Unspoken (OLD BOOK)

by Desrani

Hello, I have this book on my Wattpad account. Naruto lost everything when he was born. His freedom, his parents, his village, and to live a normal childhood. Sarutobi Hiruzen decides to fix his mistakes by the only way how. Training him. During that time though, a few unexpected visitors come flying at him, quite literally. Full summary inside. (Now under the title 'Masked'.)

1. (1) The Begginings

Naruto lost everything when he was born. His freedom, his parents, his village and to live a normal childhood. Sarutobi Hiruzen decides to fix his mistakes by the only way how. Training him. During the time though, a few unexpected visitors come flying at him, quite literally. Now Naruto has to deal with a group of psychos, an annoying fangirl, an avenger, a perverted sensei and just a few killer bombshells along the way. How will Naruto be able to handle all the craziness and not go insane? Especially since a certain pervert has taken an interest in him.

Unspoken

That one word set me off on memory road. So many things unspoken for me and I don't even know what to do now. I have so many bad memories that it's not even funny.

I sigh as I walk to my bathroom and turn on the water. I wait for it to turn hot.

Oh, Ya...I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Namikaze-Uzumaki Naruto and I hold the nine-tailed fox inside me. Yes, I know my parents and about the Fox as well. It was actually quite funny how I found out about them, that story is for another time though.

I always act like an idiot and oblivious when in reality I'm smart and observant. Don't get me wrong, I'm not bragging, I'm just stating the truth. After all, I know myself better than anyone.

I feel the water heat up and begin to strip out of my clothes before I get in. My long wavy blonde hair reaches my ankles before it just floats on top of the water. From the pictures I've seen, I look like my mother with my long hair. It looks exactly like her style, just more on the wild side and blonde.

After cleaning myself, I get out and get dressed in my ugly jumpsuit. Honestly, I love orange but this is too much. Luckily, it helps out with my disguise, sadly, it's ugly. I pull my hair up into a low ponytail and stuff it in my orange jacket. It somehow still looks wild, most like because of the new hair growing and not yet long enough to weigh it down like the rest of my hair.

I walk into the kitchen. My hair has always had a weird thing to it even though its wavy and not spiked up. You cant control it but you can direct it. It's weird. After eating an apple and drinking some water, I walk out of my house after locking my door.

I walked to the academy after plastering a huge smile on my face. 'I wonder how long I can take this until I break…'

For now, the world may never know. I look at the academy from the gate and hold back a sigh. 'Well, let's get this over with then…' I stepped into the building with a 'to-big-to-be-but-fools-everyone-fake-smile'. Oh yeah, forgot to mention I'm wearing quite a few masks.

•••

Naruto slowly walked into the Academy with a big fake smile. He walked to his classroom with a slight drag in his step, not wanting to go, and opened the door once he was there, only to see that all the students were already in. His grin widens. "Hello everyone! Future Hokage is here!" As soon as he yells that, a pink haired girl hits him over the head. He holds a wince in and he mentally cast a glare at her. "Hey, Sakura-chan! Why'd ya have to hit me?" He whines, rubbing his head with a pout.

"Because, you stupid idiot!" Sakura yells back and goes back to fighting with a blonde haired girl named Ino. They are fighting over who sits next to ''Sasuke-Kun''. Naruto sighs inwardly before he jumps up on the desk in front of Sasuke.

Sasuke and Naruto glaring at each other the instant their eyes lock. It lasts for a few minutes before someone behind Naruto pushes him. Next thing they know, their kissing and the entire class is silent. 'What. The. Heck...' Sasuke and Naruto stay like that for a few moments of shock before they snap out of it and quickly pull away while wiping their mouth and making gagging noises.

The whole class was silent as they watched, too shocked to speak. Sasuke glares at Naruto as he finishes wiping his mouth. 'Disgusting Dobe…' Naruto on the other hand slowly turns his head and aims a death glare at him, promising murder. 'He will pay! He stole my first kiss!' Mentally, Naruto was crying crocodile tears.

Sasuke holds back a flinch the glare had almost caused. The fangirls soon snap out of the shock and quickly start yelling at Naruto, making the whole class snap out of it as well. "Naruto! How could you! I was supposed to be his first kiss!" One girl yelled before another butted in, "No I was!" and another, "No I was!" before they all started to fight over who was supposed to be Sasuke's first kiss.

While the fangirls continued to fight over who was supposed to be Sasuke's first kiss, Naruto slowly inches away and goes back up to his seat beside Sasuke, still glaring at him. Meanwhile, Sasuke was trying very hard to ignore everything around him. Luckily for him, Iruka-sensei walked in with a small sweatdrop.

"Okay, class! Calm down and take your seats!" Iruka said but it goes unheard. Gaining a tick mark, Iruka uses Big head no Jutsu. "SHUT UP AND SIT DOWN!" And just like that, the class was once again peaceful, along with the occasional glare here and there.

"Having fun there Kit? Seems you find reasons for those fangirls to hate you every day. Those fangirls are glaring daggers at you even harder than yesterday and you're doing the same to Duck butt over there." A deep voice commented in Naruto's mind, a small chuckle escaping at the end.

'Shut it, fuzzy.' Said 'Fuzzy' blows out in full maniacal laughter. Naruto tunes him out and looks ahead to watch as Iruka explains what is going to happen. "If you say anything about this indecent, I will rip your eyes out and make you eat them before I skin you alive," Naruto whispers to Sasuke, making sure no one hears. Seeing him tense, Naruto smirks inwardly. "I will not say a word." He whispers back in agreement.

••• Somewhere in the Hokage's tower

Laughing could be heard throughout the whole room as they watched what was going on through a crystal ball, even the Hokage was chuckling. Though, one did not laugh. No, he looked on with interest. 'Interesting.'

••• Back to Naruto, Timeskip to after test

Naruto sits on a lonely swing under a big Oak tree. He stares off at the other kids as they jump in joy with their parents. 'I wonder what it would be like to have parents...' He thought with a sad expression.

"Wonderful I'm sure kit. Your parents were very lovable." The voice from before came again.

Naruto smiles softly. 'Thanks, Kura-chan.' Naruto hid a mischievous smile.

"You insolent brat! I told you to stop calling me that! I am a male for crying out loud!" Kurama yelled, his tails swishing from side to side angrily.

Naruto just laughs mentally before he hears someone coming up to him. Looking up, he sees Mizuki, another teacher, walk up to him. Mizuki smiles down at Naruto. "Hey, I'm sorry about Iruka. Just know he is doing this for the best." Mizuki said softly as he stands in front of Naruto.

Naruto sighs sadly. "Yeah, I know but I still wanted to pass this year..." He said with fake sadness. Mizuki, still with a fake smile, asks. "Hey, what if I told you there is a secret way to pass? Would you do it?"

Naruto looks up at Mizuki confused before his face burst with excitement. "Heck yeah, I would!" Mizuki smiles just a bit wider. "I'll tell ya what, not many know of this test but if you pass it, you can become a Genin."

Naruto's eyes widen in disbelief but Mizuki sees it as awe. "Really?! Heck yeah, I would do it! Please tell me!" Naruto yells with a grin. Mizuki smirks inwardly but keeps up his smile. "Okay then, this is what you'll do..."

•••

Two hours later finds Naruto sitting in an old building in the middle of the forest. He looks down at the big scroll in his lap and starts studying more Jutsu. He had already copied 5 to his memory and is still going. The old man never lets him near this sadly.

'Kura-chan? How should I kill Mizuki? Or at least knock him out so that the Anbu can get him?'

"Oh! I know! How about by skinning him alive! Oh! Or you could shove a stick down his throat!"

'Kura-chan! That's too gory for this little mission! Why don't I just tickle him to death? It's possible! Oh! Or I could give him a wedge until he passes out!'

"Hahahaha! Classic kit!"

Naruto was laughing softly and was about respond back but stopped when he felt two Chakra signatures coming his way. One a few minutes ahead of the other. After a few moments of silence, Iruka runs out of the bushes and sees Naruto.

"There you're are, Naruto!" Iruka yelled, catching breathe. Once he does, he continues. "Don't you know it's a crime to steal the Forbidden Arts scroll?!" He yells again as he walks up to him with an angered expression, worry was hidden beneath it.

Naruto looks at Iruka in fake, confused curiosity. "What do you mean, Sensei? Mizuki said that if I can learn one Jutsu from this scroll then I would pass the graduation and become a Genin." Iruka pauses at that before he curses. He opens his mouth to say something but Mizuki makes his appearance before he can.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't the demon! I'm glad you could do my bidding. Taking that scroll was going to be a big pain. I thank you for saving me the trouble. Now, give me the scroll and I'll kill you painlessly!" Mizuki said with a vicious smirk. "You traitor! Naruto! Don't give him the scroll!" Iruka yells as he moves to stand in front of Naruto.

Mizuki laughs. "You Think you can stop me?! How stupidly cute of you Iruka." Mizuki has a something in his eyes as he looks at Iruka before it's gone soon after

"Do you know why the villagers hate you?!" Mizuki yells as he looks over at Naruto. "No Mizuki! It's forbidden!" Iruka yells with a panicked expression. Mizuki ignores Iruka's shout and continues. "It's because you're the nine tails! The Kyūbi! You killed thousands of people!" Mizuki tells and smirks as he looks at Iruka and Naruto before his smirks turn into a confused and angered frown.

"I already knew about the Fox, you idiot. You have to be stupid not to notice the glares and stuff. And the Fox is sealed inside me, not the other way around." Naruto said as he looks at Mizuki like he is an idiot. 'Why am I always surrounded by insane people?'

"I honestly don't know kit..."

Mizuki glares before he goes back to smirking. "Well, that doesn't change much! You will die now!" Mizuki yells as he throws a huge shuriken at Naruto. Naruto was about to move out of the way, as he had moved to stand beside his teacher during the talking when Iruka moves in front of him again and takes the hit. It lodges its self into Iruka's back. "Sensei!" Naruto yells and watches in horror as Iruka coughs up blood. The blood lands on Naruto's face.

"N-Naruto... Run... Don't let Mizuki get the scroll!" Iruka said. Mizuki laughs in delight at what happened. "Foolish Iruka-" Naruto didn't hear the rest of it as his mind went into a state of panic. 'Iruka-sensei...' Naruto looks up at Mizuki and glares.

"You will pay..." Naruto whispers. "Hahahaha! Like you could kill me, de-!" His speech was cut off by a pie being thrown at him, knocking him off the tree branch he was on. Not even five seconds go by and a small explosion lights the place were Mizuki was.

Iruka looks at Naruto as Naruto's hand slowly goes back to his side. "N-Naruto... W-where did you get that pie?" Iruka asks as he looks back and forth from Naruto and Mizuki's knocked out, bloody form. Naruto looks at Iruka with a victorious smile.

"Oh, that? Yeah, I had it in a scroll. I was planning on giving it to you but I forgot. Oh, and don't worry, I added that explosive tag to it last minute before I through it. I wasn't trying to kill you heh heh."

Iruka just has a look of lost on his face before he sighs. 'Naruto, you are really a mystery…'

••• Timeskip to the next day

Naruto walks into the classroom with his hitai-ate on his forehead. He walks over to his seat and sits down. "Hey, Naruto! What are you doing here? This class is for the graduated!" A boy with a puppy on his head, said as he looks up at Naruto with a confused expression.

Naruto grins. "Well if you haven't noticed, Kiba! I did graduate!" Naruto yells as he points to his hitai-ate proudly. Iruka had given his hitai-ate to him after the pie incident went down. It had been a special moment for Naruto.

At this time, Iruka walked through the doorway and settled the class down before he started naming off teams. Naruto was amazed as he watched his sensei do his normal things like he doesn't have a big gash on his back. He ignores what Iruka is saying in favor of studying him till he heard his name. "Uzumaki Naruto, Uchiha Sasuke, and Haruno Sakura," Iruka said and he continues to name off the teams.

Sakura smiles dreamily at Sasuke and glares at Naruto. Naruto sighs and he grumbles before letting his head fall into his arms and has an aura of depression around him. If people paid him close attention, they would hear him muttering colorful words.

