far left was probably five eight and a little stocky, he had purplish grey hair that stuck straight up, about thirteen inches, with the assistance of his headband and reddish brown eyes. The one next to him was easily the tallest and thinnest, he stood about six one, had sky blue eyes, and brown hair that was shaved close to his head. The one on the far right was built like Asuma, except with straight green hair down to the nape of his neck and purple eyes, while the one on his left was only Naruto's height with black eyes and orange hair that extended down his back in a thick, spiky ponytail.

The man on the left grinned predatorily at the two, "To think we'd find Namikaze Naruto out here."

The skinny one next to him continued derisively, "And to think he'd reveal his sharingan for a little pussy"

The man that was as tall as Naruto seemed somewhat apologetic, "Well it's to be expected, he is a teenager after all."

The muscular shinobi on the right seemed excited as he said, "It doesn't matter how we found him, all that matters is we did. It's a great victory for the mighty Hi no Kuni Shinobi.

Naruto looked confused as he tilted his head to the side while staring at the strange group, "Right, so who are you guys."

The stocky one snorted angrily, "How can this little punk not know about our great organization?"

The lanky man next to him spat on the ground before speaking condescendingly, "He's just a dumb brat, who'd expect an ignorant punk to know anyways."

The shortest ninja in the group took a deep breath before continuing in a calm manner, "It's not like we're a major village, most people probably don't know about us."

"Enough, we'll just tell the gaki so he knows exactly who it is that's going to defeat him."

When the burly green haired one finished Naruto sweat-dropped, were they really just going to tell them who they were and their goals. Well far be it from him to stop them. Once again the stocky one with the strange purple grey hair started, "We represent a powerful order dedicated to improving the great nation of Hi no Kuni."

The lanky one with the shaved head continued, "Too long has the corrupt, pathetic, and weak village of Konohagakure operated in the shadows, all the while its clandestine actions harm the innocent citizens."

As usual the shortest one went next, "We know Konoha means well, but it cannot go unpunished for past crimes despite good intentions."

The green haired one finished, "The Hi no Kuni Shinobi will destroy the Leaf Village and create a shinobi army loyal only to the Daimyo. We are Squad One hundred and forty-two."

All of them chimed in individually to say their names, going in the same order they always do. "Ren, Ken, Shen, and Harunobo."

The blonde just stared blankly at them, "You guys are fucking idiots, how do Konoha's actions hurt fire country?"

Ren became angry after hearing the chunin, "Shut up boy, don't speak to your betters like that."

Ken continued in a scathing tone, "It's no surprise, little shits don't have manners."

Shen seemed apologetic, "I wouldn't expect him to understand guys, he was raised in the village."

Harunobo cut the small man off animatedly, "Don't make excuses, we'll have to educate him. Konoha is a stain on the nation. It… huddle up guys."

The four got in a tight circle and began whispering furiously before Shen answered, "Well it's corrupt."

Ken pushed the orange haired ninja out of the way, "Yeah, it's not like they tell everyone their dirty laundry."

The disguised teen massaged his temples, "And how do you know it's corrupt?"

They whispered amongst themselves quickly before saying in unison, "Because they're shinobi."

Naruto continued in a patronizing tone, "Okay, so how would Hi no Kuni Shinobi be any different."

The strange foursome was once again without an answer so they tried brainstorming together. After half a minute they turned towards the blonde and yelled together, "The honor and purity of Daimyo-sama."

The chunin dragged his hand down his face, "You guys never thought that Konoha isn't directly under his authority because he needs it to be separate. If the Leaf Village was directly under his control then missions would be authorized by him. If a team was caught doing something illegal in another then he would be directly responsible, and it's very possible that all of the country would go to war, not just Konoha." Team one hundred forty-two just shook their heads dumbly, as if they couldn't believe it, but he continued anyways "The biggest percentage of Konoha's budget comes directly from the Daimyo so he has plenty of influence over the village without being in charge, and he doesn't have to deal with any of the ramifications because he isn't directly tied to it."

The four appeared to get angry when he finished and Ren yelled, "It's foolish that Hi-sama has to pay petty mercenaries for the glorious duty of protecting this country."

Ken continued where the stocky man left off, "Yeah, your rotten village must force him to do it, and then you filthy ninja would switch sides if somebody else paid you more."

Red hair quivered as Shen shook with rage, "We, we won't let your village bleed our country dry."

"The time for action is now," roared Harunobo.

Naruto scoffed at the men, "You four are morons. Even if all ninja were self-serving it wouldn't be in their best interests to switch sides for one big payday. If they did then potential employers wouldn't hire them because they would have to constantly watch out for betrayal. Eventually the money would run out and there'd be no safe haven when enemies attack. You're all just pawns working for someone that craves power."

All four of them shook with rage for several seconds before screaming in unison, "Don't insult Furido-sama like that." Then they launched a barrage of kunai and shuriken. Naruto easily avoided their attack and snatched a stray knife from the air, but Emiko was left defenseless. The projectiles pierced the civilian and the men looked joyous that the chunin didn't try to save her, but before they could comment the girl transformed into a copy of the boy and disappeared in a puff of smoke as the weapons fell harmlessly to the dirt.

Naruto was grinning from his spot in the clearing as the men split up and surrounded him on four sides, forming a cross. The chunin laughed inwardly at their amateur mistake and waited for their next attack. Each man launched another wave of projectiles towards the teen and he jumped high into the air. The Jinchuuriki was vulnerable while his feet were off the ground, yet none of his opponents could capitalize, they were too busy dodging their allies' blades because they stood directly across from one another instead of staggering themselves.

Realizing he was dealing with amateurs the teen launched towards Harunobo after his bare feet hit the ground. The man tried to get in a defensive stance and slash Naruto with a kunai, but the chunin's wind enhanced one easily sliced through it and he allowed the momentum from the strike to twist his body until his elbow crunched into the brawny man's nose, causing him to let out a gasp of pain as the cartilage shattered, then he fell to the ground while clutching his bleeding face.

The disguised teenager launched his glowing kunai through the downed ninja's chest and deep into the ground before turning to see the other three men had regrouped after their initial debacle. The three Hi no Kuni Shinobi weren't focused on him though, instead they were staring at the corpse in shock, like it was the first time they'd seen a dead body. 'Just like I expected, these guys aren't even that experienced. They look like me, after I saw Sasuke…'

The memory of his fallen comrade fed the anger that was already present from them barging in on him and Emiko. Streaks of red bled into his right eye as he launched towards the stunned trio faster than before. Shen hit a tree at the edge of a clearing with a sickening crack after getting shoulder checked by the teenager who turned to face Ren when the attack connected while saying "Futon: Goukuhou." An orb of wind the size of a beach ball raced towards the man and impacted his stomach before bursting apart into tiny blades that left deep gashes on the front of his torso that gushed blood as he fell to the dirt.

Ken stared at the disguised teenager while his long legs shook uncontrollably. Naruto started walking closer and the man lifted his arms in a pitiful defense as the boy cocked his fist back. The strike was able to easily bypass the guard and left the lanky ninja unconscious. The chunin quickly realized Ren wouldn't survive the wounds from the futon jutsu after seeing the pool of blood around his body, and walked over to check on Shen while cursing silently. He wanted to keep the other three alive after killing Harunobo—who had the strongest chakra—but his anger got the best of him. A quick inspection of the diminutive man revealed a broken spine, he didn't have very much time left even if a medic like Tsunade was there. He walked back to Ken with a sigh, "Well you'll have to do. I'm not the best interrogator but there's plenty of good ones in Konoha." He bit his thumb and prepared to summon a transport toad when a loud crunch echoed through the clearing. Naruto let out a "Shit, " as he looked up to see the man wasn't really unconscious and had taken a suicide pill.

Ken's left eye was swelling shut and his purplish grey hair was spread haphazardly on the ground around while he struggled to keep his head up, but raw hatred was shining in his light blue eyes while he stared at the chunin, "I'll never do anything to help your shithole of a village."

Naruto was caught off guard by the venom lacing his statement, "Why did you do that? The guy you serve is just using you to gain power, he's taking advantage of your ideals."

The dying man let out a mocking laugh, but it sounded more like a gasp, "You think I'm wrong because you believe Konoha is a good place, yet it's so easy to believe that when you live inside the walls. That village reaps hatred and the innocent people of this country are the ones who suffer for it. You disgust me."

Ken tried to spit at the teenager but the powerful poison had done its work quickly, and the shinobi's head fell back as he died. Naruto slumped to the ground in defeat, his anger disappearing while the confusion and guilt set in. Nearly ten minutes passed before he mustered up the will to move, and after making some Kage Bunshin to dispose of the bodies and clean up he slowly walked to the area his clones took Emiko. As the boy approached them he plastered on a smile on his face, and when the blonde girl saw him she ran forward and embraced him in a tight hug, "I'm so glad you're alright. They didn't hurt you?"

The disguised ninja gave her a reassuring grin, "Of course not, you've seen the movie, how could you think a couple of chumps would be enough to take me down?"

Emiko placed her head on his chest and mumbled out, "I didn't, but you said you were running from them."

Naruto rubbed the distraught girl's back comfortingly, "Well shinobi are supposed to avoid confrontation if possible, but in this case it wasn't. Those guys won't be able to hurt anyone ever again though." He waited until the civilian relaxed in his arms before continuing, "We should get back, I'm sure your friend is wondering where you are right now."

The blonde didn't answer immediately, but after a few moments she asked, "Can I get a picture with you first? I mean the way you really look."

The disguised shinobi placed his chin on top of her head, "Of course, I'll sign it for you too."

Emiko pulled back and looked around the area, "Dammit, where's my purse."

"Back in the clearing with your other stuff, I left a clone to pick it up and bring it here." Shortly after Naruto finished the bunshin entered the clearing and presented the girl with her things before dispersing, "See, now do you want to take the picture like that or get changed first?"

The girl blushed after realizing she was in nothing but a pair of panties and his shirt while he only had cargo shorts on. A couple minutes later they were both presentable and a clone was holding the camera, but Emiko was looking at him expectantly, "Aren't you going to change back to your real appearance?"

Naruto rubbed the back of his head embarrassedly after forgetting he had to, the shinobi actually dyed his hair and put on makeup to cover his scars. Figuring she wouldn't care if he just did a quick transformation the chunin made the ram sign before being covered in smoke. When it cleared he was standing in the same clothes except his whisker marks were there along with spiky blonde hair. A bright smile formed on Emiko's face as she hurried over and wrapped her arms around his midsection. Naruto put his arm over her small shoulders and they smiled as the Kage Bunshin held up the camera, "Cheese."

After snapping a picture the clone pulled out the photograph and handed both of them to Emiko. She pulled out a sharpie and gave it to the disguised nin, who quickly wrote a small note and signed it. Handing it back they made their way back into the city silently. It didn't take long and once they got near the stadium the two decided to part ways, "It was great meeting you Emiko, sorry about dragging you into this whole mess."

The girl gave him one more hug while saying, "Don't be, this is a story I can tell my kids and grandkids, although I'll be sure to edit it slightly."

The blonde looked up at the disguised boy and he leaned to quickly give her a soft kiss. She looked surprised momentarily but grinned shortly after, "Goodbye Naruto."

The blonde looked at him expectantly and he leaned down to give her one more kiss, and she prolonged this one. Several moments later they pulled their heads back and he placed his forehead on hers, "Goodbye Emiko."

He disappeared in a swirl of leaves moments later and the girl looked around confused as the mini whirlwind sent her hair everywhere. After regaining her bearings she decided to head over to the area she and Ai agreed to meet at if they got separated. Several minutes later the green-eyed civilian arrived and was surprised to see her dark haired friend there. The raven-haired girl was sitting grumpily with her arms crossed under her c-cup breasts. She looked up and smiled briefly after catching a glimpse of her blonde friend, but it quickly morphed to a frown, "Where were you, I was starting to get angry… and a little worried."

Emiko smiled at her friend, "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

Ai stared questioningly at the glowing girl, "What, tell me."

"I already said you wouldn't believe me so I'll show you, here," Emiko handed the brunette her picture and watched as her purple eyes widened, "No way."

The blonde grabbed it out of the girl's hands and flipped it over so she could read the message, 'Emiko, thanks for the seat at the stadium and all your help with the mission. I'm glad we met, and I want you to know today will be one I always remember. Naruto.'

She carefully placed the picture into her purse once more as Ai stared at her jealously, "No way Emiko, I can't believe you got to meet the Naruto."

The blonde nodded cheerfully, "Yup, the same one that's all over your bedroom wall."

The dark haired girl ignored her while leaning in conspiratorially and whispering, "Did you guys do it?"

"Do you think I could borrow some of those posters? I'd really like them to help me remember today, I've always been partial to the shirtless one." Was Emiko's only response.

* * *

><p>Naruto opened the door to the room he was sharing with Jiraiya to hear the man's lecherous voice, "Sooo, did you have fun with that pretty little blonde." The boy walked in the room and didn't look around, he just nodded slowly and fell back on the futon that was left out this morning. The sennin sighed after seeing his godson's despondent mood, "What happened? Did you get shot down?"<p>

The disguised boy lifted his head and was surprised to see the man had already removed the dye, "No, but I was ambushed by some shinobi that followed me from the exams."

Jiraiya put down his notebook and faced his apprentice, "You only have yourself to blame. That tactic was so obvious that even the worst ninja in the stadium saw it, I'm not surprised one decided to follow you."

Naruto sat up before saying, "Well I found out something because of it. Apparently these guys were part of a group called the Hi no Kuni Shinobi, and answered to some guy called Furido. They were team one hundred forty-two so it's not be a small organization."

The spymaster raised his hand to interrupt, "That doesn't mean there's one hundred forty-one other teams Naruto, you can't assume things even if they seem obvious, and those guys may not even know how many teams there were. Now continue."

The boy nodded, "Anyways, they said their goal was to destroy Konoha and create a shinobi army that was loyal only to the Daimyo."

Jiraiya nodded and pulled out a weathered leather notepad, "I knew that name sounded familiar, and the plan confirmed it. The Hi no Kuni Shinobi is a defunct group that ended a long time ago, probably a couple years before you were born. They also had the same goal so it's possible a few old members had a reunion somewhere and decided to start it back up. This might explain the drop-off in requested missions from some districts in the country. That's something I'll need to investigate further. Did you send any back to Konoha in the toads."

Naruto shook his head, "I killed one and tried to capture three, but I accidentally broke one's spine, my Goukuuhou was too strong, and the other one surprised me by using a suicide pill when I thought he was knocked out."

Jiraiya got up and patted the boy on his back before putting his red vest on, "Alright, well I hope you learned something from that. Try to capture all your opponents if possible, and always confirm the captives are knocked out before checking potential casualties. Anyways, now that you're back I'm going to get incredibly drunk and find some pretty ladies."

"Hookers," interjected Naruto.

"Hookers are women too boy, now pack up because we leave bright and early tomorrow."

With that he exited and slammed the door while the chunin fell back on his futon, wondering who else gained his rank today.

* * *

><p><strong>AN<strong>

And there's my comeback. Hope you guys enjoyed the interjection to Naruto, and sorry if you wanted a fight but I figured it was a good time to flash back to see his improvements and character changes after sea country while setting up a shippuden arc too. I also didn't want to write another exam chapter at the moment. Anyways let me know what you thought. Did you like the comparison between Naruto and the Hi no Kuni Shinobi (they portrayed his early character), or the fact that the sharingan was active the whole time so he'll literally never forget this day? Also the reason the Kyuubi's chakra was able to leak through is Naruto's fluctuating emotions, hence the references to it early in the story. The seal itself is weakening to allow more of the Kyuubi's chakra to mix with his and volatile emotions make it easier for the chakra to enter. There's other things written in there too but I don't want to give them all away. Hopefully the next chapter will be out in a week or so, then after that I make no promises.

Operaman Bye Bye


	37. The Finals

The crowd stared at their pamphlets in wonder as complex seals on the inside turned into a bracket and basic information on the fighters, while a board appeared next to the proctor in a puff of smoke. Most of the Konoha genin left quickly and headed towards the competitor's entrance to the battlefield after a quick glance, and after the other teams got a closer look at the fights they followed. Genma dispelled the board and stared at the six combatants in front of him before his hand rose towards the sky, causing the crowd to roar thunderously, however, his microphone-enhanced voice could still be heard over the deafening cheers. "The first match is between Team Gai Konohagakure and Team Sakon of Otogakure," the jounin allowed the energy to reach a fever pitch before slicing his hand through the air, "begin."

Lee appeared to be a blur of green as he sped towards Jirobo. The spandex-clad shinobi jumped and attempted to deliver a brutal kick to the left side of his opponent's face, but the bulky teenager managed to lift his arm to block the strike, yet the force behind it sent him skidding back a dozen feet. Kidomaru and Sakon rushed towards the taijutsu specialist's exposed back, but were forced to stop and flip away when several kunai with sizzling tags wrapped around the handle landed in front of them. The explosion sent dust everywhere and blocked the two sound-nin's view of their teammate, but they had other things to worry about as more kunai herded them away from the fight. Neji directed his teammate's throws as the two fled into the grass and she forced them to the sandy dunes on the stadium's south end.

The Oto shinobi regrouped as the Hyuuga and weapons mistress rushed into the grass while Jirobo fought Lee in the center of the arena. The older teenagers eyed the thick grass warily before three blasts of compressed air burst out with the Konoha-nin following the attack. They jumped opposite ways and Neji forced Kidomaru to move further away with more Hakke Kusho while Tenten kept Sakon dodging the fine edges of her kunai.

The effeminate shinobi frantically avoided the countless projectiles pursuing him from every direction. There seemed to be no end to the metallic rain trying to slice through him, so he was confused when it stopped and the kunoichi flipped through the ox, horse, and dragon seals before holding the last, "Raiton: Kaminari Shibari." (Lightning Release: Thunder Binding) The kanji for barrier glowed blue on the handles of three Kunai that were in the shape of an equilateral triangle with the green haired ninja in the center before lightning arced between the weapons and formed a blue pyramid that trapped him. Tenten lips split into a satisfied grin as she dropped the hand seal after the barrier became self-sustaining, everything was going according to plan.

**Flashback**

In a private training ground near the village wall the genin from Konohagakure and Sunagakure participating in the finals sat with the Hokage. Sarutobi looked over the young shinobi in front of him with an appraising eye before starting, "I'm sure you're wondering why I've gathered you here today?"

The elderly leader lit a pipe before inhaling deeply. Awkwardness permeated the clearing as potential opponents glanced at each other quickly. The Hokage just exhaled and waited while the genin stared respectfully at him, wondering when he was going to continue. 'These children will be Chunin in a months time, and leading squads before the year is over, respecting your leader is necessary, but reverence is foolish and clouds judgment. They need to think proactively and not be afraid to voice their opinions, even to the Hokage. Nobody will be there to babysit them anymore, now they must rely on themselves. Donning the flak jacket symbolizes the safety net being cut away, and it is best they learn this lesson early.'

Sarutobi was pulled from his thoughts when Shikamaru spoke up, "Since all of us will be fighting in the finals I'm guessing it has to do with that, and I know it's going to be troublesome."

A smile crossed the Kage's face at the Nara's response, "Yes, it does involve the finals." Sarutobi's wrinkled face hardened as he continued, "Obviously the genin from minor villages didn't come here with the express purpose of becoming chunin. They wanted to deliver a blow to the future strength of our two villages and send a message, so we shall respond with our own in the third exam. In the first round each one of you shall fight a team from the minor villages, and I think now would be a good time to share the knowledge you all gained from conflicts in the forest."

The Hokage inhaled the fragrant tobacco in his pipe and Hinata used the lapse to interject, "Ano sa, Hokage-sama."

The kindly man smiled at the shy Hyuuga, "Yes Hinata-chan."

The girl's index fingers twirled nervously around each other as she tried to calm her rapidly beating heart, though it was hard considering the man in front of her was a living legend, "Um, well, when I was fighting Dosu, the boy who used the sound gauntlet, and, well, his sound attack was broken up by the concussive waves of an exploding tag."

The girl finished speaking and sat down before the Hokage tapped out his pipe, "That's an excellent starting point. Unfortunately I can't let my paperwork pile multiply so I have to get back to the office, but you shall know whom your opponents in two weeks. Until then train hard and think on how to defeat any possible matchup. Now, I'll let you all begin discussing and planning." Sarutobi gave the genin one last smile before disappearing in a cloud of smoke as the gathered shinobi began sharing information.

**End Flashback**

Lee landed after his initial attack and burst forward after hearing the dull thud of kunai, followed by a distinctive sizzling noise. He easily outpaced the blast while charging towards Jirobo, who erected a hastily formed earth wall. The taijutsu specialist registered the barrier and didn't slow in the slightest, instead he jumped forward while pulling his leg back for another kick. The force of his strike was amplified by the weights and easily shattered the construct. Large chunks of debris forced the heavy shinobi to close his eyes as the spandex clad teen gracefully landed and used his momentum to deliver a brutal jab to the Oto-nin's nose.

Jirobo's bald head snapped backwards with a sickening crack as he blindly swung his left fist in a wide arc. Lee used his hands to gracefully vault over the bulky limb before pushing off and flipping over his opponent. He harnessed the extra momentum from his maneuver and landed powerful heel kick to the back of the heavy Oto-nin's head that sent him face-first into the ground. The chubby teen ignored the pain while trying to push himself up, but Lee didn't waste any motion and leaned back after the strike until he was parallel to the ground and elbow dropped the rising shinobi's neck. The taijutsu specialist did a backwards somersault and regained his feet before raising his leg straight up into the air. Sunlight glinted off the tip of his weights that poked out from his legwarmers as he brought down his foot to crush Jirobo's skull.

* * *

><p>Sakon cursed loudly behind the lightning prison even though he wasn't worried in the slightest, barriers were their specialty after all. He knew the flaw in this one immediately and Kidomaru did too, but it never hurt to make your opponents think their plan was effective. It worked too since the Konoha ninja seemed to relax for a split second afterwards, and that's when the spiderlike ninja burst into action.<p>

He threw smoke bombs at his feet before launching random strands of webbing that forced the two to retreat, however, it was only meant to be a distraction. Golden arrows shot out of the smoke and pierced the ground around one of the kunai sustaining the barrier. Neji sped forward and tried to use his chakra to cut through the string attached to the arrows as Kidomaru pulled backwards, but the ground gave first and a chunk of earth containing the sealed kunai was torn out, freeing Sakon. The spider user notched two arrows on the string with two more at the ready and shot them towards the Konoha-nin. It forced the two Oto-shinobi much needed distance and they sped towards their third teammate.

* * *

><p>As Lee brought his leg down to end the fight it shifted course and his metal weights deflected several kunai that were heading for his jugular. He turned to see a dense ball of webbing flying towards him as well and jumped back, but the spandex clad boy wasn't the target. It hit the unconscious Sound shinobi before expanding and encasing him in a protective cocoon. Lee made an attempt to crack through it with a hammer-like punch and deliver the killing blow, but it felt like he hit a wall of solid lead. The spandex clad genin tried to recover and jump away, but Sakon used his chakra to burst forward and tackle him.<p>

The Oto-nin used Ukon's limbs to gain the mounted position on the ground, but before he could take advantage a Hakke Kusho impacted his side and sent the effeminate teenager rolling. Lee popped up quickly and returned to his teammates as they faced down their two remaining opponents. Neji coldly eyed them while saying, "You have been outclassed this whole match, and now you are outnumbered as well. I thought you were supposed to be real shinobi."

The two just laughed as an arm and foot burst out of the right side of Sakon's torso. Everyone in the stadium looked on with sick fascination as a nearly identical copy emerged from the Oto shinobi's body, and all three said, "Who's outnumbered?"

The trio stood in a triangle with the twins up front and Kidomaru behind them as Neji and Lee tried to flank around the left. Several golden knives forced them to loop around even farther as Sakon and Ukon adjusted the triangle so the spider user was farthest away from the two attacking boys, but it left him open to Tenten. Kidomaru was forced to leap away as metallic balls landed all around his position and exploded, sending shrapnel everywhere.

The formation was broken and the three scattered before landing in a diagonal line with Sakon in the back left facing left, Kidomaru in the middle looking straight ahead, while Ukon was in the front right and watched their right. Lee sped forward but was forced to dodge a rapid-fire barrage of miniature web balls from the spiderlike teen while his teammates tried to attack from the flanks. He kept jumping around the projectiles as Neji engaged Sakon in close combat with the Jyuuken and Tenten held his brother at bay with a staff. The spandex clad ninja blurred forward and twisted around the web balls, but when he got closer to Kidomaru he revealed it was a feint and dashed right before hitting the unsuspecting Ukon with a chop to the neck that left him prone on the ground.

The remaining two Sound ninja cursed and Sakon wished he split up earlier so they could have used their original formations instead of these modified ones. The effeminate shinobi pushed that thought aside as Kidomaru came over to engage the Hyuuga. He broke off and rushed towards his downed twin as the kunoichi's staff morphed and one end twisted around itself until becoming a sharp point. She threw the javelin at Ukon, but his brother jumped in front of the throw and the tip went through his right shoulder.

The Oto shinobi cursed and grit his teeth through the pain after he fell backwards. The force generated from impacting the ground pushed the javelin back out of the wound, but Sakon barely winced as he grabbed his brother and reabsorbed him. The green haired ninja hissed while rolling onto his injured shoulder to avoid more kunai from the kunoichi, and flipped to his feet just in time to use his left arm to block Lee's kick towards his wound. It left him open though as Tenten managed to grab the downed javelin and shove it into his left side.

The green haired teen coughed up blood as the girl twisted her weapon in the wound before pulling it out and lining up the fatal blow, but a ball of webbing saved Sakon when it smashed into him and formed a cocoon. Seeing his teammates were down Kidomaru kept his distance from Neji and raised his upper right hand, "I surrender." Karin rushed out of the contestant's box as Genma declared Team Gai the winners and announced a short intermission.

* * *

><p>Fifteen minutes after the last fight ended Genma announced the next match while Team Ten and the genin from Kusa walked onto the arena floor. The audience cheered when the fighters stepped onto the battlefield, but it was quieter than before, almost like the violence of the first match had sobered the crowd. Asuma's genin paid their lack of applause no mind and faced down the enemy team made up of one girl and two boys.<p>

The girl was slightly taller than Ino and somewhat pale with dark purple hair and forest green eyes that stared at the Konoha shinobi excitedly. Her hitai-ate was attached to a light green belt wrapped tightly around her small waist and held up her brown shinobi pants that were tucked into white tape, which wrapped up her legs and covered her feet in brown shinobi sandals. She had a yellowish green shirt with sleeves that just covered her petite shoulders and brown forearm guards.

The genin in the middle had buzzed brown hair and black eyes that anxiously roved around the stadium as his yellow shinobi sandals shifted in the light grass. He was a head shorter than Chouji and wearing dark green shorts with a thin windbreaker that covered his wiry frame and matched the light green color of the hitai-ate, which he wore as a headband.

The tan boy on his right had a shaved head and wore no shirt, just a thin, dark green vest that was covered in small Kusa symbols that were an earthy brown. His muscular torso had several light scars on his abdomen and chest, and one particularly long one that started an inch to the left of his bellybutton and extended into the brown cloth of his hitai-ate that served as a belt to hold his dark green pants up. Earthy brown shinobi sandals spread out as the genin took a defensive stance when the proctor raised is arm. "The next match is between Team Ten of Konohagakure and Team Four of Kusagakure." The crowd grew louder as anticipation gripped them and Genma's hand sliced through the air, "Begin."

Shikamaru sighed after the proctor jumped backwards and wondered what deities he offended. First he had to fight the one girl in the forest, and now they had to fight one of the teams there was no prior information on. The lazy boy continued grumbling under his breath as Chouji's arms inflated in response to the hand seals the shirtless genin was making. Their opponent placed his palms on the ground after finishing and Shikamaru knew he was an earth user before the two boulders nearly fifteen feet wide flew at Team Ten. The Akimichi's fists easily shattered the chunks of earth as he and Ino ran towards the Kusa team while Shikamaru followed slowly behind, carefully observing the enemy's movements.

The Nara barked out, "Hold it," when he saw the kunoichi pull out red pellets from her pouch, then, "retreat," when she threw them towards his comrades. Ino and Chouji jumped backwards as blades of grass burst through the maroon smoke and tried to pierce them, however the Yamanaka quickly unfurled her whip and snapped it. A fiery sonic boom was launched from the tips and morphed into a small blade that easily sliced through the grass near the poison cloud. The strands grew back incredibly fast, but it gave the two shinobi enough room to regroup with Shikamaru who tossed several exploding kunai through the dispersing gas.

The grass strands moved to intercept the projectiles as the Nara called out, "San." Ino and Chouji flanked wide and ran into the long grass as Shikamaru's shadow split and a dozen tendrils shot towards the Kusa genin. The grass blades quickly retreated into the skinny teen's windbreaker and his team fell back, carefully watching the snakelike shadows.

As they got near the edge of the short grass Ino burst out behind them wielding her tessen, which were glowing an angry red. The strange grass shot out of the Kusa genin's jacket and tried to ensnare the kunoichi, but her weapon easily sliced through the dangerously sharp grass blades before she put on a burst of speed to outdistance the poison gas that burst behind her. The Yamanaka raised the fan in her left hand and prepared to strike the poison user when she saw the tan genin separate from his teammates while forming two seals.

The blonde overloaded her feet with chakra as the earth user slapped his hands onto the ground and burst forward to avoid the jutsu and attack the retreating kunoichi. The girl just smiled as an earth wall sprang out of the ground in front of the blonde and her fiery tessen sunk in. Ino tried to rip it out quickly, but before she could the earth construct sunk back into the ground and her weapon snapped in two as a result. The Yamanaka turned to face the bald genin while shouting, "Bastard," and unrolling her whip. The blonde left her back open and the Kusa genin moved to take advantage, but it became apparent the kunoichi was luring them in when she jumped aside and a ball of meat rolled out of the tall grass and towards the two. The Doton user created another hastily formed earth wall, but the Akimichi smashed right through it and sent the duo flying.

Ino grinned as she faced down the one responsible for damaging her tessen. A flick of her wrist sent the whip snapping forward, but the shinobi ducked below the attack as a small fireball appeared above him. The girl pulled the whip back while her remaining tessen slashed forward and the bald genin tried to roll underneath the strike, but Ino's fan left a wound on his left side that began to smoke and flared an angry red. The kunoichi was about to press her advantage when she heard Shikamaru shout a warning and jumped backwards into the tall grass as several poison pellets landed in front of her previous position. The two other Kusa genin landed next to their wounded teammate and the kunoichi asked, "Can you still fight?"

He grunted before answering, "Yeah, but probably not effectively at close range. I'll just play defense."

The two nodded as they looked at their opponents who also regrouped. They were huddled together as Chouji asked, "Did you see enough Shikamaru?"

Ino continued before he could respond, "Yeah, did you have enough relaxation time while me and Chouji were doing the real work? I notice how most of the plans involve you doing as little as possible."

The lazy genin ignored the blonde's question and looked at his oldest friend, "Yeah, and now I'm convinced the shinobi gods hate me." Ino prepared to continue emasculating him but the Nara cut her off, "Not only was there a lack of information on these opponents, but after observing their fighting styles I can safely say this is going to be a pain in the ass. The bald one uses earth jutsu, and now that he's hurt I guarantee they'll have him hang back and play defense so it will be hard to corral them into shadowy areas where my jutsu are most effective. Meanwhile the one in the windbreaker has dangerously sharp grass that's incredibly flexible and versatile, oh yeah, and the kunoichi uses poison meaning it's hard to use coordinated attacks and plan … scatter."

The three were forced to split up as more poison pellets burst in their area. They found it difficult to regroup as the skinny shinobi's grass chased Ino and Chouji around the circle of short grass while the kunoichi focused on Shikamaru in a concerted effort to get them into the tall blades that ringed around the center field. To make things worse their third teammate received some supplies from the girl and was limiting their dodging options with poison gas and kunai. The Konoha-nin were willing to ambush the Kusa genin from the thick grass, but not fight them straight up in it, and Shikamaru could see this team would be forced to do just that if they didn't push back quickly. The boy looked at the grass strands snaking towards him now, he could easily ensnare the boy with his Kagemane using the grass' shadow, but he didn't have enough time to use it, and even there was it would be impossible to utilize effectively while dodging poisoned.

Frustration got the better of the genius as he futilely tried to slice a blade of grass that was stabbing towards his neck with a kunai, but the sharp strand simply bent with the strike before the blades wrapped around his wrist and began to dig into the skin. The Nara hastily brought his left hand to the trapped one in the ram seal as a chunk of rock took his place. The higher ranked nin in the crowd raised their eyes at that, performing a Kawamiri while held by something or in pain took high levels of concentration and mental fortitude.

Shikamaru appeared about twenty feet behind his blonde teammate while saying, "Buy Chouji some room Ino." The blonde did just that and launched her tessen at the blades of grass. They easily sliced through them and Shikamaru called out, "Bowl them over Chouji."

The Akimichi formed a hand seal used the Baika no Jutsu as the blades of grass tried to slash him, but they found the fat layer too pliable to cut into. Chouji rolled towards the genin with the intent of separating them, but instead the bald one formed a sloped earth wall that launched the Akimichi into the air. The crowd let out a scream of panic when it looked like he was going to crash into them, but he smashed into an invisible barrier that sent him careening towards the ground. The portly teen made a large splash after landing in the mud pit and Shikamaru cursed as he and Ino began dodging again. The Nara knew the Doton user wouldn't be able to block the Baika no Jutsu after Chouji burst through the last earth wall, but they did too and redirected it instead, however, Shikamaru's sharp mind instantly thought of a way to take advantage of it and he shouted out, "Chouji are you alright."

They heard a large gasp for breath before he answered, "Yeah, just a little dirty."

The lazy genin nodded before calling out, "Okay, I think I want to take a nap in the trees."

The strange proclamation threw their opponents off guard as the Akimichi responded, "Rodger." Seconds later he burst through the grass in his Baika no Jutsu from and swerved around the Kusa genin before clearing a trail through the grass for his teammates. Shikamaru took advantage of the respite to explain his plan while the Kusa genin stood their ground.

Seconds later they chuckled derisively as the Chouji rolled at them once more and responded with the same defense. A sloped earth wall launched the ball of chub towards the sky, but the hefty shinobi uncurled and pushed off the invisible barrier before landing on the cliff, and trepidation set in for the Kusa team after the Konoha-nin seized the high ground.

Seconds later they scrambled away as the Akimichi used the Bubun Baika no Jutsu to inflate his arms and started ripping up chunks of earth to throw at them. Shikamaru moved into the grassy ring and watched as Chouji herded the Kusa team into the sandy area where the bald genin couldn't use Doton jutsu. He nodded to Ino who launched five shuriken into the air before going through several hand seals, and when she finished intoned, "Kage Shuriken no Jutsu." The throwing stars multiplied until there were forty and pushed the Kusa genin farther into the sandy area next to the cliff while Chouji opened a sealing scroll.

It seemed like hundreds of balloons were released into the air as the crowd looked on in confusion, however, most of the shinobi quickly realized how much extra shadow was in the stadium now. The Nara made a hand seal and his shadow extended into the patches before creating a swirling maze around their opponents as Chouji began launching boulders once more. The Kusa-nin jumped around while trying to avoid the shadows, but they were only genin and the grass user's long shadow was snagged by the Kagemane as Ino whipped through a series of hand seals ending with the tiger, "Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu." She formed a circle with her right thumb and index finger before raising it to her mouth and exhaling a large fireball that engulfed the trapped shinobi and continued to burn after his scream died out.

His teammates didn't have a chance to mourn his death though, they were using all their focus to frantically dodge the shadows and boulders so they didn't meet him in the afterlife. Eventually the kunoichi panicked and stopped to pull out several poisoned kunai, but she was unable to avoid the shadows and momentarily lost control of her body as the poisoned tip of her own weapon slid deep into her neck. The last genin stopped and gripped his wound while trying to surrender, but as he called out "Proctor," a boulder landed on top of the him, ending the boy's life.

The shinobi in the stands stood up to clap respectfully along with many Konoha citizens as Genma announced them the winners, yet most of the civilians that travelled from afar and brought their children were shocked into silence by the brutality and killing efficiency of teenagers.

* * *

><p>Hiashi watched his daughter walk out with her team and masked his nervousness behind a stoic demeanor. The council was furious when the clan's heiress went off to Sunagakure for training as part of the exchange program. Many of the elders called it foolish to send an unsealed Byakugan to a different village, so Hiashi put his credibility on the line when he forced the request through, now it seemed everything was riding on this exam. If Hinata didn't perform well it was possible he would have to make Hanabi the heiress to convince the elders his bloodline produced strong progeny, and that was something he preferred to avoid. Even though Hanabi was already showing great strength as a fighter she easily swayed by the attitude that placed Hyuuga tradition on a pedestal.<p>

His youngest daughter viewed their customs and history as the source of their strength like most of their kin, however, Hinata never adopted that belief and would be able to change the clan. It was hard to live in the present when the past was revered to the point it became more important, and the problems facing them today were pushed aside. Unlike most shinobi clans the number of Hyuuga on the active roster declined over the past decade, fewer were advancing beyond the rank of chunin, and the percentage of Hyuuga in ANBU was at an all time low despite the value of the Byakugan on such missions.

Their district revenue allowed them to live comfortably, but the clan was nearing the lower threshold of quotas needed to have a council seat and the privileges it bestowed. If the trends continued it was possible they would lose their rights to the district and the tax money. The Hyuuga clan needed an infusion of energy and new life, and his eldest daughter was the one who could do that. She already altered the rigid Jyuuken to fit her flexible body more, and helped lay the foundation of a style that could allow more Hyuuga to learn the Jyuuken and increase the pool of potential shinobi.

Hiashi was even prouder after learning his daughter created a move he considered strong enough to make an official clan jutsu, something that hadn't been done since the Hakke Kusho was added right before the founding of Konohagakure. Hinata just needed to prove her strength here to give those innovations credibility before he could introduce the changes, it would also allow the man to bring his daughter into clan politics earlier.

All this swirled behind his stony face as he watched the two teams take the field. Hinata's squad looked over their opponents, a trio of genin that had the same format of two boys and one girl. The tallest boy was just over six feet and had a wiry frame filled out with compact muscle. Slicked back green hair came down to the base of his neck. He wore a long sleeved grey shirt on with black rippling circular patterns that started around the center of his torso and light blue shinobi pants that were tucked into black tape that matched his black sandals. He didn't possess a hitai-ate, but the Ame symbol was proudly displayed in the center of his chest, inside the first concentric circle.

The other boy appeared overweight and only came up to his teammate's chest. He had short aqua blue hair with concentric circles shaved into it and wore a navy and aqua blue short-sleeved camouflage shirt with white shorts covered in small, light blue Ame symbols. Their Kunoichi teammate was the strangest looking by far. The left side of her head was completely shaved while the tightly braided hair on the right side covered part of her attractive face and was randomly dyed varying shades of red, pink, blue, purple, and yellow. She wore a black tank top with two sets of white concentric circles that over her ample c-cup breasts, incredibly small royal blue shorts that barely covered her shapely butt and white boots stopped halfway up her shins.

The energy in the stadium proved infectious and the crowd started cheering as the two teams took their fighting stances before the proctor's hand sliced through the air. Karasu appeared in a puff of smoke and launched a needle barrage at their opponents, but they split into dozens of copies and the senbon passed through all of them. The puppeteer cursed loudly as Kiba let out a confident laugh, "Don't worry about it."

Hinata activated her Byakugan as the Inuzuka got on all fours while saying, "Shikyaku no Jutsu," and burst into motion. Kiba dashed to the right and dipped his shoulder before the shorter shinobi became visible and was sent flying as the fake images faded, but he managed to roll into the tall grass. The pivoted to face the other two as Akamaru got in the fight and performed a Gatsuuga to interrupt the tall Ame genin's series of hand seals, but as the wiry teen jumped away he split into dozens of copies. Kankuro pulled his puppets in front of him as Hinata pointed to an area of thick grass on the south side of the arena. Several balls about the size of a fist were launched from Sanshouo's mouth that burst into flames when hitting the ground.

The Ame team ran through the tall grass while Team Eight moved to intercept them, but the foreign genin flipped up onto the cliff wall before jumping towards the streams in the north side of the stadium. The tall genin went through more hand seals before calling out, "Suiton: Teppodama." (Gunshot) The boy released several pressurized water balls from his mouth that forced the charging shinobi to separate as he barked out orders to his teammates, "I'll take the Hyuuga, Ai go after the Inuzuka, Satoru fight the puppet user."

They echoed, "Got it Noboru," and burst into motion. Ai ran towards Kiba but quickly stopped to avoid his horizontal claw slash. She dashed forward and got behind the boy before pivoting to throw a kunai at his back. The dog user turned and started running towards the projectile as Akamaru jumped and snatched it out of the air. The kunoichi took a defensive stance and hopped backwards and managed to deflect his left jab out wide but couldn't do anything about a vicious right cross to her chin, however, instead of tumbling away the girl turned into a mass of tentacles that tightly wrapped around the Inuzuka.

Kiba struggled futilely against the bindings until Akamaru bit his leg and broke him out of the genjutsu. The boy realized what happened and was able to roll away as several kunai hit the imprint in the dirt where he was just laying. Ai laughed tauntingly "You may be able immune to misdirection genjutsu, but like most meatheads you still can't break out of a real one."

Suddenly Kiba felt the earth twisting around him until he could only move his neck. The kunoichi charged him with another kunai drawn but the Inuzuka bit the inside of his cheek and broke the genjutsu before head-butting the attacking girl. He was about to take advantage of his counter when roots burst up from the ground and wrapped around his ankle. The boy pierced his palm with a claw and continued to rush forward.

* * *

><p>Kurenai's hand came up to cover her face in embarrassment as the jounin sighed. She was an expert in genjutsu and her student had to resort to the most rudimentary way to break free of one. If their promotions weren't already guaranteed after the forest the jounin wouldn't have recommended the boy and made him do remedial training, but she still knew the Inuzuka could get it done. Of course that was getting harder to believe when he exploded in anger, "You stupid fucking cunt, get back here so I can use my claws to make you more attractive."<p>

Ai put up another genjutsu while angrily responding, "Get some manners mutt, that's no way to talk to a lady."

The boy stomped on his toe while his hands fought off an illusion that was attempting to strangle him, "I'll let you know when I see a lady."

"You bastard," she furiously retorted.

Kiba smirked arrogantly at her, "What, with stupid hair like that and those trashy clothes you look like an ugly whore." The girl let out a shriek of rage, but before she could finish her next attack Akamaru jumped on her back she smashed into the ground. As the dog's jaws closed around Ai's throat she cursed herself for letting anger distract her.

* * *

><p>Like Kiba, Kankuro was having quite a bit of trouble against the genjutsu his opponent used as well. Now that there was nobody directing him to the real target he had to play the guessing game, but the puppeteer only needed one hit to win. Still, countering was hard while trying to block relentless attacks that were mostly imaginary. The puppeteer brought Kuroari in front of him to block a wave of senbon, but only two fell to the ground. Kankuro kept Black Ant back to protect himself as Karasu flew above the enemies launching senbon at anything that moved and Salamander kept any person—real or illusionary—from getting too close by expelling flames from its mouth.<p>

Still, the Suna shinobi couldn't be aware of every possible attack and several senbon needles were sticking out of his back and sides. Kankuro notice his reactions were slowly getting worse as some Senbon got around Kuroari when he brought it forward and recognized the symptoms of a slow acting paralytic poison. The puppeteer stealthily injected himself with a basic cure all, but frustration was getting the better of him.

The boy began maneuvering towards hiding spots while avoiding the genjutsu copies, and when the images of his opponent seemed to group around a sand dune Kankuro jumped into Salamander as dozens of hidden compartments opened up on his puppets and paper planes made from exploding tags flew around the area. A massive explosion engulfed the dunes and left the sand scorched as most of the shinobi just shook their head at the overkill, but it was hard to argue with results. There was nothing left of Satoru but a blackened corpse.

* * *

><p>Hinata faced down her opponent while remembering the talk she had with her father this morning.<p>

**Flashback**

Hiashi looked proudly at his daughter from the corner of his eye as they drank some tea and watched the sun rise. The man's white eyes returned to the fiery sphere slowly climbing above the horizon while saying, "You know what is at stake today daughter?"

"Hai Otou-sama."

The Clan Head nodded while taking another sip, "Excellent, I know your promotion is guaranteed, however, the elders don't care if you become a chunin. They foolishly care more about a dramatic fight then one cleverly fought. You are trying to demonstrate the strength of your Jyuuken style, so winning a one sided battle won't be enough. You must defeat your opponent on their terms to prove yourself."

The blue haired kunoichi turned to face her father with a determined look on her face, "I understand Tou-sama, I won't fail you."

Hinata was surprised when the usually stoic man leaned over and wrapped his right arm around her shoulders for a second while whispering, "Don't worry about me daughter, don't let yourself down." He pulled back quickly and the two said nothing more as they watched the sun finish climbing over the mountaintops.

**Flashback End**

The kunoichi looked around and prepared to fight, defeating a Suiton user while surrounded by water should help prove her ability. Hinata let the boy finish a series of hand seals while slowly expelling chakra and waited for the jutsu. As Noboru called out, "Suiton: Suigadan." (Water Fang Bullet) drills of water burst up from the mud around Hinata's feet.

She displaced the viscous liquid when starting her rapid spin and said, "Kaiten." The sphere of chakra easily dispelled the water jutsu and she burst into motion after her spin ended.

The Hyuuga rushed towards her opponent but allowed him to maintain separation while performing seals, and when the boy was done he lifted a hand to his mouth while intoning, "Suiton: Teppodama."

He launched three more pressurized water balls at the kunoichi and she ducked under the first one before barrel rolling over the second, and after she completed the maneuver Hinata brought her palm forward while saying "Hakke Kusho," and a blast of compressed air hit the water ball, dispelling it.

The Hyuuga finished closing the distance and aimed her palm at his stomach, but the boy rolled to the left and her strike hit a rock causing cracks to spider web out. She turned and bent backwards under the sharp edge of a kunai before the kunoichi tried to close several points in her opponent's arm, but Noboru substituted as soon as his attack missed. Hinata heard, "Suiton: Bakusui Sosha." (Exploding Water Colliding Wave)

The Hyuuga heiress jumped onto the small river her opponent created and matched its chakra flow. The Ame genin's eyes widened in surprise as she quickly overloaded her feet with chakra and flipped over him so they were practically back to back. The boy spun to the right while trying to deliver a kick with his left foot, but Hinata leaned back until her head was almost touching the ground before her fingertips closed several chakra points as the limb passed by. The Ame genin kept his weight on his right foot as he completed the spin and brought his left fist around and tried to smash it into the Hyuuga's stomach,

The midnight haired kunoichi's left arm came off the ground as she contoured her body to avoid the strike, then she wrapped the arm around his and used it to support herself while her right palm came up and smashed into Noboru's heart, killing him instantly.

* * *

><p>The Hiashi watched proudly as his daughter used the unorthodox style she created to secure the victory, but apparently others weren't so happy as one of his biggest detractors spoke up, "What was that bastardized form of Jyuuken your daughter used Hiashi? Obviously we shouldn't have sent her off to Sunagakure where she would be able to diverge from the proper Hyuuga way and learn such a wretched style."<p>

The Hyuuga Head snorted, "You criticize my daughter for losing in the last exam Hideki, and now you do the same when she wins in this one. Hinata was able to make a skilled suiton user look foolish using that 'wretched style,' and he was surrounded by water. It's apparent that her new taijutsu form still uses the basics of Jyuuken, but instead of blocking to hold ground she dodged to put her opponent into rough situations. She also demonstrated a solid handle on more traditional techniques as well. Hinata doesn't have enough strength to utilize basic Jyuuken effectively, so she apparently adjusted it to take advantage of her flexibility."

Hiashi turned to address other Hyuuga in the section, "Hideto, isn't your daughter having problems learning the basic kata, and you as well Nijito?" The man began to address all the Hyuuga after questioning his clansmen, "For too long have our daughters been left behind, even though some of the greatest Hyuuga warriors were women they had to train so hard to utilize the Jyuuken that their lives revolved around it. None of those legendary kunoichi had a family because they had to sacrifice everything else to achieve their goal. I've overheard many young Hyuuga girls wish to become Kunoichi, yet our style is not fit for women so their dreams are crushed. No more, let us support our daughters." Hiashi smiled inwardly as he watched some Hyuuga, mostly those with female children, think it over. It was still too soon to attack the Hyuuga traditions directly, but he could gain allies in other ways.

* * *

><p>Sai looked over their three opponents coolly as the proctor began announcing the fight and leaned closer to the girls as Temari whispered, "How do you guys want to do this?"<p>

Usually the Ne operative would let his teammates come up with plans before doing whatever necessary to help them succeed, but this situation was different, now he needed to demonstrate Konoha's power to the world. "Their skills are more complementary then ours so we should split them up and engage one on one. Temari you fight Zaku, Sakura take the girl, and I'll handle Dosu."

The sandy blonde responded quickly as the proctor was raising his arm, "Let me fight the mummy, his skill is the most dangerous. I can easily keep him at a distance while you and Sakura to finish up the other two."

Sai grabbed a scroll as he patted the pack on his waist, "That won't be necessary, I've already taken some precautions."

**Flashback**

After hearing about their possible opponents in the finals, more specifically the gauntlet user, Sai knew the perfect person to ask for help, the problem was contacting him. The boy returned to his apartment and pulled out a blank piece of paper before writing. He basically filled up the page before setting his brush down, and after skimming it shook his head and threw it away before taking out a new piece of paper. The artist repeated the process a dozen times before he finally nodded, folded the note, and placed it in the envelope, 'Figuring out what to write to a friend is challenging. Hopefully I got it right.'

The shinobi then hopped out his window and headed towards an affluent suburb outside the main city. He arrived at an average size two story grey house that had barberry and Japanese snowbushes forming a perimeter around the well-trimmed lawn. Sai walked up the gravel path and past a koi pond before arriving at a small deck with an ornate door. The boy paid the intricate carvings no mind and knocked on the polished wood before waiting several minutes. Eventually the door opened and the ink user bowed after seeing his master step out, "What is it you need Sai?"

The Root shinobi stood up and pulled out the letter before asking, "I was wondering if you could get this to Naruto somehow. A potential opponent in the finals uses sound waves and I would like to ask for his help countering them. As of now explosions are the only method and it doesn't seem wise to rely on them."

Danzo nodded while pulling out the letter and read it over. After a thorough inspection he folded it back up and placed it in the envelope before sealing it, "Since the letter contains no sensitive information it can be arranged. I expect a report on the Oto shinobi's skills to be submitted into Ne archives, and one containing the young Uzumaki's solution when you receive it."

Sai bowed, "Of course Danzo-sama, thank you." The man dismissed him with a wave and he went home. The artist pushed the letter from his mind and started training, so he was surprised when there was an envelope with Naruto's name on it resting on his counter, especially because it had only been twelve days since he gave it to Danzo. Sai shrugged and dismissed the thought before he quickly pulled the letter out that had a storage seal at the bottom under his friend's signature. The boy read it over with a smile before unlocking the seal. A thick stack of tags that all had the same complicated design appeared in a puff of smoke and Sai put one aside while staring vacantly at the rest with a small smile on his face until he went to bed.

**Flashback End**

As Genma started the fight and jumped away Temari unfolded her battle fan and launched a Daikamaitachi towards the Oto-nin. Instead of trying to hold their ground the trio jumped backwards and Team Seven used the opportunity to chase down their designated opponents. Sai unfurled long scroll and slapped the tags he got from Naruto onto the ink birds' backs before bringing them to life. The birds scattered as he animated a cackle of hyenas that rushed towards Dosu. The boy easily destroyed the animals with his gauntlet and charged towards Sai before tapping it again. The pale artist jumped backwards as an ink bird flew between them and the tag went off, creating a sound blast that countered Dosu's.

The Oto genin growled as Sai ran forward with his tanto drawn. The mummified shinobi used his gauntlet to block the tipless blade before striking it with his rings, but the pale ninja dissolved into ink after the sound waves hit him. Dosu turned and saw Sai running at him with a bird trailing and created another sound drill, but the ink creation accelerated in front of its master and detonated the tag allowing Sai to run past unharmed. He swung his tanto forward in a backhand grip, but the strike was blocked by the gauntlet once again, however, this time the Ne operative pushed himself forward and hit the sound genin's stomach with a rising knee. Dosu went tumbling backwards, but was able to flip upright and launch a sound drill towards his charging opponent, yet this one dissolved into ink too.

The bandaged ninja looked around the grassy arena for his opponent but was taken by surprise when ink badgers burst from the ground and piled on top of him. The genin was able to dispel them and sensed the pale artist rushing towards his back, and after craning his neck Dosu saw a bird behind him too. Confident this was the real one he stealthily prepared a kunai and pivoted to meet the charge. As the bandaged ninja raised the gauntlet the bird picked up speed, and after it got in front of Sai a kunai pierced it, ruining the seal. The Oto genin sent a sound wave as his opponent and prepared to finish the fight, but he was surprised when the body in front of him dissolved into ink after the attack hit. The shocked boy let out a gasp of pain less than a second later he felt the cold steel of Sai's blade sink into his lungs. The genin's vision faded to black as he realized the pale shinobi used the bird to make him think it wasn't a clone.

* * *

><p>Temari launched another windblast at Zaku as he landed that forced him to jump towards the wide-open desert area before she quickly pursued him with a confident grin. The brown haired genin turned and set his feet as the kunoichi emerged and swung the oversized fan again. The brown haired teen brought his hands together while saying "Zankuha," and the pressurized burst was able to pierce the wide area attack and disperse it. Temari's eyes widened as she saw her attack fail and leapt aside as the concentrated air stream caused the dune behind her to burst apart. The Suna kunoichi growled as she holstered her battle fan and pulled out two smaller ones.<p>

The Oto-shinobi launched two more decapitating airwaves at his opponent and Temari started running. She counted how long the blast lasted, and after it ended the girl restarted at zero in her head while planting her feet and swinging the two smaller fans. Zaku hopped left to avoid the wind crescents while two more Zankuha blasted out of the pipes in his arm. Temari kept track of the length again before countering after he finished.

The sandy blonde continued avoiding the narrow airblasts while keeping track of the timing for a few more minutes before she felt confident in her analysis. The attack he was using could last up to seven seconds before a four second recharge, but the time between shots always varied on the length of the last one. His attacks could also disperse her wind crescents so the kunoichi couldn't keep attacking from a distance and hurt him, but it appeared the genin relied on his ranged techniques so his other skills were probably lacking. Deciding on a course of action Temari prepared to make her move.

Zaku wanted to use the more powerful Zankukyokuha against the girl, but it required a lot of chakra and there was no guarantee it would hit his opponent. The boy grumbled as he looked sideways at the cliff, it was his plan to herd her over there, but it was nothing the boy did could get his opponent into the corner that would make it impossible for her to escape his only wide area jutsu. The genin focused back in when it appeared Temari was preparing an attack with her fans so he charged up a Zankuha to disperse it, but the blonde swung her fan at the ground and created a pair of small whirlwinds that swirled around the dunes, scattering sand everywhere. He tried to use the air streams to clear the air instead, but it wasn't wide enough and only stirred up a little bit of the cloud. The boy prepared to jump onto the cliff face to escape the sandstorm created by the screeching whirlwinds, but as his legs bent a wind enhanced blade sliced through his neck.

* * *

><p>Karin made a break for the streams, but the pinkette landed in front of her and slashed with a kunai. The redhead jumped backwards and dashed to the woods battlefield, which made Sakura smirk before entering the copse of trees. The Sound genin cursed as she realized her opponent was intentionally blocking the way to the water, the sensor could still use her suiton jutsu but it was easier and more powerful with a nearby source.<p>

Sakura rushed towards the girl but stopped short and slammed her fist into the ground as the redhead quickstepped backwards. Karin momentarily lost her balance from the tremors and the medic ripped a tree out of the ground before tossing it at her. The sensor used her hands to vault over the trunk and launched two brace of shuriken at the Konoha kunoichi.

The pinkette dodged the first two and caught the second pair before using them to block Karin's attempt to flank and get to the water. Sakura's fist punched into the earth and ripped out a large chunk before throwing it at the retreating girl, forcing her to retreat farther back into the trees. The medic charged once more and Karin braced for another earthquake, but was surprised when the girl started going through a series of seals and dove away when the chakra reached its peak, "Dokugiri."

Sakura released a purplish cloud of gas that forced Karin further back before exhaling another burst that created a noxious smokescreen. The sensor braced herself as she felt the Leaf ninja's chakra fall and ducked behind the upturned tree to avoid the senbon barrage that came through the smoke. The Sound kunoichi swore under her breath when she felt the medic's chakra flare and rushed to get away from the incoming boulders, it was getting annoying how her opponent was able to flawlessly switch from juggernaut to surgeon.

Sakura jumped in the canopy and gave pursuit. The redhead retreated into the grass behind the forest, but it didn't do her much good because the pinkette started raining down more earth chunks throughout the field. Tired of simply running Karin flipped through a series of seals before a ball of water formed in her hands. She jumped in the air to avoid the latest boulder and called out, "Suiton: Hahonryuu," as a large jet of dark blue water shot towards the medic. The redhead grit her teeth when the pink haired kunoichi effortlessly avoided it and cut off the attack before substituting with an earth chunk that was peppered by poisoned senbon.

Karin went through another series of seals when felt Dosu's signature disappear and cursed. The redhead looked over to see Zaku was wasting chakra and not giving the other kunoichi any trouble at all. She was thinking about regrouping with the boy to use as a decoy when Temari created a sandstorm that engulfed them both. The kunoichi knew it was about to be over and quickly went through a series of hand seals, "Suiton: Hahonryuu." The sensor used the jet of water to force the charging pinkette to retreat, and when it died down quickly called out, "I surrender."

* * *

><p>The Daimyo of Yu no Kuni was somewhat disappointed after the Oto kunoichi forfeited. She was performing better than her two teammates, but had no chance after they went down. The man was deep in thought as the proctor call the fight. He came here to pick the village he would hire to help put down the bandits infesting his country, and many of his advisors were suggesting Konoha after all four teams won handily, but he was thinking differently.<p>

It was impressive that Oto sent two teams to the finals when more often than not no minor village was represented. The Sound genin had unique skills that allowed them to fight with Konoha's ninja significantly better than the Ame genin and equal to the Kusa squad, but they only had one team in the finals and nobody wanted to get involved in the country's internal conflict. The Daimyo looked at his advisors and snorted inwardly, they had no problem spending his money to get Konoha shinobi, but they were dealing with common criminals, not missing-nin. He didn't need powerful ninja or the bill that came with them to deal with common riffraff.

* * *

><p>Karin met the other three surviving Sound participants and Guren in the park near the stadium. The woman didn't even ask about Zaku or Dosu, just turned and headed for the nearest village gate. As they got further away the redhead spoke up, "We're not being followed now, but I don't think they'll let us walk away freely after what happened in the second phase of the exam."<p>

The crystal user nodded, "True, however, they won't try anything close to the village, and once we're far enough away it will be too late for them."

The other shinobi stared at her after the cryptic answer but nothing more was said.

* * *

><p>Danzo sat near the barrier squad while reading one of his favorite books. The warhawk looked up when the lead member's head rose, "The first round just ended and five significant chakra signatures have left through the western gate. The first since the start of the finals."<p>

The leader of Ne nodded and walked outside before he placed the book into his robes and carefully smoothed them out. The scarred man looked up as four shinobi flew over his head and started walking into the village, confident the mission would be accomplished.

* * *

><p>The four Ne shinobi all wore standard ANBU cloaks and plain white masks that covered their face. They were about half a mile behind the Sound ninja that were headed back to Ta no Kuni and blurred through the trees without making a sound, intent on completing their assigned task. They were almost ten miles away from Konoha's walls and nearing the rendezvous point with a second team outside the kill zone when the captain's head snapped to the left. His subordinates turned to follow his gaze when a white reptilian creature that was nearly seven feet tall and covered with deep crimson splotches burst from the foliage of a nearby tree. The four of them scattered, but his snake-tail sped forward before its fangs sunk into one agent's leg.<p>

The deadly venom did quick work as the reptile sucked the life force and chakra out of its victim while the creature grinned. The three remaining shinobi were braced for an assault, but were still taken aback by its speed when the alabaster monster disappeared before reappearing behind the man on the left. The other two couldn't even shout a warning before Rinji lifted him up by the throat and began crushing his esophagus. The man frantically tried to get free while his teammates rushed the monster, but the snake-tail kept them back with acid shots as the albino beast grabbed his captive's wildly swinging legs before effortlessly ripping him in two and casually tossing the pieces aside.

As their team member died the two remaining Root ANBU retreated to the ground while performing a series of hand seals, and after landing shouted "Doton: Doryudan" (Earth Dragon Bullet) and "Katon: Karyudan" (Fire Dragon Bullet) simultaneously.

A dragon's head made of mud rose from the earth and launched mud balls towards Rinji while the captain exhaled a stream of flames with the face of a dragon that ignited the mud bombs. The fiery projectiles flew at the beast, but he disappeared before they impacted the tree he was standing on and destroyed it in a fiery explosion. The two shinobi barely saw a white streak before the monster reappeared between them. It grabbed the captain by the throat while the snake-tail spat several dripping fangs into the other, causing him to shriek in pain and fall to the ground while the poison did its work.

The captain tried to escape the viselike grip of this creature as it smiled and leaned forward. Four-inch fangs pierced his neck and pumped in slow acting venom and the squad leader wailed pitifully as the creature took its time while sucking at his very life essence.

* * *

><p><strong>AN<strong>

A lot of finallys after this one, finally I'm back, the 2nd Chunin Exam is finally done, we finally get to see Rinji in action, school is finally over for the summer… I could go on. Anyways glad to get the chapter out, it needed to get done and I really didn't want to. I was able to use it to get back into the swing of things before heading back to Naruto and Jiraiya as well as resharpen my skills. A lot is going on outside of the fighting and we will be taking intermittent peaks back into the village. Sorry if you guys wanted to see the conclusion but I wasn't going to delay this anymore by writing another 20ish pages, hope nobody is too mad. Also, I'd like to thank people for the support they've shown me while I was away, you guys made me want to get back to it.

**Jutsu List**

**Hakke Kusho**

**Raiton: Kaminari Shibari (Thunder Binding) **The user(s) create 3 broadcast points that form an electrical connection. After it is activated the user(s) go through three hand seals that shape the current into a pyramid that is able to sustain itself.

**Bubun Baika no Jutsu**

**Baika no Jutsu**

**Kagemane**

**Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu**

**Shikyaku no Jutsu**

**Gatsuuga**

**Suiton: Teppodoma (Gunshot) B-rank **The user launches several balls of water towards the opponent capable of breaking bones.

**Suiton Suigadan (Water Fang Bullet) C-rank **The strength of the user determines the number of drills that appear at the target's feet before attempting to impale them.

**Suiton: Bakusui Sosha (Exploding Water Colliding Wave) B-rank **The user creates a river of water capable of overtaking an opponent and driving them away. The strength of the creator can cause this attack to resemble a Tsunami.

**Daikamaitachi**

**Zankuha**

**Suiton: Hahonryuu**

**Doton: Doryudan (Earth Dragon Bullet)B-rank **The user creates a dragon head out of earth that launched mud balls at the designated target.

**Katon: Karyudan (Fire Dragon Bullet)B-rank **The user launches a stream of fire from his/her mouth that takes on the shape of a dragon.


	38. On the Road Again, A New Adventure

Sunlight poured through dozens of stained glass windows lining the walls of a massive room made from marble that swirled white and pink. Large pillars rose out of the floor to help support a domed roof, which served as the canvas for a painting of armored and robed men battling demonic beasts emerging from a dark vortex. A pathway went between rows of benches carved from the polished marble that led to a raised alcove where there was a large table, covered by a cloth made of purple velvet depicting a bright yellow sun shining through thick white clouds.

On the wall behind the altar was an inlaid fire made from gold that stretched to the ceiling while groups of rubies embedded throughout reflected sunlight and gave the illusion of motion. On the other walls were two massive statues of knights holding their swords up proudly so the tips fell just short of the ceiling. Both were made entirely of silver and had precious gems lining the armor's seams.

A tall, burly man wearing a blue hat shaped like a fish head over his brown hair nervously paced around the altar. A long lavender cloak with black trimming around the edges swished as he walked while anxiously toying with the collar that covered his neck, where a diamond brooch the size of an eye fastened the cloak. Long brown sideburns framed his craggy face, and his eyes had a light blue ring on the outside of the iris while a teal one wrapped around the pupil and kept glancing nervously above the altar.

The man eventually stopped pacing momentarily to pull out a monocle and wipe the glass before placing it over his left eye, then he started once more, not stopping until the altar glowed and the air above it began shimmering. He got down on both knees while bowing his head, revealing the tan robe he wore underneath, and held the pose for several moments until a shadowy figure appeared. It was impossible to discern any of his features except for piercing forest green eyes, but the crown on his head was illuminated in all its glory.

The whole thing was made of solid gold with glittering gems covering every available inch. Four gold bars in a cross pattern gracefully arched up before curving ninety degrees and continued until they met, forming a small circular platform. A fleur de lis made of yellow diamond was mounted there, giving off a powerful glow as the shadowy figure looked around the room. Eventually his dark green eyes settled on the prone figure and a strong voice echoed throughout the chamber, "Why have you requested a meeting Father Haido? It has only been two years since the church established its first mission in these new lands."

The priest's large nose scraped the cold stone while he answered, "My king, missionaries have reported legends of powerful gems that are strikingly similar to those in our homeland."

The holographic man scoffed, "The Empire has conquered many other cultures that did as well, but none of them led to the Gelel stones. What makes you think these stories are any different?"

Haido dared to look up at the intimidating monarch, "These tales claim the jewels were so powerful they completely annihilated a country and toppled an empire, causing a family of kings to flee west. We cannot find the origin of the legends, but they are limited to a relatively small region."

The emperor's dark green eyes showed interest as he spoke, "Interesting, that is very similar to our mythology. Could this be the end of our search, an end to the continual warfare with rival nations that plagues my empire?" The hologram appeared to be walking in place before he sat in a thinking pose. Haido silently remained prostrated on the floor until his leader continued speaking, "There is still something to be gained even if the legends aren't about the Gelel stones, setting up forward colonies before the other countries arrive would give us a large advantage. Having fortifications in place could greatly decrease the casualties when they inevitably try to claim the land. Perhaps I should send General Wallace to handle the situation."

"With all due respect Emperor," Haido stopped as the intense green eyes focused on him, "General Wallace is almost two weeks away and would take several more to get mobilized, that is wasted time my King. Winter is fast approaching, and after it arrives transporting the stones will be impossible, the search must begin now. There are already several hundred priests scattered throughout the area and a sizable force of advance troops fighting savages less than five days away by ship. If some of those knights and wizards move up now General Wallace could send reinforcements to replace them, and more platoons to aid the search here within a week. I can have the operation running smoothly before he arrives."

The Emperor stared at the bishop patronizingly before letting out a sharp laugh, "I see your ambition has not faded in the slightest." He seemed to mull it over for a second, "Very well, your wish shall be granted. Many priests are wise and educated, but few are former colonels like you Haido. I've heard rumors, but tell me, why leave when your promotion to general was all but assured?"

"Less politics and more power my lord."

"Indeed. Very well Father, I shall grant your request and go beyond. Twenty ships worth of men will be sent forward within ten days and placed under your command, yours to lead until the main colonization attempts begin. If everything goes well your reward will exceed the wealth and glory you are no doubt envisioning, but fail me and you shall be remembered as one of the most reviled men in the Empire's history."

The light in his fleur de lis faded and Haido was alone once again. The priest stood up while brushing himself off, and exited the ceremonial hall before walking back to his personal chamber. He sat in a plush leather chair next to an ornate fireplace and picked up a telephone from the table next to him, "Summon Temujin from his post immediately, he oversees our missions in the Land of Rivers."

After placing the phone back on its receiver the burly man turned to the cart on his left and picked up a silver platter covered by a golden dome inlaid with runes that kept the food warm. He slowly removed the cover as steam wafted out and picked up his silverware before eating the roast pheasant and potatoes while letting his mind wander. After retiring from his military post Haido joined the priesthood and quickly became a powerful bishop, then head of the missionary board. He would travel to unsettled areas and set up missions where priests would help provide for the surrounding poor, heal wounded or sick people, help culture the savages, and most importantly, gather information for the military when it arrived.

The missionaries would learn what they could about the unexplored lands like who lived there, the flora and fauna, trade routes, and local rivalries. This data would be used to create a more efficient strategy for colonizing the area, but gathering information was harder here than other continents, so they were unable to learn much over the past two years. Haido finished eating the pheasant before throwing its carcass into the fire and smiling confidently, 'It matters not. No savages have ever resisted the might of our empire.'

* * *

><p>"Is there anything else you need?"<p>

Naruto looked up at the attractive purple haired waitress with a smile, "No thank you," then watched her shapely butt as the girl seductively twisted her hips while going to check on a different table. It had almost been a month since the Chunin Exam Finals and the blonde had been working himself to the bone. He was rapidly absorbing everything Jiraiya showed him, but was still having troubles figuring out the Yondaime's idea. It was something he wanted to master though, not only was it kickass and a connection to his father, but it was also something the man never did.

The blonde took a sip of his drink and almost choked when Jiraiya slapped him on the back, "Ohoho my boy, see anything you like."

"Ero-sennin," whined the teenager.

The sage looked down at him with a cheesy grin, "Can you really be calling me that still?" Naruto just looked at the man flatly for a couple of seconds before he coughed into his fist and continued, "Right, well I just wanted to let you know that I have to head into a pretty hostile area to meet a contact and can't babysit you at the same time."

"Oi, I can help you gather information." Responded the fiery teen.

The legendary shinobi just rolled his eyes, "Whatever kid, the Fuuma incident doesn't exactly help your case."

The chunin blushed and quietly said, "I can still do it."

Jiraiya affectionately rustled his godson's hair, "I like the spirit kid, but you've gotta know your limits to surpass them. Anyways, I have to get going, and since I'm so generous I'll even give you some money."

Naruto was expecting a pittance from the stingy man, but he was surprised after getting a large stack of ryou shoved into his hands, "Eh, where's the real Ero-sennin?"

The man laughed heartily before saying, "Well I finally looked at a calendar recently and realized we missed your birthday so… Happy Birthday Naruto." The boy wrapped his arms around his godfather and squeezed tightly while Jiraiya patted him on the back and said, "Don't worry about it, just don't spend everything on ramen." The author stopped when Naruto quickly pulled away before the waitress slowly walk by their table, then the sage waggled his eyebrows suggestively once she passed, "Have fun while I'm gone kid."

He hopped out of the booth to dodge a playful swing from the blonde and chuckled before heading towards the door. Naruto watched him go before making eye contact with the waitress across the room and smiling. He watched her quickly weave through the tables and looked up at the girl after she stopped in front of him, "Azami was it?" She nodded and he continued, "I'm visiting some family here and there's nobody my age, so I was hoping you could show me what there is to do around town."

The girl gave him a small smile, "Sure, I'll be done at ten. Also, your uncle paid so everything is all set."

The boy got up as the attractive teenager walked away, and waved after she glanced back over her shoulder with a small grin.

* * *

><p>Hinata, Kiba, and Shino sat in the canopy of a tree and watched their clients pack up the camp. The chunin had been assigned their first B-ranked mission without a more experienced leader, but that was only because they had to leave the country. Everything had been peaceful since the caravan left Konohagakure, no bandits or nuke-nin attacked, and they passed through the border checkpoint with no trouble. The Inuzuka sighed while petting Akamaru who was lying next to him on the branch, "Why do we have to do lame missions still? We're chunin now."<p>

"We are only rookie chunin… well, at least you are Kiba." The Aburame pushed his sunglasses up his nose when he finished speaking and sunlight reflected off the dark lenses before hitting one of the caravan members in the eye, causing him to drop a tent post on his foot.

The dog user growled as the man screamed in pain while hopping around, "Hey, was that a shot at me?"

The corner of Shino's lips twitched while he coolly responded, "I'm surprised you picked up on it."

Hinata held Kiba back as he tried to slash their teammate with his claws, "I'm gonna kill you asshole."

The shy Hyuuga continued restraining the fuming Inuzuka and tried to calm him down, "Please stop Kiba-kun, the mission is over in two days and then we can head back to the village. This is our first B-rank mission without a more experienced captain so it's valuable experience, especially because we're leaving Hi no Kuni."

"I guess," mumbled the Inuzuka, "I just wish we didn't need to keep catching that damn ferret."

Right on cue they saw a long hawk feather weaving through the tents before an older man with wild shocks of white hair sticking out under a large blue fedora—which held the feather—ran over to them. A long thin beard extended to his bellybutton while two small triangles of white hair were under his bulbous nose. He wore a yellowish tan robe that had short sleeves with cream trim around the edges and a long sleeve maroon shirt underneath. The white-haired man stopped in front of the teenagers before jumping up and down hysterically while crying out, "You've got to find Nerugui, he's gone missing again." The elder looked up at the sky forlornly, "Oh Nerugui, why are you doing this now, is it your new food?" Then he stared accusingly at Akamaru, "It must be your fault."

Kiba snorted, "Please, when I woke up the ferret was sleeping on my dog."

The man was beyond caring and just grabbed the feral chunin before shaking him wildly, "It doesn't matter, just find poor Nerugui."

Shino stood up while placing his hands into the trench coat's pockets, "Do not worry Kahiko-san, I have placed a female kikaichu bug on Nerugi, so I shall retrieve him. Why? The female Kikaichu releases a pheromone that attracts the males. Because of this I can locate the ferret easier and make the mission go smoother. Please, feel free to depart because I have also placed insects onto my comrades. Why you ask?" The Aburame looked around and saw everybody had left him there and was getting ready to leave, "They must be anxious to efficiently complete the mission and boost the reputation of our village."

* * *

><p>Naruto finished his lunch and sealed the trash into a scroll before patting his stomach contentedly and letting out a burp. He looked up at the sun and realized it was getting close to three, which meant Azami would be getting off work in a couple hours, so the blonde decided to have a spar against a clone horde and head back to the village when a small animal ran out of the forest. It had a long tan body with short black legs, and a black face with two stripes that came down to its shoulder blades. There was a tan diamond between its intense red eyes that stared inquisitively at the chunin, who was squinting his blue eye while looking at the strange creature. "You're a pretty ugly cat."<p>

The animal hissed at him before exploding into motion, blurring across the clearing and leaping towards the surprised boy's face. Naruto let out a surprised shout and pulled the beast's tail, but its sharp teeth had latched onto his cheek and refused to let go. He unsuccessfully tried prying its jaws open for a few minutes before jumping backwards as a strange figure emerged from the woods.

The tall boy wore an unzipped green sweatshirt with the hood up over a long black shirt that went to his knees, while the dark green scarf covering his mouth and large aviator sunglasses over his eyes made it impossible to discern any features. Loose black pants were tucked into bandages that wrapped up his shins, and black shinobi sandals didn't make a sound as the hooded teen easily walked towards the blonde, "Hello Naruto, I am glad to see you in good health."

The chunin tensed when the stranger said his name and quickstepped backwards before taking a defensive stance, with the ferret dangling from his cheek, "I don't know who you are or how you know me, and I don't really care. Just go away and don't make me kill you."

The strange teenager's shoulders appeared to slump underneath his thick clothing, and his head dropped while he mumbled something about forgetting comrades. Naruto could only stare in confusion as the ferret let go and mirrored his actions. After a few minutes an attractive girl with long blue hair and white eyes walked into the clearing, and Naruto's face lit up in recognition as he happily called out, "Hinata."

The kunoichi looked over at him for a brief second before gasping, despite the facemask and different outfit she was able to instantly recognize her longtime crush. The Hyuuga's face turned bright red and she let out an, "eep," before passing out.

"Poor thing, I must have surprised her." The blonde turned and looked at the sulking shinobi before nodding like he just figured something out, "If that's Hinata then you must be… wait, I know this. Don't tell me… Shiro, the bug dude."

The Aburame fell over sideways in disbelief before calmly standing up while brushing himself off. "It's Shino, Naruto."

"That's what I said."

The bug user lifted his finger while saying, "It's important that you don't forget your comrades, it may affect team chemistry and result in a failed mission. Therefore-,"

The blonde chunin cut him off, "Yeah, sorry, I get it Shino. It was only a joke, so what are you guys doing out here?" The teen's blue eye lit up with excitement, "Are you on a mission?"

"Indeed. Clever deduction Naruto, you've come a long way."

"Thanks… wait a second," the Jinchuuriki stared angrily at the Aburame while letting out some killing intent, and laughed when the bug user shivered, "Heh, good one Shino. Anyways, Ero-sennin is off doing his own thing and I'm on my own for now, so, can I help you guys out?"

The bug user nodded, "That is acceptable. Logic dictates more comrades would be helpful when guarding something." He pointed to the animal by Naruto's leg, "We need to bring that ferret back to the caravan with us."

The blonde slipped his foot under Nerugui and gently tossed him over to the Aburame, "Stupid cat," then he went over and picked up the Hyuuga bridal style, "Alright, let's go."

The two headed off into the forest as Shino pushed his sunglasses back into place, "As I was saying, it's important that you don't forget your comrades Naruto because that can affect team chemistry and lead to a failed mission. Therefore it is important to remember your allies." The Jinchuuriki could only groan loudly as the bug user continued his lecture.

* * *

><p>Hinata tried to ignore her embarrassment while telling the blonde about some missions since he left on the training trip. After waking up and realizing she was in her crush's arms the girl passed out again, and when she came to a few moments later quickly hopped away with a blush covering her entire face. The kunoichi walked in silence while cursing herself for acting like an idiot for a few minutes, but Naruto's friendly nature and genuine personality eventually got the Hyuuga to open up and talk about their time in Sunagakure.<p>

Shino pushed his sunglasses back into place before saying, "We are nearing the caravan, how do I know this? Because-"

The bug user was cut off by a loud bark before they heard, "No way." Naruto was about to yell back when a white dog that came up to the middle of his thigh jumped out of the trees and tackled him to the ground before licking all over his face. "Hey, c'mon boy, get off him." The dog was pulled back before Naruto stood up with a grin under his mask and faced the brown haired teen. The two clasped hands as the Inuzuka said, "Good to see ya buddy."

"You too Kiba." The chunin let go before turning to face the dog, "And I didn't forget you Akamaru."

The dog let out a happy woof as bug user sighed, "But he forgot about me."

"It was a joke Shino, a joke." Replied Naruto while thinking, 'How are people supposed to recognize him under all those clothes?'

Kiba let out a boisterous laugh before slapping his teammate on the back, "Don't worry about him, he likes to sulk. More importantly, what are you doing here?"

The blonde shrugged, "I'm by myself for a little while and Shino kind of stumbled across me, so I figured why not help on the mission. There wasn't much to do in town anyways." The Uzumaki's face lit up as he remembered something while a trickle of blood dripped from his nose, and he formed a Kage Bunshin after wiping it away, "Oops, forgot to deliver a message."

Hinata watched the bunshin go, wondering why she was getting so angry, and when she faced her crush there was a frightening black aura swirling around her body, "Who is your clone going to see Naruto-kun?

The blonde rubbed the back of his head nervously while remembering a piece of advice from Jiraiya, 'If a woman ever asks you a question harmless question that makes you uneasy, lie.' Originally the teen questioned his godfather, but now he saw the wisdom, "Just the inn I was staying at, had to let him know I was checking out," answered the blonde while laughing awkwardly.

The girl smiled sweetly as Kahiko pulled up alongside them on his ostrich. His face lit up with joy when the ferret jumped out of Shino's hoodie and onto the saddle. "Oh Nerugui, don't scare me like that ever again." He turned towards the shinobi and gave a half bow, "Thank you so much-" but trailed off after noticing the blonde, "And who is this, I don't remember seeing you before."

The Aburame coughed lightly, "This is our comrade Uzumaki Naruto. I ran into him while retrieving Nerugui and he volunteered to help. I accepted because logic dictates-"

The man's eyes seemed to sparkle as he interrupted Shino, "You're the boy from the movie, I feel safer knowing you are helping them protect us."

Naruto was glad the mask covered his blush and waved self-consciously, "Thanks, but my friends don't need help, I'm just tagging along."

Kahiko signaled a man sitting on the back of a wagon nearby, "We need three ostriches over here." As he went to carry out his task the caravan leader turned back to the blonde, "Is there anything else you need?"

Naruto pulled a scroll out of his pocket, "Actually, do you when the next stop is? I'd like to change into mission clothes."

"Of course, we can stop now."

The man rode off on his ostrich while announcing the break, making Kiba sigh miserably, "I've been asking for the past two hours."

The blonde chunin didn't take long to change into his old gear and slipped the light green chunin vest over a sleeveless black spandex shirt and tied the black hitai-ate around his forehead, covering the Sharingan. He wiped the dust off his black cargo shorts and strapped two holsters around each leg before sitting on a stump to tape his ankles and strap black shinobi sandals onto his feet. The Jinchuuriki picked up his saber and slid it into the custom straps between his back and left shoulder blade, then he reached up to the black mask over his lower face, but shrugged and decided to keep it on.

The blonde met up with Kiba and Shino outside of the woods before walking to their mounts. The three chunin found Hinata passed out next to the ostriches with a trickle of blood dripping down her chin into a small puddle on the ground. They managed to wake her up after a few moments and the kunoichi's face turned bright red as she jumped away, pushing her index fingers together nervously while looking everywhere but Naruto, "Um, s-sorry, my, uh, allergies acted up." The Hyuuga heiress winced after using her lame excuse, but sighed in relief when the boys shrugged and mounted their ostriches. She managed to stay composed and gracefully hopped into the saddle of the fourth, silently thanking her ancestors for the Byakugan.

* * *

><p>Naruto sighed while trying to suppress his boredom and watched the sun sink in the western sky. It had been a day since he met up with Team Eight and the chunin was beginning to wonder if he should've waited for his godfather in the village, at least he could train there. Instead the shinobi was forced to slowly ride an ostrich while signing autographs and taking pictures with the younger clan members during breaks. His train of thought was broken when someone cried out, and he looked up to see Nerugui hop off a wagon before bolting into the woods. The blonde was so restless he instantly slid off his mount while handing Shino the reigns, "I'll go catch him."<p>

"Are you sure, we all specialize in tracking," asked Kiba while gesturing to his teammates.

Naruto shrugged as he watched Kahiko hysterically ride over to them and said, "Eh, I'm bored. Besides, I can see its tracks from here."

The other three chunin looked over and noticed patches of dirt ripped up and small shrubs trampled where Nerugui ran into the woods, "That is most unusual, whenever the ferret ran off before it would do so quietly without leaving an obvious trail. It must be excited about something," observed the Aburame.

Naruto shrugged, "That just makes it easier," and sprinted after the clan's pet. He followed its trail for ten minutes before it veered off to the right, and the blonde turned with the tracks while scratching his head, 'Nerugui shouldn't have been able to travel this far in such a short amount of time.' The sound of running water pushed his thoughts aside and grew louder as he continued following the tiny footprints. Eventually the noise became a dull roar that drowned out the forest's noises as he entered a large clearing next to a fifty-foot waterfall, where Nerugui was lying at the feet of a strangely dressed teenager eating roasted fish.

There was a silver helmet resting next to him and the armored boy slipped it over his long blonde hair after noticing the shinobi. His blood red eyes looked at the chunin through a one-inch slit cut into the helmet as he slipped silver-blue gauntlets over his wrists and checked the steel extending up his forearms to make sure everything was secure. His breastplate matched the helmet and covered his entire torso before connecting to skirt-like armor that covered his thighs, while silver-blue boots that stretched up to his knees shifted in the dirt as he reached behind his back. A teal cloak with red lining on the inside hid the gloved hand from view, but Naruto could tell the armored blonde grabbed the hilt of a weapon.

The chunin held up his hands peacefully while trying to placate the strange boy, "Hey, I don't want any trouble. I'm just trying to bring that cat back to its owners."

Nerugui hissed at the Jinchuuriki when he finished and the foreign teenager said, "It seems he doesn't like you for some reason." Red eyes stared suspiciously at the shinobi, "I wouldn't put it past a savage to torture animals for pleasure."

"What did you call me?" Naruto angrily retorted, "I'm not a savage, but you're definitely an asshole."

The strangely armored blonde stared at the chunin haughtily, like he was an insect, "Hmph, you just don't know any better. It's almost tragic, watching you heathens behave like common animals while believing this is the pinnacle of civilization. All this untamed land is beautiful, true," the boy swept his left hand wide over the scenic view before continuing, "but it's also teeming with valuable skins, untouched farmland, and untapped minerals, all of which can be extracted to create profit and wealth. Your society stumbles along in its own ignorance like children when it could be advancing, if only you people embraced civilization."

