Chronological Timing: Between Valley of the End and the ending of Part I.
Main Character: Kitai (spirit of a tree).
Total length: 4 chapters.

The street glimmered. Dust shot upward across the ground, a brilliant reflection of the streets.

Naruto ran into the street, throwing his hand up. "YEAH! I beat the enemy! Hidden Rain isn't anything to worry about!" He glanced from side to side. Clearing his throat, he straightened his uniform. I probably ought to look a little cooler. The hero's obligated to appear nice, after all.

Hinata ducked behind a nearby street corner. She pressed her fingers together. "Naruto-kun."

"Hey, Hinata-san." Naruto grinned, pressing his hand against the door. "I haven't seen you in a while. What's going on with you? Sorry we couldn't bring you on the mission to Sound."

Hinata's face turned crimson. She toppled over, fainting.

Naruto shrugged after a moment, walking back to the apartment. She must've fainted from the heat. I'll talk to her later. Opening the door, he remained still for a while. Then he screamed violently as he stared at the thing inside the door.

The tower of sticks and natural items glistened inside the front door, holding up roughly to Naruto's height.

Tayuya, hearing the scream, raised an eyebrow. She turned and looked up the street. "Well, looks like Naruto-san is back."

Haku appeared on the stairs. "Good morning, Naruto-sama." She bowed deeply. "May I arrange—"

"What the hell is this?!" Naruto shouted, his finger shaking.

"I have no idea. I thought I had cleaned out that pestilent thing. It's continued to appear every morning." Haku frowned, her expression somber. "How irritating. It seems I failed to eradicate it."

Naruto screamed louder. "Ghosts! GHOSTS!" He took a step backward, his body shaking. "I hate ghosts!"

Sasuke flicked Naruto across the head with two fingers. "Moron." She stepped forward, inspecting the shrine. "That, on the other hand, is definitely new. I haven't seen something like that since I was at home."

"It's an offering." Nōtō leaned forward. His fingers brushed along the surface. "Look at the fox hairs on top. Someone is trying to get your attention, Naruto-kun." He sighed. "As a jinchūriki these things occasionally happen. There's a certain set of people who worship the Tailed Beasts as gods."

Naruto frowned. His eyes narrowed. "Who'd do that?"

"I'm scared." Kōju tugged on Naruto's sleeve.

Naruto sighed. "We're all going to be fine." He rubbed his temples. "Probably."

The five people walked into the room.

Kitai

The garden lay ancient, fantastically old. The air blew over the carefully tilled soil, sweeping over the earth and running through the branches once more.

The brown-haired ninja knelt by a small pine tree, pouring water onto the deep roots of the potted tree.

A voice interrupted the ruminations of Nōtō. "Tsunade-sama sent for Team Seven urgently,"

Iruka looked up after a moment. "Of course." He set down the watering pot, glancing up at the jōnin.

The jōnin coughed, interested. "What is that tree?" he questioned, pointing at the tree.

Iruka smiled. "It's something I planted about…" He ran through the calculations mentally. "Thirteen and a half years ago now." He dusted off his hands, standing up.

The jōnin raised an eyebrow. "That's almost at the time of the Nine-Tails attack."

Iruka nodded beneficently. "That's so. In fact, I planted it only a few days afterwards." He ran his hand along the tree bark, wiping away the last remnants of soil.

The jōnin hesitated. He stared up at the tree, studying the branches with interest as he did so.

"Yes, there was a symbolic reason." Iruka paused as he looked up at the jōnin. "What would you say it is?"

The jōnin thought a moment. "Is it… Um… that the Hidden Leaf will always protect its own?" he managed after a long while. His face darkened after a moment or two had passed. A strange way of putting it.

Iruka shook his head. "Not bad, but not the right answer, either." He stepped away from the tree once more, landing on the ground. His eyes narrowed as he realized an important detail. "Hold on, though. Since you need Team Seven, why are you calling me?"

"A matter of personal danger." The jōnin looked at the tree with slightly more respect. "Mizuki-san has escaped."

Iruka's eyebrow rose. "Really?" he questioned with surprise as he regarded the jōnin. "I was under the impression that he was dead."

"Yes. Well, we discovered him a little later, attempting to do something under the guise of the exams. Under that incident, damage occurred." The jōnin shook his head. "I don't know about your safety—there was also a concern that he might attempt to strike back at the academy this time. I don't know exact details of how that will occur, but it is best to be on your guard. Mizuki-san will most probably act in a dangerous way when he arrives."