••• Timeskip- two days later

Naruto sighs as he flops down on his bed in only a towel. His long wet hair soaking through his bed sheets, but he doesn't care. Looking over the last few days, he sighs again and closes his eyes. 'Why did I accept that mission again? Dang, it Jiji!' Naruto gets a tick mark and frowns before it slowly turns into a smirk as he remembers what happened when he met Kakashi, his sensei.

Flashback, two days ago

Naruto had his head in his arms and was practically asleep before Sakura's screaming woke him up. He grumbles as he barely slept the night before, because of the Pie incident. He standing up and plasters a smile on his face before his smile turns into a grin at an idea.

He quickly goes down the stairs and grabs a few pencils from the teacher's desk. Going about the room, he sets up a few traps for their sensei. Meanwhile, Sasuke and Sakura looked on with interest, the latter hiding it better. 'I wonder what he's doing...'

After Naruto was done setting up the traps, he went back over to his desk and sat down. Sakura and Sasuke walk over to him and they look at him. "What did you just do, Dobe?" Sasuke asks and Naruto grins. "I set up a few traps for sensei, duh! That'll teach him not to be late!" Naruto yells proudly. Sakura opens her mouth to say something but the sound of footsteps stops her.

Hearing close footsteps, they look at the door, Naruto grins excitedly. "Watch." He whispered before the door slides open.

Just then, 5 pencils come flying out of someplace. The person that opened the door looks surprised before he dodges the pencils, only for another trap in front of him to jump into action.

Shurikens come flying and he crouches to dodge them. Sadly, he saw the tags on them a little too late because he was caught off guard.

A loud bang was heard and a cloud of smoke burst through the room. When the smoke disappeared, all that was left was a man on his hands and knees with neon paint covering him.

Surprisingly, the man's silver gravity-defying hair survived the blast and didn't have a single drop of paint on it. The rest of the man couldn't be said the same though, as all his clothes were covered in neon paint.

After a minute of awed silence, Naruto cracks a grin and laughs. "It worked! Hahaha yes!" Sakura puts a hand over her mouth and looks the other way, all the while trying not to laugh. Sasuke smirks at the sight, he too, holding in the urge to laugh.

Their sensei though didn't hold the same amusement as the other three did and he glared. After standing up, he said, "I hate you all. Meet me on the roof in five, don't be late." before disappearing. The three children just sweatdrop at that as they calmed down before heading towards the door to leave.

Before they could leave though, Sakura stops them. She looks at the two before grinning. "Truce?" She asks and Naruto and Sasuke stare at her before Naruto grins. "Sure!" Sasuke pauses for a moment before glaring and turns away, pushing past them. "Just don't get in my way."

Sakura and Naruto stare at him before they look at each other. If anyone else was around to see this, they would have thought they were crazy.

A strange emotion could be identified in the two kids eyes. Like they were talking to each other yet not verbally. They both nod after a few seconds and run after Sasuke. They catch up to him right as he gets to the door that leads to the roof.

Sasuke glances at them before he opens the door and walks out. Sakura and Naruto walk out after him. The man from before glances up from his book before he straitens and puts his book away. He studies them closely as he sees a small difference in them but he pushes it away for later inspection.

Sasuke, Naruto, and Sakura sit down on the stairs in front of the man. Sasuke was in the middle of the bottom step while Naruto was on his left on the top step and Sakura was on his right on the middle step.

The man sighs and looks at them lazily before he drawled out words. "Why don't you introduce yourselves." He said and Sakura pipes up. "Why don't you go first sensei?"

Kakashi sighs again. "My name is Hatake Kakashi. I like stuff and I dislike stuff. My hobbies...eh... As for my dream... Okay, you next pinky."

Sakura sends a glare at Kakashi but continues without a fuss. "My name is Haruno Sakura. I like gardening, singing and..." She looks at Sasuke and blushes. "I dislike Ino-pig and perverts. My hobbies are gardening and helping my family. My dream... Hmm…" Her eyes widen a bit. "I-I haven't really thought about it..."

Naruto discreetly gives Sakura a surprised look before Kakashi starts talking again. "That's okay Sakura, it sometimes takes time to know your dream. Okay, you next ducky."

Sasuke gives Kakashi an evil glare but doesn't complain much. Naruto holds back a laugh and covers his mouth at the nickname. "I am Uchiha Sasuke. I don't like anything in particular and I dislike a lot of things. My hobbies are training. My dream, no, ambition, is to kill a certain man and revive my clan."

Kakashi nods. 'Predictable…' He looks at the last child. The Blondie. "And you, Whiskers."

Naruto musters up a grin. "My names Uzumaki Naruto. I like ramen, Jiji, Ruru, Kura-chan, and cooking. I dislike people who judge others when they barely know the person. My hobbies are cooking, writing and training. My dream is to be the Hokage!"

If Kakashi was surprised, he didn't show it. "Anyways! What are we doing sensei?" Naruto yells.

Kakashi blinks lazily at him. "We are doing survival training."

End Flashback

He tried to creep us out and only succeeded in doing so to Sakura. Naruto was just confused and Sasuke was annoyed. Afterwards, he herded them to training ground 7 and tested them.

If it wasn't for Naruto gathering them and suggesting they work together and he'd give them the bells, then they wouldn't have passed because after Naruto suggested that, Sakura started to figure out the meaning of the test.

In the end, they passed and have to meet up the next day at 7:00 am. Today was Sunday so they don't have to go and train today. It was their off day.

A sudden knocking noise broke Naruto out of his thinking. He sits up and looks at his window, only to see the Hokage's messenger bird there with a note attached to its leg.

He stands up and walks over to the window, opening it and taking the note. Naruto smiles and nods to the bird. "Thank you." The bird squawks in response and flies off.

Naruto closes the window and sits back on his bed. He opens the note and reads it.

Dear Kitsune,

Please report to me as soon as you get this letter. Mission out of the village with one other.

Rank: B

Type: Rescue

Sincerely

Third Hokage

Sarutobi Hiruzen

Naruto sighs and the note lights on fire. He stands up again and goes around his room, gathering clothes. Putting on a black long-sleeved shirt, black baggy Anbu pants, and black combat boots. He grabs his mask of a Kitsune and puts it on after putting his hair in a neck low ponytail like usual but he leaves his hair out instead.

Once his mask was on, his hair turned pitch black and his eyes turn red with blue specks. His hair also took the form of smoothness instead of the wild hairs that have yet to grow long and wavy. He reaches down and takes off a hidden bracelet. His height grows and if Kakashi was here, his head would stop at the man's chin.

Naruto stretches as it always hurt to take off the bracelet because it shortens his height. He has to wear it or else others would think it's suspicious for the 'Demon boy' to look nourish and healthy instead of undernourished and short.

Kurama helps his body grow faster but he has to eat more otherwise he'll look very bony. He's already skinnier than thought healthy but his baggy clothes hide that for him. His body was the age of 18 as well. Kurama has stopped making his body grow a month ago because it was starting to hurt him.

Naruto sighs and looks himself over before he grabs his Katana and straps it to his back. He then leaves after stocking up on his other common weapons like Kunai and Shuriken.

Naruto jumps out of his house without people seeing him. He quickly takes to the rooftops, taking to the shadows, and heads towards the Hokage building.

Very few people knew that he was an Anbu. He actually became one when he was 5. The Hokage had wanted to protect him so he sent him to a very loyal but secretive organization. That organization was called the Okami organization.

They are a group of very well fighters who are ridding the world of evil little by little. The lead of them was actually Naruto's cousin but that will be discussed another day.

Naruto sees the building and silently flares his Chakra before he slips in through the window. Standing up straight, he looks around. There were two people in the room, not including the hidden Anbu and himself.

A black haired man with a dog mask stands in front of the Hokage's desk. Naruto nods to them before he walks forwards and stops beside the dog masked man. He sniffs the air a little.

'That's Kakashi... He's still in Anbu it seems…. Must be part-time since he's training a Genin team.' Kitsune thinks.

Hiruzen clears his throat before talking. "Thank you for coming. I need you two to go on a rescue mission. Group 8 is missing." Hiruzen said and handed Naruto the scroll. "This is there last known location. Be back in 3 days. If you can't make it, send a summon to inform me."

Kitsune and Inu nod. "Yes, sir." Kitsune turns towards Inu. "Meet me at the south gate in 5." He said, his voice soft and deeper than the voice he uses out of his Anbu job. Kitsune disappearing in a shushin after saying that. Inu nods and leaves in the same fashion.

Hiruzen scowls. 'Dang ninja and leaving leafs on my floor.' A tickmark appears before he gets back to work with his thoughts running everywhere.

•••

Kitsune silently meets up with Inu at the gate 5 minutes later. Kitsune opens the scroll while Inu stands a few feet away. The scroll lights on fire after a few moments and Kitsune shoots off into the forest, Inu following. Kitsune smiles. He can clearly see how curious Inu is.

••• A few hours later.

"Hey Kitsune?" Inu says, finally asking the question that's been on his mind since the mission started.

"Hmm?" Kitsune hums curiously.

"I keep track of everyone in Anbu, even the most secretive and almost invisible ones, but I've never heard of you nor have I ever seen you. Who are you?" Inu asks rather boldly.

"Ah, I'm one of the Hokage's personal captains. You have heard of me I believe but you have never seen me." Kitsune says with a hidden smile.

"...Wait, are you the Kage Captain?" Inu asks, his voice slightly revealing surprise.

A soft almost silent laugh could be heard and Kitsune bounds ahead. "Bingo."

It remained quite after that, Inu was a bit surprised and curious. He wanted to solve this new mystery. After all, there was never a mystery he couldn't solve in moments.

They continue to jump through tree's, towards their destination. A few more hours later finds them standing in front of a big one-story house that looked run down and haunted.

Kitsune cautiously walks up to the house and seeing it was safe, he walks through the doors and into the house with Inu watching his back. After a few minutes of finding nothing, they stop in the living room on the first floor.

"There's nothing..." Inu muttered cautiously.

"To empty as well. This doesn't feel right…." Kitsune mutters before something catches his eye. He walks over to a table in a corner and moves a box. Looking down, he sees a crumbled piece of paper with something powdery like on it.

He carefully grabs a pinch of it and lifts it up for inspection. He sniffs it before dropping it. "Inu! Outside now!" Kitsune mutters in a panicked voice. Inu looks alarmed for a moment and they quickly dart out of there. Not even a second they made it to the tree line that was only a few meters from the house, the house blew up in flames.

Inu and Kitsune watch as the house burns. A few moments of silence rushes over them before Kitsune brakes it. "Search the perimeter." He orders and goes off to do the same.

30 minutes later and they grouped up again. "Anything?" Kitsune asks and Inu nods. "Yes, there is a secret corridor under the house that leads out to the mountains. It was caved in." Kitsune nods. "Well, I don't smell burning flesh and blood over the ash and heat so we can assume they weren't there..." Kitsune mutters.

Inu nods in agreement and he quietly leads the way. After following the corridor for an hour, they come across a cave. Cautiously, after checking to make sure there are no traps, they walk into the cave. After walking for a few minutes, they come across a big open area.

They stop dead in their tracks at what they see. In the middle of the room, there lays 4 body's in a puddle of blood. That wasn't what shocked and disgusted them though. It was the mess around them and the state of their body's.

Two of the bodies are missing heads and there are brains and guts were scattered all over. All of them were missing body parts, most scattered everywhere and some just not there at all.

Kitsune's breath leaves him at the sight and he was very glad that the Kyuubi helps him not get sick. Inu, on the other hand, looked away and walked out, not even going to confirm if it was them as he could see their bloodied hitai-ate with the symbol of the leaf.

Kitsune follows shortly after and they head out for home. Halfway there, Inu starts to talk.

"Did you grab them?" He asked quietly.

"Yes..." Kitsune replied.

"They will pay..." Inu says with a bit of KI.

"They will..." Kitsune says, also with KI.

•••

Hours later, they make it home and Kitsune goes and reports after he dismisses Inu.

•••

Hiruzen looks up at a sudden presence in his office. There stands a down looking Naruto, his mask still on. Hiruzen quickly dismisses his Anbu guards. Once their gone Naruto tossed four scrolls to him, along with their hitai-ate.