Naruto growled at the strangely dressed foreigner, "I don't know why you think it's acceptable to come into another man's backyard and call him a savage, but that seems pretty impolite to me. Besides, there's more to life than profit and wealth. Money is nice, but if your so-called civilization is based on that it seems pretty shallow. I'd rather play in the mud with friends than spend my whole life trying to get richer, so you're the one that seems like a savage here. Who are you to judge the way I live because it's different than yours?"

The armored teen was enraged after the shinobi finished, "I wouldn't expect a brute like you to comprehend what I said, so perhaps I should use a language you understand and beat it into your skull."

Angry red eyes stared into a fierce blue one as the blondes unsheathed their blades simultaneously and tried to gain a measure of the other's skill. The red-eyed boy's weapon glowed blue and was the same length as Naruto's, but was an inch wider with finely sharpened edges on both sides. The foreigner held it confidently by his side while the Jinchuuriki lifted his saber defensively and growled, "There it is again, you called me a brute but you're the one starting this fight."

The other teen shrugged, "There's something about you I don't like," and burst forward. The tip of Naruto's saber dipped and easily countered the upward slash before he twisted his wrist to redirect the attack away and stabbed for his opponent's head. The knight spun ninety degrees and ducked under the stab then lunged forward to shoulder check the shinobi, knocking him airborne.

Naruto back flipped to regain control after the hit and threw some shuriken to stop his opponent's charge. He landed in a defensive stance as the foreign teen rushed forward and slashed diagonally. The chunin thought it was a feint since the knight's weapon wouldn't be able to reach him, but the glowing blade increased in width and extended while he swung. The transformation caught Naruto off guard and the sword left a long cut up his cheek before slicing off some hair as he leaned back.

The armored teen slashed his sword back down as the shinobi quickstepped backwards while sheathing his blade before performing a quick series of hand seals. He pointed his palms toward the boy when he finished and called out, "Futon: Daitoppa." It was the knight's turn to be surprised as a large gust of wind pushed him back and left cuts on his exposed skin. The armored fighter stabbed his sword into the ground so the attack wouldn't push him off the cliff, but when the strong winds died down ten copies of his opponent appeared in the air around him. The red-eyed teen lifted his sword defensively as the blonde copies threw kunai and prepared to deflect them, but all the weapons pierced the ground in front of him.

The foreigner stared at the burning tags wrapped around the handles curiously, then towards the clones that were grinning widely until a large explosion went off where the kunai were seconds later. With a cry he went flying over the edge before the real Naruto cockily flicked his nose while dispelling his bunshin, "Hmph, he wasn't that tough, now where did that cat go?"

The chunin began looking around when he heard a determined roar and saw the knight get pulled up over the cliff by a stream of green energy that extended from his sword. He landed gracefully and exploded into motion, running towards the shinobi while leaving a dust trail behind him. Naruto was barely able to pull his saber out and block the horizontal slash aimed at his stomach, but he was in a bad position because of it. The boy's lower body was still facing away from the knight while his upper body was twisted so he couldn't push back against his opponent's sword. The shinobi tried to jump away and regain his footing, but the armored teen kicked him in the back and sent him skidding across the ground.

Naruto grit his teeth as his opponent charged with his glowing sword raised. The chunin frantically brought the saber across his body and was able to push the knight's downward stab to his left before the fine sword slid deep into the earth. The foreigner tried to crush the Jinchuuriki's face with his steel gauntlet, but the shinobi was able to pull his legs back and deliver a mule kick to the red-eyed fighter's midsection that launched him away.

Naruto looked at the sword next him before grinning, now the fight was on his terms. The foreigner was probably the best pure swordsman that he ever fought against, it seemed like he trained with that blade since birth. The red-eyed blonde was also stronger and had a longer reach than the chunin, but the worst part was the armor, which made it difficult to land significant blows. None of his attacks dealt any real damage, and that last mule kick hurt Naruto more than his opponent, who easily stood back up.

The shinobi prepared to take the initiative when the foreigner lifted his hand while lightning crackled around it. The Jinchuuriki cursed when he heard the sword shift in the earth and jumped over the blade that tried to spear him from behind. Once again the armored fighter was holding his weapon and Naruto sighed before lifting his sword defensively to prepare for another charge, but the foreigner raised his weapon instead and it grew brighter until the blade glowed white, and a whiplike stream of white-green energy launched towards the chunin.

Naruto dashed to the right as the beam curved and got closer to him, but the blonde stopped instantly and reversed direction, barrel rolling over the stream and running left. The beam looped around his back as another stream went the other way and connected to it before small green energy strands shot up and trapped him inside a mesh dome. The Jinchuuriki began molding chakra and slammed his palm into the ground as the foreigner closed his fist. A seal glowed white in the dirt beneath him before expanding outwards as a blue dome formed to counter the constricting energy.

A large explosion rose up in the middle of the clearing and the armored fighter watched the smoke warily, but the ground at his feet burst open. The knight quickly slashed through the blonde with his glowing sword and it disappeared in a puff of smoke as Naruto ran out of the blast area holding a rapidly spinning orb of chakra. The foreigner eyed the sphere warily and stabbed forward as the shinobi aimed the attack at his chest. The deadly tip of his charged sword hit the ball of rotating chakra and stalled as the two blondes battled for supremacy.

The knight grit his teeth and tried to pierce the chakra ball, but it didn't give, and neither did his opponent. The Jinchuuriki started feeding more chakra into the Rasengan and pushed back with a roar before the attacks exploded, causing the cliff underneath their feet to collapse. They both let out a yell as gravity took over and dragged them towards the rushing water. Naruto looked over to see Nerugui trying to jump up the debris towards solid ground, and was surprised when he actually succeeded. The animal used its claws to latch onto the cliff face and looked down at him with what seemed to be a patronizing grin before starting the ascent, "Stupid cat."

* * *

><p>Shino looked up as a small bug flew out of the forest and calmly pulled back on the ostrich's reigns before extending his index finger. The other two chunin saw his actions and turned their mounts around to see what was happening. They waited patiently while the bug user communicated with his kikaichu, and after half a minute it crawled into his sleeve. Shino adjusted his sunglasses and calmly got off the ostrich while saying, "Naruto is about to enter a conflict with a strange fighter, we should move to assist him. Kiba, come with me. Hinata, stay and guard the caravan."<p>

The Inuzuka hopped off his mount and the two chunin sprinted into the forest with Akamaru as the Hyuuga grabbed their ostriches and went to inform Kahiko. The three hopped through the trees in silence, but after jumping on top of a deep blue river nearly seventy-five feet wide Shino looked over to his teammate while saying, "I find this situation quite strange since the chances of conflict with another shinobi are small, why? Because the Kawa no Kuni government has cleared us for travel, and nuke-nin generally avoid this country since it borders two major nations."

Kiba shrugged, "Eh, Sakura said this always happened on their missions with Naruto, but right after he left with Jiraiya every one went by the book. That's part of the reason I was happy to see him, I figured something exciting would happen."

Akamaru barked in agreement as the Aburame pushed his sunglasses up, "Not only is it highly illogical to attribute conflict on missions with Naruto's presence, but one should never wish for battles while on a mission. Why?"

An explosion in the distance interrupted Shino and the trio adjusted their course before taking off full speed. When the shinobi arrived a few minutes later they saw Nerugui scramble over the edge of a cliff before turning around to look back down. The chunin walked over to the ferret and spotted two blondes washed up on a sandy bank where the river took a sharp turn about thirty feet past the waterfall's base.

Shino easily picked up the ferret as Kiba hopped down the jagged cliff before following the Inuzuka. After the dog user made sure both of them were breathing he unsealed a stretcher before strapping it to Akamaru's back. Kiba carefully picked up Naruto and placed him on the stretcher before gently securing him to the board, and after double-checking the straps made a hand seal, "Jujin Bunshin."

The Aburame watched as his teammate transformed into an exact replica of Akamaru and unsealed another stretcher before repeating the process with the other blonde. Shino made sure the foreigner was strapped down tightly before patting Kiba on the head, "Good boy." The dog looked up at him angrily and growled, but the bug user ignored him and started heading back towards camp with the wounded teens.

* * *

><p>Naruto shot up as memories of his fight with the strange warrior flooded his mind. The chunin looked around to get his bearings when sharp pains shot through his ribs and left shoulder. He grumbled and gingerly reached for his sword when Kahiko opened the tent flap before walking in with a cheery smile, "Oh good, you're awake, it's almost been a day since your friends brought you back here. I'll just go get some medicines and-"<p>

"Don't worry about it ojisan," Naruto waved the caravan leader off as he turned around and grabbed the hilt of his sword while thinking, 'Come on you miserable furball, help me out here.' There was a rumbling in his subconscious and the blonde had to ask again before the blade glowed orange in the sheath, and soothing warmth replaced the pain in his torso, 'Thanks you stingy bastard.'

Kahiko clapped his hands together as the saber channeled Kyuubi's chakra, "Oh my, what a handy weapon, it keeps people away and heals you."

Naruto looked at the excitable man before considering the drawbacks of having a sentient weapon, it didn't feel like the saber was his anymore. Most of the time it did what he wanted, but every once in awhile it would do something different, or try something he'd never seen. The blonde also didn't know what the blade was capable of anymore, before the transformation it would show him new techniques after he was skilled enough to use them, now the saber performed them randomly like it was testing something right after thinking of it, as if there was another wielder. The chunin realized Kahiko was looking at him strangely and laughed while scratching the back of his head, "It has its moments."

The caravan leader nodded as he got up, "Yes, well I was supposed to tell you that your friends have the other boy in a tent outside the main camp, restrained and under watch."

Naruto could tell he was upset by the last part, but the chunin didn't feel like explaining or justifying something the man couldn't understand. That armored guy attacked him for no reason, whose to say he wouldn't wake up and try to kill them all on his way out. It was just another necessary evil in a world full of them, 'I don't know how, but I'll change that.'

Kahiko saw the blonde was done talking and stepped outside so he could change into fresh clothes. The teen emerged a couple minutes later and followed him to the prisoner's tent before opening the flap, Team Eight looked up as he entered and walked up to the bed while Kahiko slipped in behind him. Hinata shifted nervously while fighting down a blush after the blonde smiled at her and gave him an update, "Um, well, he should wake up soon Naruto-kun, his heart rate is increasing and his breathing is changing. Also, well, there's some sort of weird stone implanted in the right side of his chest. It seems to be giving off some sort of energy that accelerates his healing."

The whiskered chunin nodded as Kahiko's eyes widened, but the other shinobi were paying attention to the Jinchuuriki, "Thanks Hinata-chan, that explains some things. This guy enhanced his movements with chakra, but he also had attacks that used a strange type of energy I've never seen before."

Shino looked over at the unconscious foreigner, "That is most unusual, but humans do many things to attain higher levels of power."

"There's no use wondering about that now, how did you two start fighting?" Asked Kiba.

An angry look passed over Naruto's face and he clenched his fists tightly, but before he could answer the injured blonde let out a groan and slowly sat up. The four shinobi turned to look at the knight and didn't notice Kahiko focus on his right chest, more specifically the strange design. The caravan leader tried to keep the surprise off his face after recognizing the script, and he made sure to stay quiet around the observant teenagers.

The foreigner tried to scratch his stomach when steel wire tied to his left wrist and the bedpost stopped him. He groggily lifted his right hand and reached for the metal string, but his fingers stopped just short, and every time he tried the knots tightened so he couldn't reach as far. "I would stop pulling those if I were you, why? Because every time you do the wire constricts, and it will keep getting tighter until you can no longer move."

The knight looked strangely at the mysterious teenager who spoke before his red eyes settled on the other blonde in the tent and narrowed into slits, "You."

"Yes me bastard, why did you start the fight?" Naruto angrily responded.

The foreigner snorted condescendingly before looking away from the ninjas. "Because there's something about you that pisses me off."

"I pissed you off," was the Jinchuuriki's indignant response. He looked to his comrades for help, but they were staring at everything but him and offered no support. "C'mon guys," Kiba whistled airily and started petting Akamaru, so he turned to the white-eyed Kunoichi, "Even you Hinata-chan."

The girl blushed and timidly poked her index fingers together, "Um, sometimes Naruto-kun doesn't make the best first impression."

The blue-eyed teen just sighed while turning back to the prisoner, "Whatever, I only asked for the stupid cat back. You're the one who called me a savage, dick."

"I can't help your nature."

Naruto angrily pointed a finger at the knight, "There it is again, guys like you really piss me off. You think you have everything figured out and say people are inferior when they're not like you. Maybe it's time to look around and stop acting all high and mighty. Who the hell are you? Where are you from? Why are you here? Why did you attack me?"

The restrained blonde fell backwards onto the bed without saying anything, and Naruto was seriously considering using the Sharingan to mentally torture the foreigner for answers when he spoke, "My name is Temujin. Originally I come from a land far to the west, but I've been living in this country for some time. It is my duty to guard missionaries as they spread civilization to your savage culture, and I was travelling back to the head missionary for the yearly report."

Naruto crossed his arms while looking at the prisoner, "That's a start, but you still didn't say why you attacked me."

Temujin sighed impatiently, like he was speaking to three year olds, "I already explained that, there's something about you that pisses me off, but I'm sorry and it won't happen again."

Kiba growled after hearing the answer, "That's not good enough, nobody would just attack a Kon-, ouch."

The Inuzuka hissed in pain after Naruto slapped his chest, "He's not from around here, and definitely wouldn't have attacked if he knew what we were. Don't give the prisoner information."

The dog user seemed abashed as Shino coughed something that sounded like rookie, but Naruto ignored them and turned to the captive to ask another question, however, Kahiko had seen enough. "Stop this now. I don't like all of your prisoner and interrogation talk. We travel around the Elemental Nations and have stopped at several different missions. They're nice folk, a little pushy, but nice folk nonetheless." The caravan leader reached for the wire, but a quick blast of killing intent from Naruto stopped him and he stepped back before continuing. "The boy already apologized for his actions so that's enough of this nonsense. The world doesn't need to be such a hostile place."

"Kahiko-san, it is illogical-"

The old man loudly cut Shino off, "I don't care about logic, I'm the client and I demand this boy be let go."

The Aburame pushed his sunglasses into place while coldly facing the caravan leader, "With all due respect Client-sama, this is outside the mission's boundaries because he did not attack the caravan and was captured by us. Therefore, he is our prisoner to do with as we see fit. Besides, your input sounds foolish to anyone with half a brain."

Kahiko was fuming and Naruto stepped between them before approaching the bed while his finger glowed blue. He tapped the knight's neck and a seal appeared before turning into the kanji for bind, then he did the same thing where Hinata said the stone was, except a different design appeared and morphed into the Kanji for contain. After making sure his seals were working properly the chunin cut Temujin free, "Now he can't use chakra or that freaky stone energy until I release the seals, so he can wander around but can't go far if he wants me to take them off." The Jinchuuriki's solution seemed to appease Shino and Kahiko so he turned to the foreigner, "Hear that, you're allowed to walk around unsupervised, but don't think about escaping."

Temujin silently looked away from the four shinobi as they walked out, but Kahiko smiled at him before leaving. After he was alone the knight let out a sigh, cooperating with them got him out of bed, but he needed to rejoin his master quickly, the preliminary raids started today.

* * *

><p>Naruto stopped following Team Eight while they brought him to his gear and looked back towards Temujin's tent, "That guy is definitely holding something back, he may be a missionary, but the way he looked when Kiba almost said we were shinobi was pretty suspicious."<p>

Hinata nodded after the blonde finished, "My Byakugan said Temujin was telling the truth, but choosing every word carefully."

"Indeed," agreed Shino, "my Kikaichu could sense his nervousness as well, but your solution is ideal. To fulfill his purpose he must leave, but that will be impossible without us knowing. He cannot get far without chakra, and if you remove the seal we shall know to watch him."

Their conversation was cut short when Kahiko jogged over, "Now that we have everything settled preparations for the festivities can begin." The man could see they were looking at him with confusion and coughed into his fist, "Ah, sorry, it seems I forgot to explain. It's customary to have a festival whenever we arrive at the campground for the season to celebrate our safe arrival and thank nature for providing us with sustenance. I insist that you all stay."

The four shinobi looked at each other before nodding and Naruto smiled at the man, "Thank you for the invitation Kahiko-san, we'd love to."

The caravan leader beamed, "Excellent, you can help prepare or rest until later. We are thankful for guarding us so feel free to relax."

Kiba shrugged, "Well, it's not like we've got anything better to do, right guys?"

Naruto was staring at some girls as they picked flowers to make decorations, "Great idea, I'll go help with the flowers."

Hinata saw where, or more specifically what, her crush's gaze was directed at, "Um, well, I like gardening so I shall do that as well."

* * *

><p>Hinata sighed as she watched the teenage groupies follow Naruto around the festival, trying to take solace that dozens of them were hounding him. She had futilely attempted to keep the blonde separate from the other girls and secure a date for herself, but he was a shinobi and movie star, a literal knight in shining armor to them, and it was impossible to stop. Some older women without husbands also joined in, and to make matters worse he was always so polite with her compared to everyone else. The blonde's eye would stray and he would look at her curves, but the boy never outright flirted with her like the floozies in the caravan. The Hyuuga had hoped to make him recognize that she was a woman, and he definitely did, but the blonde also respected her and her position too much to do anything about it.<p>

At least Naruto didn't seem to be enjoying the attention, of course, that was because he wanted to quietly slip away with one of them, not be hounded by a mob all night. Hinata cursed the Byakugan and was grateful for a distraction when drums and a biwa started playing before a melodic voice began singing in a strange language. Everybody walked towards the music and saw a massive fire blazing in front of a stage where four men played a large set of drums set up in the back. Kahiko danced wildly in the front of the stage wearing a jade mask and pure silver robes as an older woman sang and played the biwa off to the side. Their performance came to an end when everyone arrived and the caravan leader spoke in a deep voice, "Long ago, before the countries were shaped as they were today, a great empire ruled the lands."

The man threw a strange powder into the fire and blue smoke wafted upwards, twisting wildly before a large cloud formed above Kahiko, "Great rulers presided over an era of peace and prosperity." The smoke twisted into the shape of a man's head wearing a crown, "Enchanted stones granted these Tenno untold influence that allowed them to maintain order, but men covet artifacts of great power and these were no different. Some conspired to steal the stones for themselves and seized the mines where they were harvested. The group was pushed back by the Tenno's great army, but not until they extracted a sizable amount of the precious stone."

The caravan leader threw grey powder on the fire and created dark purple smoke that morphed into hundreds of small men while the blue smoke did the same. "They raised an army that matched the Tenno's and there was a terrible war." The two armies clashed in battle, and as they died wisps of smoke drifted up to the heavens until it dissipated. When the figures were gone Kahiko threw black and red powder into the fire that caused it to increase in size until the flames were over twelve feet tall, then he threw green powder into the inferno.

Green smoke twisted into the shape of a country before the elder continued, "Countless lives were lost as the armies clashed and blood soaked our homeland, but each side also had weapons of terrible power that were created from the gems." The fire began to shrink and expand rapidly as the flames turned black and blood red while the two colors spun rapidly around each other, "These creations could wipe out entire cities within seconds and brought untold destruction to the country." The hot air from the growing flames began to disperse the green smoke, causing it to appear fractured, "Eventually it could take no more and the land was destroyed."

Kahiko raised his voice near the end of the sentence as the black and red flames shot upwards, forming a fireball that burst apart in a mushroom cloud. The children looked on in awe as the light disappeared and the coals glowed bright orange before letting out a grey smoke that took the shape of a mountain as the caravan leader spoke in a low voice, "Much of the royal family fled to the west for safety after the conflict started, and those that remained behind were killed when our country was destroyed. Some clan members survived though, and sealed off the Gelel mine until someone from the Tenno's bloodline returned to destroy it. Unfortunately none did and the location was lost to time."

The coals went completely dark after Kahiko finished his story and Hinata looked over at Naruto to see he was sneaking off with an older woman named Sumie, so she didn't notice Temujin talking to a small child before pointing towards a group of men carrying the bags of powder away. The dismayed Hyuuga ignored her surroundings and slowly wandered around until she found an empty clearing to sit down in as the festivities continued, "Naruto-kun…"

The girl lost track of time as the festival wore on, but eventually loud screams pierced the night. She rushed towards them and saw a forty-foot tall ring of flames around the stage that were slowly expanding over the dry grass outside of it. Loud cries for help echoed from inside the thick smoke as the Hyuuga rushed through the fairgrounds and found the caravan leader before asking, "What happened?"

The old man looked towards the teen gravely, "A poor boy was overzealous and attempted to recreate the performance, unfortunately he used too much of the red stuff and it got out of hand."

When he finished Kiba and Shino ran up as the Inuzuka called out, "Oi, Hinata, where's Naruto, can't he use Suiton jutsu?"

The kunoichi felt depressed after hearing her crush's name, but quickly pushed it aside, "I don't know, but I can create an opening for somebody to get in, it will take some time to recharge and launch again though."

Temujin came up to them and pointed to a pile of crates nearby, "Wait to use the attack, I'm going to pile those up outside the fire. You two come help and and throw me in when we're done," the foreigner turned towards the girl, "after you hear me yell use the move and I'll slip through."

The blonde didn't wait for an answer before taking off, and the two chunin followed as Hinata began gathering all the chakra she could into her palm while carefully molding it. When the crates were stacked Kiba threw Temujin over the flaming wall, and after she heard him call out the Hyuuga thrust her arm forward while shouting, "Hakke Kusho," a compressed air ball nearly eight feet in diameter flew towards the inferno. It hit the flames and briefly opened up a hole the speedy foreigner jumped through, moments before the stage collapsed.

Shortly after a crowd formed around the two and Naruto ran up frantically while saying, "What's going on, is anyone hurt?"

The teen started forming a series of hand seals while Kiba snorted, "So the great hero arrives late, I think you're taking after Kakashi too much. Where were you?"

"Mizu no Tatsumaki," a tornado of water exploded from the ground under the flames before rising up over thirty feet. The blonde went through another set before saying, "Suiton: Hahonryuu," and shot pressurized water onto the remaining patches of flames. "I was busy."

"Save it. I know what you were doing bastard, I have an enhanced sense of smell. What I want to know is why you weren't around to help, not that we needed it."

Naruto's blue eye focused on the Inuzuka, "The mission was over and I wanted to have fun. I didn't know it was my responsibility to sacrifice every part of my life to be ready for trouble"

"You're going to be a real shitty Hokage, if you even get the job."

The Jinchuuriki lifted Kiba up by his flak jacket and yelled angrily, "Take that back bastard, I came as soon as I knew something was wrong. As much as it sucks you can't always save everyone." The blonde let go as his voice fell, "I can clone myself thousands of times and can't. If you ever do I'll let you be Hokage, but until then I'll try my best and believe that other people will help too, like you guys did."

The Inuzuka's face softened as he pointed to Temujin who was being mobbed by gracious members of the caravan, "Actually, that guy did the dangerous part."

The Chunin cocked an eyebrow as the foreigner cut through the crowd and approached him, "I think I've sufficiently repaid my debt, so I'd like you to remove these restraints."

"Is that what you think?" Replied the blonde shinobi.

Kahiko walked up behind the knight, "Actually Naruto-san I have to insist you do. This boy has done nothing wrong in my eyes, perhaps you got off on the wrong foot but Temujin-kun has been a pleasant guest since being here. You can take these off now, or I shall register a formal complaint with Konoha.

"Fine," Naruto's index finger glowed blue and he tapped the two seals before the Kanji broke apart. Temujin flexed his muscles after feeling his strength return as the Jinchuuriki said, "I don't know the side-effects of that second energy source, but after chakra gets sealed it's best to rest overnight and let its normal circulation return naturally."

The red-eyed blonde bowed mockingly, "Thank you for the advice cultured one, I shall leave in the morning."

The chunin shrugged off the insult, "Whatever, now if you'll excuse me I have prior responsibilities." With that Naruto returned to the woman waiting in the field and picked up where they left off. When they finished later that night he escorted Sumie back to her tent before refusing the offer to stay by saying he didn't want to hurt Hinata's feelings, and walked away after a goodnight kiss. The Jinchuuriki went past his tent and continued to silently wander around the campsite until he came upon Nerugui sleeping in the wagon. Naruto pushed up his hitai-ate with a smile, and as the tomoe in the sharingan began to spin he said, "Here kitty kitty."

* * *

><p>The flap of Naruto's tent flew open before the blonde walked out and squinted his blue eye while it adjusted to the sunlight. He let out a long yawn and stretched before walking through the peaceful campground, waving to the people performing their morning chores. The chunin passed Temujin's tent and saw it was abandoned, not that he was surprised, so he changed direction and started heading towards the brown hawk feather easily seen above the tents.<p>

The blonde found Kahiko frantically waving his arms while shouting at Team Eight, and after he got closer heard, "But you need to find Nerugui. He's a member of our Caravan and your mission was to protect us."

"True, our assigned task was to protect you," Responded Shino, "however, that was only until we arrived at your campsite. He ran away last night, and because it happened after we reached the destination this task is outside of our mission parameters."

The man's face was slowly turning red, and it appeared he wanted to throttle the bug user when Naruto reached them. The blonde casually walked between the two and stopped their argument, "Eh, let's help the old guy out. Don't you have a bug on it Shino?"

The Aburame shook his head, "Negative, I removed it after we arrived."

The Jinchuuriki nodded before looking towards the caravan leader with a reassuring smile, "Whatever, you guys can head back but I've got nothing better to do so I'll find the stupid cat."

Kahiko looked relieved as Kiba sighed and relented, "Fine, but in the report we're blaming you for our late return." The Inuzuka glanced at his teammate who was staring at the blonde miserably. "Why don't you take Hinata and scan the woods while me and Shino check the area around camp."

The Jinchuuriki nodded, "Sounds good, you ready Hinata-chan?"

"H-hai," was her response."

"Let's go then." After he finished they sprinted into the woods, however, the two didn't get very far before the blonde stopped, "Hold on a second."

The kunoichi's confusion was apparent as she asked, "What's wrong?"

The blue-eyed chunin appeared to be looking for something while he answered, "I figured Temujin would leave before anyone was up, or when he thought everyone was asleep, so I went and found Nerugui. He might have chased after him anyways, but I used the Sharingan to make sure. The dumb cat was supposed to leave a sign half a mile away, but I haven't seen one yet. Can you use the Byakugan to find a scratched up tree Hinata-chan?"

The Hyuuga gave the boy an impressed look while replying, "O-of course Naruto-kun." She activated her doujutsu and scanned the area quickly before the bulging veins around her eyes faded, "It's not that far, there's an arrow less than a quarter mile north of us."

Naruto scratched his head while looking in the direction she indicated, "An arrow, that seems kind of… advanced. Oh well, let's just check it out to make sure." They took off and arrived at the tree a few minutes later before he walked up and rubbed a finger over the scratches, "This must be it, these marks are pretty fresh."

Hinata bent over to check as well and the blonde's eye drifted towards her cleavage before shooting back up. The kunoichi smiled inwardly while she reached out to touch them as well, "It is pretty remarkable, but Nerugui is a very intelligent animal. Let's see where it leads us."

The Jinchuuriki nodded and they leapt into the trees, following the carved arrow, and it wasn't long before they found another one that pointed towards the west. The two shinobi changed direction until they found another arrow indicating they should go north again and turned to follow it. They pushed down their amazement at Nerugui's markings and continued following the trail for an hour until the arrows disappeared and Hinata found boot marks next to weasel tracks. The going was slower as they followed the footprints while the Hyuuga activated her Byakugan occasionally, and after a few more hours she gasped when the veins around her eye appeared, "Temujin and Nerugui are in a clearing two thousand feet south of here."

Naruto grinned at the kunoichi and she blushed, "Great job Hinata-chan, let's go." The two snuck up on the knight and silently climbed a tree just outside of the clearing while the blonde foreigner tossed the scraps of a sandwich to the ferret lying on its back. Nerugui happily munched on his leftovers while Temujin started burying the garbage, however, he suddenly shot up and the shinobi feared they were spotted, but relaxed moments later after two women walked into the clearing and the armored teen dropped his guard.

The taller one had red eyes that stared grumpily at the blonde. She was a brunette with long hair that flowed to the middle of her spine and covered the back of her purple chest plate that had oversized shoulder guards covered by small spikes, and matched the skirt-like armor covering her thighs. She wore no gauntlets, just a steel ring around her wrist with a purple forearm guard that extended to her elbow, while matching boots came up to her knees.

The other woman was a few inches shorter with strange multi colored eyes that had a pink ring on the outside of the iris and an orange one around the pupil. Light brown hair went down to the middle of her back while long sideburns came down to her ample breasts and framed her boyish face. Her breastplate was teal and only covered her ribs, with smaller shoulder pads that had a three-inch spike pointing upwards in the middle of them. She wore no gloves and had many decorative rings on her slender fingers while black spandex sleeves covered her arms. Teal skirt-like armor covered her thighs and matching boots came up to her knees.

Temujin bowed and easily greeted the older women, "Fugai, Kamira, it is good to see you."

The woman in teal armor smiled, "You as well brother."

The other one snorted, "Please Kamira, don't cut him a break. He was supposed to be at the base two days ago and we find him strolling around and casually eating lunch in the woods. If I didn't know better I'd say these savages are rubbing off on you."

The blonde laughed after hearing that, "Never Fugai, I pray you end me quickly if such a thing ever happens though."

"That won't be a problem," was the dry response.

The shorter brunette ignored her companion, "Why are you so late Temujin?"

The armored teen grimaced before responding, "I ran into trouble on the way and got held up by some of the savages, it wasn't a complete waste of time though. I may have gotten a better lead on the Gelel stone, although that part is for Lord Haido's ears only, and I fought a shinobi." The two women's eyes shone with interest as he spoke, no one was able to gather much information on the warriors that locals called shinobi. "It was quite… interesting. He was probably two years younger than me and quite skilled. I actually had to try when fighting him hand to hand, but he was also attacked from range with weapons and magic quite effectively."

Fugai rolled her eyes, "So the brat's a spellsword like Ranke. You're standing right here so he can't be that tough."

The armored blonde shook his head, "That's not all, he was able to perform the magic without any tools and block off my power with strange runes. There were also tags with more runes that created a large explosion. To make matters worse I could tell he was holding back too."

The two older women were visibly surprised by the admission. Temujin was a skilled fighter and very prideful, for him to show this much respect to a savage was incredibly rare and put them off guard. Both were silent for a moment, wondering about the strength of these shinobi if a child possessed this much skill. The purple armored knight shook it off quickly though, "It matters not young one, you have mastered the lower level exercises to a high degree but have yet to learn the true intricacies of combat. The raids have already begun and there hasn't been a casualty, now come, we must report back to Lord Haido."

Kamira looked down to see Nerugui sprawled out lazily at Temujin's feet, "Who's your friend?"

The teen shrugged, "I don't know, he's part of the reason I was late though. The thing has been following me around for the past three days and led the shinobi to me."

Fugai shrugged, "Well it better keep up because I'm not slowing down for a ferret." The three knights started to walk away but Nerugui wouldn't move so the purple armored woman uncapped her canteen, "Hurry up you dumb creature."

The ferret was doused in water and hissed at the woman before looking around confusedly. It gave the air a couple more sniffs and looked away from the foreigners while letting out a hiss. Naruto swore under his breath as the thing charged at him and jumped into the air, "Ow, stupid cat." The boy hopped out of the tree holding Nerugui by the scruff of his neck and Hinata followed while he cursed at the animal, "Seriously, what the hell? Why do you keep on attacking me, what did I ever do to you?" The ferret stared accusingly at his covered eye, "Oh, well you started doing it before I hypnotized you dammit. Besides, it's not like you would've helped if I asked."

The animal looked slightly abashed as Hinata said, "Um Naruto-kun, I don't think Nerugui is the problem right now."

The blonde looked up to see the three knights angrily staring at them before Fugai said, "Really Temujin, this is the kid that gave you trouble?"

He grit his teeth in embarrassment, "Yeah, that's him."

The teal armored brunette smirked, "I'll make sure to show the runt how a real knight fights before I rip out his heart. Now run along, our leader has been waiting for you." Temujin nodded before disappearing into the woods with Nerugui on his heels and the two knights faced the shinobi as Fugai said, "Want to make this a little interesting Kamira?"

The woman grinned before responding, "What did you have in mind?"

"The raids only encountered samurai so nobody has killed a shinobi yet, I propose the first one to slay one of these brats gets to heap guard duty onto the loser for a month."

The shorter knight smirked cockily, "I hope you like staying up late sister."

The woman's multi-colored eyes shifted towards her teammate and growled as the purple armored knight burst forward while saying, "Then you'd better hurry up." Kamira pulled out her sword as Fugai shifted her path towards Naruto, "Now die you blonde rat."

The chunin quickstepped backwards while throwing a handful of shuriken towards the charging brunette that forced her to veer to his right, then he jumped left and went through a short series of hand seals before calling out "Futon: Kami Oroshi," (Godly Wind from the Mountains) and thrust his palms forward. A twister nearly seven feet wide formed in front of his outstretched hands and rushed towards the woman. She ran around the right side of the attack, but the boy jerked his arms that way and it followed. Fugai let out a startled cry as the twister launched her into the woods and the blonde ended his jutsu before looked towards the kunoichi dancing around the other knight's attacks, "I'm going after her, take care of this one Hinata."

The Hyuuga ducked under a horizontal slash aimed at her chest before spinning rapidly and calling out, "Kaiten." A sphere of chakra formed around the white-eyed girl that launched her opponent away, and when she stopped spinning replied, "Hai, Naruto-kun."

The Jinchuuriki pursued his opponent and Hinata faced the brunette as she pushed herself up, wiping the dirt off her teal armor. The foreign woman held her palm towards the kunoichi, "You're tougher than I thought, maybe I should actually try."

Vents opened around her wrist before shooting out clouds of ash and wood dust that were imbued with chakra as Kamira began wiggling her fingers and making motions with her arms, forming a connection with it. The Hyuuga gasped as she watched the chakra take on a red color, meaning it was about to become fire, and formed a hand seal while the women called out, "Wrath of the Flame God."

The strange language confused the kunoichi, but didn't distract her as a massive fireball in the shape of an angry man's screaming face lit up the clearing and rocketed towards her. The attack hit the ground in front of Hinata and shot upwards, forming a fiery pillar over twenty feet tall which turned everything it touched into ashes before exploding into a rain of fire that hit the ground and trees, engulfing them in flames.

Kamira looked around the burning clearing with a smirk and didn't see anything left of her opponent after the attack. The knight prepared to go help Fugai and brag about her victory, but when the woman started walking the ground shifted and Hinata emerged behind her. The knight turned to block the incoming attack, but she wasn't fast enough and the kunoichi's palm pushed chakra into her lungs.

Kamira ignored the pain and completed the turn, backhanding the Hyuuga with her rings. Hinata was dazed as she rolled away on the ground, but her opponent fell to a knee and began coughing up blood while struggling for breath. The kunoichi gracefully flipped back to her feet as her Byakugan saw the stone implanted in the woman's chest shoot out waves of energy that quickly healed her damaged lungs. Kamira looked respectfully at the teen after she pushed herself up and gave a short bow, "I apologize for underestimating your skills, now, allow me to show my true power."

Hinata ran forward as a carved stick about six inches long with engraved lines swirling up it appeared in the foreigner's hand, glowing with energy. The kunoichi didn't want to find out what the attack was and channeled chakra to her fingertip with the intent of ending the fight, but the energy in Kamira's wand burst outward and the world around Hinata went dark. She struggled to move her body and control chakra, but it didn't respond to her commands, "This is my greatest spell, now watch." The Hyuuga tried to shut her eyes but nothing happened, and she was forced to look into the swirls that clouded her vision until everything went black.

* * *

><p>Naruto lifted his hitai-ate while sneaking towards the area his opponent flew as a clone jumped through the trees. It was apparent from the way Temujin and Kamira deferred to this woman that she was in charge, and the armored teen gave him enough trouble without the Sharingan. His senses were on full alert and he was easily able to detect the foreigner's clunky approach, even if she thought it was silent. His clone let itself be destroyed as the brunette tackled it out of the tree, and its sudden disappearance startled the knight, causing her to fall awkwardly on her shoulder. She stood up favoring her right side and Naruto attacked from the left.<p>

Fugai turned and grabbed the boy's right arm as he tried to stab her with his blade, but she wasn't able to block the jab that crunched into her shoulder. The woman winced and let go of his arm, falling backwards to avoid the deadly tip of his blade that slashed above her head. She hit the ground and rolled away as his fine red saber stabbed into the earth where she just was and easily sliced through the dirt while chasing after her. The blade cuth through the oversized piece of armor above her right shoulder as the knight regained her feet, then stabbed towards her face.

The shinobi was surprised when she easily raised her left arm while a glowing silver shield inscribed with foreign seals unfolded from her wrist. It was nearly eight inches in diameter and easily blocked his swing, allowing the woman to pull out her sword and slash upwards towards his torso in one graceful motion. Naruto was caught off guard when her injured limb was used to block his attack and was forced to hop backwards, ceding the initiative. It appeared the woman was fine with letting the fight stall when she sheathed her sword and said, "It appears Temujin was right, you were holding back when you fought him. Perhaps I should stop now."

Naruto watched as black fur covered the exposed women's skin and her fingernails changed into sharp claws. Pointed white ears emerged from her skull while her face elongated and sharp canine teeth grew into the muzzle. Fugai's brown hair extended until it reached the middle of her thighs, then a white stripe formed at her muzzle's tip and expanded to cover her long hair. The chunin was surprised as he stared at the transformed woman, "Um, good doggy."

The knight smirked at him before she opened her mouth and howled, causing the air around her muzzle to distort as a compressed blast of sound flew at Naruto. The shinobi jumped to the side before charging, gracefully weaving around several more blasts that followed. The red saber slashed towards her neck when he got close, but Fugai simply lifted her right arm as another shield emerged at the wrist and blocked it, but the chunin jumped and used it as an anchor to roll around her right side, dodging a strike from her dangerous claws. He landed and stabbed towards the creature's spine, but she ducked onto all fours before kicking out with her boots. Naruto jumped over the strike that would've shattered his knees but couldn't avoid Fugai after she jumped up into the shinobi with a shoulder tackle, fortunately he shifted so her spiked shoulder pad only ripped some flesh off his arm before he was sent flying.

Naruto smashed into the trunk of a tree while his opponent landed gracefully and turned around while screaming. A large blast of sound rushed towards the chunin, but thanks to the Sharingan he knew the attack was coming before she even pivoted and was able to substitute with the branch Fugai broke in her initial attack. The woman turned to face the boy while the sword glowed red and healed his wound, then complex seals glowed bright blue on his wrists and ankles before shattering.

The foreign warrior prepared to charge when the blonde seemed to disappear and she froze. The teenager reappeared in front of the stunned woman and stabbed forward through her left shoulder. The blade glowed red as she screamed in agony, but after he pulled the weapon out and the woman fall to her knees green energy flowed from the right side of her chest and started to counter the poisonous chakra. Naruto saw Hinata at the outside of the clearing and was somewhat surprised when she rushed to join the fight when it was clearly over, but shrugged it off as her wanting to impress him.

The chunin waited for the Hyuuga to finish the knight, but his Sharingan could tell her path was somewhat off so he wasn't completely off guard when the girl's hand passed Fugai's head and flew towards his heart. The teen jumped backwards to avoid the hit, but a small burst of blue chakra shot out of her palm and hit his liver despite the distance between them. Naruto coughed up blood while thinking, 'I'm gonna have to learn how she does that after this is over.' He could feel the strangely comforting warmth as the sword healed him with Kyuubi's chakra and looked at Hinata oddly. Usually it was difficult to tell what a Hyuuga was thinking since the Byakugan was all white, but the Jinchuuriki could easily see that his comrade's eyes were completely empty.

Fugai cursed as she tried to stand up, but the Gelel stone was still fighting the Kyuubi's chakra and hadn't even healed the wound yet. Naruto sighed, grateful that he would only be fighting one opponent, but he still didn't know what happened to the other foreigner. Hopefully the knight would need to concentrate in order to control her victim like a Yamanaka, but he wasn't counting on that and kept his guard up.

Hinata raised her palms as they glowed blue with chakra and prepared to charge. The boy tried to use his Sharingan to hypnotize the girl and break her out of it, but it appeared the technique guarded her conscious mind from his intrusions. Naruto sheathed his dangerous blade because he still didn't have full control over it and prepared for his friend's attack. The Hyuuga rushed and tried to break his defenses with a rapid-fire barrage of quick finger thrusts, but the Jinchuuriki was able to stay out of her reach and created some clones.

The bunshin started to attack using Suiton: Hahonryuu, but Hinata was able to gracefully contour her body and avoid the jutsu. The real Naruto sat back while molding chakra in his palms and waited until the kunoichi was forced to use the Kaiten. When her attack ended a clone emerged from the ground underneath her while holding his hand out. Hinata thrust her palm forward and dispelled him, but another one holding the same seal emerged behind her while saying, "Suiro no Jutsu." The water at her feet swirled up and encased the Hyuuga in a sphere as the real Naruto rushed forwards. The clone dispelled the technique once his creator got in close and brought his palm forward. The watery orb disappeared and the blonde blushed when his hand accidentally cupped her breast as he applied the seal.

A strange design appeared on the girl's chest that completely blocked access to her chakra before a clone appeared next to him and shunshined away with the kunoichi so it could break her out of the technique as other bunshin followed. The blonde was about to focus his attention on the other woman when a high-pitched scream caused him to grab his ears before a large blast of air knocked him away and dispelled the clones that didn't accompany Hinata. Naruto tried to clear his vision as the blurry form rushed towards him, it didn't appear to be the transformed woman, although he wasn't too concerned about its identity. The dazed boy made half a seal with his right hand while molding chakra in his chest, and when the woman got closer he launched a weak Goukuhou that was able to knock the surprised attacker back.

The Jinchuuriki retook his feet as his opponent gracefully landed on all fours and he took in the changes. It was still Fugai, but she transformed once again. Fur no longer covered the woman's body, instead her skin was red and her normal brown hair was back, but the knight's jaw was rounder and the reason was apparent when she grinned, revealing a mouthful of dangerously sharp teeth nearly four inches long. The woman had also ditched her armor for more speed and now only wore a black spandex bodysuit that covered everything except her clawed hands and feet.

Naruto could sense the other knight moving out of her hiding spot and didn't know if she would help Fugai or go after Hinata so he needed to finish this quickly. The feral woman easily rested on her haunches and Naruto formed twenty clones before she burst forward much faster than before. Fugai was able to dispel several bunshin quickly, but after the Sharingan adjusted she wasn't able to land another hit on them. The transformed knight growled in frustration and slid across the ground while her claws dug in for traction. A clone tried to kick the foreign warriors face but she turned her head and bit through the leg as the boy dispelled in a puff of smoke. The woman pivoted sharply and kicked one Bunshin while dispelling another with her claws, but a third was able to kick her into the air.

She dispelled another one trying to punch her in the stomach with a claw swipe, but a foot emerged through the smoke and launched her higher. Fugai tumbled upwards as three more clones kicked her, and when she was over the treetops Naruto jumped above her with a swirling blue ball of chakra in his hand. He shoved it forward as green energy bubbled around the woman's claws and she did the same. Her attack was faster and pierced the boy's chest, but he disappeared in a puff of smoke and another blue ball was shoved through the cloud as Fugai heard, "Naruto Rasengan Rendan."

The swirling blades of chakra easily shredded through the transformed woman's torso like it was paper and his arm burst through the other side, causing a shower of blood particles to explode out while spinning rapidly. The chunin's Sharingan was easily able to locate the shocked face of Kamira as she underwent a transformation of her own, becoming a strange black and white bat creature. The woman flew upwards as he descended and took off in a random direction until she was little more than a speck on the horizon.

Naruto sighed in relief before heading towards his clones and Hinata. When the Jinchuuriki arrived he found the Hyuuga apologizing profusely to the bunshin and he interrupted her, "Don't worry about it Hinata-chan, it wasn't a big deal." The girl looked up and him and blushed before staring at the ground embarrassedly, "These guys fight pretty weird, eh."

"Yes, but I, I should've been prepared. I saw the chakra gathering and-"

The chunin cut her off, "So you should've been ready for her to use anything, even something that you didn't know about."

The girl's blush deepened when Naruto placed a comforting hand on her shoulder and nervousness tied her stomach into knots, but she didn't feel guilty anymore, "Um, I guess you're right Naruto-kun."

"That's the spirit. Now c'mon, we still have work to do." The Jinchuuriki dispelled his clones as the kunoichi stood up and they headed towards the clearing where the fighting began. Hinata used her Byakugan to find Temujin's trail outside of the burnt out forest, and the two followed it until his tracks went into a stream. "Well, crap."

The Hyuuga looked at the clear water before saying, "Since the current is slow and it's not that deep he might have gone either way. We could split up until someone finds his trail again."

The blonde shook his head, "No, we don't know if there are other patrols in the area looking for Temujin. I'll summon a tracking toad."

Hinata gave the boy a weird look, "Why didn't you do that from the beginning?"

The blonde laughed sheepishly and bit his thumb before replying, "Heh, well his demands for compensation are pretty high." The teen went through three hand seals before slamming his palm on the ground, "Kuchiyose no Jutsu."

A puff of smoke appeared before dissipating, revealing a small green toad with blue spots. It was wearing a strange metal helmet that was covered by knobs and switches with two antennae sticking out of the top and a large black visor that covered the upper part of his face, "Yo, what's up Naruto."

"Hey Seki, we're trying to find a guy that went into this stream a little while ago, we don't know which way he went after jumping in."

The toad nodded and began fiddling with several knobs on his helmet as lights popped up on his visor. Gamaseki let out an interested, "hmm," as he began to use some of the switches on the back of his helmet while toying with two knobs on the front. He kept playing with the dials for several minutes before he stopped and his visor went black, "Sorry Naruto, but I can only get the general direction where he is now. The energy source here is almost nonexistant and I wasn't able to track it until I maxed out the range and sensitivity, but when I do that the only thing I get is direction. The guy is somewhere northwest of here, but he could've gone either way here before doubling back. I wish I could tell you more, but there's this strange energy that mixes with his chakra and dissipates it before getting absorbed by the earth."

The blonde nodded after the report, "Thanks anyways, at least we know something now."

The toad nodded, "I wish I could do more so I'll give you this one on the house."

The summon disappeared in a cloud of smoke and the blonde grumbled, "Your generosity has no limits Gamaseki." The chunin sighed before facing the Hyuuga, "I guess I'll send some clones both ways to look for signs while we get Kiba and Shino."

Hinata twiddled her fingers nervously before saying, "Um, maybe we should go back to Konoha since our original mission is finished. We have a decent amount of information to tell the Hokage and he can decide how to continue. This seems a little advanced for us."

Naruto shook his head, "That doesn't matter, we don't know where the main base is and those women said they already started attacking. I can easily get a message to the Hokage with my summons before tomorrow, but by the time a team got out here it would be too late, we need to act now. Let's go back and tell Kiba and Shino what's going on and I'll send a message to the Hokage. It's fine if you guys want to go back to Konoha, but I'm not letting these foreign bastards do as they please."

Hinata nodded, "You're right Naruto-kun, and I'll go with you even if the other two won't."

The boy smiled appreciatively while rubbing the back of his head, "That makes me feel better because I probably wouldn't be able to follow his trail by myself."

* * *

><p><strong>AN<strong>

I do not own Naruto or any western fantasy worlds like Forgotten Realms, Harry Potter, or anything else this resembles. I wanted to make Haido represent part of an empire's colonization efforts, and it really worked out because historically missionaries were often the first to enter an area before everything else. That's why I say commerce follows the cross, so he represented the interests of an empire looking to expand its territories to gain an advantage over rivals at home. I wasn't taking shots at any country in particular, because the United States committed a lot of the same atrocities against the Native Americans, just taking a different look at colonization, from the view of the colonized.

It's unfortunate that schools teach expansion as inevitable and preordained while sweeping out the atrocities committed against the indigenous peoples and making them seem inferior when they were just different. For instance, British colonists adopted Native American farming methods to survive, and it often took generations and technological advancements until they could match the Native American's yearly outputs after they relocated the tribes. Hopefully this leads you to look things up, like what Columbus did to the Arowacks, or that De Gama and Pizarro followed a step by step guide (Cortez's diary) to conquer the Incas and Mayans that included introducing disease. We have a Eurocentric view of history that encourages us to look at different cultures as savage or inferior to ours. Remember though, if you bring this up in class have evidence to back it up. It's there just look around.

**Jutsu List**

Futon: Daitoppa

Suiton: Hahonryuu

Mizu no Tatsumaki

Hakke Kusho

Juujin Bunshin

Futon: Kami Oroshi (Godly Wind from the Mountains) B Rank-The user shoots a cyclone out of their palms towards the opponent they control, with practice the twister can be made from wind blades that can slice through steel, otherwise it is used to push people away and clear paths.

Kaiten

Wrath of the Flame God-the user sends a massive blast of fire shaped like a screaming man's face towards their opponent. It forms a giant pillar of flames after impact before exploding apart into liquid fire

Futon: Goukuhou

Suiro no Jutsu


	39. The Battle Begins, a Clash of Cultures

A dusty red moon floated over a small desert city in Kaze no Kuni and illuminated the quiet night with a soft glow. Anxiety gripped the samurai lining its wall as they stared into the darkness, only hearing soft clanks from men shifting nervously in their amour until a loud clicking sound drew their attention. A torch flared in the distance and revealed a man in strange green and black armor easily walking towards the fortified position with his left hand resting casually on the hilt of a sword strapped to his waist. He stopped about one hundred feet away from the gate and called out, "Surrender this city to the forces of Lord Haido and be spared, if you choose to fight know we shall raze it to the ground and show no mercy."

An older samurai with grey streaks lining his black hair that was pulled back in a tight bun stepped forward. The fires burning on top of the walls reflected off the man's polished tan armor while he confidently stared at the foreigner with his piercing brown eyes, "Never, we fight for Kaze-sama and I promise you shall not take this city while a single one of us draws breath."

The samurai cheered at his proclamation, but they stopped and the captain reconsidered his answer moments later when blue flames lit up a thousand feet beyond the walls. The fires hovered in the air and illuminated two massive wooden ships floating above the earth that were both around four hundred feet long and seventy feet tall without their masts. The messenger smirked arrogantly as he called out, "Just remember, we offered you a chance to survive," and turned away as a sea of torches lit up fifty feet behind him, revealing hundreds of men.

The samurai captain cursed under his breath as cannons boomed in the distance, while knights that had snuck closer in the darkness used oversized crossbows to launch ceramic firebombs as well. He yelled out, "Take cover," before the cannonballs smashed into the walls, causing them to shake and leaving small craters with cracks spiderwebbing out, while the firebombs landed on the ramparts and streets behind them. The acrid smell of burning flesh filled the air as the commander yelled over the pained shrieks of his men, "Spread out along the wall, don't group up. Archers return fire."

Samurai in towers along the wall countered with a volley of arrows as the invaders launched another barrage towards the city. The captain snarled as he watched his men push dead soldiers off the wall and called out more orders, "Pull the catapults forward and bring fire arrows up to the archery tower." Bulky camels pulled three large catapults forward as the cannons focused on the gates, leaving massive dents and twisting the hinges while the metal groaned in protest. The samurai leader feared his defenses would be breached before they could counter, but the old gates held until the camels got into position, "Load up oil bombs," he raised his sword and waited until the dark spheres were loaded, then slashed it down, "fire."

The invaders scattered as the oil bombs smashed into the ground, killing some on impact, but dousing many more in a thick black liquid before flaming arrows lit up the night sky and ignited the combustible substance. The foreigners screamed as fires overtook them, but it instilled little hope in the defenders. The flames illuminated the battlefield and showed they were heavily outnumbered. The raids over the past few days forced the Daimyo to spread his army thin to cover the area, and the captain didn't have enough men to hold out too long. The invaders had made steady progress to the wall, and the city didn't have anything that could reach the ships raining cannon fire onto the gate.

The captain yelled out, "Load up the explosive shot." The men loaded fifteen foot tan rocks that appeared to be patched together with exploding tags covering the outside, "Fire." The catapults launched the boulders into the advancing men and it crushed many before breaking apart into pieces that flew around the battlefield, revealing the inside was covered with tags as well. A massive explosion scattered the invaders as the captain looked to his aide, "Did the message get sent out?"

The shorter man wearing light leather armor nodded, "Yes sir, right after that man walked forward. Still, they usually hit six towns a night so Sunagakure might be stretched thin."

"You may be right, but I'm hoping they've concentrated their forces." The captain's leathery face grimaced as he watched some medics walked past mortally wounded men, ignoring their cries for help while lifting someone they could save. "This is the first fortified position they've assaulted and the few survivors from previous raids all said one ship attacked."

He was cut off when the metal groaned loudly after another cannon barrage warped the gates. The captain could see a gap big enough for two men to fit through and was about to call for a defensive formation when a giant wall of sand rose up and deflected most of the next volley, but those that made it through had their momentum sapped and did no damage. The demoralized men stood up as hopeful whispers of, "Gaara-sama," were heard up and down the line.

A cheer rang out from the beleaguered city as a deep voice calmly intoned, "Ryusa Bakaryu." Countless tons of sand rose up and moved towards the foreigners like a tidal wave as the ships cannons boomed in an attempt to stall the attack, but they had no hope of slowing the tsunami and it crashed over the invaders. The Jinchuuriki tried to block out the grateful cheers and placed his hands on the desert floor, "Sabaku Taiso," (Sand Waterfall Imperial Funeral).

Screams were heard as the sand compacted, but Gaara still frowned, he could feel a sizable amount of pockets that didn't get crushed. The chunin was about to add more pressure when he felt them collapse and dozens of glowing blue orbs appeared aboveground with upwards of ten soldiers in each. The redhead looked at the opposing army while the samurai captain yelled out orders from the wall, but before he could launch another jutsu four men wearing shimmering black robes appeared with chakra infused items in their hand. They began making wild motions with their arms in perfect coordination while chanting in a strange language and Gaara could feel the energy building in the air around them.

A large grey vortex appeared as the wizards continued their motions and a fifteen-foot tall creature emerged with black, ram-like horns on top of his head and bright red skin that stretched over his substantial muscles. Wisps of steam rose off its body as the devil let out a terrifying roar while waving an intimidating mace with an eight-foot long shaft and a head split into four wickedly sharp blades. The beast wore nothing but a loincloth fastened by a skull nearly three times larger than a humans that had three large horns on its forehead, and his legs were thicker than Gaara's body with twenty-four inch humanlike feet that had five curving black claws in front.

It seemed like the creature wanted to use his dangerous weapon on the mages that summoned him, but as they finished their motions a complicated seal appeared underneath the devil and spread up his skin before disappearing. When it was done his jet black eyes with tiny red pupils eagerly stared at the twisted gate while he slammed the weapon into the sand near his feet, turning it to glass. The beast let out another roar and smaller vortexes appeared around him, out of which rushed dozens of four foot tall creatures with onyx skin, wickedly sharp claws, pure red eyes, batlike ears, and wiry muscles covering their humanoid frame. The devilish horde rushed forward while the ships launched more cannonballs towards the city, which were stopped by Gaara.

The monsters waved their weapons excitedly as the larger devil led the charge towards the city and the green armored messenger called out, "Retreat, we must deliver this information to our lord." The invaders allowed the fiendish army to pass them before dropping their torches and running towards the ships as the hovering blue fires were extinguished. Gaara didn't bother worrying about them and focused on the monstrosity bearing down on the gate with an army of devils at its back. The Kazekage's son lifted his arm as a fist of sand bigger than the massive red beast formed and smashed it to the back of the herd, crushing several smaller creatures under his weight.

The devil pushed itself up using the corpses underneath it and saw the redheaded Jinchuuriki staring at him with frosty green eyes while the samurai roared, rushing out of the damaged gates to fight the other monsters. The smoking devil looked absolutely savage as he smiled eagerly, revealing the oversized canines and sharp needlelike teeth lining his mouth, before he surprised Gaara by speaking in a deep, gravelly voice, "I sense something powerful about you. Something similar to me, yet somehow different at the same time."

Don't insult me," the redhead lifted his palm towards the creature, "I am far superior to you." The beast was surprised when Shukaku's head emerged from the desert floor before inhaling deeply while Gaara quietly said, "Futon: Renkudan," (Drilling Air Bullet). The head launched a massive airblast that created a trench nearly fifty feet wide and sent the devil flying towards the retreating army, but it disappeared in a puff of black smoke before reappearing above the attack about one hundred feet away from the Jinchuuriki. The red skinned creature landed and sprinted towards the Suna shinobi with a roar, covering ground at an alarming rate. Gaara warily watched the dangerous mace as his opponent lifted it above his head. He had seen the weapon turn sand into glass with one swing and didn't want to test its capabilities up close.

Dozens of sand clones rose from the ground and charged forward, but whenever one got close the devil would hit it with his weapon and the Suna Bunshin would turn to glass before shattering. The Jinchuuriki was going to launch a wave of sand to push the demon back when the mace glowed and he disappeared again, reappearing just ten feet away from Gaara. A sand wall rose up in front of the shinobi, but it barely slowed the attack and turned to glass before splintering into thousands of shards, however, the mace hit nothing but the desert floor.

Suddenly the sand beneath the creature burst upwards and knocked the weapon away while launching him skyward and compacting into a ball that trapped it. The sphere instantly began steaming and cracks formed before the devil managed to break his muscular arm free, but Gaara smashed the ball into the ground and it broke through the desert floor like water. The Jinchuuriki kept pushing the sphere deeper into the earth before placing his hands on the ground and compressing the sand. The beast was incredibly strong, but even he couldn't withstand the tons of pressure that flattened him. Gaara breathed a sigh of relief and turned to help the samurai, but they had defeated the smaller creatures with Kankuro's help and watched his battle with awe. The puppeteer hurried over to his brother after seeing him relax and said, "That was freaky."

The redhead nodded, "Indeed, I have never seen anything like that before, but it's not important right now. We cannot let them get away with destroying those outlying villages. Let us hope the tracking team performed their duty."

Kankuro pulled out a scroll and walked over to a nearby demon's body while unrolling it, but when he got closer the corpse dissolved into ash as the others did the same, "Damn, this just keeps getting weirder." The chunin just shook his head and walked back to his younger brother, "Did you see that?"

The puppeteer realized Gaara was staring into the distance and ignoring him, "The team was supposed to send a runner after they started trailing the ships, yet I cannot sense one coming. Something is wrong." The Jinchuuriki took off into the night as his brother sighed and quickly followed. The two travelled in silence until they were about half a mile away from the team's starting location and the Jinchuuriki said, "I smell blood."

Kankuro's face adopted a worried look, if there was something Gaara knew well it was blood. "Let's go then."

The brothers put on a burst of speed and came upon a grisly scene a few moments later. The five corpses of the tracking team and genin runner were spread out on the ground, vacantly staring at the sky with cloudy eyes. The Suna shinobi solemnly closed their comrades' eyelids before Gaara inspected the genin's corpse and let out a deep growl, "Some of these wounds were inflicted after death, those men beat the bodies for amusement."

Kankuro placed a comforting hand on his shoulder, "At least we saved the town and found out who was causing it. That ship was pretty big and there aren't many places it could escape detection, besides, a different team might have been able to follow them. We'll definitely find these bastards and pay them back."

The Jinchuuriki's green eyes stared at the lifeless bodies, "I hope you're right."

* * *

><p>Naruto stood with Team Eight on a cliff overlooking a lush green valley where fourteen ships rested on the earth around an ornate white building that looked somewhat like a castle. There were four thin spires in each of the cardinal directions that towered over one hundred feet in the air with golden cones capping them, which added another twenty-five feet of height. Flying buttresses connected them to a central building that had a massive square base with seventy-five foot sides that supported a large tower, which rose fifty feet above the other spires and came to a point with a massive golden sun positioned on top. The four shinobi were spellbound by the awe-inspiring architecture as Kiba asked, "How did they build this thing without anyone knowing?"<p>

The blonde hummed as he thought about that as well, "Well, Ishigakure is the shinobi village in this country and probably knows, but they're very secretive and don't have contact with other villages."

"Regardless, we need to notify Konoha and Suna about this right away so they can decide how to proceed from here," replied Shino while breaking his vision away from the cathedral to scan the valley. "There is a sizable force gathered below us and their intentions don't seem friendly."

Naruto nodded in agreement, "Right, I'll summon a toad to deliver the message," the Aburame sent him a withering glare and the blonde laughed nervously before continuing, "Right after I move far away from Shino of course."

Kiba laughed as Akamaru woofed quietly, but they stopped to look at the southern entrance to the valley when six enormous ships floated in and Hinata gasped, "It looks like they're coming from Kaze no Kuni."

Naruto watched the vessels slowly drift towards the castle before gently touching down as crews of men ran up and placed large beams of wood against the sides to hold them upright, "The women we fought mentioned something about raids, those are probably coming back from one. I'll send some clones to follow the next group out, but right now I'm going to summon a toad and inform the Hokage." The blonde bit his thumb while Shino coughed into his fist, " After I go over there."

* * *

><p>Haido looked at seventeen of his most trusted subordinates from the head of a rectangular oak table while thinking about the steps that led him to the brink of glory. When the former colonel retired from the military seven years ago he entered the priesthood and learned the holy arts at the academy for two grueling years. Haido graduated at the top of his class and was deployed to the frontier where he earned respect for his prowess as a fighter and healer. When the man returned to the capital eight months later they put him through advanced training for another year before ordaining him as a bishop, and shortly after that he was appointed head of the missionary board. Establishing missions here was his first assignment, and it could open the doors to even greater heights.<p>

The former knight had found a suitable location for the cathedral in some puissant country and slowly spread his tendrils throughout the area. He made sure to avoid the powerful nations—although they were mere flies compared to the weakest countries from his homeland—and gathered information for the colonization effort. Now was the time to put it to use.

Haido grinned when his chief geographer entered the room with his arms full of rolled up scrolls and books. The short man dropped his load on the table before running a pudgy hand through the thin blonde hair spread over his shining scalp and straightening the small round glasses over his hazel eyes. He coughed nervously while smoothing the wrinkles in a long blue robe that reached the floor, and grabbed the largest scroll before approaching the wall behind Haido. The chubby man had to jump several times to reach the string that pulled down a wooden board that nearly covered the entire wall, and once that was completed he unrolled the map. The geographer struggled to pin it up for several moments while the others in the room stifled their laughter, but eventually he succeeded and turned around before bowing nervously, "Apologies for my tardiness Lord Haido, I gathered the information you requested quickly as I could."

The priest put on a benign smile when the man finished, "It is no problem at all my son. Now, could you please share your knowledge and enlighten us."

The chubby man tried to spread his sweaty blonde hair over his scalp once more before nodding eagerly, "Of course my lord, I would be honored." He pulled out a short metal stick from his robes and flicked his wrist, causing it to extend into a pointer just over two feet long. the geographer smacked its tip into the map while saying, "This is our location near the border of Wind Country, but this land also shares borders with Rain Country, the Land of Earth, and Noodle Country." The man pointed at each place as he named it before drawing a large circle around the eastern part of Kaze no Kuni, all of Kawa no Kuni, and a small portion of southwestern Ame before arriving back at their current location, "This is the area where the legends are concentrated. The northern and eastern fringes of Wind Country are mountainous with some small forests while the rest is desert. The Land of Rivers on the other hand is swampy and wooded so supporting an army in this area will require significant effort."

The geographer coughed nervously into his hand, "Yes, well, you see… that's mostly all I can be sure of. There is some information on local flora and fauna, but the missionaries have little to report about the governmental structures, except they are feudal and the rulers command a strong fighting force." The room burst into laughter when he finished and the geographer pulled out a cloth to wipe the sweat forming on his brow before chuckling awkwardly, "By a savage's standard anyway. Still, I find it somewhat impressive that they have adapted a feudal system of government since it is a natural precursor of the nation state. Given enough time they may have civilized themselves, maybe a couple hundred years."

The room laughed half-heartedly at the geographer's joke before he continued, "Right, well the most mysterious part about this area are the shinobi. Almost every country has some and there is no shortage of information regarding them, but it seems like very little of it should be trusted. They are heroes to some and boogeymen to others, so it seems natural their stories would be exaggerated. For instance, one tale claims it took an army of ten thousand men three days and nights of constant battling to kill someone named Sandaime Raikage, and that seems believable to the stories about men called Shodaime Hokage and Madara Uchiha."

Haido cut the man off when it became apparent he had nothing useful to say anymore, "Thank you for that knowledge, I am sure it will serve us well."

The geographer bowed and hastily left the room as the priest turned his attention to the others gathered at the table. Kamira waited several moments to see if her master would speak before standing, "Even though there is little information regarding these shinobi I believe we should proceed with caution. The one that killed Fugai was younger then Temujin, and some of the raiders last night said a teenager nearly wiped out an entire raiding party and forced them to retreat by himself. What are the adults like if children wield such power?"

Haido laughed when she finished, trying to show he wasn't worried, "That was one of three raids my dear, and it was against the most fortified position we've attacked so far. These shinobi may be powerful, but they are also scarce. Why haven't we seen any until last night, why is there so little reliable information about them?" The priest turned his gaze to the rest of his room and raised his voice, "Have you all forgotten the feats that great warriors in our history were said to have accomplished? They were nigh impossible, but we all know their legends were embellished over time. When there isn't much reliable information to go on people assume and try to fill in the blanks. I bet this Sandaime fellow eluded less than one thousand men for three days and nights before getting captured and executed."

The confidence around the table slowly returned and Haido relaxed in his chair as a young blonde with long hair quietly stood up, waiting to be recognized, "Ah, Temujin, is there something you would like to add?"

The blonde gave a short bow, "Yes my lord, I had hoped to speak with you earlier but no opportunity presented itself. You see, my late arrival was due to these shinobi. I fought one to a draw, we were both knocked unconscious before his teammates found and captured me. He was a skilled fighter no doubt, but there was nothing truly special about him." Kamira frowned as Temujin continued, he didn't see what that boy was truly capable of and the brown haired woman doubted she did either, but she remained silent to avoid Haido's ire. "It was not a complete waste of time though. They were guarding a clan of nomads that told the Gelel legend in excruciating detail, possibly more accurate than our stories."

A wide smile spread across the priest's face as Temujin sat down, "That is interesting, could you find them again?"

"Yes my lord, with ease."

"Excellent, take two dozen of our best men to visit these nomads and see if you can get the storyteller to return with you. I've always enjoyed a good tale." Haido watched the knight leave to carry out his orders and approached the map with a red pen before circling the area his geographer outlined, then he put a large x in the northeastern part of Kaze no Kuni. "Soon we shall push forward and take this city to serve as our base in Wind Country. Once it is captured the emperor shall send more soldiers, laborers, and supplies by sea to support us and and aid the search."

Haido turned back to his officers, "When this corner has been secured the search will begin while the main forces go invade Earth Country for the mineral deposits in the southern mountains before pushing west into the fertile plains. It may take several years to find the Gelel stones, so we must seize more land to support ourselves if this location isn't arable." The priest pointed to the other scrolls on the oak table, "Those contain more detailed maps and information about this area, take them and make the necessary preparations for our attack. Plan well, for we are on the verge of utopia. With the power of the Gelel stone we can unite the world under the empire's banner and form a perfect society."

* * *

><p>Naruto sighed from his perch overlooking the valley where a foreign war party milled around a pristine white castle-like structure. It had been two days since they found the invaders and the shinobi had been observing them ever since. Whenever a ship would levitate and sail out of the valley Naruto would create some Kage Bunshin to follow it, and he was disgusted by the memories they sent. The foreigners would pilot their ship through the mountainous regions—past villages that had recently been destroyed—to avoid detection until they got close to Kaze no Kuni where they would spread out over the desert. The ships would demolish as many towns as they could during the night, slaughtering every man, woman, and child that tried to flee their burning homes. It frustrated the teen to no end, especially because every time he sent information to the Hokage the reply was, "Keep watching, don't interfere."<p>

The blonde leaned back as his blue eyed stared at the stunning cathedral, wondering how humans could create some of the most beautiful things and then commit the foulest deeds. The chunin lost track of time while he watched the small people parading around the massive church and ships, but eventually he was shaken out of his thoughts when Kiba grabbed his shoulder, "Earth to Naruto, you there buddy? Hinata said she saw something with her Byakugan."

The Uzumaki looked over his shoulder to see Team Eight standing behind him, so he stood up and stretched while asking, "What's up?"

The blue haired kunoichi appeared upset while answering, "Um, well, I saw Temujin entering the canyon with a platoon of soldiers, and, uh, they had Kahiko as a prisoner."

Naruto's blue eye shot open, "What? We've gotta help him."

Shino pushed his sunglasses up his nose while responding, "That seems illogical. Our contract with the caravan expired and Hokage-sama's orders are to keep watching from a distance, not reveal our presence to the enemy."

The blonde Jinchuuriki growled while staring coldly at the Aburame, "There you go again with logic, life isn't weighing the pros and cons of every action Shino. We know Kahiko and it's the right thing to do so we're going to rescue him even if it seems stupid. I'm Uzumaki fucking Naruto and I never leave a man behind."

Hinata covered her blushing face with her hands as she stared longingly at the boy, remembering why she fell in love with him when they were younger, "I agree with Naruto-kun." The other three looked at the girl as she brought her blush under control, "We can't let them hurt him. Besides, if Kahiko gives them information it could hurt us in the long run, and if we rescue him we'll know what they wanted to learn."

The Inuzuka nodded as Akamaru barked softly, "Yeah, there's no way you're leaving us out of this."

Shino faced his comrades and shifted uncomfortably for a moment, "When you put it that way it seems illogical to stay."

Naruto grinned before looking back into the canyon, "I knew you'd see it our way. First we need to scout that castle thing for a discreet entrance. After that we'll sneak in and extract him quickly and quietly, hopefully they'll never even see us."

* * *

><p>The Konoha-nin crept through dingy maintenance tunnels while looking out vents to see elaborate marble sculptures carved from the wall and shining jewel encrusted suits of armor lining the halls with beautiful oil paintings between them. They managed to push down their amazement at the amount of wealth contained in the building and continued towards the dungeon to rescue Kahiko. The four chunin snuck past the camps while the ships left that night and scaled the building's walls before entering through a hatch on the roof that Hinata found with her Byakugan. They kept following the dark tunnel until it led to a vertical shaft big enough for two men to fit with ladders leading to passageways on the floors below them.<p>

The shinobi quickly hopped to the lowest level and peered through the slotted access door that led to a torture room, where a portly man wearing a bloodied white robe hummed loudly as he cleaned steel instruments. They watched as he lifted a scalpel up to the light while speaking into a glowing gem mounted in an ivory claw, "Right, that's a proper shine. Nothing like a sinister glint to frighten my playmates, fear is such a lovely stench after all. Makes the whole job worth it." The man stopped and cackled loudly, "Who am I kidding, I love every minute of it." The light inside the jewel faded as he put the scalpel down, "Those wizards make something useful now and again I guess, adds a whole new dimension to the fun."

Seeing there was no other way onto the floor Naruto waited for the foreigner to start humming again before quietly swinging the door open. Hinata crept over the stone floors and tapped her index finger to the man's temple, killing him instantly. The kunoichi caught the sadist as he collapsed and gently laid his body down while activating her Byakugan. She scouted the area as the others entered before performing an intricate series of intricate hand motions and pointing to three spots on her body. The boys nodded when the Hyuuga finished and pulled out kunai as she gripped the door handle and pushed. Three guards in the hallway turned as the wooden door swung open, but the men couldn't even defend themselves before the projectiles slid through vulnerable areas in their armor, ending their lives.

Hinata led them down the long hallway before taking the third left into a dark corridor with one torch at the end. Shino grabbed it and the chunin went to the farthest cell where they found Kahiko slumped against the back wall, wearing a burlap tunic soaked with blood while a black sack covered his head. His arms were held against the stone by two metal brackets that dug into his flesh, and were bolted in so high that he was suspended just above the ground. Naruto easily picked the lock and opened the creaky door, wincing at the sound that echoed down the corridor. When the caravan leader heard the noise his head shot up and he frantically tried to push himself further against the wall while pleading in a muffled voice, "Please, I told you everything I know so no more, no more. I'd rather die instead."

The four looked at Kahiko while Naruto removed the sack, and when the torchlight illuminated his face they winced at the gruesome sight. Both of the man's eyes were swollen shut and it appeared his long beard was ripped out by hand, leaving a few patches of hair around the torn skin. Blood matted his long white hair that stuck to his body, and when he tried to get his hands loose the four shinobi saw his fingernails were ripped out while lacerations coated in salt went up and down his arm. The blonde walked forward while pulling out a kunai and slashed through the metal restraints with wind chakra, "Hush old man it's me, Naruto. I'm here with my friends and we're gonna save you."

Kahiko didn't seem relieved and started kicking his legs towards the Jinchuuriki, "No, not this trick again. I already told you everything, I swear. Just let me die."

The Uzumaki sighed while pulling up his hitai-ate, "If that's what you want, just look into my eye."

The man seemed grateful, almost happy, as he managed to open his eyes and stare at the swirling Sharingan before slumping against the wall, breathing evenly while the Jinchuuriki lowered his headband. Naruto and Kiba carefully picked up the sleeping man and started down the hallway when Hinata let out a gasp and said, "Umm, there are another patrol that just entered the dungeon. They're coming down the main staircase and will discover the bodies in less than a minute."

Naruto grit his teeth, "Dammit, take Kahiko and get him out of here Hinata. Go back to the caravan and we'll catch up after making sure they can't go after you."

The girl looked hurt while responding, "N-no, I'm not a damsel in distress Naruto-kun. I can fight too."

The Jinchuuriki growled angrily, but Kiba interjected before he said anything, "Actually, now that Akamaru's big enough we evacuate people." Shino and Naruto lifted the wounded caravan leader onto the canine's back before Kiba quickly tied his legs around Akamaru's body and his hands around the dog's thick neck so he wouldn't flail. "Let's go, hopefully we can slip out back before the bastards know we got Kahiko."

They ran down the hallway as Naruto outlined his plan, "Kiba go out the way we came in, I'll send some clones to follow and slow down pursuit. We'll stay behind and buy some extra time so you can get a head start to the caravan."

The feral shinobi nodded as alarmed shouts echoed down the hall and rushed ahead with Akamaru as the Jinchuuriki summoned Kage Bunshin that followed. They rounded the corner first, but the remaining three shinobi were right behind and pivoted the other way as the five knights drew their weapons. Naruto flashed through a series of hand seals and raised his palms towards the men when they began to charge, "Futon: Daitoppa."

The gusts of wind knocked the guards back while slicing into their steel armor and exposed pieces of skin as Hinata followed the attack, finishing the downed foreigners off with five gentle strikes. The kunoichi started rushing towards the staircase with the other two behind her while saying, "There's four levels underneath the main floors, this next one is still mostly clear, but guards are running down the stairs onto it now. We need to get to the other side of this floor to reach the next staircase as well."

"How thick are the floors above us?" Questioned Naruto when they stopped at the top of the stairs.

"Umm, I would say close to twenty feet in most areas, but on the first underground floor there's a spot you may be able to break through with the Rasengan, it leads to the central hub of the castle and is filled with people though. We might be better off taking the stairs all the way, but it seems like every soldier in the castle is running down them. What should we do?"

Naruto walked down the hallway until he came to a four-way intersection, "Easy, we wait." The chunin could see the other two were confused he continued, "If there are that many people running down the stairs now there's no way we'll be able to push through, besides, we need to buy Kiba some time anyways. Once they get down here they'll ask us some questions and we'll stall for awhile, which will give the people pouring down the stairs more time to get down here and spread out on the floors, and if every troop is down here there won't be any above us."

"And how will we break through the group of people that will undoubtedly have us cornered?"

The blonde gave Shino a devious grin after he asked and formed a cross shaped hand seal while saying, "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu." The hallway was packed with clones that lined the walls before performing the Toton Jutsu to become invisible. The three chunin sat in silence while Naruto kept looking over at the Hyuuga, however, she was avoiding his gaze with an angry look on her face. The one-eyed teen sighed and tried to grab the girl's hand, but she pulled it away, "Sorry if I insulted you Hinata-chan. I know you're strong and would be able to get Kahiko out, that's why I asked." The kunoichi blushed and was about to respond, but a dozens of foreign soldiers rushed down the hallway and surrounded them.

More troops filed into the hallway over the next minute until the armored and robed men parted, allowing a brown haired man wearing a teal cloak fastened by a massive diamond to walk through with Temujin right behind him. "So you're the one that killed Fugai, I was expecting somebody taller." The men surrounding Haido laughed before he continued, "Tell me, why have you visited my humble abode?"

"It's anything but humble," snorted the blonde.

The priest let out a good-natured chuckle, "Oh I suppose you're right, but a man's home must reflect his greatness, and I assure you that my cathedral adequately does."

"Only if your definition of greatness is massacring innocent women and children as they fled the villages your men razed to the ground." Angrily responded Naruto with sarcasm lacing his tone

Haido's adopted a regretful look, "I cannot deny the accusations, but we are on the verge of utopia and sometimes noble-sacrifices are necessary for the cause."

Red rings appeared in Naruto's blue eye, "There's nothing noble about getting slaughtered while running from people destroying your home." The chunin faced Temujin, "I killed one of your friends, maybe a teacher, was that worth it?"

The compassion in Haido's face disappeared when the blonde finished, "That's enough of this, where is the prisoner? I wasn't finished with our conversation and he was so close to seeing the error of his barbaric ways."

Shino looked coolly stared at the man behind his sunglasses, "We were intercepted before completing the rescue and were forced to kill him to prevent you from gaining more information."

The priest turned and walked down the hall with his cloak billowing behind him, "I see you won't cooperate, and I don't have time to play right now. I'm sure you three will be more compliant after we show you the same hospitality that babbling buffoon received."

The soldiers grouped back up as the man walked away with Temujin, and once the foreigners lifted their weapons the clones became visible and jumped towards them while holding spinning balls of chakra. The tight quarters quickly became a wild melee as it filled with smoke, and the three shinobi took advantage of the distraction and jumped on the walls to escape. More soldiers ran into the hallway in front of the chunin as they dropped back to the floor, but Naruto cleared the foreigners away with a Goukuuhou as Hinata called out, "There's another one around the corner preparing a fire attack."

The blonde nodded and went through some hand seals as the other two turned away from the man, then he pivoted the opposite way with a compressed ball of water in his palm, "Suiton: Hahonryuu." The high-pressure stream easily passed through a fireball and extinguished the blast before hitting the wizard behind it. The foreigner smashed into a wall and his vision faded to black as a wind-coated kunai pierced his neck before disappearing into the marble wall behind him. Naruto turned to follow the other two and rounded the corner to see four unconscious bodies at the foot of the next staircase with Hinata and Shino waiting halfway up.

The former prankster pulled a small yellow scroll from a vest pocket before unsealing three kunai with tags wrapped around the handles that were connected by steel wire. He coated the weapons with futon chakra and threw two into the walls and one into the ceiling while chuckling deviously. The shinobi had picked up some tricks after getting chased through the mines by Raiga and it was time to put them to use.

The trio had barely got up the staircase when they heard the sharp crack of a flash tag, and the corridor glowed blue as screams of pain echoed up from the stairs, but the chunin ignored them while sneaking through the hallways, "Umm, what was that Naruto-kun?"

The blonde grinned cockily while answering, "Fuuinjutsu Hinata-chan. Those wires had chakra running through them in a circuit that fed the tags and kept them from detonating, once the connection broke they activated. I gave the flash tags an instantaneous reaction and put a three second delay on the lightning tag for the best effect."

Shino nodded, "Impressive, but we should focus on getting out of here before bragging about techniques."

Naruto laughed embarrassedly while Hinata said, "Well, um, I'm trying to figure out how to get to the next staircase. As we go up the floors get more complicated and the stairways are always on opposite sides to confuse prisoners. More soldiers are coming down too."

The blonde shinobi nodded when she finished, "Alright, just do your best and let us know when people get close."

Hinata nodded and proceeded to lead them through a confusing series of twisted hallways for a few minutes before she said, "Um, they're coming straight ahead."

"Turn so they'll be chasing us," said Naruto while pulling out a scroll with black edges. He took out several tags, and once Hinata confirmed their pursuers were behind them he created a clone and gave it one tag before lining the walls with the rest. Once he finished the clone used the Toton Jutsu to hide itself while the others continued running. It didn't take long for the pursuers to catch up and trigger the proximity sensors on the tags lining the walls, and several seconds later they shot out a slippery brown liquid that caused the men to fall all over each other and get coated in the viscous substance. The clone reappeared when they started to push themselves up and showed them a tag with the Kanji for burn on it, "Did you know that toad oil is very flammable?"

The bunshin grinned as the tag slowly burned and let it float to the ground where the flames ignited the dangerous liquid. Intense fires consumed the area and scorched the decorations lining the hallway as the oil soaked foreigner's screamed out. Hinata ignored the noise and called out, "They are diverting people to deal with the fire and we are nearing the next staircase, but leading up to them is a long corridor that has multiple hallways branching off with men waiting to ambush us."

The blonde nodded and created three clones before two henged into copies of his teammates. They rushed ahead, and after entering the corridor four wizards appeared in a swirl of colors before sprinkling a white powder into the air while chanting. The dust flew out and engulfed the copies before it congealed into spider webs that trapped the clones as twelve knights poured out of the hallways. They ran towards the restrained bunshin, but seals appeared on the ground when they got close before an explosion engulfed the warriors and clones.

The wizards raised their arms to stop debris from entering their eyes, but the shockwaves made their sleeves flutter wildly and blocked their vision so they couldn't see Hinata burst through the smoke and kill the two in front with palm strikes to the heart. Naruto ran past her with his saber pulled back, but when he stabbed forwards the blade stopped after hitting the wizard's skin, like it was made from stone. The blonde saw a ring on the man's finger glow red as the air around them heated up and he substituted with a chunk of rock. A fireball roared down the hall, but Naruto flashed through a series of hand-seals and called out, "Suiton: Suijenheki."

A wall of water blocked the attack, and when it fell a Hakke Kusho hit the mage as Naruto rushed past him holding a rasengan and hit the last wizard who was still catching his bearings. The deadly attack didn't pierce his skin, but the man was knocked to the floor, and the blonde held him down there with the orb of chakra. The foreigner tried to cast a spell before his stoneskin enchantment wore off from the constant grinding, but Naruto grabbed one of his flailing arms and held it tightly until the rasengan easily tore through his opponent's chest.

During the melee Shino looked at the dissipating smoke and saw large cracks in the floor that revealed the ventilation system, "Interesting." Bugs flew out of his sweatshirt and into the ruptured pipes that ran through the castle, and when the brief skirmish was over he walked through the cloud and said, "Let us continue."

Naruto turned towards the stairs but Hinata said, "There's another ambush waiting at the top," before he could run up.

He sighed after hearing that, "Of course there is, but I'm tired of being subtle." The other two sweat-dropped after hearing that, what about a massive fire, explosions, and lightning traps was considered subtle? Naruto ignored them and formed a cross shaped seal while flaring his chakra, "Tajuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu."

Hinata and Shino understood how those things were subtle when the sheer amount of clones crushed them into the walls as smoke filled the hallway. The bunshin let out a war cry and rushed up the staircase before the other three followed as the sound of steel clanging against steel and cries of pain echoed from the floor above them. When they arrived the trio saw knights and wizards in a pitched battle against the clone horde. Hinata scanned the floor with her Byakugan before smiling, "Follow me, we're going to break through."

The chunin jumped to the ceiling and ran over the battle before dropping back down. Hinata weaved them through the hallways to avoid any other melees before stopping in a large circular room and pointing upwards, "Here it is Naruto-kun, the ceiling is one foot of stone under wood."

The blonde summoned a clone before forming a rasengan that swirled rapidly above his palm. The bunshin put both its hands over the orb and fed more chakra into the jutsu and his creator molded it until the sphere was nearly fifteen inches wide. The bunshin disappeared as Naruto overloaded his feet with chakra and exploded upwards, "Odama Rasengan." He easily smashed through the ceiling and gracefully landed on the next floor in a defensive stance, but when the Jinchuuriki looked around all the men were writhing on the ground with kikaichu covering their bodies. The Aburame jumped through and lifted his arms as the bugs returned while saying, "I could not let you two do all the work."

Naruto grinned at Shino as Hinata said, "They just finished clearing your clones out of the maintenance shaft and many are still running down the stairs, if we hurry it may be possible to slip through before too many people notice." The two boys nodded and followed her lead, but when they came to a wide open room made of white and pink marble with benches facing a decorated alcove two chanting wizards teleported into the chamber with five knights in front of them holding large shields for protection. The mages waved their arms and a complicated symbol appeared on the ground in front of them as a swirling black vortex formed over it.