Iruka nodded. "Yes, that was always his way," he agreed with a sigh. He stood up. "Usually of course that would be the end of it, but Mizuki-kun has no concept of proportion." He turned his feet northwards, walked about a hundred meters, reentered the school with a sorrowful smile on his face. His eyes flickered as he looked upward at the board. I suppose it's unsurprising that he's alive, after all. He has skills in this kind of field. He can create illusions of vanishing.

Kitai

Flames rose from the surface of the grill. The flames scorched along the surface of the scales. The forest glimmered, water dripping from the grass and beautiful white skies.

Tayuya frowned.

Sasuke tossed the fish up in the air. "So. Genjutsu?"

"Correct." Tayuya extended her hand. "At least, that's my fucking specialty. What do you do?"

"You have some knowledge from your briefing, right?" Sasuke questioned. She set down the fish against the tray.

Kōju blinked, studying the fish. A trail of drool started from the edge of her lips.

Sasuke glanced over her shoulder. "A little hungry, Kōju-san?" she questioned, her lip quirking upward.

Kōju shivered. "I was out training really late today," she declared, her lip trembling. "Can I eat first?"

Haku inclined her head. "However, just broiling fish is insufficient." She grasped the tray. Removing it from Sasuke's grasp, she hurried into the next room. "Rather, you must collect yourself. You must create a proper seasoning and coloration to the fish. There is a process. While you may eat first, seasoning the fish will take longer."

Naruto's body shook with anger. His hand trembled against the side of the chair.

"What is the matter, Naruto-sama?" Haku questioned.

"Why isn't anyone asking me about how the mission went?"

"You got sent by Tsunade to get some herbs from the lands of Hidden Rain, right?" Sasuke questioned, her eyebrow rising.

Naruto blinked.

"I assume you were successful; you came back in a good mood. Am I wrong?" Sasuke continued.

Naruto nodded. His expression grew sour.

"There you go. There's really nothing to discuss, is there?"

"That's not true! There were salamanders!"

"...Salamanders?" Kōju questioned, her eyebrows furrowing.

"Yeah! And they had really sharp fangs and teeth and everything!"

"Poisonous?" Sasuke questioned, flipping over one of the fish again.

"I didn't check." Naruto sighed. "But I had to stop by Tsunade afterward to get checked up, so maybe?"

Sasuke sighed. "Okay. On the off chance that they did actually have poison, I apologize; that is something worth asking about."

The moonlight poured down onto the grill, reflecting silver from the apartment's roof.

Kōju's hand crept toward the plate.

Haku slapped Kōju's hand. "Did I not already tell you? No eating before they're seasoned." She stated the words in a distant, calm voice.

Kōju winced.

The slight-figured girl regarded Naruto with apprehension. What's up with you? she wondered slowly. I was just trying to be nice to you, Naruto-kun. Why did you stop caring for me? Slowly, regretfully, she turned away, walking down the alley. She straightened her brown hair. Her brown eyes looked down beneath her. The long brown kimono trailed across the ground. Well… I should go, anyway… I'm only a very plain tree, after all…

The moonlight poured downward.

Naruto glanced over his shoulder. His eyebrows furrowed. "Hey," he called out, holding his hand outward toward the figure.

The tree faded into the foliage, vanishing once more.

"What are you doing, Naruto?" Sasuke questioned, her face stern.

"I just." Naruto looked after the figure, his expression distant. "For a second, I thought I saw someone I used to know." He turned his gaze back to the fish. "Sorry."

The plates lay against the table.

"Itakadimasu." Sasuke clapped her hands together.

The group dug into the fish.

Naruto's mind returned to the past. He dug into the fish, studying the fish steadily.

A/N: This is the first chapter of Side Arcs, a promised series of arcs going over characters I can't cover in depth during the main story of World of Patterned History. Here's what differs from the main arcs:
+Events may occur out of order.
+The series will be updated relative to when I get inspiration, and not relative to a schedule like I will be putting on World of Patterned History itself (while it's active, at any rate).
+The series will focus on side characters and events that happen off-screen.
+While I will be updating irregularly, this may be considered a constantly active series, as opposed to a series updated when necessary.