"Torn apart from the inside out... I think Kakashi threw up or at least had to take a breather from the sight because he immediately went back outside. I stayed behind to collect them so he had time to do it. If it wasn't for little fuzzy here," He puts a hand on his stomach. "I would've thrown up as well. It looked like an animal got them… Maybe a new thing the enemy is making. Training animals to kill…"

Hiruzen sighs sadly as he looks at Naruto and nods. "I understand... You two can have two weeks off... I'll send a bird to tell Kakashi..."

Naruto nods. "Okay... I'll turn in the report tomorrow. I need sleep now... Goodnight Jiji." Naruto said before he disappears into a shushin. Hiruzen sighs and shakes his head. He writes a letter to Kakashi, explaining about his vacation and gives it to his bird to deliver. He grabs his pipe before getting back to work.

••• Later that night

In the training ground at the edge of the village, a figure sits by a lake that was glistening in the moonlight. His light purple eyes light up from the light but the figure's body was shroud in darkness.

The figure sighs and looks at the stars, remembering when he first met the Sandkit.

Flashback

A cloaked figure kicks a dude in the face, knocking him out cold. Looking around, he sees all the body's of the dead or knocked out. Moving away from that scene, he silently heads towards the voice of one of his companions.

Stopping just before the moonlight reveals Him, he watches and listens in with interest.

"Shh, it's alright... Your safe now..." A soft, deep-ish voice said. Little sniffles could be heard and that's when he decided to make his entry.

Stepping on a branch, he alerts them before he steps out. In front of him was a male younger than him, holding a small child while the child was clinging to the male. A wolf was beside the both of them, guarding them.

Once his two companions saw him, they relaxed and smiled. The wolf suddenly stood up and looks in the direction behind them.

"Someone's coming... It's the child's guardians I believe..." The wolf said and the older man nods. The younger man sets the red-haired child down beside the lake and steps away.

"We better go then... I don't want to be caught..." The younger man said. The other one nods and turns around. Not even a step in, the child calls out.

"Wait! Who are you guys?" His small voice was gruff a bit from crying but you could tell that his voice was naturally soft even with the gruff undertone right now.

The two males smile.

"You can call me Kitsune and the other lug over there is Ruru. Now we have to go Sandkit. Stay safe... Gaara." Kitsune said before they all disappeared into the darkness.

Right then, the Kazekage comes out of the trees and glares slightly at the child before he walks over and picks him up.

"Time to go home." He said, his voice a bit soft.

Gaara goes limp in his arms as he thinks over what just happened.

End Flashback

The figure sighed, identified as Ruru, and stands up. His wolf companion stands up as well and looks up at his master.

"Home?"

"Yes… Home…"

••• Two Days Later

The sun could be seen rising above the horizon and the smell of morning dew was strong in the air. Shadows could be seen jumping along rooftops of a village down below. That village was Konohagakure no Sato, the village hidden in the leaves.

All was peaceful as people were sleeping in their warm beds. Though, there was one who groans as his internal alarm clock goes off. In a small apartment, a young man cuddles more into his blanket, still not wanting to get up. Unfortunately for him, he was already too awake to go back to sleep.

He groans again before sitting up. He looks at his clock on the wall and glares at it. '5:33 am...' He thinks as he glares harder before he stops and sighs. 'Great... I think I'm going mental...'

He yawns and stands up then goes to the bathroom to get ready for the day. After he was done and ready, he went to his kitchen and grabbed a healthy snack for later.

After securing his house, he leaves and heads toward a random training ground for some early training.

••• Minutes Later

A small figure laid on a grassy field in a random training ground. The figure's eyes were closed and its breath was even. In an area not too far away from the prone figure, trees were knocked over and the ground had new ditches. Water dips could also be seen in that area, along with sliced trees and burnt ground.

The figure on the ground yawns and stretches before going back into the relaxed position he was in before. 'Maybe I should go home and sleep. I might catch a cold…' The figure thought as he slowly slips into a light sleep.

Just as he was asleep though, he suddenly jolts awake but doesn't show any signs of doing so. The reason he suddenly woke up was that he could feel another presence close by. His slightly stiffened form relaxes as he feels who's Chakra it was.

"Inu... What are you doing up at this hour? You should be sleeping in since your on vacation." The figure said in a soft, sleepy voice. Inu snorts and steps out of the shadows of the trees, revealing him in his Jounin outfit, and walks towards the prone figure.

"The same could be said to you, Kitsune," Kakashi said and sits beside Kitsune. Kitsune smiles behind his mask and sits up. "I was just training since I couldn't sleep," Kitsune said and yawns again before stretching. Kakashi snorts again. "Tired?" He voices. Kitsune nods. "Very…"

Kakashi smiles behind his facial mask. "Went to train after failing to get back to sleep." Kitsune smiles behind his mask and stands up and stretches again. "I see… Well, its about time I get to bed anyway so I better get home now. I have some stuff to do today and need as much sleep as I can get."

Kakashi nods and stands up as well. "Okay... Sleep well then." Kakashi said. Kitsune adorns a smile at that. "You as well, I heard you got yourself a team Kakashi-sensei." Then Kitsune disappears in a puff of black smoke, the sound of his laughter still there in the small echo.

Kakashi sighs before chuckling to himself and goes to train.

••• A Week Later.

Sakura growls under her breath as Naruto and Sasuke inch away from her. Their sensei was late again and Sakura was silently growling. Naruto mentally wondered if she had some animal blood in her as he and Sasuke backed away from her, not wanting to be stuck in the middle of her when Kakashi comes.

"Why did we get stuck with her?" Sasuke whispers as his face adorns a weird feature.

"I don't know... But I don't want to get on her bad side." Naruto said and Sasuke nods slightly in agreement.

Over the past week, Naruto and Sasuke have come to some sort of agreement. Naruto helps Sasuke get away from his fangirls and in return, Sasuke works as a team with Sakura and Naruto. Though, they also have a silent agreement not to ever get on Sakura's bad side. Oh and he's still a bastard too.

Just then Kakashi appears and Sakura throws a punch at him. "Late!" She yells and Kakashi dodges easily. She quickly makes a kick to his side but alas, it was not meant to be as he blocked again and pushed her back. A cheerful aura surrounds him and Sakura backs away after steadying herself. She goes and stands beside Naruto as she still glares at her sensei.

"Guess what we're doing today," Kakashi said cheerfully. The Genin narrow their eyes at him and remain silent. His cheerful mood remains as he sees non of his students will answer. "We're going to be leaning to climb trees!" He gets a round of dumbfounded faces. He doesn't do anything to hide his glee.

He throws Kunai at the Genins feet and they tense and look at it cautiously. "Okay, my cute little Genin! Today, you will be walking up trees without using your hands!" This time he gets blank stares before he just sighs and gives a demonstration.

Sakura, Sasuke, and Naruto watch as Kakashi walks up a tree with Chakra. Getting to the top, he looks down at them to see their eyes slightly widened. He smirks before going back down to stand in front of them.

"What are you staring at? Go climb." Kakashi said with hidden amusement. The three Genin pick up their Kunai while grumbling. Picking a big tree, they start their exercise, all the while Kakashi is silently laughing at their failures.

••• Timeskip

Four people stand in a clearing surrounded by forest. Well, more like one was standing while the other three were laying down with uneven breaths.

They just got through with training and are extremely exhausted. Pink kitty hisses while staring at her sensei. "Some...day... We will... Get you...back for this..." She said while breathing hard. Girly Duck and Whiskered Sun nod in agreement.

These three kiddy's where known as Sakura, Sasuke, and Naruto. Perverted puppy, also known as Kakashi, just hums, not even paying them any attention while he reads his book. "Well, meet me here at the bridge tomorrow at 5:00 am. Goodnight." After he said that, he disappeared in a puff of smoke.

The kiddy's grumble, still not moving from their position on the ground. "I say we dye his hair rainbow," Sakura mutters to them.

"Rainbow ice cream cone huh? Should we also make it flavored for his fangirls?" Sasuke asks, a smirk on his face. Sakura and Naruto grin before they burst out laughing.

"Ye-yeah! With sprinkles too!" Naruto said through his fits of laughter and they laugh harder. After a few minutes of nonstop laughing, they calm down enough to breath.

"After that, let's tie him up and deliver him to his fangirls... With a gag..." It was silent after Naruto said that before another burst of historical laughter could be heard throughout the clearing.

••• Else Where, Same Time

A man in a black cloak jumps through the trees. The words Ōkami are written on the back of in blue text, along with a wolf howling, a blue moon behind it. Pale purple, almost light blue eyes are the only thing that could be seen under the hood.

The man sighs as he quickens his pace, wanting to get home. 'Why did I accept this job again? It was so boring!' He complains mentally. His wolf companion running next to him on the trees.

He grumbles under his breath before a small smile makes its way up his face as he sees the village gates. 'Yes! Home! Now I can go to the house- wait... Dang, I forgot I have to get food for the house and report in... Stupid chores.'

He and his partner pass the sleeping guards silently and head for the Hokage building. Jumping from roof to roof, they finally spot it and they quickly head for the open window that connects to the Hokage's office.

Spiking his Chakra a second before they jump through the window, he lands in a crouch on the windows seal before silently sliding off, his wolf companion jumping on the ledge right after. He could feel the tension in the air caused by everyone in the room before the Hokage breaks it.

"Ah, Ruru. Back from your mission?" Hiruzen asked and looks over at the two by and on the window seal. Ruru nods and looks at the others in the room. "Am I... Interrupting a Jounin meeting?" Ruru's soft but deep voice flows throughout the room.

"Yes but that's alright, here's your pay," Hiruzen said with hidden amusement in his eyes as he hands Ruru a small bag. Ruru carefully takes the bag and hides it in his cloak before he turns around and heads for the window as he had walked forward while talking.

Ruru nods in thanks. "I'll turn the written report in tomorrow." He says, ignoring all the stares and quickly went through the window, his partner following. Back on the roofs, they made their way towards the food district.

••• Hours Later

Ruru tosses a tomato up and down as he reads a letter on his kitchen counter. 'Huh... So R-' The tomato drops on his head, turning his hair into a red, orange color.

"..."

'Crap...' He curses.

••• A Month Later

Over the past few months, they've been Ninja, Sakura, Sasuke, and Naruto have gotten along quite well. It all started when Sakura suggested a truce with her newly found teammates. Sadly, only one agreed. That one was Naruto.

Not liking how Sasuke was, together they made a plan to get Sasuke on their side.

Flashback

"So... How are we gonna do this?" Sakura questioned as she sat on a gray, slightly worn couch in Naruto's living room. Naruto sat across from her on a gray, slightly worn recliner, a grin on his face.

"We get Jiji to tell him the truth," Naruto said and Sakura looks confused.

"Truth? About what?" She voices the question running through her mind.

"The Uchiha massacre. I was sneaking through Jiji's stuff one day and found out that Itachi is innocent. Someone framed him." Naruto said with a small frown.

Sakura gasps and stands up immediately. "Then Sasuke has to know! He can't keep living in this cycle of hate for his brother who is innocent!" Naruto grins again at her words.

"Then here's the plan..." He whispers dramatically.

••• A Few Days Later

A few days after that, they set their plan into action. Going to the Hokage, they explained what needed to be done, much to the Hokage's shock.

•••

"Hello Naruto-Kun, Sakura-chan. What brings you two here today?" Hiruzen asks as Sakura closes the door behind them.

"Can we talk in private Jiji?" Naruto asks and Hiruzen looks at him confused before he signals his hidden Anbu to get out before putting up a privacy seal. "We are alone. Now, what is it you wanted to ask?"

"You should tell Sasuke the truth." Naruto bluntly said and Sakura facepalms. 'Blunt as always...'

Looking at the Hokage, shock could clearly be seen on his face before it turns into a guarded look. His eyes narrow. "How-" Before he could finish though, Naruto explains.

••• A Few Minutes Later

After explaining, Hiruzen just sighs. 'Figured Naruto of all people would do that...'

"Okay, and if I do tell Sasuke this, what would become of it... I believe he is still too young for such knowledge." Hiruzen said, reaching for his pipe.