A nine-foot tall humanoid creature emerged with orange skin and a doglike face with four-inch fangs protruding from his upper lips. Straight horns shot out two feet from the side of his head before coming to a deadly point, while a mohawk extended down his back until it came to a whiplike tail nearly four feet long with a sharp tip at the end that dripped poison. Two wings that each seemed as big as the creature were unfolded in the open space as large black claws on his hand flexed angrily. A brown loincloth fastened by dark jewels covered his waist while smoky grey eyes stared maliciously at the teens as symbols on the floor beneath him rose up to cover his body before disappearing.

Naruto suppressed his fear while lifting his hitai-ate, hoping this demon had the same weakness as Kyuubi. Sasuke's sharingan began spinning rapidly before he looked the creature in its grey eyes while thinking, 'Listen big guy, you can attack us or turn around and fight the people that summoned you away from your home.' The pattern of the sharingan flashed in the demon's eyes, but the symbols on his body glowed brightly as he struggled against the hypnosis, however, the complicated designs were fully visible as the creature waged an internal battle. After getting a good look at the seals Naruto burst forward while molding chakra in his palm and hit the demon's stomach, "Release."

The teen smirked and jumped away as the foreigner's seal shattered and the hypnotized demon turned on the men behind him. He effortlessly backhanded the shield away from one knight before the other claw burst through his stomach. The creature flicked his wrist and the corpse flew off his arm before a flaming sword appeared in his bloody right hand and a chain whip in his left. The men looked nervously at the wicked creature that was grinning evilly before turning and sprinting away as the hypnotized beast gave pursuit.

The Konoha-nin all sighed when the summoned demon chased after the foreigners and Hinata said, "Let's go." The Hyuuga broke a stained glass window with a kunai and they jumped through it before dashing across the rocky ground. The trio ignored the yells around them as officers tried to rally their men, but the shinobi were too quick and dashed up the canyon wall towards Kawa no Kuni before they could even get the cannons in position.

* * *

><p>Kiba stood in a tree at the edge of camp, watching people scramble chaotically as they tried to gather their possessions and family members, but most of his focus was on the forest behind him. The dog user faced the trees when Akamaru barked loudly and grinned excitedly as three forms landed on the branch next to him without making a sound, "Good to see you guys made it out of there okay. We just got back an hour ago and Kahiko ordered everyone to pack up."<p>

Naruto shook his head while scanning the campsite, "They'll never get it done before those foreign bastards get here. You three tell everybody to leave things as they are and go hide, we'll let them know when it's safe to return."

Kiba scratched the back of his head and gave the blonde a questioning look, "How close are they?"

"An hour at the most, but they're probably closer." Team Eight nodded and blurred away to carry out the task while he went to scout the area. The clan had cleared a sizable amount of land for their campsite and there was nearly a quarter mile stretch of open ground for grazing between the animal's pens and the forest. They had also thinned the woods around them over time for construction materials and firewood, so there wasn't much cover outside of the campsite. Naruto considered setting up an ambush deeper in the forest, but he was unsure which way the foreign soldiers would come and didn't want to risk them slipping by.

The Jinchuuriki looked up as most of the nomadic clan rushed towards the far end of camp—leaving their belongings scattered everywhere while animals stampeded wildly—and smiled deviously as a plan formed in his head. After getting a rough headcount of the caravan members he headed towards the medical tent, and when the blonde walked inside he found Kahiko laid out on a stretcher as medics finished wrapping linen bandages soaked in ointment around his numerous wounds. The clan leader managed to crack open his swollen eyes and gave Naruto an appreciative smile, "Thank you my boy, I was pretty sure it was the end for me back there."

The blonde gently patted the man's bandaged shoulder, "No problem, we weren't just going to leave you in there, but right now isn't the time for thanks. Everybody needs to get out of the camp, including you." The nurses gave Kahiko a sedative as two men picked him up and left the tent before the chunin followed. He found Team Eight outside and waited for the camp to be evacuated before summoning a large amount of Kage Bunshin that transformed into different people wearing the nomadic clan's clothing. The clones began frantically packing the scattered items, and the shinobi walked towards the largest tent while their creator said, "Now we wait."

Shino nodded approvingly as he opened the flap, "This appears to be a solid strategy Naruto."

Kiba playfully slapped the blue-eyed chunin's back after they walked inside, "Yeah, I'm pretty surprised."

The blonde growled jokingly while Hinata said, "Naruto-kun's pranks were very clever in the academy," the Jinchuuriki beamed at her before she continued, "he, he was just bad at schoolwork."

"Hinata-chan," whined the teen as he slumped over.

The three other chunin laughed at him for several moments before descending into a comfortable silence, until the Hyuuga spoke up nearly twenty minutes later, "There's eighty men half a mile away, twenty-five are flanking on each side while thirty are advancing straight up the middle."

The four shinobi snuck outside and waited in the middle of camp until archers in the center group launched a wave of flaming arrows. The four chunin managed to deflect most of them, but several hit tents and set fires. The disguised clones started screaming and rushed to the other side of camp as Naruto summoned more to put out the fire. When the fake civilians got past the animal pens knights let out a ferocious war cry and rushed out of the woods while mages cast spells from trees lining the clearing.

The bunshin jumped backwards to avoid the attacks while dropping their henges and performing the same series of hand-seals simultaneously. When they finished over two hundred clones held two orbs of wind eighteen inches wide in front of their palms, that each split into fifty arrows of swirling wind, "Futon: Sattou Dangan." Nearly twenty-five thousand arrows sped towards the foreigners and skewered the charging knights before flying towards the mages attempting to cast protective spells, but they weren't faster than the wind and their stoneskin enchantments couldn't outlast the seemingly endless barrage.

Temujin cursed from across the clearing as nearly half of his men and all the wizards died in the shinobi's trap, 'Is there no end to these savage's treachery? Fight us like men, not cowards.' The knight couldn't deny the effectiveness of their tactics though and yelled out, "Retreat, fall back to the river." The archers loosed another barrage of arrows before taking off, but the shinobi didn't pursue.

The soldiers ran over a mile with no problems, but slowly began to collapse from exhaustion before getting much further. Temujin's brow furrowed in confusion as he looked around and wondered what was happening to them, but then he felt the adrenaline rush that came after tapping into the power of the Gelel stone. He peeled back the outer layer of his armor to see hundreds of tiny black dots crawling over his blue spandex and frantically wiped them off while jumping into a nearby stream. The insects flew away before he landed in the cold water, but before relief set in the foreigner heard a familiar voice call out, "Mizu no Tatsumaki." The liquid around him started spinning rapidly and shot upwards, causing the red-eyed blonde to let out a panicked yell before crashing into the riverbank. The knight could see two figures walking towards him through his blurred vision, but he couldn't force his body to move before one of their fists smashed into his face and everything went black.

* * *

><p>Temujin suddenly regained consciousness when a bucketful of freezing water splashed over his face. The teenager desperately gasped for air and lifted his head while looking around to see where he was. A single candle illuminated the small corner of a tent and allowed the foreigner to see the wooden chair he was secured to. Steel wire uncomfortably bound his hands behind the chairs back while the earth itself twisted up his legs and trapped them. The boy tried to break the wire around his wrist when a bright light flashed on across the tent and forced his eyes closed. The knight squinted and tried to see through the intense glare when a wooden club smashed into his cheek and he heard, "That was your payback, now let us handle it from here."<p>

The light dimmed and the restrained blonde opened his eyes to see a heavily bandaged Kahiko holding a club as Naruto unsheathed his saber and leaned closer to ask, "What is it you guys want here, and don't give me that crap about culturing savages." The dazed teen was intent on not saying anything when the chunin's weapon glowed red and nicked his cheek. The Gelel stone implanted in Temujin sent out energy to fight the corrosive chakra eating away at his flesh, but the pain was still excruciating. Naruto kept the blade there for three seconds before stepping back, but to the foreigner it felt like hours, "Sorry, I was supposed to demonstrate what would happen if you didn't answer the question first, my mistake. Now tell me, what is your master's objective?"

Fear shone in his red eyes as they stared at the demonic weapon. Those three seconds were worse than anything he'd gone through since watching his parents get butchered as a child. The physical agony was like nothing he'd ever experienced, but it also felt like the foul energy was trying to devour his soul, "To find the source of the Gelel stones so we can harness their power and create a utopia. With that kind of might it would be possible to unite the world under the empire's banner."

The knight frantically tried to move backwards as the blade got closer to his face, "Bullshit, how does killing innocents help create a utopia? How does torturing an old man help accomplish your dream?"

"Sometimes noble sacrifices are necessary-"

"Shut the fuck up," roared Naruto as he stabbed the blade down. Temujin closed his eyes in fear and nearly wet himself before hearing it pierce the wood between his legs. "You can't slaughter helpless people and call it a sacrifice."

The knight looked at him pleadingly, "You don't understand, the empire can bring peace and prosperity to this land."

Naruto's blue eye stared at him coldly, "That's something you can't force, peace needs to be accepted for it to mean anything. You can't create a utopia by killing people that disagree with your ideas until everyone left thinks like you, the path to your dream cannot be paved with the bodies of innocents. To create a peaceful world you need to help different people understand one another, but that's impossible if you kill their loved ones. That only leads to hatred and more violence, and the cycle will feed itself over and over again, never stopping. As long as it exists true peace, a utopia, can never be real."

Temujin's head dropped as he weakly said, "Maybe, maybe you're right," then the boy let out a sob, "Who would have thought savages would be wiser than our civilized empire?"

"It's not nice to call your kinsmen savages." The teenagers all looked at Kahiko in surprise and he smiled, "I've known for awhile now, that symbol on your chest only appeared after someone from the royal family had a Gelel stone implanted."

Temujin peeled down his spandex to see the mark where his stone was located, "Is that why my sign was different than the others, and why I can't transform?"

The caravan leader nodded, "Yes, when someone not of the royal bloodline received a stone they would get a random mark and could only use a bastardized form of its true power. You my boy have more power and greater control over your Gelel stone without having to transform." Temujin was shocked into silence as the man continued, "That's also why Nerugui is so fond of you. He is the only thing left we have from our homeland and was the royal family's beloved pet. He's actually much older than me."

Temujin stared at the ferret as it walked into the tent before looking up at the shinobi, "I don't know where the attack will happen, but the invasion of Wind Country starts tomorrow. The raids that Lord… that Haido sent out finished destroying any towns, cities, or outposts that could attack once the ships passed, and they will sail out tonight. He plans to sneak through the mountains in the northeast to avoid the defensive lines set up because of the raids."

Kahiko frowned, "That mountain range contains the Gelel mine." Five heads whipped around when he finished speaking and the caravan leader sheepishly grinned, "My family were the mine's keepers and kept the location secret through the generations, but I only know it is in the mountains of Kaze no Kuni. Still, I'm sure we can find it Temujin, it will just take some time."

'I know where the mine is.'

"Eh, did you hear that?" Naruto looked around frantically but didn't see anyone else in the tent.

'Down here.'

They looked at the floor to see Nerugui smiling up at them weirdly and Naruto's jaw dropped while he shouted, "T-the cat talked."

'I'm actually a ferret thank you very much, and I'm not talking, I'm projecting my thoughts into your heads. As Kahiko said I was the royal family's pet and still remember where the mine is.'

Kiba freed Temujin as Shino brought his supplies over. The foreigner stood and began strapping the armor on as Kahiko bowed, "Thank you for everything, I will stay and make sure things runs smoothly here. Please, go and destroy the Gelel stones before their power is unlocked once more."

'Come, we can't afford to waste anymore time.'

The caravan leader sighed as the five children rushed out of the tent with Nerugui, praying they would be able to complete the task his ancestors could not.

* * *

><p>Nerugui effortlessly leapt up the sheer cliff face while the four shinobi did the same, but Temujin wasn't used to travelling at these speeds and was forced to ride Akamaru. They had been traversing the numerous mountains in northeastern Kaze no Kuni for the past few hours in silence, until the ancient ferret projected his thoughts out, 'The mine is located inside the next mountain, you'll be able to see the it once we reach the summit. The main entrance was destroyed after the clan sealed it off so we'll have to use a chute halfway up the mountain.'<p>

Naruto sped past everyone and leapt onto the peak when Nerugui finished. The blonde stood there and stared into the distance until the ferret climbed up next to him, "Do you mean that mountain?" The blonde pointed towards the mountainside that one of Haido's warships bombarded with cannon-fire, creating an avalanche that killed several Suna shinobi and forced dozens more to give up the ground. All twenty battleships were floating in the six mile stretch between the two peaks and launching a continuous barrage towards the Suna-nin defending it, "Because it's going to be pretty hard getting in there."

Hinata activated her Byakugan and scanned the battlefield, "There aren't that many shinobi down there right now, they may be a scouting party. If we wait then it's possible they'll pull back and we can get in after the ships pass."

When the kunoichi finished a cloud of sand shaped itself into Shukaku's head before letting out a roar that launched a sandstorm towards the invaders, and Naruto looked at the Hyuuga, "If Gaara's here I don't think they'll be moving far anytime soon, he can stall them for awhile." The blonde chunin started sliding down the mountainside while yelling, "Let's meet up with him and figure out what's going on. If we can defeat them here destroying the Gelel stone will be easier."

Shino and Kiba followed the Uzumaki, but Hinata stopped Akamaru as he was about to jump down and uncapped her canteen before pouring some water into the dirt. She scooped up a handful of mud and drew the symbol of Sunagakure onto the front and back of Temujin's armor while saying, "So you don't get hit by friendly fire." When the Hyuuga was done she slid down as well and Temujin wrapped his arms around the dog's neck, holding on for dear life as the animal sped down the jagged slope to catch up with the others.

* * *

><p>Gaara growled when his Mugen Saijin—Daitoppa (Infinite Sand Cloud Great Breakthrough) dissipated and less than thirty enemy bodies were on the ground. The wizards were able to shield the frontline soldiers from the brunt of his techniques and transport the wounded back to priests, where they would be healed at a rate comparable to medic-nin. The Kazekage's son didn't have many shinobi with him, but he still needed to stall until the Suna-nin spread throughout the area could muster and come assist him. The earlier raids forced his father to spread their men throughout the desert so it could take another hour or two. Thankfully they knew the foreign army's location and were able to keep the area relatively small, Gaara didn't want to think what would've happened if they were forced to stretch across the entire northern desert.<p>

A giant wall of sand nearly one hundred feet long formed to intercept another salvo of cannon shots, but many still broke through and exploded, however, they lost enough inertia that the shrapnel didn't wound any Sand-nin. The Jinchuuriki created a horde of suna bunshin that rushed towards the foreign army while trying to create more sand to use, but the rock was incredibly solid and grinding it down was a slow process. He watched the trained knights easily slaughter his mindless dolls, but that was part of the plan. Gaara lifted his palm up as large spikes of sand shot up around the warriors and easily pierced their armor, but the wounded were instantly transported away as more living bodies came forward, forcing the redhead to fall back and cede ground.

The teen fought down his frustration and focused on the incoming army. He couldn't let them pass, once the ships got through the mountains they would be able to easily maneuver around him and attack one of the largest trading cities in Kaze no Kuni just two miles past the mountainous area. The Jinchuuriki was about to form another Ryusa Bakaryu to push them back when his right flank began to collapse. Gaara thought the enemies were about to break through and prepared a counter, but stopped when he heard a familiar bark and saw two grey twisters rip through the knights closing in.

It was surprising to see Team Eight here, but the Shukaku's container was absolutely shocked after he noticed a blonde jump above the crowd while saying, "Futon: Kami Oroshi." He watched as a twister nearly ten feet wide shoot out of Naruto's hands before plowing through several rows of soldiers, and when they dodged the wind-user followed their movements with his arms and the jutsu did the same, taking out several more before dissipating. The Konoha shinobi fought through the foreign warriors and made steady progress until they got to the redhead, and the blonde Jinchuuriki walked up to his brother with a wide grin, "Gaara, it's good to see you."

The redhead nodded back, "You as well my friend, but what are you doing here?"

Naruto rubbed the back of his head, "Well, it's kind of a long story but it has to do with these guys." He pointed to the mountain on their left that was swarming with knights and wizards, "We need to get in there."

Gaara didn't answer right away as hundreds of sand shurikens formed and launched towards advancing enemies. They stopped and hovered in mid air when the front row interlocked their shields to block the attack while those behind them lifted the shields above their heads, but the other Suna shinobi threw kunai over the formation. A series of explosions scattered the troops and the sand shuriken ended their lives before Suna's Jinchuuriki answered, "Then we'll need to push them back, but we don't have the manpower to accomplish that now. Your help would be appreciated until our main forces arrive though."

Naruto shook his head and bit his thumb, "Nope, we can't afford to wait. If they find out what's in there it's over." Gaara looked confused, but before he could ask anything his first friend cut him off, "I've been waiting to do this for so long." An orange shroud surrounded him before long ears and one tail formed, then the blonde slammed his palm on the ground, "Kuchiyose no Jutsu: Gama Trinity."

Temujin was startled when they rocketed into the air, and was absolutely petrified after he realized there was a large orange and red toad underneath them when it grumpily roared, "Why have you summoned me Naruto?"

The blonde just grinned, "Aw c'mon, don't be like that Bunta. Gamakichi always says you complain about not getting summoned anymore."

Gamabunta muttered something about drinking with loudmouth sons when he realized that he wasn't the only toad around, and grinned after hearing Gamaken, "It is good that you have called on me, but I may not be that helpful… I'm not very graceful you see."

Gamahiro smiled at Naruto while unsheathing his swords and jovially said, "Hmph, this better be good if you summoned the trinity brat."

"We need to push that army back quickly," as the blonde finished the ships let out a cannon barrage, but Gamahiro launched a massive windblast from his mouth that easily diverted them, "and we don't have much manpower, but with you guys-"

The blonde trailed off after watching Haido's cathedral float around a mountain in the distance with a massive piece of earth underneath it as Kiba gasped, "I guess they didn't build that thing here after all." Lightning crackled between the four towers and centered on the golden sun in the middle before a massive bolt shot towards the Suna contingent and summons. Gamabunta launched a Teppodoma, but the lightning blast easily pierced the jutsu and rained water onto the battlefield, although the attack was noticeably smaller afterwards. All three toads inhaled deeply when the Teppodoma failed and Gamahiro unleashed a stream of wind, Gamabunta a shot of oil, and Gamaken released a blast of flames. The three attacks combined into a firestorm that smashed the lightning bolt before bursting into a massive fire that drowned the battlefield in light and smoke.

Once the explosion of chakra died down Hinata reactivated her Byakugan and said, "U-um, they're doing something big in front of the castle. There's at least one hundred people moving in synch and they're putting out a lot of chakra."

Temujin's jaw dropped as a massive portal formed and he shook his head, "No, not him. They wouldn't."

The four shinobi gave each other confused looks before Kiba asked, "Who?"

"Fyrenimar," was the knight's one word response as a long, red-scaled nose emerged before a stream of flames exploded out of the nostrils.

* * *

><p><strong>Jutsu List<strong>

Ryusa Bakaryu

Sabaku Taiso (Sand Waterfall Imperial Funeral)- The follow-up to Gaara's Ryusa Bakaryu. He compresses the massive amounts of sand and kills anybody trapped inside.

Futon: Renkudan (Drilling Air Bullet) A Rank-Shukaku will inhale a large amount of air before expelling it in a large blast capable of demolishing a large area, he can also fire multiple bullets in rapid succession

Futon: Daitoppa

Toton Jutsu

Futon: Goukuhou

Suiton: Hahonryuu

Suiton: Suijenheki

Hakke Kusho

Futon: Sattou Dangan

Mizu no Tatsumaki

Mugen Saijin—Daitoppa (Infinite Sand Cloud Great Breakthrough) B Rank-Gaara/Shukaku launch a Daitoppa along with chakra infused sand that blinds opponents and is capable of rending the flesh from their limbs

Suna Bunshin

Gatsuuga

Futon: Kami Oroshi

Suiton: Teppodoma


	40. Power

Haido grit his teeth when the toads countered his cathedral's attack before adjusting his high powered telescope to see the figures standing on top of the orange summon, "Those brats again, and Temujin is with them." The priest cursed while sitting back in his elegant chair to observe the reactions of his commanders, and was disappointed to see they were demoralized, although he understood why.

Most of the savages they came across were able to utilize magic effectively, and some were even capable of summoning, but the barbarian armies would always crumble under the empire's combination of superior technology and warriors. They had never seen anything like this before though, a mere child summoned three giant toads when it would take a score of highly accomplished mages to equal that feat. Witnessing that was enough to make the hardiest soldier doubt himself, 'Perhaps those old legends about shinobi were true.'

The strength of these teenagers made his commanders indecisive, and now they were overthinking the situation instead of acting. The elite soldiers—leaders of the world's most powerful army—were afraid of two children, and doubted their capabilities because of it. If this continued the battle would be lost, Haido knew he needed to do something drastic to restore the troops' faith, an action that would make them feel invincible. The priest grabbed a sapphire the size of a lime from the table next to him and waited for it to shine before saying, "All mages report to the summoning circle and call Fyrenimar to the battlefield."

The light inside the gem faded while Haido adjusted his telescope to watch the ritual. Scores of wizards teleported outside as a summoning rune shone on the earth beneath them. The spellcasters pulled out their magical instruments before performing complicated hand motions in perfect synchronization, and the air around them crackled with power. A black vortex swirled above the cathedral and grew to massive proportions as a red snout slowly emerged and breathed out streams of fire. A massive reptilian head grew out of the portal with two horns sticking eight feet out the back of his skull, while intimidating yellow eyes with slit pupils hungrily stared at the people on the battlefield for a moment before he continued emerging.

Red spikes lined Fyrenimar's twenty-five foot long neck and continued down his spine as the massive wings on his back unfolded. The creature flew out of the vortex before landing on the ground, completely destroying the area and causing the earth to shake while his thirty-foot long tail eagerly struck the shattered stones. The dragon measured ninety feet from nose to tail with a wingspan of one hundred twenty feet, and was covered by lustrous red scales that seemed to shine in the daylight, except for his underside, which was tan and looked like armor plating. The sheer splendor of the beast captivated everyone on the field until it let out a terrible roar that stopped the hearts of the invaders and shinobi alike.

Haido grinned when the control runes glowed on the creature's scales before disappearing, which meant the ritual was a success. The savages had no hope now that Fyrenimar entered the battle, the dragon's strength was unmatched and he would make a meal out of those toads. The priest adjusted his telescope to look at the figures standing on top of the orange amphibian while confidently asking, "What will you do now boy? Do you truly see the futility of your efforts?" The man breathed an internal sigh of relief when the officers seemed to relax, and the tension in the control room disappeared as they began delivering orders once more.

* * *

><p>Gaara managed to shake himself out of the trance gripping the fighters when the dragon landed on the ground and called out, "Retreat," before facing the armored blonde, "What is that thing?"<p>

Temujined shook uncontrollably when Fyrenimar roared and took several deep breaths before he was able to speak, "My country's ultimate weapon. Almost two hundred years ago the emperor ordered a formidable group of wizards to capture the most powerful dragon in his domain. He then used it to rapidly expand his borders, but the strategy was so effective his rivals copied the idea. The nations raced to capture dragons for their own use, and the devastation caused by the resulting battles was so great the countries signed a treaty that banned them on the continent."

The Suna shinobi managed to gather their wits and retreat calmly while the foreigners scattered left and right to create space for the massive creatures to battle. Naruto watched the Sand-nin fall back before focusing on the dragon, "Can you can handle this Bunta?"

The boss toad lit his pipe before inhaling deeply and breathing out the pungent smoke, "We're about to find out kid." Gamabunta stared at the daunting creature and took another drag from his pipe, "Damn, Jiraiya never made us do anything this hard."

The summon exhaled a thick cloud of smoke that blocked the invader's vision before throwing his pipe into the middle of them—simply because he could—and crushed dozens as Gaara's sand carried the humans to a safe area. The boss toad nodded to his brothers and they hopped towards the beast while unsheathing their respective weapons. Gamahiro jumped over the other toads and slashed his katana onto the dragon's neck, but it sparked while harmlessly sliding over the ridged scales. Fyrenimar turned and prepared to launch a cone of fire towards the green toad, but Gamaken's shield smashed into the side of his head and sent the blast straight into the air.

The dragon reared up and prepared to slash the magenta summons with his claw when several Teppodoma hit the monster's face, blocking his vision momentarily. Ken and Hiro retreated after Bunta's jutsu landed and the dragon took to the skies. The toads launched another combo of wind, fire, and oil towards Fyrenimar, but he easily countered with his own firestorm. The toads were surprised when it was able to match their collaboration attack and leapt away when the beast roared, causing his flames to grow larger and overtake the jutsu before turning a patch of earth into molten rock.

They kept hopping around the dangerous fire blasts until Gamaken jumped onto a mountain as the dragon flew low for another pass before leaping over the colossal reptile and using his sasumata to pin its neck to the ground. He stood on Fyrenimar's back and tried to hold the beast down, but he easily regained his feet so the magenta toad hopped away as Gamahiro descended from above and stabbed the monster with a wind coated katana, yet his blade barely pierced the creature's armor before he was smacked away by its tail. The toad pushed himself up while holding his right side and hissed in pain before saying, "Damn, I don't think I can take too many of those."

"I'm surprised you took one," Gamabunta grunted. "This things is bad news, all our attacks don't even phase it."

"I wish I could do more, but I'm not very graceful."

The boss toad sighed as Fyrenimar looked at them arrogantly and spoke in a booming voice that momentarily sapped their will to fight, "Come now froggies, I like to play with my food before eating it."

The dragon smiled viciously after finishing and Gamabunta pushed aside the feeling hopelessness aside while observing the ruined battlefield, "I have a plan."

* * *

><p>Haido cursed when the giant toads exhaled smoke that blocked his vision, but when it cleared he watched the monsters battle until one of his subordinates reported, "Sir, peak seven has come under assault."<p>

The man adjusted his telescope to view the mountain and saw Temujin running up the slope with the four shinobi, "Why are you attacking that position when your allies are retreating? There must be something important in there." Haido touched the large diamond fastening his cloak while thinking, 'Ranke, Kamira, report to me immediately.'

The brunette walked into the command room moments later with a woman wearing dark purple armor that had swirling gold inlays and a red cape fastened to the back with golden studs the size of her fist. She had blonde hair that fanned out as it went down her neck and stopped above her shoulders, while two long bangs framed the knight's face that reached her ample breasts. Two dangerous spikes extended six inches off the Ranke's square shoulder pads while smaller two-inch spikes jutted out of the kneecaps in her boots. The blonde flexed her armored hand eagerly as multi-colored eyes—with a lilac ring around the pupil and a darker purple one outside that—flashed with excitement as the two women simultaneously bowed and intoned, "As you command Lord Haido."

The priest turned to a man wearing white armor that had small rubies inlaid to form a shining sun, "Colonel, I want you to take command while I'm gone. If we're not back before Fyrenimar's victory move towards the city, we can't afford any more delays. When you arrive give them one chance to surrender, if they don't take control of the dragon and burn everything down except the walls."

The knight stood up and bowed, "Thank you sir, but I'm not the ranking officer here, tha-"

"I know who it is colonel, but you were the only effective leader when the battle started to turn against us. Your superiors were paralyzed by doubt and fear so I trust you with this command, prove you are worthy of it. If anybody tries to usurp your authority they are breaching my orders, and the punishment for that is death." Haido stood and walked up to the knight, "In the highly unlikely situation that I have not returned by then have the mages contact General Barca and tell him to proceed. He shall bring a ten ship fleet from the ocean in the south. Garrison the city and march out to meet him halfway when the savages turn to meet his attack." The knight saluted as Haido turned and walked out with the two women flanking him, "Now, it's time to pay those brats back." One of the rings on Kamira's fingers glowed brightly before they disappeared in a swirl of fire.

* * *

><p>As the sand platform floated down Naruto pointed over to a mountain swarming with foreign troops, "We have to get over there now, this fight will keep everyone pinned down and the soldiers up there won't get reinforcements."<p>

Gaara didn't answer until everyone was safely on the ground, "Of course, but I cannot leave my post. We must stall them here until my father arrives, even if it means releasing the Shukaku." The blonde Jinchuuriki gingerly rubbed his stomach as the redhead continued, "If those ships get into the open desert I won't be able to contain them all."

The Uzumaki reached out and clasped his friend's hand, "I understand, It was good seeing you Gaara." The redhead shunshined over to the Suna-nin building impromptu fortifications as Naruto faced his teammates, "Let's get moving, stay behind me for now." The five teenagers dashed towards the mountain as the masked chunin unsheathed his saber, and when they got closer to the first defensive line of foreigners he ran ahead while a thick layer of Kyuubi's chakra coated the blade, filling the air with a potent killing intent that temporarily paralyzed the invaders.

The chunin picked out the strongest looking one as the knight tried to react, but he couldn't even lift his shield before the saber sliced through his armor and left a shallow cut going up his left side. Pain overrode the man's fear and he tried to punch the blonde with his spiked gauntlets, but Naruto was faster and dropped to his hands before kicking the knight back into the crowd behind him while a thin strand of red chakra coated by a translucent blue shell extended from the blade and connected to the man's wound. His comrades tried to sever it, but they were forced to drop their weapons as the vile chakra engulfed them as well.

Priests rushed forward and began chanting around the man as he writhed in pain, but their efforts were useless and he was quickly covered by the toxic energy. His skin started to peel off and blood mixed with the Kyuubi's chakra before it formed a black sphere around the knight. The closest men to the spectacle collapsed and began throwing up, but Naruto wasn't phased as he watched the orb disappear, revealing a humanoid form covered in dense black chakra with red streaks running through it. The pseudo-Jinchuuriki had long thin ears sticking out of the top of its head, pure white eyes, and foul vapors leaking out of its mouth, which was lined by small chakra fangs. The creature dropped to all fours as the first chakra tail sprouted from the base of its spine, quickly followed by the second, but when the third finished growing Naruto stopped the transformation.

The pseudo-Jinchuuriki roared ferociously and broke the foreigners out of their stupor, however, the primal energy it was releasing sent them into a frenzy. Knights and wizards charged towards the beast with no concern for their safety and its tails shot out, easily piercing dozens of men until the appendages looked like macabre garlands. After he finished slaughtering the initial wave of foreigners the possessed knight whipped their corpses into the crowd before charging forward.

Some officers gathered themselves and called for a retreat to form up on higher ground, but one wizard didn't budge, confident his stoneskin enchantment would buy enough time to cast a spell. He ignored the chakra claw coming towards his left side in a wide loop and threw a handful of feathers into the air, but as he began chanting and waving his arms the claw bifurcated him. The mage could only stare at his legs in disbelief for a moment before a chakra tail impaled him through the chest.

The transformed knight looked up to see his former comrades had regrouped on top of a plateau forty feet away and were waiting for wizards to cast a spell. A dozen of them were chanting while throwing grey powder into the air, so the beast gathered its vile black chakra in front of its mouth and condensed it into an orb the size of a cantaloupe. The spellcasters finished first and the powder congealed before shaping into hundreds of glowing silver knives that flew towards the beast, while another half dozen mages raised a barrier in front of the formation. The miniature Kyuubi ignored the blades and let them bounce of its chakra cloak harmlessly before launching the black orb towards the mass of troops.

The mages smirked confidently as it flew towards their barrier, knowing it would pass through another dimension before getting redirected at the creature, but the attack suddenly dipped. It hit the cliff wall underneath the plateau and caused it to collapse, trapping some foreigners underneath large boulders. Most wizards teleported when the attack changed course, and the knights that could move after the plateau crumbled ran further up the mountain, leaving their helpless comrades as a sacrifice to buy more time. The warriors pinned by the rocks struggled to escape as the beast eagerly stalked towards them with a malicious glint in its white eyes.

* * *

><p>Naruto watched the transformation intently and cut it off at three tails before turning to his teammates, but the Jinchuuriki let out a curse when he saw them. Temujin was quivering on the ground in a puddle of his own vomit, and the members of Team Eight weren't faring much better. They were on their hands and knees breathing heavily, and when the transformed knight roared the chunin curled up into the fetal position while Akamaru whined next to Kiba and tried to stick his head into the brunette's vest. "Dammit. Snap out of it guys, we need to move now." Naruto slapped Kiba and Shino gently but they didn't respond, and neither did the Hyuuga when he leaned close to her ear and whispered, "Hinata, can we go on a date when this is over?"<p>

'Let me help.' The blonde's head snapped up and he watched Nerugui walk up to Temujin while the diamond in the middle of his forehead glowed green. The animal placed his paw on the right side of the knight's chest and a white aura outlined the two before expanding to surround the five of them in a bubble, 'This should mitigate the effects.' The ancient ferret looked at the blonde strangely while the others started to stir, 'To think a mere child could contain the Kyuubi no Kitsune.'

The shaken teens started to breathe normally as the Konoha shinobi looked in awe at the overwhelming force wielded by the pseudo-Jinchuuriki, "It seems illogical that something so powerful can be contained within a person. I cannot fathom it."

Shino trailed off as Hinata fought back tears, "T-that's what Naruto-kun is protecting us from. Thank you."

Akamaru put his paws onto the blonde's shoulders and licked him as Kiba let out an impressed whistle, "I can't imagine what that thing must look like if this is only a third of its power."

"I appreciate the support guys, but we don't have the time now," replied the blonde chunin while looking up the mountain, "How much further until the chute?"

Nerugui started hopping up the craggy slope, 'It's just over halfway up. Let's get moving, keep a lookout for enemies.'

"Hold on a sec," Naruto unsealed a spare shirt and tossed it to Temujin as he stood up, "Let him clean up first."

The knight quickly wiped himself off and followed the ferret as he led them up the mountainside. They made good progress, but as they were nearing the chute Hinata called out, "They're above us and dropping boulders, scatter."

The shinobi jumped to the sides, but Temujin drew his sword and it extended to full length while he ran up the sheer wall, straight towards the tumbling rocks. He hopped to the right to avoid one and kept running up before he slid to the left to avoid another stone, but when the foreign teenager looked he saw a massive boulder falling right at him. The knight tried to keep sliding left but his boot got caught in a rock jutting out and he couldn't move. The armored blonde closed his eyes and waited for the stone to smash into him, "Rasengan." His red eyes snapped open and saw Naruto thrust the spiraling sphere forward before it shattered the boulder. The chunin disappeared in a puff of smoke after hitting the mountainside and Temujin sliced through the stone trapping his foot.

He continued charging up the sheer wall and jumped over onto the ledge, where two knights in full green armor were waiting with their swords drawn and shields at the ready, while a young brunette haired wizard wearing plain blue robes that matched his eyes stood behind them. Temujin charged forward and stabbed towards the right one's legs, but it was easily blocked by the boy's shield, however, the older knight had planned for that. He was already swinging his left hand forward while the shield unfolded, and its electrified metal edge easily sliced through the weak spot in his armor and sliced sword arm off. The wounded knight looked blankly at his severed limb through the slot as Temujin kicked him off the cliff before using his small shield to block a horizontal slash aimed towards his neck.

The armored blonde rolled forward and took out his new opponent's feet, which made the boy drop the crossbow he was trying to draw. Temujin grabbed the ranged weapon as he stood up and fired the bolt into the downed knight's face before tossing it towards the wizard. The mage didn't flinch and completed his spell as the wooden crossbow shattered harmlessly against his skin. A large gust of wind burst forward from his body, but Temujin stabbed his blade into the rock and waited for it to end before kicking loose stones towards his opponent. They did no damage, but every hit sapped the stoneskin enchantment, no matter how insignificant. The spellcaster glared at him and pulled a thin wooden wand from his loose sleeve before shooting a small fireball at the knight.

The blonde jumped over the attack and kicked more pebbles at his opponent when he landed before bursting into motion to avoid another fireball. The silver knight continued avoiding the magical flames and kicking rocks towards the spellcaster until he flinched, which meant the stoneskin disappeared. The wizard glared angrily as he raised his wand before fire burst out of the tip and flew towards Temujin. A green aura outlined the knight's body as he charged forward and jumped into the fireball, the mage cried out in surprise when his opponent burst through the flames with his glowing sword pulled back and futilely raised his arms in defense before the deadly blade stabbed through his chest.

The blonde teen had no expression as he stared at the two lifeless bodies and suppressed the bile climbing in his throat, if the attack was yesterday he might have been fighting side by side with them. He stayed like that for a few moments until the others came over the cliff and Kiba let out a low whistle, "Impressive, three guys in less than a minute."

The knight fought down his anger at the shinobi's dismissive tone and coldly said, "Not really, this was a rookie unit. They were only supposed to build defenses and support older soldiers, but they still fought valiantly. I've never met them but I know several people from this unit well, and they always bragged about their rookies."

"And what about the other people that you've killed fighting, don't they deserve the same consideration?" Temujin looked back to see Naruto's blue eye carefully observing him, "It doesn't matter if you know the person or not, they're still someone's brother, father, mother, sister, aunt, friend, or lover. All the people connected to their lives will feel pain whether you personally know them or don't, and that's why Haido's methods cannot create a utopia. You can't unite people by spreading suffering, that only leads to hatred and more violence.

The knight's head dropped in shame and Nerugui cut in, 'We are close to the entrance, you can think about the question later.' The ferret started up the cliff and the teenagers followed him until he came to a stop near a river of boulders that stretched down the mountainside several minutes later, 'Shoot, the entrance is here but a landslide sealed it off. Can anybody open it?'

Hinata's eyes widened as she turned her head, "We'd better do it fast, more troops are coming now."

Temujin unsheathed his weapon while carefully observing the boulders, "Hold them off, I'll get it open." The shinobi headed towards the approaching troops as Gelel energy engulfed the knight's sword until his blade looked like it was coated in green fire. He pulled the weapon back and launched two crescents towards the boulders. One sliced through a rock twenty feet down the slope and another cleaved one in half one forty feet up the mountain. After the rocks split in two the boulders they supported began to tumble down the incline and the knight launched several more crescents that created another rockslide.

'There, do you see it?' Temujin's head instinctively shifted until he saw a wide chute and launched more green crescents so the massive stones didn't rest on it. When the landslide finished there were no boulders near the opening and Nerugui hopped on his shoulder, 'Excellent work, call the others.'

The knight was about to turn towards the shinobi when he saw three figures sliding down the mountain and realized it was Haido, Kamira, and Ranke. He slashed his sword and a long green whip flew towards the trio, but they gracefully flipped over it and dropped into the chute while Haido laughed mockingly. Temujin cursed and turned around to see the four ninja running up the slope, and he yelled out, "Hurry up, Haido must have been following us because he just jumped in with two of his lieutenants."

He raced towards the shaft but had to jump backwards when a massive fireball exploded in above the opening and the teenagers looked around to see five wizards had teleported on higher ground with four knights each. Naruto scanned the battlefield and cursed, "Shit, somebody needs to stay behind and stall them."

"I-I'll do it." They looked at the shy Hyuuga when she answered and the kunoichi continued in a more confident tone, "I can handle this, you guys keep going." She took a defensive stance while her fingers glowed blue and watched the wizards complete a spell before they launched a wave of steel knives so dense the teenagers couldn't see through it, "Shugohakke Rokujuyon Sho," (Protection of the Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms). Hinata's hands were a blur as they darted everywhere and left behind blue trails until a large net of chakra was formed, which deflected all the knives that would've hit them, "Hurry."

The boys nodded and headed towards the chute and Naruto looked back while mumbling, "I really need to ask how she does that later."

He jumped into the opening and gracefully slid down the chimney wall before landing next to Temujin who said, "Finally, let's go." They rushed through the narrow passageway until coming into a room carved out of the mountain that somewhat resembled the inside of Haido's cathedral. The domed ceiling was over two hundred feet high and had intricate paintings decorating every square inch while the floor was tiled with multi-colored marble and formed a mosaic of the sun. Large columns wider than most trees supported the ceiling and had carvings of various kings with strange writing underneath them, possibly detailing their history. The shinobi carefully observed the potential battlefield, but Temujin only had eyes for his former master, "I've come to stop you Haido."

The priest gave him a friendly smile while speaking in a kind tone, "Ah, there you are Temujin. I don't know why you've decided to work with these savages, but return to my side and all will be forgiven."

The blonde knight growled, "No, I've had enough of your lies and hollow promises. We can't create a utopia by conquering people, you just use it as a hollow excuse for expansion."

Haido's laughter echoed throughout the chamber, "You think I am the only one, or the first to do so. This has been going on for centuries boy. People are naturally disgusting and vile, but hate to think of themselves that way, so they validate their actions with a noble goal. Spreading culture and knowledge, creating a utopia, all of that is eloquent bullshit. Power is the only justification needed in this world, but only truly great men see that. Most are worms and need hide behind pretty words and false reasoning, simple sheep that need a shepherd to soothe their ego."

The man finished and stared condescendingly at the teen as he swore, "Dammit, I'll kill you. You're no better than scum, the trash of the earth."

Haido laughed eagerly when the teen finished, "I always expected you to turn against me, I was leading the raid that destroyed your village after all. You remember that I'm sure, the night your parents died like cattle." The knight let out a roar and blindly charged his former master while unsheathing his sword. The blade extended to full length as he leaped forward and lifted it above his head, but as he brought the weapon down Haido's fist pierced the right side of Temujin's chest. He casually tossed the young knight aside and lifted his bloody hand, revealing a small green gem. The priest crushed the Gelel stone and chuckled while he turned away, "I love accomplishing two objectives with one move. Without a stone you are no longer a threat, and it appears I need your blood to access the mines."

The man lifted his arm and reached out towards the far wall, but he suddenly pivoted and swatted his fist towards Nerugui when the ferret tried to ambush him from a pillar, however, the animal disappeared in a puff of smoke and the Naruto took its place before catching the priest's wrist. He had a grim look on his face and a swirling ball of blue chakra in his palm, "Rasengan." The shinobi thrust his jutsu forward and it easily shredded the priest's robes, however, it stopped at his stomach and couldn't damage the skin.

Haido arrogantly smirked when the chunin gave him a surprised look, "I've been practicing with Gelel energy longer than you've been alive boy." He brought his fist down to pummel the blonde, but the Rasengan glowed brightly before exploding outwards and knocking the priest away from the wall. The man quickly regained his feet and tossed his ruined shirt aside while saying, "Ranke, Kamira, entertain the children while I secure our destiny."

The man disappeared as Kiba's Gatsuuga passed through the spot he just stood and reappeared in front of the wall covered in complex seals. He smeared Temujin's blood on the symbols and they glowed white before a circle fifteen feet wide rolled to the side. Torches automatically lit up when the pathway opened, revealing a long staircase that Haido casually walked down with a triumphant laugh."

Shino observed the man and pushed his sunglasses into place while saying, "Naruto, take Temujin and go ahead to destroy the Gelel stones. I will remain behind with Kiba and Akamaru to deal with these two. Get ready, we shall create an opening for you to get through."

The Uzumaki nodded as the blonde woman laughed, "That's rich, snot noses brats like you wouldn't stand a chance even if I fought by myself. You may have killed Fugai, but I'm on a different level."

"We shall see about that," the Aburame lifted his arms and a thousands of insects flew out before creating a black cloud that blocked the women's vision. Two fuuma shuriken burst through the swarm and forced them to dodge, but when two blonde figures jumped through seconds later the women were able to react and easily intercepted them. Ranke grabbed Naruto's neck and effortlessly snapped it with her right hand while Kamira's sword stabbed through Temujin's stomach, but the teenagers both grinned after the fatal blows landed and disappeared in two puffs of smoke.

The fuuma shuriken initially thrown through the kikaichu transformed into the blonde teenagers and they ran towards the staircase. Ranke unsheathed her sword and threw it at the duo as they tried to escape, but a wall of wind rose up behind them and deflected the blade before she pulled it back using a chakra string. The cloud of bugs dispersed and Kiba grinned while mocking the purple armored knight as she sheathed her weapon, "So far I'm not impressed lady, I know ten year olds that wouldn't have fallen for that."

Akamaru barked tauntingly and she growled before charging the Inuzuka, but he retreated as hundreds of kikaichu came forward and covered Ranke. Lightning coursed over the woman's body, which killed Shino's insects as she skidded to a stop and pointed her palms towards both shinobi while streams of purple electricity arced between them, "Tornado Lightning."

All the electricity surrounding the knight was channeled down her arms and a several bolts of lightning arced towards the shinobi while spinning around each other, forming a twister nearly fifteen feet wide. Akamaru jumped next to Kiba as he and Shino made identical seals before all three sunk into the ground. Ranke cut off her attack and looked around the room with Kamira until a grey whirlwind burst out of the ground at her feet moments later. The blonde was thrown upwards and Kiba exited the spin before dropkicking her into Akamaru's Gatsuuga as the dog emerged from the floor. The woman violently tumbled across the marble tiles until she crashed into a column, yet Ranke was still able to roll away before the dog hit her with the attack again.

Akamaru stopped his spin and landed on the wall before dropping back to the floor, where he growled at the woman as she rolled to her feet, but the dog couldn't find an exposed spot to attack, there weren't many places he could latch on because of the armor. The blonde charged towards him with her sword raised, covering ground at an alarming rate as Akamaru considered his next move. His dodging options were limited because of the wall next to him, and there weren't any vulnerable spots to attack, seeing no other option he lifted his leg and let out a stream of piss that hit the woman's eyes. Ranke was disgusted as she stumbled backwards and wiped the urine covering her face away so it wouldn't drip into her mouth. Once the yellow liquid was gone she opened her ringed eyes that were brimming with rage and yelled, "That was disgusting, have you no honor in battle?"

Kiba could only laugh at the woman as she wringed out her bangs that were soaked in piss, "C'mon, it's more sterile than water. Besides, honor is for idiots, I fight to win."

The woman's eyes narrowed and she was outlined by a green grow while her torso thickened and her entire body was covered by black hair. Her head grew larger and took an a boxy shape until it looked like an gorilla's, while her arms lengthened and legs shortened. When Ranke's knuckles scraped the floor her muscles rapidly expanded until the transformed woman's limbs were thicker than Kiba's torso. A cocky grin spread across the foreigner's cheeks while she spoke in a deeper voice, "Then I shall fight to win too."

The knight blurred forward before her large fist shattered the ground where Kiba and Akamaru just stood. The Inuzuka looked towards his partner as he whined, "Don't blame me, you're the one who pissed on her face." The dog barked in response and the feral chunin replied, "I don't think that'll work, but we can give it a try." Ranke charged the duo once more and they jumped onto the nearest pillar while Kiba yelled, "Hey lady, Akamaru says he's really sorry and wants to know if you'll change back into your human form. He promises not to do it again."

"I'm going to rip you pathetic worms apart limb by limb," screamed the enraged woman as streaks of electricity flowed over her body.

The boy looked over to his dog, "You were right buddy, it did buy us some time to gather the chakra we needed." They jumped off the pillar as the apelike woman destroyed it with a bolt of electricity, and Kiba landed on top of Akamaru with his hand in a seal, "Jinbu Konbi Henge: Sotoro," (Human Beast Combination Henge: Double Headed Wolf).

A large cloud of smoke covered the duo, but when it cleared a sixteen-foot tall two-headed wolf with pure white fur appeared in front of the woman while lightning flared around her body. Red eyes stared hungrily at the knight as lines of spit fell off its sharp teeth, but Ranke wasn't intimidated condensed all the electricity to a small point at the tip of her finger, "Rage of the Thunder God."

A bolt of lightning eight feet wide was launched from her fingertip and vaporized the nearby stone. The wolf started weaving through the columns as the woman's spell followed and demolished them, but her attack was short lived, the electricity faded out after ten seconds. When the lightning vanished the wolf pivoted and slid across the ground before lunging towards the knight while spinning at insane speeds as a deep voice growled out, "Garoga," (Wolf Fang over Fang). The pure white drill flew towards Ranke as she launched a weaker blast of lightning, but it wasn't able to pierce the dense winds created by the jutsu, so she was forced to cancel her attack and jump left to avoid the drill, but a trail of saliva sliced into her side through the armor and left a deep gash.

The apelike woman hissed in pain and backflipped over the wolf when it came around for another pass before running across the room, but the living twister followed her movements perfectly. She pivoted to the right and jumped onto a pillar to avoid the two Inuzuka, but they weren't fooled and smashed through the column as she dropped to the ground. The knight weaved through the pillars while the wolf stayed on her trail, but when she circled one and broke the line of sight the woman climbed up and hopped to a different column while the two headed wolf continued straight. Ranke began to think of a way to stop that thing when the pillar she was hiding on shattered. The apelike woman was able to avoid the attack, but the Goroga created sharp blades of wind that extended beyond the physical attack, and one sliced her in half.

The transformation faded as the blonde knight fell to the floor in two pieces and stared at the wolf in disbelief as it was obscured by a puff of smoke. Kiba and his dog walked out of the cloud as the feral chunin pulled out a kunai. The woman tried to summon more power from the Gelel stone, but nothing came and numbness overtook her body. She tried to call on any scrap of energy in order to kill this boy before death claimed her, but his dog burst forward and gripped one of her wrists before Kiba vanished and reappeared with his foot on her other arm. Ranke's purple and violet eyes stared at the shinobi defiantly, but there was no emotion on his face while he slashed her throat.

* * *

><p>Kamira looked at the ground as small holes formed in the stone and clouds of Kikaichu swarmed out. The woman jumped backwards to escape the insects as one of her rings glowed brightly and a wall of flames formed in front of her before exploding towards the destruction bugs. Many died in the blaze, but she didn't have time to gloat and turned around as Shino lunged forward with a kunai in his hand. The knight grabbed his outstretched wrist and twisted it to the side while delivering a brutal blow to his stomach, but the shinobi dissolved into a swarm of kikaichu that covered her body. Another ring glowed red before the spellsword was engulfed in flames for several seconds, killing the insects draining her chakra.<p>

Shino cocked his eyebrow after her latest katon jutsu and took stock of his colony. He had lost a fifth of it already, and if Kamira continued using her fire attacks the casualties would skyrocket. She could burn his kikaichu before they had time to drain her chakra so his main style of fighting was useless, it was a good thing an Aburame never relied on one trump card. The shinobi lifted his arm and insects poured out of his sleeves before forming two large needles that flew towards the woman from her sides.

The knight stood her ground as the insects flew towards her and began scattering ash in the air while chanting quickly. She spread her arms out wide and waggled her fingers before two streams of fire rushed towards the destruction bugs. They scattered and avoided the attack before combining into one needle behind the woman, but Kamira pulled a grape-sized ruby from one of her rings and threw it towards them while jumping away. The gem transformed into blood red flames and the insects split up once more to avoid the growing fireball, but individual tongues of fire broke off and followed their movements.

Small lights danced around the room as the magical flames chased the kikaichu until they grouped up again and flew towards Kamira, but she laughed while a wall of flames rose in front of her, forcing the insects to split up and fly around her while the fire did the same. The woman dropped the barrier and her eyes immediately widened when she saw Shino there with another kunai in his hand, however, despite her surprise the knight was able to slap his wrist out wide and slash her sword towards his neck in the same motion. The Aburame managed to grab her sword arm, but she easily overpowered him and knocked him back with the hilt of her blade. Kamira pointed her palm towards the downed shinobi as three rings on her fingers glowed orange, but before the spell was complete she grabbed her stomach and collapsed to the ground while groaning in pain. The foreigner tried to push herself up, but she let out an agonized scream and collapsed before asking, "Wh-what did you do to me?"

The Aburame pushed himself up while saying, "Admittedly my close range skills are lacking, so why would I attack you that way? Simple, because my attacks were never meant to cause damage, they were a distraction so I could slip several assassin bugs onto you. My clan breeds them in a manner that keeps them dormant in our bodies while they feed off chakra, but when we place the insects on another person and break the connection they wake up and seek out their preferred food, human flesh." The quiet shinobi wiped the dust off his clothes and confidently pushed his sunglasses into place before continuing, "These small predators have burrowed into you and are now injecting a poison that liquefies your flesh before they suck it out and repeat the process. Of course, the insects we breed are more voracious when compared to those found in the wild. They usually kill their targets in less than five minutes"

"I see," Kamira fought off the pain and stood up while calling on the energy of her Gelel stone. The woman's armor melded with her skin and turned black before her hair color changed to white as thick patches of fur grew over her breasts and hips. Large triangular ears sprung out the top of Kamira's head while bat-like wings sprouted from her back until they stretched eight feet across. The knight lifter her arms and they extended another foot as her fingers lengthened as well—creating gaps between her decorative rings—while her feet morphed until they had four fingerlike claws extending straight out with another one angled to the side. Kamira ignored the severe pain wracking her body and smiled at Shino, revealing a mouthful of dangerously sharp teeth, and spoke in a high pitched voice, "Then I should kill you quickly."

"That appears to be an empty threat, nothing more than bluster coming from a dying foe." The Aburame stepped back into the shadows and his voice seemed to come from everywhere, "The more energy you expel the hungrier they get, and their gluttonous nature compensates for the limited numbers I can safely house. Eventually you will succumb to them, even if I die, but for that to happen you must find me."

The transformed knight smirked, "That'll be easier than you think brat," before flying towards the ceiling. Kamira fought through the pain and managed to reach the domed ceiling before letting out a series of small sonar blasts. When the sound waves bounced off the walls and returned to her ears the woman smirked and turned left while letting out a piercing shriek that distorted the air around her mouth.

Shino fell from his hiding place and smashed into the ground as Kamira slowly floated to the marble floor. The bat-like foreigner lifted her palm and one of the rings glowed purple before an ethereal black sword appeared in her hand. She stepped towards the Konoha-nin as he tried to recover from her attack and push himself up, but he couldn't find his balance and collapsed to the ground.

Kamira stopped next to the Aburame and lifting the strange weapon over her head, but before she could swing the blade down, "Hakke Kusho," echoed through the chamber, and a pressurized blast of air smashed into her side. The transformed knight stood up while her pink and orange eyes angrily stared at the kunoichi who interfered. Hinata landed in front of her downed teammate and took a defensive Jyuuken stance with a fierce glare in her Byakugan and said, "Stay away from my friend."

Kamira suppressed a wince and glowered at the blue haired kunoichi while fighting down the panic rising in her chest. She would have to kill these whelps quickly and hope a priest could extract the nasty insect devouring her flesh. The batlike woman charged the two with her ethereal sword ready to strike and the Hyuuga burst forward to meet her rush. The knight smirked when the white-eyed chunin got close and jumped into the air before throwing her sword towards Shino. Hinata gasped and shot a Hakke Kusho towards the weapon, but it passed through the strange weapon before it slid into the Aburame's flesh. The insect-user's body went limp as the sword disappeared, but moments later it burst into a swarm of insects that flew away while the real Shino stepped out of the shadows and leaned against a pillar to steady himself.

The knight let out a growl as two more purple swords appeared in her hands, but moments later she collapsed to her knees and grabbed her stomach while letting out a bloodcurdling wail. The Aburame weakly pushed his sunglasses up his nose before speaking, "It seems I forgot to mention that the Assassin bugs lay eggs as they feed, and when these eggs are exposed to excess amounts of energy they hatch and grow at an accelerated rate before feasting with their parents.

When he finished the woman screamed in denial and her stomach began to churn visibly before dozens of bugs burst out of her stomach. Kamira fell backwards and lay still while her red eyes glossed over and blankly stared at the beautiful murals on the ceiling. Kiba walked over to his teammates and stared at the batlike woman's mangled corpse, "That was gross Shino."

"And effective, victories are the only thing that measure the efficacy of a technique. Besides, some may consider urinating on an opponent even more foul."

The Inuzuka ignored the bug user's response and looked at their female teammate, "So what happened up there Hinata?

The girl's fair skin turned slightly green as she answered, "The man Naruto-kun transformed arrived and started fighting the people on the surface. I, I couldn't watch it so I came down here."

Kiba put a comforting hand on her shoulder while Shino asked, "Should we go help our blonde friends or see what is happening outside?"

Hinata looked at the door in the far wall longingly for several moments before tearing her eyes away, "Naruto-kun can handle himself, and he has Temujin with him. The fight between the toads and dragon has moved far enough away that the foreign army has started pushing the Suna-nin back again. They need our help more." Team Eight nodded at each other before heading back the way they came while silently wishing their comrade luck.

* * *

><p>Bunta squinted his good eye and stared at the colossal dragon perched on a mountain in the distance while sunlight glinted off his lustrous scales. The creature appeared relaxed as he lounged on the mountainside, perfectly confident the summons would prove no challenge to his awesome strength, but Gamabunta fought the Kyuubi no Kitsune in single combat and the dragon wouldn't be able to scare him into making mistakes. "Fyrenimar wants to pull us away so they can start fighting over here again, but if that bastard wants us to move then he'll need to do it himself. Start attacking the ships and people, as long as we're over here the Suna-nin can rest and prepare."<p>

Gamahiro snorted good naturedly, "Fighting to help Sand shinobi. Can't say I ever saw us doing this, but stranger things have happened." The toad launched a drill of wind into the foreign army that created a crater thirty feet wide before performing a set of hand-seals while Bunta covered the field with toad oil. Gamaken ignited the flammable liquid with a stream of fire, and when the blaze reached its peak Gamahiro called out, "Futon: Daitoppa," before launching a wall of wind that fanned the flames and caused the fires to spread all over the battlefield and towards the ships.

Before the firestorm reached the wooden vessels Fyrenimar launched a cone of fire from above that absorbed the flames and created another pit of magma. Wizards appeared all over the battlefield and began teleporting groups of soldiers further away from the giants as they faced off once again. Gamabunta let out a grunt as he watched the dragon land on the other side of the pit and said, "Get him up in the air and shooting fire at us again. When he's up there we'll play some leap toad like the good old days."

His brothers' eyes lit up when the orange toad finished and Gamaken said, "I shall do my best, but don't count on me too much, I'm very clumsy you see."

Fyrenimar listened to the three toads plan and sat there arrogantly, no matter what they tried it wouldn't be enough, nothing was strong enough to kill him. Still, the dragon was getting bored just waiting around and if he didn't act soon the damn wizard's would use the seal and force him to. The beast growled at the thought of being controlled by lesser beings and exploded forward. The summons looked surprised when Fyrenimar burst into motion and the dragon was able to knock one of Gamahiro's swords away before they could react, which forced the Suna nin to abandon their position lest they be crushed by the massive blade. The green toad was knocked off balance and the enslaved creature slashed forward with his claw, but Gamaken threw his shield and diverted the blow.

Hiro was able to escape after the attack missed so the dragon turned and charged towards the magenta summon with a roar. Bunta tried to knock it off course with a Teppodoma, but Fyrenimar didn't even stumble and continued rushing towards Gamaken, however, the horned toad's shield curved back into his hands before the creatures collided. The dragons horns dented the metal and pushed the summon back nearly fifty feet, but the shield didn't break and Gamaken lifted his Sasumata like a spear and stabbed towards Fyrenimar's eyes. The creature tilted his head and let the heavy blade bounce off its thick scales before launching a stream of fire at the toad's feet. Ken was forced to jump straight up as the flames melted the earth beneath him, and the dragon prepared to launch another firestorm at the airborne toad when Gamabunta jumped onto his back and sent it off course.

Fyrenimar let out a roar and unfolded his massive wings, which flung the boss toad off his back, and took to the skies. The dragon flew through the air and launched streams of white-hot flames at his opponents that melted earth. The summons nimbly hopped around the pools of lava and avoided the cones of fire until there was a giant pool of molten rock in the middle of the battlefield. Bunta looked over and realized that some invaders had slipped past them and growled, "Let's go boys, we're on the clock here."

Gamaken crouched down before jumping as high as he could, when he reached the apex Gamahiro landed on top of him and pushed off to go even higher. Gamabunta hopped onto a nearby mountain while his brothers made the first leaps, and when Hiro flew past him the boss toad pushed off the mountain with his powerful legs. Bunta used Gamahiro's back as a platform and jumped above the dragon before firing a Teppodoma to adjust his course. The summon rotated in mid-air and landed on the monstrosity's back, which caused it to waver momentarily.

Gamabunta grabbed his tanto and put the sharp blade on Fyrenimar's neck before he grabbed the dull side with his left hand to stay on the creature. The toad got his shoulders under the beast's wings before pulling tightly on the knife, which angled the dragon's wings up and sent them flying towards the ground. Bunta struggled against Fyrenimar's awesome strength, but he realized the glowing red lake was getting closer, and when he could feel the heat radiated he let go of his tanto and jumped off the dragon, pushing him into the molten rock.

The toad cleared the fiery liquid, but he landed clumsily and rolled over one hundred yards before regaining his feet. Gamabunta formed a hand-seal and shot a stream of cold water into the lava, which hissed as it started to cool, but Fyrenimar breached the surface with a roar. Molten rock dripped off the monster's body as he clawed at the bank and began to pull himself out. Bunta shot him with the water stream and the lava turned black as it hardened, trapping the dragon inside, but his fierce yellow eyes stared at them hatefully from inside the makeshift prison.

Gamihiro retrieved his lost katana from the ground and coated both of them in futon chakra as his older brother imprisoned the beast. The toad combined his swords so the blades were parallel and the winds circling around his weapons merged, forming an intense twister that let out a screech. Hiro rushed towards the dragon and pulled the swords back, but when he got close the rocks around Fyrenimar's mouth cracked and its jaws opened. The summon leaped forward with all his might as the dragon charged up another cone of fire and managed to thrust his blade through the back of the beast's mouth before it launched the attack.

The flames mixed with the wind and created an explosion that destroyed Fyrenimar's head and knocked the toad on his butt. He watched the fierce creature limply slide back into the pool of magma with one of his katana, while the other one was sent flying away from the superheated liquid. Gamahiro dragged himself across the ground and picked up his sword while his brothers stumbled over. The other two flopped onto the ruined earth next to him and the Gama Trinity laughed heartily before Bunta said, "And that's why I'm the boss toad."

Gamahiro lazily picked up his remaining blade and pointed to the blood, "But I was the one who delivered the killing blow."

"I jumped onto his back and rode him into a lake of magma that almost fried me to a crisp, all you had to do was stab the thing."

"It seems you two forget the multiple times you would've died if it wasn't for me… despite the fact that I'm incredibly clumsy."

Gamabunta snorted, "Bah, you two are better at bragging than fighting." The boss toad looked at Gaara over the silent battlefield, "Sorry kid we can barely move, you guys are on your own now."

The summons disappeared in massive clouds of smoke and the foreigners got over their shock after witnessing Fyrenimar get killed, even if it was three giant toads. All was not lost though, and they began to push forward when they heard a loud voice projected above the battlefield, "Heavy soldiers hold the middle, light units spread out wide and attack the flanks."

The invaders carried out their orders and charged towards the Suna shinobi while cannons fired towards the mountains around them to create rockslides, but a monotone voice echoed through the valley, "Ryusa Bakaryu," and wall of sand rose up from the earth that blocked the cannonballs before rushing forward. The foreigners turned to run as the tidal wave of sand continued growing until it was over ninety feet tall and reached the lava, where it turned to molten glass. Gaara let it flow over the superheated liquid and began sweating from the effort needed to control such a dense material. The wave rushed over knights who weren't lucky enough to get teleported away and the sounds of screams washed over the battlefield before explosions rang out in the distance.

* * *

><p>"Quickly, angle the ships to hit the mountains around those bastards. Crush them with a rockslide."<p>

"Yes Admiral." A soldier wearing light blue armor started to turn the wheel when kikaichu bugs swarmed out of the vents and the room erupted into chaos. Knights and wizards screamed wildly began throwing themselves into nearby walls and people to crush the insects, but in their panic the controls for the ships hovering capabilities were smashed as red lights began flashing around the room.

The Admiral threw off his insect covered gold armor to buy precious seconds and grabbed the wheel. He fought off panic and exhaustion while turning the ship so it wouldn't ram any others, but the man knew his was doomed. He fell to the ground and passed out while the bugs poured through the hallways and up onto the main deck before flying into the clothes of a teenager standing on top of the mast. The boy hopped down to the deck and jumped over the ships rails before running down the side.

Shino pushed off and landed gracefully as the foreign vessel sailed into a mountain, causing boulders to crash down from the slopes above that reduced it to splinters. The Aburame pushed his sunglasses back into place as light reflected off the lenses and said, "It seems you got your rockslide admiral." The boy looked around hastily after finishing, "That was terrible, it seems my one liners are lacking. At least nobody witnessed it."

* * *

><p>"Yahoo," Kiba's Gatsuuga tore down the hallways of the ship, easily smashing through shields that were raised as a meager defense. The boy came out of his spin and took a sharp left down the hallway before leaping in the air. He avoided a knight's stab while performing a complete rotation and grabbed the unfortunate man's neck midway through, causing it to snap when he completed the spin. The feral shinobi landed gracefully and continued running on all fours, following the smell of grease and burnt metal until he came to the end of a long hallway. Kiba opened the door quietly and realized it was a large boiler room where coal was being thrown into furnaces that powered a strange looking device in the center.<p>

The Inuzuka followed the many pipes coming off of it and found the ones that connected to the furnaces before pulling out several kunai and a stack of exploding tags. The boy jumped to the ceiling and used the various pipes to sneak around while planting the explosives onto the tubes connecting the machine to the furnace. When the task was complete he dropped down in the middle of the surprised workers before running towards the door.

After exiting the room Kiba formed the ram seal as explosions shook the vessel and he was able to run past the panicking foreigners as they scrambled to save their ship. The chunin arrived on deck and jumped onto the mast where he cut a large triangle out of the sail before running to the edge and jumping over. He brought all three corners of the material together in his hands and let the cloth catch the wing, forming a makeshift parachute that slowed his descent. The teen landed safely on the ground while fires overtook the ship behind him, and sat down as fatigue set in. He let out a deep breath and watched the vessel exploded into splinters of wood before saying, "This is what I get for wanting an exciting mission. I should've told Naruto to get lost."

* * *

><p>Hinata used her Byakugan to scout the ship while sticking to the side with chakra. She located a Gelel stone underneath the main engine room and watched as heat radiated down from the engines and fed the glowing gem, which in turn gave off enough energy to power the machines that allowed the ship to hover. She slid back down the curved wood before standing on the underside of the ship and concentrated chakra into her index finger as a blue orb the size of a grape formed at the tip. Hinata pointed it towards the wood as a short beam of chakra shot out and easily sliced into the hull before she cut out a square big enough for her to fit through.<p>

When the girl stepped onto the wood a seal array lit up and froze her in place as three wizards teleported into the room, "Ah, we've caught a nice prize for ourselves. We'll enjoy you thoroughly after the battle." The kunoichi didn't respond to the mage's threat, she was too busy studying the chakra flow through the seals and her body. The men began waving their arms as sweet music began to play, which caused the Hyuuga to feel sleepy, but Hinata fought through the drowsiness and found the place where the seal connected with her chakra. She overloaded the point and the seal shattered as the kunoichi exploded forward with her Byakugan flaring and hands glowing blue. The wizards tried to switch spells as the girl charged them and didn't flinch as she neared. She struck the closest one in his chest and pushed all the stored energy in her palm through the thick layer of chakra under the man's skin and watched his heart explode.

The two other wizards looked on in surprise as she sharply turned, and the one closest to her lifted his palm. A ring began glowing as a shield of fire formed in front of him, but Hinata stopped while shoving her hand forward, "Hakke Kusho," the airblast broke through his barrier and pushed the wizard into the wall as the other mage finished casting his spell. A whip of lightning formed in his hands before snaking towards the kunoichi, but she slid under it before rolling away from the follow up as it smashed into the wood next to her. Hinata rushed forward with her palms glowing and thrust her right arm forward. The foreigner ducked, but she adjusted her strike while concentrating the chakra into her fingertips, and they hit the middle of his forehead.

His frontal lobe was turned to mush and the kunoichi aimed her fingers at the recovering wizard as a condensed chakra beam shot out. It was nullified by his stoneskin, but smoke quickly started to form and the foreigner screamed before it gave way and her attack pierced his heart, searing the muscle. The kunoichi walked towards the stone and planted several explosive seals around the container holding it. She quickly slipped out the hole as the tags started to burn and ran away as fire burst out of the ship's bottom before it started to sink towards the earth

* * *

><p>"So what do you think is wrong?"<p>

The young blonde soldier in powder blue armor looked at the captain wearing ornate white mail. The black haired man put a reassuring hand on the boy's shoulder before speaking in a relaxed tone, "Probably nothing lad, every once in awhile areas in the power circuit get overheated so we need to switch to the secondary system." They walked up the steps onto the catwalk before seeing a dog at the end trying to pull open the main circuit board. "No, bad dog. Get away from that."

The captain drew his sword and rushed towards the animal is it yanked the door open before turning and lifting a leg up. It peed into the box and sparks flew out before a fire started and quickly burnt through the wires. Akamaru barked and leaped off the catwalk before running back into a vent where the screen was pushed off. "Dammit, what do we do sir?"

"There's nothing we can do son, this is one of the intersections between the primary and secondary power systems, and it's completely fried. Both circuits are destroyed so there's no place for the energy to go." After the man finished the lights went out. and he pulled out a flare that emitted a yellow glow, "We need to abandon ship."

* * *

><p>After watching four ships get destroyed the foreign invaders had no heart left for the fight and a loud voice was projected over the battlefield, "Retreat." The remaining ships' cannons started booming to cover the soldiers as some of the fleet turned around, but a wave of gold dust came from that direction that pushed them back. The metallic powder made the ships crash into each other and crush themselves as waves of Suna-nin poured over the mountain. The fresh shinobi made quick work of the battered foreigners, and when some tried to surrender they were mercilessly slaughtered. After seeing there was no way out several wizards transformed themselves and surrounding knights into birds that flew away. It was a fruitless effort though, many were killed as puppets flew into the air and chased them down ruthlessly. Only a few managed to escape.<p>

There were still many more foreigners left on the ground and the elites were determined to escape or die gloriously. They organized those left into a large triangle with all sides facing outwards towards the enemies before charging the thinnest spot on the line and clashing with the shinobi. The triangle morphed as some soldiers branched out into smaller triangles that engaged the enemy in front while the men in back watched the rear.

The formation managed to trap small groups of Suna-nin, but it was all for naught. The ground at the invader's feet dissolved into sand that began twisting around and sucked the soldiers in before crushing them. Gaara looked up after completing the attack and bowed after seeing his father walked towards him, "Excellent work my son, I am proud of you."

The redhead bowed towards the Kage, "Thank you." The man waved him off while looking at the massive cathedral as thin bolts of lightning began sparking between the towers. Gaara looked up and saw what was happening before saying, "This one looks weaker than the last, it probably didn't have enough time to fully recharge."

"We should still end it now before that attack is fired. Kaze no Kuni has seen enough carnage this past week." The Kazekage looked over to his son, "How much sand do you have available?"

Gaara blinked before considering the question, "Quite a bit, I've been creating more since arriving."

The older redhead nodded, "Good," and started jumping towards the floating building, "follow me then." The Jinchuuriki followed his father until they were underneath the airborne cathedral before riding a platform of sand up to the building while the Kazekage floated on gold. The two redheads paid no attention to the knights and wizards trying to stop them as their elements of choice blocked all the attacks with ease before slaughtering the foreigners. The Yondaime looked over to his son when they reached one of the smaller spires, "I shall go onto the other side, when you see the signal use the Ryusa Bakaryu."

"What is the signal?" asked Gaara

"It'll be obvious," the Suna chunin nodded as the man disappeared in a blur. The Kazekage formed several hundred tiny balls of gold that began whizzing around him rapidly and killed any foreigner foolish enough to get close. Eventually the Yondaime arrived and summoned all the gold he could muster while clapping his hands together. The precious metal grouped together until it was higher than the cathedral, and seconds later another wave of sand that matched its size formed on the other side. The two jutsu rushed towards each other before smashing against the building, engulfing it completely, and the waves seemed to battle for dominance after meeting until there was a large cracking noise and they crashed together violently. The two powders mixed while falling to the earth, revealing chunks of white marble and gold, and the Kazekage smiled beneath his veil until the levitating platform shook violently before falling.

Gaara lifted his arms and a large platform of sand maintained its elevation while the colossal chunk of earth slowly drifted towards a mountain. His father gathered an insane amount of chakra while calling upon their kekkai genkai, and the mounds of gold dust collected under the valuable pieces of marble. The most powerful shinobi in Sunagakure summoned every ounce of his considerable strength, but he could not support the immense weight and the shattered cathedral continued falling with the earth beneath it until his son pointed his palms towards the gold dust. Small trails of electricity surrounded the Jinchuuriki's body and the Kazekage felt the burden lessening, but it still wasn't enough. The chunks of marble and gold continued their descent, but Gaara knew how important that potential wealth was and vile yellow chakra exploded out of his body as the streaks of electricity grew larger.

The Kazekage looked on in surprise as the sand underneath their feet sped towards the falling cathedral and gathered under the material to help support it. With his youngest child's help the Yondaime was able to safely guide the chunks of marble to the ground as the piece of earth crashed into a mountain. Chunks of rock were sent flying everywhere as the falling platform shattered on impact and completely demolished the mountainside. The earth shook violently and caused the damaged peak to implode while creating avalanches of rock throughout the mountain range. Hundreds of Doton users banded together and created a massive earth dome that protected them from the rockslides and falling boulders until the crashing noises outside their barrier stopped.

The hemisphere opened up and slid back into the earth while the Suna shinobi looked over the ruined landscape. Pools of blood drained into fissures that opened up along the valley floor and boulders the size of Gamabunta were strewn everywhere. Many mountains were missing large portions where the cannonballs impacted, and the small forests that were in the low elevations were completely leveled or burnt down. The battle had scarred this area of the land and it would never be the same, but they had won and pushed the invaders out. The valley had been devastated, yet, it was still theirs, and the shinobi cheered when they saw Gaara walk over with his father.

The teenager was speechless when the jounin he commanded started cheering for him specifically and the rest of the ninja followed their lead. Gaara tried to understand the foreign emotions as they washed over him, but after a few moments he decided to enjoy it and figure things out later, although he knew it was better than the sensation that followed a particularly challenging kill. It continued on for a moment before dying off and the Kazekage raised his hand, "Shinobi of Sunagakure, today is a momentous day, a glorious achievement to be remembered in our history."

The Yondaime was forced to stop when another loud cheer erupted from the crowd, but when it died down he continued, "We faced down a foreign army attempting to conquer this great country by ourselves, we pushed them back and avenged the fallen souls of the civilians they massacred, we changed the course of history today." The Sand-nin cheered loudly when the man paused and savored the high of winning a massive battle, which was only increased by their leader's words.

The Kazekage smiled and saw an opportunity to bypass opponents in the village. Right now these men were his completely, he led them onto the field and achieved victory today. It was his leadership that guided the country through this period, he placed the samurai and planned the entire country's defense, now it was time to reap the political rewards and the Yondaime would begin immediately, "This would have been impossible without Gaara, and if nobody here objects I would like to offer him a promotion to high jounin."

The Suna-nin let out a cheer before chanting Gaara's name so loudly the few detractors that still loathed the Jinchuuriki couldn't be heard, and his father smiled while clapping the teenager on his shoulder, "Then it is with great pride that I promote Sabaku no Gaara to high jounin. Now, let us tend to those still living and honor the dead that sacrificed their lives for this country's freedom. We shall camp here for the night and perform the necessary rituals before leaving at dawn tomorrow, so attend to any business you may have."

The gathered shinobi began to spread out as Gaara walked over to the Konoha-nin, "Thank you for the assistance, despite what my father said your contributions were invaluable."

Shino pushed his sunglasses into place before answering, "It was no problem Gaara-san, it is the purpose of an alliance after all. By providing mutual assistance we can build lasting bonds between our village, and that is important. Why you ask?"

"I didn't," said Gaara in a monotone voice while forming a miniature flyswatter of sand above his palm. Shino stopped is monologue and coughed nervously while reliving flashbacks of his last spar with the Jinchuuriki, who faced the other members of Team Eight, "Where is Naruto and that knight?"

Kiba laughed at his bug using teammate and turned towards Gaara, but before he could say anything the peak of the mountain containing the Gelel mines disappeared as a pillar of white light shot towards the sky. The dog user sighed and watched the light show with everyone else on the field, "He's right over there."

* * *

><p>The two blondes followed the twisted laughter echoing through the hallway and found Haido standing in the middle of a vast cavern that had a polished stone floor with strange designs carved into it. Enormous clusters of Gelel stones jutted out of the walls while massive stalagmites and stalacites of the green gems grew from the floor and ceiling. The priest raised his arms as a green glow outlined his body and the jewels in the cavern resonated with the power he was emitting.<p>

White tendrils of energy flowed into Haido and he grew eight inches as his arms lengthened until they reached the middle of his thighs. His muscles bulged and stretched his skin as it morphed into green scales, while a tail sprouted from the base of his spine before growing four feet in length. Deep ridges formed on the foreigner's abdomen while taking on a cream hue before the greenish-white energy aura he was emitting faded, signaling the transformation was complete. The man stretched his new body and flexed his muscles while cackling, "Amazing, I've never felt so powerful. With it I shall create my own country in these lands before expanding out to forge an empire unmatched by any before it. Nobody shall be able to resist my limitless power."

Naruto growled angrily as he uncovered the sharingan, "We'll see about that."

Haido faced them like he was regarding insects while a large ebony mace appeared in his right hand, "I doubt that child."

The foreigner seemed to disappear and the two blondes jumped away as the spiked head of his mace smashed the ground where they were just standing, sending shards of stone ricocheting through the cavern. The priest pivoted and faced the chunin while his tail whipped out, striking Temujin in the face before he landed. The injured knight tumbled away as Naruto lunged towards the transformed man who lifted his weapon to defend, but the attack was a feint and the blonde hopped right before stabbing towards the foreigner's head. Haido sneered when the boy slipped behind his guard and leaned backwards before watching the red blade pass in front of his face.

The reptilian priest smashed his tail into Naruto's chest before he recovered from the miss, and the chunin rolled across the stone after the strike landed until he crashed into a stalagmite of Gelel crystals and collapsed to the floor. Haido rushed forward and used his mace to crush the boy's head while he tried to push himself up, but the man frowned after the attack connected. He didn't feel the gratifying squish after popping an opponent's skull with his mace, which was the main reason he used the weapon. Naruto's body vanished in a puff of smoke and he appeared next to the cold-blooded foreigner with a swirling ball of chakra in his palm, "Rasengan."

Haido laughed arrogantly while the chakra orb ground uselessly against his skin and backhanded the shinobi, but it turned out to be another clone and disappeared in a puff of smoke before a red blade coated in wind cut off the priest's hand. Sickly orange chakra began to spread and eat his flesh, but green energy flared around the putrid substance and quickly destroyed it before replacing the lost body part. Haido lifted his new hand and grinned condescendingly, "Don't you realized that I can't be killed you insignificant whelp." The reptilian man laughed as Naruto grit his teeth, "I feel rather stupid for asking that question, a savage never learns his lesson after all."

Temujin dropped down from the ceiling with his sword in his left hand and slashed towards his mentor's neck, but the strike was somewhat clumsy and Haido easily sent the blow out wide with his tail before delivering a brutal punch to the knight's wounded chest. The reptilian man snorted derisively and faced his former apprentice, "It's even more pathetic when a civilized man is seduced by the dark fruits of savagery. Did you really think that attack would wound me? Without the Gelel stone you're nothing more than a bug, but it seems you've forgotten that."

Naruto growled as he watched the transformed man gloat over Temujin and covered his sharingan, it would be impossible to keep up with his normal power. The Jinchuuriki ran forward as orange chakra burst out of his skin and took on the form of a one-tailed fox. Haido turned as potent killing intent flooded the room, but he couldn't react to Naruto's enhanced speed in time and was sent careening into the wall after the blonde shoulder checked him. Stone collapsed on top of him and formed a pile as the feral chunin shot a claw forward and pulled him out. He lifted the priest into the air and let the toxic chakra eat away at his whole body, but with a roar the transformed man freed an arm and summoned his mace before slashing through the chakra.

Haido fell to the ground as the Gelel stones in the room glowed brightly and fed their energy into him. A green cloak surrounded the foreigner's body and expunged the Kyuubi's chakra before healing his wounds, and he stood up unharmed seconds later. The priest charged towards Naruto with his mace raised high and performed an overhead strike, but the Jinchuuriki raised his saber and easily countered before pushing the foreigner's weapon out wide with a flick of his wrist. The reptilian man's eyes widened as his attack was easily countered, and he couldn't react before the crimson blade pierced his throat. Haido coughed up blood when the saber was pulled out and limply fell backwards, but he grinned before hitting the ground and twisted as his tail whipped out.

Naruto was sent flying when the appendage smacked into his chest, and before he could recover Haido appeared next to him and kicked him towards the ceiling. The blonde twisted in midair and faced the reptilian man as he jumped before letting out a roar. The shockwaves knocked Haido away as the Jinchuuriki landed on the ceiling and exploded towards his opponent, but the priest jumped backwards and Naruto smashed into the floor, shattering the stones and creating a small crater where he landed. The shinobi's tail waved slowly behind him while his red eye stared coldly at the transformed foreigner, but Haido appeared undaunted by the Jinchuuriki's strength and laughed confidently, "You possess an interesting power boy, but mine is unlimited, and I can be healed before your attack is even finished. You cannot win."

"I don't have a problem with supply either asshole," the blonde grit his teeth while thinking, 'but using it too long get's to me.' He pushed that thought aside before dashing towards his opponent. The foreigner braced himself as the red blur approached and parried the stab with the head of his mace, but the feral blonde grinned and spun to the right while slashing his sword upwards, leaving a trail of black as that impaired Haido's vision. The man swung his mace through the cloud, but he didn't hit anything and turned around to see an orange Rasengan the size of a grapefruit rushing towards his head. The jutsu twisted his face around itself, but couldn't pierce his skull because the damage healed as quickly as it happened, and the man was able to deliver a kick to Naruto's side that pushed him back.

The orange chakra lingering on Haido's cheek slowly dissipated as he watched the chunin stand up before smirking, "Please child, you'll have to do better than that."

Nerugui watched the Jinchuuriki rush towards the reptilian priest and moved through the field of Gelel stones before sticking his head out next to Temujin, 'Why are you not out there helping Naruto?'

The knight looked up at the ferret with surprise on his features, but it quickly turned to guilt and despair, "Haido was right, without the Gelel stones I'm powerless, I'd just be in his way."

'You have the blood of the royal family coursing through your veins. These gems naturally respond to your will while he has to forcefully call on a bastardized form of their power. Just ask and you shall receive.'

The ferret stuck its head back into the crystals when it was finished and Naruto was struck by a kick from Haido that sent him skipping across the ground until he stopped near Temujin. He looked over at the knight and smiled while pushing himself up, "This guy is tougher than he looks, but I can definitely take him."

The armored blonde was about to respond when Naruto jumped towards Haido once more. The knight grabbed one of the gems growing from the stone next to him while asking in a desperate voice, "Please, give me strength to right my wrongs." Suddenly he felt reenergized and could breathe easier as the wound on his chest healed instantly. A gentle green glow surrounded Temujin, and he could fell the energy coursing wildly though his pathways, although he knew it could still be controlled with the slightest thought. The red-eyed knight stood up and grabbed his sword before disappearing from the spot he was standing.

Haido was forced to disengage from Naruto's saber and jump backwards when his former apprentice appeared next to him. The priest turned and blocked Temujin's slash with the shaft of his mace, but Naruto took advantage and formed a Rasengan. He jumped over Haido's tail as it whipped out and thrust his jutsu into the priest's back. The orb easily shredded the foreigner's flesh, but like the other one it couldn't penetrate any deeper. Naruto grit his teeth as the dangerous tail snapped towards him and let the attack explode outwards, sending Haido spinning through the air. The reptilian man smashed into a wall and stones collapsed on top of him, but he jumped out with a roar and charged the two while summoning his mace.

Temujin met the charge and used his glowing blade to block the priest's over head swing before Naruto ran under his fellow blonde's arm and swung his blade towards Haido's neck. The transformed foreigner couldn't disengage in time and the saber slashed through his throat, but to him it was only a flesh wound and he ignored the blood pouring down his torso. The reptilian priest avoided Temujin's follow up stab by hopping to the left and pivoted to block Naruto's slash with his mace, but after parrying the strike his former pupil's blade stabbed through his stomach. Haido grit his teeth and pushed the shinobi away before turning around—causing the knight's blade to cut through half of his abdomen—and smashed his mace into Temujin's side.

The armored blonde knew the attack wounded him after seeing his fresh blood dripping off the maces spikes, but he felt no pain at all and easily stood up. The knight watched Naruto grab his former master with a chakra claw and drag him around the chamber before throwing him towards a large Gelel stone sticking out of the wall. The six-foot gem impaled Haido as he smashed into the stone and tried to extricate himself while the Jinchuuriki jumped next to Temujin, "This could go on forever, we need to get a fatal hit in before one of us makes a mistake."

The taller blonde nodded as the reptilian pulled himself off the gem and collapsed to his hands and knees while the wound healed, "I agree, and you have a better chance of hitting him than me. Would you be able to create one of your spiraling spheres from Gelel energy if I supplied it?"