Sakura snorts. "Are you a fool, Hokage-sama? He is just the right age to know this. Any longer and you might just make him leave the village. Don't you get it? He wants revenge. Power. What if a powerful evil person came in to take him because he is the last Uchiha? What then? Your chances will already be missed and we would have a traitor on our hands." Sakura said with a serious voice and for the first time since Naruto's seen her, she had a confident and determined look in her eyes and body poster.

Hiruzen's eyes widen in shock as he gets lectured by a 12-year-old. And the 12-year-old was right. Hiruzen sighs as he grabs his pipe and lights it.

Taking a puff of smoke, he breathes it in before blowing it out. "I guess your right..." He sighs again and looks sternly yet honestly at them. "I will tell him tonight. Thank you for bringing this up. I hope you know this is an S-ranked secret so don't be telling people about it, alright?"

Immediately the tense atmosphere disappeared as Naruto grins. "That's a relief! Yes, we know! Thanks, Jiji! Come on Sakura! We still have some training to do!" Naruto said as he turned towards the door.

Hiruzen lets the privacy seals disappear and he watches them go. A new found respect for them, yet also a creeping curiosity crawls at him as he wonders how they changed.

End Flashback

After that happened, they went to train. Later that night, Sasuke got a visit from the Hokage. After that, everything changed. Sasuke was a little more open with them and they could actually talk without being ignored. Their teamwork also got better.

They now started training together and making attack patterns for hard missions. They had already completed the tree walking exercise and had moved on to the water walking. They completed it in a week. Kakashi would also be there, helping with everything he could.

Right now though, they were doing simple tests to see who was faster, stronger, stuff like that.

"Yes!" Naruto yells. He had his hands in the air and a grin on his face, sweat slightly on his face. "I win!" He proclaims and Sakura and Sasuke grumble behind him, all three of them panting and sweating.

"Well, now that we know who the fastest is and we completed the tree walking and water walking exercise, I want you to run 10 laps around the village." A voice from above them said.

They look up, only to find their Sensei, Hatake Kakashi. They grumble again but get to it. Going to the gate, all three of them sprint off to the left side to start on their first lap. All the while Kakashi just stands there watching them with a glint in his eye.

"20 bucks that Pink Kitty kills the other two before they finish." Izumo, a gate guard, said with a smirk. Kotetsu, Izumo's partner, snorts. "30 on Girly Emo yelling at them." He said to Izumo.

"Maa Maa, I count 50 on Naru-chan running ahead as the other two argue when they finish their laps." Kakashi butts in, still having that glint in his eye as he turns towards the two. Izumo and Kotetsu smirk. "Deal!" They say.

Last month, the Ninja side of the village started to call team 7 by funny nicknames. Sasuke's was Girly Emo or Ducky. Sakura's was Pink Kitty or Banshee. Finally, Naruto's was Whiskers or Foxy. It was quite the hilarious situation of how Sasuke earned his first name.

Kakashi walks over to a nearby tree before sitting down in front of it and leans his back against it. He quickly pulls out his orange book and gets to work on reading it, ignoring the gate guards snorts as he does so.

••• Three Hours Later

Kakashi smirks behind his mask as Izumo and Kotetsu hand over money. Kakashi had won their bet and the gate guards were surprised.

Kakashi noted how Naruto was only lightly panting compared to the other twos heavy breathing and filed it for later investigation. He walked up to the prone, panting figures on the ground. "Whelp! Time for missions! Come on my cute little Genin! To the mission desk!" Kakashi eye smiles before he heads off, ignoring their groans and complaining he was gonna kill them.

They walk sluggishly after him and in 10 minutes they make it to the mission desk. They stand in front of the Hokage and their old teacher, Umino Iruka.

"Ah, hello Kakashi, here for a mission?" Hiruzen asked as he sifts through scrolls. Kakashi nods and waits.

The Hokage makes an 'ah' sound before he pulls out a scroll. "How about babyi-" He cut off by Naruto. "Jiji! Why do we have to do D-rank missions! We have already done enough to earn a C-rank!" Naruto interrupted the Hokage with a complaint.

Iruka shoots Naruto a glare and opens his mouth to yell at him before being silenced by Hiruzen. "Your right, what do you say Kakashi? Are they ready?" Hiruzen asks with a smile.

Kakashi hmm's a second before nodding. "Yes, I believe so." He eye smiles and Hiruzen nods. "Alright then, bring him in!" Hiruzen tells his Anbu outside.

A few moments later, an old man comes walking in on wobbly legs and smelling like sake. He glares at the Genin. "This is who is protecting me? Their stupid kids! Especially the short blonde one!" He said with a slur in his voice.

Sasuke and Sakura move closer to Naruto and glare at the old man, only for Naruto to grin. "Hey, old man! Can I have some of your sake?" Not seconds later, Naruto is clutching his head and whining in pain in a crouch while the other occupants are staring at him as if he was crazy.

Kakashi glares down at Naruto. "Bad little Genin. You're not old enough to drink." He scolded Naruto and said boy just pouts up at him.

Hiruzen hides a smile and a strange knowing glint appears in his eyes. "This is Tazuna. He is a member of wave. You fore will be escorting him home." He said.

Kakashi nods and looks at his Genin. "Alright, we will leave tomorrow morning at 7:00 am. Don't be late." After that, he disappeared in a puff of smoke. His Genin just huffs as they leave to do their own thing.

••• Thirty Minutes Later

Naruto closed the front door behind him and takes off his boots before smelling something good. He smiles a small true smile and walks to the kitchen. Getting to the door, he stops and leans on the frame as he watches a taller man workaround in the kitchen.

Immediately, Naruto is discovered and the man stops and turns to look at Naruto. A smile graces his face as he looks at Naruto. "Welcome home Naru-chan. How was your day?" He asked, his tone soft but deep.

"Well, we finally got a C ranked mission, which is good, we leave tomorrow morning at 7:00 am. Kashi-sensei worked us hard. I don't know why, but the whole time after practice, he was smug and cheerful... Not a good combination." Naruto said as he watched the man get back to work. His name was unknown to Naruto, only going by the nickname of Ruru.

Naruto watched as Ruru smiled and grabbed a chopping knife. The sunset glided in through the kitchen window, making Ruru's long purple hair glisten. His purple, tinted with blue eyes shine with amusement as he looked at him. His skin was pale and his form tall with little muscle. He'd look like a girl if it wasn't for his deep voice, body structure, and his facial features.

Ruru's eyes narrow playfully and a small smirk dances to his face. "Your thinking I look like a girl, aren't you?" He asks, holding back a laugh at Naruto's expression.

Naruto himself was scared and so, he took the most logical choice in this talk. He quickly turned around and bolted out of the kitchen, all the while hearing laughter. He smiles again and takes off down the hall, but as he does so, he hears Ruru say something about when dinners ready.

Naruto slows down to a walk once he gets to the top of the stairs that were at the end of the hall. He goes over to a door at the end of the hall upstairs. He opens the door and goes inside.

Baby blue covered walls were the first thing he saw when he entered the room. There were two windows that were on opposite sides of the room but on the same wall. That wall was the one straight across from the door he walks through to get in.

Between the windows, there was a queen-sized bed. The sheets were colored the same shade of the walls but the blanket was colored a deep red, along with the pillows too. The curtains on the windows were colored a deep red as well and they almost reached the floor.

Off to the left side of the room, there was a huge bookcase filled with scrolls and books. On the right side of the room, there was a big redwood desk with papers scattered on it and around it as it sat in the upper corner of the room. There was another redwood desk in the lower corner but this desk was scattered with papers, paints, and markers. There were some color pencils here and there as well.

The deep red carpet was soft to the touch on his bare feet as he had taken off his ninja sandals at the front door.

Naruto sighs as he closes his door behind him and he flops onto his bed. He takes off his hidden bracelet and his form gets taller. He lets his hair out and it flows out around him. He yawns and closes his eyes to rest.

••• Next Morning

Naruto groans as he is being shaken. He faintly hears a voice before the shaking stops. He sighs blissfully as he slowly sinks back into a peaceful sleep.

Not even a minute later he sprang from his bed with a Kunai in both his hands and swinging wildly before he hears the laughter. He turns a deadly glare at the two males but they continue laughing. I mean come on, who would be intimidating at a male in his bed with the sheets tangled around him and hair sprayed everywhere while being soaking wet and swinging wildly, all the while looking like a cute drenched cat.

"I'm so getting you two back for this." Naruto seethed. "We know!" They said all too cheerfully. They quickly leave the room as Naruto throws the Kunai at them. He sighs. 'Such troublesome people.'

Naruto stretches and gets up before going to his attached bathroom that is in the middle of the two desks.

After getting ready in baggy black Anbu pants and a dark orange long sleeve, he goes downstairs and into the kitchen. On his way there though, he hears Ruru's voice.

"-at have I told you about messing with Naru-chan?"

"Aww, come on Ruru… It was a jo-" A deep male voice said before getting cut off.

"No, you two are grounded from missions for a week. Now, go set the dining room table, and don't give me that look Kanari, Koinu. Now go."

Naruto hears whining before he steps into the kitchen. Upon hearing the door open, three figures turn to look at the door.

The first figure was Ruru. His long pail purple hair was down today. He had on an off the shoulders long sleeve shirt that was dark purple and faded into a pale purple, along with black Anbu pants and combat boots. A frying pan was held in his left hand and aimed at the other two.

The second figure had long black hair that was tied up in a high ponytail. If let down, his hair would reach his waist. He had sharp gold eyes with black eyeliner. He had on a black sleeveless muscle shirt and black fitting Anbu pants, along with combat boots. A sheathed Katana was on his right hip and a pouch was on his left thigh with his Kunai and shuriken. He wore an annoyed expression. His name was Rōbai but everyone calls him Koinu.

The last one was beside Koinu. He had short shaggy blonde hair. His left eye was a pretty shade of purple and his right eye was a goldish yellow. His skin was pail-ish and he was short. He barely reached Koinu's chest while Koinu and Ruru were a bit taller than Kakashi. He had a birthmark that was shaped like a vine with leaves on his right cheek. It went behind his head, on his neck and down the left side of his neck before disappearing into the yellow long sleeve shirt he was wearing. The birthmark could be seen wrapped around his left wrist and pinky. He wore brown baggy pants and black combat boots. He had a weird tear like thingy on his left cheek, just below the purple eye. His name was Norowareta Tenshi but we call him Kanari.

Naruto looks at them before smiling at the scene. Ruru smiles at him and lowers the pan in his hand. "If you're about to go and meet up, you might want to put your bracelet on Naru-chan," Ruru says quietly. Naruto's eyes widen before he rushes upstairs for it.

•••

Naruto yawns as he sits down beside Sasuke and Sakura. They were waiting for Kakashi to arrive with the client.

Naruto sneaks a glance at Sakura. He signed mentally before looking at her fully. "Hey, Sakura... Why did you change? You used to hate me and fawn over Sasuke."

Sasuke looks at Naruto and Sakura curiously as Sakura looks back at Naruto. There was a silent pause in the clearing before she opens her mouth to speak.

"The me you used to know was a mask..."

The boys look at her with wide eyes. "So... It was all a mask... But why?" Sasuke mutters to himself. Sakura and Sasuke look at Naruto as he starts to talk. "Everyone has a mask. It just differs from every person as they all have their own problems." Naruto said in an unusually calm and quiet voice.

Just when they were about to question him about it, he jumps up and runs toward a now visible Kakashi and Tazuna. "Kakashi-sensei! You're early!" Naruto tells with a huge smile. Sasuke and Sakura share a look at each other before nodding and standing up as well.

Kakashi looks at them with a raised eyebrow before eye smiling. "Yup! Now let's go my cute little Genin!"

••• An Hour Later

Naruto stands beside Kakashi as they walk a wide dirt path. Tazuna was in front of Kakashi and Sasuke and Sakura was in front of him.

Just then, Naruto spots a puddle and he grins before walking towards it. The others look at him curiously as he takes out a paper and drops it in. After a few seconds, a violent zapping could be seen and if possible, Naruto's grin gets wider before he laughs. "Yes! It finally works!" He yells with his hands in the air. His eyes look like they were glowing.

He runs to the others as they walked ahead of him, all the while not noticing how the water turned red. They stared at him in shock before they just shake their heads and continue to walk.

Kakashi goes up beside Naruto and eye smiles. "I didn't know you make seals." Naruto grins and stares up at Kakashi. "Yeah, a friend of mine has been teaching me how to make them." Kakashi looks at Naruto. "A friend? Who?"

Naruto's grin turns mischievous. "Not telling~" He sings. Kakashi's eye narrows for a split second before it goes back to before. That didn't go unnoticed by Naruto though.

They continue in silence with the occasional yell from Naruto.

••• Two Days Later

Naruto yawns as he walks beside Kakashi again but this time in a different forest. They had crossed the waters and they were all on guard. Kakashi had interrogated Tazuna on the truth because Tazuna was acting guilty and that's just what they got.

Turns out an old short guy was out to kill him and hired missing-nin to do so. Right now they were almost to his house when Kakashi stiffens. "Everyone duck!" He tells grabs Naruto as they descend to the ground. Sakura had grabbed Tazuna while Sasuke just dropped. Naruto's eyes widen at the sudden movement. He stares up at Kakashi as Kakashi stares down at him. Their eyes meet and Naruto's breath leaves him. 'His eye is a pretty shade of dark stormy gray…'

A massive sword flew over their heads and embarked the tree behind them. A cowman landed on the sword backward before he turned around like nothing happened.

"Well well well, if it isn't the Copy Cat Ninja, Hatake Kakashi. What a pleasure to see you." He said with an evil laugh.

"Demon of the mist, Momochi Zabuza." Kakashi snarls as everyone stands up tensely. Naruto starts to breathe again before he goes into his mask and blocks out what just happened for later investigation.

"Oh oh! Uzumaki Naruto! Now it's your turn you two!" Naruto cheers as he looks at his two teammates. For a moment, the whole clearing was silent before a whine could be heard and Naruto was crouched down clutching his head while Kakashi lowers his hand. He sighs and shakes his head, a hidden smile beneath his mask.

Zabuza snorts. "Quiet the Genin you have there Kakashi." He said with mirth. Kakashi just signs and nods. "Yes, quite." He says as he raises his hitai-ate.

Sasuke looks on with wonder, he had heard of his sensei's story from Hiruzen the night he told him the truth, so he had a good understanding of why his sensei had that eye but not how he got it.

Kakashi was about to leap at Zabuza when Naruto interrupts again.

"Hey hey! Do you work for Gatō?" He yells as he stares at Zabuza. Kakashi and Zabuza turn and stare back at him. Zabuza nods with narrow eyes as he sees the devious grin on Naruto's face.

"Then why don't you just kill him or something and his men so you get all the money for yourself. It would be better that way anyways. We wouldn't have to fight, Tazuna lives and you get all the money instead of just some of it." Naruto said, that grin still in place and his eyes closed.

Zabuza freezes before he sweatdrops while Naruto's teammates and Tazuna sweatdrop as well. 'Why didn't I think if that...' "I guess your right." Zabuza said and he jumps down and grabs his sword. He puts it back on his back and a masked male came out beside him. Zabuza glances at the male and his eyes turn soft for a moment before it disappears. Naruto's eyes narrow since he opened them after Zabuza jumped down.

"Well, we'll be on our way then. Shame we couldn't fight." Before they disappeared. All was quiet before Naruto breaks it was a nervous laugh. "Eh... That turned out better than plan... Heh heh." Naruto mumbles as now all of them are staring at him.

Naruto shrinks at their attention before Kakashi snorts and pulls his hitai-ate down. He ruffles Naruto's hair before continuing on the path. "Good job Naru-chan. Come on now, let's go."

••• An Hour Later

Kakashi sits on a big bed and he takes off his vest. Naruto flops face down on the bed beside Kakashi. Kakashi raises an eyebrow as he takes off his hitai-ate and sets it down on the bedside table.

They had gotten to Tazuna's house an hour after the encounter with Zabuza. After Tsunami, Tazuna's daughter cooked them dinner, they all headed to bed. Kakashi and Naruto were to share a room as Sasuke and Sakura did the same but in different beds. Kakashi and Naruto had to share a bed as this was an old relatives room and didn't have a spare bed.

Kakashi lays down on his side, his ninja sandals already off and at the front door. His back was to Naruto. Naruto looks at Kakashi's back before closing his eyes and he too turns on his side, back to Kakashi, and he falls asleep.

••• Next Morning

Warmth was the first thing Naruto felt when he awoke. He sighs and cuddles into the warmth as it soothed him. He's never felt this warm before. He mumbles something incoherent and nuzzles into the warmth when suddenly the warmth that he was laying on moved.

'Were warmth's suppose to move?' He wondered before he feels a small shake on his shoulder. He whines and shakes his head slightly before a husky voice starts up right above him.

"Time to get up Naru-chan. We have stuff to do for the day." The voice said. Naruto could feel the vibrations from it as his head was on the warmth's chest. Naruto cracks open his eyes slightly and he moves his head up to look at who was talking.

He whines a bit before he moves to sit up, accidentally straddling Kakashi as he was asleep on top of him.

"Why…. I'm so tired," Naruto said and stretches and as if to prove his point, he yawns. He looks down at the oddly quiet Kakashi only to see him staring up at him. "What?" Naruto asks, confused and more awake.

"Kakashi stares lazily up at him before he snorts and stretches the best he can with the blonde on top of him. That was when Naruto realized he was sitting on top of his Sensei. He quickly scrambles off with a beat red face.

"Ah... Um… S-sorry S-Sensei…I… Didn't mean too sleep o-on you…" Naruto said with a little stutter, slowly regaining his cool.

Kakashi still stares at Naruto with something unknown in his eyes, his other eye was slightly cracked open now that he looked close enough. Not being able to take his stare, Naruto looks away. "S-sorry..." He mumbles again. Kakashi just stares at him some more before eye smiling. "It's okay. We all do weird things in our sleep." He said, still staring at Naruto with something unknown in his eyes.

Naruto nods and quickly gets up and goes to the bathroom to get ready for the day, Kakashi staring until he was out of site.

••• Later That Morning

"Okay, my cute little Genin! Today we are going to be upping your weights. Now come here." Kakashi said and the three Genin goes to him, Naruto still a bit red from the morning experience.

Kakashi smiles as he ups their weights until they have a hard time standing. After that, he then tells them to practice their kata's and Chakra exercises and to not stop till he got back. He then goes to protect Tazuna at the bridge with a happy aura around him, pretending to not notice the Genin glaring at his back.

••• Late At Night

Naruto pants as he leans against the tree behind him. He slides down it before he collapsed and starts to try and calm his breathing. 'Kakashi's a monster...' Naruto thought and stares at the ground. He closes his eyes before a yawning takes over him. He lifts his hand with a bit of difficulty, as the weights on his wrists are heavy, to swipe some hair out of his face.

Kakashi had made them wait for him to get back, but the mean part is that he never came back. Sakura dropped first when the darkness was starting to consume the sky, it was already dark when Sasuke dropped. Naruto was still at it 2 hours later until now, it was pitch black out there now.

A twig snapping zaps him out of his thoughts before recognizing the Chakra signature. "Hello, Zabuza, Zabuza's companion. What brings you here?" Naruto says in a sleepy voice, all the while stifling a yawn. He sits up straight and looks at them.

They look back at him before Zabuza asks. "Are they idiots?" Naruto snorts. "I honestly don't know, but I think they are slowly catching on as I let go." Naruto answers.

Zabuza sighs and holds up a piece of paper. "So, what did you want to talk about? And how did you get this to me? You barely moved at our first meeting."

Naruto just smiles with his eyes closed. "Oh, I have my ways. Anyways, the thing I wanted to talk to you about was if you could join my village. I can convince the old man to let you two in as long as you don't hurt our people."

Zabuza and his companions eyes widen. A long silence falls over them before Zabuza and his companion's eyes meet. After a moment, Zabuza answered. "We wouldn't mind... But how would you explain us to your team?"

"Oh, I already have a plan. All I need is to see if you two are on board with it." Naruto said as he picks up on Kakashi's Chakra. Zabuza notices him as well and he quickly nods. "We'll meet you tomorrow at Tazuna's house sometime noon. Till then, we'll be going." After they disappeared, Naruto slumps against the tree and closes his eyes in exhaustion as he was actually very tired. A minute later, Kakashi appeared with a worried look in his eye.

His eye zeros in on a slumped Naruto who was still sweaty and panting. Kakashi narrows his eye as he can sense others Chakra in the air. He quickly goes over to the downed Genin and picks him up bridal style before jumping off into the trees.

"Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto mutters sleepily, barely opening his eyes. He winces when Kakashi moves his arm an inch, still feeling some pain from the previous training. He clutches Kakashi's vest.

"Sleep Naruto... You're safe." Kakashi's deep voice echo's throughout Naruto mind as he closes his eyes again and slips into a gentle sleep. Kakashi sighs as he looks down at the sleeping Genin in his arms.

••• The Next Morning

Naruto wakes up to warmth again. He groans a bit as he mumbles a soft, sleepy, "Sorry..." and yawns as he slowly gets up and away from Kakashi's warmth with a deep blush on his face. He's never really slept in the same bed as someone so this was all new to him.

Kakashi yawns behind his mask as he sluggishly sits up as well, almost touching Naruto's chest with his arm. Naruto rubs his eyes sleepily, sitting sideways from Kakashi's straight position. He felt a small brush of air very close to his chest and he looks down to see it was his Sensei's arm.

He gets up slowly and goes to do his morning routine as Kakashi stares at him, ignoring the blush on his face.

••• Lunch

Everyone was downstairs eating lunch when a knock on the door was heard. Kakashi stands up and cautiously walks towards it. He slowly opens the door with a Kunai in his other hand behind his back.

His tone and structure instantly went from curious and cautious to cold and stiff. "What?" He coldly flat toned.

Zabuza and his companion were standing there looking relaxed and as if they weren't dangerous missing Nins. "We just want to talk to Naruto," Zabuza said with a tiny smirk. If possible, Kakashi's tone got colder. "What do you want with my Genin." He glares at Zabuza and Zabuza glares back with a cocky smirk. He was about to open his mouth to respond when someone interrupted.

"Hey, what's up you two. Glad you stayed true to your word and came." A hyper voice exclaimed. Naruto came into view as he peaked over Kakashi's hip as he was too short to look over his shoulder with his bracelet on. Kakashi's eye narrows as he watches Naruto talk to the two missing-nin.

"What's going on?" Sasuke's voice could be heard and Naruto grins. "Well, these two will be joining us back to Konoha to join as allies! It's great isn't it?!" Naruto yells, a happy grin on his face.

"Naruto, don't you know how dangerous it is to let them join? And how do you guys even know each other?" Kakashi asks, a little exasperated at Naruto. Naruto just grins up at him. "Well, you know when you went out to search for me yesterday? Well, before you got there, I was talking to these two about it. That reminds me, Zabuza, you still haven't introduced your friend!" Naruto yells with a sunny grin.

Zabuza pushes his companion in front of him with a creepy smile, his hand staying on his shoulders. "This is Haku. Haku, say hi." Zabuza said in a sickly sweet tone. Haku shivers, trying to ignore the hands of his shoulder. "H-hi... It's nice to meet you."

"Yay! Now come on! Why don't you guys come in and eat!" Naruto yells. "Wait Naruto! You can't just-" Kakashi gets cut off by the door being yanked all the way open by Tsunami. Tsunami points her wooden spoon at him threateningly.

"Now now Kakashi-san. Stop being mean and let them in, it's freezing out there. Now be a dear and go get them some bowls." Tsunami said with a sickly sweet voice that made Kakashi nod stiffly before going off to do what he was told. If there was one important lesson he learned in life, it was never to argue with women otherwise you come out broken. The others watching just sweatdropped.

Tsunami smiles at the Nins as they walk in and to the table. She quickly prepares them some food after Kakashi got some bowls for them. They all sit down at the table with a silent tension.