Naruto shrugged and held up his right palm, "I don't see why not, channel some into my hand." Temujin started funneling the energy into Naruto's left hand while an orange rasengan with a three-foot diameter appeared in his right one. A swirling green orb formed over his left palm and grew until it was the size of a regular Rasengan before the chunin nodded, "That should do it, just create an opening and I'll finish this."

Temujin nodded as Haido's hands glowed brightly before he launched beams of Gelel energy towards them, determined to keep the blondes at a distance where numbers didn't mean as much. Naruto jumped to the side but Temujin was undeterred and simply raised his palm into the air before all the blasts flowed into it, "Get behind me."

The knight charged towards his former master and let out a battle cry, but Haido quickstepped backwards and maintained the space between them. The armored blonde put on a burst of speed and closed the gap, but when he got close the reptilian man's tail whipped him in the face, however, the knight felt no pain and the powerful strike hardly slowed him. Temujin slashed his blade towards Haido's neck and the man ducked underneath it while hopping backwards, yet, that's exactly what the knight expected and he lunged forward, tackling the reptilian man.

The two foreigners tumbled across the stone floor before the priest threw the teenager off, but he was prone on the ground and open to an attack. Naruto slammed the orange Rasengan into the Haido's torso and the jutsu only damaged the outer layer of his skin like before, however, it also kept the transformed man pinned to the ground and he couldn't escape from the Jinchuuriki's brute strength. The shinobi's predatory red eye stared at the reptilian foreigner struggling to break free, "This is for all the innocents you slaughtered while chasing your own selfish ambition. Gelel Rasengan." The jutsu slammed into Haido's face and easily outpaced his healing, drilling through flesh and bone like paper before his skull burst, splattering red and grey liquid across the stone. "Try getting up now bastard."

Haido stayed limp as the green glow surrounding his body faded and Nerugui hopped out of a patch of crystals on the wall, 'Nicely done, now it's time to finish the job. Swipe some of your blood over the central swirl in the room.' The knight started walking over as the ferret continued, "Understand, doing this will bring you to the empty dimension with the Gelel stone. There's no coming back.'

Temujin nodded as he wiped his armored thumb over a patch of blood leftover from the healed wound on his side, "I can only hope it atones for my sins." Naruto looked over his shoulder as he walked away while Nerugui explained what to do next and wondered if he should try to stop the knight, but he remembered the curiosity in Gaara's eyes after hearing there was something in the mountain powerful enough to the course of battle. The blonde knew the Gelel stones needed to be destroyed to achieve peace, wars would be fought over the right to control their power. Temujin looked back over his shoulder and made eye contact with the chunin before they nodded towards each other.

Naruto waited for Nerugui and walked up the stairs while the knight wiped his blood over the swirl in the center of the room before a small section of the floor under his feet twisted up until it was seven feet above the ground. An altar slowly rose in front of the armored blonde as a complex pattern appeared on its surface. Temujin used his body as a conduit to form a connection between the rune and Gelel stones before lines of intricate seals expanded to cover the floor.

The knight looked to the exit one more time and softly said, "Thank you Naruto, without you I would have continued walking that wicked path. Hopefully this can atone for some of the wrongs I committed in Haido's name, although I know it will never be enough." The boy closed his eyes as the Gelel stones glowed white and a pillar of light shot up around the dais. "Mom, Dad, I hope you're smiling down on me. I know that I probably won't go to the same place as you, but know that I'm sorry for helping your killers."

* * *

><p>Naruto stopped walking and looked down the staircase grimly while gritting his teeth when the mountain above them disappeared and a pillar of white light shot towards the open sky. 'I'm sorry, but there's no other way. The seal needs the stones to create enough power to open a dimensional rift, but they generate too much to contain, and once the seal is activated there's no time to escape.'<p>

The blonde looked down to see Nerugui was despondently staring at the stairs and ran towards them while shouting, "I can't leave him there to die like this." The expanding white barrier forced him to stop at the bottom and call out to the knight, "Temujin, I'm coming in to get you."

"It's impossible, you'll only die with me and I don't want that. With this I can start making up for my past mistakes and earn God's forgiveness in the afterlife."

Naruto growled as orange chakra exploded around him and three tails formed, the most he could use without losing his mind. The Jinchuuriki fought down the feral instincts raised by the chakra and focused on the blonde foreigner trapped inside the energy, "How many times do I need to tell people that I'm Uzumaki Fucking Naruto, and I never leave a comrade behind?"

The Jinchuuriki rotated the orange chakra cloak until it appeared a giant Rasengan was swirling around his body, and with a roar he exploded towards the barrier. Three tails of the Kyuubi's potent chakra allowed him to grind through the Gelel energy, and fifteen seconds later Naruto burst through the other side before rolling violently across the ground until he stopped next to Temujin. The knight's eyes shot open for a moment before anger distorted his features, "Why did you do that?" He yelled furiously, but the foreigner stopped for a moment before continuing in a defeated tone, "Now you'll die because of me."

Naruto ignored the armored blonde while saying, "Summon some of that Gelel energy if you can, this stuff is corrosive."

Temujin looked at the shinobi's unwavering red eye and felt his determination grow, "Right."

The knight lifted his arm and a green cloak surrounded his body before Naruto grabbed him and swirled the chakra around the two of them. The light was rapidly closing in on the blondes as Naruto channeled the Kyuubi's chakra to his feet and shouted, "Hold on," before they burst forward, leaving cracks in the raised dais.

The barrier was denser this time around so the progress was slower, and Naruto could tell they were about to stall, "We're not going to make it," cried Temujin.

"Shut up." Roared the Jinchuuriki, and the orange shell expanded before he weakened the top while calling on more of Kyuubi's power. Twisting blades of the Bijuu's chakra burst outwards and cleared a path for the two, which allowed them to fly out and crash into the stairs outside of the barrier.

The ancient ferret looked down at the two blondes when the light disappeared moments later, 'That was by far the stupidest thing I've ever seen anybody do, and I can't even remember how old I am.'

"Shut up you stupid cat." Naruto and Nerugui looked towards Temujin with surprise before the knight passed out.

* * *

><p>Hinata sighed as she watched Naruto concentrate on the chakra spinning around the point of his index finger. She was so excited when the blonde ran up to her right after climbing out of the chute, but her romantic fantasies were crushed when he asked for advice about molding chakra outside of his body. Now the Jinchuuriki was ignoring the world while staring intently at his index finger, trying to concentrate chakra around the tip without it rotating, "Umm, Naruto-kun, it may be easier if you recover from the mission before trying."<p>

The blonde chunin rubbed the back of his head embarrassedly, "Heh, I bet you're right Hinata-chan, but I really want to get this down so I can figure out how to do something."

"Do what?" asked Kiba.

Naruto smiled excitedly, "Only the most kick ass thing ever."

The others were about to pry more when the Kazekage walked over with his three children in tow. Team Eight bowed as he approached, and Naruto's blue eye lit up when he realized what they were doing and followed suit while lowering his facemask as a sign of respect. The Yondaime raised his hand while saying, "Please, there's no need for that." The four chunin straightened back up as the kage continued, "Thank you for your help, but I must ask, what was that pillar of light from the mountain in the distance?"

Naruto suppressed a wince, he knew this was coming and tried to figure out a way to handle it while playing with his chakra. "That was the result of an inter-dimensional seal Kazekage-sama." The chunin pointed towards the unconscious knight lying on the ground nearby, "Temujin activated it so we could defeat Haido, the leader of the invasion. He was drawing power from the Gelel stones contained within and we needed to cut his power. After the connection was severed I was able to kill him easily and escape with Temujin."

"What are these Gelel stones, were they Haido's objective, or why your team showed up here?"

The Fourth Hokage's son didn't flinch under the Kazekage's scrutinizing gaze and stared right back into his sharp green eyes. He had spent his childhood around the Sandaime Hokage, a man known as the God of Shinobi, and wouldn't be intimidated by anyone's mere presence, "The Gelel stones were the foundation of an empire, but they were also the reason it was destroyed. The royal family fled west where legends were spread, and this army was from there. Their initial objective was colonization, but they discovered the Gelel stones were located in this area and it changed. Team Eight was guarding a nomadic clan that descended from the empire and still had the legends too, I joined their mission halfway through and by chance we ran into Temujin. We followed him to their base where we learned they kidnapped the nomad's leader, and mounted a rescue operation to contain information."

Naruto paused and nonchalantly scratched the side of his head before grinning reassuringly at Temari, who was giving him a concerned look, "We defeated the group they sent to retrieve him and interrogated Temujin. That's when we learned of the invasion and… convinced him that Haido's methods didn't line up with his professed goal of creating a utopia. After that we set out and realized the battle was happening next to the mine and assisted before moving in to destroy the Gelel stones. When we were about to enter the chute Haido's lieutenants ambushed while he went down and made the connection. Without destroying the stones there was no way to stop him."

"Why did you not inform Gaara of these Gelel stones?"

The Kazekage's eyes seemed to dissect Naruto while he answered, "In my opinion he didn't need to worry about that. We had the situation well in hand, and he made it abundantly clear that the invading forces needed his full attention."

Naruto didn't waver as the Yondaime pushed out chakra and increased the pressure of the air around them, "You are a chunin while Gaara was leading Sunagakure's forces on the field. I trust you realize it is necessary to share all relevant information with the commander."

The blonde gave a short bow, "I understand your point of view Kazekage-sama, but Gaara is also a chunin so my rank should be irrelevant in this situation. Like him I was the representative of my village on the field, and the Hokage gave me full clearance to act in any way I deem necessary to defeat Haido's forces. Their ultimate goal was the Gelel stone, and had the situation allowed it I would have consulted with Gaara, but a battle was being fought and I did not want to split his attention. The foreigners had control of the mountain and their wizards are skilled chakra users. I acted under the assumption that they would be able to discover the mine."

The Kazekage realized he wouldn't be able to get any leverage from the Konoha-nin, but he wasn't the only one who was in the mountain, "A perfectly understandable supposition chunin Uzumaki. Know that I am grateful for your assistance, but find it necessary to review all parts of the battle thoroughly, even in victory. Still, for Temujin's part in this whole mess I feel he should face trial in Sunagakure with execution as the punishment. A small part in our victory should not entitle him to a pardon for his major contributions to their previous successes."

Naruto set his jaw and tried to figure out a response, but how was a chunin going to argue with a Kage about jurisdiction over a prisoner, especially in his own country. Fortunately Jiraiya landed next to him moments later and the blonde didn't need to try, "I'm afraid that I must object Kazekage-dono. Temujin was originally a prisoner of Konohagakure no Sato and shall undergo his trial there. Of course, everything we learned will be shared due to our alliance. This is something that can be worked out later though, right now you have more pressing issues."

The Yondaime lifted a red eyebrow, "And what would that be Jiraiya?"

The sennin shrugged indifferently, "Well I passed a regiment of the Daimyo's samurai on my way here. They're probably an hour away and are about to take inventory of the battlefield."

Jiraiya let his eyes linger on the large amounts of timber, marble, gold, and other valuable materials littering the ground while the Kazekage's eyes narrowed, "I see, but why would that concern me? They are only doing their job."

"Yeah, it's just a shame that this stuff couldn't be stored in an alternate dimension temporarily, then the Daimyo would never know a thing about it. Wait, a seal master could get this done in thirty minutes, but where are you gonna find one of those?"

Jiraiya summoned a a gourd of sake from a seal sewn into his vest and took a swig as the Kazekage sighed, "Name your price."

The man capped his alcohol, "Half of what gets sealed."

"Twenty percent."

"Forty-five or you get nothing."

The Yondaime ran his hands through his red hair, "You can get thirty percent and no more. I have enough people here to get that much before they arrive."

Jiraiya shook his head, "Thirty five."

"Alright, just get to work. I'll have Baki supervise everything."

The sennin nodded before summoning a pair of blue transport toads, and one waited by Temujin while Kazekage walked away. Jiraiya turned towards his apprentice and pointed to the summon hopping towards the piles of loot, "You heard the man Naruto, get to work. When your clones are done split everything up and give our share to that guy."

The blonde grumbled and formed hundreds of Kage Bunshins before unsealing all of his fuuinjutsu material and passing it around. The bunshin got to work as Gaara walked forward, "Thank you again Naruto, I want to talk more, but some of the shinobi that died under my command have family here and I need to tell them personally."

The two Jinchuuriki shook hands as Temari walked forward and Naruto hugged her tightly while saying, "Good to see you, I wish this wasn't a hello goodbye type of situation."

The kunoichi nodded before letting go a few moments later, "Yeah, I can tell you've grown a lot. You're almost as tall as me now."

Naruto gave his fellow blonde another hug, "And I can still kick your ass."

The girl grinned, "You want to test that?"

"Anytime Temari-chan." Naruto let the Suna kunoichi go and saw Jiraiya nod his head towards the road so he turned towards Team Eight. The Uzumaki noticed Hinata was glaring at the wind mistress so he approached her first. The girl blushed as he started to approach tried to maintain eye contact. He stopped less than a foot away and the Hyuuga's mind started racing with all of her dream scenarios as he leaned in closer for a hug, "I'm glad we got to work together Hinata-chan, it was fun." The boy let go and steam flew out of the blue haired kunoichi's ears before she passed out. Naruto looked at her strangely before saying, "Does she like me or something?" It was completely silent for a moment until he said, "Naw, can't be," and everyone face-faulted before staring at the blonde like he was an idiot.

Naruto walked over to Shino and shook the bug-user's hands, "Glad you ran into me that day buddy, this was a pretty crazy week."

"Indeed, it was a pleasurable experience working with you for the first time Naruto. Hopefully this will build the groundwork for future success, why? Because we have become familiar with each other's styles and habits, which leads to a smoother working environment. If this can be applied then without a doubt we shall perform better. That is how one improves after all, taking past experiences and applying them to future endeavors."

Kiba clapped the Aburame on the shoulder and cut him off, "Easy buddy, you know that you're bad at goodbyes so just relax." The Inuzuka walked forward and shook Naruto's hand, "It was certainly interesting, I'll tell everyone back in Konoha you said hi."

"Thanks man," said Naruto before Akamaru jumped up and licked his face, "And I'll miss you too buddy."

"Hurry up brat, time's wasting."

Naruto ignored Jiraiya as he walked over to Temujin and Nerugui. The chunin leaned down to pet the ferret and said, "Later you stupid cat," the animal playfully nipped at his fingers and the teen laughed before pointing at the knight as the toad swallowed him, "Tell Temujin I said goodbye and hopefully we'll see each other again someday."

Jiraiya coughed into his hand and Naruto moaned, "Geez Ero-sennin, what do you have to do that's so important?"

The author's eyes glazed over as his face adopted a faraway look, "The prelims for the international bikini contest started yesterday."

After waving to his friends one last time the blonde jumped towards Jiraiya while mumbling something under his breath about perverts. The two walked into the distance Shino asked his conscious teammate, "Why did you not tell Naruto you were dating Sakura?"

Kiba shrugged in response, "Eh, if I tell him now he'll either get pissed or won't care, and if I wait the same thing will happen, so why worry about it now?"

The Aburame pushed his sunglasses up his nose and sunlight glinted off them, "That's surprisingly logical coming from you Kiba."

"Thanks buddy," the Inuzuka stood there for a second as everyone around him started snorting, trying to hold back laughter, "wait a second."

* * *

><p>Naruto and Jiraiya had been walking for a half hour in silence, but something had been eating away at the chunin since they left. He looked over at his sensei while hoping he would actually be serious, it was always hit or miss with the man, "Neh, Ero-sennin," the sage cocked his eyebrow and Naruto continued, "What was with that back there? Why was the Kazekage so hostile when asking about the Gelel stones, and why did you want so much of that stuff? We both know Suna still needs money."<p>

Jiraiya stopped walking and let out a sigh before answering, "The alliance is still fragile and there is a lot of bad blood from the past hundred years of war. The Kazekage can't trust Konohagakure to act in the best interests of Sunagakure, and vice versa. Our black ops have significantly dropped in Kaze no Kuni since the alliance, but not all of them stopped, and I know for a fact they still have SAND operatives infiltrating Fire Country.

Jiraiya scratched his wild gray hair and gathered his thoughts before continuing, trying to word his answer carefully, "When Hidden Villages form alliances there is usually an alpha dog and the other ones, I can't recall one that had a truly equal partnership. Because of this allies are still in competition, and the Kazekage was looking for a leg up in ours. I was trying to maintain the balance of power so the alliance can continue, and as time passes a true bond might be forged between our villages. When that happens we might be able to think of our village's interests collectively and serve as a model for true cooperation between shinobi."

The sage could see his godson was trying to process his thoughts and waited for him to speak, "I don't know Jiraiya-sensei, it seems so backwards. Can you forge a real alliance when it's built on dishonesty?"

"Then why did you bend the truth back there?"

Shock covered Naruto's features as he stared up at the sage, "How did you know?"

The legendary shinobi grinned while ruffling the blonde's hair, "I'm your sensei kid, I always know what's going on in your head. There are tells when you lie, for instance, you always speak respectfully and use fancier words, but answer my question."

The blonde winced as his godfather made him feel like a child, "Well, he probably wouldn't have liked the fact that we didn't really need to destroy the Gelel stones or that Haido needed Temujin's blood to enter the mine."

Jiraiya nodded when the chunin finished, "Right, that's something he could hold over Konoha's head in talks and possibly get concessions, it would upset the status quo and hang over future negotiations. Part of the reason I demanded part of the spoils was to get leverage. You were lying, and if he get custody of Temujin they would probably find out what really happened in the mine."

"What's the other reason?"

A perverted grin spread across Jiraiya's face, "Figure it out yourself brat, I have a bikini contest to get to. Keep up if you can."

Naruto sighed when the man took off and raced after him, the sage could run faster than he could sprint for hours at a time. He tried deactivating his resistance seals that he put on after the fight, but realized Jiraiya had changed the lock to require his chakra, "Goddammit Ero-sennin, not this again."

* * *

><p>And the arc is over, unfortunately it took twice as long as I thought it would, mostly because I had to keep adding stuff to this chapter. Originally it was 7,000 words shorter, but after editing I realized there were several scenes that I needed to add to improve the overall quality and make everything fit together. Unfortunately this means the training trip won't be finished by the end of summer, but I don't want to put out incomplete chapters just to get to the end. Thanks for the patience<p>

Operman Bye Bye

**Jutsu List**

Teppodoma

Ryusa Bakaryu

Stoneskin-An enchantment that renders the user invulnerable to physical damage for a set amount of hits, dependent on the caster's skill, however, any physical contact will take sap its strength no matter how weak. The stoneskin cannot protect against attacks like the Hyuuga's Jyuuken.

Shugohakke Rokujuyon Sho (Protection of the Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms)

Gatsuuga

Tornado Lightning-The user launches upwards of twenty individual bolts of lightning that form an electric twister

Jinbu Konbi Henge: Sotoro (Human Beast Combination Henge: Double Headed Wolf)-The Inuzuka combines with his or her partner to form a Two Headed wolf capable of using more powerful jutsu

Rage of the Thunder God-The user gathers electrical energy and condenses it as much as possible before releasing a large beam of lightning capable of vaporizing anything that gets close.

Garoga (Wolf Fang over Fang) B Rank- A higher form of the Gatsuuga usable after the Inuzuka combines with his or her partner(s). The spinning motion is so fast that sight isn't usable so it is necessary to hit the intended target with a shot of urine.

Hakke Kusho

Futon Daitoppa

Ryusa Bakaryu

Gelel Rasengan


	41. The Pleasures of Life

Naruto let the sun's rays wash over him while lying in the sand of a hidden inlet on the shore. He looked over at the naked black haired girl dozing on her stomach and sighed contently as she shifted into a different position. Life didn't get much better. The chunin grinned and pushed himself up before jumping in the warm water to rinse the sand covering his back off. He saw the brightly colored reef that surrounded the island in the distance and decided to explore for a little after catching a few glimpses of the tropical fish schooling around it. Naruto created a bubble of futon chakra around his head that allowed him to see the vivid colors and dazzling patterns of coral and fish clearly, and by refreshing the air with oxygen naturally in the water he was able to breathe as well.

The chunin explored the underwater world with childish curiosity and lost track of time while discovering the many interesting creatures that inhabited it. He pretended to be some type of explorer chronicling a lost world and watched the events with his sharingan unveiled. Four-foot long eels bolted out of holes in the coral and grabbed small fish as they swam by before returning to their lair. Blue crabs with a massive pincer fenced with each other until one managed to rip the other's claw off and win the best crags in the reef, along with the females around it. Fierce looking predatory fish cornered their prey into tight spaces where they couldn't escape while the remaining bait fish avoided less experienced hunters that were forced to eat scraps. When an eight-foot shark swam past he was awed by the grace and power of its muscular body and eyed it warily, but the ancient killer quickly moved away from the shinobi, possibly identifying him as another apex predator.

Naruto was so fascinated by the strange, alien world of the reef that he lost track of time and didn't return to the beach for an hour, where he found the attractive black haired girl crying on the ground. When the shinobi emerged from the water she got up and hobbled over before wrapping her arms around him, "Thank God you're okay. I thought you drowned and left me stranded."

Naruto patted the sobbing girl's back before and walked her over to their clothes, where he wiped the tears away from her violet eyes with a towel, "Relax Natsumi, I'm a ninja and would never let myself die like that, besides, it's not that hard to get out of here." The blonde pointed out to the coral poking out of the water, "Since it's low tide you could've swam to the coral before walking back, and when it's high tide the current goes towards town. You could've easily swam to shore after it carried you past the cliffs."

Natsumi hiccupped and lightly slapped the shinobi's chest, "Idiot, I wasn't thinking like that. I was worried about you."

The chunin laughed as he slipped on his orange bathing suit and let the black haired teenager get dressed as well before scooping her up bridal style, "Thanks, but you didn't need to cry. I'd never die and leave a pretty girl helpless." Natsumi blushed let out an eep when the blonde jumped into the air before running up the jagged cliff and descending the other side just as quickly. Naruto easily navigated the rocky field separating the cliffs from the main path, jumping from boulder to boulder until they reached the smooth road where he placed the curvy teenager on her feet, "Here we are, I'd walk back with you but your boyfriend probably wouldn't like it."

"Oh shit, when did I say that?" The girl's bright yellow fingernails contrasted sharply with her tanned skin after her dainty hands shot up and covered her mouth in shock.

Naruto grinned while scratching the back of his head, "I don't remember the exact moment, but at one point you screamed out, 'You're so much better than my boyfriend.'"

Natsumi looked like she was about to cry again, "Now you probably think I'm a slut and don't want anything to do with me."

The girl ran towards town as Naruto called out, "Of course not," but she didn't stop or turn around and the shinobi sighed, "Dammit." The chunin let Natsumi run down the trail and pushed her out of his mind, it was hard to care about much in this weather and the lazy atmosphere didn't help either. Naruto started to wonder how people ever accomplished anything in Tsuki no Kuni before sweatdropping as he remembered this wasn't technically Moon Country, it was a small protectorate about five miles off the country's eastern coast.

They were kicked off the main island when Jiraiya was found peeping on the changing room of the bikini contest, and even now Naruto was wondering how a legendary shinobi could get caught like that. The teen brushed the thought away and waved at some people passing by, he was enjoying himself too much to worry about things like that. The weather was perfect every day, enough famous people and nobles vacationed here that he didn't have to hide his identity, and everyone was really nice… except those four at the restaurant.

**Flashback**

Naruto and Jiraiya were sitting in a VIP booth at Kozue—one of the small island's best restaurants—while the teenager eagerly looked over the menu. The boat that ferried them to the protectorate had the worst food, and he didn't even get to have a full meal on the main island. After thinking about the reason why the blonde glared at his sensei, but the man was oblivious to the outside world. The sennin's chin rested on his palm while he stared out the window with a faraway look in his dark eyes. The Uzumaki decided not to torture his godfather now, he already took one of the ridiculous wallets Jiraiya carried around and that was a good start. While contemplating further payback the Uzumaki looked into the aisle and saw a six year old girl with green eyes and blonde hair pulled into small pigtails on the sides of her head. She was staring up at him expectantly and nervously twisted her right foot while asking, "Umm, Mr. Naruto sir, can I have your autograph please?"

The blonde's face lit up and a smile stretched across his whiskered cheeks as he gently took a small autograph book from her, "Of course, do you have a pen?" The child's face dropped as she looked to the ground and shook her head no, but the chunin smiled wider, "That's okay." The girl looked up and watched as Naruto pulled out a small square of paper before it was covered by a puff of smoke. When the tiny cloud dissipated there was a pen in his hand and the girl laughed while he signed her small book. The shinobi was still grinning after he handed the notebook back and watched the girl's eye sparkle as she gave him a toothy grin, "Here you go."

"Thank you Mr. Naruto." The child clutched the notebook to her chest as she ran back to her parents, who were giving him an appreciative wave.

The blonde returned the gesture, but when he looked back into the aisle there was a long line of children and some younger teenagers waiting to get his autograph too. The Jinchuuriki couldn't help but smile as a nine year old boy with short brown hair and green eyes looked at him hopefully. The Jinchuuriki happily took the napkin he was clutching and signed his name before waving the next child forward while shouting, "Don't be shy, I'll sign an autograph for everybody who wants one before I leave."

The line seemed to multiply as soon as Naruto finished, even the restaurant manager lined up to get signatures for the staff so they would keep working. The blonde gladly signed anything that was brought in front of him, napkins, autograph books, the building's wall, and even a few figurines of himself, but after awhile he noticed four people at a nearby table that were snickering amongst themselves while shooting dirty glances at him every few minutes.

There were two men and women sitting at the rectangular table, one woman was incredibly attractive and wore a tight black dress cut in the right places to show off her curvy physique. She had long red hair in a tight braid that went down her neck and came over her shoulder before the tip stopped right above her ample cleavage. Her purple eyes shone with disdain when she quickly looked in his direction before focusing back on the muscular man sitting next to her. Her date wore a black sports jacket over a silver collared shirt and long black pants despite the heat, and since he was wearing sunglasses Naruto couldn't see his eyes. The man ran his large hand through his slicked back black hair and laughed loudly when the plump woman on the other side of the table finished talking.

She had short blonde hair with every strand meticulously combed back so it all went behind her ears—that had large gold hoops dangling from them—and curled back to the base of her chin. She wore a puffy white fur coat that came down to the floor while doing little to hide her round frame, and when she turned to sneer at Naruto he saw a frilly red dress underneath her coat and a large gold necklace that was studded with diamonds and had a rose pendant made of rubies and emeralds hanging above her breasts. She stared at the Jinchuuriki like he was nothing with her cold green eyes, but the teenager had years of practice pretending to ignore those looks, and it was a lot easier with a line of people excited to get his autograph. The woman turned around after several seconds and reached over to pull at the khaki shorts of the skinny guy next to her, who appeared reluctant to be there.

It seemed like the man wanted to move away badly, but was forcing himself to stay while she ran her hand up and down his thigh, getting closer to his genitals with every pass. Instead of shifting away he slightly turned his body to give the woman better access and put on a plastic smile so wide his blue eyes squinted shut. The woman gave his crotch a long fondle before slowly moving away, much to the man's relief. He pulled at the collar of his red polo shirt before scratching his orange hair, and when the woman glanced over at him with a sultry smile he tried to appear eager before focusing on his food.

Naruto shifted his focus from them to the line of people waiting for an autograph and the free meal given to him by the manager. When he finished both nearly an hour later the four people were still at the table, except their food was gone and replaced by cocktails. Apparently the group had been drinking for quite some time because any semblance of subtlety was gone and they were staring directly at him while laughing mockingly. Deciding he had enough the chunin stood up and approached their table before asking, "Do you guys have a problem?"

The attractive woman gave him a haughty smile, "No, just remembering the time after I made my first movie. It's almost cute how pathetic and attention hungry you are."

The other three cackled when she took a sip of her drink, but the plump woman stopped after a few seconds and said, "You're new in the industry so I'll give you a piece of free advice. Don't talk to your betters gaki."

Naruto smirked at the four of them, "Well it's a good thing I don't see any here."

They stopped laughing and glared at him while the muscular man responded, "Watch your mouth small fry."

The actress's purple eyes flashed with venom when she replied, "The kid talks big but was horrible in the movie. Did you see the way he constantly screamed and overreacted to everything." The woman laughed condescendingly before continuing, "The sad thing is he wasn't even supposed to be acting."

The skinny man grinned while looking up at the chunin, "When I started the dropouts in my class didn't even act like that, maybe he's just that much of a loser in real life."

The man shivered when the plump blonde next to him squeezed his upper thigh with her swollen hand and continued, "The brat got lucky he worked with that whiny princess whore Fujikaze, she can make anyone look good, even that talentless idiot Makino. The man would be starving if he wasn't the only person that bitch would act for. The idiot couldn't direct his way out of a paper bag and all the movies besides the princess Fuun one have flopped, but he's still the highest paid director. His 'actionmentary' would've failed too if it wasn't focused on that cunt, but it outsold everything but Icha Icha because it turns out the slut is a real princess."

Naruto growled lightly when she insulted Koyuki, "It sounds like you're a bitter old sow to me since our 'actionmentary' sold more than all of your movies. I don't even want to be an actor or director, but the only thing I've done is better than anything you've put out. If any of you had talent like Makino or Koyuki then you'd make good movies too, but none of you do. You're just a bunch of jealous hacks, in fact, I don't even know who any of you are."

The female director's green eyes shone with rage as her shrill voice rang out, "I never said it was better, just outsold."

"So more people liked our movie and paid to see it than yours," was the chunin's quick response.

The muscular actor sneered at the blonde, "Listen here you little punk-"

"Shut up," Naruto cut the man off and snarled, "You guys may play heroes on a movie screen, but I am one in real life. Maybe you should learn to respect your betters instead of insulting me because you're jealous people asked for my autograph and not yours."

The red-haired actress slapped the table, "I've had enough of your mouth," and looked over towards two shinobi from moon country with green hair sitting nearby, "Get over here." They both wore grey flack jackets over black t-shirts, and dark purple shinobi pants with grey sandals that matched their vests, although one had grey eyes and the other had blue. Naruto saw the two when he walked in and recognized the Getsu symbol on their purple hitai-ate, but he didn't think they were here on a contract since there was a jug of Sake on their table. The woman gave him an arrogant look as the two ninja hesitantly walked over, and when they stood next to the table she said, "Take care of this punk."

The Getsugakure chunin looked at the blonde nervously, they had seen him in action in the movie and he looked tougher in real life. The two shared a look before the taller one with grey eyes responded, "Sorry lady our job is to defend you four from attacks, not fight somebody when they make you mad. Me and my brother aren't your personal thugs."

The two shinobi went back to their table while the overweight director hissed, "Cowards."

The bulky actor stood up and pounded his drink before slamming the empty glass down, "We can ruin your life so go sit down like a good boy."

Naruto's blue eye narrowed as he projected a small amount of killing intent towards the table, and once he had their attention slowly increased the pressure so they didn't pass out. The four celebrities quivered as images of their death flashed before their eyes, and half a minute later they all defecated themselves. The women start crying when cameras in the restaurant flashed rapidly, capturing the shit dripping down their legs, before running for the door with the two men behind them.

**Flashback End**

The blonde shook himself out of his thoughts and looked up at the sky. It was still pretty early and he should get some training in, but the weather was so nice it made him want to forget about everything and go to the beach. He made some good progress on the chakra beams and could create them from any point on his body, but couldn't get them to bend. The chunin shrugged and turned towards the ocean, he wouldn't be able to make any progress if training wasn't his main focus. When Naruto got there he noticed a crowd in the distance, "I wonder what that is." The chunin blocked the sun with his hand to get a better look but still couldn't make out any details behind the mass of people. The blonde knew he should ignore it, but curiosity pushed him towards the crowd.

* * *

><p>Chouji walked in front of the carriage to clear a path for it while Shikamaru and Ino covered the flanks and Asuma guarded the rear. The chunin were excited after hearing their old sensei would be leading them for the first time since the Chunin Exams, but that quickly disappeared as the mission progressed. Their team had to guard Michiru—the prince of Tsuki no Kuni—and his son Hikaru on a trip around the world. At first it seemed like an ideal mission for Shikamaru, but after a few days the behavior of the two nobles became grating. They viewed people as objects and completely ignored their feelings on the matter, acting as if each individual had a value and could be bought or sold on a whim, to them, human beings were expandable.<p>

Michiru and Hikaru weren't evil, but they were so rich that nothing was beyond their means. Whenever something interested them the two nobles would immediately buy it, and once the object became boring they would cast it aside and buy something else. The nobles had six more carriages piled high with their souvenirs, and all of it together was probably worth more than most shinobi would make performing missions over their entire career.

Once they got into the main streets people moved back and cleared a path, allowing the caravan to pass without a hassle while they clapped and whistled for the ruling family. The cheers faded as the carriages rolled through the gates, and the shinobi sighed in relief knowing their job was almost over. The four of stayed in formation and followed a path that began winding through dunes covered in thick grass. Shikamaru froze for a split second, but he quickly recovered and cast a sideways glance at Asuma who lit a cigarette, "Time for a smoke break."

Team Ten led the carriage into the shade of a dune as the jounin enjoyed the potent tobacco, but when it neared the filter he flicked it away and pulled out another. As the man reached into his pocket to grab the lighter a masked shinobi that had a black bandana covering his hair and right eye jumped out of the tall grass and dashed towards the carriage. His black sandals kicked up sand as a kunai slide out of the long sleeve of his green jumpsuit and he lunged towards the carriage.

Shikamaru's Kage Mane forced the assassin to retreat and he stared at Team Ten with his cold blue eye as they took up positions in front of the carriage. The assassin threw a dozen shuriken towards the Konoha-nin with his left hand, but Ino easily deflected the projectiles with some of her own while Chouji's fist grew and extended towards their opponent, forcing him to quickstep backwards. The masked shinobi turned and coated his kunai in futon chakra to counter Asuma's trench knives and used the man's body to push away as the Akimichi's fist barreled towards his back.

The Sarutobi was knocked off balance by the move, but still managed to avoid his student's fist without much effort, however, a path to the carriage was wide open. He could intercept the assassin if he tried, but the jounin knew they weren't in any real danger since the initial attack and wanted to see how his students fared. Ino was the closest and jumped in front of the carriage while pulling out her tessen, which glowed fiery red as the one-eyed shinobi got close. He ducked under one as it slashed towards his neck and forced the kunoichi to block his kunai with the fan in her left hand as it stabbed towards her stomach. The blade slowly melted once it came in contact with the scorching metal and the assassin dropped it while rolling left to avoid the tessen slashing towards his ribcage.

Ino pivoted and swung the left tessen towards her opponent while he stood up, but the assassin leaned backwards, and when the bladed fan passed over his head pushed her elbow out wide, which forced the blonde to keep spinning, exposing her back as he pulled out another kunai. Their exchange had only taken three seconds, but it was enough time for her teammates to recover. Chouji had performed the Baika no Jutsu after wrapping wire around his body that had kunai tied down its length, which increased his traction in the sand. He rolled towards the assassin and forced him to abandon his attack. The spiked ball missed Ino by inches as the masked-nin jumped on top of it, careful to avoid the sharp kunai on the outside. A few seconds later the mysterious shinobi regained his balance before performing a series of hand-seals, and when it was complete he jumped off Chouji while thrusting his hands forward, "Futon: Daitoppa."

The wall of wind caused the Akimichi to accelerate and he rolled away from the battle while the masked shinobi charged towards Shikamaru, but the Nara didn't take a defensive stance as their opponent neared and let out a sigh before saying, "Do we really have to do this Naruto?"

The assassin stopped and let out a loud groan while the other chunin looked over in surprise and Asuma smiled. The disguised shinobi started laughing while reaching up to undo his bandana and mask, and when they fell towards the ground he said, "Can't slip anything past you Shikamaru."

Naruto pulled off the bodysuit, revealing his plain orange swimming trunks, and resealed everything while Shikamaru spoke up, "It wasn't that hard to figure out. There were multiple times you had a clear path to the carriage and ignored it when a real assassin would've gone for the kill, unless one of us was your target. When Asuma stopped fighting I realized there wasn't any danger, and after that it wasn't hard to put the rest together. You have one blue eye, a wind affinity, and are the only person I know troublesome enough to do this."

Naruto chuckled as he shook his friend's hand before grabbing the back of his head and hissing in pain. He turned around slowly and saw Ino glaring at him with evil shining in her sky blue eyes while she yelled, "What was that for asshole?"

The Uzumaki gulped as he stared at the fierce kunoichi and silently cursed. After dealing with civilian girls the past few month the blonde forgot how scary the ones he knew were. Naruto lifted his hands up peacefully and apologized, "Sorry Ino, it was just a joke. I was only trying to have some fun, besides, it let me see how much you've grown." The Yamanaka blushed when the blonde complimented her while letting his eye quickly run up and down her frame. Naruto smiled as her anger started to dissipate, apparently compliments worked on kunoichi too, "Seriously Ino, when did you learn to kick so much ass?"

The Yamanaka playfully slapped him, "Geez Naruto, you go away for a couple months and suddenly have some charm."

The Jinchuuriki scratched the back of his head embarrassedly, "C'mon, don't give me that much credit. It's been closer to a year."

"If you two are done flirting we have a mission to continue."

Naruto was used to Jiraiya's antics so he wasn't fazed when the jounin goaded them, but Ino quickly turned around and whined, "Asuma-sensei," as the man gave her a teasing grin.

"I'd rather not continue it though," mumbled Shikamaru before the carriage door swung open, and all of Team Ten sighed before the Nara said, "Troublesome."

A child that had black hair sticking up on the back of his head with long bangs combed to the sides so he could see rushed out of the carriage. The boy had glasses over his brown eyes and wore a white robe made of silk that came down to his knees with a pattern of light blue triangles around the wide collar. A black sash was tied around his waist that held up the grey pants while he ran across the ground in his fine black shoes as a voice called out of the carriage, "Wait Hikaru, it's dangerous out there."

A chubby man wearing a sleeveless blue kimono with sky blue trim on the edges and a white sash with golden borders that stretched over his ample torso shuffled out after the child. He had an orange hat on over his straight black hair that stopped at his neck, and two gaudy necklaces around his neck. One was made of thirty ruby beads the size of grapes, and the other was a thin platinum chain with five different colored triangles made from precious gems hanging from the end. The man was breathing heavily after running a dozen feet and Asuma lit another cigarette while shaking his head, "Don't worry Michiru-sama we're in no danger, the assassin wasn't real. He was just a member of our village that happened to be in the area and was playing a prank on us."

Hikaru wasn't paying attention to Asuma and walked up to the blonde shinobi, "Why did you stop fighting, it was so cool?"

Naruto smiled at the boy as he jumped around while pretending to attack an invisible opponent, "I was just having some fun with my friends, but fighting like that is dangerous and I didn't want anyone to get hurt."

Hikaru frowned, "I don't care about that, you can have anything if you keep fighting."

"I'm not for sale brat." Naruto tried to ignore the hypocrisy of that statement, but to him there was a big difference between fighting for Konoha and some boy's amusement. Besides, according to Jiraiya he had enough money to live comfortably his entire life without working, he didn't need the kid's piggy bank.

Hikaru could tell the blonde wasn't paying attention to him—something that never happened before—and he didn't like it. The boy was the Grandson of Tsuki no Kuni's Daimyo and eventual heir to the throne, whenever he asked for something people dropped everything and made it happen. Hikaru was about to explode at the shinobi when his father placed a hand on his shoulder, "Everything my son says is true, if the fight continues I shall fulfill any desire you have."

When Michiru finished Naruto felt his resolve waver, judging from the servants and number of wagons stuffed with valuable souvenirs these people were incredibly wealthy, and there were quite a few things he wouldn't mind having. Hikaru smirked as he watched the chunin, people may not take him seriously due to his age, but when his father spoke they always caved.

Naruto saw the prince's son give him an arrogant look and his blue eye hardened, he wouldn't give in on principle now, and nobody was as stubborn as him, "I'm a person not an object, there's no price tag that instantly makes me into a robot. If I don't want to do something then I won't, and I don't want to fight my friends."

Michiru was visibly shocked by the blonde's willpower, he had only come across a handful of people outside of his father that ever refused him. He frowned and ignored Hikaru, who was screaming at Naruto. The prince hated when people said no, it always reminded him of her. Michiru broke that train of thought before it took a darker turn and playfully picked up his son before swinging around to look at Asuma, "Don't worry my child, we shall see a fight soon. Jounin-san, how much would it cost to add another guard?"

The Sarutobi raised his eyebrow while flicking a cigarette away, this guy wouldn't give up, "It's not standard procedure to add a someone to the mission halfway through, and Naruto is one of our more high profile shinobi."

"Money is no issue."

Asuma nodded, "If that's the case it's his decision."

The one-eyed shinobi considered his options, Jiraiya had probably already snuck back onto the main island to see the bikini contest and he wasn't getting any training done so there was no reason to stay here. There was also the added bonus of catching up with Team Ten and possibly getting wind manipulation tips from Asuma, the blonde looked over at the two nobles staring at him expectantly. Their behavior was obnoxious and the thought of putting up with the royal duo for an extended period of time almost made him blurt out no, however, the aggravation he caused by refusing them almost balanced it out. "I'll tag along," Michiru and his son grinned triumphantly until the blonde continued, "But I'm only fighting if we get attacked, not for your amusement."

The prince's excitement visibly lessened, but he knew from experience people couldn't say no when they truly comprehended his wealth. The boy was able to refuse now, but after realizing what he was turning down his resolve would waver, what else did people want besides money or the luxuries it brought? Michiru was confident in his eventual success and clapped his hands happily, "Excellent, let's get going."

Naruto nodded as the nobles walked back to their carriage, "Okay, I just need to get into actual clothes."

The Uzumaki ran behind a dune to change quickly, and a few minutes later jumped over it wearing his mission outfit. Shikamaru looked over when the blonde landed and bent down before drawing a circle in the sand with his finger, "Okay, we have to create a new formation since Naruto is joining us. Chouji can stay up front as our initial wall of defense, Asuma is the strongest so he'll guard the rear, that way he can make a decision about who to support. There is more grass and dunes on the left side so Naruto will be there, his shadow clones can trail the carriage and he'll be able to react quickest because of the info they send out. The right side is mostly open ground and we'll see an attack coming from the distance so Ino can stay there. Meanwhile I'll be sitting on top of the main carriage to get a better vantage point of the situation so I can use my shadows better."

"I'm calling bullshit." The Nara looked over at his blonde teammate after putting an X in the middle of the circle representing the carriage, "You just gave Naruto your spot so you can take a nap while we walk."

The lazy chunin grunted and cleaned out his left ear with his pinky finger, "I'm not going to be napping Ino, our original formation is the best way to guard a moving target and I just modified it to give me a better view of things. If I know what's going on earlier I can use my shadows to shape the battlefield and change the plan accordingly, of course I'll have to lay down on top of the carriage for the best cover."

Asuma chuckled as the Yamanaka started poking Shikamaru in the space between his flack jacket, "At least try to make a better lie next time asshole. Every shinobi worth their salt knows to use the pentagonal formation to guard a moving target with a five man team."

The Nara sighed as his teammate's sharp nail jabbed into his chest, "Troublesome woman, Naruto can support the right flank from the rear and Asuma will shift left."

Naruto smiled as Team Ten walked away while Ino grumbled, but she slowly fell behind the other three before accentuating the motion of her hips. The Uzumaki's eyes were naturally drawn to the kunoichi's butt, but he managed to look away after a few moments. If the Jinchuuriki wanted to maintain any possibility of repairing his relationship with Sakura he probably shouldn't sleep with her best friend and rival.

* * *

><p>A portly man let out a satisfied moan after swallowing his food and drank from a saucer of Sake that was refilled by a servant once it was put down. He sat in a golden throne padded with maroon cushions made of velvet, which was placed at the head of a thirty-foot long white pine table that matched the wood floors. The man wore a pink sash over a purple kimono made of silk while four gold loops stacked on top of each other covered his flabby neck. His short brown hair had two tufts sticking out on either side that resembled horns while his sideburns went past his large ears before curving up to meet his moustache.<p>

Light reflected off the golden rings on his ivory chopsticks while he savored a plate of finely cooked beef with a side of caviar in hallowed out radishes. The man let out another appreciative groan as he relished the juicy steak before slurping down a mouthful of caviar and tossing the vegetable aside. Life didn't get much better. Shabadaba was a noble in the Tsuki Daimyo's court and didn't want for much, but even he was jealous of the luxury that surrounded the royal family. Most people on the island had never seen food like this, radishes grow in cold climates and beef was a rarity since there wasn't enough land to raise cattle in Moon Country, yet this cottage had a freezer filled with enough rare delicacies to feed a small village for a year.

Shabadaba ran his hands over the polished table and looked at the matching pine floors. The cost of importing this lumber alone would build several peasants a house, yet all the floors and furniture in the summer cottage were made of the soft wood, despite its exorbitant price. The man smiled as he slowly chewed another piece of the succulent meat, 'It's no wonder Michiru got fat living like this. Surrounded by the finest accouterments money could buy, only eating the rarest delicacies, yes, I could easily get used to being the Daimyo.'

The man pushed his empty plate away and looked at the paintings hanging from the green walls. All of Tsuki no Kuni's former Daimyo struck regal poses while holding ornate weapons decorated by priceless gems, and those ceremonial armaments were in glass display cases underneath the paintings, "I wonder what I should pick as my weapon. A poleax would be truly frightening, but it wouldn't set me apart. I need something unique, something that accurately reflects my glory."

Before the noble could put much thought into his future the large doors at the far end of the room swung open and three teenagers walked in. Two boys flanked a shorter girl with short black hair cropped at her neck and cold black eyes. A sleeveless purple shirt hugged her petite frame while tight black shorts stopped halfway down her thighs and exposed her toned legs, which drew Shabadaba's eyes towards the purple sandals on her feet.

The boy on her right had grey hair that covered his right eye and was rather effeminate, wearing green lipstick with matching eyeliner around his beady left eye while a necklace of red prayer hung around his neck. He had on a yellow tunic that stopped above his knees with black trimming around the edges while black shinobi pants were tucked into white bandages that went down his shins and into brown sandals. The teenager on her left had white hair that framed his face while his striking purple eyes had black lining around them. He wore a light blue shirt and black shinobi pants that went into white bandages that stopped above his blue sandals. The pudgy noble had seen enough Getsu-nin to realize these were shinobi, but he couldn't find anything to identify their allegiance.

As soon as the teenagers took a step into the room Shabadaba's personal guard appeared behind him. There was a muscular man with beady black eyes and spiked brown hair that resembled Jiraiya's and stopped at his shoulder blades. He wore a long sleeved green shirt under a tan vest that matched his pants and kabuki sandals. The shinobi had a metal band wrapped around his forehead that had no symbol and reflected light as he reached up to scratch his large nose. The large man smiled dumbly at the three teenagers as he pulled on black gloves before looking over at the orange haired shinobi on his left.

The shorter man had a hair similar to the brute next to him that stopped at his waist and bright blue eyes that scrutinized the Oto-nin as he took a defensive stance, shifting his kabuki sandals across the floor. Like the other shinobi he wore a plain metal headband and a cream pants that matched his vest, but underneath it had on a sleeveless blue shirt. The orange-haired man only had a glove on his right hand and held a kunai in the other. The woman on his left had spiky blue hair that stopped at her shoulders while two long strands framed her face and came down to her chin. She had on the same blank metal headband as the other two, but wore a long sleeve maroon dress, the same color as her eyes, under a cream-colored jersey vest that matched her leather boots and gloves.

Shabadaba visibly calmed down after his shinobi appeared and looked at the three teenagers confidently while waving the servants away. When they were out of the room he pulled a lever under the table, which closed the doors as a privacy seal glowed along the walls "Who are you and how did you get in here?"

Isaribi looked around nervously so Sakon smiled and took the lead. The effeminate shinobi raised his arms peacefully while holding a hitai-ate bearing a musical note in his right hand, "Relax guys, we're not here to cause problems." When the Oto-nin finished Ukon's head emerged next to his, "Yeah, there's no need to worry, why would Orochimaru-sama destroy something he has been investing in for the past six months?"

The three shinobi around Shabadaba didn't react noticeably, although they did drop their guard after the display, however, their employer was visibly disturbed and stumbled over his words while asking, "W-what d-d-do you mean? W-why are you h-h-here t-then."

Suigetsu sighed at his teammate's dramatic methods, even if Orochimaru had no intention of letting this idiot rule the country there was no reason to freak him out. Better to play along and make everything easier at the end. The former Kiri-nin could see Sakon and Ukon were about to continue their act so he stepped in, "Forgive my eccentric teammate, what he meant to say was the prince is returning with his son. They will be here in two days with an escort of Konoha shinobi."

Sakon glared at the white haired shinobi's back as Shabadaba visibly relaxed and leaned back in the throne, "Excellent, now we can put the plan into motion."

Suigetsu cocked his head over towards the noble's shinobi who still hadn't taken defensive postures, "It better be a good one, these losers won't be worth a damn if they were scared by a little trick."

The three ninja he was looking at dissolved into rose petals before dropping down from the ceiling, landing directly behind the Sound shinobi. The muscular one held a massive halberd, a seven foot long weapon that came to a deadly point with a two foot long curved axe blade on one side, and a three foot spike protruding out of the other. The brown haired man easily lifted the imposing weapon with one hand and pointed it at the Oto-nin while speaking in a baritone voice, "Perhaps you should not underestimate us." Suigetsu scoffed as he turned around and separated his torso around the halberd while walking towards its surprised wielder. After reaching the muscular shinobi's elbow he turned around and put an arm around the unaffiliated-nin's shoulder in a friendly manner while his body solidified. The man's eyes shot open and he let out a growl, "I can't move my arm."

The former Kiri-nin smiled widely, revealing his shark-like teeth, "I think my first impression was correct. That Kawamiri genjutsu combination was so shoddy an academy student would've seen it. You three almost wet your pants at Sakon's jutsu, that wasn't an illusion."

Shabadaba could see the white haired Oto-nin was embarrassing Kongo so he coughed lightly into his hand, "Our plan should require no violence. We've written up a false case against the Daimyo for treason and shall overthrow him legally. The contract binds the team to Michiru until they reach their destination, which is here, and when they arrive we shall arrest the prince and his son. The Konoha-nin won't be able to interfere because it is an internal affair of Tsuki no Kuni."

Suigetsu kept his face level but internally he was cursing, there was no way Shabadaba's plan would work. "Fine, you may proceed with that course, but Orochimaru has an investment in this country so we shall stay and watch from the shadows." The Hozuki freed Kongo by liquefying his body before walking away without waiting for a response, and his teammates followed him out the door.

They travelled through the artificial woods surrounding the mansion in silence and walked out the gates several minutes later. Sakon watched Isaribi stare longingly at the former Kiri-nin's back as they followed a trail that led to the beach and snarled after hearing Ukon's voice in his head, 'Are you going to let Suigetsu walk over us like that? We were Orochimaru's bodyguards and have seniority over that white haired punk.'

Sakon nodded when his brother finished and remained silent until they came to a stop on the beach a few minutes later. Suigetsu appeared to be lost in thought while staring over the ocean, and the effeminate shinobi growled at being ignored, "Listen up you shark toothed cocksucker, don't interrupt me like that again, I'm the most senior shinobi here."

Zabuza's former apprentice snorted as he turned around, "You may be the most senior Oto-nin here, but I was raised in a real shinobi village. Besides, Orochimaru put Isaribi in charge of the squad, or are you saying that your judgment is better than his?"

Sakon laughed mockingly before responding, "Of course not idiot, I would never question Orochimaru-sama." The effeminate teenager wrapped his arm around the girl's lower back and pulled her close. She stiffened at the contact and twisted in Sakon's grip to face away from him, "Isaribi will be a great kunoichi soon, but she hasn't been training for that long." The former leader of the Sound Four smiled down at his black haired teammate before moving his arm towards her shapely rear, making the girl wince, "Me and Ukon can help, why don't we ditch this jerk and you can show us some moves."

Isaribi wasn't used to being complimented or positive contact and usually appreciated it, but she never liked the way Sakon or his brother acted towards her. The girl shifted out of the Oto-nin's grip when his fingers brushed against her butt and quietly answered, "That's okay, we should be ready at all times in case the prince arrives early."

The effeminate shinobi moved towards the girl and she shuffled away until Suigetsu stepped between them, "Stop acting like a creep, it's making Isaribi uncomfortable. Besides, you and Ukon wouldn't be able to satisfy a woman working together."

The shinobi stepped towards each other and it appeared they were about to come to blows when Isaribi raised her voice, "Enough." The two of them looked at her as she continued in a softer tone, "We're here to ensure the coup succeeds for Orochimaru-sama."

The boys scoffed before turning away from each other and Isaribi walked down the beach. Sakon headed into the dunes after spitting at Suigetsu's feet, but the former Kiri-nin paid him no attention. He looked at the black haired girl's back and shook his head. Isaribi was nicer than most of the douches in Otogakure, but like everyone else she had been brainwashed by Orochimaru and was blindly loyal to him. Suigetsu knew what the snakelike man was really like and would never trust him, but for now he had nowhere else to go. Yagura wouldn't welcome him back with open arms, and he didn't exactly make friends with anyone in the rebellion. The Hozuki's best chance for survival was to stay put and play along until there was an opportunity to leave, but he'd always be watching his back.

* * *

><p>The royal carriage came to a stop and Michiru excitedly waddled towards a plain one story house with white siding sitting in front of fields filled with fruits, vegetables, flowers, and small livestock pens that held chickens, goats, sheep, and pigs. Hikaru slowly left the carriage before hesitantly following his father to the door, and after he arrived the man knocked several times. It opened a few minutes later revealing a brown-eyed woman with black hair in a simple ponytail going down her back. She wore a white t-shirt and loose fitting jeans that were stained by dirt and sweat, along with unlaced work boots that were caked with mud, yet it was still easy to see her beauty underneath all the grime.<p>

The woman appeared confused as she took in the chubby man until her dirty hands shot up and covered her chapped lips, "Michiru, is that you?" The prince grinned and nodded, but she ignored him and focused on the boy hiding behind his pudgy legs. Tears shone in the woman's expressive brown eyes as she whispered out, "H-Hikaru, are you Hikaru?" The boy nodded timidly and she easily pushed the portly man aside before embracing him tightly, "O my son, my son."

The child's eyes widened as he desperately grabbed the woman and started trembling, "Mommy."

"It's okay my little moonbeam, I'm here." Michiru watched the two of them embrace and fought down the jealousy rising in his chest before the feeling was replaced by shame. The last time Hikaru was embraced by his mother was four years ago, he might not even remember. The prince looked away from the scene until they finished a few minutes later and his ex-wife scooped the boy up before shifting him to her back, "Come my son, let me show you the farm."

The prince kept his distance as Amayo gave their child a tour of the fields. She took him through the small orchard of citrus trees where she let him pick an orange and eat it. The woman also grew melons, a variety of squash, a small patch of corn, and eggplant. Hikaru laughed when she let him play with the livestock, and whenever he smiled Amayo's face lit up, which made the prince remember the times he was the reason for that glow.

The boy spent over an hour outside with his mother, and when the tour was finished she took him back to the house and opened the door, "Why don't you go in and wash up Hikaru. When you're done I'll make you a nice fresh sandwich." The boy nodded and hurried inside while Amayo turned towards her ex-husband and stared at him with frosty brown eyes, "What do you want Michiru?"

The prince turned away from the woman's condemning stare while answering, "I, I wanted Hikaru to see his mother, he needs you… and so do I. Please come back Amayo, the happiness that used to fill my days is gone, only emptiness remains."

"You've tried your best to fill it I see. I could hardly recognize you at first."

Michiru's ex-wife eyed his ample stomach and the man's humiliation was apparent when he grabbed it, "I couldn't stop eating when you left. It was the only thing that brought me comfort, even if it only lasted a few moments."

The woman snorted, "Well you should've tried exercising instead."

The prince continued staring at the ground, "Please come back Amayo, I'll drop the weight and do anything you want. Just name it and it shall be yours, mansions, jewelry, art… just come back to me."

Michiru still couldn't look his ex-wife in the face, but he heard the anger in her melodic voice, "You still don't understand why I left. I'm perfectly happy here tending my fields and taking care of the animals, expensive gifts won't win me back."

The prince look confused when she finished, "If you're happy farming that's fine. Let me buy you more land and livestock. I'll hire the best workers and you can run the most successful farm in Tsuki no Kuni, name it and-"

"Just stop," The pudgy man finally gathered the courage to look at Amayo's brown eyes, however, the pity there made him feel worse than her anger, "You've changed so much Michiru. You don't resemble the person I fell in love with anymore, physically or emotionally. Now you're just a pathetic man that uses our son as an excuse to see me, the son I haven't seen for four years because you got full custody and refused me visitation rights hoping I'd come back. You held my only child as a hostage."

"I'm sorry, I was so angry."

Amayo wiped away the tears forming in her brown eyes and cut the prince off, "It's too late for apologies, especially hollow ones. I want Hikaru two weeks during every month from now on, and I don't want you tagging along with him either. It's bad enough that you kept him from me, but you ruined him too." The woman snarled and slammed the door before Michiru slowly walked back to the carriage with no happiness in his usually jovial features.

The Prince remained inside until his son returned, and the caravan started moving once more as he looked anywhere but his ex-wife's house. As they travelled the man kept glancing over at the daily menu his cooks supplied before forcing himself to look away. He needed food to escape from from the misery plaguing him, but remembering what Amayo said about his weight helped him fight off the temptation, he just needed something else to think about. Michiru looked out the window awhile before falling asleep, but after waking up his mood hadn't improved and Hikaru was being unusually quiet. The boy was concentrating on a small puzzle his mother had given him as a gift and was lost to the world until a large, colorful sign caught his eye. "A circus, can we go dad?"

Michiru smiled as the boy pressed his face against the window, maybe this would keep Amayo away from his thoughts, "Of course my son, anything for you." The prince eagerly looked at the large tent that rose up in the distance while recalling his childhood memories of the circus. When they arrived he waddled around the fairgrounds with Hikaru and watched acts like the strongman, bearded lady, fire breathers, and sword swallowers, but nothing could push the thoughts of his ex-wife away. Whenever Michiru saw his son's astonished stare he only remembered the way Amayo's face lit up when they went to the circus and how happy that made him, a feeling that seemed foreign to him for so long.

A vendor carrying large bags of popcorn walked by and the prince called him over before buying one. As he ate the treat he was able to focus on the buttery flavor and crunchy texture, but as soon as it was gone thoughts of his ex-wife returned along with the depression that accompanied them. Michiru sent servants out to the vendors to collect more for him, and as they walked through the fairgrounds he enjoyed the piles of junk food while Hikaru marveled at the performers.

After hearing an announcement for the main show the prince led his son into the tent and got seats in the front row by paying ten times the ticket price to the previous owners, despite their children's protests. Servants took the cold food away before placing fresh dishes on a tray next to him and Michiru started grabbing handfuls of it. Hikaru managed to snatch a piece of fried dough from his father's plate and watched as the ringmaster introduced the variety of acts. He saw trapeze artists risk their life performing unbelievable acrobatic feats nearly fifty feet above the ground, there was a dancing bear that was able to balance on a ball and roll around a ring, and six female performers flipped back and forth between the backs of two elephants that seemed to dance with each other, even standing on their hind legs at times.

The boy was amazed when a dozen full grown clowns got out of a carriage less than half the size of his father's before entertaining and amazing the crowd by enduring physical pain while barely avoiding serious injuries. Hikaru was forced to watch through his fingers while several of the clowns almost got killed by knives they threw into the air to pop balloons. A magician astounded the audience by making people levitate, sawing his assistant in half, and even becoming invisible, but the best part came at the end when the ringmaster introduced a rare, white sabertooth tiger named Chamu. Hikaru had never seen anything like it in his life. The beast gracefully jumped through rings of fire, back flipped around the ring, climbed a rope before diving into a small pool they brought out, and when he roared the boy's heart pumped like never before. He looked up at his father while his eyes sparkled with wonder, "Dad, can we buy the circus?"

Michiru flinched as memories of Amayo flashed through his mind once more, but the man would never refuse his son simply because he was unhappy, "What an excellent idea Hikaru."

Naruto's jaw dropped as the prince ordered his servants to find the ringleader and shook his head in disbelief, "He's actually going to get the kid a circus."

Asuma lit a cigarette and inhaled deeply before letting the smoke drift up into the air. He was sure Naruto already knew this well, but his students were rather privileged and needed a reminder now and then. "Some people are just born luckier than others."

* * *

><p>As the sun descended into the horizon the royal caravan arrived at the protectorate's largest port and found the boat that would bring them back to Tsuki no Kuni. The captain protested when he saw the train of carriages and insisted their luggage needed to be left behind for another ship, but Hikaru wasn't hearing any of it. The boy threw a tantrum that left everyone's ears ringing and his father responded by quadrupling the fee. The captain looked hesitantly between the roll of money and mountain of luggage, but greed eventually won out over caution. His crew stuffed all the trunks in the bottom hold and managed to get the smaller animal crates into storage as well, but cages for Chamu, the elephants, camels, and other large animals couldn't fit through any of the storage holes and were secured to the deck before they set sail.<p>

A few hours later everyone was spread out in the mess hall for dinner. Naruto enjoyed some time away from the obnoxious nobles and talked with Team Ten about the past few months, although he was curious why they wouldn't discuss anything about Chunin Exam except the final round. When dinner was finished the four teenagers sat in comfortable silence until Naruto looked around, "Where's Hikaru?"

The other chunin scanned the room, but nobody saw the small boy. Shikamaru groaned in annoyance while pushing himself up, "Troublesome, these sailors are directly employed by the Daimyo and have been for years so I doubt anybody took him, although it's always a possibility. Let's split up and try to find the kid before jumping to any conclusions though."

Naruto ran towards the stairs that led to the deck and threw the door open after hearing a roar. The blonde found Chamu standing over Hikaru and realized the boy let the tiger out after seeing the lock in his hands. The chunin cursed as he watched the beast raise its paw and disappeared in a blur. He managed to save the boy before he was hit, but the sabertooth left a long scratch down his right leg.

The blonde tossed Hikaru across the ground and turned as the tiger lunged towards him. He caught Chamu by his large teeth and twisted the creature's neck until he flopped to the ground. The animal struggled mightily against his iron grip for nearly a minute, futilely trying to maul the nimble shinobi with his claws, but eventually he submitted and went limp. Naruto gingerly let go and the tiger stayed prone for a few seconds before slowly getting up. Its yellow eyes stared respectfully at the chunin for a moment before it walked back into the cage and laid down. Naruto breathed a sigh of relief and took the lock from Hikaru before putting it back on the sabertooth's pen. When he was sure the door was secure he picked up the shaken child and put him on his feet, "Hey, I know the tiger is cool, but you can't let a dangerous animal out of its cage."

Hikaru looked at the predator and felt the fear rising in his chest again so he turned away, "I don't care about that thing, it's stupid."

The blonde scratched his head as the child walked back downstairs and looked over at Chamu, "Sorry buddy." Naruto thought he saw the tiger roll his eyes and blinked rapidly a few times before shaking his head, the animal was intelligent, but there's no way it was that smart. "Must be Ichiraku withdrawals."

The Uzumaki walked back below deck and watched Hikaru go back to his father before sitting down. Naruto leaned against the wall and waited for Team Ten to come back while keeping half an eye on the child. When the other chunin arrived Shikamaru decided to go to bed and Chouji went to clean up the remaining leftovers, leaving the two blondes alone. Ino leaned closer to the Uzumaki and asked, "Where was he?"

Naruto looked down at the attractive kunoichi and tried not to stare at her cleavage, although it appeared she wanted him too, "Just on the deck acting like a stupid kid."

"Something you have plenty of experience doing."

The Jinchuuriki pouted as the kunoichi gave him a teasing grin, "Ino-chan is so mean."

The Yamanaka's long ponytail swung side to side as she playfully shook her head, "Nope, just honest." Her fellow blonde slumped over in defeat while the kunoichi chewed on her lower lip and contemplated asking about something that been bothering her for awhile. Naruto looked up after a few seconds and she could see he was expecting a question, deciding they weren't close enough Ino quickly asked something else, "Why did you come on the mission? It seemed like you were on vacation back there."

Naruto's blue eye scrutinized the kunoichi for a moment before he answered, "Well, I thought it would be cool to catch up with you guys and was hoping Asuma-sensei would give me some tips about wind manipulation. Besides, Ero-sennin wasn't teaching me anything new and I wasn't getting any real training done on the island."

Ino looked at the Uzumaki innocently, "So you go away with a notorious pervert for awhile and now want to spend some time alone with me? How scandalous, what would Sakura say?"

A wide grin spread across Naruto's face as the kunoichi baited him, but she was treading into dangerous waters now, the pinkette was still a sore subject. He decided it would be best to move the conversation in a different direction and spoke in a serious tone, "Okay, since I answered your question you have to answer one of mine. Why don't you guys talk about the earlier stages of the Chunin Exam?" Ino shivered automatically while remembering those five days in Training Area 44. Months had passed since the battle in the Forest of Death, but whenever the subject came up images of slaughtered Konoha-nin flashed through her memory. Naruto frowned after she trembled slightly and the chunin wished he didn't push her, "Sorry, you don't really need to answer."

Ino stared at the wooden floor and slowly shook her head, "It's alright, you deserve to know what happened. During the second exam, shinobi from Oto and the other minor villages banded together to hunt down teams from Konoha and Suna. It was like a war in there, the smell of blood, mangled bodies spread everywhere."

The Yamanaka trailed off and Naruto wrapped his arm around her shoulders, "Hey, it's okay now. You guys kicked their asses in the finals."

The girl moved closer into his embrace and said, "We paid them back good in the forest too, but not those Oto bastards."

Naruto rubbed Ino's back gently when she finished, "It's okay, we'll return the favor someday." Anger bubbled in the Uzumaki's stomach as he thought of the Sound Village while the faces of Kimimaro and Kabuto flashed through his memory, "It might take awhile but they'll answer for what they did, I promise."

Ino looked into the boy's determined blue eye and felt a blush rising on her cheeks. She twisted out of the intimate position they were in and coughed into her hand, "It's getting late so I'm heading to bed, shifts for guard duty are the same tonight."

The kunoichi walked down the hall and Naruto nodded as he got up and headed to his bed as well. 'Might as well get some sleep before my turn babysitting.'

* * *

><p>Naruto grumbled as the door to Michiru's and Hikaru's room opened before the boy walked out while rubbing his eyes, "I need to go to the bathroom."<p>

The Uzumaki pointed back to their room, "You guys have a bucket in there."

"It's number two."

The blonde sighed as he watched the whining boy twist uncomfortably and stood up before creating a clone to watch the door. The shinobi took Hikaru's hand and led him through the lower deck, but when they started up the staircase he realized the ship was rocking violently. The two of them entered the mess hall and saw sailors scrambling around while the captain shouted out orders. A balding man with leathery skin and grey eyes walked up to him, "What're ya doing up here boys? There's a hell of a storm going on now, we tried securing the animals better but none of us could do it in this weather. Couldn't even take the sail down, had to cut the damn rigging so the mast didn't break."

The sailor walked away while Hikaru remembered the earlier encounter with Chamu and anger distorted his features before he snorted, "Good riddance, they're just stupid animals."

The boy let out an eep when Naruto picked him up by the collar and shoved him against the wall, "You're no better than trash. Those animals are living creatures and you're treating them like plastic dolls. The only reason they're out there is because you wanted to buy them, and now you don't care if they live and die. That makes me sick."

Naruto found a crewmember and asked about chains to further secure the animals while Hikaru slumped to the floor. The child sat there and remembered the amazement he felt watching the performance, how great it was to forget his mother's accusations against his father, but mostly her disappointment in him. Chamu helped push the painful words away, but after Naruto scolded him they all came rushing back. The boy leaned against the wall and thought about his parent's argument, 'Is that why mom call me ruined? Because I treat living things like toys.'

Hikaru set his jaw and stood up, he would make his mother proud. The boy sprinted up the stairs and grabbed the keys off the wall before pulling the door open, ignoring the shouts telling him to stop. He grabbed a rope that was secured to the deck before crawling towards Chamu's cage as the animal's intelligent eyes watched him struggle against the sheets of rain and wind. Hikaru's determination allowed him to focus on the rope and put one hand in front of the other until he got to the tiger's cage. The boy inserted the key and turned it until there was a clicking noise, but as soon as the lock came off the door—which he was holding onto—it swung open and threw him into the ocean.

Naruto shielded his face and cursed before making twenty shadow clones that took the heavy chains to tie down the other animals. The shinobi rushed towards the edge of the boat, but before he got there Chamu leaped into the water. The Uzumaki looked for the two in the choppy ocean, but he didn't see them after a few moments and cursed loudly. The chunin put his foot on the rail and was about to dive into the violent waves when the sabertooth broke the surface with an unconscious Hikaru in his jaws before climbing up the rope ladder on the side.

The shinobi let his clones finish securing the cages as he gently laid Hikaru down and performed CPR until the boy coughed up water. He picked the noble up carefully and Chamu led him downstairs into the mess hall. The trio was given a wide berth as they walked over to the wall where the rare tiger laid down and looked at the unconscious child in Naruto's arms. The chunin sighed and placed Hikaru against the sabertooth's furry side before channeling chakra to his hands to draw out the water soaking the tiger and prince, "Might as well get some training in now."

The blonde wasn't particularly adept at using his suiton affinity yet so it was almost an hour before they were dry, and that was because he decided to use a towel after awhile. Hikaru was still unconscious, although his breathing was normal, and Naruto was lying next to him using the large sabertooth as pillow too. The rhythmic rising and falling of Chamu's chest was lulling the chunin to sleep, but before he closed his eyes Asuma ran into the mess hall, "Where's Hikaru?" The jounin visibly relaxed after seeing the boy and he walked over as the rest of his team rushed up the stairs. They hurried over to their sensei as he looked at the Uzumaki and asked, "What happened?"

Naruto flashed Ino a smile before looking up at her sensei and ruffling Hikaru's hair affectionately, "He was just being a stupid kid."

* * *

><p><strong>AN<strong>

A present to those of you who started school and something to take it off the mind for those who haven't. Honestly I thought this might take awhile to get this arc started, but it went a lot faster than I anticipated. Just have to edit the other two chapters, hopefully I can do it before schoolwork gets hectic, but as I've said before grades come first. I've also completely changed the next little arc to be much shorter, so depending on my classes I might be able to the next part of the trip. There's no more than 10 chapters left in the training trip, and after that I can finally move onto shippuden, woot.

See you all whenever,

Operaman bye bye


	42. The Pains of Pleasure: Uprising in Tsuki

Naruto breathed a sigh of relief when the city gates slammed shut behind them. A large crowd had packed into the city port and waited for the prince's ship to arrive in silence, but as the vessel pulled in the elephants trumpeted, causing the people to roar their approval. The procession transformed into a parade, forcing the royal caravan to march at a snail's pace through the packed streets as citizens cheered and waved to the performers. It took them more than two hours to reach the gates, and now the shinobi started the last leg of their mission. Once Michiru reached his family's vacation home their contract would be up, and the Uzumaki was surprised to find himself disappointed.

**Flashback**

Naruto grumbled as he walked through the halls looking for Hikaru. Once the boy had finished breakfast he took off again, disappearing into the bowels of the ship. The chunin heard something clattering in the cargo hold and pushed open the door to find the young noble's legs swinging wildly in the air as he dug through one of the many wagons filled with souvenirs. Naruto shook his head as the boy tried to extricate himself from the wagon and pulled Hikaru out by his foot. The prince smiled up at him embarrassedly before saying, "Thanks for the help."

The chunin gently placed Hikaru on the ground and the boy jumped into a different wagon. The Jinchuuriki let out an exasperated sigh and asked, "What're you looking for?"

The noble ignored Naruto for another minute until he let out a triumphant yell, "Yes, found it." Hikaru stood up on the wagon and proudly held up a finely carved wooden bow with moons engraved down the length before notching an arrow with a suction cup on the end onto the string, "Halt evil villain, if you move I'll be forced to end your life."

The shinobi grinned as he took a step forward, "I'd like to see you try." Naruto's leg tensed as he prepared to avoid Hikaru's shot, but it proved unnecessary as the arrow fell right to the floor, "Aha." The chunin leapt at Hikaru and easily wrestled the bow away from him while snatching an arrow from the quiver on his back. The string was already taut when Naruto landed and he triumphantly exclaimed, "It appears the tables have turned young hero. You have dedication, but lack the skill to bring me down." The shinobi shot the arrow and Hikaru let out a short squeak before the suction cup landed over his mouth, causing the blonde to burst out laughing, "Finally, some quiet time."

The noble pulled the arrow off his mouth and stared up at Naruto in awe, "Teach me to do that… please."

The shinobi grinned while replying, "Sure, I'll give you some pointers on the way back to the others if you stop running away." Hikaru nodded rapidly and the chunin carefully handed the bow back, "You should improve pretty quickly, that's pretty well made for a toy."

The young prince huffed and held up his bow proudly, letting Naruto look at the skillful woodworking, "It's not a toy, my grandpa made it for me himself."

The Jinchuuriki grinned as he inspected the weapon closer, surprised to find that a Daimyo was capable of making something like this with his bare hands, "He sounds like a pretty cool dude. You must cherish that a lot."

Hikaru looked at the ground ashamedly, "Actually, I completely forgot about it until today. It's the second one he gave me because I lost the first. I just threw this one into the cart when we left too, and jiichan worked hard to make it for me. I should have cherished it."

The boy looked up when Naruto put a comforting hand on his shoulder, "Don't worry about it, you're just a dumb kid." The blonde grinned when Hikaru looked up at him angrily, "Although, it's impressive that you already recognize that." Naruto lead the prince towards the door as he continued, "Now let's get going and I'll give you some tips."

**Flashback End**

He looked over at Hikaru and Chamu before smiling. Ever since the incident on the deck last night the boy and tiger were almost inseparable, and the young noble had been practicing with his bow from the sabertooth's back all day. He could barely get the arrow to go anywhere at first and his frustration was visible, but the boy slowly improved and could hit whatever he aimed at most of the time now.

The circus performers also made the mission easier. They provided another layer of bodies around the nobles so the four chunin had a real chance to catch up. Naruto told them about the encounter with the foreign army and laughed after hearing about the frustrating missions his friends performed since they were rookie chunin and still low on the totem pole. The Uzumaki had been enjoying Team Ten's company, although it was apparent Shikamaru and Chouji did not like the two blondes flirting.

Naruto sighed while pretending to ignore the Akimichi's glare after Hikaru stuck an arrow to his hitai-ate and Ino giggled as he jokingly struggled to pull it off. The Uzumaki kept trying to resist her advances, but the kunoichi was charming and Naruto didn't know how much longer he could fight his hormones. The shinobi's blue eye trailed up the Yamanaka's toned legs making him wonder why he wanted to fight them. Civilian girls didn't have the stamina to keep up he had to be conscious of his own strength the whole time. It still satisfied the Jinchuuriki, but not like his night with Kotohime.

An image of Sakura's face during their fight flitted through Naruto's memory and he managed to look away from the Yamanaka. He already hurt his teammate so much that day and didn't want to make the situation worse. The blonde looked at the fork coming up in the trail and saw the royal family's vacation home in the distance, sitting on a cliff overlooking the beach. The massive structure was nearly two hundred feet wide and three stories tall with white shingles on the concave roof. A forest of oak tree grew in front and stretched to the wall nearly three hundred feet away from the cliff's edge. The procession came to a halt as Naruto shaded his blue eye from the sun to get a better view, "Wow."

The carriage door opened and Michiru shuffled out to see the mansion, "I know, it's rather small, however, father keeps insisting that the money could be put to better use elsewhere." Everyone except Hikaru stared at the prince incredulously, but the man remained oblivious to it all as he devoured a sandwich. When the noble finished licking his fingers he turned to the circus ringmaster before handing him a scroll sealed with the Daimyo's signet, "Unfortunately we cannot accommodate you at the cottage right now, there is a royal ball in two weeks and the guests should begin arriving within the next few days. The capital is twenty miles down the road, if you show the guard this scroll he will bring you to the royal guesthouse until we are ready for you."

The ringmaster took the paper and stored it in his jacket before giving a curt bow, "Of course my lord, just give us the call."

Chamu appeared disappointed when the boy slid off his back. The tiger nuzzled into Hikaru's torso and got his ears scratched before licking the child's face, "I'll miss you buddy."

The saber tooth slowly walked away as Naruto looked at the young noble curiously, "If you asked I bet the ringmaster would've let you keep Chamu for awhile."

Hikaru looked at the blonde and shrugged, "But they'll probably be performing, and it wouldn't be the same without him."

A grin spread across the shinobi's face as he patted the boy's back. He smiled up at Naruto as Michiru came over and lifted him onto his shoulders, "Don't worry my son, I talked to the ringmaster earlier today and he's going to look for a female saber tooth to breed with Chamu. When they have a cub the circus will take it and we can keep the parents."

"Thank you dad."

The prince looked at his son in confusion and tried to remember the last time he said those words while automatically responding, "Anything for you my child." Michiru looked back at their summer home as his stomach began to feel uneasy. The man frowned for a moment but dismissed it as a hunger pain, "Come, let's go see father and celebrate our return with a feast."

* * *

><p>Naruto watched the first gate open and was surprised after seeing an identical set do the same nearly one hundred yards behind it. The blonde looked at the manmade woods after walking through the second gates and realized some patches were denser than others, 'This place may be luxurious but it's more secure than most fortresses. It's on the side of a cliff near the beach, has two sets of gates they would need to break through, the wall is tall enough that regular ladders don't work, but bringing large siege weapons to break it down would be impossible because of the hilly terrain. On the off chance people got through that forest is dense enough in some areas to hide squads of soldiers, and those are just the obvious things.'<p>

Naruto looked around at the armed guards on the parapet, but he wasn't looking at them. For the last fifteen minutes the blonde felt like they were being watched, and if it was Getsu shinobi they would've moved on or shown themselves by now. The feeling didn't disappear when the gates closed either. Warning bells went off in Naruto's head as he watched Michiru's servants lead the carriage over to a small stable near the wall and start unpacking while the man walked out with his son. The group started down the path and it wasn't long before they saw more servants decorating the trees, but the prince frowned, "That's odd, I don't remember any of these people working here. Oh well, the old staff must have gotten lazy."

When Michiru didn't recognize the workers Naruto's eye narrowed as he scrutinized them, unfortunately he forgot about the tree in front of him and smashed into it. The chunin grabbed his head and rolled behind the trunk while crying out in pain, "Itai, who would plant that there."

Shikamaru deadpanned as the blonde came out from behind the tree, "How did you not see it?"

Naruto scowled at the Nara, "Try walking around with one eye and see how much stuff you run into."

The lazy shinobi just shook his head, "Didn't you train for that at all."

The Uzumaki deflated when Shikamaru finished, "Well yeah, but I was lost in thought there."

Chouji snorted while slapping the Jinchuuriki's back, causing him to stumble forward, "That must be a new experience for you."

Naruto glared at the two chunin as they laughed at his expense, 'Now you're asking for it.' The shinobi looked at their blonde teammate and pouted when he found her laughing, "Ino-chan I have a boo-boo, will you kiss it and make it feel better?"

The kunoichi blushed as Naruto dramatically limped over to her, "Geez you idiot, who asks that question?"

The Uzumaki grinned, "Ino-chan didn't say no."

The girl crossed her arms under her breasts and looked away, "I didn't say yes either."

"Still didn't say no."

The Yamanaka gave her fellow blonde an exasperated look, "Fine, where is it?"

Naruto pointed to his lips, "Right here." The kunoichi's fist slammed into the back of his head and the Uzumaki collapsed as a knot formed, "At least my other injury doesn't hurt anymore."

The servants stared incredulously at the blonde teenager prone on the ground, they thought shinobi were supposed to be violent killers, not circus clowns. Asuma chuckled good naturedly as he picked the chunin up, but when Naruto glanced at him they shared a quick look before the jounin pulled out a cigarette, "Alright, we're almost there so let's hurry up and drop these two off."

The rest of the trip was made in silence and they walked into the entrance hall a few minutes later. Michiru sniffed the air and grinned, "Oh, father has a meal prepared for us."

The man waddled excitedly through the corridors and the others followed him to the dining room, but when they arrived the prince appeared shocked as he stared at the person sitting in the Daimyo's chair, "Shabadaba… where is father, did something happen?"

Michiru barely paid attention to the succulent ribs the powerful noble was enjoying, concern overrode the prince's hunger. His old friend took a few moments to clean the meat off the bone and let out a satisfied burp before responding, "I'm sorry Michiru, but it is my sad duty to inform you the Daimyo has been arrested for treason yesterday. He is being charged with the assassination of two nobles that opposed his policies last year."

"No, it can't be." The prince's body went limp and he fell to his knees while repeating the charges over and over in his head. The pudgy man shook his head in denial and clenched his fists, "Father would never do something like that, he's not that kind of man."

Shabadaba raised his right fist and soldiers emerged from hidden side doors in the room and grabbed the royal family, "I cannot speak on that as it is for the courts to decide, however, you have been implicated as an accomplice and shall be joining him until the trial. We will take Hikaru and place him in protective custody." The mustachioed noble turned towards the shinobi who were poised to explode into motion, "Konoha-nin, thank you for performing your duty, but the mission contract is up and this is an internal affair of Tsuki no Kuni."

Asuma bowed stiffly while trying to ignore the betrayed faces of Michiru and Hikaru, "Of course, we shall take our leave." The shinobi slowly backed out of the room before exiting the house. They quietly walked through the manmade forest and out of the gates before sprinting towards the capitol city. After travelling a few miles Asuma called for a halt, "I've been around long enough to recognize a coup. It's impossible to publicly charge a Daimyo with a crime, that would lead to complete anarchy. They are barred from the public and confined in another noble's house while a secret panel quietly investigates the matter." The jounin stopped for a moment and looked around before the wind picked up, "They hand the evidence over to another panel of nobles that reviews it again and both of their reports are handed to a jury for the final decision. If the nobles had secretly charged the Daimyo then his heirs wouldn't have been welcomed back. They would've been told to stay away until the investigation's conclusion."

When the Jounin finished five Naruto clones landed next to them with Michiru and Hikaru in tow, and the other shinobi stared at the blonde in surprise while he grinned triumphantly, "I was feeling uneasy as we got closer, and when the prince realized there were different servants I knew something happened. He doesn't seem like the type to remember who his servants are, and if he recognized them that means they worked there for awhile. I doubt all of them would've been fired at the same time, especially because you need to trust people that work close to the Daimyo."

The Jinchuuriki grinned as the others heaped praise onto him, but Shikamaru narrowed his eyes, 'Did you make a fool of yourself to create a distraction for the substitution Naruto? How much is an act and how much is really you?' The Nara smiled as he walked up to the blonde and patted him on the back, "I guess we shouldn't underestimate you anymore. When you get back to Konoha we should play a game of shogi."

The blonde nodded distractedly as he looked back towards the mansion, "Sure, but right now we have to focus on Shabadaba. My clones weren't discovered and got put in a cell with the Daimyo. He's barely alive and they turned his legs to stone so we need to move now."

Michiru's face went pale as the shinobi finished, "What, you have to do something. Papa can't die."

Shikamaru looked at the man reassuringly, "Don't worry, I have a plan."

* * *

><p>Isaribi's eyes widened as she watched the clones land next to the Konoha shinobi with Michiru and his son. The girl slipped behind the crest of the hill and whispered, "No," over and over again while the other two Oto-nin looked at her strangely.<p>

Suigetsu slid down next to Isaribi and lightly grabbed her wrist, "Hey, what's wrong?"

The former Kiri-nin could feel the girl trembling as she looked over at him, "Now they're coming back, he'll see me and remember."

The two shinobi shared puzzled looks before Suigetsu got the shaken girl's attention again, "Who, the jounin?"

Isaribi shook her head as visions of the blonde effortlessly swatting her aside flashed through her mind, his icy gaze haunted her more than any of the villager's ever did. The girl shivered while remembering the emotions in his expressive blue eye, empathy, disappointment, pity, sorrow, but most of all anger. That haunting gaze promised death, and when Isaribi saw it she knew her life was in immediate danger. "The blonde one."

Sakon's eyes shone with interest as he focused his telescope on the shinobi, "Did he have whisker marks and one blue eye?"

Isaribi looked up at him in surprise, "Yes, how do you know?"

The effeminate shinobi joined his teammates on the slope and put his telescope away, "Because he fought Kimimaro, and anyone that survives a fight with him is a person I want to stay away from. Fortunately it won't come to that, there can be no proof of Oto's involvement. They can't know we're here, if Shabadaba's plan fails we need to kill anybody who knows about Oto's involvement and slip out unnoticed. Tsuki and Ta no Kuni are allies, we can't have any involvement in overthrowing their government. Konoha is just waiting for an excuse to knock our doors."