Lunch was mostly silent and everyone was stiff before Inari brakes it. "Why do you try?" He asks in a small voice to no one unparticular. Naruto answers after a few minutes. "Because, if no did then this world would be full of monsters." He said, his voice unusually quiet.

This gains him weird looks but he just shrugs them off and continues eating.

••• The Next Day

A slight breeze flows through the clearing as Naruto, Kakashi, Sasuke, Sakura, Zabuza and Haku all sit it a circle. Everyone was leaning up against a tree and all was quiet before Kakashi spoke up.

"So, you're telling me that you intentionally met up with them, not know if they will decide to kill you or not?" His voice was quiet as he didn't want to raise it. Naruto nods his head. Kakashi sighs.

"Hey, at least we got two more allies and maybe friends," Sakura said with a small smile. Sasuke Hn's in agreement. Kakashi just shakes his head, still feeling slightly worried even though it already happened.

"Hey, Zabuza? Is Gatō gone yet?" Naruto asks. Zabuza shakes his head. "Not yet... I'm getting ready to kill him tonight though." Naruto grumbles under his breath. "Okay... Slowpokes." He says half-jokingly. His response was a halfhearted glare from the pair.

"Hey, guys? What do we do for the remaining time while on this mission? I mean, there isn't anyone after Tazuna now..." Sakura asked.

"We do what we were doing in the first place. Maybe even speed along Tazuna's work." Kakashi said. "Yeah I know that part sensei, but what about fun and training? Are we just going to be doing the exercises we've been doing since we got here because it's likely we'll be here for 2 weeks at most." Sakura said with a grumble.

Kakashi nods, suddenly very cheery. "Yes, we are going to be doing those exercises for a while. For fun, you guys can compete or something." He says with a lazy drawl in his voice though you could tell he was very cheery.

Sakura nods while Naruto and Sasuke glance at each other, both hiding smirks. Naruto jumps up to his feet and grins a bullshit grin. "Well! Let's get to it then! I wanna go home soon!" He yells and starts jogging toward the house.

While he was jogging away though, Sakura and Sasuke glanced at each other before they nod a bit and stand up and follow their bright teammate. That glance did not go unnoticed by Kakashi though and he narrows his eye at them before following as well.

Zabuza and Haku share an amused glance and quickly hide their laughter before following as well.

••• A Week Later

Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura all pant as they sit down for a break. Kakashi was with their client at the bridge as the Genin got in some extra training.

Naruto groans and looks at his teammates before a lazy smirk makes its way up his face. His teammates look at him wearily before realization appears on their faces and they smirk as well.

"So... Back to plan A?" Naruto suggests.

"No. Plan B. It seems more logical. Plus, we don't really have the supplies to do it here and we are technically still on a mission." Sasuke said.

"Hmm... Sasuke is right but I think it should be plan C. If we just trap him there with a lure, then we could do it and I know just the lure too. Plus, we wouldn't be risking the mission and we could get the supplies in the village. All we have to do is lure him in after training or something..." Sakura said.

The three were silent as they thought before the boys both agreed. Naruto was the first to break the silence though. "Okay, plan C it is. Right now we just wait for him... Hahaha..." Soon, the clearing was filled with laughter.

•••

Somewhere on the bride, Kakashi shivers as he gets the feeling someone was plotting against him.

••• Timeskip to tonight

Two figures stand in the shadows of the trees watching the building in front of them. They share a glance before they jump in front of the guard's patrol and quickly decapitate them. They don't falter in their steps as they make their way through the building, slaughtering people.

After clearing out the place, they make their way up to the one room untouched. Quickly killing the two guards in the room, they stare at the fat man cowering behind his desk.

"Gatō, it's past due that you die." The tall man said and he quickly rushes forward and slices his body in half. His partner goes over to the desk as well and looks through it.

He grins when he finds what he's looking for. "Zabuza-sama, I found it. Let's go." The smaller man said and Zabuza nods. "Lead the way Haku." After that, they quickly scavenge the vast of treasure before leaving.

••• Timeskip a week later

Kakashi and his team, along with Zabuza and Haku, make their way towards Konoha in peaceful silence.

... Before Sasuke breaks it. "So Naruto, having a bridge named after you huh?"

Said male just blushes pink and looks away. "Shut up, teme." He mumbles. The group just laughs at his expense.

••• Two Months Later

The sun was shining down on The Village Hidden in the Leaves as people go about their day. Though, in a training ground at the edge of the village, there was three Genin plotting a person's demise.

"Naruto! Have you got it?" Sasuke asks with urgency.

"Yeah! Now, let's set this baby up!" Naruto grins evilly at what was to come. Sakura and Sasuke grin along. "Yes, let's," Sakura mumbles with an evil glint in her eyes.

••• Hours later

Kakashi yawns and walks to a training ground that his Genin asked for him to come to, of course, three hours late as usual. He looks at his book and skims over the words as his mind was already occupied.

It had already been a two months after The Wave Mission and he was still deciding if he should enter his cute little Genin into the Chunin exams that were to take place in a week. He sighs and clears his head before he chuckles at what happened when they entered the Hokage's office with two A-ranked Shinobi.

Zabuza and Haku had been threatened by the Hokage's guards immediately before Naruto settled it out with just glaring that everyone. He can surprisingly be threateningly cute, at least to Kakashi that is. After some talking and deafeningly NOT shouting, they were allowed to leave but had to stay with at least one of the members of team Kakashi. Of course, Hiruzen was not a fool and put an Anbu team to guard them. Just recently, they have gotten off watch too.

They work as Jounin now. They seem quite happy at being accepted instead of killed on the spot.

Kakashi stops and looks up, expecting to see his Genin. What he did not expect to see though, was an Icha Icha Paradise book and it seemed to be the new one that he has yet to buy. He narrows his eye and cautiously walks toward it. Sadly for him, he didn't see the almost invisible ninja wire until he stepped on it. He looks down.

'Oh sh-' The next thing he knew, there was a big explosion and then blackness.

Out in the trees a few feet away, Sakura, Sasuke and Naruto all crackle evilly before they get up to do what was planned.

••• Five Hours Later, Hokage Tower

"So, let me get this straight. You saw an Icha Icha book hanging in the air and your first instinct was to go to it?" The Hokage said with a twitch.

"...Yes..." Kakashi said with his head down.

"And then there was an explosion after you got within a foot of the book and you passed out... Kakashi..." Hiruzen said with a pause. "Why?"

Kakashi closes his eye and shrinks in on himself. "...Sorry lord Hokage... I'll up my training regime. I have to say that I have been slacking... And I underestimated my Genin." Kakashi said as he opens his eye to look at Hiruzen.

Hiruzen sighs and takes a puff out of his pipe. He closes his eyes and thinks. After a few minutes of silence, he opens them again. Hiruzen looks at Kakashi and takes in his form, studying him.

Kakashi's poster was slouched but it wasn't because of his normal laziness. It was because of embarrassment. The object of his embarrassment was his hair. His hair was a splash of all the colors of the rainbow. There were glitter and sparkles in his hair as well. There was also a few pieces of a cut up rope and a gag in one corner of the room. Kakashi's clothing was also de oriented and wrinkled in most places.

Hiruzen sighs again before he speaks his punishment. "Alright, but I want your regime to go up 70%. You will still be doing missions as you are a valuable asset to Konoha but you WILL NOT be reading ANY of your books. This will go on for two months. During that time, I want you to straighten out your act and training. Also, make sure you don't forget your team as well. You will be going on missions with them as well." Hiruzen said with KI.

Kakashi nods and bows. "Yes Lord Hokage." Hiruzen nods. "Good, now you're dismissed." After he said that, Kakashi shushin's home.

Hiruzen was silent after he left before a small chuckle could be heard in one of the corners of the room. "I'm guessing his Genin got payback for all his lateness or something?" A shadow said.

Hiruzen chuckles. "So it seems... Did you get a picture?" He asks. The shadow nods and jumps down to stand in front of the Hokage. He hands him a few pictures. Hiruzen grins. "Why thank you, Tori."

••• A Day Before The Exams, Midday

Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke groan as they lay on the ground in a pile. Sakura was laying on her back with her head on Naruto's stomach and her arms on Naruto's thigh and Sasuke's arm. Sasuke has his arm across Naruto's chest and he was laying on his side. The arm across his chest was touching Sakura's arms. His head was placed on Naruto's right shoulder as well.

Kakashi had just let them stop training. Kakashi had worked them to the limits today, heck even Naruto could feel the burn and he is an Anbu. 'I think this is payback for dying his hair... Worth it though.' Kakashi eye smiles at his downed Genin as he was standing not too far from them.

"Well, now that we're done with training, I have something to talk you three about. Now, sit up so you can see." His Genin groans again at his words but does as he said and sat up, though, they did lean heavily on each other.

Kakashi watches them with glee. His hair was still colored and he was having trouble finding his color hair dye. Luckily for him, Genjutsu was a thing and so, he takes advantage of it. 'Payback is so sweet.' Kakashi snaps out of his thoughts and focuses on the staring Genin.

He takes out three pieces of paper and gives it to the Genin. "The Chunin exams are tomorrow. If you want to participate in them, then please fill these out and hand them in at the front desk. Other than that, have a nice day." After that, he disappeared in a poof of smoke, escaping their wrath. Smart move. The three Genin glare at his remains.

"Are you kidding me!? It's tomorrow! Dang, it! We're going to be so sore!" Naruto wines as he glares up at the sky after falling on his back. Sasuke and Sakura groan and flop back down as well and go back into the position before Kakashi made them sit up. They put their papers in their pouch before just listening to the forest around them.

It was like that for a few minutes before they heard walking. Looking to their right, they see three kids their age with Suna hitai-ate. Everyone freezes as they just stare at each other.

There was a boy on the left with a cat-eared cap and a girl on the right with a giant fan on her back. In the middle of them was a boy with shaggy red hair.

After observing them, Naruto speaks up. "Do you need this training ground?" He asks, lightly patting his teammates on the head to get them up. They oblige and slowly get up, still very sore, Naruto doing the same. They stretch, making bones pop.

All the while, the other team just watches them before the redhead speaks. "Yes."

Sasuke and Sakura flank Naruto as he stares straight into the read heads sea green eyes.

"My brother is in him." Kurama's voice suddenly was heard.

After a pause, Naruto speaks. 'Brother? Which one? And where have you been this entire journey?'

"Shukaku. And I was around…" Was His reply

'Ah... Okay. You're a bad liar by the way.' Naruto said while thinking.

Naruto's eyes become sharp as he still stares at the redhead. "Uzumaki Naruto. These two are my teammates, Uchiha Sasuke and Haruno Sakura. You?" Naruto said, gesturing to his teammates when he said their names.

"Gaara no Sabaku. This is my brother and sister, Temari no Sabaku and Kankuro no Sabaku." Gaara said monotone, doing the same gesture.

A small smile breaks onto Naruto's face but his eyes remain sharp. He starts walking out of the training ground, his team following. He stops when he is next to Gaara and whispers so low that only he and Gaara could hear.

"It was nice meeting you Mr. One. Kyubi has talked a lot about you... Brother." Before he continues walking.

Now left alone with his siblings, Gaara's eyes are a little wider than normal and his mouth is open slightly, feeling that that wording was familiar but the words didn't sound right. His sibling's eyes widen and they exchange a look.

••• The Next Day

Naruto yawns as he waits for his teammates in front of the gates at the Academy. He closes his eyes and thinks about what happened last night.

Apparently, his old sensei thought it was a good idea to sneak into a Ninjas house and try to wake them up from a dead sleep just to see if they were ready for the exams. That's just what Iruka did too. He kinda felt bad for his sensei because Naruto almost broke his arm when he was about to touch him.

Iruka said he was fine, though he was rubbing his shoulder before he explained why he was doing this. Apparently, before or after you get nominated to do the exams, a Ninja comes to test you and see if you're ready. If your not, then they take you out of the exams.

"Hey, Naruto! Good morning!" Naruto quickly snaps out of his thoughts as his female teammate yells at him. Looking up, he sees Sakura and Sasuke walking together towards him. He smiles. "Good morning! Ready for the exams!?" Naruto yells.

His teammate's nod and they make their way inside, all the while Naruto is thinking about what this exam will bring. He had a bad feeling about this and he was never one to ignore his instincts. They saved him too many times for that after all.

'I just hope this isn't going to turn out bad...'

••• Thirty Minutes Later

"So, let me get this straight... We could've failed if we didn't enter together?!" A pink haired girl said through gritted teeth.

Their sensei eye smiles. "Yes." Was all he said, his voice annoyingly cheerful.

"Then why didn't you tell us!?" She grounded out. Their sensei just flips another page in his book. "Hmm? Oh sorry, what was that again?"

Sakura screeches and moves forward to attack their sensei but her teammates, Naruto and Sasuke, hold her back. "Sakura! Calm down!" Naruto says, a little panicky. Sakura growls and shakes but takes a deep, shaky breath before just glaring at Kakashi. Naruto and Sasuke hesitantly let go after a few moments and threw Kakashi a glare as well.

Their sensei just brushes it off and eye smiles. "Well, off you go then! Make sure not to get killed!" Kakashi said cheerfully before disappearing in a puff of smoke. Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura deadpan and look at each other. They sigh at their sensei's humor before opening the doors and walking in.

KI greeted them when they walked in but they brush it off, having felt worst by Kakashi in KI training. It was not a pretty experience but it did as intended.

They give the room a look around, taking note of all the escape routes just in case something goes wrong. Once that was done, they start to move further into the room before they hear a shrill voice.

"Sasuke-Kun!"

Sasuke immediately moves behind Naruto, making the blond girl flying towards him to smash into the floor.

A round of coughing could be heard, along with contained chuckles. Naruto snorts and Sakura leans over the limp body of her old friend, Ino. She snorts as well.

"Ino, are you trying to have a contest with the floor on who looks better in gray?" Sakura says with a contained smile as she looks down at her.

Ino grumble and pushes herself up and glares at Sakura but remains quiet, a small embarrassed blush on her face.

At that moment they could hear footsteps approaching them and they turn to see who it was. It was the rest of rookie 9. Naruto grins.

"Hey, guys!" He waves with a grin.

The others acknowledge him with smiles and waves as they make their way to them. Once there, they stand and start to talk about what's been happening. Team 7 made sure to keep as quiet as their persona's allowed them to be.

That was until a white-haired male interrupted them though.

"You guys might want to be quiet. Everyone's getting antsy with the noises your making." He said, pushing up his glasses.

Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura narrow their eyes slightly. Naruto decides to speak up.

"And who are you?" He said, not failing to make his voice cheery with a smile plastered to his face.

'He's annoyed…' Sasuke thinks as he and Sakura carefully watch their teammate.

Indeed, Naruto was annoyed. This was the first time he was able to talk to his old classmates since the graduation. He wanted to get to know them better and this person is getting in the way of that.

Naruto kept his cool though, he has a lot of other opportunities to get to know them better in the future, no point in blowing his cover if there are other opportunities.

Kabuto smiles. "I'm Yakushi Kabuto, it's nice to meet you…" He trails off.

Naruto continues to grin and play oblivious. "I'm Uzumaki Naruto and these two are my teammates, Uchiha Sasuke and Haruno Sakura! Nice to meet you as well!"

Sasuke looks at Kabuto's hitai-ate and narrows his eyes. "If you're a Konoha Shinobi, how come no one has seen you before?" Sasuke asks as he glares at him.

Kabuto's shoulders tense slightly, both boys taking notice but not pointing it out. He opens his mouth to explain but stops and quickly dodging out of the way. His glasses crack and he leans over and throws up.

Naruto holds a wince in but his eyes tighten slightly in pain. His senses were sharp enough to hear that. Kurama stops the puke coming up and he cools his stomach.

'Thank you Kura-chan…'

"…It was nothing…"

Naruto hides a smile at his tangents embarrassment before he feels a hidden chakra signature coming towards the doors at a fast rate. Not even 30 seconds later, the front doors slam open and a big, scared guy walks in. He grins sadistically before he yells something.

"Alright! Everyone take your seats and shut up! I'm Morino Ibiki and I'll be your first protector!"

••• An hour later

Naruto grumbles as he doodles on the back of his test. He was bored. He had already completed the test and was now just drawing a picture.

He looked over at his teammates and saw that they were doing the same thing. He smiles and snorts.

He had already completed the test. It was fairly easy as he didn't have to write anything much at all. The real test was to see if you could figure out the paper wasn't a test and to see if you could cheat without being found out.

'Quite sneaky if I do say so.' He sighs and continues his drawing, smirking lightly at Ibiki's glare. He looks up for a second and sticks his tongue at him before he goes back to drawing.

Ibiki gets a tick mark and glares harder.

Same time, Secret room

The Jounin in the room laugh and argue about what's going on in the test room. Many were placing bets on who would pass and who would fail.

Kakashi sighs and watches the screen, already placed his bet on his team. He sees Naruto look up and stick his tongue out at the examiner. He smiles.

"Smart bunch you got there, my eternal rival!" Gai's voice intercepts his line of thought.

"Gai, What are you doing?" Kakashi asks as he looks over at his old friend. Said friend was standing on his hand and grinning like a fool.

"Practicing My Eternal Rival!" Was his response. Kakashi just sighs and goes back to looking at the screen.

"Your team is quite the team as well Gai. Especially that girl, TenTen was it?" Kakashi said, changing the subject.

Gai grins and leans forward before he swiftly moves and lands on his feet. He peers down at Kakashi, who was sitting on a couch and promptly sits beside him.

"Yes! Very youthful! She's aiming to be a medic but she is thrilled by weapons. She would make a great Weapon Master if she tried!" Gai yells with enthusiasm.

Kakashi nods absently as he stares thoughtfully at the screen. An idea struck him. "Hey Gai?"

Gai looks at his rival questioningly.

"Why don't you try and get her down the path of becoming a field medic? There are very few out there. I'm planning on doing the same to one of my kids as well. She's a natural in chakra control." Kakashi said, turning to look at Gai.

He sweatdrops at Gai's face, whose eyes seem to be shining. Gai grins.

"Kakashi! My hip and cool Rival! I will not let you win on this! I will make TenTen the best field medic before you!" Gai yells and pumps a fist in the air excitedly.

Kakashi just sighs and quickly pulls out his book. He looks up a Gai. "Hmm? What was that Gai?" He says, his voice bored and hidden amusement in his eye.

Gai stands up suddenly and throws his hands in the air. Anime waterfalls stream down his face. "Dang it! You're too hip and cool my Eternal Rival!"

Back in the exam room

"Alright! Pencils down! Past your papers up so that I can grab them!" Ibiki yells and watches the wanna be Chunin. He grins as some kids look petrified.

He then looks over at the blond kid, only to see him watching him with amusement. Ibiki raises an eyebrow but doesn't say anything.

He quickly goes around and grabs the small stacks of test paper before he goes back to stand in front of everyone.

"Alright, time for the 10th question. Listen carefully! Those who don't answer right will lose their right to be a ninja! If you want to back down, do it now." Ibiki said with a grin at the outraged cries. He finds great amusement in torturing them.

Not too soon after, many start to get up and go, their teammates following. Soon the room was only half full before Ibiki spoke again.

"Are you sure no one else wants to go. If you get this wrong, you will never be a ninja." Ibiki said one last time. A few more students left before he grins.

"Okay. Time for the 10th question." There were a heavy silence and anticipation hanging in the air. He opens his mouth with a sadistic grin.

"You all pass."

The silence in the air was stifling before people started to yell and scream in outrage. Team 7 sat back and watched the chaos silently, passing amused glances at each other.

Ever since they got to know Kakashi, his hidden sadist has rubbed off on them. What's funny is that he knows this and we still got him with a prank. He deserved it though.

Naruto watches Ibiki watch the kids scream before he steps in and raises his voice, shutting everyone up.

"Alright! Shut up or I will disqualify you all!" After him yelling that, it was unsurprisingly quiet. If someone looked close enough, they would be able to see the older ninja slightly laughing.

Ibiki grins at this and opens his mouth to continue but stop and looks at the window before it shatters. He glares.

"Hello, bitches! I'm Mitarashi Anko and I'm your second protector!"

••• Thirty Minutes Later

Anko hides a sigh and in turn, she just smirks audaciously at the Chunin wannabes. She always loved a good mind game, especially when it's with overconfident kids. She never found it boring to crush their hopes and dreams. In was just too funny seeing their pale and shaking figures.

Since she rarely got to do it, she took full advantage of the situation. Grinning like a madman, she stood boldly with a stern yet mischievous eye over watching the crowd gathered before her.

With her hands on her hips, she starts her speech. "Alright maggots! Listen up! As you heard, I'm Mitarashi Anko, your second protector! Right next to us is the place you maggots will be taking your test in. Does anyone know what it's called?"

There was a deafening silence in the air before her grin turns devilish. "Well then, I'll tell you. This forest is called the Forest of Death. Not even the bravest of people dare to go in. Well, besides me anyways."

At that, many of the kids pale at her words, her devilish grin not helping in the slightest. If even brave people avoid that place then what chance do they, Chunin wannabes, have at passing the test? It was not a very pleasing thought to think of.

Naruto and his teammates stay off to the side at the very back, clearly trying to be unnoticed. Standing next to them is Shikamaru and his two teammates, Yamanaka Ino and Akamichi Chōji.

Shikamaru gives a sideways glance at Naruto, his mind racing with possibilities. Mind made up, he nudges Naruto on the side with his elbow. Naruto tilts his head slightly in acknowledgment, he was listening.

Shikamaru marvels at his discreetness when not too long ago, Naruto would've just turned to him and in a very loud voice, he would've said something that got everyone's attention. He looks forward at Anko, keeping an ear open on what she's saying as he thinks about how to word it.

"I have a plan on how to pass. It will involve your team as well as Kiba's. Will you help me?" Shikamaru whispers.

Naruto remains quiet for a few moments before looking at his teammates. They both nod their head, a slight agreeing smile on Sakura's face.

Naruto smiles as well but more widely. "Sure, what's your plan?" Shikamaru grins slightly. "Well, Why don't we group up? It will be safer that way and show to the other Villages that we stick together no matter what."

Naruto throws him a sideways glance before nodding. "Count us in then. We're more than willing to help a fellow comrade and friend." He said with a grin. The others join in on smiling and grinning slightly.

•••

Sasuke glares as they take off into the trees. Sakura looks questioningly at him before speaking up.

"Sasuke-Kun, what's wrong? Your making that face again." She said quietly, scanning their surroundings.

Sasuke drops his glare and looks at Sakura. "Nothing, its just a habit to glare at things. A bad habit at that."

Naruto snorts with a grin as he holds in his laughter. "Okay guys, we need to find the others. Sasuke, Sharingan, please. Everyone fall into Diamond formation." Naruto said after he regained his breath from holding in his laughter.

Sasuke and Sakura nod and fall in. Sasuke takes the lead with Sakura behind him and Naruto behind her. Naruto makes two clones who are on either side of Sakura. Everyone was a good distance away but not too far as too not be able to protect each other.

Sakura was in the middle because she was their medic. She needed to be protected at all costs otherwise the whole team dies.

Sasuke activates his bloodline and looks around for their friends Chakra. Once seeing them, he changes the direction. "It seems they have found Kiba's team first," Sasuke informs his teammates quietly.

Naruto nods and grins. "Good, now we just need to make it there. Speed up, please." Naruto says and the other two mutter a quiet okay.

Doing as told, they speed up through the trees until they reach their destination. Jumping down from the enormous trees, they land silently on the ground in front of Shikamaru and Kiba's teams.

Seeing as they finally got there, Naruto dispels his clones and grins at his friends. "Hey, guys. How's the plan coming along?" He asks, making sure to keep his voice down.

Shikamaru nods in acknowledgment and straitens up. Shikamaru grins slightly. "So far, so good. Now, let's go out and search for a base of operation. We need cover before we hunt."

Kiba grins. "If you cover, then I have already smelt out the perfect place." He grins cockily.

Shikamaru nods. "Then lead the way, we need to hurry because it will get dark soon."

Ino nods along with them as she and Hinata look at the eerie forest around them. Chōji just munches on some chips and following along with the others through the trees.