Isaribi looked relieved when Sakon finished, but she still couldn't think clearly, "Then what should we do? Those shinobi definitely won't be able to stop them."

Suigetsu pulled out his telescope while answering, "Didn't Orochimaru give you a summoning scroll for a messenger snake?" The girl nodded and he continued while moving back up the hill, "Good, we'll move away and use the snake to explain the situation to him. I recognize the jounin from looking in old bingo books as a kid, that's Sarutobi Asuma and he's more of a threat than the idiot blonde." The former Kiri-nin looked at the whiskered shinobi through his telescope, if he could upset one of Orochimaru's favorite boy toys then the freak would definitely be interested in him, 'I wonder what he'll do.'

* * *

><p>Orochimaru looked over a map displaying the situation in Yu no Kuni. Its citizens were beginning to starve and the Daimyo recently sent in a request for aid to Otogakure. Guren had been able to muster enough squads of bandits and missing-nin to terrorize the countryside, along with some help from Sound shinobi of course. Several of the major cities were completely cut off from surrounding towns because his troops stalked the roads, and tourism plummeted. If this kept up Guren might be in Shimo within a year. The man looked at a table covered by reports detailing the situation in Ta no Kuni and a grinned wickedly. All the pieces were moving as he predicted, and soon the fruits of his exploitation could be harvested.<p>

A puff of smoke broke the traitorous member of the Sannin from his thoughts and he looked at the messenger snake curiously, "What news do you bring?" The summon regurgitated a scroll with Isaribi's seal and the man broke it before scanning the contents. Orochimaru's predatory yellow eyes gleamed with interest after reading it and he walked through the main base while the snake followed him. He entered a room filled with dozens of empty coffins and labeled jars filled with small pieces of flesh and bone floating in transparent green ooze.

Orochimaru approached the shelf labeled cloud and extracted some of the goo inside two jars wit eyedroppers before sealing a pair of coffins into different scrolls. The snake summoner then grabbed two empty inkwells and blank scrolls. He dripped the green liquid into the wells and mixed some fuuinjutsu ink into both of them for several minutes before inspecting the consistency. Orochimaru repeated the process until he was satisfied with the results and proceeded to draw two complex seals that were nearly identical, except for different kanji in the center.

When the ink was dry the legendary shinobi rolled the scrolls up and placed all four next to each other before smirking, "This should be an excellent test of your growth Naruto-kun, let's see exactly how much you've progressed." He attached two kunai covered with strange seals to the designated scrolls and looked at the small messenger snake before saying, "You know what to do." The summon swallowed his master before the four scrolls and disappeared in a puff of smoke.

* * *

><p>Shabadaba roared as he threw the porcelain dish containing his beef stew into the wall, "What do you mean those are clones in the cell?"<p>

Suigetsu sighed as the noble turned red while breathing heavily, "The Konoha shinobi duped you, something probably tipped them off and they performed a Kawamiri before entering the house."

"Dammit, of all the time for incompetence. Ishidate, Karenbana, Kongo, retrieve the fat prince and his whiny brat."

The former Kiri-nin snorted when Shabadaba gave the order, "Your shinobi are outnumbered five to three and we can't be seen supporting a coup against the Daimyo. There's no way they'll succeed."

When Suigetsu finished the fuming noble sat down and stared irritably at him before responding sarcastically, "And what would you suggest I do, wait for them to come and surrender to me?"

"Of course not," the white haired shinobi grinned, revealing his sharklike teeth, as Isaribi put four scrolls on the table, "Our master sent this to assist your ninja. There are two coffins sealed in the scroll, you must place two humans in there and swipe your blood over the seals on the other two scrolls to complete the ritual. Two undead shinobi of great strength will be summoned. Once you place the talisman into them they will pursue their objective relentlessly and disappear when it is complete."

Shabadaba smiled wickedly as he looked at the present Orochimaru granted him, "Your master is most generous."

* * *

><p>Shikamaru pulled on the ridiculous blue and pink polka dot bodysuit he wore as a disguise while watching the animal trainers in the circus maneuver their dangerous animals as if they shared a brain. The lazy-genius sighed and adjusted an oversized red afro wig and red clown nose that completed the outfit, trying to convince himself everything would work out. Naruto's clones hadn't been discovered and Shabadaba had no reason to suspect they would be returning. There was no way the ambitious noble would even think the circus was a clever distraction to get them in, especially with the upcoming ball.<p>

As they neared the outer wall Shikamaru pushed all the other thoughts aside and watched the ringmaster approach the gates, "Hello, is anyone there? We're the circus hired to perform before the ball."

A man wearing full armor appeared on the wall and scanned the circus, "You're two weeks early, go seek shelter somewhere else."

The ringmaster's face fell when the guard finished, "Oh, I am positive we were supposed to arrive today, it was in the instructions I received."

The man held up a scroll and the sentry nodded, "Let me check that." The ringmaster threw it up to him and the man broke the seal before reading it over, "It looks official. We'll let you in, but you'll have to wait at the stables until our master is ready to see you and figure everything out." The circus walked in through the outer gate when it opened, yet the inner one never did, and once there was no more room between them the sentry called out, "Fire."

Archers popped up on the parapets and launched arrows into the tightly packed crowd on both sides of the wall, but when the people were hit they disappeared in puffs of smoke that clouded the soldier's vision. The archers readied another volley, but dozens of Kage Bunshin jumped on the wall and engaged the enemy troops. One clone found the lever controlling the gates and opened the inside one before the remaining circus performers transformed into Naruto clones and rushed into the forest.

Dozens of bandits ran out of the house as a loud bell echoed around the property, but shortly after entering the manmade woods kunai and shuriken cut them down from all angles. After the first forty died the others retreated and waited hesitantly outside the trees while eyeing the shadows warily, and when they changed shapes and started moving the bandits ran back towards the mansion. Some made it inside, but most froze before reaching the doors and loud voice echoed from the trees, "Baika no Jutsu." A large green ball rolled out of the woods and crushed the thugs milliseconds after they regained control of their body.

Naruto ran out of the woods with Team Ten, but as they approached the mansion its front doors swung open and Shabadaba stepped out with three shinobi flanking him. The Uzumaki growled as he stared coolly at the short noble, "Release the Daimyo and his family."

The pudgy man gave them a smug grin, "Why ask for his family when you already have them? Now, hand them over and you can walk away from here peacefully."

Asuma pulled out his trench knives while staring at the three wandering ninja, "You should learn how to count, you're in no position to demand everything. Surrender now and maybe the Daimyo will let you live after."

Shabadaba laughed hysterically before regaining his composure and staring at the Konoha-nin pompously, "Of course I can count jounin-san, but you forget, this is my trap. Now, I'll give you one more chance." The noble received no answer and nodded while unrolling two scrolls, "So be it."

The shinobi surrounding him forced the Konoha-nin to jump away with a barrage of kunai and two servants appeared next to Shabadaba with sliced hands and rubbed the blood over the seals. They began glowing as two coffins rose up behind him with the kanji for gold on the left and silver on the right. The covers shattered as two shinobi stepped out with tanned skin that appeared flaky and green eyes inside of a black iris. They both had purple Kumo hitai-ates around their forehead, bull-like horns sticking three feet out of their hair, which was styled like a traditional Kabuki actor, and three whisker-marks on each cheek, causing Naruto's blue eye to shoot open.

The two Kumo-nin wore the white jounin vest over purple sleeveless and black pants that matched their metal wristguards. There were only a few differences between the two. The one on the left was taller, had blonde hair, and the kanji for gold tattooed on his left shoulder, while the one on the right had grey hair and the kanji for silver on his right shoulder. The revived Kumo jounin looked the five Konoha-nin as Naruto swore, "Shit, this is Edo Tensei."

Asuma gave the blonde a surprised look, "How do you know about that?"

"Kabuto used it against me and Ero-sennin when we found Tsunade-baachan, he resurrected her old lover Dan and little brother Nawaki."

The former guardian shifted his gaze back to the Kingin Kyodai as two of the living shinobi placed talismans into their neck, "Well this time it's much worse. Those are the Gold and Silver brothers, S-ranked criminals during the era of village formation. The two of them infiltrated peace talks between Kumo and Konoha and left the Nidaime in a near death state."

When Asuma finished the two resurrected shinobi began to change and took on a more lifelike appearance, except for their eyes, which remained hauntingly empty. The undead Kumo-nin stretched for a moment before breaking their silence "Well brother, it looks like people still remember us. What an honor."

The silver haired one smiled when his sibling finished, "Indeed Kinkaku, although it is disappointing to see that Konoha still exists."

The revived blonde nodded, "I agree, but if it was gone we wouldn't have the opportunity to kill a few more Leaf shinobi." He looked at the blonde chunin with markings similar to theirs, "This is interesting Ginkaku, why would a Konoha-nin have whiskers on his cheek like us?"

The shorter man shrugged, "That is a good question brother. I doubt our descendants would ever stoop far enough to join the Hidden Leaf, so I'm guessing it has something to do with the Kyuubi." Naruto's blue eye narrowed at the men, "Bingo, so did he eat you too."

"Wh-what, the fox swallowed you. Is that how you guys died?"

Kinkaku laughed at the confused blonde, "Of course not, we caused enough ruckus in his stomach that he threw us up. We managed to take a few pounds of flesh with us too."

Asuma cursed as he looked at the reanimated shinobi, they were brought back in the prime of their lives with all the knowledge and techniques they gained in their later years. The man doubted he could win against one of them, and two was unthinkable, maybe they should've taken Shabadaba's deal, "They survived by eating the Kyuubi's flesh, and were able to utilize its chakra like a Jinchuuriki after he vomited them out." Asuma looked at the pudgy noble standing in the doorway, "So when would you like the prince and his son by."

He felt bad turning the two nobles over and the disappointed looks his students gave him didn't make it any easier, but one day the chunin would understand… if they survived. Shabadaba seemed to be giving his offer genuine thought, but before he could speak Kinkaku burst forward and delivered a brutal strike to Naruto, which sent him flying into the trees. Ino called out his name as he disappeared into the forest and the Kingin Kyodai gave chase. Asuma cursed and pivoted, "You guys stay here and handle these three, I'll try to help Naruto."

The Jounin disappeared from the spot he was standing in and his student's faced the wandering shinobi. Shabadaba smirked as he turned around, "Ishidate, Karenbana, Kongo, take care of them."

The doors closed behind the noble and Kongo rushed forward while pulling the halberd off his back. He swung it towards the chunin while unleashing a vicious roar, but Chouji grabbed the handle and tried to rip the weapon away. The two behemoths struggled for dominance until Kongo head-butted the younger shinobi and kicked him away from his teammates before following. Shikamaru cursed as the woman forced him and Ino to separate with a barrage of kunai and turned around to block a punch from the red haired one, but he wasn't quick enough to stop the left hook that smashed into his cheek.

The Nara winced in pain and spit out the blood pooling in his mouth while eyeing his opponent. The man stared at him cockily while lifting his gloved hand, "Such a shame. I was hoping to test myself against Sarutobi Asuma, but that won't be happening now." Ishidate flicked his long red hair aside nonchalantly while continuing, "Don't worry boy, I'll make it quick."

Shikamaru formed the rat sign, "I'm more of a slow and laid-back guy, quick is troublesome." His shadow shot towards Ishidate, but the man nimbly avoided it while an eye opened on the back of his gauntlet. Shards of rock floated up from the earth and shot towards the Nara, forcing him to leap aside and end the jutsu. Shikamaru watched the wandering-nin close the gap and formed the ram sign as he got close. Ishidate put on a burst of speed and grabbed the boy, but he turned into a log. The red-haired man cursed and threw the log away as it turned to stone before ducking as three kunai flew over his head, but his eyes widened after seeing the sizzling tags tied to the handle. He leapt away as the explosion went off, but didn't clear the blast radius.

The older shinobi tumbled out of the flames with smoke wafting off his body and came to a stop nearly twenty feet later. He knew more kunai were coming and jumped away from the area, but as he was about to land saw the boy's shadow snaking towards him. Ishidate cursed and substituted with a chunk of the petrified log before following the shadow back towards Shikamaru, who was standing on the limb of a tree. The man growled in anger, he was an elite shinobi and this kid was making a fool out of him.

The shadow user smirked when Ishidate rushed towards him and dropped from the branch as flash tags went off. The redheaded ninja cursed loudly and rubbed his eyes until his vision was clear before looking around the abandoned clearing while gritting his teeth, it was time to put the battle back on his terms, "Hide if you want, now I can back up my team. I wonder if your friends will be able to avoid my gauntlet. It'll almost be too easy, the fat one will be first. I'll sneak up and grab his head before crushing it."

Shikamaru stepped out from behind a tree and stared at Ishidate with frosty brown eyes, "So that's how to rile you up eh, threaten your friends." The man grinned as the shadow user took a basic taijutsu stance, "I won't give the blonde girl the pleasure of a quick death. She may cry at first, but when it's over she'll be screaming in a different type of pleasure. If the little cunt serves me well I may let her live a little longer."

The Nara ran forward and Ishidate smirked at his lack of top end speed, the teenager was quick, but only in short bursts. The man easily avoided Shikamaru's sloppy punch by leaning right and rolled under the chunin's kick aimed towards his neck. The shadow user turned and jabbed towards the red-haired shinobi's nose, but he wasted too much motion and Ishidate grabbed his wrist.

Shikamaru coughed up blood when the man's fist repeatedly slammed into his stomach and nearly blacked out when he got thrown into a tree. The Nara slid off the trunk to avoid a punch that splintered the wood and tried to take out his opponent's feet, but Ishidate jumped over the chunin's leg sweep and kicked him in the face. The shadow user rolled across the ground and wobbly pushed himself up while the man smirked arrogantly, "You're pathetic. All you have to rely on is stupid shadow tricks, once it becomes a real battle your weakness is exposed."

Ishidate laughed cruelly while his opponent tried to run towards him. The Nara appeared drunk and only stumbled twenty feet before collapsing again. The red haired shinobi walked towards the boy haughtily and raised his gauntlet, "It's like fighting a baby, the complete lack of a challenge takes the thrill away."

Ishidate grabbed the Konoha-nin's throat and smirked triumphantly, but Shikamaru turned into a kunai. The red-haired shinobi growled and threw the stone kunai away while pivoting, but halfway through the spin his body froze for a moment before his neck moved on its own. The man saw Shikamaru right behind him, standing next to two of the three kunai he threw earlier in the fight, and growled while the chunin spoke, "Not my usual style but it got the job done." The bloody shinobi smirked when he finished and changed the hand-seal before hands made of shadow started creeping up his opponent's body, "I know I'm not the toughest guy but you don't hit that hard, no matter what you think." Ishidate tried to growl but the shadow hands clamped around his neck and it came out a gasp, "You overestimate yourself so much that it was easy to make you think I had been beaten."

The shadowy hands tightened their grip as the wandering-nin desperately tried to breathe, but he couldn't get any air through the crushed airway, "Usually the jutsu ends by breaking the person's neck, but you don't get the pleasure of a quick death, and you won't be able to scream at all."

* * *

><p>Chouji rolled to his feet and slid across the ground as the wandering-nin ran towards him wielding that massive halberd. The Akimichi hopped backwards as Kongo swung his oversized weapon horizontally and used the Bubun Baika no Jutsu to enlarge his right fist. He swung it towards the unaffiliated shinobi after the dangerous blade passed in front of him, but the hulking man blocked it with the steel shaft of his halberd. Chouji's fist returned to its normal size as the wandering-nin raised the oversized weapon over his head and swung it down. The Konoha-nin managed to stop the attack by catching the shaft with his hands, but he was left open and Kongo delivered another punishing kick to his side that sent him crashing into the tree, leaving a large dent in the trunk.<p>

The air was knocked from the Akimichi's lungs, but he still managed to roll away before the horizontal slash nearly cut him in two like the tree he was just leaning against. Chouji stared at his opponent and eyed the halberd cautiously, he had to neutralize the dangerous weapon before worrying about anything else, but that left an opening his opponent kept taking advantage of. The Akimichi would have to get rid of the weapon first, but until then he needed to dodge, something that didn't come naturally to him.

The Konoha-nin threw some kunai towards Kongo as he charged, but the man effortlessly deflected them with a swing from his halberd and didn't lose any momentum. Chouji hopped right to avoid a vertical slash that left a deep gouge in the earth, which allowed the wandering-nin pushed some of the dirt towards his opponent with his halberd. The Konoha-nin protected his eyes with his arm and hopped left to avoid the spear tip at the end of the oversized weapon. The Akimichi pushed the axe head wide and delivered a solid blow to his opponent's face, but the large man wasn't phased and swung the halberd back towards him. Chouji jumped over the horizontal slash and jabbed towards the unaffiliated shinobi as his fist enlarged.

Kongo smashed into the ground and let out a grunt as the teenager pulled his arm back and prepared another strike, but the man angled his halberd so the tip was pointed towards the Akimichi's fist. The Konoha-nin diverted the attack before using his hand to push away from the large shinobi that pushed himself up with the oversized weapon. The wandering-nin charged towards the chunin after he regained his feet, but Chouji rushed to meet him. When the younger shinobi saw his opponent move the halberd to the left he hopped backwards and avoided the horizontal swing. The Akimichi landed before Kongo could recover from the attack and smashed his enlarged fist into the man's kidneys, sending him rolling across the ground.

A confident grin spread across Chouji's face as he let the wandering-nin stand up and grab the halberd. The weapon was dangerous because of its size and weight, but those traits also created glaring weaknesses that were exploitable. The two large shinobi had plenty of room to maneuver so the Akimichi could keep his opponent at a safe range, but if Kongo did get close enough to launch an attack it would still be telegraphed. The halberd's weight also increased the time it took to recover from the swings. Still, it didn't appear the older ninja realized that because he rushed forward while bellowing an angry war cry.

The man performed an overhead strike that Chouji easily avoided by jumping to his right before launching a jab towards Kongo's face. The chunin was surprised when the older shinobi let go of the weapon with one hand to block the punch while lifting his weapon off the ground, but Chouji was able to step on the shaft and stop the halberd while delivering a powerful jab with his left fist to the wandering-nin's throat. Kongo let go of the Akimichi's other hand and the Konoha-nin delivered a right hook to his opponent's chin. The large man stumbled backwards while awkwardly swinging his weapon, which forced Chouji to leap away because he had to respect the deadly weapon.

Kongo regained his balance before taking a deep breath and rushing forward. He let out a roar while thrusting the spear's point towards the teenager, but Chouji hopped out of range. The large shinobi wasn't deterred and took a step forward while swinging the eighteen-inch spike towards his opponent's head. The Konoha-nin grabbed the weapon under the axe as it flew towards him and rolled under the strike while twisting his arm. The momentum behind Kongo's attack combined with the awkward wrenching motion allowed Chouji to pull the halberd away.

The wandering-nin got in a defensive position as the Akimichi rushed forward and lifted the weapon over his head, which made the man smile. The teenager's inexperience with the halberd showed, he started the attack too close and would be open to a counter. Kongo prepared to deliver a devastating right hook to the Konoha-nin's jaw, but the chunin was feinting. He dropped the weapon halfway through and blocked Kongo's attack with his left knee while his right arm increased in size. Chouji's enlarged fist smashed into the unaffiliated shinobi and he skipped across the ground while the Akimichi picked up the halberd and spun around before throwing it towards the dazed man.

The wind was knocked out of Kongo as he smashed into a tree and watched his weapon rapidly spin as it flew towards his head. The shinobi pushed himself off the trunk, but the halberd cut off the upper right half of his torso and he gasped in pain while blood spurted from the wound. The chunin walked forward and ignored Kongo's exposed lung and chest cavity while he futilely tried to draw breath. Chouji grabbed the halberd's handle and pulled it free with a grunt before pivoting and swinging it towards the wounded man's throat. The soft flesh of Kongo's neck provided little resistance to the blade and the Akimichi solemnly cleaned the blood off.

* * *

><p>Ino looked scanned the area for the wandering-nin as hundreds rose petals twisted in the air around her. She saw the blue haired woman approaching from the front and raised her tessen in defense, but the attack came from her left and the blonde had a shallow cut going up her side. 'Genjutsu,' Ino cut the flow of her chakra and waited for the next attack. She saw Karenbana approach from her right and pivoted to meet the woman, but the blonde felt a kunai slash up her back. The chunin cursed as she held her fans in front of her defensively, "You're going to wish you killed me with those last attacks."<p>

The Yamanaka waited for Karenbana to attack again while trying to figure out what she was doing. When Ino heard the wandering-nin behind her she hopped to the left and didn't get hit. Karenbana smirked as she pivoted and charged towards the chunin who rushed to meet the attack, but Ino had no intention of meeting her opponent head on before figuring out the woman's strategy and jumped right before getting close. The Konoha kunoichi narrowed her eyes as she felt the air shift next to her neck when Karenbana's kunai just missed her, 'What's going on? That attack was far enough away that I shouldn't have felt anything. Are my reactions off?'

The chunin's sky blue eyes shot open and she pulled a small syringe from her pack before injecting it into her thigh. A few seconds later she saw Karenbana approach from her left and turned to meet her, but as she did the blue haired kunoichi shifted to the right while grinning cockily. Ino pretended not to see the move, and when the wandering-nin got close the chunin twisted her tessen to block the kunai before delivering a kick to her opponent's side that pushed Karenbana back. The blonde put one of her tessen away and uncoiled the whip around her torso before channeling elemental chakra through the weapons, "So you're a poison user."

Karenbana growled as the Konoha-nin's whip and tessen glowed red and wondered why the technique started failing recently. Her concoctions didn't affect the Oto shinobi and now this teenager figured it out, "How did you know?"

The Yamanaka smirked while responding, "Unfortunately for you one of my friends is much better at using poisons, and I always have a few antidotes on hand to counter her."

When Ino finished the older kunoichi disappeared into the swirling petals, "It doesn't matter, you and your friends shall die here today." The chunin turned and snapped her whip as Karenbana approached from her back, sending a small blast of fire towards the woman. She was forced to dodge the Konoha-nin lunged towards her while swinging the glowing tessen in her right hand. The wandering shinobi parried and growled when her kunai started to melt, so she hopped away while pulling out a brace of shuriken. Karenbana threw them towards the blonde, but the teenager easily deflected them with her steel fan and ran forward.

The older kunoichi smirked as she got close and moved to block the glowing fan, but Ino shifted it and stabbed it through her chest. The woman looked shocked until she dissolved into rose petals that swirled around the Konoha-nin. Ino cursed as she looked around, but her opponent never appeared, instead the petals started leaving cuts on her body. The blonde stopped her chakra flow and saw the shuriken flying through the twister and nimbly avoided them, but she wasn't able to locate the wandering-nin. It was difficult to detect the shuriken's trajectory through the petals to locate their source.

The Yamanaka searched for the woman while dodging throwing stars, but it was nearly impossible and new cuts were appearing all over her body. The blonde kunoichi began running towards the edge of the twister, but the rose petals followed her wherever she went. Ino's legs beginning to tire from the constant dodging and it was getting harder to think. She took a deep breath and quickly shot a different antidote into her leg. Seconds later the Konoha-nin felt her muscles loosen was able to think clearly and began throwing her own shuriken to deflect some of those flying at her. 'Okay Ino just clear your head and think this through, she's somewhere around here.' The blonde took a deep breath through her nose and fought to keep any expression from her face after recognizing a familiar fragrance.

The Yamanaka began moving around the area while trying to pinpoint the location, and once she was sure made a triangle with her two hands while saying, "Shinranshin no Jutsu," (Mind Body Disturbance Technique).

The rose petals twisting around the blonde floated to the earth as Karenbana appeared underneath a tree. The wandering ninja scowled as she tried to move her body, "How did you know where I was?"

Ino grinned, "You wear so much perfume it overpowered the rose's smell and made your Meisaigakure useless."

The blue haired woman growled while looking at the smug teenager, "What are you so happy about? The way I see it you have to hold that seal for me to stay frozen or you would've let it go already."

The Yamanaka shrugged, "You're right, I could hold this long enough for one of my teammates to get you, but why do that when I could do this, Shinran Enbu no Jutsu," (Mind Body Destruction Dance).

"W-what are you doing to me." Karenbana tried to stop her arm from reaching her pouch, she knew what was going to happen next, but for all the woman's effort her limb didn't even slow down. It grabbed a kunai before holding it up to her neck, and the wandering-nin closed her eyes while begging, "Please, have mercy." The only answer she received was the kunai sliding across her throat.

* * *

><p>Orochimaru watched from the canopy of a tree as Naruto recovered in midair and revealed his sharingan before landing on the ground, "Impressive recovery after such a hard strike, now, show me what you're capable of with Sasuke-kun's eye." The chunin slid across the ground as Ginkaku ran towards him, but the sharingan wasn't enough to keep up and the reanimated shinobi delivered a knee to the boy's stomach, "Nice move Naruto-kun."<p>

The Uzumaki disappeared into a puff of smoke and jumped towards the silver haired Kumo-nin's back from a nearby tree with his saber ready. Ginkaku turned and easily blocked the blade with his metal wrist guards as seals glowed on them, but before he could counter two more blondes emerged from the dirt behind him with Rasengan in their hands. The man ducked and let the saber wielding chunin fly past him while spinning and kicking the first bunshin into the other one, dispelling him both, then the Kumo-nin planted his feet and delivered a brutal jab to the remaining blonde, however he dispelled in a puff of smoke like the other two.

Ginkaku looked around angrily as Orochimaru chuckled from his perch and watched the real Naruto create a single clone before dispelling. The serpentine man wondered what its purpose was while informing Ginkaku of the chunin's position as he created twenty more clones. They quickly spread out in the trees around the revived shinobi before attacking from all angles. The revived man's body crackled with lightning while he flashed through seals and called out, "Raiton: Gian" (False Darkness). Large streams of electricity arced off his body and destroyed the clones before the Kumo-nin made another hand-seal and dozens of lightning bolts shot towards Naruto's location.

The Konoha-nin jumped away from the jutsu and landed stared across from his grinning opponent before the undead shinobi vanished. The chunin tried to perform a substitution, but he wasn't fast enough and Ginkaku's fist smashed into his cheek. He rolled nearly fifty feet across the ground before coming to a stop and pushed himself up. The blonde stared warily at the revived shinobi as Asuma landed next to him. The Sarutobi he looked down at the chunin and grunted, "We need to draw these guys away, that's a B-rank rank jutsu and it completely ripped the land up, and if they start throwing around stronger ones my team may get caught in the crossfire."

Naruto nodded as he made a clone that dispelled instantly, "Okay, if these guys were ordered to kill us maybe we can drag them away. Let's try slowly moving towards the wall and see if they follow."

Asuma stared at the two Kumo-nin while responding, "Okay, but we can't possibly win this battle, we need to counter the Edo Tensei."

The blonde looked over at the mansion quickly, "The only way to stop them is for the user to cancel the jutsu, I'll send a clone to tell Shikamaru that when we get a chance." When the two Konoha-nin finished planning Orochimaru commanded the revived shinobi to attack. The snake summoner could feel their displeasure at not being allowed to use the Rikudo Sennin no Hogu in the assault, but he wanted to test Naruto, not watch him get sealed into that damnable Crimson Gourd.

Kinkaku seemed to disappear and Asuma turned around to block the kick going towards their backs, but Naruto wasn't able to keep up with the other revived shinobi and was sent tumbling towards the wall. The Konoha jounin disengaged and jumped back to the chunin while thinking, 'That's one way to move the fight.' The Sarutobi realized the dead Kumo-nin were sprinting after them and picked up the dazed blonde before leaping over the wall. Asuma was moving so fast he didn't see two Naruto clones abduct the largest bandit still fighting near the forest.

The jounin ran nearly half a mile before dropping the Jinchuuriki and facing down the Gold and Silver brothers. The chunin fumed while staring up at Asuma, "Oi, you didn't need to do that, I knew what was happening. Spend less time worrying about me or you might get killed."

The Sarutobi pushed the teenager's rant aside and wondered if he acted like that at fourteen. These two left the Nidaime Hokage on death's door, granted, neither of them could've done that individually, but that still put the revived shinobi on a level well above theirs. It was a possibility he was underestimating the chunin, but there was no way he could compete in a fight like this without using the Kyuubi. "Listen Naruto, I know you've been around some high level fights in your career, but have you ever actually fought an S-class shinobi?"

The Jinchuuriki frowned as he recalled the mission to Takigakure, the way Kakashi completely folded to avoid fighting that strange man. Ninja like that were coming after him and now was the perfect time to test his capabilities, "No, but that's what I've been training for. We can't retreat, these guys will follow us to the ends of the earth and might turn back for Ino, Chouji, and Shikamaru at any time. This has to end here one way or the other, and if things to turn ugly I can always use the fox."

Asuma shook his head, "Unless you can control a high amount that might do more harm than good, these guys are able to use the Kyuubi's chakra like Jinchuuriki, that's how they took on the Nidaime."

Orochimaru felt the revived shinobi's desire to fight through their link and ordered them to wait, he wanted to see what the blonde had planned. Naruto unsheathed his saber and smirked, "Who said anything about me transforming."

Asuma was shocked when the chunin turned towards him with the blade pulled back, but two Kage Bunshin landed in between them holding a muscular man nearly seven feet tall with a shaved head. The blonde left a small scratch on the bandit's side that glowed orange with the Kyuubi's chakra. As the unfortunate man screamed in pain Asuma looked at the Kingin Kyodai and wondered why they weren't attacking. If their main purpose was to kill them the two should've been attacking relentlessly, but instead the Kumo-nin had given him and Naruto plenty of time to prepare and recover.

The Edo-Tensei was a jutsu exclusive to Konoha, and only the Hokage was supposed to know how to perform it, but it appeared Orochimaru did too and Asuma doubted the secretive man shared that information with anybody. He briefly wondered what Oto would gain by overthrowing Tsuki's Daimyo, but that was something that could be worked out if they survived the fight. The jounin could clearly see Kinkaku and Ginkaku wanted to keep attacking, and the only reason they weren't was the person controlling them. Asuma doubted that was Shabadaba meaning Orochimaru was watching the fight, which only made everything worse.

The traitorous Konoha-shinobi chuckled while Asuma looked around nervously, but it didn't break his focus on the bandit's transformation, "What a marvelous technique Naruto-kun, your growth has truly been remarkable." The serpentine ninja smirked as he watched a black sphere envelop the imposing man, "It seems you might be able to help weaken my former comrades in Akatsuki, which is one less thing for me to worry about."

The shinobi's predatorial eyes gleamed with interest as the sphere faded, revealing a hulking figure cloaked in red and black chakra with blank white eyes and long thin ears. Chakra tails began growing from the creature's spine until four swung eagerly behind him. Asuma was in shock as he took in the pseudo-Jinchuuriki, and his mouth dropped after a putrid killing intent blanketed the area. He turned towards Naruto while gathering himself and asked, "What is going on?"

The chunin shrugged, "It's something that happened when my sword changed, I can funnel the Kyuubi's chakra into a person and it transforms them into something like that. Generally it lasts twenty to thirty minutes, but I've never gone above three. My clones grabbed the strongest guy still alive, but we should only count on ten minutes with four tails."

The possessed bandit ran towards the Kingin Kyodai as Ginkaku launched a concentrated Gian at it. The lightning blast couldn't pierce the creature's dense chakra cloak and only slowed him down. He growled while launching a chakra claw towards the two revived shinobi that forced them to separate before running towards the silver haired one. Ginkaku felt no pain when the pseudo-Jinchuuriki bit off his left forearm and coated his remaining fist in lighting before delivering a powerful jab that made the creature stagger backwards. The dead ninja leapt away while his arm reformed and flashed through a different series of hand-seals after landing while the beast lunged towards him.

"Raiton: Raikyu," the Kumo-nin launched a sixteen food wide lightning ball that hit the transformed bandit and sent him flying, but still didn't pierce his chakra cloak. The beast let out a roar and exploded towards the silver haired shinobi as he prepared another Raikyu, but as Ginkaku launched his jutsu the pseudo-Jinchuuriki blurred away and appeared fifteen feet on the revived man's left. The transformed bandit extended his chakra claws and clapped them together to crush the resurrected man, but he vanished before delivering another lightning enhanced punch that staggered the beast. Ginkaku put some distance between them once more and grinned when the pseudo-Jinchuuriki regained his balance and roared before beginning another futile assault, four tails wouldn't make the revived shinobi sweat.

* * *

><p>Naruto created a horde of clones that rushed towards Kinkaku. Some jumped into the air and they surrounded him on all sides before half transformed into Fuuma shuriken. The remaining Kage Bunshin tossed them towards the Kumo-nin, and when the weapons got close they turned back into clones holding Rasengan in their hands, "Shihohappo Rasengan."<p>

"Raigeki no Yoroi," Kinkaku's body was coated by lightning momentarily before he performed hand-seal and it exploded off of him, dispelling all the bunshin into puffs of smoke. The revived shinobi tried to see through the thick clouds for a moment before kunai with explosive notes wrapped around their handles landed all around him.

Scorches covered his body when he emerged from the smoke and saw twenty more Kage Bunshin on the ground holding two swirling orbs of wind in their palms, "Futon: Sattou Dangan." Arrows of wind rushed towards the Kumo-nin and sliced his body apart, but as the shreds floated to the earth they reformed and the revived shinobi stood in front of them unscratched moments later.

Kinkaku casually rolled his neck around a few times before staring at the Konoha-nin with his dead eyes, "Not bad brat, maybe now I can finally let loose like my brother is." The man smirked when his chakra flared a few moments later and ran towards them faster than before. Asuma moved to intercept the revived shinobi, but he disappeared and the jounin felt a knee to his stomach. He gasped and fell to the ground as Kinkaku rushed towards the younger Konoha-nin.

Naruto tried to avoid the man's clothesline, but he couldn't react fast enough and was knocked over by the attack, however, when the blonde hit the ground he disappeared in a puff of smoke. The Kumo-nin heard the distinctive hiss of another exploding note and leapt away, but the radius of this blast was twice as big and the fire engulfed the revived shinobi once more before the shockwave sent him tumbling. As he rolled across the grass Asuma landed in front of him and expelled a cloud of ash while saying, "Katon: Haisekisho," (Fire Release: Ash Pile Burning)

A thick cloud of black smoke engulfed Kinkaku before the Konoha jounin pulled out his lighter and flicked it. A spark ignited the volatile ash and created another explosion that shook the area. When the dust cleared the Kumo-nin appeared unharmed and was glaring angrily at the two Leaf shinobi, specifically the jounin, "Don't get cocky." The revived ninja disappeared and Asuma coughed up blood when the undead shinobi reappeared with his fist in the brown haired man's stomach. The Sarutobi's cigarette dropped to the ground as Kinkaku pulled his right arm back and delivered a powerful cross to the man's chin.

Orochimaru frowned as he watched Asuma stand up, the Sarutobi kept ruining his fun. He took a field trip to test Naruto's growth, but that was impossible with the jounin around. The serpentine man could tell the blonde was skilled with Futon jutsu, had a firm grip on tactics, wielded his saber capably, and possessed several interesting techniques, but he wouldn't see the Jinchuuriki's limits with the training wheels on. The traitorous member of the Sannin focused his attention on the link he shared with Ginkaku before red and black chakra that matched the cloak of the pseudo-Jinchuuriki exploded from his body.

The vile chakra covered the shinobi's muscular frame as five tails spouted at the base of his spine. The transformed bandit eyed the Kumo-nin warily and jumped away when he burst forward, but the four-tailed man couldn't escape and Ginkaku's claws grabbed him. The revived shinobi roared as he pulled with both arms, and moments later he tore the inferior pseudo-Jinchuuriki apart and threw the pieces aside. The red and black cloak faded as the halves flew through the air revealing the seven-foot bandit's desiccated corpse.

The tails behind Ginkaku disappeared along with the chakra cloak while he stared at the Konoha jounin regaining his feet. Asuma looked at the dangerous shinobi and pulled out his trench knives before coating them with futon chakra. Naruto realized he was on his own and looked back towards the mansion, "Hurry up you guys."

* * *

><p><strong>AN<strong>

Happy New Year guys, another chapter down and the conclusion to the training trip gets closer. One more arc where we see another Konoha team, and then the story moves into the final part of Naruto's training trip. I'll try to get into that next arc before vacation, but no promises. I'm still thinking about winter classes so who knows if there will be time, still, I'll give it the old college try

-Operaman Bye Bye

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><p><strong>Jutsu List<strong>

**Edo Tensei**

**Kage Mane**

**Baika no Jutsu**

**Kage-Kubishibare no Jutsu** (Shadow Neck Binding)

**Bubun Baika no Jutsu**

**Shinranshin no Jutsu** (Mind Body Disturbance Technique) C Rank-An immobilization jutsu used by the Yamanaka clan that tricks the subject into thinking they cannot move their muscles.

**Meisagakure no Jutsu**

**Shinran Enbu no Jutsu** (Mind Body Destruction Dance) B Rank-A follow up to the Shinranshin. Instead of relying on somebody else to finish the opponent the Yamanaka programs commands into their opponents minds, allowing them to control their actions. Skilled users can completely control the victim's mind, but the technique can be used on a smaller scale like individual limbs.

**Raiton: Gian** (False Darkness) B-rank-An offensive lightning jutsu that launches a large blast of electricity at the opponent. It's size depends on the user's affinity and chakra put into the jutsu, which limits its power to the user's.

**Raiton: Raikyu**

**Shihohappo Rasengan** (Rasengan from All Sides)-Another Kage Bunshin Variation created by Naruto. The clones transform back after being thrown and attack the target with a barrage of Rasengan that come from all angle.

**Raigeki no Yoroi**

**Futon: Sattou Dangan**

**Katon: Haisekisho** (Fire Release: Ash Pile Burning) B-Rank-The user expels a cloud of ash laced with Katon chakra that can be ignited with a spark, creating a large explosion.


	43. The Power of Pain

Shikamaru and Ino pressed against the wall on either side of the mansion's main door and readied flash-bangs while Chouji prepared to smash through the ornate wood, but before Team Ten could breach, Naruto burst out of the forest while waving his arms and screaming, "Hold on, don't go in yet." The blonde put on an extra burst of speed and pulled up in front of the Konoha-nin, "You need to find Shabadaba and get him to cancel the Edo Tensei. Kinkaku and Ginkaku will keep fighting until they are commanded to stop, and if he accidentally dies then there's no way to end the jutsu."

"So you're a clone, is it bad over there?"

The bunshin winced as he faced Shikamaru, "Well, it's not particularly good, those two guys are really strong and will be almost impossible to capture. You need to cancel the Edo Tensei."

The Nara looked at the Daimyo's summer home while saying, "Ino scouted the mansion and said Shabadaba is in a panic room underneath the east wing. There are a decent number of guards inside, but the real defense is the room itself. If Ino didn't leave the rat's body after stepping into the hallway she probably would've died, I think it's protected by fuuinjutsu."

The Naruto clone nodded as he remembered Jiraiya's lesson on fortification seals, "There's probably a master array somewhere in the mansion, but I doubt it's near the room. Where were most of the guards concentrated?"

Ino chewed her bottom lip for a moment before responding, "Most of them were spread throughout the east wing, but I did find a random group in the coatroom behind the foyer. I thought they were waiting to ambush us."

The clone nodded and backed away from the three, "You may be right, but we should check there first. If nothing is there you guys will have to clear the house as fast as possible and find it after. Time is a factor."

Instead of going in the main entrance Team Ten entered through a window in the western wing and snuck down the hallway until they were outside the foyer. Shikamaru silently killed the four guards inside using his Kage Nui while Chouji rushed to block the door off. Ino pulled out a flash bang as her chubby teammate cracked the door open and she tossed the grenade in before closing it gently. A loud crack went off in the room before the Akimichi pulled the door open and let his teammates slip by to slit the remaining guards throats with their kunai.

Ino whistled loudly before going into the coatroom, and a few moments later the Naruto clone walked in. Chouji watched the foyer as the other three searched the closet for a hidden room or compartment, but they found nothing. Shikamaru sighed as he scanned the area once more and noticed that a small patch of rug next to the counter was pushed into a crack. The lazy chunin walked over and found the desk wiggled slightly, despite being attached to the floor. After lifting up on the counter it pivoted ninety degrees on a hinge, revealing a small staircase with a door at the bottom.

The Kage Bunshin went down first and picked the lock before carefully pushing the door open, "I have a spare waiting outside the mansion just in case." He entered the dark room and flipped on the light switch before finding a small indent in the wall at his eyelevel. The clone put his finger in the notch and channeled chakra into the spot before a sealing array appeared on the far wall, "Somebody channel chakra into this spot here." Ino replaced her fellow blonde while he walked over to the wall. The bunshin ran his hands over the seal when it appeared and observed the complex design for a few minutes before cursing, "Shit, I can't break the seal. The only way to nullify this is to physically disrupt the array, but it's been carved into granite and there is a chakra draining seal so ninjutsu won't damage the wall."

Shikamaru narrowed his eyes while staring at the ink, trying to comprehend how fuuinjutsu could be so powerful, "Is there a way to temporarily drain its chakra by adding new seals."

"Don't be stupid, there's a closed circuit loop keeping this one active and it won't be disrupted unless it gets damaged. If I added new seals they couldn't access the circuit, and powering them myself is impossible because of the chakra-draining feature. There's no way for me to tap into it, and it's pointless to tamper with the power source because you'd need to break through the wall anyways, which would destroy the seal. I guess we'll have to clear the mansion and find something to break this."

Chouji walked over and pulled out a sealing scroll before unrolling it, "Relax Naruto, you're making this more complicated than it has to be." The blonde's eye widened when Kongo's halberd appeared in the Akimichi's hands. The chubby ninja used the Bubun Baika to increase his strength before smashing the butt of the weapon's shaft into the wall. Less than a minute later a large crack spread across the granite, which made the seal glow a brilliant white as it struggled to keep functioning, but when the chunin smashed the wall once more it shattered, "See, that was pretty easy."

"Where did you get that thing Chouji? It's badass."

The plump shinobi smiled at the amazement in Naruto's voice, but Shikamaru began talking before he could answer, "Did that disable the security seal?"

The bunshin nodded absently while staring at the intimidating weapon, "Yeah, but more importantly, when did Chouji start using a halberd?"

The Akimichi shrugged, "I haven't yet, it belonged to the guy I just beat. Honestly, it's not a great weapon." He let the clone take the halberd and swing it, which caused the bunshin to stumble forwards, "It's too hard to control because of the size, and that makes it predictable."

Naruto nodded as he handed it back, "I see that, so why keep it?"

The Nara groaned and used his Kagemane to lead the two up the stairs as Chouji answered, "Well I was thinking about cutting the handle and turning it into an axe."

Shikamaru let them go and the Akimichi handed held the halberd up near its head while pointing to a spot three feet below his hand, "Right here please." The bunshin pulled out a kunai and coated it with wind chakra before cleanly slicing through the indicated spot, "Thanks man."

Chouji held the weapon aloft to inspect it as his lazy teammate sighed while talking to the two shinobi, "Can we go get Shabadaba so Asuma-sensei and the original you don't die now?"

The bunshin rubbed the back of his head embarrassedly, "Sure."

Ino looked down the long hallway leading to the hidden panic room, "There's probably around forty guards down the hall."

Her chubby teammate grinned while swinging around his new weapon experimentally, "I'll take care of that." He ran through the archway leading to the east wing and jumped up to the balcony on the second level where he cleaved a pair of archers in half with two effortless swings. The Akimichi lifted the modified halberd above his head and threw it towards a group of five bandits running down the hallway below him before dropping down while using his Baika no Jutsu. The giant ball bounced slightly before speeding towards remaining the guards, crushing all four before they could mount a defense.

Chouji returned to his normal size before ripping the axe out of a corpse and using the blade to block incoming arrows. He jumped back onto the balcony to confront the archers and stabbed one through the chest with the spear before tossing his corpse into the other three so they fell off the balcony. One died from the fall, but the other two wished it killed them when the heavy shinobi dropped down on them and crushed their ribcages seconds later.

Seven bandits emerged from the doorways surrounding the Akimichi and eyed him nervously for a moment before charging towards the oversized teen as a group. Chouji deflected a spear out wide before catching an axe head in the right angle between the spike and his shaft. The shinobi twisted his wrist to disarm the man before spinning around to deflect a sword stabbing at his back. He continued the swing and cleaved the attacker in half before pivoting to stab the disarmed man through his neck with the spear on the end of the makeshift axe.

The spear wielding man stabbed towards the chunin's legs, but he kicked the wooden shaft and sent the weapon flying away before cutting off the bandit's arm near the shoulder. The soldier fell to the ground in shock and clasped his bleeding stump while Chouji parried a sword slash out wide before performing a backhand swing that cut off the guard's head. The chunin spun around while swinging the axe, and the force behind it sent the mace heading towards his chest back at its wielder, crushing the man's head. The remaining two bandits turned and ran away, but the Akimichi launched his modified halberd towards one before extending his left arm with the Bubun Baika. The weapon spun through the air and pierced the man's spine while Chouji grabbed the other bandit and crushed him against the wall.

The guards still in the hallway jumped out the windows after watching the shinobi take out half of them in under two minutes, and the other chunin walked in moments later. Ino led them to the end of the hallway and into a large maintenance closet before pointing to the far wall, "Break that down please."

Chouji easily shattered the wood with his Bubun Baika before Naruto's clone hopped down the twenty foot drop on the other side. Nothing happened and he quickly walked over to the steel door while forming an Odama Rasengan. A loud groaning sound was heard as the thick metal twisted around itself multiple times before shredding completely, which allowed the shinobi to casually walk through the massive hole left behind. Shabadaba pushed himself into a corner where he curled up into himself while begging, "Please don't kill me, I'll do whatever you say."

"Dispel the Edo Tensei and let the Daimyo go free."

The cowering noble looked up at Shikamaru when he finished and nodded, "Okay, I'll bring you to Kakeru, but the jutsu won't dispel until they kill you. You'll have to take him and run."

The bunshin picked up Shabadaba and growled, "Don't lie to us, the only way to make those two disappear is for the caster to dispel the jutsu or die, so you'll be doing one or the other."

The terrified noble stuttered so bad his response wasn't comprehendible, and Ino sighed before gently touching Naruto's arm, "He's wrong, but the fool believes what he told you."

Shabadaba shook his head rapidly while continuing, "N-no, O-"

The man gagged when a snake made of water slithered across the floor and leapt into his mouth before sliding down his trachea, filling his lungs with water. The coup's leader fell to the ground and clutched at his throat while futilely trying to vomit the jutsu out. Ino reacted first and rushed towards the drowning man before the other three ran back to find the shinobi responsible. Her hands glowed blue as she tried to extract the liquid, but the water seemed to have a mind of its own and wouldn't move despite her best efforts. "Dammit, I can't save him."

The other chunin ran back into the room moments later and the bunshin shook his head, "We didn't find anything except for a trail of water leading to a vent, the attacker left no trace. I'll dispel and let them know what's going on, but you guys have to get Michiru and Hikaru before going back to Konoha. We can't win and these guys will come after you next, so me and Asuma will buy some time before retreating."

Team Ten's frustration was easily visible and Ino was the first to respond, "No way, Asuma is our sensei and you're our friend Naruto, we won't leave you guys."

The bunshin shook his head, "Listen, if it gets bad I'll use six tails and give Asuma time to escape before the toads reverse summon me and Jiraiya to Myoboku so he can suppress the Kyuubi. We won't die, so don't worry. You guys need to get back to the village with them so the Kingin Kyodai can be captured."

Shikamaru put his hand over Ino's shoulder and nodded, "Alright, we'll see you later Naruto."

The bunshin nodded and dispelled before Ino looked over at Shikamaru, "We're not really going to go, right?"

The Nara nodded determinedly while looking at his teammates, "Right, we'll keep an eye on the battle and intervene if we have to. There's no difference between Naruto going six tails to buy Asuma time or all of us time." Shikamaru looked at his oldest friend, "When we get outside summon a big enough butterfly to carry Michiru and Hikaru to the nearest port so they can catch a boat to the mainland. Make sure it finds out where they're going and tells them to stay there." Chouji nodded and the Nara started running up the stairs, "Hurry up guys, we can't waste time." Ino and Chouji stared at each other mutely for a few moments before Shikamaru's voice echoed down the steel hallway, "Get a move on."

* * *

><p>Orochimaru smirked and watched Naruto wipe blood away from his mouth while staring at the revived shinobi warily. The Uzumaki cursed silently like he received some bad news seconds before Kinkaku rushed towards him and sent a jab at his throat. The younger blonde managed to duck under the strike, however, the Kumo-nin anticipated his dodge and delivered a kick that sent the boy rolling away. Naruto pushed himself off the earth and completed a barrel-roll in the air while performing handseals, "Futon: Daitoppa."<p>

The Jinchuuriki thrust his palms at the ground and was launched into the air as Kinkaku appeared underneath him. The wide area jutsu left several cuts in his ashy skin, but the man wasn't deterred by the otherwise lethal wounds and nonchalantly coated his right arm in lightning while watching a massive swirling ball of chakra form in the Konoha-nin's palms. Electricity crackled as the dead Kumo-nin jumped towards his opponent, but when he got close the Rasengan exploded outwards and sent him hurtling towards the ground. Naruto flashed through a series of hand-seals and pointed his palms down as Kinkaku smashed into the earth, "Futon: Kami Oroshi."

The chunin funneled some of Kyuubi's chakra into the jutsu and watched a thirty-foot wide twister explode towards the earth, but as it was about to hit the revived shinobi he vanished, and Naruto reflexively performed a substitution with a chunk of rock right before his opponent's fist smashed it into pebbles. The Jinchuuriki looked up and saw Kinkaku's hand pointed towards the ground while a blue glow outlined his body, "Rairyu no Tatsumaki."

The revived shinobi's lightning dragon tornado was nearly ten times larger than Raiga's and moving twice as fast. The Sharingan saw the jutsu's chakra flow and the Jinchuuriki knew his opponent could split the dragon into dozens of smaller bolts that would cover the entire battlefield, he had no place to dodge, "Futon: Sensougouheki." Naruto didn't expect the sphere of wind to hold up for long, but it did buy him enough time to slap his palm into the ground, creating a barrier seal. A blue dome formed under the swirling wind and was able to defend the blonde from the Raiton jutsu, but when he dropped the barrier Kinkaku appeared next to him and grabbed his throat.

The Kumo-nin smirked condescendingly as he started squeezing the chunin's neck harder, but the sharingan morphed into a six-pointed star and the man loosened his grip for a moment in surprise as Naruto raspily whispered, "Amaterasu." The Mangekyou spun rapidly and black flames emerged that ran up Kinkaku's arm, and though the man had not felt a physical sensation since being revived, he screamed in agony and dropped the Konoha-nin before cutting his arm off at the shoulder. The dead shinobi grit his teeth in pain while watching the dark fire consume his arm, never realizing the amputated limb had not reforming until he tried to grab Naruto's wrist with it. The chunin grinned as blood poured out of his left eye and swung his wind coated saber, cutting the man's head off and causing his body to collapse lifelessly to the ground. The shinobi stayed limp until the Amaterasu finished devouring his arm, then his head reconnected itself to his body and Kinkaku let out a piercing scream while the dirt around his left arm reformed the severed limb.

Orochimaru watched as the boy prepared a seal and chuckled, "Not bad Naruto-kun, but you don't dictate what happens in a test. Let's see how much you've grown as a Jinchuuriki." The chunin finished molding the most powerful binding seal he knew and placed it on his wailing opponent's chest, but black and red chakra exploded out of the revived man's body right after he finished healing. Naruto gasped after it dissolved the inkless seal and jumped backwards while pulling down his hitai-ate. Orange chakra began to spread from the Konoha-nin's stomach and quickly encased his body before taking on the shape of a fox with three tails, one more than his opponent possessed.

The Jinchuuriki's whiskers darkened and his hair became wilder as he crouched down on all fours and exploded forward. The earth around the two juggernauts shattered when they collided and locked hands. It was a stalemate for a few moments, but despite using fewer tails Kinkaku managed to take advantage of his size and pick up the smaller blonde before smashing him into the earth repeatedly. The revived shinobi continued slamming Naruto into the ground until his three tails wrapped around Kinkaku's torso and pulled them closer together. The chunin pushed a Rasengan into the man's chest before it exploded outward and sent him spinning away.

An orange chakra claw grabbed the Kumo-nin as he flew through the air, but the older shinobi easily broke free and landed on all fours before dashing towards Naruto. Kinkaku crashed into the chunin and sent him tumbling away, but one of the teenager's chakra tails managed to wrap around the revived blonde and use him as an anchor. The Konoha-nin came flying back towards Kinkaku and staggered the man with a head butt before delivering a brutal jab that sent him tumbling away, however, the undead shinobi quickly recovered and sat on all fours while staring at the younger shinobi. Two black claws emerged at Naruto's feet and tried to grab him him, but the Uzumaki's orange chakra cloak began spinning rapidly and deflected the attack.

The giant sphere disappeared and the feral blonde rushed forward as his own chakra claw flew towards Kinkaku while holding an orange Rasengan four feet wide. The Kumo-nin quickstepped backwards and realized his opponent only had two chakra tails as the third burst out of the ground at his feet and wrapped around his waist. The massive Rasengan smashed into the revived shinobi and drilled him into the ground until it imploded and collapsed. The boulders flew through the air when Kinkaku roared and the pseudo-Jinchuuriki jumped up with four tails waving behind him while Orochimaru's yellow eyes focused on the chunin, "It seems you can control three tails effectively Naruto-kun, but is that your limit?" The serpentine man watched as the undead Kumo-nin began pummeling the other blonde and chuckled, "It appears so."

Kinkaku moved faster than the chunin could see and knocked him around like a pinball. Naruto grunted after another powerful kick landed, but he managed to gather himself and rotate Kyuubi's chakra around him to deflect the next blow. The orb of chakra skipped across the ground until the chunin cancelled it and quickly jumped aside before the pseudo-Jinchuuriki shattered the earth beneath him. The transformed Kumo-nin sped towards Naruto while his tails formed a drill, but the Uzumaki hooked a chakra claw to the earth behind his opponent and pulled himself away before the drill impaled him. When the teen landed he gathered an orb of Kyuubi's chakra in front of his mouth and quickly compressed it before a concentrated orange beam shot towards Kinkaku, who had already recovered and renewed his relentless charge.

The revived shinobi was only pushed back momentarily, but once again it bought the Konoha-nin another second to escape. Orochimaru watched the two blurs as his undead pawn continued chasing the young Jinchuuriki around and frowned, "It seems you won't go any farther than this Naruto-kun." Two more tails formed behind the transformed Kumo-nin and the traitorous member of the Sannin observed the Jinchuuriki's reaction, "Let's see what happens when you're completely outmatched."

The chunin cursed silently as he watched the six tails wave behind Kinkaku and wondered what to do next, the younger shinobi could barely keep up at four. If the man's brother proved capable of this too it would be impossible to stall them both without giving into the Kyuubi completely. Naruto wiped his finger over some blood and prepared to call on a toad to reverse summon Jiraiya, but Orochimaru realized what he was doing and ordered Kinkaku to attack. The pseudo-Jinchuuriki seemed to vanish and the Konoha-nin looked up before getting shoulder checked across the ground. He regained his feet and tried to perform the jutsu again, but the revived Kumo-nin smashed him into the earth.

The man began pummeling him into the ground with oversized chakra claws and Naruto felt the Kyuubi's power begin to fade along with his grip on consciousness. Suddenly, he was in front of the Bijuu's cage and staring up at the enraged creature as it forced streams of chakra through the bars, "I will not let these two imposters kill us, you will take more of my power."

The Uzumaki raised his hand and used the sharingan to dispel the bubbling energy before glaring at his tenant, "You don't call the shots here fuzzball."

The Kyuubi snorted as he looked down at the young blonde deridingly, "Your false arrogance amuses me, but we both know it only hides the fear holding you back. Let me show you the true definition of power, take my chakra."

The blonde shook his head, "It won't do any good, I'll just lose myself and he'll take advantage."

"Pathetic weak willed mortal," roared the fox, "If you don't we both die. Focus on the pain and your opponent, not the rage."

"Fine, just one more tail." Naruto's blue eye stared at the Kyuubi as he closed the sharingan, "Any more and I put you to sleep."

The fox smiled savagely and darkness overtook the blonde's vision for a moment before he felt Kinkaku's blows raining down on him. The Konoha-nin roared as an orange orb surrounded his body and power surged through his chakra coils. His skin started to peel before blood mixed with the tainted chakra and turned it black as the area pulsed with power. The revived shinobi squinted his white eyes and looked at the sphere vibrating with pure energy until it exploded in a flash of light. When it faded Naruto stood across from him with a matching cloak, and even though the Jinchuriki was visibly smaller and only had four tails, Kinkaku could still feel the power radiating off the boy. Despite the difference in tails he was almost putting out as much as the pseudo-Jinchuuriki, and the chakra's potency kept rising.

The transformed Konoha-nin hissed with pain, but instead of ignoring the sensation he embraced it and used the feeling to clear his thoughts and focus on the fight ahead. A rush of new abilities he could access flooded his mind and the chunin grinned ferociously before disappearing. Kinkaku barely managed to block the kick, but a chakra claw quickly grabbed him and started dragging the man across the ground. The pseudo-Jinchuuriki realized he was flying back towards his opponent and launched a small orb of black chakra that shattered the ground at the Uzumaki's feet, causing him to lose balance.

The revived shinobi crashed into Naruto and they rolled across the ground until he pinned the chunin. A larger sphere of black chakra formed in front of Kinkaku's mouth and he prepared to launch it at the prone Konoha-nin, but one of Naruto's chakra tails hit the man's chin and sent the attack straight up before he copied the Kumo-nin's move. A larger orb sent the older blonde into the air and the Jinchuuriki vanished before reappearing below the revived shinobi. The Uzumaki grabbed his opponent's leg before performing a flip, then, he heaved the undead ninja towards the earth and sent a chakra claw after him.

Kinkaku created a crater when he landed and the Konoha-nin's claw grabbed the earth to pull him down towards the ground. The revived shinobi looked up and prepared another orb of chakra that grew until it was eight feet wide. He launched it towards the descending blonde as the red and black cloak swirled around him like an oversized Rasengan. The two dense chakras collided, but the rotation deflected the Kumo-nin's attack out wide and Naruto crashed into him.

The force of the impact sent Kinkaku deeper into the earth and the chunin hissed in pain as his chakra cloak faded, but he ignored the discomfort, there was no telling how much time that move bought him. The Konoha-nin knew he couldn't keep using four tails and maintain control much longer, his only hope was to get Jiraiya here, so the blonde swiped his thumb over a patch of blood and performed the required seals, but Kinkaku burst out of the earth and pinned the chunin to the ground before the jutsu was complete. Naruto watched the pseudo-Jinchuuriki grin viciously before passing out, but the revived Kumo-nin glowed briefly and dissolve into dust before he could launch an attack.

* * *

><p>The serpentine man created the hand-seal that ended the Edo Tensei and watched the Kingin Kyodai disperse. He was satisfied with the blonde's growth after watching him use four tails, when the Akatsuki came to retrieve him in a few years they would have a handful. Now Orochimaru felt confident he could focus less-resources on his old associates, which freed up Oto's elite shinobi.<p>

The legendary traitor looked around the scenic landscape of Tsuki no Kuni while slowly sinking into the earth. He may have lost his bid for control, but it was of no real importance. Even if the coup succeeded the island nation never would have been a major factor in his plans. Orochimaru chuckled when Asuma lit a cigarette while scanning the area cautiously. The only thing tying him to this was the Edo Tensei, and for Konoha to use that as evidence they would have to admit he stole it, a pointless move since it was such a weak connection. The only thing his old village could do is sit back and wonder why he supported Shabadaba. The serpentine man let out a hissing laugh before disappearing into the earth, as if he needed a reason.

* * *

><p>Asuma looked over at his team hiding well outside the battlefield and waved them over while exhaling a lungful of smoke. The teenagers' skin was pale and they were visibly shaken after watching two shinobi use the Kyuubi's chakra, "Why did you guys come out here? Getting involved would've done more harm than good."<p>

Shikamaru nodded dumbly while trying to wipe traces of vomit away from his mouth, "That's obvious now, but how was I supposed to know the fighting would've been like this? Nobody ever mentioned crap like this in the academy."

Ino walked over to her fellow blonde and gasped when she saw his prone body, "W-what happened? Where's his skin?"

Chouji winced and looked at the small patches of skin over the muscle while recalling the side-effects of the red chili pill. He walked over to Ino and placed a comforting hand on his teammate's shoulder before she looked away, "There are side-effects to using power like this."

Asuma walked past his students and gingerly picked up the unconscious Jinchuuriki before heading back to the mansion, "Two of you get Michiru and Hikaru back to the summer home, the third can come back now and check on the Daimyo. I'm going to keep watch over Naruto"

All three followed their sensei as Chouji said, "I have a butterfly carrying them right now, I'll summon another and have it relay the message."

The jounin nodded as he continued towards the summerhouse while remembering the way Ginkaku toyed with him. Asuma only managed to land blows when the revived shinobi let him, and the jounin knew he could've been killed at any moment, a feeling he didn't like at all. The man wondered about trying to patch things up with his father and getting some advice, the last time they really talked was when Naruto came over for tea, but ever since then they haven't interacted outside of shinobi business. Maybe it was time to have that conversation about the king now that he had grown up a little bit.

* * *

><p>Naruto looked up at Michiru and started clapping with the hordes of people standing in the streets. It had been ten days since Shabadaba's death and the former prince was in the middle of his public coronation as Daimyo of Tsuki no Kuni. If you asked the blonde what kind of ruler Michiru would've been two weeks ago he would've laughed and walked away, but the fat noble had changed significantly after watching his father pass away.<p>

**Flashack**

Naruto looked over silently from his hospital bed as Michiru and Hikaru burst into the room to see the Daimyo. The two of them approached the dying man and he cracked a smile, "Ah, my favorite people in the world. It is good to see you're both safe, apparently the trip worked like I planned."

The two of them gave Kakeru worried looks when he entered a coughing fit, and the prince lifted a glass of water to his lips while saying, "Rest Otou-sama, you need to save your strength to recover faster."

The old Daimyo shook his head after he finished drinking, "I'm not long for this world, the medics say my organ systems have shut down and are too far gone to restart. Time is short, so please be patient and let me talk. I was beginning to suspect Shabadaba of something so I organized a trip to keep the two of you out of his plans."

Kakeru coughed a few times and turned down another sip of water before continuing, "When he finally confronted me I asked what his motives were. He talked about you Michiru. Shabadaba wanted to live your life and organized the coup to fulfill his rapacious desire for wealth, nothing else." The prince looked shocked as his father reached for his wrist and weakly clutched it, "A great ruler must care about the people more than himself. Their hopes, dreams, fears, and sorrows must take precedent over everything else."

Another coughing fit cut Kakeru off, and Michiru kneeled down to clasp his father's hand. Without him Hikaru would be the only person in the prince's life, and he wouldn't burden the child with his problems, despite all his possessions Michiru would have nothing left. The man's eyes shot open as he understood what his wife was trying to say. All the material objects in the world meant nothing without somebody to share with, which was why he felt so lonely since Amayo left.

Kakeru finished coughing and weakly squeezed his son's hand, "Michiru, you must protect the people's happiness, realize what is truly important in life and teach Hikaru. That is my final request as your father."

The Daimyo's eyes closed while his breaths grew weaker, and tears streamed down his progenies' cheeks as the prince responded, "I understand papa, but please don't leave." Michiru felt the man's hand go weak and sobbed into his sheets for a few moments before crying out, "Papa, papa, I love you so much. I promise that I'll change. I'll go on a diet and get Amayo back, but most importantly I'll rule like you, I will care about the people of this country and protect them. I'll-"

**Flashback End**

"I'll fight for your dreams and do my best to protect all of you from sorrow, I will cherish your smiles and share your pain, I will treasure your laughter and anguish over your tears. I, Michiru, will do everything in my power to honor my father's legacy, to make him, and you, proud of me." The new Daimyo waited patiently while the crowd cheered for several minutes, and when they stopped he ended the speech, "Thank you for coming to celebrate my coronation and honor my father's legacy, however, he would not appreciate this being a day of mourning. Go out and enjoy the festival with your loved ones, it is what Kakeru-sama would have wanted."

Naruto cheered while the chubby man walked inside the building before looking over at Team Ten as the crowd rushed towards the fairgrounds set up on the meadow outside the capitol. Shikamaru sighed as people parted around Chouji like a boulder in a river, "There's too many people here, trying to navigate that fair will be troublesome. I'm just going back to the hotel to nap before the banquet."

The Nara jumped over the crowd and headed down an empty side street while Chouji inhaled deeply through his nose and stared at the scores of food vendors from all over the country, "See you guys later, I need to take this opportunity to sample the local cuisine before dinner."

The Akimichi mindlessly walked towards his destination as Asuma looked at the central building. "I have to deliver a response to Tsuki's council so they can deliberate it tomorrow. After that I'm heading back to the hotel, don't be late to the banquet because we're the guests of honor there."

Ino nodded after the jounin finished, "Okay Asuma-sensei, see you later." The man cut through the crowd on his way to the building as the Yamanaka took Naruto's left arm between hers, "Let's go to the festival, a new Daimyo doesn't get coronated often so I bet it will be huge."

A wide grin split Naruto's face as the kunoichi pulled him towards the celebration, "Sounds troublesome if you ask me."

Ino stuck her tongue out at the Uzumaki before replying, "Well nobody did, besides, how often do you get to spend the afternoon with an attractive woman?" After a few moments of silence the kunoichi smiled victoriously, "That's what I thought, now stop complaining. The two blondes slowly walked with the crowd before the Yamanaka asked, "Where did you and Jiraiya go to this past week?"

A small smile formed as the chunin remembered his godfather's reaction after hearing what happened with the Kingin Kyodai from Asuma. The man was furious that Naruto didn't summon him, and after the teenager recovered took him away to train so he couldn't relax. Instead of lounging in the Daimyo's summerhouse the chunin had to run wind sprints, swim against the ocean's current, do pushups with bags of sand on his back, and carry boulders over the hot sand for miles as a warm-up. When Jiraiya ran out of exercises the man increased the resistance on his weights and made the blonde start over. "Ero-sennin just wanted to make sure I 'recognized the depths of my stupidity.'"

Ino poked the chunin's side, "Jiraiya just ran you into the ground all week, didn't he?"

"Yup."

Naruto's smile never left his face as he remembered the brutal training and Ino sighed, somewhat jealous that he was thinking about an old man while hanging out with her, even though it was obvious how important Jiraiya was to him. The kunoichi rested her head on the Jinchuuriki's arm while remembering all the things he endured in the academy, 'It's no wonder he cherishes those close to him… If only we saw how extraordinary you were back then.' "I'm sorry Naruto."

Ino blushed when he looked over at her curiously, the mind reader didn't realize she said that last part out loud, although, the Uzumaki deserved to hear it. "What for, did you steal my ramen scroll or something?"

The Yamanaka shook her head awkwardly, "No, just thinking about all the crappy things I did to you as a kid."

Naruto smiled softly at the girl as he wiggled his left arm to rub her back, "Don't worry about it Ino, that was a long time ago and I don't blame anybody. Besides, with how I acted it's not surprising people thought I was a loser." He could see the kunoichi was still upset and realized they were nearing the festival, "Let's grab something to eat now so we're not getting something closer to the banquet." The Yamanaka looked up at Naruto as he started dragging her by her wrist, "C'mon Ino, they don't coronate a Daimyo every day. Besides, how often do you get to hang out with a movie star and future Hokage for an afternoon?"

A smile split the kunoichi's face after having her words thrown back at her, and she was still grinning when Naruto pulled her into a tempura stand a few minutes later. The two blondes sat at a makeshift bar and the patrons let out a quick cheer when the owner called out, "The heroes of Tsuki no Kuni are here." Naruto sighed when more people walked into the stand after hearing the announcement and waved as a waitress placed a large sampler platter in front of them while her boss said, "Please, enjoy this on the house. We would never charge somebody that saved our new Daimyo's life." The two of them smiled and started eating fried seafood until the waitress came back and placed two saucers of Sake down with a small jar, "Compliments of the house as well, our finest rice wine."

Naruto easily threw his cup back, but he noticed the Yamanaka choke up a little bit after hers and laughed while refilling their saucers, "That's alright if it's a little too much for you Ino-tan, they probably have juice in back." The kunoichi grabbed both the dishes and drank them before giving him a triumphant look, but a few seconds later she coughed a few times while tearing up. The Uzumaki chuckled and poured himself another saucer while her face turned red," Slow down, you won't make a good impression at the banquet if you're hammered."

The Yamanaka took a few deep breaths before responding, "Don't talk down to me Naruto, I've only seen you sip your Sake like an old man." The Uzumaki raised an eyebrow as he downed his rice wine before refilling both saucers and throwing them back, "That's more like it pussy."

"I think you've been hanging out with Tayuya-chan too much." The kunoichi blushed as Naruto filled the saucers up again and gave her one, "I've been training with Jiraiya so you won't outdrink me, but if you want to try I'm one cup ahead."

The more experienced chunin drank his first and Ino finished hers a few seconds after. She filled the two saucers up with the remaining rice wine and frowned for a moment, but when she placed the empty jar on the table their waitress came over with another one, "Compliments of that family over there."

She walked away as the blondes waved to the friendly couple that bought their Sake, and the kunoichi finished her saucer before refilling it right away, "Now we're even," but before she could take the lead Naruto held a plate up with several pieces of shrimp and eel tempura.

"Don't get ahead of yourself, if you end up puking neither of us will have fun." The Jinchuuriki grinned when she started eating the food and picked up a chunk of fried lobster, "We'll eat this and take more Sake out to the fair with us, I want to see what's out there."

The two Konoha-nin finished the meal before ordering another jug of rice wine, which was also on the house, then, they headed out into the festival and walked around while sipping their alcohol, playing games, watching shows, going on crappy rides, and buying more Sake whenever they ran out. Naruto realized the sun had dipped below the ocean and realized the banquet was in less than an hour before poking Ino's side, making her look up at him, "We need to get back to the hotel and change for dinner or we'll be late."

The Yamanaka shook her head cheekily, "I don't wanna."

The Jinchuuriki rolled his eyes and tossed their remaining Sake into a nearby trash can while rubbing the girl's back, "Do you not feel good?"

"I'm fine."

Naruto sighed when she put her head into his chest, "Then why don't you wanna go." Ino's looked up at the chunin with half-lidded eyes for a few seconds before grabbing his head and pulling his lips into hers. The Uzumaki was surprised at first, but when she pushed her tongue against his lips the teen recovered and pulled her body against his while opening his mouth. When they stopped to take a breath of air he put his forehead against hers while asking, "Should I send clones instead." Ino responded by kissing him again and the two shunshined away from the busy street moments later.

* * *

><p>Naruto groaned and pushed himself up while his blue eye looked out the window. After a few moments the hangover became manageable and he realized this wasn't his room, then the teenager glanced down to see Ino in the bed next to him, "Shit." The Yamanaka was attractive, but this was the last thing he wanted to happen. His relationship with Sakura was already strained, and the blonde didn't think she'd appreciate the fact that he just slept with her best friend and rival. The Uzumaki tried to recall last night and could only pick out pieces, "She probably won't remember either, if I can slip out of here it'll be like it never happened."<p>

The chunin slowly shifted and tried to get out of bed, but quickly learned a disadvantage of having sex with a kunoichi after hearing, "Where are you going Naruto?"

He rolled off the mattress and headed for the door across the room, "Umm, I have to pee."

Ino lifted cracked open one of her blue eyes and looked at the boy, "Good, I thought you were trying to sneak out or something."

The Jinchuuriki laughed nervously, "Heh, I'd never to that."

"I must've been dreaming when you just said it then."

Naruto sighed in relief when her head fell back onto the pillows, "Yes, this is all a dream, I was never here."

"Leave and I'll rip your balls off. You're not the only one who drank alcohol before, I remember most of last night." The chunin accepted his fate and entered the bathroom, worse things could happen. He walked back over to the bed and got under the covers before wrapping his arms around the Yamanaka, "That's better." The Uzumaki closed his eyes while enjoying the warmth of Ino's body and trying to ignore the lingering effects of his hangover. They stayed like that for a while until she mumbled, "You know, Sakura can't really get mad about this considering she's dating Kiba."

"What, why doesn't anybody tell me these things?"

The kunoichi laughed as she turned around before resting her head against his chest, "Because you never asked, but if you want to know about relationships then Temari and Shikamaru started dating too. Tenten and Neji went out for like two weeks, but it didn't work out."

Naruto sighed and started rubbing his fellow blonde's back, "I just can't believe Kiba didn't tell me he was dating Sakura, I was just on a mission with his team."

Ino looked up at him with her blue eyes, "I've been meaning to ask you about that, what are the chances of you running into two Konoha teams across the continent within two weeks of each other? Doesn't that seem weird?"

The Jinchuuriki frowned while thinking about it, but he was quickly distracted when the Yamanaka got up from the bed, revealing her naked body. He watched the kunoichi's toned legs and butt as she hurried across the room and shut the bathroom door. The chunin laid there as more of last night's escapades became clearer to him, and when the bathroom door moved he looked up at Ino's breasts, watching them as she jumped onto the bed from across the room. Naruto moved the blankets as the kunoichi glided through the air and pulled them back over her while she cuddled up next to him and breathed into his face, "Couldn't let you be the only one with fresh breath. Thanks for asking before using my toothbrush by the way."

The Jinchuuriki grinned suggestively, "Considering what we did last night I thought you wouldn't mind." The Yamanaka put her face into his chest once more and mumbled something inaudibly, "What was that?"

A soft blush spread across Ino's cheeks when she looked up, "You know, last night was my first time and I can't really remember it that well."

"I thought you said you did?"

The blushing kunoichi turned away from the whiskered chunin, "I remembered we slept together, the details are hazy though."

The Jinchuuriki rolled over and pinned the girl to the bed before kissing her chastely. Ino's blue eyes looked up at Naruto pleadingly and he smiled, "I wouldn't want you saying you couldn't remember our time together."

* * *

><p>Naruto leaned against the railing of a ship and looked back at the capitol city of Tsuki no Kuni. It had been two days since the festival, but as soon as Jiraiya and Asuma finished negotiating the details of a new Hi no Kuni naval base that would be installed the older man said it was time to go. Apparently Michiru felt so grateful towards Konoha he pushed the old request through despite its unpopularity among the government, mostly so he would have access to the foreign shinobi stationed there because the three ninja working for Shabadaba were active shinobi of Getsugakure. The village claimed they had no knowledge of the trio's actions, saying they were listed as MIA from their last mission, however, the new Daimyo didn't fully trust his shinobi village and wanted another source of ninja to balance their power.<p>

The blonde looked over at Jiraiya as he furiously scribbled in a notebook that contained a rough draft of the next Icha Icha book. He tried asking the man why they kept running into teams from Konoha several times, but only received shrugs or evasive responses for answers. Naruto figured the sennin was arranging it somehow, but didn't really care if it meant he would see his friends. The Uzumaki walked over to his godfather and stood in the sunlight illuminating his notebook, which made the man look up in irritation, "Teach me something Ero-sennin."

The hermit grumbled as he closed the literary gold and brushed himself off while standing up, he could never get any peace or quiet. "Go work on the chakra projection thing you were talking about, the one that busty Hyuuga showed you." The man waggled his eyebrows suggestively while continuing, "You should've slept with her too. Quiet ones always scream the loudest, and the things you could do with her body. If only I was twenty years younger."

"More like forty you pedophile."

The legendary shinobi glowered at his ungrateful godson, "Fine, show me the laser thing and I'll try to give you some advice, but I'm not promising anything. Afterwards you have to leave me alone."

Naruto figured that would be the best he'd get and rolled his eye, "Fine." The Uzumaki pointed his index finger towards starboard edge before concentrating the chakra at the tip. A dense blue ball glowed at the end of his finger before a thin chakra laser shot out over the open sea.

Jiraya whistled, slightly impressed by the display, "Not bad kid, that almost reminds me of the chakra chains your mother used. Except her technique was better because she wasn't a dumbass."

The chunin's blue eye widened for a moment before he took a deep breath in an attempt to quell his rising anger, "Why didn't you ever tell me about this technique."

The man shrugged, "You never asked, besides, it's not like I know how she did it so telling you wouldn't have made a difference."

The blonde growled, "Still, the idea could've helped."

Jiraiya patted the Jinchuuriki on his back, "I know that I'm really amazing, but this isn't my technique so there's not much I can really help you with. Why don't you read your father's notes again?"

Naruto shook his head, "I already read over the technique description recently, but I've progressed farther than he took it already."

The sennin looked at the sun climbing over the horizon while thinking of his first blonde student, 'Minato, you were like this rising sun when you sacrificed yourself, not even at your zenith.' Jiraiya looked at the Yondaime's son and smiled, "Listen kid, your dad was definitely a genius, but once in awhile he could be a little spacey. Like how you're a total idiot but occasionally have a smart moment." The silver haired shinobi smiled when his pupil frowned at him, "So, it's possible that he put a note about seal projection in an entirely different section when it popped into his head."

Naruto ran towards their cabin and fished through his things until he pulled out a black leather bound book. The chunin started reading through sections he thought would relate to seal projection, but found nothing in shape manipulation, seal theory, raw chakra manipulation, or chakra-based seal application. The blonde let out a sigh and figured he might as well start from the beginning. He opened up to the first page before scanning it with his blue eye, and after a minute it widened while he read a familiar passage.

_This is what I theorized. Fuuinjutsu at its core is using ink to channel chakra into a shape. The seal's creator uses the ink as a medium, like hand seals, to dictate where the chakra will go. Once the circuit is complete and the chakra density sufficient the seal will activate and will react depending on how the chakra is being molded. I wanted to take the ink out of the equation completely and just mold my chakra into the seal. Despite not going anywhere it helped lead to the Rasengan, and my ability to apply seals simply by making contact was a step I created to learn it._

Naruto closed the book and narrowed his eye while trying to figure out how seal projection helped lead to the Rasengan. They both involved molding chakra outside of the body, but that couldn't have been the main reason, Jiraiya said the Rasengan was inspired by something his mother could do when she used the Kyuubi's chakra. The chunin's mind raced as he tried to make the connection, but nothing came. He walked back onto deck and went to the back of the ship and looked over the ocean once more, wondering what linked his father's techniques. He formed a Rasengan over his right palm while his left index finger glowed with chakra before his eye shot open, Hinata said he shouldn't spin the chakra because it wouldn't be as dense, but that would make it easier to bend.

The Rasengan above Naruto's hand faded as he focused on the tiny sphere of chakra on his index finger and started to rotate it. Like Hinata said the spinning motion decreased density and small strands of chakra began to leak out. As the chunin watched the chakra swirl around itself he realized this was different than the Rasengan. To form his father's jutsu the blonde would randomly rotate the chakra inside of a shell, but this was just concentrated chakra spinning in one direction with nothing holding it together. Naruto began feeding more chakra into the ball and watched the escaping chakra strands thicken, but as he sped up the rotation they got smaller once more. The shinobi pointed his finger out over the ocean before trying to create a chakra laser, but it only went six inches before dissipating.

Naruto smiled as the chakra faded, it may not have worked but it was a start. Now he had to make his bunshins test out different rotation speeds, chakra densities, and shapes. Different factors flashed through the Uzumaki's mind as he spun chakra down the length of his finger, the technique that was out of reach for so long finally seemed possible.

Jiraiya grinned as he watched the blonde stand on the ship's railing and try to make the chakra strand longer each time. The sennin looked down at the page he was on and finished writing the sentence before turning to the last page of his notebook. He slid his finger into a hidden folder on the back cover and pulled a picture out. A much younger—although just as handsome—him stood between Kushina and Minato when they were only a few years older than Naruto. The man had just caught the two on a secret date and spent the whole day following and teasing them. The hermit's face softened for a moment as he remembered the times he spent with Minato, but after hearing Naruto shout in frustration the sage smiled and looked up at the boy as he almost fell into the ocean, it was hard to wallow in melancholy with his new apprentice hanging around. Jiraiya looked at the picture a little longer before sliding it back into the folder and saying, "You two would be proud of Naruto, I think's he's almost ready to learn that move."

* * *

><p>If you think the next chapter will come out as quickly as this one then put that thought on hold. These last two were pre-written at the end of summer and had a decent amount of editing done. My goal is to release two more chapters that total 15,000 words before school restarts and hopefully jumpstart the next arc, because writing from scratch after a long break is hard. I really hate pointing things out that I'm trying to get across or hint at as I feel a good author shouldn't have too, but since I'm trying to improve criticism is necessary. These last two chapters I've really been trying to do something with Shikamaru (although I obviously try to develop and explore all characters that appear, for instance, Naruto never summoned Jiraiya because he wanted to test himself, a little Sasukeish) and it would help if you guys dropped me a review and let me know what you think it is.<p>

-Operaman bye bye

**Jutsu List**

Kage Nui

Bubun Baika no Jutsu

Kagemane no Jutsu

Baika no Jutsu

Odama Rasengan

Futon: Daitoppa

Futon: Kami Oroshi

Rairyu no Tatsumaki

Futon: Sensougouheki

Amaterasu


	44. The Strangeness of Normalcy

The midday desert sun beat down on Sunagakure no Sato and shut the bustling village down. Its hearty villagers sought shelter in their cool homes while shops and restaurants temporarily closed their doors. Even the Shinobi Academy took a recess before beginning physical training later in the afternoon. The entire village stopped for a few hours every day, except for the unfortunate shinobi on guard duty and Sabaku no Gaara, the feared Jinchuuriki of Suna. His Suna no Yoroi ensured that Kaze no Kuni's harshest conditions would not bother its favored son.

The teenage jounin waited patiently on the Academy rooftop in a sand recliner and ignored the searing sun. He was absentmindedly creating elaborate patterns with sand while planning for his upcoming mission. The Kazekage requested that he take part in the Academy's training week that usually paired older students with rookie chunin, but Gaara was only a few years older than this years graduating class, and his father believed it was an opportunity to increase his standing in the village. At first the redhead paid little mind to the task, but as the day drew closer, negative outcomes began to pop into his thoughts. The Jinchuuriki usually thought of ways to avoid them quickly enough, but another one would soon follow, and each was more ridiculous than the last. Still, the shinobi had no real experience with kids and did not know how they would act, so he attempted to be prepared for everything.

Gaara had been so preoccupied by the scenarios that he forgot to ask what time they were meeting the students at the briefing earlier. The principle said it was happening during the afternoon session, but the Jinchuuriki never attended the academy and did not know when that was. By the time he realized the mistake it was too late, so the jounin showed up promptly at noon and had been waiting for over an hour. Gaara did not think he could afford to make a bad first impression by being late. Many of Suna's jounin and chunin had come to accept, and even admire, the Jinchuuriki because of his recent exploits against the colonizers, however, the younger generations still feared him. These children grew up on ghoulish tales of his bloodiest kills, and he became the boogeyman to an entire generation.

The redhead let out a sigh as the sand design he was making fall apart, it was doubtful this week would do him any good. Gaara realized his thoughts were on a downward spiral and stood up while pushing them aside. Overthinking things would not do him any good. The jounin knew this would be a long process to gain acceptance from the village, so he should not get upset if one week goes bad. It will be a good opportunity to see what children act like if nothing else. Gaara felt his stomach loosen up and walked across the roof after catching sight of a strange figure approaching the academy.

The Jinchuuriki began planning an attack, but as the figure got closer he realized it was Temari and Kankuro using her fan as a meager defense against the searing rays of the sun. Gaara felt his muscles relax and he hopped down to greet his siblings once they got closer. The two older shinobi managed a weary nod but did not stop until they got inside the air-conditioned school. Temari used her waist sash to wipe some of the sweat away after snapping her fan shut while Kankuro used the back of his sleeve. The puppeteer let out an appreciative groan as the refreshing air washed over them before saying, "That's a relief, the sun has been so brutal lately that the cooling exercises don't help at all, and I'm not lucky enough to have a futon affinity."

Temari nodded as she used a basic exercise to hog more of the cool air, "You said it." She smirked after Kankuro wiped more sweat off his face and pointed at the purple line that went across the bridge of his nose and covered his eyes, "Although I am jealous of one thing, you can still wear makeup in this weather. What's your secret?"

Kankuro growled and muttered something about war paint while Gaara asked, "Is the afternoon training session going to begin soon?"

The disgruntled puppeteer shook his head, "Not for awhile, we've got an hour until the little brats get back, then those spoiled little shits need to get dragged out to the training yard."

Temari continued, "We tried to meet up with you after the meeting, but you seemed pretty distracted and disappeared right away."

The Jinchuuriki shrugged, "I was thinking about something."

The sandy blonde gave her brother a once over before asking, "Have you been getting naughty thoughts about girls." The redhead gave his sister a confused look before shaking his head. "Are you sure?" the kunoichi poked her brother's side lightly, "You are about that age."

"No, I have not had any violent thoughts towards anybody since my last mission," was the monotone response.

Both of his siblings' jaws dropped when he finished, but his density did not deter the wind mistress. She had been waiting years for her family to have some sort of normalcy, and now that her youngest brother was no longer a psychotic killer she was taking advantage of every opportunity to tease him. The problem was he did not embarrass easily and she had yet to find a weakness. Temari was patient though, and would get something on him eventually, "What were you thinking about?"

"The training session. I have never really interacted with kids before."

The kunoichi suppressed a frown at his response. Gaara's childhood was far less normal than hers or Kankuro, which was saying something, and she vowed to make up for that once more, "So you're nervous then."

Teal eyes scrutinized the wind mistress disbelievingly before the Jinchuuriki crossed his arms and turned away, "I am Sabaku no Gaara, I do not get nervous."

Temari's lips shifted into a devious smile as she adopted a baby-voice, "You don't have to be shy Gaara-chan, it happens to everyone."

The Jinchuuriki growled and immediately responded, "It is not nervousness. I have killed A-rank shinobi without a thought."

The Jinchuuriki stormed down the hallway after he finished speaking and walked into an abandoned classroom while his siblings followed. Temari wore a catlike grin as she entered the room and pulled out a book while Kankuro summoned his puppets to tinker with. Gaara sat in the back of the classroom as a warm feeling overtook the irritation in his stomach and the corner of his lips moved upwards slightly. This type of interaction with his siblings would have been impossible a few years ago. The jounin was somewhat amazed how far he had come already, and it was these moments which made the effort worth it. Never having to sleep is not that bad when you're not living a nightmare.

* * *

><p>Gaara knew this whole idea was flawed, which is why he should not have been surprised when all of the students ran towards the other shinobi. At first, everyone waited until his little cousin made a decision. Sunaroo was the grandson of the Sandaime Kazekage and incredibly popular, so he was supposed to choose Gaara and get others to come, but the boy didn't even look at the redhead. As soon as the teachers finished explaining he slowly walked over to a shinobi with short black hair and grey eyes, who happened to be the boy's older brother and a favorite of the village.<p>

Their father had paid handsomely to purchase several of the finest quality weapons, armor, and clothing left over from the foreign invaders before promptly shipping them off to the village's finest sealmaster. He gave his oldest two thin swords that dangled freely from the brown leather belt around his waist without scabbards. They were translucent and sparkled with the dust of diamonds, emeralds, and rubies that had been put in by their previous owner, but Gaara knew his cousin could eliminate the shimmering light with a thought. The fabulous blades no doubt had countless other abilities as well, and the Jinchuuriki bet several were made to counter his sand, but they were all unknown and a popular talking point among the village, along with the properties of his clothing.

The most revered blacksmith in Sunagakure had come out of retirement to painstakingly disassemble the fabulous armor and remove all the unnecessary parts to make it lighter while maintaining its defensive capabilities. The teenager wore several new rings on his fingers and had used one of the armor's minor abilities to make it as garish as possible. His gleaming silver forearm guards reflected so much light it appeared they were giving it off, and his breastplate was polished so finely the children could see their reflections in the black leather. His metallic boots matched the dazzling forearm guards and disappeared into a dark gray robe that belonged to a wizard, which was rumored to have many powers as well. The village of Suna had already been excited about his potential for some time, and these tools practically made him a national treasure.

He had been promoted in the chunin the exam before Gaara, and the whispers that he was about to get his jounin flak jacket soon became deafening roars after he debuted his equipment. He was the favored sun of Sunagakure and the exact opposite of Gaara. The redhead knew it was not a coincidence that their names were rising together either. Whenever he accomplished something the boy's father was quick to counter by elevating his son in some way. The man even made him a last minute addition to the program after it was announced the Jinchuuriki would participate.

Gaara nodded in acknowledgement when he saw his cousin glance remorsefully at him, even though the gesture was doubtlessly insincere, and the teen's grey eyes quickly looked down to count the mass of kids rushing towards him. The Jinchuuriki leaned against the wall and tried to focus on the good part of this, now he would not have to put up with Sunaroo for a week. It was doubtful his spoiled cousin would probably be punished at home either since his parents likely told him to disobey the Kazekage. Suna's first three rulers had come from within their bloodline, but his father was the first from their branch while Sunaroo and his brother are direct descendants of the other three.

Gaara looked up and realized that the teachers had pulled most of the students away from his cousin and gently reminded them of the limit each instructor could take. A large number immediately rushed over to Kankuro and Temari while the remaining students tried to pick the strongest looking ones from the remaining shinobi that were not Gaara. The redhead remained hopeful some would voluntarily pick him, but after five minutes it seemed like very child had chosen, and unsurprisingly, he was the only one without a student.

The jounin ignored the sinking feeling that overtook him and reminded himself of his first friend. Naruto would not let this set him back and neither would he. It may take decades, but Gaara would redeem himself in the eyes of his village. The redhead was broken out of his thoughts by a small shuffling sound, and he looked down to see a girl with deep brown eyes, straight brown hair that stopped at her neck, and surprisingly fair skin. Brown shinobi sandals protected her small feet and the leather straps wrapped up her calf until it reached her knee length black tights that poked out of her dusty yellow skirt. A matching scarf was wrapped around her dainty neck and hung over green that revealed her abdomen slightly before stopping at her skirt.

Gaara continued looking up and down the girl until she shifted nervously and broke him out of his trance. He quickly gave the brunette another once over while wondering what to do. The Jinchuuriki was not good at meeting new people, and her expectant gaze made him strangely uncomfortable, but not in a bad way. Finally, the jounin managed to say, "Do you… wish to learn from me?"

The girl nodded shyly and remained quiet for several seconds before responding in a shaky voice, "Yes, umm, my name is Matsuri. My uncle told me that you are very strong, and this seems like a good opportunity to improve myself. I'm not very good and it looks like you would be able to give me one on one training the whole week."

The Jinchuuriki tapped on his cheek while avoiding her expectant gaze, "Wouldn't you rather learn with your friends? This program is supposed to focus on basic shinobi techniques, and my skills do not require much knowledge of them. I do not even carry kunai."

A disappointed look flashed across Matsuri's face before she answered, "Umm, I really don't have any good friends, and I was hoping you could teach me to use sand so I don't have to use weapons either. I… I don't like them very much."

The young student seemed like she wanted to sink into the earth while Gaara gave her another once over. The young jounin managed to get his fluttering stomach under control and reminded himself of his father's plan. It may not have been the horde Sunaroo would have brought with him, but his new image had to start somewhere. Besides, he saw a little of himself in the girl. "It is impossible for you to replicate my abilities with sand." Matsuri seemed to deflate momentarily before Gaara continued, "However, it may be possible for you to control sand in a different way. If you want to learn from me this week I will try my best to teach you basic techniques. Show enough promise and I will occasionally check in after you become genin, and if you continually improve as a shinobi I shall make you my apprentice."

"Thank you Gaara-sensei."

Matsuri fidgeted nervously when the jounin inspected her one more time, "Don't thank me yet, you still have to live up to your end of the bargain." Gaara missed the worried look that flashed across her face while looking over the crowd at the weapon merchants brought in for the day, "Let us get you a bo staff and head over to a training ground."

Gaara started walking towards the two men before Matsuri realized she should follow, "I hope you don't mind me asking, but why a bo staff?"

The jounin stopped and faced the girl, "As your sensei it is my duty to answer any question you may have, so feel free to ask. A bo staff does not have sharp edges and I hope that will take away some of your hesitation." The brunette nodded and Gaara started back towards the two men. Once everybody realized the Jinchuuriki was trying to get to the weapon merchants they cleared a path, allowing him to get a clear view of the duo.

One man was average height with spiky brown hair that stopped at his neck. A flowing purple robe with lighter purple stripes along the edges came up and stopped right above his prominent jaw that was smiling while handing out weapons to the students. His beady black eyes widened after catching a glimpse of Gaara and he tapped the muscular man next to him who was well over six feet tall. The hulking man wore a solid purple robe that was opened enough to show off his imposing chest while a brown leather belt that looked like it belonged to a wrestling champion was wrapped around his waist. His curly brown hair whipped through the air as he pivoted before settling between his shoulder blades while he timidly observe the smaller redhead.

Gaara sighed after realizing his bloody reputation may have spread throughout the entire country while grabbing a bo staff and beginner scrolls from the nervous merchants. He quietly thanked the two men before leading Matsuri to the academy training ground furthest away from the group. The jounin created two chairs out of sand and silently sat down before opening the tightly rolled scroll. He looked over the basic grips and stances until they were committed to memory and gave the scroll and staff to his pupil. "I want you to read this until you can perform the basic grips and stances. If you encounter any problems tell me and I shall do my best to help. Perform well enough you can try some basic strikes against me before we stop for the day."

Matsuri gave the bo staff a hesitant look while shakily responding, "Umm, is that a good idea. I, I don't want to make a mistake and accidentally hurt you." The brunette would have reacted to the short laugh Gaara let out if she knew how rare they were at the time, but she was somewhat annoyed at getting dismissed, despite the stories told about the jounin. "Don't laugh, I'm serious. Our sensei always tells us to be careful with weapons because an academy student can kill a Kage if they get lucky."

The redhead felt a small smile stretch across his lips after hearing the girl's remarks, "You do not wish to injure me, right Matsuri?" The brunette nodded after hearing the question and he continued, "People have wanted to kill me since I was a toddler. As you can see, all of them have failed and only one person managed to wound me. I am the perfect training partner because it is almost impossible to hurt me, so do not hold back." Gaara could tell his new student needed more convincing so he took the staff and threw it straight into the air while closing his eyes. Matsuri watched the weapon's ascent and gasped when she figured out its trajectory, but a column of sand rose up and knocked the staff away inches before it hit the jounin. He handed the staff back to the brunette while saying, "Now, take this and start looking over the scroll. Once you can perform the basic grips look over the first three stances. It may seem like a lot, but a strong fighter must be able to perform multiple tasks at once while not being overwhelmed."

Matsuri took her staff and scroll while saying, "Hai sensei," before she sat down and started reading. Gaara waited patiently and kept half an eye on the girl while trying to think of how to teach another person. Every skill he had came naturally, including his Kekkai Genkai, and trying to explain something he did not fully grasp was a staggering concept. After an hour Matsuri managed to present three different acceptable grips and they graduated onto the stances. Gaara was somewhat surprised that an academy student picked things up so quickly, but he figured it had more to do with her skill and other teachers than him. The jounin nodded after she completed the third stance and formed a sand clone while saying, "Now, attempt a jab." Matsuri pivoted so her left shoulder was facing Gaara and held the staff parallel to her waist before stepping forward, but the brunette's movements were timid and she only managed an awkward thrust that the clone easily batted aside with an arm.

Matsuri stumbled after the staff went out wide and fell to the ground where she sat dejectedly, "I should just give up, that was pathetic."

"That was very good," the girl perked up after hearing Gaara and faced him hopefully, "considering you have never used a bo staff before today." Her expression fell but Gaara did not seem to notice as he continued, "It seemed like you were too tense and rigid. Try loosening up more, nothing bad will happen when you make a mistake here."

Matsuri blankly answered, "Okay Gaara-sensei," while trying to figure out the confusing redhead. The jounin's monotone voice made it hard to know if he was trying to compliment or insult her last attempt. Most sensei in the academy did that, but they were usually easier to read. The brunette decided it did not really matter as long as she listened to the advice and took a deep breath before standing up. She faced the sand clone and let her arms hang loosely by her side in the same stance as before while facing the Suna Bunshin. She took an explosive step forward and stopped suddenly, which allowed the momentum to increase the speed of her strike and force the weak clone to step back and avoid it. Matsuri instinctually allowed the inertia of the last maneuver to lead her forward again and performed the same strike.

Gaara's eyes widened when she continued the attack and he watched as the bunshin blocked the strike with his forearm. The jounin was even more surprised when Matsuri performed the next step in a basic combo and spun around to the clone's back while loosening her grip, allowing the weapon to slide in her hands. She grasped the staff when she completed the turn and held the end while forcefully swinging it like a baseball bat towards the suna bunshin. It dodged the strike by ducking under it and Matsuri seemed surprised as she blankly stared at the clone and let the weapon fall out of her grip. "The scroll didn't say what to do next."

"That was very impressive, I did not think you would do anything after the first jab." Gaara almost smiled at the proud look on Matsuri's face before continuing, "Now, I want you to do it again, except after you perform the strikes switch to the defense stance and block three attacks from my clone before switching back to the offensive stance and starting over."

"Hai Sensei," was the enthusiastic response and the Suna bunshin formed its own staff before getting in a defensive stance. Gaara watched carefully as Matsuri attempted to repeat her first success, but the clone was making the girl work for it. It managed to block all of her attacks and quickly transitioned before putting her on the defensive. Still, his temporary pupil was improving quickly and the redhead felt proud, the only thing he could compare it to was the satisfaction of killing a strong opponent, except thousands of times better. Gaara was glad everything did not work like his father planned, training Matsuri was definitely much better than being stuck with Sunaroo for a week.

After Matsuri began to slow down and get sloppy the jounin dissolved his clone while saying, "Good job, I will meet you at this training ground tomorrow morning at seven thirty."

"Okay sensei, thank you." Gaara watched the girl walk off towards her home before shunshining back to his family's compound. The jounin realized he was woefully under-qualified to teach anybody about the bo staff because he did not understand anything about it. The redhead walked into the library before taking a large scroll containing detailed notes for every exercise in Matsuri's scroll along with several others. He dropped the scroll into his flak jacket before pushing aside a bookcase to take the secret passage into the family armory. He found a worn bo staff in the beginner section and opened the scroll in the training area before reading it carefully. The Jinchuuriki refused to let his pupil fumble blindly in the dark because of his incompetence.

* * *

><p>"Let's go Naruto, get moving or I'll leave you behind."<p>

"Stupid… Ero-sennin," is all the blonde could get out while adjusting the oversized backpack containing every piece of their supplies, and several lead weights by the feel of it. The chunin grit his teeth and took another step toward the sinking sun while cursing his godfather for what seemed like the millionth time in the past two weeks. The duo had constantly training in Kaze no Kuni over that time, and whenever they moved Jiraiya made his pupil carry everything without the use of fuuinjutsu. Naruto could honestly say that he never felt this tired before in his life, the Jinchuuriki was absolutely drained from the harsh schedule. The last few days had been so rough that his healing was not working at its full potential and his entire body was sore, which was a new and unpleasant sensation.

Still, the intense training had been more than worth it, and Naruto knew he had improved greatly since fighting the Kingin Kyodai. His physical skills were constantly increasing as he grew and worked out, but more importantly, he had finally learned how to project seals using nothing more than chakra. Thousands of clones had been training daily since his breakthrough on the ship, and they managed to figure out the most efficient way to project chakra before mastering the basic sound blast seal he created. The teen grinned sneakily as an idea popped into his head, and he started jogging until he caught up to Jiraiya.

Naruto waited until his godfather slowed down before pretending to stop and fix the backpacks while creating a very thin layer of chakra around his index finger, which was held together by its slow rotation. The semi-translucent shell shaped itself into a cone and extended beyond his fingertip while forming a complex design. The seal's outline was complete by the time it snaked past the legendary shinobi, who—to his credit—took notice of the nearly invisibly construct. He attempted to leap away, but Naruto allowed his chakra to freely flow into the malleable thread and the seal glowed blue before a sonic boom sent the man hurtling backwards, right into the second part of the trap.

The blonde had placed a seal on the ground using his foot and casually jumped away while activating it. His godfather hurtled back towards him while the seal expanded and created a wall of chakra. Jiraiya hit the construct and it gave like a giant sheet of rubber, constantly expanding until all of the man's momentum disappeared, then snapping back in the other direction violently. The legendary shinobi couldn't even perform a substitution because the foreign chakra kept flowing into his body and messing up his chakra control. Jiraiya cursed as he noticed another chakra wall waiting for him and expected it to give too, but this one was more like cement and he smashed into it while cursing his godson once again, who was laughing uncontrollably next to him.

It took Jiraiya a few moments to get his bearings and analyze the seal Naruto used. The first wall acted like rubbery flypaper that stuck to him and constantly interrupted his chakra flow, while the second one was a solid barrier that would kill or knock out lesser opponents or contain the stronger ones long enough to perform another attack. It was a solid seal, and the man was sure the blonde had a proud look on his face. There was one weakness to the jutsu though. Jiraiya could feel his godson constantly feeding his chakra into it, meaning the victim could potentially overpower the seal. Normally this would not be a problem for the Kyuubi's Jinchuuriki, but Naruto had been worked into the ground the past few weeks and Jiraiya had a massive reservoir of chakra. He just needed to build up enough while getting his chakra disrupted, "Are you happy now brat?"

"Incredibly," Naruto's satisfaction was evident in his tone and a large grin spread across his cheeks after realizing what he had accomplished. The blonde had been trying to capture his godfather almost since they set out, and even when he thought Jiraiya was completely unaware the traps would fail. It had really been getting on his nerves the past few months. He was almost angry that a half-assed attempt brought on by frustration and exhaustion actually worked, but the teen knew better than to complain. "I finally captured you Ero-sennin, and you know what that means. You have to answer any question I ask."

The legendary shinobi laughed heartily before a pulse of chakra broke Naruto's connection to the barrier and allowed him to escape, "Containing is not the same as capturing kid. I would have broken out earlier but it was cooler in there than out here. I'm feeling generous though, so if I feel like it you might hear an answer."

Naruto let out a sigh when Jiraiya finished and thought about his question. He wanted to find out why they kept running into teams from Konoha, but at the same time, the teenager had plenty of unanswered questions about his past. Still, Jiraiya made it clear that he would not necessarily answer the question, so the blonde decided to hedge his bets and ask about his friends, "Why do we keep running into teams from Konoha? I'm not complaining, but it's been bugging me."

The toad sage looked at his godson before continuing towards their destination, forcing the burdened blonde to start walking once more. "I planned this trip to give you opportunities to learn and grow. Training alone cannot make you into a strong shinobi, real experience is required to bring out anybody's full potential. That is when you really make techniques your own."

"You've said this a thousand times, get on with it."

Jiraiya resisted the urge to slap his interrupting godson and continued, "When I was out gathering information for Akatsuki and Orochimaru I was also looking for some conspiracies you could take on. Once the trip got closer I checked in on the situations and tried to map our movements to meet the projected times I placed on the start of each one. The information also made its way to Sarutobi-sensei so he could look for opportunities to deploy backup. I figured seeing your friends would provide some motivation."

Naruto's blue eye widened in shock while the older shinobi spoke, he had no idea the man did all of that just to help teach him. It was surprising considering the amount of interest Jiraiya usually had towards training. The man had proven to be an effective teacher in his own way and always made sure his pupil learned the technique, but he always made it appear like a chore. The smile under Naruto's mask disappeared when he realized this meant his biggest fear was true, then the teen glared angrily at his sensei and accusingly spat out, "You mean to tell me we could have been in Umi no Kuni a month earlier."

The blonde was going to continue but Jiraiya backhanded him across the face and left the boy resting on his backpack like a turtle, "Don't take that self-righteous tone and try to lecture me brat. I know that bothers you still, but you can't look for anybody to blame besides Orochimaru. The snake abandoned that place years ago and showed no interest in ever coming back. It was just plain unlucky that he showed up then."

Jiraiya sighed while meeting his godson's angry stare, "Look, I'm just as upset as you Naruto, but there is nothing I can do but keep hunting Orochimaru. We had to pass through Umi no Kuni anyways so I took us a little out of the way in hopes of recruiting Isaribi to Konoha, but plans rarely work as intended. If we had showed up a day later that whole village could have been dead, so you did something Naruto, but even in the best circumstances it's impossible to save everyone. If you think I'm lying then eventually you will only be a shell of what could have been."

The sennin helped his pupil up and started walking towards the Kawa no Kuni border while cursing his initial reaction. It was not like Naruto said anything Jiraiya hadn't said to himself. The massacre in Umi was another part of the heavy burden he shouldered because of his old teammate's actions, but in many ways it was different. Like Naruto pointed out, they could have been there long before Orochimaru egged the girl into slaughtering her old village. Jiraiya whispered another prayer for the townspeople and all of Orochimaru's other victims before cursing his overreaction once more.

He was so proud that Naruto managed to catch him, even though the chunin was lucky enough to try on one of the few instances he had truly let his guard down. The sennin was about to send his godson into the lion's den in two weeks, and now that the time was getting close he was questioning this decision. Still, he could do nothing more than hope Naruto proved ready because the favor was already cashed, and not showing up wouldn't get Jiraiya a refund. The man was broken out of his thoughts when the teen caught up and mumbled, "Gomen, I shouldn't have blamed you for Orochimaru's actions."

The sennin ruffled his godson's hair while thinking, 'that would make one of us.' He grinned when the blonde ducked away from his hand and responded, "No sweat kid. I'm sorry for hitting you. That was a pretty good trap you set up. The barrier seal was a nice touch, and it's good to see you making progress with seal projection. How long did that take to set up?"

"Too long." Naruto frowned while thinking about the one flaw still remaining in the technique. It was useless in battle for now. "I still have to focus on shaping the chakra and can only use my fingers for now, but soon I should be able to use it instantaneously from any tenketsu in my body. That would be badass."

The teenager became more animated as he continued discussing the potential in the technique and Jiraiya placed a hand on his shoulder, "Slow down, all of that is a long way off. Focus on the next step for now, because you might not have time to work on it soon."

Naruto cocked his eyebrow while looking at the legendary shinobi, "What do you know, am I meeting up with Team Seven next?"

Jiraiya laughed and put an arm around his godson while pointing towards Kawa no Kuni, "Nope, it's just you and me for now gaki. There's a small band of shinobi from a village most people have forgotten about that is active in the area. They want to power up a super weapon built by the village's founder and need a lot of chakra, so they want to kidnap Gaara to extract Shukaku from him."

"What, we've got to help. Does the Kazekage know about this? What about Gaara? We should warn him." The toad sage sharply chopped the top of his panicking apprentice's head and the chunin glared at him in response, "What the hell was that for Ero-sennin?"

The man slowly rubbed his temples while mumbling under his breath for a few moments before answering the question, "Because you're stupid." Naruto growled in response but Jiraiya cut him off, "The Kazekage knows and isn't concerned so I doubt Gaara has any idea, and we are here to help. This group has been dormant for years and nobody knows the location of their base, but it is likely that they are operating nearby. I've heard rumblings of suspicious activity in Kaze no Kuni recently and most reports were from this area. I want to teach you how to draw an enemy group into action and this provides a perfect example. Now, what is one way to entice the group since we know their end goal?"

Jiraiya waited patiently while his apprentice thought over the question, and the man was not surprised to hear a decent idea, "Since they want a lot of chakra I could use some of Kyuubi's to draw them out."

The sage nodded, "Not bad, but it is unnecessarily risky and I am sure Suna would not appreciate you using that much of your Bijuu's chakra inside their borders. I was thinking that we could spar and use a lot of high-level jutsu. The chakra residue will get their attention and bring them into the area sooner or later. We'll find a spot to rest tomorrow so you can recover, and then fight the day after that. We should be able to resolve this before they make a move."

* * *

><p>Gaara let his muscles relax and reclined on top of the academy roof while watching his breath form into a cloud after he exhaled. Nighttime's bitter cold presented a stark contrast to the brutal heat of the day, but in many ways that difference was consistent with the extremes of Kaze no Kuni. Existence was harsh for those living in the desert, and foreign invaders like Haido were the least of the their worries. Famine, drought, bandits, and the extreme heat made everyday life a struggle and hardened the people of Kaze no Kuni. They had a heartiness that outsiders often mistook for callousness, but the ever-present specter of death also bred a zeal for living. Life's potential shortness pushed those dwelling in the desert enjoy every moment and protect the things closest to them.<p>

The jounin winced as his sore muscles flared up, perhaps that is what inspired him to learn more about bojutsu to properly teach Matsuri. She had been willing to look beyond his bloody past and seek tutelage, even though her nervousness was apparent. Gaara realized the girl had already become important to him, and he would willingly do extra work to make her happy. Maybe that is why he was enjoyed the aches radiating from his muscles, it provided proof that he was doing something helpful. The session also had other benefits for him as well. Gaara realized he was stronger than most physically because he kept increasing the weight and density of his Suna no Yoroi to boost its strength, but he had no way to apply that gift. The Jinchuuriki knew the circumstances would need to be extreme to sacrifice his defense for extra speed, but it would only be beneficial to learn how to properly utilize his physical talents.

Gaara lost his train of thought when a series of shooting stars shot in front of the crescent moon and sighed when he realized how low in the sky it was. It was almost time to head home. The jounin may not sleep, but he realized that his siblings appreciated seeing him in the morning, and he enjoyed it as well. Gaara got out of his sand recliner and started walking to the edge of the roof, but a spherical steel cage with four claw like appendages floating around it appeared out of thin air before he could shunshin. The jounin saw a middle-aged man with thin brown hair trapped inside. He was wearing a loose-fitting yellow robe and his crystal blue eyes darted around fearfully until they landed on the redheaded Jinchuuriki, "You've got to help me Gaara-sama, my niece Matsuri was kidnapped by two ninja before this thing captured me."

The jounin's cool face hid the internal panic after hearing his student's name as he observed the two foot wide black orb that suddenly appeared above the cage and appeared to be some type of polished glass. It drew in the moonlight and lit the immediate area in a sinister purple so they could not see beyond it. Gaara kept the sphere in the corner of his eye while turning most of his attention to the steel bars to find a seam, "Do not worry, you will be alright. How did they put you inside of the cage?"

"Once the kidnappers grabbed Matsuri this thing appeared next to me. Its claws grabbed me and the bars bent open to let me in before snapping closed. It's impossible to move too, this stuff is harder than any metal I've come across." Gaara attempted to manipulate the steel with his kekkai genkai, but the black orb shot out a blast of dark purple lightning at the steel bars that disrupted his attempt. Matsuri's uncle let out a sharp yelp and gave the jounin a pleading look, "Please don't do that again."

Gaara nodded and focused on the task at hand, getting distracted would not get Matsuri back. "What did these kidnappers look like, did they give you any clue to their affiliation?"

The man's blue eyes narrowed in thought as he considered the Jinchuuriki's question, "Neither of them had any symbols showing, but they were both weapons users. One had two short swords on her waist and the other had a long three bladed sword strapped across the back. They said to give whoever this cage went to a message, and it chose you specifically." Gaara's teal eyes widened as he realized what was happening, but the man was almost finished anyways, "They're waiting with Matsuri fifteen miles past the villages southern wall, and if you don't come alone-"

The Jinchuuriki cut the rest of the message off by summoning sand in an attempt to surprise the cage and free the man. The orb shot nullified his attempt by sending a continuous stream of lightning at the cage while a mechanical voice warbled out, "Cannot risk releasing prisoner. Must terminate."

Gaara cursed and summoned his small reserve of iron dust that he had accumulated over time and formed it into poles before launching towards the orb to divert some electricity, but the sphere was putting out too much for the small amount of metal to have any real effect. Matsuri's uncle could not even scream because the voltage caused his entire body to tense, and he suffered in silence for the next several seconds until the lightning stopped, leaving an unrecognizably charred husk smoking inside of the cage. Gaara glowered as the cage disappeared and the purple light faded before looking south with cold green eyes and disappearing in a swirl of sand.

* * *

><p>An eyeball of sand rose up from the desert floor and observed four figures on the next dune standing around a young brunette tightly bound with steel wire. Two of the figures were the merchants from the academy yesterday. The muscular one had donned blue pauldrons over his cloak while a roaring tiger made from white steel served as a breastplate. The skinnier one now had a black sword with a white hilt that appeared to be a bone strapped across his back. One of the other two was definitely a woman. She had brown eyes and green hair down to her neck, except for the two bangs that were dyed blonde and framed her soft face. The kunoichi wore a grey jersey vest with a fur collar over a dark red dress that came down to the middle of her thighs while long black boots stopped just below her knee.<p>

The fourth member of the group was several inches shorter than the kunoichi and Gaara could not tell if they were male or female, but if forced to guess the redhead would say male. He had short blue hair, green eyes, and was wearing a tight cream-colored shirt that stopped above his abdomen. Two matching arm warmers extended up his forearm with brown leather belts hanging off while a long cream scarf covered his neck. A brown leather belt held up baggy gray pants, and the childish shinobi nervously played with a dark blue sword that had three different blades.

The Jinchuuriki had been carefully scanning the surrounding area after his initial attempt to retrieve Matsuri failed. He attempted to manipulate the sand underneath her, but some sort of fuuinjutsu on the dune neutralized his ability to manipulate the sand around it. Gaara could sense no signs of anything suspicious besides the seal, so he appeared in a swirl of sand at the base of the dune and gave the four kidnappers a look that promised an agonizing death unless they cooperated. "Give back Matsuri and I will kill you quickly."

The skinny man snorted after the Jinchuuriki threatened them and looked down at the teenager haughtily from his perch, "We could give this back to you, but it is only a robot. To get the real one back you'll have to catch us." The front of Matsuri's face fell off revealing complicated circuitry that lit on fire as the muscular shinobi kicked her towards Gaara. His sand gourd dissolved and intercepted the fake Matsuri, which exploded into a ball of flames and created a large smokescreen while sending shards of charred metal in every direction.

The smoke cleared and revealed a protective cocoon of sand around Gaara that opened and allowed him to see Matsuri's captors fading to dots on the eastern horizon. Strange wings had emerged from the back of their cloaks that helped them to jump several times farther than a shinobi, allowing them to flee at a tremendous rate. Gaara let out a growl as wave of sand picked him up and pursued the kidnappers. Wind whipped past the Jinchuuriki's face as he easily outpaced his targets and quickly caught up, but before he could attack the four shinobi used their strange device to take to the sky and veer north slightly.

Gaara was not deterred and a platform of sand rose out of the desert that allowed him to continue the pursuit. He redhead kept up the chase and followed them up through the clouds, paying no mind to the extra chakra needed to manipulate wet sand. The redheaded shinobi followed Matsuri's captors until those strange backpacks ran out of chakra and they glided back to the earth. The four kidnappers spread out as the Jinchuuriki sped towards the desert floor and created a crater after impact. A massive pillar of sand rose out of the deep crater and the jounin spun in a slow circle to observe all of his opponents, "This is your last chance, tell me where Matsuri is before I find somebody who can talk to corpses."

"You'll see her soon fool," sneered the green-haired woman. All four shinobi made a hand seal in perfect coordination as complex seals burned themselves into the sand beneath their feet. Gaara attempted to stop the technique by disrupting the sand, but something was anchoring the seals and they did not budge. The area in between the four shinobi went dark before the blackness compressed into a tight sphere that held Gaara inside. The Jinchuuriki could not hear or see anything in his prison of darkness and the sand no longer responded to his call. Even his Suna no Yoroi had disintegrated. The jounin realized that these people had outmaneuvered him at every turn and growled, but after suppressing his frustration he knew the only thing left to do was wait. Gaara was no good to them dead, which meant there would be plenty of time escape, and even more to pay these four back.

* * *

><p>The short blue haired shinobi stared incredulously at the black sphere with his jaw agape, "That seems anticlimactic after hearing all the tales describing the undefeatable Sabaku no Gaara over the past five years. It's almost a let down."<p>

The skinny man shifted the ebony sword hanging from his back and let out a confident laugh, "But this is why we waited so long Ryugan. It would have been impossible to attempt this a few years ago without getting annihilated, but his weaker companion gave us the advantage we sorely needed.

The muscular shinobi pulled out a scroll and summoned seven silver floating pyramids that were slightly bigger than his head. The devices surrounded the orb of darkness and it levitated off the ground before hovering towards Kawa no Kuni, "It does not matter how we captured the target, what is important is getting back to the village and completing the next phase. We are so close to our objective and you waste time here with idle chatter."

The kunoichi rested her palms on the hilts of her gleaming short swords and playfully said, "A rare piece of wisdom from you Suiko."

The skinnier man smiled as he started after his large companion, "Do not tease him Kujaku. After all, when was the last time you graced us with any wisdom?" The green haired woman smirked and set off towards Kawa no Kuni with a spring in her step. They were so close to achieving their objective after so long that a positive mood had enveloped most of the group.

Not Ryugan though, he lingered behind to watch the sand quickly cover any evidence of their passage before following. Unlike his companions he expected Sunagakure's reaction to be swift, despite their assurances to the contrary. People in the village actually cared about Gaara now and his father was the Kazekage. The delicate political situation would completely stay the man's hand. They would be pursued, and quickly. The blue haired shinobi looked up when he heard Hoki call out his name and focused on the skinny shinobi, "Hurry up my friend, fall behind too much and you will miss the rebirth of the Takumi village." Ryugan nodded and realized he could do nothing about his concerns before hurrying to catch up with his family. After so long they finally had a chance to revive their forgotten village, and each one of them would gladly sacrifice everything to ensure success.

* * *

><p>The Kazekage ran a hand through his red hair and looked out the office window to see his village start its daily routine. The restaurants and bakeries had already prepared their goods, the shops were open and ready for business, and now the populous began to rise and go about their normal routines, completely ignorant to the fact that their greatest deterrent to foreign invasion had disappeared overnight. He meant to keep it that way until he found his son as well. The man looked over the information Jiraiya had delivered to him months ago and cursed, maybe this could have been prevented, although he did not see how.<p>

There were thousands of people that coveted Jinchuuriki, but for an organization to actually possess the resources and boldness to capture one was something else entirely. He could not pay attention to every dormant group that wanted to kidnap Gaara. The Kage swiped Jiraiya's information off the table in frustration. It would be almost impossible for four unknown shinobi from a long forgotten village to infiltrate Suna and kidnap his son without a fight, so if it was the Takumi-nin they must have gotten the jounin to leave willingly somehow. That pointed to an internal leak, which meant he would have to open up a second hidden investigation because his first had obviously failed, although it would be a good place to start the search.

Still, this was in the future. For now he had to focus on finding Gaara. The man was taking a massive gamble to get a team out there quickly, but his hands were tied. Sending the wrong shinobi could compromise his position in so many ways. The word could get out that Gaara was missing with no sign of a fight, which would allow many to claim he voluntarily left. Even worse, if the team was not truly committed then they would go out for a few weeks before returning to say there was no sign of the Jinchuuriki.

The Kazekage could not even send out jounin or SAND. He had managed to wrest some control back from the council after being appointed all those years ago, but they had been in place for over a decade before that and passed numerous laws to increase their power. Many had been thrown away, but the council managed to tightly guard several, including ones that required them to sign off on A-rank missions, and another that required their approval to send out a Jounin on any mission less than A-rank. Sunagakure's ruler ground his teeth at his political impotence at this crucial juncture and promised to change that soon as well, but now he had to meet the team he would send out to save his son.

His secretary opened the door and allowed Neji, Tenten, Lee, and Tayuya to walk past into the Kazekage's office. All four gave him a respectful bow and stood at ease while he looked them over. The Konoha-nin had changed significantly since coming to Suna as part of the exchange program and blended in well for the most part, which unsettled the Kage and gave him hope for the future at the same time.

The desert sun had weathered the skin of all four over the past months and the harsh conditions of Kaze no Kuni had encouraged them to adopt the local clothing, except for Lee, who simply adopted a long brown cloak to wear over his green jumpsuit and wore an orange bandana around his neck. Neji took to wearing a pair of tan goggles to protect his doujutsu from the stinging sands and rolled his long hair up into a tight bun to keep the sand away. The leather straps on his sturdy tan sandals looped around a set of white bandages that covered his feet and went up into the long brown shorts that stopped under his kneecaps. The Hyuuga had opted to forego his flack jacket to stay cool and wore a loose fitting tan shirt made of silk under a thin yellow cloak that could cover his whole body in case of a sandstorm.

Baggy maroon pants were tied at Tenten's ankles, just above her leather moccasins, but did little to conceal the various weapons strapped to her legs from the Kazekage's sharp eyes. She wore a dark gold trench coat with baggy sleeves that concealed her arms—along with many more weapons—over a short white tank top that exposed her midriff, where a black belt that hung loosely around her hips held a variety of scrolls. Tayuya tied her hair up in a ponytail and wore a loose fitting forest green shirt with long sleeves that came down to her thighs and was cinched around her waist with a yellow belt with numerous seals stitched into it. Two black holsters poked out from under the long shirt and were barely visible on the black leggings that tucked into black boots that were popular in Kaze no Kuni, since they were made form several layers of breathable cloth wrapped around a thin piece of leather for some stability.

The Kazekage lamented he could not send out a team of more experienced shinobi, but his hands were tied. Konoha-nin would feel the added pressure to complete the mission, and Team Gai had previous experience with Gaara. Sending out a foreign team would also help hide the importance of the mission. Their alliance forbids the villages from sending transfer out shinobi on missions above B-rank, and the council would not be able to get involved easily because of that. The man knew this was his best choice, but it did not make him feel confident in it.

Still, he knew better than to show his insecurities to a team he might very well be sending to their death, "Hyuuga Neji, you shall lead a team consisting of Tenten, Lee, and Tayuya. Your objective will be to locate Gaara and ascertain what has happened to him. Evidence indicates that he was drawn out. It is possible he left of his own free will, however, I think he was drawn out in some way. The only possible clue that I have to his location is an arrow of compressed sand on the rooftop of the academy that points south, and the only person capable of doing that is Gaara. Are there any questions?"

Neji stood at attention before saying, "Just one Kazekage-sama, what are we to do if it appears Gaara has willingly left?"

The man was glad the veil hid his wince after Neji's question, "Although I do not believe that to be the case, if you can come to no other conclusion return to the village and give your report. However, I would like to assert once more that I do not believe this departure was voluntary. Unfortunately, some in this village would simply leave for a week before returning to report that it was because of his status as a Jinchuuriki." The Kage was glad he shared that bit of news with them after seeing their distaste at that news and felt a bit of comfort, "You four have previous experience with Konoha's Jinchuuriki and have interacted with Gaara as peers. This combined with the Byakugan makes you the best team I can conceivably send out on this mission. Dismissed."

The man was glad his pep talk had the desired effect when all four stood a little taller to salute him while responding, "Hai Kazekage-sama," before walking out the door. The man watched them leave before looking out the southern window anxiously. He could not hide the disappearance forever, even if the mission was successful, and some on the council might use this opportunity to their advantage. They could cite his incompetence as a reason to place Gaara under a different family's custody, and the Kage had a strong suspicion which clan it would be. He suppressed the desire to destroy the office and glared at the family tree on the wall behind him. Now that his children had started to forgive him, other relatives wanted to shatter his family for their own gain.

The Kazekage focused his ire on the main branch of the clan—the branch where all three of his predecessors came from—and scowled at the latest figure prominently displayed before looking at his picture, which had been hastily drawn in several years ago. Their had been a rift between their branches since the Sandaime Kazekage slept with his nephew's wife and left her with a child before dying, him. He was shamed by the main branch and denied the privilege of a name, but the ultimate joke was on them. None of the Sandaime's legitimate children developed the Jiton while he did, which made it impossible for them to take over the Kazekage seat directly. Now they had to call him Kazekage-sama in lieu of bastard. The only way his scheming cousins could reclaim the position would be to control the only other person who possessed the rare kekkai genkai, "Where are you Gaara?"

* * *

><p>Neji focused his Byakugan's vision into a tight tunnel and was able to see the cluster of dunes several miles out as if they were right in front of him, "There is an unusually high amount of residual chakra in those dunes. We should go check it out." He led the other three towards the dune saturated with chakra, and a few moments later he saw a faint collection of chakra particles off in the distance "It appears there is a trail that moves off to the east, we should follow and see where they go. It is very possible this will lead to Gaara, there were four smaller sources moving in unison while a larger one gave chase, but why would he come this far away from the village without telling anyone?"<p>

"Yosh, we can figure that out later. Right now we need to hurry and find Gaara. If we fail the Kazekage I shall do fifty laps around Suna, and if I can not-"

"Shut up Lee," Tayuya clipped the teenager on the ear before cleaning hers out, "This is a serious fucking mission here. We're looking for the Kazekage's son and the village's Jinchuuriki. Screwing up can have real consequences, so we don't need your loud mouth distracting us. Whisper if you want to make those weird challenges to yourself."

Lee glanced warily at the irate chunin and mumbled the list of increasingly difficult feats under his breath while Tenten sighed at her teammate's antics. "Don't be too hard on him Tayuya-chan, there's nobody I'd rather have on my side when a fight breaks out."

The taijutsu expert perked up after hearing his teammate's praise, "Yeah, and every other moment besides the fights makes me want to destroy my eardrums," but after Tayuya responded he looked like a dejected puppy. When Kiba and Sakura started dating Lee did the honorable things and moved his affections on to another girl. Unfortunately for him it was Tayuya, who was even more outspoken and aggressive than Sakura. Still, the redhead knew that Lee meant well and never crossed the line.

The former Oto-nin looked down to see the taijutsu-user had essentially melted into a puddle of depression and rubbed her forehead exasperatedly, "I'm sorry Lee. I didn't mean that, but sometimes you get a little loud." The spandex clad teen looked up at the kunoichi hopefully, who put her hand up to stop him from leaping at her, "Don't you dare try to hug me or ask me out again asshole, apologizing doesn't mean I want to date you."

Tenten laughed when the eccentric shinobi stopped himself in midair and fell over before Neji turned around, "As you pointed out Tayuya, this is a serious mission. Time to stop goofing around and get a move on, quietly."

The former Oto-nin grumbled something about pretentious shits while they all put on an extra burst of speed. Ten minutes later they came to a halt when Neji raised his hand and looked at the sky. "The trail ends here, but there is a continuous stream in the sky that veers off to the north slightly. Let's go." They moved at a rapid pace and barely disturbed the desert sand they ran across until arriving at the Takumi-nin's trap, where Neji carefully scanned the area with his Byakugan, "It appears four people used a binding fuuinjutsu in this area recently." The Hyuuga focused his doujutsu while observing the surrounding area, "There is a denser trail of chakra that leads towards the Land of Rivers, and perhaps their hidden village."

"We should follow it, but it won't go to Tanigakure." The other three shinobi looked at Tayuya as she continued, "Whoever did this was able to lure Gaara out here with something that would make him forget his surroundings. They had to enter Suna, get Gaara's attention, and then spring the trap somewhat close to the village without anybody discovering. Tani doesn't have the skills or balls to pull something like this off."

Tenten nervously fingered the scrolls around her abdomen, "Like Lee said, we can figure out the specifics later, but at least it looks like Gaara did not leave voluntarily."

Neji nodded absentmindedly as he expanded his vision and recognized displaced air from a campfire in the distance. He focused his Byakugan to achieve the maximum range and his jaw nearly dropped after recognizing the people next to the fire, "We're going to take a detour. There's something we need to check out." The other three looked at the grinning Hyuuga strangely and briefly wondered if they were in a genjutsu, but figured if Neji could not realize it with a Byakugan they had no hope of doing anything right now. A few minutes later the campfire smoke became visible and they wondered what was going as the usually stoic Hyuuga's smile widened.

* * *

><p>Naruto ripped a large chunk of from the deer haunch with his teeth and savored the juicy meat while a clone of Jiraiya placed several fish around the fire to cook. The Jinchuuriki got to enjoy a rare day off to recover his chakra in order to really let loose against his godfather tomorrow, and he would need every bit of it. The sennin constantly bragged about how he was a legendary shinobi and had promised to demonstrate why during the spar. The two of them would need to use a large amount of chakra to draw Gaara's hunters out, so the sage would have to demonstrate some powerful techniques.<p>

The blonde was going to use that spar as a measuring stick to see his improvements. The time before Akatsuki came looking for him was growing shorter. The teenager knew he still had a long way to go before he could survive a fight like that, let alone win, but Jiraiya would show him how much farther he had to go. Naruto intended to push the legendary shinobi as hard as he could, even if the teenager needed to disobey his godfather and use four tails of Kyuubi's chakra. The Jinchuuriki lifted his shirt to observe the complex design that bound the bijuu to his soul. There were so many overlapping layers that made the seal function, and his father had not made one mistake, despite the overwhelming pressure he faced.

The complex fuuin thrummed with power as it mixed the Kyuubi's chakra with his own. The seal had constantly been visible during the past two weeks of intense training, and even though his reserves were mostly depleted, Naruto knew they were significantly deeper than in Tsuki no Kuni. He would have to start doing chakra control exercises daily after regaining his full reserves again, which was one of the few drawbacks of containing a Bijuu that related to his shinobi abilities. Most negatives affected his life outside of that, like losing his parents, being shunned as a child, and hunted like an animal by Akatsuki.

Naruto took another bite of venison while contemplating the strange existence of Jinchuuriki. They were gifted with extraordinary abilities that gave them tremendous advantages, but that power came at a cost. The blonde shook his head and sighed, it seemed like it was that way for everyone. The most normal people were civilians, and low ranking shinobi were usually not that eccentric, but a majority of jounin had some sort of tic, and the really powerful shinobi usually had to give something to get there.

The Uchiha thought they had to kill their best friend to get the Mangekyou, while other shinobi resorted to forbidden jutsu, and even those like the Sandaime Hokage had to sacrifice time and relationships to become powerful. Still, it was different for Jinchuuriki because most never had a chance to be normal since their power was thrust onto them. He was broken out of his thoughts after sensing somebody approaching and turned around to see four figures running towards them. The Uzumaki squinted his eye for a few moments before saying, "Huh, I thought you said we wouldn't run into anymore teams from Konoha."

The Jiraiya clone didn't look up from the cooked fish he was taking apart to put into the stew over the fire, "How can you tell they're from the Leaf Village, that looks like Suna garb to me?"

Naruto's whiskered cheeks winkled as he grinned widely and said, "That's definitely bushy brows running this way, I wonder what they're doing in Kaze no Kuni." The chunin went back to eating the deer leg and tossed the clean bone aside as his four friends arrived, "What're you guys out here for, did you want my autograph or something?" Concern overtook the blonde shinobi when nobody smiled at his bad joke and he immediately frowned, "What's wrong?"

"Gaara's been kidnapped."

The entire camp went silent after Neji's surprising announcement and Jiraiya's bunshin shared grim look with Naruto before standing up. The sage hoped that the Takumi shinobi they were hunting managed to do it, but it was always possible that Akatsuki moved earlier than his source indicated. Getting accurate information from the group was almost impossible, even from his most reliable contacts, "Who did it? Not many shinobi could have captured Gaara in the desert."

Neji shook his head while answering the sage's question, "That is currently unknown Jiraiya-sama. There are signs that he was pursuing a group of shinobi, but it suddenly ended in an area where there are trace signs of a fuuinjutsu, so I believe he was captured."

The Kage Bunshin mulled over the information while trying to figure out how to proceed, since he would be less than worthless in a fight with Akatsuki, and completely unnecessary if it was the Takumi-nin. He did not know how Akatsuki operated or their ultimate goal, but this did not seem like their style. Silently taking Suna's Jinchuuriki would do them no good in the long run. The shinobi villages would scramble to discover who took the Bijuu, and the shadowy group would be revealed no matter how hard they tried to hide. Kakuzu had become one of the most wanted men in the elemental nations and Jiraiya had seen posters detailing him everywhere since the incident in Takigakure. The ancient shinobi had not been caught yet, but he was leaving a trail of bodies and bounties across the continent. It could take a decade or more before he became anonymous again.

No, it would be better for Akatsuki to make a flashy statement when they were ready to start operating. That way they could become the aggressors and intimidators, which would greatly limit the scope of the response. Only the most capable shinobi would be able to hunt the shadowy group if they walked into a village and took a Jinchuuriki. The sennin frowned while silently cursing his lack of knowledge of the deadly organization. He was working entirely with half-truths and guesswork so nothing could be ruled out. Perhaps it was time to go into Ame no Kuni. The missing-nin that managed to escape the country were few in number, but told interesting stories about their former home. The clone pushed those thoughts aside for his creator and focused on the young ninja in front of him, "I'm just a Kage Bunshin so I will dispel and let the original me know what his happening." The man turned to face his godson, "Go help them Naruto, and if it gets cloudy call on Bunta to reverse-summon me."

Jiraiya disappeared in a puff of smoke as three of the chunin gave the Jinchuuriki a curious glance. The blonde quickly sealed everything in the campsite by himself and kicked dirt over the fire to snuff it before replacing metal hitai-ate on the black bandana covering his left eye, "Let's get moving, can you show me the fuuinjutsu?"

Neji shrugged, "If you think it will matter, all of the physical signs have long since disappeared. I was only able to see the chakra residue left behind."

The blonde grinned while tapping his covered sharingan, "You're not the only one who can see chakra," he noted Lee's frown at his boast and continued, "and I've been studying seals with Ero-sennin so I might be able to learn something."

Tayuya walked up to the Uzumaki and carefully scrutinized him with her dark brown eyes, "This wouldn't have anything to do with that cloudy reference that perverted fart mentioned."

Naruto's hard blue-eye met the former Oto-nin's knowing gaze, "Yeah, and we should hope that I don't need to reverse summon Jiraiya." He knew the redhead probably had some knowledge of Akatsuki depending on how long she was with Orochimaru, but the others didn't. The Jinchuuriki had no intention of burdening his friends with his own problem, so he cut Tayuya off before she could do just that, "Let's just get going, the sooner we get there the sooner we'll know."

The Uzumaki nodded at Neji and the Hyuuga led them back towards the area where Gaara was captured, but Tayuya was not letting him get off that easily, "So you and Jiraiya think it might be Akatsuki?"

Naruto growled lightly when the redhead spoke up and shook his head, "Probably not, but they can't be ruled out."

"Who is Akatsuki?"

The blonde sighed at Tenten's question, "Nothing to worry about yet?"

Tayuya scoffed at the Jinchuuriki's answer, "Your perverted sensei had the same nervous look Orochimaru had while discussing them, and a group missing-nin strong enough to make him and Jiraiya worried is definitely a big deal. What I want to know is why you think it was Akatsuki."

Naruto sighed internally when the group stopped, perhaps he could maneuver around the whole hunting for Jinchuuriki thing, "What is Akatsuki and why would they want Gaara?"

The blonde turned to see Neji staring at him with bulging veins around his eyes and sighed in defeat, damn Hyuuga perception. "It is a group of S-class missing-nin that is trying to collect Jinchuuriki."

Tayuya glared at the Uzumaki angrily as he stared at the ground, "And you didn't think that was important enough to share you fucking asshole?"

Naruto gave the furious redhead an apologetic glance while responding, "My friends don't need to help me with my burdens. None of you need to worry about that."

"I have to disagree Naruto," the blonde turned to face Neji when he spoke, "part of friendship is supposed to be helping your friends. You think we would be happier when Kage level shinobi came to take you away and none of us were properly prepared to stop them?" The Uzumaki felt like Iruka was lecturing him as he looked at the ground and shook his head while muttering no before Neji continued, "We're friends Naruto, and part of that is trusting us with your burdens."

Naruto saw an image of his pink haired teammates teary face from the hospital and clenched his fists tightly. He was such an idiot. The Jinchuuriki looked up at his friends and smiled under the mask, "I'm sorry, you guys were right. Can you do me a favor and not tell anybody though, I want to send letters to tell the others myself." They all nodded and Naruto looked back towards the sealing site, "Let's get moving."

The five shinobi took off and arrived several moments later. Naruto revealed the sharingan and Neji watched the blonde's mismatched eyes scan the area while realizing how much he had changed since leaving the village. The blonde no longer had the awkward gait of a young boy looking to prove himself, but the self-assured stride of a shinobi confident in his abilities. Naruto stood in the middle of the sealing area for another minute before addressing the other chunin, "The chakra patterns after fuuinjutsu are usually evenly distributed, but this one has several areas where the residue is stronger than the others."

Tenten was the only other one who had experience with seals and managed to understand what the blonde was hinting at, "So you think they didn't use normal methods like ink or compressed seals."

Naruto grinned at the weapons mistress when she finished and nodded, "Right, I can understand not using ink because sand is a terrible canvass, but most people use compressed seals anyways because they are small, easy to prepare, and simpler to use. That only developed within the past thirty years or so, this speaks of an older method." Strong gusts of wind swirled around the blonde's body and pushed the sand around his feet away until several pieces of charred metal were revealed on the ground. He looked at the way the metal was bent and nodded, "Instead of allowing the entire seal to expand from a compressed state on a piece of paper or skin, these four people set up metal chakra conduits to channel the chakra the shape of their seal. This method is outdated and archaic, no self-respecting S-class shinobi would use it."

Naruto felt the tension left his body after realizing it wasn't Akatsuki and stared at the metal for several moments longer before his eyes widened. He might be able to speed up his projection technique by having his thread split into multiple parts to form the seal instead of keeping it whole. The Jinchuuriki tucked that information away for later before looking at the trail of chakra particles that would lead them too Gaara.

Neji was reminded of the Sunagakure chunin exam as Naruto's mismatched eyes looked towards the Kawa border. The Uzumaki had that same posture when he walked into the first exam without a shred of doubt in his body. It was like the former dead-last knew he would be walking away from there with his chunin vest, and now he knew that they would get Gaara back to Suna safely. The Hyuuga realized that Naruto's confidence had relieved everyone's tension momentarily and reactivated his Byakugan while saying, "The trail keeps going towards Kawa no Kuni, but we need to move because it is beginning to dissipate. We'll have to move fast and with little rest so it doesn't disappear."

The five shinobi began running towards The Land of Rivers in silence, giving Naruto time to examine his old comrades. Tayuya had not gotten much taller, but the blonde could see the faint outlines of her curves under the loose fitting clothing. She had definitely started filling out. The Uzumaki's sharp eye also picked out the storage seals concealed in the Kanji of different instruments and he grinned, that was something he could tease her about later. Tenten had grown as well. She was always one of the more developed girls in Konoha, and it appeared that trend would continue. Her face had gotten more slender as well, giving the teen a more defined look. After watching the weapon mistress's shapely legs for several more minutes Naruto realized that none of her usual holsters were there and spotted the smaller scrolls as well as various seals stitched into her clothes.

It appeared that Neji had not changed beyond his height and wardrobe. His face remained set in a neutral position most of the time and his personality was still reserved, but Naruto could tell that the Hyuuga had bested his demon's. The white-eyed chunin's movement was not restricted by anger and intense hatred no longer clouded his eyes. It really seemed like Neji had turned things around for the better. Unfortunately it seemed Lee was moving in the opposite direction.

The spandex clad chunin had not spoken a real sentence since Naruto saw him. Everything had been declarations about beating his rival and the tasks he would complete if he did not. It was not much different than before, but he no longer spoke about his dream, and the taijutsu master's movements were tense and rigid, like he was waiting for a fight. Combine that with the jealousy he displayed when Naruto mentioned the sharingan or talked with Tayuya and the problem was apparent. The blonde looked at the others and wondered if they could see it too, but the odds were probably against them. He did not know much about Tenten, but Tayuya and Neji had embraced their anger and sadness while Naruto and Lee had invented masks to hide behind, and the blonde could see his old friend had tightened the straps of his. Something was terribly wrong, and the Uzumaki was sure he knew what caused it.

Naruto promised to address it at a more opportune time while looking at the green on the horizon. They were getting closer to Kawa no Kuni and the air was becoming less oppressive, but the blonde could sense something out there still. He caught up to Tayuya and waited for her to look over. When the redhead gave him an inquisitive glance and the Jinchuuriki smiled while saying, "I didn't know you took the advice of shitty shinobi."

Tayuya's face twisted in confusion before she responded, "What are you going off about dipshit? I don't listen to worthless ninja, I kill them."

The blonde pulled at her belt and pointed to a fuuin, "This doesn't say flute. Seems like you took my advice despite all the times you called me a terrible ninja."

The redhead didn't seem to upset at his familiar gesture and simply flicked his ear, "I never called you a crappy shinobi, just a limp dicked idiot, and idiots can have good ideas once in awhile."

Naruto was about to respond when the kunoichi grabbed the wrist holding her belt while the other backhanded him in the groin lightly. He let go of the cloth belt with an oomph and wheezed for air while stumbling a few steps as Tayuya skipped away with a smug grin on her face. When the blonde could breath again he moaned out, "Unfair," before catching up to the others. The blonde slapped Tayuya's butt as he ran past, causing her to let out an alarmed squeal while a loud clap echoed out. She stared angrily at the Uzumaki who gave her a challenging smile before taking off. The former Sound kunoichi grinned and chased after him, quickly closing the distance, but before she could return the favor the blonde disappeared in a blur before showing up next to Lee.

The other chunin stared at him in surprise while thinking, 'Fast,' as Tayuya stomped back to the group. Naruto saw Lee's face dip momentarily at his show of speed, and it only got worse when the redhead got back. She pretended to let it go and walk past the blonde before turning around to tackle him, but he was too quick and spun around to catch the girl. Before the kunoichi knew what happened she realized her back was pressed tightly against Naruto's torso while his hands restricted her arms to her sides. He leaned in and whispered something into her ear before loudly asking, "Do you surrender?"

Tayuya did not appear to be struggling too much while she said, "Never," just enough to get Naruto's attention.

The blonde coughed as he suppressed his reaction for a moment and let the redhead go after sensing the disapproving stares of Neji and Tenten. "Now that you are finished can we get moving?"

Naruto scratched the thin patch of facial hair forming at the bottom of his chin and grinned embarrassedly at the Hyuuga, "Sorry, I'm just excited to see everyone." The blonde wiggled his one visible eye before continuing, "Maybe you're jealous that I didn't give you the same greeting Neji?"

The white-eyed chunin shook his head as Naruto skipped towards him while extending his arms, "That is quite alright."

"C'mere Neji." As the blonde got closer to the Hyuuga he whispered, "We're being watched, not human. We've been directly following tracks so it probably knows what we're doing."

The Hyuuga showed no reaction as he sidestepped the blonde's advance and quietly responded, "I know, but time is of the essence. We'll change course after entering the jungle and see what happens." Neji walked back to his other two teammates, and when he was facing away from their robotic observer he relayed the information to them in Konoha sign language before leaping towards Kawa no Kuni, "Let's go, we're almost out of the desert." The other shinobi nodded and took off in a burst of speed, moving with renewed purpose.

* * *

><p>Wow, sorry that took so long everyone but the summer has been crazy busy, and believe it or not the schoolyear will be more productive for me. I finished some of the heavier classes like science over the summer so all that is left is cupcake classes, which means the story might get regular updates for some time. Hope you enjoyed the chapter, and I hope to have the next one up within a week, so keep an eye out.<p>

-Operaman


	45. The Best Laid Plans

Lee watched the mist slowly rise out of the dense jungle as he climbed the jagged mountain jutting into the clouds above it. Even the fittest civilian would have struggled to scale the steep mountain, but the five shinobi made the treacherous ascent seem like a casual walk. The spandex clad chunin could manipulate inside of his body chakra well enough to perform chakra control exercises like tree climbing, so he was not slowing his comrades down, but his inability to truly mold chakra had proven detrimental in the Forest of Death. The taijutsu user would have saved more shinobi during the exams if he were lucky enough to have any of the advantages his friends possessed from birth. With Neji's byakugan he could have seen the attacks earlier, Kiba's senses would have allowed him to smell the blood or hear cries for help, Shino's hive could have scouted around and discovered more battles, and even being able to mold chakra externally might have allowed him to save more shinobi.

Once again Lee cursed his lack of talent and clenched his fists tightly. The only advantage he possessed was the will to work harder than everybody else, but his exhaustive training had constantly come up short when he really needed it. Every time the taijutsu expert walked out of the gate he felt his handicap pulling him down like the weights he wore. The usually upbeat shinobi narrowed his eyes as he stared at Naruto's back. Once he felt a special bond with the blonde because of their history of being labeled failures. Every time the Uzumaki achieved something Lee's belief in his path felt justified in some way, but then he learned that the blonde was the Yondaime's son and container of the Kyuubi. It was unfortunate that Naruto had no family and was shunned by the village, but plenty of others were orphans because of the Kyuubi attack and the villagers paid them no mind either. The Jinchuuriki may have faced hardships, but so had Lee, and there was no magical demon to give him power at the end of the day.

It just wasn't fair, everything he had worked so hard to achieve had been a lie. Lee knew that he needed something beyond the Eight Celestial Gates to give him an advantage, even when his body fully matured the technique would take a toll. Sometimes the spandex clad chunin felt like Gai-sensei had been lying to him the whole time and that hard work could not overcome genius. Even the eccentric jounin had an innate ability for taijutsu that Lee could not duplicate. His master could look at styles and decipher their strengths and weaknesses from the most basic moves.

During one mission to a foreign monastery he had delighted the monks by predicting several of their advanced maneuvers after witnessing the four basic katas. The man could not explain it to Lee either, ever since a child he had been able to absorb taijutsu, it was what enabled him to create the style he was teaching to the spandex clad chunin, but the jounin could not pass along his perceptive eye. Lee was not quick enough to make his own variations or techniques like his sensei. Lee could only duplicate what he was shown. The chunin stared at the scarred skin showing between the bandages on his hands and sighed. What good was all the work he done if it was based on a lie? He did not have the talent to compete with shinobi like Naruto, Neji, and Gaara, and it was likely he never would. Gai claimed he became Kakashi's equal through hard work, but the taijutsu specialist also used many low level ninjutsu with skill and possessed a summoning contract.

'Why bother?' The depressing mantra had been repeating in Lee's thoughts for well over a month and gnawed at him every time he punched a training post or ran a lap around the village. The spandex clad chunin continued to work himself into the ground, but he had to practice one hundred hours to achieve what others could do in ten. The teenager knew he could return to Konoha and hand in his hitai-ate at any time, but the shinobi could not bring himself to do that. The despair at having no future like the other orphans he knew, the anger at being ignored and bullied most of his life, the jealousy of watching classmates excel at everything he struggled at, the seed of resentment that had been growing in the soil of his loneliness would not let the teenager become a civilian. Lee enlisted in the academy to become something, and his whole life since had been measured by his worth as a ninja. He would not lose that sense of purpose.

"Something is coming this way from a passage above us in the mountain."

Neji's sharp warning broke Lee out of his thoughts and he watched dozens of machines pour out of the side of a disguised door that opened up in the mountain slope. Most of them were humanoid in shape and not much taller than the chunin facing them, but others approached thirty feet in height and seemed like they could crush boulders with a single blow. There were many bestial robots as well. Twelve-foot long serpents slithered through the horde while massive robots that appeared to be lions lead the charge. Several packs of mechanical wolves circled out to the flanks while smaller robots stayed behind and waited for their chance to strike with a variety of weapons.

The charging robots were obscured by purple smoke that was obviously poisonous, and Neji's team pulled out their standard issue gas masks. All Suna shinobi were equipped with them because of the widespread use of poison in the village, however, Naruto had no such luxury. A large futon jutsu would have cleared the smoke away, but the blonde did not want to waste the chakra in case he needed it later. Lee watched the Jinchuuriki fall back and felt an impulse to demonstrate his ability. It might have been an effort to impress Tayuya, but deep down the taijutsu user knew it was mostly for himself.

All of the dark emotions swirling uncomfortably in Lee's body exploded out as he roared defiantly behind his mask and charged past his comrades who were formulating a plan. His fist easily shattered the chest of a fifteen-foot tall gorilla like behemoth wielding a massive battle-axe and sent it flying up into the air. Lee savored the punishing blow before leaning backwards to avoid the sharp dagger that a four-foot robot thrust towards his throat. The taijutsu user grabbed the stabbing arm between his hands before kicking the robot in the torso, which caused it to detach and fly back up the mountain. Lee grabbed the massive battle-axe from the falling robot he destroyed earlier before spinning around and launching the oversized weapon towards a lion robot lunging at him from above. It spun towards the metallic creature at speeds that should have been impossible given its size and cleaved the creature in two before continuing its ascent.

Lee ignored the halves of the lion as they fell and spun around to kick the falling one-armed robot that attempted to stab him earlier into a pack of six metal wolves approaching from his right. They all managed to avoid the improvised missile, but Lee caught the massive battle-axe as it fell again and easily swung it as they approached. He blocked the jaws of one that attacked his front with the massive flat and pushed it away before cutting the connection between his feet and the wall momentarily to avoid a snapping jaw coming at his back. Lee contorted his body after reattaching to the mountain and slashed the creature that attacked from the rear. The axe cut the robot's torso in half before embedding itself in the wall, and Lee used it as an anchor to flip upwards before pulling it out and spinning in a wide circle. He cut through the jaws of two more wolf-bots attacking from his sides before using the flat to bash in the head of one attacking from above several times.

The surviving two wolves were not intimidated after their counterparts were annihilated in a matter of seconds and attacked from the flanks while four humanoid robots created a rockslide above them. Lee jumped up to the boulders and kicked one towards a wolf before flipping over the other. He effortlessly demolished the creature's head with a punch and used another boulder to push himself back on the cliff above the robots creating the rockslide. Lee ran to the right end of one before cutting his connection to the mountain. When he was level with the robots he launched the massive axe with one hand, and it easily cut through all four robots before clipping the mountainside and falling down to the misty jungle below.

A snake like robot exploded from the mountain beneath Lee's feet and knocked him off the face before coiling around his body, but the taijutsu user smashed the back of his gelled hair into the snakes head and the robot shut down. Lee pushed off of the limp creature and quickly ascended the mountainside before running into the thickest part of the robot horde, only pausing to deliver crushing blows to his opponents.

* * *

><p>Naruto's suspicions about Lee were confirmed as he reveled in the violence of the fight after delivering a particularly brutal blow to the head of a humanoid opponent, and the blonde could easily superimpose an image of his fallen teammate over the taijutsu expert. Sasuke fought with a similar anger to vent his frustrations with the world, and seeing that in Lee was frightening. The Uzumaki knew how his brother's demons had almost devoured him, even though Sasuke never admitted it, and he silently promised to help Lee avoid that as he caught an extra mask Neji threw towards him and jumped into battle.<p>

The blonde put the mask on and pulled out his saber in one smooth motion before slashing upwards through a ten-foot tall humanoid robot's torso arm that was attempting to deliver a punishing blow. The deadly blade split the steel like butter and its wielder continued the slash until it cleaved the bot's torso in two. Naruto pressed forward and stabbed through the face of lunging panther leaping out of the smoke in before spinning in a circle to slash through a humanoid machine attempting to grab him from behind, then he launched several red crescents at the others following it. The Jinchuuriki continued channeling the Kyuubi's chakra through the saber to increase its length and cut through the behemoth lifting a club at his side before staring at the horde. He only had about twenty percent of his chakra before joining up with his friends, which was easily four times as much as the average jounin, but the fast pace of travel and coming fights would drain it. Since controlling the bijuu's chakra was harder when his own was low, the Jinchuuriki had been calling on small amounts of Kyuubi's chakra while traveling to preserve his reserves. It would benefit the blonde today, but he would be paying for the extended use tomorrow.

Naruto was getting concerned he would have to expend some of his chakra to get through here quickly, but it became apparent that those worries were unfounded when Tayuya cursed Lee silently and summoned a violin from her belt. She placed the instrument in the crook of her neck and lifted the bow in her right hand before playing a series of quick, sharp notes. Several robots near her were diced by a series of sound blades as the redhead picked up her deadly melody. The music was pleasing to the ears, but the blades it created while Tayuya gracefully danced through the machines decimated their ranks. The attack quickly thinned out the growing metallic horde as Tayuya took up a position directly below the door and picked up the tempo even more. She managed to destroy the robots as fast as they emerged, and Tenten unsealed two spiked metal balls as she leapt up next to the opening. The weapons mistress threw them at the roof of the hall and they stuck before glowing explosive seals covered the outside.

A large explosion sent several robots careening out of the entrance right before it collapsed and sealed the attacking mob inside. Lee continued to ferociously battle the mahcines that remained on the mountain until Neji and Tenten quickly dispatched them with some well placed weapons and air blasts. The taijutsu user knew the others would be having words with him when the mission was over after seeing their looks, but he found himself not caring. His two oldest teammates turned away from the apathetic shinobi and headed back to Tayuya and Naruto. Neji gave the makeshift barrier a hesitant glance while saying, "We should move quickly from here on out, there is not way of telling where and when more robots will emerge." The sound of steel ringing of rocks became visible and he continued, "Let alone how long these rocks will hold."

The five shinobi restarted their ascent and Neji activated his byakugan before scanning the peak, "Gaara is being contained in the same area as a girl wearing Suna garb, and they are draining his chakra. We cannot afford to waste time to create an advantage that will never exist. They know we are here and can track our progress, so it appears the best option is the front door."

* * *

><p>The intricate design glowing around Ryugan as he sat in the lotus position faded away once his green eyes snapped open. He stood up and stepped off the elevated stone circle to watch his comrades perform the ritual to drain Gaara's chakra and power up the weapon. Soon their village would rise from the forgotten annals of history, and five teenagers would not be able to prevent that, no matter how skilled they were. The childlike shinobi realized his four comrades were staring at him intently and waiting for an update, "We have twenty minutes until they get into the village. I left the traps armed and recalled the sentinels. There's no point in slowly depleting our forces for a few extra minutes."<p>

Hoki nodded before looking at the impressive obelisk towering over the surrounding buildings. It was nearly two hundred feet tall and made of solid black marble that contrasted with white sphere that balanced perfectly on its tip and emitted a bright glow as power flowed into it. "That was a wise decision, they are too many to fight one on one and we may need the extra robots to distract the fifth. The ritual will go unmanned, but the chakra expelled during the fights might make up for our absence. Concentrate the entirety of our robot defense around this area." The skinny man looked over at Ryugan, "Who is the weakest?"

The childlike shinobi shrugged, "It was hard to say in that short time, but the blonde one displayed the least amount of skill. He was entirely unprepared and let the others do most of the work, although he was quite impressive with his saber. One had no problem destroying the robots using taijutsu, the redheaded kunoichi was quite skilled with some type of sound ninjutsu and wiped out dozens of the sentinels in minutes, there is one Hyuuga that seems to live up to that clan's reputation, and the other kunoichi demonstrated ability with ranged weapons."

Hoki tried to work out the best matchups based on Ryugan's description before announcing his plan, "Ryugan, you can keep the Hyuuga at a distance with the Garianto, Kujaku's Fujaku Hisho Shoken will give her an advantage over the fake weapons user, Suiko's Mugen Kogai will neutralize the other kunoichi's jutsu, and I shall handle the taijutsu user. The sentinels should be more than enough to keep the blonde busy." The skinny man looked over his comrades solemnly before staring up at the glowing ball, "Do not be afraid to use your most powerful attacks. The village can be rebuilt, and it will force them to use high level moves to counter. With good fortune the Takumi Village's ultimate weapon shall be active before the sun sets today."

Gaara's green eyes coldly observed the four Takumi-nin with practiced patience. Until the jounin could figure out a way to free himself and Matsuri at the same time he could not risk an escape. The kidnapped Jinchuuriki had no way of knowing if her prison was linked to his in any way, and even if he could break free without harming his student, their captors would be able to use the girl to control him once more anyways. Gaara felt the sphere containing him strengthen and found a comfortable position to relax. He had been calling upon Shukaku's chakra to meet the drain and preserve his own deep well. The ritual had barely put a dent in his reserves and there was plenty of time left before he needed to make a move, if that was even necessary considering his rescuers. Of course, Matsuri did not know this and there was no way to communicate it to her without informing their kidnappers, "Let Gaara go!"

The Takumi-nin laughed at the girl's screams before Suiko leered at her, "Keep your mouth shut and I'll make it pleasurable for you after this is over. You might even live, the village will need quality breeding stock to produce more shinobi." Matsuri whimpered before curling into the fetal position, and the muscular shinobi let out a deep chuckle while the others watched with amusement, "That's a good girl, just wait patiently for me."

"I hope you die slowly." The four ninja stopped laughing and Suiko glared at Gaara while the redhead continued, "I know who is coming from your description, and the opportunity to exact proper punishment will escape me, but I shall take some solace knowing you all will be dead shortly."

Hoki smirked and started walking towards the village while pulling out a remote control. He pressed a button on the device and an army of metallic creatures emerged from the surrounding buildings before following the four shinobi, "Empty words from a castrated opponent." Gaara watched as more robots emerged from the village to follow the Takumi-nin before leaning back against the barrier. The Jinchuuriki was confident that his friends would be able to rescue them and offered a comforting smile to Matsuri, but the girl continued to avoid his gaze. Gaara just sighed and closed his eyes. He would never go back to the way he was, but trying to be normal took more effort.

* * *

><p>Neji never broke his stride while relaying a message using Konoha sign language, 'Approaching ambush spot, prepare to spring trap.' Moments after the Hyuuga finished a large brunette man with long, curly hair and a metallic tiger's head protecting his chest landed in front of them. The two rubies in the tiger's eye glowed red as the energy flowing through the city rushed into it and launched a beam of concentrated chakra towards the Konoha-nin while Neji called out, "Now."<p>

Naruto rushed towards their ambusher and the others leaped away from his attack while the Hyuuga pointed the three still hiding out, but as the blonde got close the steel covering the streets morphed into robotic creatures that trapped him in a circle as the bulky man rushed towards Tayuya. The gaps around the blonde quickly closed and he drew his saber while running through his options. It appeared the plan had already fallen apart and he would not be able to break through to Gaara easily. To make matters worse, the blonde was actually outnumbered for the first time in his shinobi career. Travelling at that speed had taken a serious toll on Naruto's low reserves and making Kage Bunshin would be more detrimental than helpful at this point. The Uzumaki only had enough chakra for one big jutsu, and he needed to make it count. Naruto picked out the largest structure jutting out above the skyline as the outlines of a plan began forming in his mind.

It was put on hold when he realized how close the robots were and the blonde quickly tossed several kunai into the approaching horde. The small projectiles bounced off the steel uselessly, but moments later the seals wrapped around the handles glowed brightly before exploding. Naruto expertly replaced himself with a piece of flying debris and tossed several more exploding kunai into the mob from above. The tags activated when they hit the ground and triggered several more explosions to sew chaos in the ranks, at least they would have with regular humans. His opponents were machines connected to the city by fuuinjutsu, designed to pay no attention to any information beyond what was necessary to destroy their assigned target.

The blonde met a coordinated assault by the handful of robots around him after landing and quickly found himself on his heels. Naruto quickstepped backwards while slicing through the blade coming towards his neck from the right before quickly reversing direction to deflect the javelin coming from the opposite direction. The Jinchuuriki pivoted and kicked the tiger sentinel attacking from the rear before continuing his turn while launching a red crescent. The putrid chakra sliced through the tiger and continued into the small mass of sentinels that had gathered behind it.

Naruto threw a prepared kunai into the ground at his feet before dashing towards a small opening on his left before getting surrounded by the massive horde. The blade burst into lightning that fried small pack of wolf robots that were pouncing at him before continuing into the next closest target. The attack continued and destroyed a score of the sentinels, but Naruto could not afford to enjoy his success because the rest of the robots were right on his heels. The blonde blocked a series of kunai launched by a pack of humanoid robots with some of his own before pivoting to the right to slash through a metallic lion that flew past his body. Naruto kicked the back half into the ten foot tall robot behind the lion before overloading his feet with chakra to put some space between him and his pursuers.

The fleeing chunin heard the clacking of metal claws on pavement getting closer as the sentinels caught up, so he dropped exploding kunai and lunged forward while activating them. The blast caught the closest robots and sent them tumbling into the ones behind them as Naruto scaled the side of a building and leaped across the rooftops towards the building towering thirty feet over the skyline. It was nearly sixty feet long and twenty feet wide with two large smokestacks jutting twenty feet out of the middle while several rows of smaller chimneys dotted the rooftop at even intervals.

Naruto arrived at the forge and summoned a Kage Bunshin with a tenth of his remaining chakra before leaping onto the tallest smokestacks. The clone left wordlessly to perform its parts in his plan while the blonde closed his eye and listened to the distant rumble grow louder, signaling the approach of the robotic horde. The animalistic ones were fastest and had jumped onto the rooftops with some of the smaller humanoid ones, while the larger robots spread out and ran through the streets. Naruto only found a brief respite before the first robots arrived, and he lifted his saber aggressively while facing down the metallic cheetahs leaping across the smaller chimneys. The chunin jumped backwards and sliced through the jaws of the first one before landing on a smaller chimney behind him. The blonde launched a chakra crescent to towards the robots attacking from the left before charging right to meet the others head on.

The fine blade tip of his saber went into the first cheetah's mouth and out the back of its head while its wielder ducked under another one lunging toward. Naruto sliced through the machine's head as it flew by and pulled his saber back to cut off the paw of another cheetah cutting towards his head. The Uzumaki kicked the unbalanced robot away before turning to launch a chakra crescent at the cheetah that had lunged towards his back with its claws. He followed the attack and put some distance between him and the growing horde. The blonde only needed to stall for another five minutes at most before the trap would be finished, and he intended to take advantage of the roof's space to minimize his chakra use.

This plan fell through as well when Naruto realized two dozen humanoid robots had scaled the sides of the building and had him surrounded. To his surprise they began forming hand seals, and the blonde had seen enough sequences with the sharingan to recognize a raiton jutsu. The Jinchuuriki cursed and formed the ram seal and called out, "Futon: Sensougouheki," while the sentinels finished their sequence. Each robot sent forth a strand of lightning a foot wide that merged with its neighbors to form a net over Naruto, but the air around him began swirling so intensely that it let out a screeching whistle and sliced through the lightning web before bursting into a series of wind blades that destroyed the attackers.

Naruto turned to face the other sentinels when the roof beneath his feet began to tremble. The building had apparently become an unstable derelict over the years, and his ninjutsu's power had caused the roof to lose its stability. The blonde jumped on top of the nearest chimney as the roof caved in and watched the bricks collapse into the forge. The robots that were closest to Naruto fell with the roof while the remaining ones retreated to nearby buildings. The sound of bricks shattering stopped a few moments later and the Jinchuuriki looked over the building. The only thing still standing were the chimneys and walls attached to them, creating a maze of narrow ledges and high points he could fight on. The blonde received no memories from his clone so he knew it survived the collapse, and if the bunshin wasn't in the building then it was only a few minutes away from completing the trap.

The sentinels recovered quickly and resumed their attack with a new zeal, intent on eliminating the enemy that was destroying the city they were built to protect. Tiger robots leaped across the chimneys while humanoid robots traversed the remains of walls as they closed in on the blonde. Naruto jumped across the chimneys to meet their charge, but just as he got there the chunin dropped and latched onto the wall underneath him. He destroyed the first few tigers jumping over the chimney's with crescents of chakra before running along the wall. Sentinels poured down from above to block his path so the blonde jumped back up to a nearby chimney.

Naruto sliced off the forearm of the humanoid robot standing on top of the structure and stabbed through its face before turning around to kick the head of the tiger lunging for him. The chunin took the hit from the creature's body and let it propel him backwards before throwing several kunai towards his previous location while stabbing his saber into the side of the metallic tiger's head. The seals activated after getting set distance away from the Uzumaki and a small blast knocked his pursuers away before causing the walls they were scaling to collapse. Naruto landed on a wall and looked down to see a mob of robots were scaling it, so he sliced a section off with his saber before pushing off to the wall next to him. The piece he freed crushed several robots beneath its weight while the blonde created a small barrier of chakra with his saber to deflect a barrage of kunai before slicing through the wolf attacking from his left. Naruto heard more robots landing on the other side of the wall and stuck an exploding note on his side before jumping away. The tag activated when he landed on top of the next wall and he jumped away as a sizeable explosion blew out the three closest walls and triggered another minor collapse.

Naruto hopped back across the roof as more of the building imploded and scaled the large smokestacks to assess the situation quickly. Scores of robots continued to leap across the surrounding rooftops as what seemed like hundreds more streamed towards the building through the streets below. Every second the fight went on his chakra drained that much more, and it seemed like he was scraping the bottom of the barrel. The blonde's limbs were feeling heavier, and if he didn't start channeling more of the Kyuubi's chakra then his metallic opponents would quickly gain the upper hand. The Uzumaki had to hope his theory about the city's seal network was correct.

Naruto's pupil elongated into a predatory slit as the iris became a bloody crimson. His fingernails morphed into deadly claws as he shot through a series of hand seals, but they did not impede his speed in any way, and the blonde called out his Kyuubi powered jutsu moments later, "Futon: Daitoppa." An uneducated onlooker would have mistaken the basic futon ninjutsu for an S-rank after watching the destruction that followed. The bricks of the forge seemed to disintegrate under the intense winds of the bijuu enhanced jutsu, and after a few seconds the second part of the attack was activated. Naruto's clone had layered the surrounding buildings with numerous explosive seals that could only be set off by the Kyuubi's chakra, and the winds of his Daitoppa were the trigger.

A series of massive explosions shook the area as several blocks worth of buildings were engulfed in the smoke and fire. A forty-foot wide crater had formed under Naruto and the surrounding streets were cracked and melted from the blast. The Jinchuuriki looked around as he started descending towards the earth and almost cheered after seeing the deactivated robots outside of the destroyed area. It would be almost impossible to efficiently power a citywide array with one source, so there were probably multiple points in Takumi, and since the largest buildings required the most power to function, builders usually located several power sources nearby to make it more efficient. He was hoping the last jutsu had taken down one or two.

Without anything directing them the robots would be useless for some time. There was usually an automated backup system of some sort to restore a level of functionality, but it would take time to kick in. In took Konoha's network 10 minutes to regain functionality, but the Leaf Village was more modern than this place. He doubted it would be that quick in Takumi, but ten minutes was a safe minimum. Naruto prepared land as the ground approached, but found his body would not respond to any commands. The blonde let out a grunt of pain after slamming into the ground and felt his shoulder dislocate. The Jinchuuriki bit back a scream of pain and cursed while trying to move something, but he was entirely exhausted and nothing happened. He felt the strangely soothing comfort of Kyuubi's chakra as his shoulder began to fix itself and channeled more of it to stand up. Naruto started walking towards the glowing tower and cursed his sensei, "Fucking Ero-sennin, this is all your fault. I'll kill you, you bastard." The blonde felt the pain disappear as he jumped towards Gaara's location, but the potent chakra did nothing to soothe his temper.

* * *

><p>Lee looked on bitterly as Naruto used a Daitoppa that would make most jounin jealous, even though the blonde claimed to be low on chakra. The spandex clad chunin growled under his breath while looking at the devastation caused by the jutsu. It wasn't fair, Lee knew it would have been different in the Forest of Death if he could utilize chakra like that. What if Neji was right all along and fate was inescapable. It would be easy for a genius of the Hyuuga clan to advance beyond his expectations and convince himself that was false, but his foolish teammate had no such luxury. Lee used to smile and naively believe in his ability to overcome his handicap, and the taijutsu user even thought he had found a comrade who would fight the odds with him in Naruto, but it was all a fraud. The blonde that everyone had pegged as a dobe was destined for greatness, but what was the destiny of a shinobi unable to use nin or genjutsu?<p>

The taijutsu expert stared bitterly at Hoki, who was admiring at the blonde with a wide grin, "Oh well. It would have been asking too much of the sentinels to contain a capable shinobi, but against that type of power they never had a chance. Of course, his efforts only help our cause. The chakra he expends to free Gaara only helps speed up the process."

Lee did not appreciate how the man blatantly ignored him to praise Naruto's strength from afar. Even his opponent in a life or death battle stopped to admire others. The shinobi let out a roar of defiance and charge. Hoki pivoted slightly while calling up a wall of fire with his sword, but Lee easily jumped over it. The chunin twisted his body to avoid the fine tip of the ebony sword as it stabbed towards him and pushed off the ground after landing to avoid it once more. The fine edge easily slashed through the solid earth where he just was as Hoki summoned a burst of fire and that singed Lee's brown cloak.

The dangerous blade cut through stone like air, and had the ability to summon and control fire with a thought from the wielder. It was difficult enough for the taijutsu user to get close, and whenever he did it was almost impossible to capitalize. Every time Lee thought he was taking control of the fight his opponent pulled out another trick, and now the taijutsu user was nervous to use the Eight Gates. The chunin would be vulnerable if he opened them and Hoki managed to escape with an unforeseen trick.

The Takumi-nin let out a deep laugh while twirling his sword tauntingly, "C'mon boy, actually try to put up a challenge. The future of Konoha looks bleak if they let people who cannot use jutsu don a hitai-ate, let alone a chunin vest. Perhaps that is why they are attempting to steal the Shukaku back for themselves."

Lee growled at his opponent and clenched his fists, "Konoha would not do that, Gaara is our ally and we are helping him."

The Takumi shinobi lifted his sword defensively as Lee prepared to charge, "Since you are on the rescue team it appears Konoha does not care truly about its ally." The taijutsu user burst forward after the insult and ducked under the slashing broadsword before performing a quick jab that his opponent sidestepped. Hoki pulled the blade back and created a wall of fire that blocked Lee's vision before stabbing through it several times. The chunin's reflexes had been honed by hundreds of hours training with his weapon using teammate, and he easily dodged the thrusts before lunging forward through the diminishing flames to tackle his opponent, but Hoki was prepared and delivered a kick that left Lee sprawled out on his back.

The Takumi-nin launched a crescent of fire towards the spandex wearing chunin, but the teenager recovered from the strike and rolled away before kicking the man's arm out wide so the deadly blade stabbed the earth next to his body. Lee somersaulted away and landed on his feet before quickstepping backwards to stay out of range of his opponent's vicious flurry of attacks. Fire began to flash randomly around Hoki's sword during his barrage of quick strikes, and eventually Lee's eyes were confused enough for the older shinobi to land a solid kick to the teenager's ribs. The chunin grunted as he slid backwards after the strike and Hoki swung his sword cockily while he continued to gloat, "A pathetic display of taijutsu from one with no other options available. What else is there to expect from the team's sacrificial lamb though?"

The Takumi-nin smirked when Lee adopted a curious expression and continued, "Of course, the lamb itself never knows, but the tradition goes back to a time before the villages formed. Some genin and chunin teams would have a sacrificial member to ensure that the most promising young shinobi continued to survive and flourish. They imbue the poor lamb with a fondness for their teammates so they are willing to lay down their lives, and if the lamb survives long enough they gift it with a double-edged technique to take out stronger enemies. This gives the more promising shinobi a higher chance of survival in the worst-case scenario."

Lee's body went limp as Hoki spoke, everything made perfect sense. Why not put a doomed shinobi with the Hyuuga prodigy? The taijutsu user would have given his life without a thought, even when Neji was cold to him. That would also explain why Gai never pushed the Hachimon onto Neji and Tenten. No need to teach a potentially fatal technique to shinobi who could thrive without it. Rage fueled the teenager's charge and Hoki knew his tactic worked. The boy's simmering anger was visible to anybody who wanted to see it, and after realizing the chunin could not use jutsu, its root was clear. Such a condition would lead to a deep seeded sense of doubt within a teenager, and it was easy for somebody like Hoki to take advantage. Lee had been giving him more trouble than he initially expected, but the chunin's barrage of angry strikes was nowhere near as dangerous as his earlier attacks. The seasoned shinobi waited for an opening in the furious rush, and when Lee went to plant his foot after a series of kicks Hoki feinted and pretended he was going to stab the teen. His opponent hastily reacted and twisted to the left as the Takumi-nin pivoted to Lee's back while slashing his deadly sword.

The chunin managed to contort his body and avoid the worst of it, escaping with a small cut down the length of his back. It was why Lee was surprised when a searing pain erupted on his back as fire burst out of the wound. Hoki approached the shinobi as the burn spread across his back and lifted the fire sword to finish him off, but a blonde streak smashed into his side and sent him tumbling down the street. The Kage Bunshin Naruto had made earlier walked over to his friend and created a small stream of water to douse his back, "What the hell Lee, did you really believe the shit this guy was spouting? The Hokage would never let something like that happen. Get a hold of yourself, because you had the fight under control until he got in your head."

Lee let out a sigh of relief as the water poured over his back before responding, "You weren't watching closely enough Naruto. I never came close to landing a real hit, I couldn't do anything in the forest, and I can't do anything now. It was stupid to convince myself I could have been a shinobi."

"You're lucky this is a fight otherwise I would kick your ass," snarled Naruto as Lee sunk into himself further. "You were constantly on the offensive and he was doing everything possible to avoid you. Just take the damn weights off and fight like you used to. Anger will not help you get stronger."

The taijutsu user pushed himself up while mumbling, "My weights are off. Why don't you fight him while I take care of the robots."

"Because I'm a damn clone and the real me disabled the robots temporarily." The bunshin sunk into the earth, but before disappearing said, "Now have some faith in yourself. This guy won't be able to keep up with one gate. If you don't think so use two."

The clone's chakra ran out and it dispelled with no trace as Hoki landed in front of Lee, "It seems you got lucky there, but it is about to run out."

Lee let out a bitter laugh as the area around him grew heavy with chakra, "I've never been lucky in my whole life." The Takumi-nin stepped backwards when the air began crackling from the power being emitted, "Kaimon, Kai." Lee's hair started to float upwards as if gravity didn't affect it before the earth underneath him buckled at the raw energy he pushed out and crumbled, "Kyumon, Kai." The taijutsu user never felt this powerful after opening two gates and stared at the chakra visibly rolling off of his body. Lee smiled and clenched his fist before disappearing, and his opponent raised a wall of fire, but the taijutsu user's strike landed before it was fully formed. Hoki managed to summon an orb of flames to protect himself while hurtling through the air, but the taijutsu user ignored the blaze and delivered a blow that knocked the Takumi-nin out of the orb and separated his body from the sword.

Hoki landed with a thud and felt the air leave his torso when the chunin landed on his body and began raining blows onto him before they even came to a stop. Lee roared when the furious punches found his opponent's head, and quickly lost himself as all the pent up rage and frustration leaked out. Hoki felt his skull slowly shattering as reality began to fade to black and knew his life was over. He would die here, but the shinobi could make that death mean something. The man ignored the pain as his skull began to crack open from the brutal force behind the blows and called out Takumi, his glorious home, using the connection he shared with it. Hoki asked the city to absorb all of his chakra, and when the thought finished he slipped into nothingness before Lee could deliver the killing blow.

The taijutsu user continued to beat his dead opponent's skull until its contents were spilled around the street. He had no clue how long his episode went, but after coming to there was nothing where Hoki's head used to be but a puddle of blood and grey slime. Lee sighed as he stood up and looked up at the sky. Maybe he wasn't weak. His anger made it so much easier to break the limiters on the gates, and he had never felt that strong after only opening two. Lee clenched his fist and attempted to ignore the pain with his new determination. He would not fall behind the others. The taijutsu user would harness the rage and desperation gifted to him by the world and become the strongest.

Lee reached into his pouch and pulled out a small ceramic bottle given to him by Sakura before popping the cork and downing the contents. The pinkette was interested in finding ways to limit the Hahcimon's negative side-effects and kept giving him new concoctions to test. She had blocked the pain within a couple of tries, which was a feat in and of itself because the gates pushed his body past the limits most painkillers could handle, but dealing with the damage to his muscular, skeletal, and chakra systems was another matter entirely.

The chunin looked at the bottle bitterly and tossed it aside. Lee was still upset that Sakura decided to date Kiba out of nowhere when he had been asking for a simple date since meeting her. The spandex wearing chunin only chased after Tayuya because she would never say yes to him. Sometimes pretending he wanted to date the fiery redhead helped him forget about Sakura momentarily, but that was his only comfort in that relationship. Like everything else in life he got the short end of the stick.

Lee stared at the red and grey stains on the bandages wrapped around his hands before ripping them off and staring at the scars. Before they served as a reminder of how hard he worked to achieve success, but now they were a symbol of life's unfairness. Lee bled for his strength while others had their handed to them, but that would help him achieve his new dream. "I shall become the most powerful shinobi alive, then Neji and Naruto will have to sit on the sidelines and watch me. I will show fake prodigies what real strength is."

* * *

><p>Tenten hoped to take advantage of Naruto's massive jutsu and launched a barrage of kunai towards Kujaku, but she only sighed in annoyance after her opponent deflected another wave of weapons by summoning a gust of wind with her short swords. Those fabulous weapons could manipulate the dangerous element at will, making it impossible to attack from a distance, and the comfortable way she wielded the blades made it clear short range combat would be no easier. Tenten was not afraid of the woman's skill, but it would be harder to dodge the deadly wind blasts with no room. Still, she might have no other option. The weapons mistress unrolled one of the scrolls around her torso and channeled her chakra into two seals. A stream of kunai shot towards Kujaku from the first one while the second launched a single kunai into the air. The older kunoichi effortlessly manipulated the air around herself to form a shield a knock the dozens of kunai back, but Tenten had counted on that and they glowed red, along with the single kunai behind the woman, before launching a stream of fire towards lone blade.<p>

The Takumi-nin could not use her short swords on the encroaching flames and rolled away, but when she came around the flames that blocked her vision the Konoha kunoichi was charging with a strange weapon in her grip. The black staff just over four feet long with a foot long blade that curved slightly on one end, and on the other was a spiked ball with an ten inch diameter. Kujaku had never seen a weapon like it and was so surprised that she only coated her blades in wind chakra at the last second, but they still could not penetrate the Konoha-nin's weapon to her surprise. The green haired woman managed to deflect the curved blade out wide with her right sword while thinking, 'Doton,' before following up with a kick aimed towards the brunette's right knee. Tenten blocked the strike with the bottom of her staff before swinging the spiked ball towards her opponent's head. The older kunoichi ducked under the strike and agilely backflipped away while launching several crescents of wind.

The chunin was not about to surrender her advantage though, she spun around the wind crescents while picking up speed, and when the Konoha-nin finished dodging the deadly elemental barrage, she whipped her staff around as the spiked ball detached and flew towards Kujaku with a chain trailing behind it. The older kunoichi's brown eyes shot open in shock, but she still managed to sidestep the projectile and run towards her opponent. The wind howled around the Takumi-nin's sword as she prepared to cleave the chunin in two, but a seal glowed on the spiked ball and it crashed into the earth before Tenten jumped in the air and willed the staff to pull her over to the improvised anchor. Kujaku turned and prepared to pursue, but the brunette channeled chakra into her gold trench coat and a seal glowed brightly before seven kunai flew towards the Takumi-nin. She prepared to launch them away with a blast of wind until the flash tags on them detonated and caused her to miss terribly. Kujaku tried dodging to the right in desperation, but the green haired woman still felt the sting of steel as two of the kunai left small gashes on her left arm and leg.

Tenten reattached the ball to her staff before flinging it back towards her disoriented opponent and running behind it. The older kunoichi managed to dodge the spiked sphere from the clattering of the chain, and her vision cleared enough to make out the gold and maroon blur coming her way as it passed. She launched two crescents of wind that the Konoha kunoichi dodged, but it allowed Kujaku to summon up more of her chakra while backflipping away, "Senmofu," (Rotating Ferocious Winds).

A screeching whirlwind flew towards Tenten and ripped up the earth as it chased her. The brunette kunoichi jumped into an abandoned building as the spiked ball retracted into her staff, and ran out the side door when the attack burst through the wall and brought the place down. The Konoha kunoichi scaled the wall of the building next to it before leaping off the roof and spinning wildly, and when Tenten reached her peak velocity she whipped the spiked ball towards her opponent.

The sphere screamed towards Kujaku, who commanded the cyclone to split off and deflect it, but when the winds got close the weight seal glowed and Tenten stopped the chain from extending as she came around the spin. When the weapons mistress quickly allowed the chain to start flowing again, the extra mass and momentum from her maneuver allowed the spiked ball to make it through the twister, and the adjustments made to its path kept it on course. The spiked ball lost much of its speed from the twister, but it would still be lethal so Kujaku cancelled her attack and leapt away. The sphere crashed into the ground, creating a small crater, and Tenten used it as an anchor to pull her back to the battlefield while unrolling the scroll at the front of her torso. More kunai with flash bombs attached followed as the two kunoichi closed their eyes, which made it impossible for Kujaku to see the other two scrolls her opponent released right after.

The Takumi-nin opened her tan eyes after hearing the tags go off, right as the second salvo detonated, blinding her once again. She angrily cursed before performing a Kawamiri with a piece of rubble created by the spiked sphere's impact as several exploding kunai landed around her. Kujaku rubbed her eyes furiously as explosions shook the area and stood up before looking at her opponent. The older kunoichi growled when the brunette grinned confidently and pointed a sword at her in response, "Don't get cocky, everything that you've done so far is a gimmick and nothing more. You're a pretender getting by with parlor tricks, not a real weapons user."

Tenten shook her head robotically before responding, "This is coming from a woman using swords that can summon wind with a thought. If you want to trade weapons and try mine then I'm ready."

Kujaku stared suspiciously at the chunin's awkward moments and turned around to block the curved blade on Tenten's staff with her left blade while stabbing forward. The spiked ball and dropped to the ground as the Konoha-nin pivoted around the strike before throwing her staff like a spear. Kujaku saw matching seals glowed brightly on the curved blade as she twisted to avoid it, and the tip sunk into the brick wall behind her easily. The Takumi-nin pivoted and blocked a kick coming towards her back before hopping backwards to avoid the fist that followed, but it was a feint and Tenten opened her fist as a chakra string extended towards her weapon. The older kunoichi hopped backwards to put some space between them for the coming strike, but realized that wasn't her opponent's plan when the chain hit her back.

The Takumi-nin summoned blades of wind to slice through the steel, but it was also hardened with chakra would not give and Tenten managed to tighten the chain and trap Kujaku's arms at her sides before willing the staff back to the spiked ball. The Takumi-nin tried to summon blades of wind to kill her foe, but the spikes smashed into the side of her head and left her unable to concentrate. Kujaku remembered the pact they made to sacrifice themselves if death approached, but she had already given her whole life to this dream and wanted to see it through. The woman broke her connection with the city and tried to summon burst of wind to save her life, but the only thing that came was the curved blade on Tenten's staff.

Blood spurted from the wound on Kujaku's neck as the younger kunoichi looked gratefully at her weapon. After the exam Tenten realized that it was necessary to take her skills to the next level and began exhaustive training in fuuinjutsu and her newly discovered Doton affinity. Then, she invested nearly all of her savings into the materials needed to create this and forged it herself. The weapons mistress could have gotten something simpler, but what good was all of her training with other weapons if she relied on something boring like a katana or naginata for close combat.

Tenten had planned this weapon extensively using her experience with a vast number of weapons, and she felt that this was suited to her capabilities. The spiked ball could become heavy as Lee's weights or weigh nothing at all with a thought, and it was connected to a chain with a few hundred feet by a seal. The two blades flanking it had storage seals with elemental chakra that hardened them whenever the staff left her hand, and the whole thing was made with chakra treated metal to make it easier to channel her affinity through.

It had taken Tenten nearly two days of constant forging to finish the weapon, and then the kunoichi needed to secretly sign her team up for the next transfer program because she could no longer pay rent, but it was all worth it. The weapons mistress was crushed after the Forest of Death. The event really capitalized on her insecurities of being nobody after finding out Tsunade picked Sakura as an apprentice. The brunette would never hold that against her friend, but it really made the weapons mistress question her own strength. Everyone around her was so powerful and could hold their own against challenging opponents while Tenten was constantly relegated to a support role, but now she felt vindicated. The chunin would be able to fight side by side with her teammates instead of supporting them from the back ranks.

* * *

><p>Tayuya shook her head after the massive Daitoppa unleashed leveled the area he was fighting. It was hard to reconcile that type of power with the idiotic blonde she lived with for a short time. Of course, she had quickly realized most of that idiocy was just a front. The chunin was clever enough to provide an insight that opened up a whole new world of combat and expanded her potential. Naruto's bizarre nature had piqued her interest before he left the village, especially considering he had managed to fight against Kimimaro and walk away. Still, this was not the time to focus on that. Tayuya's opponent was a capable shinobi with armor that neutralized all of her nin and genjutsu, and she did not possess the physical capabilities to keep up with the fully grown man.<p>

Suiko chuckled as he easily twirled his two handed mace and prepared to go on the offensive. He let the girl utilize her jutsu and waste chakra early in the fight, but she had stopped after realizing they had no effect. The Takumi-nin needed to push her into using more chakra in order to speed up the ritual, but at this point the kunoichi would only use them defensively, so he charged. The hulking man moved surprisingly fast as he dashed towards Tayuya, who jumped into the air over him and launched a blast of sound that added to her momentum. The redhead landed gracefully and dashed into a nearby street before leaping into the second story window of a residential house.

The Takumi-nin quickly followed and leapt towards the window with a roar, but Tayuya was ready and blasted a powerful note that knocked the wall out and sent her opponent flying back towards. The kunoichi jumped outside and used two smaller sound blasts to launch some chunks from the wall towards Suiko, but he easily crushed them with his mace before throwing it towards he falling teen. She easily twisted around the dangerous weapon as the shinobi landed and funneled chakra into his Infinity Armor to launch a concentrated beam of chakra at the airborne Tayuya.

Another blast of sound moved the redhead away from the attack, and she overloaded her feet with chakra before hitting the ground and exploded forward after landing. The Leaf-nin pulled a kunai out of her holster and prepared to attack, but it suddenly felt insignificant after Suiko's mace reappeared in his hands. The redhead substituted with a chunk of rubble from her earlier attack before throwing several kunai at the Takumi shinobi's back. The hulking man pivoted deceptively fast and batted the projectiles away with his mace, but he did not stop spinning. Suiko kept turning until he looked like a miniature tornado before whipping his weapon at the kunoichi. Tayuya rolled away from the dangerous mace, which disappeared once it flew past her and came spinning at her once more before she even regained her footing.

The kunoichi managed to twist and perform a quick handspring to flip over the weapon before it disappeared and flew towards her once more. The sound user ran across the open plaza while avoiding the oversized projectile whenever Suiko launched it at her, and eventually she ducked into another street that lead into a row of houses. Tayuya opened the window of the closest one on her way towards the angled roof before taking cover on the other side. She stuck her head out at Suiko stopped spinning in front and summoned a handful of floating drones that began combing the surrounding environment. The redhead knew she needed to surprise this opponent to get a decisive kill and quickly dove to the wall of the house behind her and jumped in the window before slamming it shut as one of the drones came over the roof.

The kunoichi tracked the robots until one entered the house a few minutes later, then she reopened the window before taking up position on the wall by the door. When Tayuya heard the whoosh of air being emitted by the drone she sprang around the corner and stabbed her kunai through it before jumping out the window and back into her position on top of the last house, waiting to activate the surprise she left for her opponent on the way out. The other drones and Suiko rushed into the house like she expected they would, and the shinobi allowed the robots to scan the house first. After a few minutes he entered the building before checking out the room where the sentinel was destroyed. The man quickly spotted the open window and stuck his head out before catching a glimpse of the kunoichi. She grinned at the hulking shinobi and waved, but before he could shout the explosive tags on the outside wall ignited and sent him flying backwards while flames spread throughout the room.

Suiko's armor absorbed the chakra behind the blow, but not the kinetic force or fire, and he roared in pain as the intense heat seared his skin. The man's cloak caught burst into flames as he fought through the haze and blinding ring in his ear and managed to stand up after seeing the red blur jump towards him through the haze. Tayuya landed silently and rushed forward, but the Takumi-nin had recovered enough to swing his mace towards the kunoichi. The redhead's eyes widened after realizing she was too close to stop and there was not enough room to dodge with the flames around. Suiko let out a triumphant roar moments before the strike landed, but he overbalanced after the mace passed harmlessly through her body.

The wood beneath his feet splintered as Tayuya emerged and delivered a punishing blow to the man's chin with her knee. She raised a kunai and prepared to deliver the final strike, but the Takumi-nin's head snapped forward with an amused smirk as he grabbed her wrist and began squeezing. Tayuya felt her bones cracking and let out a scream as she delivered futile blows with her left hand, but the older shinobi only laughed and gripped harder as the building burned around them.

The redhead's cry grew louder while Suiko prepared to break her arm and toss her into the flames, but a kunai pierced the hand holding her wrist and he let out a surprised cry while dropping his opponent. Tayuya disappeared in a puff of smoke and was replaced by a stone covered with exploding notes as several exploding kunai pierced the wood around him. The muscular ninja was not eager to endure another explosion and performed his own substitution as the blasts went off before quickly locating his opponent, who was being tended to by the brunette kunoichi. Suiko already knew Kujaku was dead and realized that their plan had fallen apart. The robots failed to contain the blonde, and Hoki had fallen earlier as well. He and Ryugan were the only two still standing, and they needed to regroup or get overrun alone.

Suiko attempted to call on his connection to the city in order to locate Ryugan, but something was happening. His link to Takumi was being weakened by an outside source, and the muscular man realized the blonde shinobi was corrupting the network somehow. All of the man's plans were put on hold as he sunk into the earth and headed towards the glowing tower. Tayuya cried out as he disappeared and tried to push the weapons mistress away from her wounded wrist, but the redhead hissed in pain after moving the injured limb, "Dammit, we could have finished him here."

Tenten finished taping her teammate's trumpet into the kunoichi's broken hand so she could still play it and stood up, "I doubt it. He seemed pretty adamant about getting away and would have anyways. That probably means something is happening with Gaara. You go check it out while I get Neji and Lee."

Tenten disappeared in a swirl of leaves while Tayuya nodded absentmindedly and brought the trumpet up to her lips to make sure the setup would work. After blowing a weak note she looked towards the glowing structure towering above the village and took off. Almost every shinobi in Oto would have left her to figure something out on her own after sustaining the wound, but she had yet to work with one in Konoha that would have left her alone. The Leaf Village took care of their own, and now that she was a part of it, Tayuya would do the same. Orochimaru always said that attitude made Konoha weak, but after living there she came to believe that made it strong. Every shinobi watched the back of another, and though worrying about somebody else might take away from a ninja's focus, it meant there was always one or two watching out for you as well.

* * *

><p>Neji dashed towards his opponent after Naruto's jutsu went off, but the blue haired shinobi was not distracted by the impressive display. The two smaller prongs of his sword snaked out while the main one flew straight at the Hyuuga. The Konoha-nin veered to the right and hopped over one of the smaller blades when it flew towards him before dashing towards Ryugan, but the childlike shinobi manipulated the third prong and forced Neji to quickstep backwards lest the snakelike apparatus ensnares him. The Hyuuga could have used a Kaiten to hold his ground, but he quickly noticed that the city absorbed any of the leftover chakra from his attacks and funneled it to the glowing structure in the city's center. The longhaired shinobi did not want to help their opponents and cut back on his chakra consumption, although that also made it almost impossible to close the distance between them and win.<p>

The Takumi-nin was no slouch with that sword, and clever enough to avoid any major mistakes. Neji had made several attempts to maneuver him into an unfavorable position, but nothing had worked and there remained a seemingly insurmountable gap between him and the shorter ninja. The Hyuuga genius was feeling some frustration after every failed attempt, but working with Gai and Lee helped him push past it. Neji calmly calculated his next move while taking a neutral stance, but he could not come up with any feasible approach that did not involve using chakra. The Konoha-nin watched the blade coil around its wielder like a serpent while mumbling, "So be it." Ending the fight quickly would save chakra as well.

The two smaller blades on his opponent's sword snaked out to Neji's flanks while the main one extended right towards him. The Hyuuga dashed towards the weapon's wielder and pulled out a kunai with his right hand while his left performed a Hakke Kusho to knock the largest blade away. He then used the kunai to deflect the smaller blade on his right and ducked underneath it before running perpendicular to his opponent. Ryugan reversed direction and spun the opposite way, and the two smaller blades went with him while the large one continued to pursue Neji from behind. The Konoha-nin flattened out his approach and ran right towards his opponent before jumping forward while expelling a continuous stream of chakra from his tenketsu and calling out, "Kaiten."

The sphere was not that large because of his forward momentum, but the chakra shell was strong enough to protect Neji and deflect the blades away as he approached the Takumi-nin. Ryugan growled and jumped in the air before the Hyuuga smashed into him, and the chunin dispelled the technique before launching a Hakke Kusho straight into the air. The blue haired shinobi gasped and momentarily lost his grip on the Garianto after the compressed air smashed into his stomach, but he managed to recall it with chakra strings while the blades pierced the earth before pulling him away from the Hyuuga flying through the air towards him. Neji was not deterred by the sudden evasion and quickly destroyed the ground around the Garianto with a barrage of Hakke Kusho, before throwing several exploding kunai towards its wielder.

Ryugan managed to block from some of the blast by wrapping the blades around himself, but he was still dizzy after slamming into the ground, and lost the sword. Fortunately, that gave him something to substitute with after seeing the blurred figure dashing towards him. The shinobi managed to attach the chakra strings to the Garianto after switching places with it and made the blades to chase Neji when he reversed directions, but the chunin easily outpaced them and closed the distance before the Takumi-nin could regain his weapon. The blue haired shinobi hopped to the right and ducked under a palm thrust that would have destroyed his brain before grabbing the normal version of his sword. He thrust the strange weapon forward and the Hyuuga leaned left while pushing the blade out wider with his kunai before lunging towards Ryugan with a palm thrust, but the smaller shinobi had used the momentum after Neji's deflection to push away and regain some space.

The Konoha-nin quickly closed the distance and tried to slip his fingertips through his opponent's defenses, but the blue haired ninja managed to deflect it with the hilt of his blade while the two smaller ends extended towards him. Neji used his kunai to block the one coming from his right before rolling over the left one. He threw the projectile towards Ryugan and the left blade moved to intercept it, which gave the Hyuuga enough space for a Hakke Kusho. The Takumi-nin realized the attack was coming and wrapped the Garianto's blades around him once more to form a makeshift shield, but it could not fully block the attack. Neji rushed after his tumbling opponent, intent on finishing the fight, but he quickly sunk into the earth after his byakugan picked up chakra being channeled into the Garianto, which revealed the storage seals on parts of the blade.

Dozens of kunai flew through the air and sunk into the soft earth where Neji was moments ago as the Takumi-nin used the weapon to pull himself up onto a nearby roof to regain his composure. The Hyuuga used the brief respite to observe his opponent, who had managed to put much of the space between them once more. It would be difficult to end this fight quickly now, and he had just used more chakra than he wanted. The teen's best option was hoping for Naruto to free Gaara before the tower was fully charged. The blonde's jutsu had made a significant contribution, and Neji's last assault had raised it higher once more. The Hyuuga guessed it would take a little under an hour at the current rate with four battles going on, but a few more jutsu like Naruto's would do it in seconds.

Neji began to think of a way to get close without using much chakra when all thoughts of that escaped him. He watched Lee deliver a punishing blow and pin Hoki to the ground, but before the chunin could deliver the fatal strike his opponent allowed the city to completely drain his chakra and life force. The boost to the tower's energy levels was significant, and the Hyuuga realized that time was not the issue any longer, they could not let that sphere fill up with more energy. Fortunately, Tenten did not use much chakra with her fighting style and Tayuya was conserving hers already, but they were both expelling some to increase their physical capabilities.

Neji refocused his attention after realizing that his opponent had not been idle during the break and was fully recovered. Ryugan's small frame glowed brightly with chakra as the city around him responded to his call. The Garianto pierced the ground and began funneling the chakra into the earth while the small shinobi called out, "Doton: Retsudo Tensho," (Earth Release: Tearing Earth Turning Palm).

The entire neighborhood they were in began shaking and Neji heard cracks echo out as the ground began to break and fissure. The earth around him began to cave in as the entire ground shifted, so the Hyuuga called out "Kaiten," before the pocket he formed collapsed. The dome of chakra exploded outwards and sent debris flying as Neji emerged from the trembling rocks. He ran across the shaking earth as if it was perfectly still and managed to get out of the immediate area of the technique without getting crushed before focusing on the Takumi-nin. The boiling anger in Ryugan's eyes betrayed the fact that he knew Hoki was dead, and the roar he released may have had something to do with Tenten's victory at that moment.

Neji danced around the whipping blades of the Garianto as he watched the weapons mistress scale a nearby building. She was heading over to help out Tayuya, and the Hyuuga realized his best option was to wait it out and have the kunoichi come assist him after. Observing Ryugan for the duration of the fight helped the chunin predict where each blade would go based on the chakra strings he used to control them. The shorter shinobi was also angered by the death of his comrades and his movements had become sloppier as a result. Neji was able to split his attention and keep track of both fights, and when Tenten got close he made his move. The Hyuuga exploded forward and jumped over the blade slicing towards his knees while doing a half spin in mid-air to block the one coming towards his back.

The chunin used the resistance to complete his spin before dashing towards Ryugan, who had surrounded Neji with the blades of his Garianto, but before they could strike the teen used his own chakra strings to divert the blades coming towards him and redirect them to the ground. The strange weapon quickly went limp after a blast of chakra destroyed its connection with the chakra strings before retaking its original form while Ryugan back flipped over the barrage of kunai Tenten launched from his rear. The small shinobi cursed and disappeared into the earth after he landed and Neji gave his teammate a grateful nod, "Thank you for the assistance," the kunoichi gave him a weak smile as they headed towards the city center as he asked, "What is the matter?"

Tenten let out a sigh, "Nothing new."

The Hyuuga nodded with understanding and responded, "Now is not the time to worry about Lee," even though he was thinking about their other teammate as well. The weapons mistress did not see the violent display he put on while finishing his opponent, just the bloody state he was in after. The way Lee lost himself in that moment of rage concerned Neji more than all of the taijutsu user's previous behavior. The Hyuuga took a deep breath and forced the images away from his mind, like he said to Tenten, this was not the time to worry, "The Forest of Death has affected us all differently, it will just take some time for Lee to find his way."

The kunoichi nodded, "Yeah, he takes things like that harder than everybody else, but Lee would never let anything hold him down. Our loudmouth teammate will be back soon, especially after being reunited with Gai-sensei."

Neji could tell that Tenten was trying to convince herself, but he desperately wanted to believe that too and found a small measure of comfort, "Right, now let's get our eccentric teammate and head towards the city center. Naruto is running on fumes and will need our help soon."

* * *

><p>Naruto stumbled into the city center and tried to put on a reassuring grin after making eye contact with the two captives, but nobody was fooled. Gaara watched his brother's chest heave with exertion and the red continually seeping into blue eye, "Are you alright Naruto?"<p>

The blonde let out a forced laugh while responding, "I don't think the guy trapped inside a barrier has the right to ask that question."

Matsuri frowned while observing the two and said, "I may not be a shinobi yet, but this does not seem like the best time for banter."

Naruto rubbed the back of his head embarrassedly, "Heh, you're right. Never let them teach those instincts out of you." He could see that Gaara was about to ask another question cut him off, "She's right, we don't have enough time for a discussion. I can get you guys out with enough time, but we both know time is never a guaranteed thing." The budding sealmaster examined the two barriers closely, slightly scaring the academy student with his animalistic features and the small amount of bloodlust emitted from the Kyuubi's chakra, but he paid it no mind. He uncovered the sharingan to take a closer look at Gaara's prison before saying, "I can break her out no problem, that is a low level barrier and can easily be overcome, but yours is different. This one is tied into the sealing array of the village, and to adjust it I need to be synched to the network."

"Free her and do that."

Naruto was somewhat surprised by the concern in Gaara's voice, but he was glad. It was obvious this person was important to the redhead, which hopefully meant his situation in Suna was getting better, "I would, but synching to a network like that requires a long ritual. Fortunately I can destroy it instead."

The redhead nodded, "Good, free Matsuri and take her away with a Kage Bunshin first."

The blonde walked over and freed the younger girl before asking Gaara, "Was one of them controlling something in the city from around here?"

"Get Matsuri away first."

"I can't."

The young academy student looked between the two Jinchuuriki nervously before crying out, "What?" She grabbed the blonde shinobi's vest while pleading, "Please, I'll only be in your way. Get me away from here."

Naruto ripped his flak jacket out of the girl's grip while angrily responding, "Will you shut up. This isn't helping."

Gaara growled, "Don't talk to Matsuri like that."

The blonde closed his mostly red eye while rubbing his temples, "Sorry, I just get a little testy when I start using the fuzzball's chakra. What I meant to say was I do not have enough enrgy to create enough clones to guarantee her safety. I could create one or two, but in this state it wouldn't be worth the effort. They'd disappear before getting anywhere so she's safer here. Now, where is the area?"

Gaara pointed to the area where Ryugan was controlling the robots from, "One of them sat down there and meditated." The redhead waved over the area where the other three Takumi-nin sat to complete the ritual, "The rest were here, but I do not think they were interacting with the city. Their attention was on me the whole time."

Naruto nodded and walked over to the area while channeling chakra into it, but it did not respond. He unveiled the sharingan once more to try and find an activation seal, but there was nothing. It appeared he needed to be synched to even find the seals in the first place. The blonde growled and looked back at Gaara's prison before nearly slapping himself in the face. The city's seal network acted like a chakra system, and there was an obvious tenketsu that he could connect to staring him right in the face. Traditionally it would not have been a weak point because there was no ink, but the blonde's new technique needed no tools besides his own, or in this case Kyuubi's, chakra.

"You might want to channel some of Shukaku's chakra just in case." Gaara's eyes became gold with black crosses in them while Naruto looped a strand of Kyuubi's chakra around the sphere before forming the basic connection seal with the end. The blonde felt a small connection to the vast network, but his chakra presence was too little to affect it, for now. Naruto would need to use brute force to overpower the city's network, which would leave him absolutely drained, "Get ready Gaara, because I'll be less than useless after this."

The Konoha-nin began channeling Kyuubi's chakra into the seal network as Gaara tried to get Matsuri's attention to comfort her, but she continued to avoid looking at him. He hoped it was the putrid chakra he was channeling to protect himself, although the brunette had been doing that long before he called on Shukaku. After this was over he needed to find out what was bothering the girl, hopefully Naruto could give him some advice on that. The Suna-nin looked over at his friend who was in deep concentration and wondered if this would work. The barrier was still using his own chakra to strengthen itself, and when he channeled Shukaku's chakra it only grew stronger. The jounin was about to ask when his prison was surrounded by a thick red chakra and he felt the drain on his own chakra lessen, but it appeared to be because it was feeding on the blonde's chakra, as the barrier only grew thicker.

Naruto could feel everything in the clearing around him through the faint connection he had with the city. The blonde ignored Gaara's sense of doubt and the whirlwind of emotions pouring out of Matsuri to focus on the task at hand, the city had already sensed his intention and was beginning to fight back against him. He continued pumping Kyuubi's potent chakra into the seal system, and despite the resistance, the Uzumaki was able to feel more from the city. He nearly winced after sharing Tayuya's pain and knew that Suiko sensed his intrusion before breaking the connection with the city. A few moments later Ryugan did the same and Naruto knew his time was running short. He began to question the point of continuing as well. In that brief moment he could feel how much this was their dream, it meant as much to them as much as becoming Hokage did to him.

The blonde realized the empathy was another ploy by the city, but it was still effective. He knew the four of them were fighting for something precious, but his team was too. Naruto needed to figure out a way to overcome this clash of dreams, but now was not the time. These four were willing to inflict pain in order to achieve their goals, and while he would as well, the chunin could never picture himself kidnapping somebody for his dream. With a roar he made a significant push into the village's seal network, just as Suiko and Ryugan smashed through the wall of a nearby warehouse with their own battlecry.

* * *

><p>Author's note<p>

I apologize for the delay, but this chapter was challenging for me to release. It took tons of editing to get everything to flow smoothly together. The chapter probably could have used another session or two of editing, but at this point I just wanted to release it and get on to the last chapter in the arc to finish everything off. It got so stressful that I messed up the transition between last chapter and this one, although everything still worked. This time the chapter should be out by sometime next week, possibly sooner if the right motivation is applied.

On a different note, I have taken note of all the reviews and PMs about the lack of Naruto's focus on Sasuke with a smile. I did not want to really respond earlier and possibly give anything away, but I was happy people noticed because that was very intentional, and you shall all see why soon.


	46. Of Mice and Men

Suiko anxiously clenched his fists as he waited for Ryugan in an abandoned warehouse and watched the blonde work to dissolve the village's sealing network with his corrosive chakra. The Konoha-nin had already freed the girl, and now he was attempting to destroy the pathways connecting Gaara to the monument by channeling chakra through the redhead's prison, which should have been impossible. If the blonde succeeded in destroying those links their dream would be lost forever. Takumi had been decaying ever since it stopped receiving weapons commissions from the other villages, and it had almost been a century since anybody born in the village had the knowledge required to repair those seals due to the small population. Once the economy collapsed all of the civilians left to escape the challenging conditions in the village, and though most of the shinobi stayed, they had to dedicate themselves to pursuits other than fuuinjutsu to meet immediate needs. The village founder did all he could to save Takumi, but his efforts ultimately failed and he ended up sacrificing himself to forge an unbeatable weapon. Unfortunately, the small population was unable to fully power his creation and it went unused.

The hulking man ran his hands along the cold, dusty wall and closed his eyes while recalling the times he played in here as a child. There were still a handful of families left at that point, but rumors about a new village called Otogakure spread through the dark corners of Kawa no Kuni's jungle like a wildfire. Eventually they reached the ears of a Takumi-nin and most of the remaining shinobi decided to abandon the village with the promise not to reveal its location. Suiko grit his teeth and resisted the urge to punch through the wall after remembering the day his older brother left. The hulking man felt no connection to the traitor that chose to abandon their dream, but thinking about the coward reminded him that his true family had shrunk today. Both Hoki and Kujaku had fallen, and even though the weapon was supposedly capable of being operated without guidance, all four of them were supposed to see the glorious finish to their quest. Suiko sensed his final teammate approaching and managed to get his growing grief under control before Ryugan rose out of the earth. The larger shinobi turned and greeted his comrade with a grim nod before asking, "What next?"

The blue haired Takumi-nin shrugged before looking at the chunin destroying their seal network through the dusty window, "I have no idea. The two of us could give our power to the vault and open it now, but we would not witness the next phase. I may be angry at Kujaku for forsaking the oath, but her sentiment was respectable. I want to see the future of our village as well."

Suiko nodded, "Indeed, but it is still possible to walk away. They are ignorant of the village's secret ways, and the network is still intact enough to activate the self-destruct and ensure the weapon remains untouched."

The words he whispered left a bad taste in his mouth, and Ryugan easily picked up on his disgust, "There were no hints that you would follow that course my old friend."

The muscular shinobi shook his head and raised a fist over his heart, which was where they put the seal binding them to the village, "I cannot. Takumi is our home, and its dream is mine as well. We were raised here Ryugan, we share a connection with the city, and even though it is deactivated, I know you feel Takumi crying out to us. I'm not asking you to stay and help, just-"

"You don't need to ask," Suiko looked up after his teammate cut him off and saw the content smile on the younger shinobi's face, "I love this place as much as you and would never abandon it. Let us go out and fight with everything we have left to open the vault as the city asks of us." Ryugan's smile dropped and he exuded a grim determination that bolstered his larger comrade, "If that means sacrificing ourselves to achieve that end, so be it."

Suiko found himself nodding in agreement despite the dire statement and shared a solemn look with his last remaining brother. The Takumi-nin embraced tightly for several moments before letting go, and with one last determined nod to each other they smashed through the wall with a defiant roar. The duo rushed towards Naruto to interrupt the ritual, but he never budged. The chunin had his own bastardized connection to the city and knew no harm would come to him. Tayuya jumped down from a nearby rooftop and launched a barrage of sound bullets from her trumpet that forced Ryugan to leap away while Tenten blinded the larger Takumi-nin with flash tags. Suiko kept running recklessly towards the blonde, but Lee intercepted the sightless man and knocked him off course with a brutal kick, which allowed Tenten to surround him with exploding kunai. The older shinobi was experienced enough to push himself away from the sizzling sound despite the haze clouding his mind, but he was unable to clear the blast radius and violently tumbled across the ground before his smoking body came to a halt.

Ryugan was faring no better than his teammate. Several of Tayuya's sound crescents had slipped through his Garianto's defenses and left deep wounds on his body, and the sword was incapable of blocking her blunt attacks as well. The smaller shinobi skipped across the ground after getting hit by an oversized sound ball and ended up next to Suiko, who was equally dazed. The two wounded ninja realized that their advantage was lost and they could amass the required chakra by fighting. Hoki had set them up with favorable matchups, but now they were outnumbered and getting picked apart by opponents who could capitalize on their weaknesses. The last two surviving shinobi of Takumi gave each other a reassuring smile before pushing themselves up and charging towards Naruto once more.

The other Konoha-nin jumped in front of the blonde to stop their rush, but the older duo were feinting. Now there was nobody blocking their path to the obelisk, and they could directly funnel all their energy into it and increase the process' efficiency. Suiko and Ryugan jumped on top of the glowing orb before simultaneously forming the ram sign, and the white glow from the orb engulfed them in light while drawing on their very life force. Naruto felt the city's power fluctuate momentarily before every available scrap of chakra rushed into the vault. He ignored the powerful presence awakening inside the sphere to take advantage of the sudden chaos within the complex seal array.

The massive fluctuations in the city's network drew most of the chakra into the weapon's container, which left a token amount inside the rest of the network. Now there was almost no resistance to the corrosive chakra as it overloaded the connections keeping Gaara imprisoned, causing the barrier containing the jounin to disappear. The red cloak around Naruto began to fade and he fell forward when the strength left him, but a hastily erected platform of sand intercepted the blonde before he hit the ground. The chunin tried to push himself up and summon more of Kyuubi's chakra, but Gaara put a hand on his shoulder while saying, "I shall take care of it from here," before the makeshift stretcher carried him over to Neji.

The glowing white sphere split open with a loud crack as steam billowed out, which obscured a humanoid figure nearly eight feet tall with two glowing green orbs levitating behind him. A porcelain-skinned man floated out of the white smoke and revealed himself to the world for the first time in nearly a century. Grey eyes squinted as they adjusted to the light, which reflected off of the gold band wrapped around his long white hair that extended to his feet. The man's plain yellow robe billowed wildly as he slowly descended towards earth and observed the gathered shinobi. He gave a deferential nod to the bodies of the two Takumi-nin laying the base of the obelisk before speaking to the other shinobi in a deep, cold voice, "It seems you have escaped Jinchuuriki of the Shukaku, but it matters not. I, Seimei, the founder of Takumi, shall kill your friends and drain your chakra until you are nothing more than a lifeless husk. Then I will utilize that power to bring my village to new heights"

The revived man let out a pulse of chakra, which made Neji activate his byakugan before yelling out, "Move," as he leapt away with Naruto. Tenten grabbed Matsuri and jumped to the side as the fallen Takumi-nin's weapons flew through the air towards Seimei. Suiko's Mugen Kogai strapped itself to his chest before Hoki's Fire Sword attached to its nose like a horn. Ryugan's Garianto slid into a space beneath the tiger's chin and the three blades extended to surround Seimei defensively while Kujaku's Fujaku Hisho Shoken circled around him in the air.

Lee and Tenten moved to back up Gaara, but the jounin raised his hand to stop them. "Four shinobi trying to revive this man infiltrated my village, kidnapped my student, murdered her uncle, and tried to extract the Shukaku. I will kill him myself and wipe the memory of this village from history. Today shall be the last day anybody hears of the Takumi Village or its founder Seimei."

An arrogant laugh echoed darkly through the empty streets before the revived man responded, "That is quite the boast boy, but I already possess most of your chakra, and the rest shall make me unstoppable. Accept the help so you do not die alone."

Gaara did not rise to Seimei's taunt. He kept his composure while observing the weapons that now coated the man's body. The Jinchuuriki had no idea what they did and would need to find out before making any real plan, but the first thing to take care of was his lack of sand. After fighting Haido's troops in the mountains, Gaara began to look for ways to speed up the process of creating his favorite weapon from the environment. The dense mountain rocks slowed the process down greatly, and the jounin knew he would need to find a way to increase the efficiency when facing similar conditions. Gaara was gifted with naturally high Futon and Doton affinities from his chakra mixing with Shukaku's, and awakening his bloodline increased his affinity for Doton even more while activating one for Raiton as well. The redhead experimented extensively with his increased ability to manipulate the earth and found that he could use it to expand solid stone and decrease its destiny before using the wind to erode the weaker rock into sand, which he had been doing since getting out of the barrier.

The jounin quickly ground up the earthen materials used to create surrounding buildings and caused them to collapse with a loud crack. The clouds of dust melded with the streams of sand as a thick shell covered Gaara's skin and compressed itself before taking on his features, while the rest formed into the gourd he usually carried on his back. The Jinchuuriki finally felt whole again and confidently lifted his hand as the earth beneath him and Seimei instantly dissolved into a whirlpool of sand. The revived man levitated over to an elevated patch of metal that still remained, but the lonely island in the sea of sand provided no respite. Gaara used the most basic skill of his newly activated bloodline to manipulate the steel platform. It twisted into a dangerously sharp shot point that shot upwards and forced Seimei to hover backwards, where a massive fist of sand smashed the pale shinobi higher into the air.

Gaara tried to command the construct to follow, but it dissolved after making contact since the chakra inside of it disappeared, although the Takumi-nin still felt the full force of impact. Seimei managed to regain control of his flight and suddenly stopped in mid air before looking around to see four massive cubes of sand surrounding him. The village founder cut off the chakra powering his levitation before the suna blocks crushed him and launched beams of chakra out of the Infinity Armor while freefalling back to earth. Dense walls of sand rose out of the earth to block the lasers while Seimei reactivated his levitation and floated directly over Gaara. The redhead looked up as Hoki's sword launched a stream of flames while the two shortswords enhanced them with a powerful torrent of wind. Gaara surrounded himself in a hemisphere that stopped the flames, but he felt the constant heat and realized the sand around him was bubbling. Matsuri screamed when the dome collapsed, leaving a molten glass where it stood previously, but Naruto knew his friend would not lose that easily.

Moments later a sand construct of Gaara's upper body grew out of the earth until it towered over the obelisk in the center of the village. The massive redhead swatted at Seimei a few times, but he could not keep up with the smaller man. The jounin decided to change targets and started lobbing sand balls into the village that demolished countless buildings. Takumi's founder grit his teeth and flew towards the sand construct with the shortswords spinning wildly in front of him and burst through Gaara's oversized head, which is what the redhead was waiting for. The floating sand quickly condensed into an orb above his head and smashed him into the sand below, but the Infinity Armor ate the chakra and allowed Seimei to break free before being engulfed by the pulsating sand covering the village floor.

The revived man frowned as he stared at the large construct, he would have to deal with that swiftly enough so the teenager would not think to use it again. Seimei called upon the massive reserve of chakra he now possessed and channeled it into Kujaku's shortswords before they flew towards his oversized opponent. The massive Gaara could not keep up with the smaller weapons and they left deep gashes that slowly whittled the sand giant down faster than it could heal, while streams of fire baked the sand and made it harder to control. Eventually the Jinchuuriki realized this strategy would no longer do him any good and dissolved the construct before shooting the massive wave of sand towards Seimei. The man casually avoided the attack, but Gaara only wanted to do more damage to the village. The sand tsunami cut a swathe of devastation as it overtook the buildings in its path and before pouring down the mountainside.

Seimei felt stabs of anger after more of his village was destroyed and launched another stream of wind-enhanced flames towards the Jinchuuriki with a roar, but Gaara paid no attention to the dangerous attack. He clapped his hands together while calling out, "Ryusa Bakaryu," and a wave of sand emerged in front of him that engulfed the fire before continuing towards its creator while growing in size. Seimei tried to levitate above the creation, but it rapidly expanded to three times the height of the previous wave and engulfed the man with another significant portion of his village. The revived shinobi burst out of the sand before Gaara could compress it because of the Mugen Kogai, but the Jinchuuriki knew he could win now. If Seimei had been buried deep enough the sheer weight of the sand above him would overcome the chakra absorbing capabilities of the armor and he would be crushed, but now he was levitating too high for the teenager to feasibly trap him with another move like the Ryusa Bakaryu.

Gaara looked around at the untouched areas of the village and nodded while forming a plan. It would take awhile to set up, but that would give him extra time to make good on his promise. Takumi would be buried and crushed under tons of sand along with this man, and though people might discover it, there would be nothing left to identify the ruins. Suna's council may get complaints from Tanigakure because of the deluge of sand he planned to deposit onto the jungle, but this territory was only theirs on maps. Both hidden villages knew that Suna's influence extended a good distance past any official borders. Gaara looked up at the man hovering above him before commanding a platform of sand to bring up to his level. Seimei gave him a look of disdain while the redhead eyed his handiwork, "I have almost completed half of my objective already. This village will serve as your tomb, and the memory you both shall die today too."

"I cannot deny that it causes some pain to see Takumi damaged, but it ultimately saves me the trouble of doing it myself. This place has become decrepit and needed a complete rebuild to express its true glory." Seimei smirked arrogantly at the floating redhead while continuing, "I also admit to being somewhat surprised to the amount of chakra you still possess, but every bit you expend gets absorbed, and every attempt to trap me only provides extra strength. The longer this fight goes the stronger I become, victory is all but guaranteed." Gaara resisted the urge to roll his eyes and raised a thin platform of sand nearly five hundred feet long and one hundred feet wide into the air before allowing it to dissolve into thick clouds that clogged the air around them, "That's it, give me more chakra boy."

"You are weak and shall always be weak, no matter how much chakra you have." Gaara stared coldly at his opponent while clouds of sand shifted in the air around the two, although the wind generated by the short swords created a clean pocket of air around the revived shinobi. "The abilities granted to you by the weapons are useful, but you rely on those traits, and they are no substitute for real skill. As long as those weapons remain your preferred method of fighting you can never defeat a shinobi like myself." Seimei was about to retort when the Jinchuuriki raised his hand and the clouds formed into eight columns of sand over twenty feet long that chased after his opponent. Each one was about twelve feet wide, and the power behind them would squash the revived shinobi, even with his armor's ability to absorb chakra.

Two of the pillars smashed together with impressive force above Seimei's head moments after he cancelled his levitating ability, and the man flew into the twisting streets of a former residential neighborhood below them as the others gave chase. Memories of laughing children and smiling residents flashed through the revived founder's head while the sand pillars tore through the houses and knocked many of them down in their pursuit. Seimei growled as the Suna-nin continued to demolish his village and rapidly changed directions to charge him head on. The tiger's head launched orbs of dense chakra that smashed into a quickly constructed wall of sand while the shortswords looped around and launched deadly blasts of futon chakra, which forced Gaara to form another complete orb.

Wind whipped through Seimei's long hair as he sped towards the sand orb and began cooking it with the intense flames created by the Fire Sword. The village founder continued to weave around the sand pillars trying to crush him while baking Gaara inside of the floating orb. Two of the pillars gave up chase and formed another orb of sand that attached to the makeshift oven and allowed the jounin to transfer over. He piloted the orb away from Seimei and allowed it to dissolve before enjoying the cool air for a moment. The sand pillars disintegrated into clouds moments later and coalesced into a platform underneath the two once more before large spears of sand nearly eight feet long flew up towards Seimei. Kujaku's shortswords kept him safe by forming a barrier of wind that dissolved the spears as they crashed into it, but a thick cloud of sand formed around the man and Gaara morphed it into a large sphere that flew towards his opponent. The screeching winds managed to destroy some of the sphere, but most made it through the barrier and crashed into the revived shinobi before dissolving.

Seimei managed to regain control before smashing into the levitating platform below them and turned to charge towards Gaara, but his jaw dropped instead. There was a dense cube of sand over seven hundred feet long floating in the air above the Jinchuuriki, and it was still growing as the sand platform beneath them flew up to add itself to the massive construct. Gaara raised one arm into the air moments later and the cube began dissolving into massive chunks of sand that hurtled towards the earth. Seimei weaved around the falling pieces as they decimated the city beneath them, but he could not escape the technique's radius. Gaara was tracking his progress and commanding the falling chunks to move accordingly. The dense slabs of sand left a trail of destruction in the village as Seimei fled, and though he was gaining ground and approaching the end of the village, the Jinchuuriki knew his opponent would attempt to run and planned accordingly.

The village founder let out sharp, panicked breaths as he weaved through the falling chunks of sand the size of small buildings to get away from the attack. He looked down at Takumi and realized that a majority of the village had been destroyed, but fought through the despair. Surely the teenager was running low on chakra after executing such an impressive maneuver, and soon the revived shinobi would be able to turn the tide of this fight. He just needed to survive this attack. Seimei ignored the fact that he had been repeating that mantra since the fight began and looked back up at his opponent to plan a counterattack, but the sight did not comfort him. The Jinchuuriki was completely composed and showed no signs of exhaustion, just the desire to carry out his promise of obliteration. Panic began to grip the man and he failed to notice that the air was growing thicker with sand and was completely surprised by the solid wall that he crashed into moments later.

The construct dissolved the pale shinobi smashed into it, but the air had been knocked out of his lungs and the man could not dodge the chunk of sand that crashed into him after. The thirty foot long construct dissolved after making contact, but Seimei had still not recovered and was buried under the loose sand before piled on top of him. Gaara felt the armor absorbing the chakra and preventing him from crushing the area directly around his opponent, so the jounin hardened the sand a foot above the man and used it to push the pocket down while piling more sand on top. After the revived man was buried over a hundred feet deep Gaara finally compressed the sand above him and felt that small pocket disappear under the weight.

The Jinchuuriki spun around to observe Takumi before raising his arms and commanding the remaining sand to sweep through the village and destroy any buildings still standing. Soon only piles of wood and stone remained, which were quickly swallowed by sinkholes where centuries of erosion happened in an instant. When the ground stopped shaking a few moments later it appeared that Gaara had transferred a piece of the desert to the mountain peak, and the others watched in awe as he slowly descended and landed next to them. The area he destroyed was less than a fifth of Konoha's size, but it was still incredible.

Before today Naruto would have told people he could defeat anybody around his age, but after watching the Suna-nin he knew that fight would be nearly impossible to win. Gaara may have been borrowing chakra from Shukaku, but even if Naruto used four tails he would not be able to destroy Takumi this quickly, let alone make it completely disappear. He opened his mouth to say something to the redhead, but the darkness creeping in on the edges of his vision finally won and he blacked out. Gaara was showing signs of chakra exhaustion as well now that the fight was over. The jounin stumbled as he went to turn around and felt his knees buckle under the weight of his gourd and sand armor. The Jinchuuriki realized he did not have the chakra or strength to maintain them both and let the sand fall back to the earth.

Gaara felt much lighter, but still doubted he would make it very far. The only reason he hadn't sat down yet was the sound of Matsuri's sobs. He hobbled unsteadily over to the crying girl and tried to place a comforting hand on her shoulder, but his heart dropped when she refused the gesture and turned away. The redhead could only think to look down and mumble, "I'm sorry."

The girl confused him when she asked, "Why would you apologize?" between sobs, but before he could answer she continued, "This is all my fault. I should have known better. I shouldn't have been so stupid."

The worried jounin pushed his bewilderment aside and weakly held both of Matsuri's wrists so she would look at him, but the girl barely gave him a glance, "Do not trouble yourself. You are only in the academy, there was no way you could have stopped this." She began crying even harder when the Jinchuuriki finished and gripped him tightly while sobbing into his chest. Gaara just gave the others a confused look as he returned the hug and gently patted her on the back. Several minutes later Matsuri had cried herself to sleep and the jounin gently placed her down next to Naruto before facing the others, "We'll camp here for the night and set out tomorrow morning. You four get some firewood and food from lower on the mountain while I set up some shelters for the night.

* * *

><p>It was still dark when Naruto shot up and looked around the unfamiliar tent. The blonde unzipped the sleeping bag the others had put him in and stretched out his sore muscles while the drowsiness slowly disappeared. Aches permeated the chunin's whole body, but he had regained enough energy that sleep was impossible. The teenager slowly stood up a few moments later and walked outside to see who else was up. He spotted Lee sitting by the fire and sat on the log across from him before asking, "Guard duty?"<p>

The taijutsu user shook his head and pointed towards the redhead sitting on a mound of sand in the distance before retorting, "There's no point in having shifts when one team member cannot sleep."

The blonde managed to respond with, "Good point," a few seconds later, despite his surprise at the terse answer. The Jinchuuriki simply watched the flames flicker while thinking about what to say next for a few moments since Lee was being uncharacteristically quiet, "Are you trying to reduce your dependence on sleep as a form of training? You always did turn everything into an exercise."

The spandex clad chunin snorted derisively when the blonde finished, "I train every available moment because of my inability to use nin or genjutsu, but even I know that every person needs sleep to perform at a high level, even shinobi."

Naruto's lone blue eye narrowed to match the taijutsu specialist's stare, "I know about the Forest of Death. Going through shit like that is hard, but it doesn't mean you can act like an asshole."

Lee clenched his scarred fists when the blonde mentioned the forest and angrily responded, "Stop talking like you understand. I used to think we were the same, but you know nothing of my struggles Naruto. You were destined for greatness from birth because of your heritage and the Kyuubi. Anybody in the village would bend over backwards for the Yondaime's son, while I am simply an afterthought."

"Don't give me that shit." Naruto cut Lee off before the spandex clad chunin triggered his temper, "If you think my life has always been great then you're wrong. I just never went around bragging about how much I suffered. We all go through hard times Lee, all of the success I achieved came from my response to them, not because of my parents or the bastard fox that killed them. If you want to become a great shinobi then you need to overcome your doubt and stop second-guessing every move. Believe in yourself and keep moving forward, I know you'll-"

Lee cut the blonde off with a sharp yell and shattered the log next to him when he angrily punched it, "It's not that simple. I am not gifted in any way like you or our friends, I'm only willing to work harder. It helped when we just graduated the academy, but now that they are learning stronger jutsu I am being left behind. Even the ability to mold chakra like an average genin would make me ten times stronger. It could have made a difference in the forest."

Naruto's eye shot open as the taijutsu user slumped into himself. He finally understood Jiraiya's constant warnings about dwelling on Umi no Kuni. Whenever the blonde thought about that massacre it drove him to train harder, but the disaster in the Forest of Death had reignited old doubts in Lee, and the usually cheerful chunin had become a completely different person as a result. "Is that what you really think?" The taijutsu user looked like he was going to interrupt, but Naruto would not let him, "How do you know what type of shinobi you would be with the ability to use chakra? I bet you would have been a dropout like most of the other people in the academy because you wouldn't have worked as hard. Then you might not have been in the forest to save anybody."

Lee clenched his jaw and glared at Naruto, "The inability to use nin or genjutsu will not make me weak, I just have to work ten times harder than most shinobi to achieve the same progress. In our first spar you almost fought worse than I did after graduating, but by the Chunin Exams a few months later you had surpassed me despite training less. Just remember that."

The taijutsu user was done with the conversation and began walking away from the fire, but Naruto needed to say one more thing, "Those people should not have died Lee, but you can't blame yourself for their deaths. It was those Oto bastards, remember that."

The blonde sighed when the taijutsu user disappeared into the darkness and turned around after hearing some rustling in one of the tents behind him to see Neji emerging from his. Naruto was about to apologize for waking him up when the Hyuuga said, "Thank you, I knew the forest bothered him in some way, but it was hard to figure out how. Lee can actually be secretive when he wants to… I had not realized it was that bad though." Neji sat on the log across from Naruto and looked at the section his teammate destroyed for a moment, "Once again you have proved that your eye is superior to mine."

Naruto laughed and pointed at Neji's byakugan, "If you want my right eye so bad I'll trade it for yours."

Neji shook his head and jokingly responded, "I do not think you need a second doujutsu."

The blonde mock pouted, "You're actually doing the village a disservice by saying no Neji. Imagine a Jinchuuriki with the byakugan and sharingan. Although, maybe I should hold out for the rinnegan."

"I'm surprised you even know about that," quipped Neji dryly. "You had better be prepared to wait awhile though, everybody knows that doujutsu is a myth."

Naruto shrugged and the two of them sat in a comfortable silence for several minutes and watched the flames flicker until the blonde spoke up, "Neji, take care of Lee. He's going to need it."

"You never needed to ask."

* * *

><p>Matsuri's head had been spinning ever since they left the blonde shinobi on the mountain, but after a debriefing by the Kazekage reality was setting in, and she missed the haze terribly. The girl had no idea what to do anymore. She had been dead set on following in her parent's footsteps and becoming a shinobi, but things had changed so fast. After witnessing what the life of a ninja could entail, the academy student was hesitant about graduating this year. Of course, that meant the likelihood of her seeing Gaara again was zero, which Matsuri could not stand to think about.<p>

In the one day she knew him the redhead had proven all the terrible rumors wrong and had paid more attention to her than any of the academy sensei, who generally felt the profession was a dead end job and put little effort into it. The anger that Gaara displayed because of her was flattering, and the fact that the jounin went to those lengths to save a student he taught for a few hours was amazing. Matsuri knew none of her teachers at the academy would have done the same, but it was still better if she never saw the Jinchuuriki again, even if he was the only person who really knew or cared about her anymore.

The girl tried erase her positive image of the jounin by focusing on the way those terrible black and gold eyes stared at the Takumi-nin. Matsuri remembered how that horrific bloodlust made her recall all of the gory stories told about several of his most horrific public killings in great detail, but even those images could not make her hate or fear Gaara. For some reason her distress disappeared once the redhead showed up, even though he was the Takumi-nin's prisoner too. Matsuri wrestled with her decision about Gaara for several more minutes before she managed to push the redhead out of her thoughts while approaching her apartment, but after realizing that her uncle would not be in there to greet her the girl wished she hadn't.

Tears blocked her vision of the various pictures hanging on the walls and sitting on tables that showed her uncle's large smile, and she managed to stumble into the living room before collapsing on the couch. Matsuri's chaotic emotions left her oblivious to the outside world and she did not sense the presence of others in the apartment, though they made no effort to hide themselves. The brunette did not realize anybody was there until she heard a light cough from the young shinobi with short black hair and grey eyes wearing muted black armor underneath a grey cloak with two dull swords hanging at his waist.

A few weeks ago Matsuri would have been delighted to see the handsome chunin standing in her kitchen, but his presence was another reminder of the upheaval in her life. The academy student managed to call on her brief training to school her emotions as best she could while the teenager pulled over a chair and sat across from her with an empathetic look, "I am sorry for your loss, but there are things we must discuss and this was the best opportunity."

"Indeed." An older looking version of the Suna-nin with his black hair pulled back into a ponytail that extended to his shoulder blades walked out of her uncle's room. He wore a long black robe of fine silk with silver trim and the Kanji for iron stitched in silver threads over his heart. His grey eyes coolly observed the distraught girl as she finished pulling herself together. Matsuri wanted to get up and tear the man's face off with her fingernails, but it would do her no good. She would not get anywhere close, and her uncle would not come back. Still, the brunette was positive it was this man's fault her uncle died. It was incredibly strange that he asked her to get close to Gaara, and a few weeks later she gets kidnapped for that very reason. There was no way it could be a coincidence, but without solid evidence the girl was powerless.

The man showed no reaction to the brief flash of loathing in Matsuri's eyes after his appearance, there was nothing to do but catalogue it and keep moving. The wheels were in motion, "The meetings between myself or your uncle were hard enough to facilitate, and your new position as a friend of Gaara's shall bring more scrutiny onto you. This may be our last chance to meet face to face for quite some time."

Matsuri felt no joy to see this man and had hoped to never see him again, but she did feel some relief at his statement, and at the fact that the choice to continue her relationship with Gaara had been taken away. "I understand sir."

The finely dressed man nodded as he sat on the couch next to her and attempted to convey a sense of sympathy, "This must be an impossibly difficult time, and I know this does no good at the moment, but you have my assurances that I shall honor your uncle's agreement and continue to provide for you."

The brunette looked down for several moments before responding, "You don't need to do that sir. My uncle's debts had been paid off from the first deal, and now that he is not around we will not need extra money to support his habits. I don't want to be a burden."

"You should rethink the offer Matsuri. My father cannot cancel debts owed to men that do not hold him in high esteem. I believe Nomura-san still possesses your uncle's note."

The man cut the teenager off with a wave of his hand when Matsuri shivered after hearing the notorious loan shark's name. He allowed Nomura's menacing reputation to sink in for a moment and walked over to the window to find a coyote masked SAND operative waiting. He tapped his nose to initiate contact, and the tan cloaked shinobi made several hand gestures before disappearing into the shadows. The finely dressed man turned to address the girl after getting the all clear to continue their discussion, "Unfortunately my dear, it would be more of a burden to turn the offer down. Your uncle had already made several more arrangements to benefit your upbringing before his untimely passing. After clearing most of his previous debt he made another deal with me to secure more funds to move you two into a better neighborhood."

He sat back down on the couch and gently took the girl's hand between his, "The house has already been purchased, and your uncle happened to get incredibly lucky recently too. He won a large sum on a fight I fixed for this express purpose. So you see, it would be easier for everyone if you just accepted the offer instead of forcing me to sell the property and find a way to recoup the funds I placed into his account, along with what I spent getting it there."

Matsuri realized she could not avoid working for this man and felt a sense of helplessness overtake her. Tears began to stream down the brunette's face after realizing the gravity of the situation and she looked down at the small puddles formed on the floor. The girl could reveal her participation in this plot to Gaara and beg for mercy. At best she would be barred from the shinobi program and live the rest of her life with the label of traitor, but it was more likely that the brunette would end up in jail or executed instead. There was no feasible way Matsuri could turn down the man's offer, he was an incredibly important figure in Suna with almost as much power as the Kazekage. It would be impossible for the brunette to implicate him in any plot right now without doing it to herself, and having her killed would be a mercy compared to the hell her life could become at his whim if she refused.

The girl would have to accept, but she would not go along willingly. Her uncle said she would be stronger than her parents, and the budding kunoichi would prove the fallen man right. She vowed to find a way out of this with nobody else's help and prove her own strength. Once the girl managed to find a concrete piece of evidence she would subtly take it to the Kazekage. The brunette knew this was her only course, she could not betray despite Gaara the risk involved. There would be no safety net for her this time. Being discovered by the redhead might be better than this man, but the end result would be the same, even though she wanted to help Gaara. Matsuri's began trembling after realizing the true gravity of the situation, but she still managed to shakily ask, "What should I do then?"

Her timidness caused a smile to spread across the man's cheeks and he gently placed a hand on the girl's shoulder, "Continue to get close to Gaara and become a trusted confidant. Learn every piece of incriminating information you can against his family while constantly reminding him of the abuse he suffered at the hands of his father. Of course, I do not doubt that you will enjoy doing that last part after hearing about them. The Yondaime Kazekage has done many despicable things to his family for the sake of power. He is a bad leader and a worse guardian."

After finishing the finely dressed shinobi stood up and started walking to the door while his son remained behind, "There is nothing to fear Matsuri. While you are under our protection men like Nomura-san will not dare to look at you. Now, take as long as you need to mourn your uncle, he was a good man. Whenever you are ready contact the number we left on the counter. It is for the moving company, and they shall take care of everything as you see fit. Continue cooperating and my family shall provide for you like one of our own."

The teenager trailed off and let her imagine the consequences of noncompliance before walking out the door with his father as their outfits changed into the maintenance uniforms of a popular company in the village. The two masquerading shinobi walked out the front door moments before a SAND patrol leaped by, but they were not noticed. This one even had a sensor loyal to the Yondaime, but the fabulous armor concealed their signatures completely. The man felt completely justified spending a significant portion of their fortune to procure these weapons, their abilities would help his family's cause immensely. He had no doubt the Kazekage kept the best pieces for himself, and the disguised shinobi would not let the nameless bastard gain an advantage.

The man used one of the rings from the invasion to make sure the upcoming alley was clear before tugging on his sleeve, and the disguised duo turned into the empty street moments later. When the two Suna-nin exited the other side they appeared to be wearing the uniform of their family's servants, and they slipped into a small entrance to their compound tucked into the back wall a few minutes later. Once they were safely inside the manor their disguises faded and the teenager looked up to ask, "Are you sure this is our best course father?"

"No," the man admitted, "but our choices are severely limited Katsurou." He opened the door to his study and activated the privacy seal before continuing, "If you are asking me this you must have considered other scenarios, so what do you think we should do?"

The teenager frowned as he considered his response, his father was always measuring and testing his children. "Matsuri knows too much to leave alone, and it would not be too hard to make sure she remains silent, as we did with her uncle. The girl must know that revealing herself to Gaara would be bad for her, but over time the guilt of deceiving him might win out. She could also discover your complicity in her kidnapping and the murder of her uncle. She has no concrete proof to implicate our family, but suspicion is sometimes enough to drive a person to action."

"The girl's death would only create problems that we are currently unequipped to handle. We still have time to prevent the scenario you described, but killing her puts us at immediate risk." Katsurou listened aptly as his father spoke to him from his plush leather chair while pulling a long pipe out of his fine mahogany desk. The man was sitting in front of a fortune's worth of art from several of the Elemental Nation's greatest painters while the bookcase lining the wall on his right was filled with first editions of the rarest books and scrolls known. Even the small plants dotting the room managed to give off the impression of wealth and prestige due to the strict water limits in Suna that were exorbitantly expensive to exceed. Everything his father did was calculated and meant to give off an impression, and the teenager wanted to understand how he thought like that.

The man unrolled a package Earth Country's finest tobacco and packed some into a pipe he pulled out of his desk. "The girl is in a completely different situation than her uncle. It was necessary to kill him because it was almost a certainty that he would slip up and lead the Kazekage to us if questioned, and I was able to manipulate the events surrounding the murder to avoid suspicion. Matsuri is no longer just the anonymous niece of a gambling drunk. She was just used as bait to lure out Gaara and the girl's standing in the village increased exponentially as a result. Her death would trigger intense public scrutiny and a massive investigation that would likely lead right to our doorstep. Despite what you or anybody else thinks I only have the loyalty of so many SAND operatives, and they cannot be everywhere."

He finished tapping the tobacco down with the end of his match used it to light his pipe before inhaling deeply to savor the rare herb. His grey eyes seemed to measure his son while he blew out smoky rings, and several moments later he continued, "Expanding much more will leave the family stretched thin, it is better to consolidate our current position and hold it while assessing the future's possibilities."

Katsurou frowned, "I don't understand, you constantly reminded mother that this was the best time to make a move."

A cloud of smoke obscured the man's face as he answered, "And it was, then."

The haze cleared and revealed the shinobi's blank look, which made Katsurou frown in response. It seemed he would have to drag the answers out of his father, which meant he failed the test, "Why not now? The city is still upset at the Yondaime because of Gaara's reign of terror, and most citizens still support the council over the Kazekage. That might increase after word of the kidnapping gets out."

"All of that was true, however, you have failed to read the current mood." The man tapped out the ashes from his pipe and faced his son, "Gaara's popularity is growing among the higher level shinobi and beginning to spread to the populous at large. His father is gaining more support from the citizens because of the way he drove out the colonizers, and people are already whispering in the streets of the way that his youngest son, who used to be a monster, raced out of Suna to rescue a young maiden of the village who was kidnapped. The Yondaime already managed to put his spin on the abduction. He is safe from accusations of weakness, and Gaara looks more human than ever as a result."

Katsurou could sense his father's displeasure and remained silent while the man paused to collect himself. A few moments later his features regained their usual calm and he continued, "So you see my child, that move, and the constant parading around Suna that you have been complaining about, was not out of strength, but desperation." The man sighed and puffed lightly on the pipe until it appeared his son grasped the gravity of the situation. Katsurou showed promise as a shinobi and clan head, but he still had much to learn if he wanted to be successful at either, "We need Matsuri because Gaara is unlikely to revert back into a serial killer, and the rumors are spreading that he displayed the Jiton against the colonizers as well. It may have been possible to alter the law requiring magnet release to become Kazekage when the Yondaime and his offspring were unpopular, but not anymore. Now we need a way to control Gaara."

Understanding lit up on Katsurou's face, "And you intend to use Matsuri to do it." That answer led to new questions for the handsome teenager though, "So what was the purpose of the Takumi-nin? She could have made a connection during the training exercise."

The man leaned back in his chair and responded, "I had never thought the Takumi-nin would succeed, that was just a hope. The best-case scenario was them killing Gaara and activating the weapon. This would remove our biggest threat to reclaiming the Kazekage chair while giving our family a method of defending the village against outside attackers, which would have increase our standing even more. Of course, that was a pipedream at best. Even with my assistance their plan never had a real chance to succeed, but its failure did increase the bond between Gaara and Matsuri. Going to those lengths to save her would make them closer than a simple week of training."

The chunin felt lost once again and asked, "Why give Matsuri that kind of power though? You already agreed that she cannot be trusted for long."

A smile split his father's face, "I am afraid you are right my son, she is already showing signs of favoring Gaara and will no doubt work against us in time. She has no choice but to play along for now though. Her most important purpose is to create a new rift in the family for us to exploit, which she will willingly do after hearing of Gaara's tragic childhood. Once that is complete, Matsuri's usefulness will have run its course and she will meet with an unfortunate fate on a mission. Then, her best friend will naturally console Gaara afterwards to get them both through the grief."

Katsurou's jaw dropped as he looked over to the young girl sitting between him and Sunaroo in a picture on his father's desk, "My sister."

The man nodded proudly, "Yes, and that comfort will grow into something more, so this family can finally reclaim the kekkai genkai stolen by that charlatan from that lesser branch." He was happy to see the look of amazement and confusion on Katsurou's face as the teenager attempted to comprehend the entirety of his plan, which meant he would work to do that independently in the future, "Now, leave me. I must gather my thoughts for the council meeting that will doubtlessly be called within the next few days." Katsurou stood and bowed before leaving his father's office, and the man poured a small drink while filling his pipe with a cheaper tobacco once the door closed. The Earth Country strand was rare and provided an air of prestige if his guest knew what it was, but Taishiro thought it tasted awful. The man never touched the stuff when he was alone.

The high councilor walked over to the window while pungent smoke filled the office and looked out at the Kazekage's mansion, the place where he should be now. All of his life was an endeavor to fix the mistake of his father and return his family to their rightful place, and he was so close until Gaara became something more than a bane to Suna. Now that people were beginning to appreciate the redhead, the Jiton would instantly propel him into the seat after his father. It was such a shame too, things had been moving at a lightning pace ever since Taishiro managed to blackmail Chiyo and Ebizou away from the council. Then Gaara was defeated in the Chunin Exams and turned away from his murderous practices, which were a driving force in his family's rapid rise.

The man growled as he used his fire affinity to burn the wooden pipe before wind whipped in the office and flung the windows open. If only he could use the magnet release like his bastard half-brother. The man knew he could fight the Kazekage on equal grounds and win given the chance, but it did not matter. He looked at the imposing mansion one last time before drawing the blinds closed. Gaara's turnaround was just another setback among the hundreds he had already overcome, and Taishiro was confident this would not block his family from regaining their proper place either.


	47. To Pull a Lion's Tail

Clouds of air formed in front of Naruto's mouth as he breathed into his palms while looking at the barren landscape stretching into the distance. Winter had firmly grasped this area of Hi no Kuni and the blonde turned around to look longingly at the southern part of the country, where a rich green was still visible in the distance. The cold weather was almost unbearable after the warm climates of Tsuki and Suna, and the blonde shivered before his teeth began chattering. Why couldn't this mysterious sensei meet them somewhere warmer? Naruto vowed to never take trips north during the winter when he became Hokage.

Jiraiya ignored the exaggerated chattering of his apprentice's teeth while looking over at the cold spray shooting up from the waves slapping into the cliffs jutting out of the ocean. The two of them had been enjoying the mild climate in southern Hi no Kuni, but it was giving way to the raw bitterness of the northeast. Soon they would veer away from the ocean and into the mountains where the blonde would meet his temporary sensei, an event that filled the sage with trepidation and caused familiar doubts to seep back into his thoughts. Jiraiya quickly peered back at the teen that had grown up to his chin and reflected on the past two weeks. The Jinchuuriki's chakra took a massive boost after the drain from their intense training, and they had been spending extra time on chakra control while he worked on perfecting his original technique.

The blonde was beginning to make real progress now that he had a workable method to create seals with pure chakra. Jiraiya had been thinking it would be a waste to interrupt his godson's progress, but he quickly shook that thought away. Naruto would need the best sensei to have a hope of defeating the S-class shinobi coming after his head, and Jiraiya had never met anybody more capable with futon jutsu in all of his travels. There was no other option. This was his one chance for Naruto to take his futon jutsu to the next level, and it could not be wasted. Besides, he had already called in the favor, and failing to show up would not entitle him to a refund. Jiraiya glanced back at his godson and felt a sense of reassurance before nodding. The Jinchuuriki would be able to hold his own for a couple months, and the sage needed to rebuild his spy network in Ame no Kuni. Still, it would not hurt to give the blonde some guidelines to head off potential problems. This man was very particular, and the training could end in a moment if the teenager set him off.

Naruto stared at his godfather's back while the hermit underwent another series of rapid mood changes before returning to his usual demeanor. The legendary shinobi had been spacing out extensively while showing signs that he was debating something internally for the past few weeks, and it appeared he just had another one as he stopped and glanced back at the blonde before quickly turning around. Naruto looked up at his godfather while preparing for another lecture about behaving for this mysterious teacher, and Jiraiya did not disappoint. The man was no longer as physically imposing with Naruto's height increase, but he still managed to project an air of superiority as he lifted his finger while saying, "We need to talk about some things."

Naruto rolled his blue eye and interrupted while making air quotes and speaking in a buffoonish impersonation of Jiraiya's voice, "You need to be careful around this man Naruto. He's dangerous and disagreeing too openly will be bad in the short and long run Naruto, but nobody is better at using futon jutsu so don't blow it Naruto."

The older shinobi shook his head exasperatedly and started walking away, "You still don't get it brat, but what else should I expect from a moody teenager?" Jiraiya waited to make sure the blonde would not interrupt him with another snarky critique before continuing, "Don't do anything like that. This guy is old school, and the only reason this is happening is because he owes me big time. If you aren't up to snuff or give him too much lip you wasted something more valuable than anything else in my possession. I know it's asking a lot, but don't argue with him. Just nod and smile pleasantly if you disagree."

The blonde scoffed, "If this is so dangerous then why didn't you just take me with you and teach me how to set up a spy network, I bet it would be just as useful. Asuma can teach me futon jutsu later. I'm sure Kaka-sensei has copied a bunch I can learn as well."

That gave the man pause, he had been considering that course before calling in the favor, but any technique Asuma knew or Kakashi was able to copy would not help the blonde. He could see Naruto's hopeful eye on him and shook his head, "Sorry kiddo, those two are great shinobi, but after learning this style you'll see why it's not an option."

Jiraiya turned inland after seeing a massive spout of water shooting out of the cliffs in the distance, and they travelled the next several miles in silence while following a deep blue river nearly half a mile wide that gently curved through the lifeless countryside of northern Hi no Kuni. The man looked down at his godson and said, "We'll be there soon. Remember what I said and be careful."

Naruto sighed at the man's nagging, "For the thousandth time, I've got it Ero-sennin."

"And no nicknames either."

* * *

><p>A solitary figure waited on top of a nearby hill while looking north towards the mountain range towering into the clouds. Naruto attempted to inspect the heavily bandaged man with spiky gray hair, but the heavy black cloak that covered the right half of his torso and made that impossible. A loose fitting white kimono covered the mysterious shinobi's left shoulder, and he placed most of his weight on a gnarled wooden cane in his left hand. As the duo got closer it became apparent that the black cloak had no sleeve, and the lack of a bump indicated there was no arm underneath. Naruto gave his godfather a questioning look out of the corner of his eye, but the sennin paid him no mind. When they started up the hill the one armed shinobi turned around and revealed white bandages wrapped around the right side of his face and a cross-shaped scar on his chin. Thousands of potential nicknames flashed through Naruto's mind as he looked at the crippled shinobi's weathered features, but this man's mere presence kept him from uttering a single one.<p>

Jiraiya grinned as he peered over at his cowed godson, but the toad summoner knew from experience that the silence would not last long. He allowed the old warhawk to give the blonde a once over with his good eye for a moment before speaking, "Danzo, the boy's all yours until you deem him capable enough to use your jutsu without hurting himself or teammates."

The bandaged shinobi carefully scrutinized the chunin for a few more moments before turning to walk away, "I don't have forever Jiraiya, the training will end when he can no longer keep pace."

The sage nodded and looked at Naruto. He wanted to hug his godson, but not in front of this man. He knew the shadowy shinobi had ulterior motives and did not want to provide him with any ammunition. Jiraiya simply put his hand on the blonde's shoulder and nodded, "Danzo is a strong shinobi, listen carefully to what he says."

The jovial man walked away after finishing and Naruto gave the older shinobi a half bow while saying, "Thank you for taking me on as a student Danzo-sensei."

The crippled man swiftly pivoted and started down the gentle slope while responding, "Do not thank me yet." Naruto followed him down the hill and took in the majestic landscape. The winding river cut a deep blue path through the withered brown grass covering the rolling foothills, which gave way to the mountains in the distance where a torrent of water poured down the jagged rocks and crashed into the river at the base. A small stream branched off about half a mile away from the grey peaks and fed into a lake nearly two hundred feet long and fifty feet across in several places. A small dock with a simple rowboat moored to it was on the eastern end of the lake, which was a short walk from a humble two-story house that was only twenty feet tall and forty feet wide. It was made of stone taken from the mountain and had a slight angle on the roof to redirect rain. The manmade structure blended in perfectly with its surroundings and was barely noticeable in the majestic view. Naruto only managed to make the structure out when they came over the last hill.

Danzo stopped when they were halfway across the long field in front of the house and agilely turned around before planting his cane on the ground. His one good inspected the teen once more and lingered on the headband covering his sharingan "Training begins now boy, at no point will that doujutsu see the light of day. You need to learn how to measure the technique without seeing its borders because it is almost invisible to the naked eye. The sharingan's ability to see chakra will only hinder your ability to understand the jutsu in this instance anyways." Blonde gave him inquisitive look and Danzo continued, "One of my old teammates was an Uchiha, and his description of how the technique appeared to his sharingan could never work."

The man lifted his good hand and two streams of wind became visible and ground against each other as he spoke, "As you know, traditional futon jutsu are made by grinding two infinitesimally thin blades of wind against each other to make one incredibly sharp one." Naruto nodded and the blades disappeared as Danzo scoffed, "This method is inefficient as it severely limits the scope and power of slicing jutsu, which is why most wide area attacks are blunt without utilizing some sort of enhancement like a battle fan. My vacuum style overcomes this by creating a pocket of air that grinds countless microscopic blades of wind against themselves inside. When these pockets break apart all of those impossibly sharp blades burst out, which gives me the ability to create area attacks that pierce and slice."

Danzo waved his hand and a pocket of distorted air appeared before he summoned a log from a seal he had prepared. He tossed the wood shimmering air and it was shredded to nothing in seconds. Naruto had never even conceived of such an idea and listened intently as the elder shinobi continued, "The first step in every technique is creating a pocket of low pressure by forcing a large amount of air to leave the space, which will then collapse." The warhawk lifted his hand and the air shimmered before a small pop was heard. "Once you can repeat this step one thousand times in a row we will work on sustaining the pocket. You will have two chances to demonstrate this to me, if you fail both times the training is over."

Naruto nodded confidently while saying, "Piece of cake," and lifted his hand. He opened up his palm and channeled chakra into it before manipulating the air around it, and seconds later there was a faint popping sound. The blonde grinned and said, "I'll do it now."

Danzo scoffed and pointed towards Hi no Kuni's coast with his cane, "I chose this spot to train you for a specific reason. The salt and moisture make it harder to manipulate the air, and the weather on the shore is more volatile too." He then turned and faced the mountain range in the distance, "The rapid change in altitude right here means the higher pressure is rushing up this, which increases the difficulty even further." The man faced the blonde and continued, "So make sure you can perform this task before coming to me. Any questions." Naruto shook his head and Danzo walked towards the house, "Good, you have a limit of five per day. Dinner is at six, if you are late catch something for yourself." Naruto watched his new sensei slowly walk away for a few moments before calling on his ample chakra. He would show the geezer and have this part down by tomorrow morning.

* * *

><p>Danzo walked outside to see a grinning blonde on the porch. The teen had refused to come in for dinner, but judging by the fire and burnt stakes nearby he managed to make do. The slightly bent posture also indicated that he had been up all night training, which showed that the blonde would have the required focus to learn the style. Danzo spent weeks isolated in the wilderness to perfect this technique, and the Jinchuuriki would need similar diligence to learn. "I take it you have something to show me." Naruto never stopped grinning and summoned 999 shadow clones before performing the technique, then each one of the clones did as well before dispelling. The warhawk looked at the leftover smoke being carried away by the breeze and back to the blonde, "Very cute boy, now do it properly."<p>

Naruto's smile only widened after his new sensei's request, "But that was me doing it one thousand times in a row. I gained the experience from each of them so it was like I did it myself."

Danzo blinked as the implications of what he just heard set in, "So you trained with a thousand clones last night and got the experience of each of them."

"Two thousand. I can do this in my sleep."

The warhawk shook his head at the cheeky response and looked over at the pond to see his rowboat smashed on the shore. His visible eye narrowed as he looked back at the blonde and said, "Do you understand that tropical storms are formed by pockets of extremely low pressure." Naruto gave the elder a confused look and shook his head beforethe man continued, "This means a freak hurricane could have formed if you created a large enough pocket with this technique." Danzo shook his head while looking back at the destroyed boat for a moment, "You will use some Kage Bunshin to bring a tree back here and craft another fishing boat, then the technique is banned until your training is complete."

Naruto grumbled and formed a few hundred clones before looking back at Danzo, "That being said, your method to passing the first challenge proves that you can think like a shinobi, so it will count." The Jinchuuriki's grin returned as Danzo continued, "Now, to form the sustained pockets necessary for most techniques you must create two separate pockets of low pressure in order to start a reaction. Then the high pressure will flow into them and create another low pressure pocket between them, which will then make the air flow into it, leaving the areas outside low pressure and starting the cycle anew with enough air moving to make it self-sustaining."

Danzo created a pocket above the tips of his index and middle finger, and Naruto saw them enlarge to include the space between them. "The easiest way to manufacture this gap is to use a kunai or shuriken to create a visible barrier. If you perform this part correctly the pockets will expand to cover the blades." The elder shinobi pulled out one of each and formed pockets on each side of the weapons, which quickly engulfed them in pockets of air before Danzo dispelled them and exhaled onto the blades. The shuriken floated above his palm as the wind coated the various points of the throwing stars before expanding out four feet, while the stream of wind bent around the kunai before extending three feet at a slight curve like a scimitar, "With enough practice this becomes possible; however, the difficulty increases exponentially as you increase the pocket's size and change its shape."

Naruto pulled out a kunai of his own and tried to distort the air on either side of it, but he only ended up surrounding the blade with a single air pocket that collapsed moments later. Danzo began walking back to the cottage while saying, "If you have any question I shall be inside. Breakfast is in one hour and lunch will be at noon."

The blonde nodded as he watched the elder walk back to the shelter. Everything had been going smoothly and he seemed to have gained some measure of respect from the old shinobi, but if what Jiraiya said was true that could disappear in an instant. The Uzumaki knew Danzo detested the philosophy embraced by the Sandaime and his tree of students, which he proudly descended from, but that did not appear to affect his teaching yet. The Uzumaki just hoped it continued that way.

* * *

><p>Naruto groaned as he managed to drag his aching body into his room for the first time since arriving here. The Jinchuuriki had been outside training almost nonstop for the past week, only stopping long enough to forage up some food or sleep. Still, it paid off and Naruto could form sustained pockets at will, with or without a weapon. The warhawk said that the blades are formed by the handseals during the jutsu, but advanced techniques without seals required raw manipulation, which he would work on later.<p>

The blonde looked around the Spartan room that had a small window on the far wall with a small twin bed underneath, which had a single pillow resting on top of a white blanket folded at the base. A small desk with an inkwell was tucked into the back left corner next to a short dresser with its three empty drawers pulled out. Naruto forced his weary muscles to move forward and collapsed onto the bed in his dirty clothes while contrasting the teaching styles of his godfather and Danzo.

Jiraiya let the Uzumaki find his own way because he understood that there were multiple ways of getting to the same point. It worked and the blonde was confident in his ability to perform any technique taught to him by his godfather, but he was also thriving under Danzo. The man was strict and demanded things be done just so, but he always made sure the blonde understood his explanation and answered every question thoroughly. It was necessary though, the crippled shinobi's technique was incredibly dangerous, and messing up could leave the blonde down a limb like his temporary teacher. It would take some time to master this style, but Naruto knew he would succeed.

* * *

><p>Orochimaru watched another faceless messenger make a tense bow before hastily exiting the room. The serpentine shinobi closed the plain wooden doors with a thought—a necessary feature when most people were so terrified they forgot to close it behind them—and leaned forward in his creaky oaken chair. The matching desk in front of him was not in much better shape and the wood seemed to bend after the legendary shinobi rested his elbows on it. Orochimaru set up this temporary outpost near the border of Yu no Kuni to take a more direct involvement at this crucial stage in his plan. The masterful manipulator made sure to make the décor humble to foster a sense of kinship with the troops roughing it in the wilds of Yu, if they managed to see beyond his terrifying presence that is. The serpentine man looked down at the shoddy oak desk and chairs with a laugh, it may not reflect his true glory, but the base will have served its purpose soon.<p>

Orochimaru's neck twisted unnaturally so he could peer at the worn map on the back wall, which showed just how deeply his forces infiltrated the Land of Hot Water. Guren believed that she would be ready to push into Shimo within two months, but the crystal user could not see the whole situation from her isolated position. The political situation was still too tenuous to remove a significant portion of her guerilla troops. Their play was approaching its decisive act, and Orochimaru needed the bandits there to continue legitimizing Kimimaro's defense force.

Guren's outlaws could also provide backup if the Daimyo got edgy and tried to move against the Oto shinobi. The man was beginning to see the entirety of Orochimaru's web and had begun reneging on parts of the contract while demanding more of the Oto-nin stationed there. Kimimaro and his tired defenders would not be able to maintain their positions long if the Daimyo unleashed all of Yu's military might. The shinobi village may be a shell of what it was, but there were still capable ones inside those ornamental walls. Yu also had nearly as many monks as the major nations, and the country's wealth allowed the Daimyo to make his samurai some of the best equipped on the continent.

Still, the monks and samurai were more suited for open combat and could not fight effectively against the bandits' guerilla tactics. This created the need for Oto shinobi, who had become beloved by the terrorized citizens of Yu no Kuni. The Daimyo had been proudly declaring the country clean in order to push the Oto-nin out, so Orochimaru would send Guren reinforcements to increase their attacks threefold. The serpentine shinobi was also sending out false messengers to make the Daimyo look greedy. It was surprising how convincing a bandit could be to peasants after showering, shaving, and donning silk robes. These fake messengers were coached to make it sound like the Daimyo was trying to remove the Oto-nin because of their expensive services, which would make him look cheap when the attacks increased. His credibility should crumble within four months, and Orochimaru believed it would only take another two to install his hand chosen puppet.

The traitorous shinobi turned to the map on the wall and observed the vast expanse of water around Shimo no Kuni. Six months might be too soon if Isaribi did not display a marked improvement, which was doubtful after reading Guren's progress reports. The girl began training too late and her chakra coils did not develop enough as a child to perform high-level jutsu without utilizing the curse seal. It would be impossible for anybody to sneak up on a blind and deaf civilian using that, let alone a heavily fortified naval base manned by experienced Shimo shinobi. Suigetsu was more than capable of leading the assault himself, but Orochimaru knew the Hozuki would break for it as soon as an opportunity presented itself. He needed Isaribi to keep the former Kiri-nin in check, but she was failing miserably. If the girl did not improve soon Orochimaru might have to take a drastic step and attempt to increase the potency of her chakra.

It was impossible to enlarge chakra coils significantly without inflicting major damage, and Isaribi's network had already expanded significantly due to the curse seal. Still, the legendary snake summoner believed it would be possible to simulate coil expansion by increasing the density of her chakra. Since Isaribi had a curse seal she would be able to withstand a shot of the pure nature energy generated by Juugo, but actually getting it to meld with her regular chakra would be the trick. The potent energy could overwhelm her mind and transform her into a berserker, or the extra power boost could cause her underdeveloped network to burst under the increased strain.

The serpentine shinobi would have to prepare backup plans while analyzing the costs and rewards of potentially ruining Isaribi. Her unique body would prove invaluable to him if he could formulate a better strategy. An intact corpse might open the secrets to perfecting the Kaima transformation, or show how humans reacted to the raw nature energy utilized by dragon sages on a cellular level. Undergoing the procedure could ruin her body and destroy any potential knowledge he could glean from it.

Orochimaru pushed the girl out of his mind for the moment and looked at the nation he currently called home. The situation in Ta was moving slower than anticipated, and he only had Shiro to blame for that. The adopted Amakusa was able to hold the nation together with a combination of his clan's reputation and tireless efforts with the people. Unlike other Daimyo, he toured the countryside extensively and lived up to his promise to improve the infrastructure around the peasants. People around here placed their faith in the man, and Orochimaru did not underestimate that.

The serpentine shinobi had the support of Ta no Kuni's other clans, but it was nowhere near enough. Shiro kept them weak by spreading their forces across the country and constantly rotating clans away from their traditional land. It was impossible for the clans to form a connection with civilians under these circumstances, and if Shiro was overthrown it might trigger a mass exodus that would greatly decrease the economic and agricultural production of the country. Still, faith was a fickle emotion and unreliable glue. Orochimaru was confident he could undermine enough Shiro's promises at home to make the civilians less adoring.

Still, the traitorous member of the Sannin could not afford to weaken the country too much. His old sensei still knew how to play the game like a master and Onoki was taking advantage of the calm before the storm. Konoha managed to strengthen its fraying ties with Suna and bring the smaller villages in their alliance under its sway, while the old fence-sitter continued to dig his tendrils deeper into Iwa's neighbors to increase his sphere of influence. If either sensed too much weakness they would pounce, and they were not the only risk to his ambitions. Kumo had been playing the role of a sleeping dragon the past few years, but their military might had exploded after the Third Great War and might be spurred into action by his push into Shimo. Orochimaru thoughts drifted towards the fifth great nation as he summoned a jar holding his severed hand, which had shriveled in the formaldehyde, and observed the Akatsuki ring that still resided the desiccated index finger.

The S-ranked traitor had been hoping to push into Kiri in order to collect some kekkai genkai to experiment on, but it would be too risky with Tobi visiting the country frequently. He could not expose himself to his old organization and risk presenting them a new trail to follow. In the last confrontation he lost a hand, but it just as easily could have been his head. Orochimaru pushed thoughts of undiscovered kekkai genkai aside and let his mind play through all the various scenarios while resealing the severed hand with a laugh. The snake summoner knew there would be long periods of boredom during his immortal reign, so he vowed to enjoy every second of the delicious chaos occurring around him now.

* * *

><p>The sun's rays managed to shine through the thick canopy with no foliage and create an excess of shadows on the Nara training ground. Still, it was proving to be no help to the young teenager training there, "Again Shikamaru." A tan man with his brown hair pulled up into a spiky ponytail and a heavily scarred face watched his son's breath form into a cloud as he sighed in frustration. The elder shinobi shivered when a cold breeze blew through and zipped up his black windbreaker and the flak jacket he wore over it to fight off the cold. He had been trying to prepare his son for the coming challenge, but it wouldn't matter if the teenager did not even bother trying, "Haven't you been doing any of the drills I gave you. I know you've been in the clan and village libraries the past few weeks so you're obviously doing some type of work."<p>

"Too troublesome," was the predictable response.

Shikaku sighed once more while looking at his son. The chunin had all the control and affinity necessary to perform the shadow stitching technique, but he lacked the willpower to execute the jutsu. The only difference between the Kage Nui and Kage Kubishibari was the density of the shadows, which allowed the shadow needles to move independently of a surface and pierce opponents. Shikaku shook his head when the chunin only managed to form a needle that could not move separate from the earth. The man paid no mind to his son sitting on the ground like an indignant toddler and turned around to look at the small opening in the dense woods behind them. It was generally agreed upon that a Nara child had to learn the Kage Nui before undergoing the ritual, but that was because their jutsu would be stronger initially. Shikamaru was smart enough that he wouldn't need that extra strength now, and it was highly possible that he would develop it later on.

Shikaku looked back to see the chunin was lazily leaning back to watch the branches swaying in the wind and made his decision, "Get up and follow me Shikamaru." The jounin was considered old by when he completed the ritual, and he was a year younger than his son. There was no putting it off any longer. The man began walking and was nearly at the tree line by the time Shikamaru moved, so he waited by the opening until the chunin arrived. Shikaku waved the younger Nara past him in the trail and Shikamaru sighed, he wouldn't be sneaking away from this one.

The teenager plodded through the narrow path cut into the dense trees and while wondering what was ahead. Every Nara child eventually figured out that there was some type of clan secret back here, but it was generally agreed to be too troublesome to find out what it was. Apparently today was the day he finally learned. Shikaku had been pushing him the past few months, which is strange because the man was usually as unenthused about training as his son. Recently he had abandoned their half-hearted sessions starting at noon in favor of grueling ones that began before the sun rose. The jounin had obviously been trying to prepare him for this moment. Maybe he should have tried harder.

The younger Nara pushed the dumb thought aside and realized trees around them were getting tighter when the branches started swatting him in the face. The chunin cursed and raised his arms to protect himself while his father laughed and used the dense shadows around them to clear the path for himself. They moved deeper into the forest, and as the sunlight waned, Shikamaru's curiosity grew. Whatever they were going to was undoubtedly important, but it did not fit in with the image of his clan. They did not have the same fetish for secrets that the Uchiha had, so why go through all this trouble to hide something when a locked door would do the trick in most cases?

Shikamaru recalled the exploits of a certain blonde in Tsuki and reminded himself everything is not what it seemed. Images were projections used by shinobi to gain an advantage. They bathed themselves with shadow as armor, but that darkness irreparably damaged their society. Secrecy should not totally disappear, but the more Shikamaru saw of the world, the more he was convinced that it was too dark. The Nara were experts at manipulating shadow though, and he would do everything in his power to part the veil of darkness shrouding it.

The usually lazy genin felt a surge of energy and knew his path was right, but any future plans were pushed aside when he entered another clearing with his father. Faded red paint covered the rotting shrine gate in front of a cave carved into the side of a small hill, but the black Kanji for shadow proudly embossed on the beam of wood over the entrance looked as glossy as the day it was applied. Shikaku's hair scraped along the cave's roof as the two Nara entered, and when the sunlight faded behind them, torches lining the wall ignited and showed the way. Shikaku led his son down the twisting passage until they came to a shadowy room that appeared to be a dojo. The walls and ceiling had been smoothed down, and the far wall was covered with scores of dusty weapons that hung from rusted metal hooks screwed into the walls. A dozen torches ignited and bathed the room in brithness when they entered, but the light seemed to bend around a large black orb nearly eight feet wide that hovered in the center and absorbed all of the flickering shadows into its darkness.

Shikamaru felt something inside of the sphere calling out to him and stared at it with glassy eyes until the voice of his father broke him out of the strange trance. The teenager missed the first part because of his daze, but managed to tune in quickly enough to hear, "This is the source of the Nara clan's ability to manipulate shadows." Shikamaru looked over at his father with confusion, all his life he believed the ability to manipulate shadow was simply a clan jutsu that the Nara were clever enough to discover and keep secret. The young genius laughed when people suggested it was a kekkai genkai even though the idea was feasible, but this was completely unexpected.

"What do you mean?"

Shikaku smiled nostalgically at his son's confusion and awe while remembering his own reaction to the discovery, "Most Nara children believe our ability is a simple jutsu and don't ask for details for fear of a long explanation when they could be sleeping or avoiding work." Shika nodded absentmindedly in agreement as the man continued, "The reality is actually much more interesting than they think. Hundreds of years before the villages were formed, a young shinobi whose name has been lost to time discovered this orb, and when he touched the substance it temporarily granted him the ability to manipulate shadows. He saw much potential in the ability and managed to store some in a necklace that he wore for the remainder of his life. When his children came of age he planned to take them to the cave and show them the ball, but he found they already had the ability to manipulate shadow from a young age, although it was weaker than his even when they held the shadowstuff."

Shikamaru tried to keep his attention on the older Nara, but his voice sounded so faint, there was something in that shadowy ball was calling out for him and made it hard to focus. His chakra was pulsating wildly and the chunin doubted he could calm it enough to form a simple bunshin. Still, it appeared the man could not feel the strange call or had grown indifferent over time since he spoke normally. "That changed when the oldest son turned thirteen, which is the age most Nara have mastered the basic shadow arts. The teenager gained a permanent ability to manipulate shadows beyond anything his father was capable of after touching the necklace. The founder quickly realized its potential and created a larger container to transport the orb to a safer location with his sons. It wasn't moved again until your great-grandfather brought the clan to Konoha and secretly transported it here."

Shikaku paused as he remembered his lethargic grandfather, who only seemed to move when it was absolutely necessary. The withered gray man managed to live long enough to see Shikamaru's birth and passed away with a smile ten minutes after the boy squeezed his finger. It was one of the few times he had ever seen him move of his own free will. "My father used to tell me stories about him all the time. He remembered waiting in this very cave the day he turned thirteen, and he claimed that the shadows coalesced into a single sphere in the center of the room. Your great-grandfather emerged a few moments later with the shadowy ball and went through the ritual with him right there."

Shikamaru tried to break through the strange sensation that called out to his chakra and seemed to control his body. He wanted to cry out for help with every fiber of his being, but a strange force restrained the teenager and he could not interrupt his father, "I know you don't believe in shadow walking, but the Nidaime Hokage claimed to see him perform the feat in battle, and I am not one to disagree with Senju Tobirama. Even if you do not believe him, know that your great-grandfather was the only reason the Nara survived the end of the clan era with monstrous shinobi like Hashirama Senju and Uchiha Madara around. It is well documented that he fought both of them to a standstill on separate occasions before retreating when the objective was complete. The man could have been great with minimal motivation, but he was even more lethargic than you Shikamaru."

The younger Nara could not respond as it took a herculean effort to resist the shadowy sphere's call. Of course, Shikaku was oblivious to his silent struggle and only saw the usual disinterested look on his son's face. The man sighed as he looked back at the mysterious orb, "Before the ritual begins I must warn you, there is danger. You must not do anything besides touch the orb. The founder's oldest grandson channeled his chakra into the sphere and was pulled inside it. Dozens of Nara have done it since, and your great-grandfather is the only one to return, but nobody could get him to say anything specific about his time in there."

Shikamaru could not resist his the force compelling him any longer. Shikaku's voice faded into the background while his son approached the orb, and when the younger Nara reached his hand out to touch the sphere his father said, "He only ever said it was 'troublesome,' when asked." His finger grazed the strangely warm shadow orb after hearing his favorite word, and the pulsating chakra running wildly through his coils interacted with the sphere, causing him to sink into its blackness. Shikaku stared dumbly as his only child disappeared into the shadow for nearly an hour before coming to terms with what happened. "Yoshino is going to kill me."

* * *

><p>Shikamaru felt a strange sense of vertigo that forced his eyes shut as he fell through a black void. When the chunin opened them moments later realized he was in a strange room that mirrored the cavern they were just in, except it lacked color. The strange dizziness clouding his senses lessened slightly as he looked at the different shades of grey that made up this world, but a terrible bloodlust emanating from the black corners of the room sharpened his senses. Shikamaru tried channeling his chakra while touching the ball with the hope it would bring him back, but nothing happened and the darkness began to encroach.<p>

The young Nara took a full pack of kunai and shuriken from the wall and tied it around his right leg before frantically grabbing a katana and rushing out of the cave. Red eyes stared at him from the shadows of the woods as the blackness coalesced into shapes and gave chase. Some figures were nearly thirty feet tall with limbs thicker than Chouza's stomach, others were lithe and smaller than Shikamaru, and many ran on four legs like animals. Two shadowy bats with an eight-foot wingspan formed from the forest in front of the Konoha-nin and flew towards him with an ear-splitting screech. He managed to draw out four kunai in each hand before throwing them towards the creatures. The blades passed through the shadow beasts and caused them to disperse into tiny black orbs, but they simply turned into smaller bats that joined the shadowy pack pursuing the Nara.

The Konoha-nin broke out of the treeline and ran into the grey village he knew so well before ducking into the confusing alleyways of the Yamanaka neighborhood. The suffocating sense of vertigo and panic subsided somewhat now that he had places to hide in the tight streets of Konoha. The chunin remembered to channel chakra to his feet and speed up, but it seemed like the strange creatures behind were gaining ground instead of falling back. He cursed and took a sudden turn around a corner before rolling through a trapdoor he carved into the fence nearly a decade ago with Naruto and Chouji. The Nara pushed himself up and hopped down an open drain in the corner of the yard that led to the sewer systems, but more creatures waited in the murky tunnel. His dusty katana managed to parry the shadowy sword that emerged from the dark corner behind him, but the worn weapon groaned from the impact and Shikamaru saw a large crack running down the aged steel.

The shinobi threw the useless weapon at the humanoid figure forming from the blackness and rushed down the tunnel before jumping through the drain located in Ino's greenhouse. He burst through the door and hopped onto the rooftops, but the sight there offered him little comfort. The realm's shadowy denizens were converging on the chunin's location from every side, and he was smart enough to know escape was impossible. The creatures appeared everywhere he went and seemed to be able to sense his movements as well. There was no sign of any other humans in this realm either, and he had no idea how to escape. The young Nara was trapped and there was nothing he could do. Shikamaru sighed as he fell to his back and smiled while thinking about all the times people said the ability to fall asleep immediately was not a real talent. The chunin closed his eyes while cherishing his last moment of real silence before these things ripped him apart, and less than five seconds later he fell asleep.

* * *

><p>A loud groan broke the silence and Shikamaru lazily sat up while blinking groggily and stretching. The shinobi's eyes shot open moments later after remembering the situation he fell asleep in, and he looked around confusedly. The shadowy creatures were still packed into the streets, but none of them paid the teenager any attention while milling about the colorless Konoha. Shikamaru realized the strange vertigo that gripped him since arriving had completely dissipated, as he looked around the usually vibrant Yamanaka district that seemed as dull and grey as the rest of the village. He could feel portals that led back to his world all around him, but Shikamaru did not know how to interact with them.<p>

The shadow user knew his only option was to head back to the shrine and figure out a way to return from there, but he could not muster up the energy to move. The chunin tried to will himself to jump to the next roof, but a slow shuffle was all he could manage. Shikamaru groaned as he gave up and sat back down. Going back like that would take days, there had to be a faster way. He let his arm drop over the buildings ledge and felt a strange connection with the dark patch underneath, which did not give off any bloodlust. The Nara focused on that connection and felt no resistance while his arm poked through the wall. Curiosity got the better of him and he hung off the ledge before sticking his head through. He realized that this was his dimension because of the color, but the chunin quickly pulled his head back after seeing a strangely familiar looking black haired woman was naked and frantically fondling herself while watching a children's show on television.

The flustered shinobi dropped to the earth started shuffling through the grey city. None of the dimension's strange denizens paid him any mind and Shikamaru took the opportunity to study them. There were many humanoid shadow figures that were about the same size as him walking around the city, and a variety of animalistic ones as well. Shadowy birds glided lazily overhead while small four legged creatures slowly strolled through the streets. It took him nearly an hour to reach the edge of the Yamanaka district compared the five minutes it normally did, and Shikamaru slumped against the wall of a house.

The Nara turned his attention away from the figures populating the world and began to observe the surroundings. There appeared to be no sharp edges in this dimension. Shikamaru looked over at the small restaurant on the other side of the street and realized it was hard to tell where it began and the air ended because the two shades of grey seemed to meld with each other. The sense of vertigo was gone, but staying here was beginning to unsettle him. The chunin needed to figure out a way to get home, yet every second he spent in this place seemed to dull his mind that much more. He hated this place.

Shikamaru looked up when he saw a patch of black flash past him and looked up to see nothing there. The Nara was about to dismiss it as a trick of his mind when an image of a black shadow transforming into a blade flashed through his mind. His body felt like it was on autopilot as he extended his arm and envisioned it as a shadow. The Nara lost feeling in his limb as it turned into a cloud of darkness, but the teen never panicked because he knew it would be possible to reform with a thought. The Konoha-nin took a deep breath and pictured his entire body as a shapeless shadow, and moments later he was simply a floating cloud of darkness.

Shikamaru remembered his purpose a few moments later and started drifting towards his clan's land outside at a speed comparable to a civilian sprinting. The chunin made it back to the cave within an hour and reformed in front of the shadowy orb still hovering in the center of the room. He tried channeling more chakra into the sphere in case it worked this time, but nothing happened again so the Nara backed up and slumped against a smooth wall.

It felt easier to think in this room, and Shikamaru looked at the floating orb while pondering what to do. The teenager walked back into the shadowy passageway and channeled chakra into his arm before pushing it into the shadow, but it felt like it hit a barrier. Shikamaru sighed while walking back into the main room. He may have stumbled upon an embarrassing scene on the other side of the shadow portal in the Yamanaka district, but he should have counted his blessings and gone through. The teenager had failed every other time he attempted to return, though he felt the portals there. Shikamaru went back to the orb and looked at his arm again before envisioning it as a shadow. The Nara's body transformed into a shapeless shadow once more, and he felt himself get pulled into the orb while the room around him vanished.

* * *

><p>Shikaku paced back in forth in front of the shadow sphere. He had been waiting in this dojo for three days and he was beginning to seriously consider going in after Shikamaru. The thought crossed his mind when his son first disappeared, but he knew Yoshino would not be able to take losing them both with no idea of what happened. He went back to the house and tried to explain the situation to his wife, but the woman was frantic and heard none of it before kicking him out of the house and halfway to the shrine. He had been waiting for his son ever since, and the urge to follow the teenager was getting harder to resist with each passing moment.<p>

The jounin was an advisor to the Hokage and knew it would be foolish, but his resolve weakened every time he thought of the suicidal idea. He never told Shikamaru, but the Nara clan founder and his son died trying to retrieve the first boy to fall in, and the father of every Nara that vanished since had died trying to get their child back. The man looked back at the entrance and thought of Yoshino before looking back at the orb. It had been three days. He doubted Shikamaru was still alive, but that fragment of doubt continued to eat at him. Shikaku approached the orb and hesitantly held his hand over it. He could not wait any longer, "This has to be the stupidest thing I've ever done."

"I don't believe that."

The man's chakra instinctually flared at being surprised and a strange sense of vertigo began to overtake him, but Shikamaru grabbed his other wrist and pulled him back through. The man breathed a sigh of relief and gripped his son tightly as tears streamed down his scarred cheeks. The teenager returned the gesture and the two stayed like that for several moments until the jounin asked, "What happened to you?"

The younger Nara cringed into his father's flak jacket while remembering the shadowy realm he had visited. The sense of panic that caused him to flee like a wild animal was awful, but the worst part about that place was how his mind dulled. Shikamaru's whole sense of self was tied into his intelligence, and the fear of it disappearing forever shook him to the core. The shadow user never wanted to return, but some part of him knew it would be necessary to figure out what happened to him in there. Still, the only thing he wanted to do now was sleep in his own bed. "I don't really know. As soon as we came in here something in that orb called out to me, and it was impossible to control my body. I could barely hear you, and when I touched the shadow it pulled me into a strange version of Konoha. The entire village seemed to be a mirror of this one, except it was colorless and populated by strange creatures."

Shikamaru remembered the fear that enveloped him while in that world and pushed it aside, "Needless to say it was not a pleasant experience. I don't really want to talk about it." Shikaku nodded and quickly packed up his sleeping roll before following his son down the tunnel. The chunin was moving slower than normal, but the man chalked it up to his experience the past few days. The two exited the cave a few minutes later and shivered when the cold air rushed over them. Konoha had generally mild winters thanks to its southern location, but it did snow occasionally, and the nighttime temperatures usually approached freezing. Shikaku took off his jacket and placed it around his son's smaller frame before wrapping his arm around the boy.

The father-son dynamic in the Nara clan was a strange one. Everybody knew the clan was fiercely loyal and protective of their loved ones, but it rarely showed unless the situation called for it. The laziness gene, as some labeled it, was even more predominant in males, which meant the mother's usually showed the most affection. The father was supposed to be more of the authority figure and teacher, creating a distant relationship with their sons. Even still, there was an unspoken bond that ran deep. Even though nothing was said, Shikaku and Shikamaru both knew that their shogi games were their favorite times.

The two walked in a comfortable silence until reaching their modest home where Shikaku knocked on the door. A skinny woman wearing a fraying pink robe with her brown hair pulled up into a bun immediately opened it despite the late hour. She greeted her husband with a brief hug, but her eyes were locked onto the younger Nara the entire time. Yoshino held her son tightly against her with one arm while running her other hand through his hair and humming the lullaby she used to sing him as a child. Shikamaru closed his eyes and buried his face into the furry robe covering his mother's neck. It was the same robe she used to wear when they snuggled during his childhood, and let her familiar scent and presence calm him down. Shikamaru finally felt secure again and began to drift off to sleep. Shikaku caught the sleeping teenager and laid him on the couch before his wife gave the man a longer hug and kissed him on the cheek, "I'm sorry I kicked you out like that."

The jounin chuckled and gripped the woman tightly, "Don't apologize for being who you are. I expected nothing less from my wife." The two stayed like that for several moments before Yoshino turned her eyes back to Shikamaru. Her brown orbs scanned her son for a moment before widening in surprise, "Shikaku, why is he so grey?"

The jounin gave his wife a confused look before turning to look at the younger Nara. To his astonishment, the teenager's skin had taken on a grey hue that was reminiscent of his great-grandfather's. Shikaku's eyes narrowed as he considered the possibilities while picking the boy up, "I really don't know Yoshino, but I definitely have some theories." He started walking up the stairs with the woman while trying to figure out what was going on, but there were far too many unknowns as of now. The jounin would need to do some research first. He put his son in his bed and ran a hand through his hair before walking out to give his wife some time with their sleeping child. Shikaku found a half-eaten sandwich on the kitchen counter and devoured it before kissing Yoshino when she came back downstairs moments later, "I need to go to the clan archives and do some digging."

The woman sighed and put an arm around Shikaku's shoulder as he put his jacket on, "I lose my son for three days and now my husband will be gone for a week. At least stay here tonight, the scrolls will still be there in the morning." The woman's hand trailed down his back and circled around his side before rubbing his chiseled stomach, "Besides, it's been cold at night.

Shikaku slipped is other arm out of the coat and gripped his wife tightly, in his rush to be a good father he had been a terrible husband. The jounin gave his wife several quick kisses before locking lips. His tongue desperately darted into her mouth as he picked her up and walked down the hallway to their bedroom. The scarred shinobi gently dropped Yoshino to the bed and took his shirt off while saying, "At least you weren't sleeping in a cave the past three days."

The brunette smiled coyly while letting the shoulder of her robe fall seductively, "Let me make it up to you." Shikaku smirked as he pounced on the woman and caused the floor to creak loudly. Still, it did not stop them. One of the advantages of being a Nara was having children that slept through anything.

* * *

><p>Even if the Nara clan did not have a prodigious ability to sleep, Shikamaru would not have woken up this night. As soon as the chunin passed out he found himself in front of the communal clan compound the Nara lived in when they first moved to Konoha. When he was awake it was an overgrown ruin, but not here. The brick walls that were crumbling in the real world were now a vibrant red, and the winding path leading out of it was finely trimmed, not overrun with weeds and grass. Shikamaru entered the courtyard and looked over to the right to see the stagnant green pool used to be a sparkling koi pond, and there was an obvious training area to the left since the surrounding structures would create heavy shadows at any point in the day.<p>

The young Nara was broken out of his daze by a strong voice behind him, "It seems you have survived, as I anticipated." Shikamaru turned around to see a gray skinned man around six feet tall with spiky brown hair that cascaded down his back and stopped just below his shoulder blades. A black kimono hung loosely off his skinny frame that exuded power and confidence, despite the mysterious man's relaxed posture. Shikamaru sensed something familiar about the shinobi and examined his angular face, but the teenager's sharp mind could not remember seeing him anywhere, "It has almost been fifteen years since I've seen you last, great-grandson." The chunin's brown eyes shot open and the grey shinobi smiled while continuing, "I doubt you ever heard, but I died ten minutes after you were born, and that is no coincidence."

Shikamaru's sharp mind raced to process the shocking information as his self-proclaimed ancestor continued, "I've always had the ability to sense a Nara's affinity for shadow manipulation since my ordeal, and yours surpassed mine. The day you were born I sealed some of my chakra and consciousness into you, which was released after you returned from the shadow realm."

Shikamaru gave the man a once over while putting the pieces together, "I take it you had something to do with my reaction to the orb then."

"Smarter than the average Nara too, I knew I picked right." The chunin gave his ancestor a suspicious glance while taking a defensive stance, but his great-grandfather showed no sign of worry and continued, "I did play a small part." The man waved his arm and a fully set shogi table appeared with two chairs on either side. "Let us get comfortable and I will explain what is going on." Shikamaru relaxed after a few moments and realized his great-grandfather was waiting on him to decide which side to play after a few moments, so he sat behind the white pieces and gestured for the deceased man to move first. The elder grinned and took his place before moving a rooks pawn forward one square.

"Every Nara child has some sort of reaction to the orb because of our history with the shadows. I knew yours would be stronger than most after laying eyes on you, but I made sure to stall your progress slightly in order to increase it even more. Your advanced age strengthened the reaction's potency, but it also gave you a better chance to survive the initial panic after the transportation, which was important because I placed a seal to paralyze your father for the first hour to increase his chances of survival as well."

Shikamaru was slightly surprised by the somewhat unorthodox opening move, but it was easily apparent that this man thought beyond most people. The Nara decided to move his center pawn forward one space and responded, "It's been a really long past few days and I'd appreciate it if you skipped the riddles and got to the point. One of the perks of sleeping is that I'm usually not awake or thinking in my dreams."

The elder Nara laughed and moved his rook pawn forward another space, "Spoken like a true Nara, but you must beware that lazy nature after your latest ordeal."

Shikamaru narrowed his eyes and moved the pawn two squares to the left of the center one forward a space, "I already asked for no riddles."

The man sighed and looked over the board, "Very well, but it has been rather boring waiting for you to go through the ritual." Shikamaru raised an eyebrow when his great-grandfather moved the pawn in front of his silver knight forward, but he looked up when the elder continued, "I'm sure you got some sort of abbreviated history, but all of the other Nara are unaware of why the shadow sphere gave us the ability to manipulate shadows in the first place."

Shikamaru moved his rook behind his second pawn and watched his uncle move the knight into the space behind his second pawn before responding, "Nara are actually not fully human anymore, and you and I are even less human after venturing into the shadow realm." The startling revelation set Shikamaru back, and he completely ignored the shogi board while his great-grandfather continued. "Constant exposure to the shadowy substance changed the founder's DNA, and as a result his descendants are different too. You could say those creatures inside of the shadow realm were your distant cousins, which is why our clan is lazy."

"What do you mean?"

The legendary Nara sighed, "Shadows—like our clansman—cannot move independently of an object. Nara do not exert effort if it is not necessary, and we are infamous for just putting in enough to get by. Basically, we don't move unless somebody or something forces us to." Shikamaru gave the man a strange look as he continued, "Now that you have spent time in the shadow realm with our cousins you are more like them, and as a result you will have even less motivation from this point on. It's why you felt so drained while trying to move."

The chunin looked at his now greyer skin while asking, "What do you mean? Is there a way to counter the effect?"

His great-grandfather nodded, "Yes, but you'll need to spend more time in the shadow realm." Shikamaru's expression dropped and the man held up a hand to stop his protests, "I understand your hesitance better than anybody. My father followed me in immediately and kept me safe until the transformation was complete, but his shadow affinity was not high enough and the realm overtook him. For all I know he is still alive and wandering that accursed place as a shadow."

After a few moments of tense silence the gray-skinned man shook his head before looking back at the chunin, "Trust me when I say there is no other way Shikamaru. You already understand on some level that you will have to return in order to master your new abilities, but I did not stay much longer than that. It was not until later in my life that I discovered the more time I spent in there, the less lethargic I felt in the real world. My theory is that realm amplifies the shadowy part of our DNA, and building up a resistance in there makes it easier to overcome the pitfalls out here."

Shikamaru nodded and leaned back in the chair while trying to think of his next move, "Anything else I should know?"

His great-grandfather began to rapidly age after Shikamaru's question and the shogi board between them disappeared. The man's brown hair began to turn white as his skinny frame stooped and his face sagged with wrinkles. The elder Nara shook his head and seemed to shrink while responding, "Yes, but that's everything important, which is good because it seems my time limit has expired." The image of the bent gray man began to fade with the old compound, but his voice still rang out strongly, "Good luck great-grandson. I look forward to our next meeting so we can play a real game of shogi, though I hope it is in the distant future."

The dream world became black and Shikamaru shot up in his bed before looking out the window to see the sun in the sky. The chunin stared at his gray skin as everything that happened over the past few days set in. Shikamaru tried to push himself out of bed, but it took everything he had to simply swing his legs off the side. The teenager managed to stand up after a few minutes and walk across the room to his closet, where it took five minutes to change. By the time he finished exhaustion had set in, so Shikamaru shuffled back to bed and prepared to fall asleep when Yoshino came into the room with a smile and tray of breakfast. The Nara thanked his mom and felt some of the energy return with her presence, but it disappeared once she walked out.

It took Shikamaru ten minutes to finish his simple meal of fruit and a granola bar because of the slothlike speed he ate at, but when Yoshino returned it felt like the teenager could move at a normal pace, and his great-grandfather's words echoes through his mind. Apparently he gained more energy by being around other people who possessed it as well, which explained how those shadowy creatures could keep up as he used more chakra. Shikamaru realized that he needed to return to that realm as soon as possible and lazily asked, "Are you going into the village later mom?"

Yoshino gave her lethargic son a weird look, usually Shikamaru and Shikaku avoided going into town with her at any cost to escape work, but she chalked it up to the teenager's experience the past few days, "Well, I do need to get some things for the dinner party later this week."

"Good, I'll walk with you. I need to talk to Choji and Ino."

The Nara matriarch gave her son a quizzical look and wondered what happened to the teen once more, but she was happy to spend time with him and shrugged it off. "I'll get ready, be downstairs in fifteen minutes." Weariness overtook Shikamaru's body when his mother left and he sighed before pushing himself out of bed and starting towards the door. If he didn't start now he might not get down there in time.

* * *

><p>Shikamaru put his hands in his pocket as he walked into the Hokage tower. It was much easier moving with all of the people bustling in the village streets, but he still felt a lack of energy. The conversation with Ino and Chouji went as well as it could considering the lazy chunin said he was retiring from the team with no other explanation. He doubted they would be happy to see him at the weekly Ino-Shika-Chou dinners for some time, but once he had everything under control they would understand. Shikamaru could not train his new abilities while fulfilling old obligations, especially with his new handicap.<p>

The chunin felt confident in his decision as he slowly trudged up the stairs and asked to see the Hokage. The receptionist gave him a suspicious glance, but informed him the wizened leader was free and let him in. The Nara walked into the office and was greeted with a large smile before the Sandaime said, "Young Shikamaru, what a pleasant surprise. Tell me, what brings you to my office?"

The Nara was able to resist the urge to roll his eyes as the casual greeting. The man sitting in front of him was revered as a friendly grandfather in Konoha, but how many foreign villages had been killed on his orders, how many children died because of his words? Of course, who would expect anything less of the "God of Shinobi," the man was the epitome of his dark craft at one point. Even now, the chakra he released just sitting there was enough to make Shikamaru feel like somebody mainlined caffeine to his arteries. The chunin untied his hitai-ate from his bicep and placed it on the Sandaime's desk with his flak jacket, "I need to apply for a leave of absence, effective immediately Hokage-sama."

The elder shinobi's charcoal eyes narrowed and accentuated the wrinkles that belied a lifetime of hardship and success. He gave the teen a once over, especially the grey skin on his face and hands poking out of his black, long-sleeved turtleneck before looking into the chunin's eyes. Pictures detailing some of the more gruesome scenes in the Forest of Death flashed through the Hokage's mind, and the wizened leader once again wondered if they were pushing children too far too soon. Fortunately, the collected look in Shikamaru's brown orbs hinted that was not the case in this instance.

Sarutobi commanded the ambient chakra he let permeate through the room to gauge the Nara's chakra levels and physical state, but the Hokage immediately pulled back. Something had fundamentally changed about Shikamaru, and he remembered the slothlike, gray skinned man that occasionally met with the Shodaime and Nidaime in his childhood. Both Senju spoke highly of the reclusive Nara and his skills, but Sarutobi had never seen him battle in person. Still, Shikamaru would be very dangerous in a few years if half of what they said was true. The chunin was being secretive about it for some reason though, and the Hokage needed to know why. There were many reasons for secrecy that were not nefarious, many Nara hid the extent of their ability to avoid heavier workloads after all, but there were other behaviors raising red flags as well.

Shikamaru had been poking around the library extensively in the past few weeks, and much of it was about Jiraiya and Minato's history, which is also not unusual by itself either. Many shinobi looked to the past legends for inspiration to improve their techniques. What set off warning bells was Shikamaru combing over the old juvenile reports from his time in the academy, which mostly feature Naruto's extensive list of pranks. The Hokage also knew the chunin peeked into the Uzumaki's personnel file while putting together a team recently. The Nara had been showing an unhealthy level of interest in the blonde since the mission in Tsuki, and even though the legendary shinobi did not know why, he knew it most likely wasn't good.

Unfortunately, it was illegal to put an ANBU tail on a member of a founding clan without first getting approval from the clan head, and he doubted Shikaku would appreciate his asking. Sarutobi had gone around the rule before, but not when failure would fray the strong alliance he had with the clan. Right now the best thing to do was hint that he was watching and hope the young Nara thought himself out of whatever path he was on. It was possible that exposure to the Kyuubi's chakra had unsettled him somewhat and this would pass, but the teenager was too smart for Sarutobi to let assumptions guide his actions. The Hokage would wait and carefully gauge the Nara's interest in the Yondaime's progeny over the coming months and years if necessary.

Shikamaru resisted the urge to hide his grey skin while the Hokage inspected him. The legendary shinobi seemed to peer into Shikamaru's very essence for a few tense seconds before responding, "As I'm sure you know, clan's like the Nara have a clause from the founding of Konoha that grants them the ability to take a leave of absence at any time, but if it extends over three months you will be put on probation and demoted a rank upon reentering the program. Many promising shinobi have set their careers back by taking this route Shikamaru."

The lazy chunin nodded before responding, "I've thought this over extensively Hokage-sama. It's not an easy decision, but I need to take time off and really train my shadow abilities. There are Nara genin that have better a Shadow Imitation than me."

The Sarutobi knew the capabilities of nearly every shinobi in the village and didn't flinch at the chunin's lie. He simply reached under his desk to pull out a sheet of paper and the Hokage seal before signing the bottom. The older shinobi slid the paper and pen across the desk to Shikamaru while rummaging through a different drawer until he found a drooping candle. The Hokage used his fire affinity to light the charred wick, and when Shikamaru slid the paper back he dropped some wax on the bottom before pressing the metal seal into it, "Nara Shikamaru, as of this moment you are no longer an active shinobi of Konohagakure no Sato, and all privileges that come with your rank have been stripped. If you do not rejoin the active roster in three months there will be an automatic demotion to the rank of genin."

"Thank you Hokage-sama."

"Dismissed." The inactive shinobi turned towards the door, and as he reached for the handle the Hokage said, "Don't feel pressured to live up to your great-grandfather Shikamaru."

The lazy genius froze for a second, but he managed to respond before grabbing the metal handle, "Nara don't worry about much Hokage-sama." The old Kage's chuckles reached his ears and Shikamaru cursed slightly. What a lame response, the man had lived up to his reputation and figured out what was going on based his not so subtle hint, and the wizened shinobi probably knew about his extracurricular research as well. It was a sobering reminder that the teenager needed to grow in areas beyond shinobi skills if he was to achieve his new goal.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note<strong>

Sorry about the delay everybody, but I had an amazing opportunity that took up much of my personal time. Hope you all like the chapter though, because I had been wanting to get it out for quite some time. After this quick training arc there will be two more parts to the trip until Naruto returns home, but there will be a lot going on before that happens. From this point on the story will be on a rapid separation from the canon that I have tried to remain faithful to in some degree. From here on out I am really going to attempt to make this story mine. I also promise to not take some cheap cop out ending where the main villain is taken out in seconds in favor of one that nobody knows or cares about. I was seriously disappointed in the ending of Naruto, and I hope that Kishimoto was pressured into ending it quickly by his publisher, because it seemed to go out with a whimper instead of a bang. Oh well.

Until next time,

Operaman Bye Bye


	48. The Foolishness of Philosophy

"Again!" Naruto watched the twenty-foot tall boulder crumble from his last Vacuum Sphere and sighed in frustration. It had been two months since he came into the warhawk's tutelage, and even though the teen had learned two of the jutsu, it seemed he could not please the man. Danzo constantly derided his efforts because he believed that every accomplishment should have come earlier and was always quick to point out his flaws, "You may be satisfied after learning the two easiest jutsu in my style, but there is still a long way to go before you can claim mastery over either, let alone hope to learn the next one." Danzo formed the rat, rabbit, and dog seals with one hand and inhaled deeply before calling out, "Futon: Shinkogyoku," (Wind Release: Vacuum Sphere).

The warhawk launched countless fist sized orbs of wind t towards the twenty boulders in front of the two. The first wave of microscopic wind blades shredded the smaller ones instantly, and Danzo had manipulated the pockets around a handful of the following spheres so they were dense enough to pierce the larger stone before bursting. This caused the massive boulders to explode outwards instead of crumble, which is what Naruto had been attempting to do. The crippled shinobi turned and glared at the impressed blonde with his one good eye, "You can barely create five acceptable sphere's on a good attempt, and still fail at the subtle manipulation needed to add extra potency to the jutsu. I easily created ten times that amount and make the shell density differ on each one too."

Naruto's lone blue eye met the stony gaze with no fear as he responded, "I'm trying as hard as possible Danzo-sensei. I only stop to sleep and get food, every other second of my time is devoted to learning this style. If I could at least use a Shadow Clone to forage my progress would increase."

The elder shinobi scoffed, "I will not allow you to rely on a handicap while under my tutelage. The Kage Bunshin no Jutsu is an incredibly useful technique to know, but there are times when it will be unusable. You must be prepared to think beyond that jutsu in those situations, and this whining is simply evidence of how far you still have to go in that aspect." Danzo turned and slowly started walking back towards his cottage while saying, "Perhaps your single-mindedness is only slowing you down. Gather more boulders for tomorrows training and then return to the cabin for an evening to recover. Every shinobi needs to rest and reflect to truly improve, even a Jinchuuriki."

Naruto bowed and forced a respectful tone onto his voice, "Yes sensei," before hurrying to his assigned task. Danzo watched the blonde's back as he sprinted past him towards the mountain and shook his head. The boy was greatly underestimating his own progress. The warhawk thought he would still be working on the Vacuum Wave, which was the most basic technique in his style, but Naruto had defied the man's expectations. It was a shame Hiruzen coddled him as a child. Madara and the Akatsuki would be no threat if he let Danzo train the Jinchuuriki from a young age.

* * *

><p>The crackling of burning wood broke the silence as the two shinobi sat on opposite ends of a shogi board. The small cottage they were residing in was elegant enough to have finely polished floors and hand carved furniture, but still primitive enough to lack electricity and running water. Naruto did not mind roughing it though. The lack of those conveniences was the last thing on chunin's mind while his lone blue orb scanned the organized chaos scattered across the board illuminated by a few oil lanterns. The man in front of him was a much better shogi player than Jiraiya and had soundly defeated the teenager several times already. Danzo had abandoned any hope of an enjoyable game after the first few moves and had been working on teaching the intricacies of shogi to the blonde in front of him, "Deception is key in any strategy. If I can fool you into believing one thing is happening while masking another, it becomes possible to dictate your actions and set them up to be weak against my real plan."<p>

Naruto nodded as he listened to the man while trying to apply the advice, "So if you are setting up an attack on the right, I should prepare for one on the left as well." The teenager bit his lip momentarily while observing before continuing, "But if a smart opponent knows that, then why not attack from the right because their forces will be spread out anyways."

Danzo remembered the few times he tried to play against the boy's father and rubbed his forehead agitatedly, at least Naruto had more aptitude for subtlety than that man did. "Tactics are never that simple child. Why not initiate the attack from the right, and then once the defenders swing back, attack from the left with your real force?" There are a thousand different levels of planning that can go on, and it is impossible to defend against every one of them. At some point it all comes down to picking a reality and dictating it to your opponent. My answer to an enemy gathering on my right would be to attack first and spoil any possible plan they want to execute."

Naruto thought back to some of his old pranks and the man's words made sense. When the blonde used traps and preplanned escape routes it was easy to evade his pursuers, but they always managed to catch up when his plans ended or fell apart. Danzo had been an excellent teacher so far, and the teen was beginning to think Jiraiya's distress was simply an overreaction. Still, the two of them had avoided talking on a personal level this entire time, and one of his godfather's rants came back to him. Naruto had been wondering why the legendary shinobi was so worried about his new tutor and asked him.

Jiraiya initially suggested asking Danzo about the White Fang, but after a few moments said not to. The legendary sennin claimed the blonde was better off having no personal interaction with the man than understanding him, which only ended up stoking Naruto's curiosity more. He looked over at the warhawk and decided to ask, despite his godfather's advice. The chunin hoped there was enough mutual respect that the arrangement would not blow up as Jiraiya feared, "Danzo-sensei," the crippled warhawk's lone charcoal eye looked up from the board and his new student asked, "what do you think about the White Fang?"

The elder snorted at the blonde's obvious fishing and moved one of his pieces forward, "Did Jiraiya put you up to this? I thought we had agreed to put aside our disagreement on Hatake Sakumo, yet his apprentice comes in here and opens up the old argument."

Naruto rapidly shook his head before responding, "Ero-sennin never mentioned anything about an argument. I was curious and asked what type of shinobi you were. He initially suggested asking about the White Fang before telling me not to, but I don't see the harm in asking."

Danzo leaned back and looked over at the flickering fire in the mantle while wondering how to answer the question, "I'm sure you've been told that our personal views differ. In my opinion, the will of fire that Hiruzen clings to acts as a coping mechanism that allows him to live with the deaths of shinobi under his command, something like a blanket to a scared toddler." Naruto leaned forward angrily to interrupt, but a bandaged hand stalled his protests.

"Unfortunately, this coping mechanism has become a foolish philosophy that has only weakened the village, and Hatake Sakumo is the perfect example. The man was a highly regarded shinobi on the level of the Sannin, but instead of accomplishing the final and most crucial part of a mission that could have ended the Second Great War, he saved his teammates. A noble gesture to be sure, but the team failed their mission and the war continued because of it. Countless lives were lost due to weakness inspired by the will of fire. Soon the shinobi of the village will be nothing more than simpering children afraid of their own shadow."

Danzo could see the blonde was shaking from anger, but still managed to keep his temper under control for the moment. It was time to test the boy's emotional stability. The man had been planning on planting some seeds using Shisui's sharingan, but they all seemed to roll off of Naruto whenever he tried. Danzo could not afford to be too risky with as the blonde also had a mangekyou, so the suggestions were all weak. Perhaps anger would allow the man to sink a tendril into his temporary pupil's mind without pushing too hard.

"The White Fang became a disgrace in the village, even the people he saved wanted nothing to do with him. The weakness in Hiruzen that inspired the will of fire has spread throughout Konoha like a cancer. His philosophy is a poison that has caused the village to rot from the inside out, and that sentimentality has allowed enemies like Orochimaru and Akatsuki to sneak up on us. It is only a matter of time before the mistakes of Hiruzen and Jiraiya destroy Konoha." Danzo had a smug grin as he looked at the fuming blonde, "Of course, there is some sentimentality in me as well. For some reason I think it is possible to talk you foolish idiots off your self-destructive course, even though every effort is for naught."

"You can't honestly believe that." Danzo began channeling chakra into Shisui's sharingan while staring at the fuming blonde. The cold blue orb glaring back never faltered though, and the old warhawk realized his mangekyou was having no effect. "If we aren't fighting for the people next to us and at home, then what's the point of fighting? Konoha would be nothing but walls surrounding empty buildings without the villagers, which is why we need to fight to save every single one. The White Fang may have failed his mission, but he did not make the wrong choice."

Danzo snorted and reminded himself of the child's lack of experience. He was still naïve compared to most shinobi who had seen comrades fall by the dozens on a real battlefield. "Then you would have failed too, and the blood of thousands of Konoha-nin and civlians would be on your hands."

Naruto shook his head, "I would not have failed." Danzo stopped breathing for a moment when the blonde set his jaw with determination and confidently slam his hand on the table, "I'm Uzumaki Naruto, son of the Yondaime and container of the Kyuubi no Kitsune. Even if I need to go to hell and back to complete a mission, I will not fail."

Danzo knew that look on the blonde's face during his declaration. He had seen it on the Shodaime and Nidaime when he was a boy, and he saw it again later when Hiruzen volunteered to stay behind and fight the Kinkaku force on the day Senju Tobirama died. Jiraiya had donned it before stealing guaranteed victories from the grasp of a seemingly superior opponent, and so had the Yondaime on the day he unveiled the Hiarashin and slaughtered a quarter of Iwagakure's military within half an hour.

Danzo had been trying to imitate that look his whole life, but the only thing he could muster was an intimidating glare. The warhawk could never inspire confidence the way those shinobi could. His Root ANBU followed his orders, but not for the same reason that shinobi followed the past Hokage. That indescribable charisma was something Danzo could never create, but this young chunin had it in spades. Perhaps that was why the elder was never chosen to wear the hat, and likely never would. It was probably also why he was still alive. Danzo had a hard time envisioning himself willingly sacrificing himself for an ideal like the previous Hokage had.

Still, all of those great men had capable counterparts in the darkness behind them, and the next generation would be no different. The warhawks's sharp eye picked out the masked shinobi in the shadows behind Naruto. The young ANBU continued to defy expectations like the blonde bathed in firelight, and might make a worthy successor someday. Although that remained to be seen, there were many promising candidates he could take under his wing. Danzo refocused on the shogi board in front of him and moved his silver knight to take advantage of one of the blonde's many errors. That day was still a long ways away though. The old warhawk had quite some time before the next generation was ready to step up, and he would remain in the shadows to make sure Konoha stayed strong until that time.

* * *

><p>Danzo took another sip of his tea and glanced down at the scroll he just read while thinking back on the past four months since the blonde's arrival. The warhawk had really stepped up the training after their argument over the shogi board, and Naruto had replied by soaking it in like a sponge. The teenager had mastered manipulating the Vacuum sphere's shell two days after their confrontation, though he could not create more than a dozen yet, and quickly learned the Vacuum Blade a few weeks later. Naruto still had some time before he could form the blades without a weapon, but once he did it would be possible to manufacture them anywhere in the air.<p>

A loud cry of success broke the older shinobi's train of thought and he looked out the window to see Naruto spinning on top of the now frozen lake while exhaling a long blade of wind from his mouth that caused the ice to shatter around him. The Uzumaki leaped to shore as the ice collapsed and let out a whooping laugh that caused Danzo to shake his head with a look of disbelief stamped onto his bandaged features. The boy's progress continued to surprise him. It took years for Danzo to alter his clan's repertoire of futon jutu to match that of his Baku summons, and no other Shimura had been able to learn it since. It seemed his style would have to live on through Naruto, which inspired a sense of relief.

Danzo did not want his creation to become forgotten like so many other techniques, and no other wind user in Konoha had the capability of learning from him. Most did not have the natural affinity strength, and when Danzo finally found one that did, he lacked the motivation to truly learn. The Uzumaki was no Asuma though. His natural affinity was off the charts, and his motivation far outstripped the disappointing Sarutobi.

Danzo looked back down at the scroll once more while his thoughts drifted back to the village. He had been gone too long already. The warhawk had bet against the blonde succeeding and had not planned on being away more than a few months, but after realizing Naruto could truly learn the vacuum style, the elder knew it was his duty to the village to ensure the boy did. Still, Danzo's preoccupation with the training caused him to forget his most important responsibility, and he was unable to react to the rapidly changing events. The warhawk began forming a plan to assess the damage while looking west. It was quite disconcerting that something this historic happened under his watchful gaze. He would need to refocus his paradigm on the outside world.

The crippled shinobi's eye shifted back towards the blonde spinning gleefully on the glacial lake outside the house while expelling a deadly stream of wind from his mouth. It would be foolish to ignore this one's potential though. Naruto had shown great promise in the short time under his tutelage, and Danzo wanted to play a part in his development, even if Shisui's sharingan had no effects on the Uzumaki. He would have to find a way to better balance his two responsibilities until the training was complete. The warhawk's uncovered eye scanned the prominent words, "Yu no Kuni has fallen," on top of the scroll one last time before tossing it into the fire. Before that happened he needed to figure out what was going on in the Land of Hot Springs.

* * *

><p>A young brunette waitress with long hair spilling down her bare back nervously smoothed the tight fitting apron that barely covered her ample assets before pulling it down to cover the front of her pink panties peeking through. She hated the uniform provided for teahouse waitresses as it made her feel like a piece of meat, but at least she was not one of the comfort women who literally served as a warm piece of meat to be devoured by the men venturing into the walls of the seedy establishment. The waitress looked over at the figure sitting in the far corner by himself and shivered, especially dangerous looking ones like him. She could not see any of the pale man's features through the strips of cloth hanging down from his kasa, and the high collared black cloak with long sleeves covered most of his body as well, but he still managed emitted a deadly presence, like a viper poised to strike.<p>

Of course, Yu no Kuni had fallen on hard times, and a business could not afford to turn down dangerous customers, or their clientele would be dangerously thin. The attractive waitress breathed a sigh of relief when the man left enough silver coins to pay for three meals on the table without asking for a check and purposefully strode towards the door. She quickly separated the necessary amount to pay for the meal and looked at the pile of coins still sitting in front of her.

It was hard for a lot of people right now, but teahouses were making a killing with the excess of bandits and shinobi in the country. Even working here as a simple waitress netted the woman more than her husband and his father combined. This tip alone was more than either of them made in a week, even after she split it with the others. The waitress picked up the coins and let them run through her fingers while calling the floor manager over to fill the receipt, but the woman immediately regretted the decision once she did. She was the one that put up with that man, why should anybody else share the tip with her?

The waitress only left a few silver coins on the table and quickly shoved the rest into the dirty clay mug before stacking the small plates on top of it. When the burly, baldheaded man got over she put on a fake confused face and said she forgot the most recent silver exchange rates. The manager shook his head disappointedly and ignored the receipt while taking all the silver on the table for himself, even the extra she left for the other girls, "You're lucky, this barely covers the order."

She almost shook her head at the man's lie. He had no idea what this table ordered and pocketed the extra silver for himself, which made her feel justified in taking the tip. How long had he been ripping them off like this? Still, the waitress could understand his desire for more money. She been considering taking the promotion to hostess, which would easily double her highest weeks pay, but that was considered a stepping stone to becoming a full fledged whore. Many customers considered it a challenge to seduce or buy the hostesses instead of the available women. She heard many men bragging about it downstairs, and the position was constantly opening because so many of them succeeded.

The woman listened to the silver coins jingling happily in the cup and reconsidered the promotion. Her husband had been ignoring her needs lately because he was unhappy with who brought home the bacon, and her father-in-law was constantly deriding her for being a whore, despite her unwavering fidelity. Maybe she should do a short stint as a hostess to wait for a customer with deep pockets. After getting a big payday she could flee Yu with the mass of refugees abandoning the country to start a new life somewhere else. The woman brought the dishes back to the kitchen and left the plates, but she managed to conceal the mug until getting to the backroom. She dumped the silver into her coinpurse and covered it with a heavy jacket before going to the bathroom to hide the cup in the stuffed garbage can, but on the way out she saw the reflection of her cherubic face in the mirror and stopped to look.

Guilt at her thoughts and actions began to seep in, but she remembered the night when her husband stumbled home drunk and crying one night with lipstick on his neck and lips. He claimed that he only kissed her before leaving, and like a faithful wife she believed him at the time, but how did she really know nothing happened. Memories of her father-in-law's derision and her husband's lack of support—despite her supporting them financially—flooded the woman's thoughts.

A righteous anger bubbled up to replace the fading guilt, and the waitress realized she needed to think of ways to recoup the time and money her husband and father-in-law leeched off of her. Perhaps poisoning the food they forced her to cook after coming home from a job more stressful and longer than theirs would prove a point. The waitress was momentarily shaken by her dark idea. She had never contemplated killing somebody before, let alone the man she loved, and shoved the violent urge aside. Those poisonous thoughts continued to linger though, and eventually pushed the woman towards the brothel manager's door for that promotion by the day's end.

* * *

><p>Orochimaru chuckled evilly after feeling the tug on the charmed coin he left on the table and wondered what dark fantasies were sprouting in his victim's mind. What good was immortality if you could not laugh at the ephemeral anxieties of these fragile human vessels? The serpentine shinobi devoted most of his time to studying ninjutsu, but he was not one to ignore inspiration when it strikes. One of Orochimaru's many agents used a subtle, mind-twisting genjutsu that required frequent interaction with the victim, and it piqued snakelike man's interest because he developed a similar method that relied on pills years before. It took some time, but he managed to deduce that his agent used some type of chakra storing device to keep the technique going between charge ups, which was an improvement over his genjutsu pills that were only good for short bursts.<p>

After figuring that out he was able to reverse engineer and improve the technique in no time. The unfortunate waitress was his first victim, and he estimated it would last from two to three weeks due to his chakra's potency. It was her own fault though. Orochimaru had only wanted to order some dango for dessert, but the petrified woman did not back after delivering his meal, and the legendary shinobi could not wait forever. Orochimaru let out a short laugh after realizing he was falling prey to those same mortal trappings he laughed at earlier and brushed it aside. People like his sensei might dwell on the inconsistency, but the serpentine shinobi did not care. He was a force of nature pursuing his own ambitious goals, and mulling over an inconsequential thought would not help him achieve them. Right now the snake summoner had to find a pig to roast over the flames he had been fanning in Yu no Kuni.

His strategy to make the Yu Daimyo unpopular had almost worked too well. The urban centers across the nation, which contained many displaced peasants from the countryside, had openly rebelled against the Daimyo in the past few days. Bandits had completely destroyed their old homes and livelihoods, and any money they were able to eke out of tourists had disappeared as well. The country was making a slow recovery after the Oto-nin arrived and slowed the bandit attacks, but that changed in an instant. When the Daimyo did not pay the full price, which was already heavily discounted, Orochimaru had real firepower behind his propaganda. The manipulative shinobi made a big show of pulling back the Oto-nin under his command, who made sure to publicly express regret that the job was left unfinished.

Of course, most of them did not go far in reality. Some waited in hidden forts tucked into the forest of the Ta Yu border, but most looped back into the country and joined with the bandits to support the increase of attacks. Any economic relief felt by the people quickly disappeared, and many of the unemployed citizens began expressing their discontent in taverns. Instead of taking any sort of action like a capable leader would, the morbidly obese man panicked and fled on the back of an incredibly sturdy horse with his most trusted servants and bodyguards.

This allowed Orochimaru to insert more firebrands to further slander the man in public while his chosen puppet made moves behind the scenes to seize power. Most of the country was openly calling for the Daimyo's head now, and the snake summoner's ambitious pet had received his blessing from the country's military leaders, who would also be deposed very soon. All Orochimaru had to do was deliver the pig to his puppet and let the barbecue commence. It was somewhat of a challenge to locate the secret bunker where the obese Daimyo had holed up, as only his most trusted confidants knew the exact location, but after discovering their identities it was easy enough to extract the information.

Now he stood outside of a giant field of geysers that protected the southern part of the country's border with Hi no Kuni. The massive amounts of superheated water counteracted the biting cold, and Orochimaru removed his cloak before entering the field of scalding steam. The burns forming on his skin were quickly healed by his regeneration, and pain was simply an annoyance to the snake summoner after a long career as a high level shinobi. There was a route that allowed travellers to avoid the superheated steam, but following that would inform the Daimyo of his impending visit, and the man might flee by sea. Orochimaru wanted to end this quickly, and allowing the Daimyo to leave the country would give his enemies an opportunity to discover his involvement. Yu no Kuni was already his, but the extra eyes would mean a prolonged delay before Guren's forces could venture into Shimo, and it would make Kimimaro's job harder if the Daimyo found support to launch a counter-insurgence from abroad. This was an important mission, and he was leaving nothing to chance.

Orochimaru reached Yu's coast and turned east to see a strange silhouette in the distance. He ended up a little farther up than he liked, but it would not take too long to cover the small distance. Besides, it was better to be farther away from the Daimyo and his sensors than too close, he could leave nothing to chance here. The serpentine shinobi used a fuuin he prepared, which lowered his chakra level to that of a wild animal, and began walking towards the luxurious fortress in the distance. The snake contract allowed him to use their thermal vision, and he picked up the heat sources of a samurai patrol in the distance. When the red heat sources in the distance got closer, the traitorous member of the Sannin stealthily slid over the edge of the cliff.

The man's sharp eyes allowed him to pick up cracks in the rock where heat escaped, and his nimble fingers easily found holds in the sheer rock as he agilely moved along the cliff's edge like a spider. Orochimaru made quick progress despite having no access to his chakra, and soon heard the sounds of a patrol above him. The shinobi paid them no mind as he continued, and soon enough they faded away. After another few hours of traversing the cliff, Orochimaru heard the sounds of voices below being carried up to him by the wind. Orochimaru looked down at the beach and identified forty samurai wearing the pristine white armor of the Daimyo's guard patrolling the beach around a boat ready to sail at a moment's notice. Even with less chakra than a genin, the men would have found it impossible to kill Orochimaru, but it was not time to reveal his presence yet. This was not the only escape route available to the Daimyo, the obese man could still escape through an underground tunnel only he could access, or ride a horse through the safe path and into the wilds of the country.

It took less than five minutes to identify the pattern of the patrols before Orochimaru carefully descended the cliff face and casually walked across the beach and into the cave. He used no genjutsu or trick of any kind, the man was just experienced enough to know exactly where the blind spots were at every second, and quick enough to get there when he needed to. The serpentine shinobi entered the well-lit cavern without raising an alarm and ducked into a shadow created by the flickering torches. After a few minutes another patrol group passed him by without a thought, and the shinobi climbed the rocky wall before using the ceiling to cross the open grotto.

Orochimaru's muscles were beginning to ache after the exertion of the past few hours, and he almost breathed a sigh of relief when another patrol opened the door beneath him after waiting above it for nearly ten minutes. The shinobi slid through the closing door with practiced ease and hugged the wall until he was sure there were no approaching patrols coming down the hall outside of the doorway. After a few minutes the snake summoner left the archway and snuck down the passage until he found a staircase.

The legendary shinobi entered a nearby room used for storing food and made himself comfortable on a sack of rice. Orochimaru realized he made better progress than he thought after waiting for almost an hour, but eventually the stones around him shook when the first part of the ambush began. The man chuckled as he pictured the delicious look of betrayal on the samurai's faces after they realized what was going on and prepared to move.

* * *

><p>Kimimaro nodded after Ranmaru used his doujutsu to make one of the guards ignite the gunpowder lining the walls and gave the signal for the hundred fifty soldiers under his command to remove the heavy rubber suits covering their body. The relieved shinobi all ripped the shells that protected them from the scalding steam, and covered their chakra signatures, but also served as a small oven that had been cooking them for the past few hours. The fatigued fighters popped soldier pills to boost their energy and crouched in the ready position while watching a close to a hundred arrows fall short of their position.<p>

It took a few moments for the elite guards to overcome the shock at seeing their own blow up the gunpowder, but training soon kicked in and the archers launched a tight barrage of arrows into the thick steam at the direction of some sensors while a loud alarm went off in the courtyard. This was the signal for the next phase of the attack, and right on cue a massive spout of water rose up out of the ocean and crushed the ship while it rose over the two hundred foot tall cliff. The power of the jutsu shocked the Daimyo's guards and allowed Kimimaro's shinobi to cover the first two hundred yards without any resistance. Unfortunately a samurai turned around in time to see their approach and shouted out a warning before his throat was torn open by a bone bullet.

Fiery arrows lit up the night sky and managed to kill a few of the weaker shinobi under Kimimaro's command, but after a few seconds the arrows unexpectedly exploded and took several more members of the attacking force with shrapnel. Ranmaru used his doujutsu to make some of the archers drop their lit arrows, which forced the men around them to desert their positions as explosions rocked the walls. Soon the remaining Oto troops were at the base of the wall, and Doton users created dozens of earth spikes down its length, which would allow them to scale the seventy-five foot structure that was warded against wall walking. The Daimyo's guard consisted of some elite shinobi too though, and they quickly collapsed the earth spikes and killed several of the Oto-nin around them.

Kimimaro placed his hand on the ground and called upon his bloodline to create a nearly indestructible spike of bone that allowed him and the shinobi around him to reach the top of the wall and create a distraction for the others. The Kaguya grinned when Ranmaru launched himself onto the wall first and shattered the jaw of an attacking opponent with a powerful thrust of his steel staff. The 11 year old turned and used the black weapon to block a slashing katana with strength that defied his age, before spinning under the blade and slamming the butt of his staff into the man's gut. Kimimaro killed the staggered samurai with a bone bullet and followed his apprentice into battle. The Kaguya kept many of the trained samurai away from the boy with his lethal bone projectiles and allowed Ranmaru to test his mettle against a few opponents at once. The boy managed to hold his own and carve through them using his staff and basic jutsu like the Bunshin and Kawarimi.

Several shinobi burst out of the ground beneath their feet in an attempted ambush, but Ranmaru already knew they were there and jumped into the air while forming seals. The more experienced shinobi leapt away from stream of fire created by their young opponent, but they were all cut in half before touching the ground. Kimimaro looked over to see Juugo transforming the blade coming out of his right shoulder back into an arm and nodded to the older teenager before walking towards the castle and signaling for his lieutenants to follow. The remaining shinobi stayed behind to fight the small pockets of elite bodyguards still alive the courtyard, and Kimimaro entered the fortress with the others while screams echoed up from the beach below. His group was moving faster than necessary, but the Kaguya wanted the glory of delivering the Daimyo to Orochimaru personally.

Two bone swords extended out of the Kaguya's palms as he took the lead and made quick work of any opponent who dared to step in their way. The Oto-nin made good progress and soon found the staircase leading to the lower level. It was only a short walk to the escape tunnel's alleged location, and Kimimaro's triumphant attitude faded when they rounded the last corner to see Guren, Isaribi, and Suigetsu walking towards the door as well. The crystal and bone users shared an icy stare before Juugo kicked down the wooden portal. Guren and Kimimaro quickly took care of the shinobi guards in the room with a barrage of crystal and bone projectiles before approaching the Daimyo, who was frantically trying to enter the combination to the door. The morbidly obese noble seemed to jiggle as he worked faster after hearing the bodies hit the ground, but he froze moments later when slender fingers caressed his fatty cheek as a sinister voice whispered, "Hello again," into his ear.

* * *

><p>Orochimaru waited for the sound of heavy footsteps to fade outside before casually opening the door and walking down the hall. The man knew the tunnel was in the lower levels, but only the Daimyo knew its exact location, though many of the Daimyo's confidants had theories. Every person he interrogated claimed it was sealed to look like a regular stretch of wall until somebody said the password to reveal it. The serpentine shinobi waited in a deep shadow near the bottom of the stairs until the Daimyo hurried past with ten of his personal bodyguards. Orochimaru waited until the last masked figure passed by before exiting the shadows and following in silence.<p>

Even the Daimyo's best sensor could not detect the legendary man as he waited around the corner and watched the country's soon to be deposed ruler whisper something to the wall. A few second passed before cracks spiderwebbed across the ancient stone as light seeped through. The image of a solid stonewall shattered to reveal a simple wooden door with a ring attached. The Daimyo opened the portal and entered before the ten guards followed, and Orochimaru managed to slip through undetected as the door closed. He slithered across the ground like a snake and curled up in a dark corner while watching the show. The legendary ninja could not afford to reveal himself yet. These were all jounin level opponents at least, and it would be unwise for him to start the fight with no chakra. It would take a few minutes to release the seal containing his chakra in ideal conditions, but doing it too fast might rile up his chakra and tip off the sensor before he finished. Better to take it slowly and ensure he got it right the first time.

The serpentine shinobi slowly went through hand seals for several minutes while the obese leader's pudgy fingers attempted to enter the combination into the dial on the far wall, but panic would not let him get it right. Despite having no access to chakra, Orochimaru was still able to concentrate some killer intent towards the fat coward. The treacherous man heard one of the bodyguards speaking in an artificial voice through the steel mask covering her face, "Very strong shinobi are approaching Daimyo-sama. Please hurry, you know the dial will not move for anybody but you." The haughty noble was so panicked he did not even offer a quick rebuke. He simply ignored the warm feeling spreading across the front of his robe and continued to frantically twist the dial.

Orochimaru had to suppress a chuckle as the scent of urine permeated throughout the room and held the last seal in the sequence needed to restore his chakra. The sensor called out, "Get ready," a few moments later, but the bodyguards inside could do nothing to resist the barrage of dangerously sharp projectiles from his two most powerful subordinates that seemed to fill the entire room, despite the warning. The snake sennin made the final seal and vanished from the corner as his potent killing intent filled the room. Fortunately for the Daimyo, his muscles clenched when long, cold, and slender fingers gently caressed his cheek, otherwise he would have been shamed even more during his imprisonment. Orochimaru smirked at the thought and leaned forward while whispering, "Hello again," into his ear, causing the Daimyo's clenched muscles to give out.

The overweight noble fainted in a pile of his own mess moments after hearing the words, and Orochimaru pulled out a thin circle of metal charged with his chakra. The snake summoner made a small incision in the man's fatty flesh and inserted the disk into his neck before forming a seal. His new genjutsu went to work and began morphing the man's consciousness so he would forget Orochimaru's involvement in the coup and his capture. When the Daimyo's trial began next week, the man would be convinced that the bandits were agents of Eisai, who would go on to replace him as the Daimyo. Orochimaru planned to move suspicion away from Oto and create doubts about his puppet's legitimacy, which would ultimately strengthen the inevitable counter-revolution, and force the illegitimate ruler to rely on him more in the early stages.

The serpentine shinobi looked up to see the looks of surprise on his subordinates faces and let out a chuckle, "Did you think I would miss this important triumph?" He turned to the unconscious noble and used an earth jutsu to bind his hands and feet. "The plan worked to perfection and this part of the play has closed."

Guren and Kimimaro shared a betrayed look at the man's presence before the woman asked, "Did you not trust us to do the job Orochimaru-sama, why send us if you are here? Surely you didn't need our help to capture the Daimyo and kill his pathetic bodyguards."

The manipulative ninja smiled and shook his head, "You're correct Guren, it is unlikely I would have needed your help." He looked over his confused lieutenants before pointing to the fat Daimyo, "I could not take any chances that our portly friend might escape though. His existence threatens the next part of the plan, and I needed to make sure that there was no possibility of failure. You and Kimimaro were crucial actors that took away his two other exits while I waited for him to take the only one remaining. I trusted you both to perform admirably, and you did." The crystal and bone user could not fully contain their pride at the praise, despite the confusion gnawing away at them. Orochimaru waited a few moments for that sense of accomplishment to take hold before continuing, "What I could not trust was the other troops trying their hardest when they knew about my presence. The security I represent might have made them complacent."

The serpentine man made sure to choose his words carefully and create a barrier between them and their subordinates. He needed to convince these important pawns the disdain he felt for all inferior shinobi did not apply to them. The traitorous member of the Sannin put his all of his focus on Kimimaro while asking, "Would your ninja have run through the geyser field if they knew Orochimaru-sama was there?" He turned to face Guren with that same look, making her feel like the most important person in the world at that moment, "Would your soldiers have been willing to sail through the treacherous whirlpool field at night if they knew I was here?"

Orochimaru plastered on a fake smile when the tension left Guren's and Kimimaro's bodies. His two most loyal pawns were mollified, and the rest would hold their tongues now too. The serpentine shinobi smirked, mortals would believe anything to preserve the fragile paradigm through which they viewed of the world. It was truly terrifying to realize everything you loved was impermanent and your life had been constructed around false presumptions. People wanted to avoid this realization at any cost and twisted the world around them to keep it safe, but the quest for short-term happiness only hampered long-term pursuits.

The snake summoner looked at his subordinates standing in the shit and blood covered room while thinking what had just transpired. The life of a country's ruler had essentially ended tonight, despite his overwhelming wealth and political power. All of his bodyguards were ingloriously slaughtered like genin and lying in puddles of their own filth, and now their master was about to be publicly executed in a painful and gruesome spectacle designed to appease the masses. This abrupt and shameful ending to the ruler of a country did not upset Guren or Kimimaro. It was the thought that they were unimportant to Orochimaru that caused their worldview to falter, and he was able to restore it with proof of its falsehood literally lying right in front of them.

Guren and Kimimaro were right to believe that Orochimaru could have performed this mission by himself, but their desire to be necessary and precious to him made them believe his lie. It also made it impossible for them to grasp an important lesson, which is what he looked for in his subordinates. He wanted fighters, not thinkers. Orochimaru learned at the feet of the Sandaime Hokage during the Second Great War, and was one of his most trusted field commanders in the Third. He knew the importance of troop morale and how to manipulate it if necessary. Kimimaro was about to enter a prolonged battle with actual opponents instead of bandits and missing-nin secretly commanded by Oto. It would inject meaning and fire into the occupying Oto-nin if his troops returned with stories about the sacrifice of their comrades. The tales of the luxury they had never even considered inside a safe house might also galvanize some for the fight and inspire those motivated by greed.

At the same time, Guren's force was about to battle much stouter opponents than the fattened shinobi, secular monks, and drunk samurai of Yu no Kuni. The shinobi of Shimogakure were hardened by constant battle with their aggressive neighbor to the north and would not be caught unprepared. The samurai were outfitted by the best metals pulled from their extensive mines, while the monks were acknowledged as some of the best open area fighters on the continent. The Oto-nin about to enter this meat grinder needed a confidence booster to recall when times became tough, so he gave them the easier assignment, though it did not appear to be at first glance. The tides off Yu no Kuni's coast were notoriously treacherous and unpredictable, but Suigetsu was able to guide them through with his bloodline. Karin's ability to suppress chakra signatures also allowed the ships to sneak up on the unprepared guards on the beach. He doubted that Guren's casualties were high, which would only add to the luster of the stories told around the campfires in the upcoming campaign.

Orochimaru looked over at Suigetsu, who was doing an admirable job of hiding his fatigue after the heavy work he just performed. The serpentine shinobi already had enough Hozuki's DNA stored up that the teenager's presence was no longer necessary for his experiments, but Suigetsu possessed potential beyond Kimimaro. Orochimaru knew the former Mist-nin wanted to leave at the first opportunity, but the former Konoha-nin also knew the Hozuki was in a tough spot, and if he enticed him enough the formidable shinobi might remain here. "I also wanted to deliver a reward to one of you. Suigetsu did not get to share in any of the glory because his true role was kept secret, but it was his bloodline that allowed the boats to safely navigate through the treacherous tides. He also boosted the power of Karin's jutsu that helped demoralize the enemy fighting above. Because of this, he will be given command of half the blockade fleet, and be appointed to a position just below Guren and Kimimaro."

It appeared Orochimaru's plan had worked to some degree. Suigetsu was not doing as well hiding the apparent pride he felt, and the snake summoner guessed the jealousy radiating from the Sound Four only made it harder to contain. Kimimaro seemed to be eyeing the teenager with renewed interest while Guren gave Isaribi a stony stare that caused the girl to curl into herself slightly, as she probably recognized that her failure to improve opened the doorway for this promotion.

The only two that did not seem to care were Juugo and Ranmaru, but that was not surprising in the least. All of the orange haired teenager's efforts went to remaining calm, and Kimimaro's reputation had done a wonderful job of preserving Ranmaru's innocence. The boy was able to squeal with unadulterated delight when receiving an ice cream cone as a surprise, but his enhanced chakra allowed him to mercilessly slaughter fully grown men. It was no surprise though. For all of Kimimaro's fawning, there was not a sterner taskmaster in all of Otogakure.

Orochimaru was strongly considering giving Sasuke's child to the Kaguya for early training as well. Young Mamushi Uchiha was already showing signs of being a prodigy. His chakra was denser and in greater supply than most infants, and he reached points of development sooner as well. Despite being seven months old the child was already able to stand and walk around using the edge of his playpen as support. He was even able to say mama and dada to the guardians he was with. The legendary shinobi looked up to find the others waiting for his orders and the man pushed thoughts of his little viper aside, "Continue on with the plan as before, I have somewhere else to be." Orochimaru sunk into the earth as his lieutenants paraded the obese Daimyo outside to show to the gathered troops like a trophy.

* * *

><p>Shiro looked proudly at the two massive ships being built in the secluded inlet on Ta no Kuni's coastline. Each one was just over two hundred feet long and almost stretched across the cove. The cliffs had been artificially widened to make room for the sixty foot wide vessels, and Shiro was beginning to wonder if it would be necessary to raise the cliff's height to hide the massive, castle-like structure being built on top of the deck that rose an additional thirty feet above the ship's height. Each one was capable of comfortably carrying three hundred men and was armed with seventy-two cannons. These—and the ones being built in similar inlets—would be the bruisers of the fleet, which was complemented by smaller and quicker moving ships.<p>

Ta's navy would soon quite formidable when it was completed, and the Daimyo was loathe to give Orochimaru command of it, even temporarily. It was a necessity though, since it would be impossible to blockade Frost without help, even if Orochimaru's plan to commandeer and scuttle a majority of their navy worked. The offer of Yu's new Daimyo to loan out half of their ships would help, but still leave too many holes for potential informants to escape. It would be war if an outside nation heard of this aggression and found hard evidence, and since Ta and Shimo were in the same alliance, the Land of Rice Fields would likely find itself without any support in the conflict.

His nation still needed several more years before it could stand on its own, so secrecy was a must. It pained him to see the ships painted silver and gold instead of tan and red, but the outside world needed to believe that this was Shimo's navy. The black haired Daimyo waved absent-mindedly as the passing workers bowed and walked to the edge of the construction site. He did not want to expose these hard-working men to Orochimaru's sickening presence. The serpentine shinobi arrived right on cue and made an over-exaggerated bow, "Good to see you Shiro-sama."

The Daimyo raised an eyebrow at the man's unusual politeness while responding, "You as well Orochimaru-dono. Are you ready to see the ships?"

The traitorous member of the Sannin nodded, "That, and explain the next part of my plan. We need to create some sort of internal catastrophe in Frost in order to legitimize the blockade." Several blank sheets of paper with a wax seal at the bottom appeared in Orochimaru's hand and he handed them over to Shiro. "These are blank papers containing the seal of the Frost Daimyo. Since I have never had any communication with him, I need you to forge these documents to the other Feudal Lords for the best effect. They need to appear and sound like the Daimyo's writing, and I can think of no better person to handle this task."

Shiro looked down at the blank papers with awe. Each one of these was almost as valuable as the stack of gold Orochimaru gave him last year. With a stroke of his pen he could start another great war or crash multiple economies. The potential was almost limitless really. He looked out at the ships being painted and pushed those thoughts aside while asking, "What should each note contain."

Orochimaru shrugged, "I do not know yet truthfully, just keep your ear to the ground and write a proper reaction to whatever event happens Shiro-sama. The most important thing is that you include some sort of evidence that damns Konoha, though you think it is Kumo in reality. Make it seem the only option is a completely neutral investigation performed without any outside interference. The other Daimyo must believe you cannot trust anyone."

Shiro looked at the two-faced man who had somehow managed to become his closest ally. He could understand that sentiment all too well. "That won't be a problem Orochimaru-dono. Tell me though, what do you think of the ships?"

"Truly marvelous that something this size is capable of floating without any chakra. It is a shame that they are painted the wrong colors." Orochimaru's sharp eyes scanned the ships before narrowing, "There is one problem though."

Shiro gave the treacherous man a questioning glance before inspecting the ships closer. Each one of them was pristine in every way, the shinobi was obviously at a loss when it came to ship building, "I'm afraid I have to disagree Orochimaru-dono, these are perfect. Any sailor would be happy to sail one."

"Too perfect," was the smug response, "Any competent observer will be able to tell that these are freshly built, and Shimo has not created any new ships within the past three years. It would be a dead giveaway that something is amiss."

The adopted Amakusa stroked his finely trimmed goatee while staring out at the ships while considering the thought. A few weeks at sea would weather the paint slightly and create imperfections. Besides, there were already sections that seemed weathered compared to the glossy paint drying in the sun, "I have to disagree Orochimaru-dono, it might raise some eyebrows, but a fresh paintjob will not scuttle the operation."

Orochimaru frowned at the man's density, although it was a boon to his many plots beyond this, and a big reason he supported the adopted Amakusa over Kotaro. "It is not just the paint Shiro-dono." The serpentine shinobi pointed to the many unpainted spots, "The wood is all the same material has a consistent pattern, which reveals it is freshly made. Any used ship would have patches of different wood where repairs were made. Take the next few months to artificially weather the ships. Shoot out the sides to test the cannons, poke leaks in the pine tar under the water level and let it seep through for a little bit."

Shiro nodded, the idea made sense, but he did not look forward to explaining to the foreman that every ship would need to be damaged before sailing. The Amakusa looked sideways at Orochimaru and suppressed a sigh, he hated feeling reliant on the legendary shinobi and knew it would come back to haunt him, but moments like these showed exactly why he still needed the treacherous ninja. Shiro was a fighter and pursued his goals relentlessly, but he often missed the subtle tells and moves that illuminated a person's true intentions.

The Daimyo also lacked the vision to execute great plans. He never had the gall to overthrow his old family, but once the idea was presented it became too obvious. After claiming the throne, Shiro would have been happy restoring the country to its old prosperity, but Orochimaru thought to create a new superpower with the Land of Rice Fields at the center. Eventually the young Daimyo knew he would gain the necessary experience to think like that, but he needed Orochimaru's guidance for now. The day was coming where that would change though. The serpentine shinobi would be looking for a new home, or find his head on a pike.

* * *

><p>Author's Note<p>

Bad news everybody, it appears now I won't have enough time to complete the entire story as I have planned before my deadline of the end of summer, so there will be cuts. I am seriously debating which parts of the story to do that too, because I think all of them are vital to its advancement, so I will probably trim a little bit off of every arc until I get to the final one. Do not worry though, I will finish this story.

-Operaman Bye Bye


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