All throughout this conversation, Naruto felt odd and slightly worried. 'Please, oh please, let there be nothing wrong and that my instincts are lying to me… Please.'

••• Three Days Later

Warm water pelts Naruto's face as he stands in the shower. He and the others had arrived late last night, not wanting to stay out another night when they could've just run a mile and made it here.

They were the fifth team to make it here. There were two more days until the end of this test so they had some waiting to do.

Naruto sighs in contentment at the warmth of the shower, his mind going back a similar warmth that was much better than the water.

Naruto shakes his head to get that out of his head, a small blush on his already reddened cheeks. He sighs again.

Finishing up his shower, he steps out and grabs the fluffy towel beside the shower hanging up. He towel dries his hair first before his body before setting the towel down on the closed toilet seat.

Going over to the mirror, he looks at himself. He sweatdrops.

'I look like a girl….'

"Your mother would be proud of your girly figure." Kurama snickers before tuning out Naruto as he starts to argue, a blush on his cheeks.

'Shut up, Kurama! I didn't ask you!'

Naruto pouts slightly before straitening up and sighing before shaking his head at his friend's antics. Naruto slowly brushes his teeth and does his bathroom duty's, all the while remembering what happened in the Forest of Death.

Flashback

Naruto stares at the place Kiba has shown everyone. 'Who would've known Kiba could sniff out a place like this? I sure wouldn't have.' Naruto thought as he looked around.

They were on a small hill with enough trees and shrubbery to hide the big amount of people gathered. There was a small stream not to far away for drinking supplies. The grass looked soft and comfy to sleep on too.

Naruto looks at Kiba. "How did you sniff out something like this, Kiba?" He asks and Kiba looks at him with a smirk.

"Kaa-chan has been teaching me how to tell apart scents better. This so happens to be something she mentioned." He says, his grin smug.

Naruto hmm's. "Could you teach me? My sense of smell is like yours." He asks and Kiba looks at him curiously. "I'll have to ask Kaa-chan but if she says yes then sure. I wouldn't mind."

Naruto looks at Kiba excitedly as Kiba does the same. "Cool!"

Not too far off, Sakura and Hinata giggle at those twos antics. Ino looks at Sakura weirdly.

Sakura turns back to Ino as well. "So, will you?"

Ino stays quiet for a while with her eyes closed before exhaling a deep breath. She opens her eyes and looks at Sakura. Hinata watches the exchange with curious eyes.

"Fine, but on one condition," Ino says. Sakura nods. "And that is?"

"Spare with me once a week. I'll admit your stronger than me since you've actually been training seriously so I want to test out how strong I get every week to catch up with you."

Sakura looks a bit surprised but nods with a small grin. She holds out her hand. "Deal! Hinata! Will you join as well?" She asks.

Ino shakes her hand and looks at Hinata. Hinata looks at them with wide eyes before blushing and looking down.

"U-Um…. I-I don't m-mind… I-I don't want t-to be a b-bother…" She stutters as she twiddles with her fingers. Ino and Sakura grin at her.

"Nonsense Hinata! You will never be a bother! Maybe while we're training, we can toughen you up! You need to catch up with the guys after all!" Sakura grins and clenches her fists as she throws them up with determination shining in her eyes.

Hinata's blush darkens as a small smile graces her face. "O-Okay…."

End Flashback

Naruto grins at that memory. The girls thought no one was watching them but in actuality, everyone was. It was the perfect start to a new friendship.

Naruto was glad they got along so well and that Ino wasn't annoying Sasuke anymore. His complaining was funny though.

Naruto goes to grab something from the sink but stops at sharp pains going through his shoulder.

Naruto uses his uninjured arm to rub his shoulder. They had a run in with quite a dangerous Nuke-nin. Naruto sighs at remembering it.

'At least I got one of the traitors…'

Flashback

A massive burst of air suddenly hit the group Naruto was traveling with. The kids scream slightly and apply Chakra to their feet as quickly as they could.

Sadly, Shikamaru and Hinata slipped and the wind started to burst them away before Naruto caught Shikamaru and Shino caught Hinata.

Soon after that, the wind stopped and a Kunoichi dropped down from the trees not too far away.

"Well, Well, look what we have here. Very interesting." The Kunoichi said, her voice slithery.

Naruto, Sasuke, and Kiba narrow their eyes at the Kunoichi as Ino and Sakura go over to Hinata and Shino. Chōji comes over to me and Shikamaru as I carefully set him down. He thanked me and smiles at Chōji.

Naruto steps forward, Sasuke on his right and Kiba on his left. "Who are you?" He yells, glaring at the Kunoichi.

The Kunoichi just laughs. "Why, I am known as Orochimaru."

Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura stiffen before Sakura walks over and stands on Naruto's left after telling Kiba to get back. Naruto's glare intensifies. "Guys, run! We'll distract him from you! Just go!"

Kiba glares. "The hell? Hell NO! We'll Help you!" He yells.

Orochimaru just grins as his disguise melts from him. "Kukuku, it seems you three know who I am. Good. This should be fun then."

Sasuke growls. "We didn't ask Kiba. That's an order! Go! We'll catch up!"

Kiba was about to protest again before Shino and Shikamaru grab his shoulders. "Come on Kiba, It's not safe fighting him. If they say they will catch up, they will. Trust them, now come." Shikamaru said.

Kiba growls before sighing and nodding. "Come on boy." He says to Akamaru, who was growling at Orochimaru. Soon, they left, running as fast as they could to the building. Everyone already had the scroll they needed.

•••

Naruto stands in front of Sasuke clutching his shoulder in pain. The snake had aimed an attack at Sasuke to get him down. Naruto had moved and took the hit for him.

Naruto coughed up blood, a grin on his face. "Is that all you can do? Pathetic!"

Sakura looks worriedly at Naruto as she heals up a wound on Sasuke.

"Don't antagonize him Naruto!" She says worriedly. They silently watch as the Snake-teme just tsk at us before glaring and quickly taking off, away from them.

Naruto just smirks. "Watch over Sasuke for me, I'm going after this bastard!" He says, looking over his shoulder slightly before darting off into the forest after the snake that ran. He ignored his teammate's yells.

Naruto feels a presence watching him so he quickly engages it in battle.

Even if one of Naruto's arm was useless, he was still strong. He threw a punch at the watcher's stomach, only for it to be dodged. Swirling on his heels, he throws a spinning kick. It makes contact.

A loud crack was heard while the body it belonged to hits a tree.

Naruto breaths heavily as he looks at the struggling form trying to get up. He had a blank mask on his face. Naruto's nose scrunches up. He also smelled of a snake.

Naruto walks over to the masked man. He kicks him in the chest before pinning his hands to the tree behind him with kunai. He takes off his watcher's mask. His eyes widen in shock.

"Kabuto?"

End Flashback

Kabuto had just glared at him. Naruto had felt a bit betrayed but ignored it as he tried to get information out of him. It took awhile but Naruto had managed to get him to confess to being allied with Orochimaru.

As soon as he had confessed, Naruto slit his throat because he was a traitor. No way was he going to let him get away.

Naruto had headed back to his team and they set off to find the others. As soon as they had found them, they were close enough to the tower to just travel there and get it over with. Naruto was quickly rushed to the infirmary soon after.

He was healed enough to go about by himself but his arm was still injured. Apparently, whatever that Snake-teme had done, it was making it hard to heal. Though with Kurama, it should be healed up enough to fight in the final round in a few days.

Luckily, his friends were okay. Sasuke was injured as well as Sakura but not as bad as Naruto. It could've been worse if Naruto hadn't intercepted a few of Orochimaru's attack. There was one that made his head lengthen and it crept him the freakout.

He kept on going on about wanting Sasuke too. Pedo-Snake…

Naruto snorts before grabbing the fluffy towel and wraps it around his body. He was embarrassed to say it engulfed his small form.

Naruto shakes his head before walking out, his bracelet on his ankle. It was just a small black metal wrapped around his ankle.

Naruto sighs as he walks out with his eyes closed as he yawns. He freezes at hearing snickering.

Opening his eyes, he eyes the man laying lazily on his bed.

"Kashi-Sensei? What's up?" Naruto asks, a slight blush on his cheeks. "And stop laughing, it isn't that funny…" Naruto pouts.

Kakashi just continues to stare at Naruto as he chuckles. "Yes, yes, my cute little fox." He continues to chuckle, much to Naruto's dismay. His cheeks slowly turn darker in embarrassment.

Naruto huffs and shuffles over to his bed, grabbing some clothes from the pile before going back to the bathroom to change. Once changed, he comes out, his hair still down and Naruto toweling it again.

Kakashi goes silent and watches Naruto dry his hair. Once he was done, Kakashi marvels on how much he looked like Kushina in that moment.

"So, what are you doing here Sensei?" Naruto asks as he sets his towel down on the back of a chair.

Kakashi stays quiet for a moment as he looks Naruto over. He smiles at his cuteness. "Just came to check up on your shoulder Naru-chan."

Naruto blushes and glares at Kakashi but to Kakashi, it looks like a pout. "Don't call me that! I'm not a girl, tattebayo!"

Kakashi looks away from Naruto, his shoulders shaking slightly and his ears slightly red. 'So adorable…'

"Kakashi-Sensei! Stop that!" Naruto whines and he goes over and plots down beside Kakashi on the bed. "It's not funny, tattebayo!"

You see, when Naruto was ever nervous, excited or embarrassed, he would always add 'Tattebayo' to the end of his sentences. Hiruzen always found this cute and adorable. Just like his Mother, he would think as he remembered Naruto's mother had the same verbal tick.

Naruto huffs and crosses his arms, waiting for Kakashi to stop laughing at him and trying to keep his smile down as well. He liked his Sensei's laugh.

Once Kakashi was done, he gives a glance at Naruto who was beside him. "So, when did you have long hair Naru-chan?" He asks, smiling at seeing his student pout at the name.

"I've had it for awhile Sensei. I just usually keep it pulled up and inside my jacket. The hair that's usually sticking in all directions are just baby hairs not yet weighed down…" Naruto mumbles.

Kakashi nods as he understood what Naruto said.

"I see," Kakashi says. He pulls out his book and starts to read it. "Why do you hide it?"

Naruto shifts to get comfortable and he closes his eyes. "Because people wouldn't take kindly to me being more girly. I already look like a girl, no need to add to it. Not yet anyway. And it's not like I can cut it. Every time I do, it just grows back as fast as I cut it. It's probably the Kyubi's fault." Naruto says.

Kakashi hmm's and stays quiet as he reads, well, more like skims the words. He felt a slight pang at his words. He was thinking about why the Kyuubi would make sure he couldn't cut his hair.

Kakashi flinches slightly at something touching his arm. He looks down and sees Naruto asleep, his head on his arm. He smiles.

He looks over Naruto again and stares at his ankle brace before deciding to ask him later. Shifting to where Naruto has his head against his pillows, Kakashi stands and puts his book away.

He looks at Naruto's angelic face. It was peaceful and soft, unlike the roughness and scrunched up face when awake. Kakashi realizes Naruto has always been tense. A pained emotion grips his heart as he thinks of the reason why.

Without thinking, he reaches out and brushes his thumb against Naruto's cheek and chuckles as Naruto smiles and moves towards his hand. He pulls away and sighs. Pulling up the blankets over Naruto, he exits the room quietly, worry and acceptance in his eyes.

'There's no denying it now, is there?'

••• A Week Later

Quiet snickering could be heard in a dark room. It was early in the morning but the owner of the room was not up yet so the blinds blocked out the sun.

Still, the quiet snickering could still be heard. Two males were in one corner of the dark room with a bucket of water. The door to the room was left open, the hallway light the only thing bringing light in.

The males calm there snickering before silently creeping over to the person asleep in the bed. The shorter male went to the left side of the bed while the other went right.

Both of them held up buckets of water with ice in them. The taller of the two quietly counts down.

"3…"

"2…"

"1, NOW!"

Both of them pour the buckets on the sleeping teen before bolting, dodging the weapons as they fly by. They laugh loudly as the teen screeches and cusses them out, trying to kill them with his weapons.

They fled the room laughing and the teen stands in the middle of the room soaking wet, bed ruined.

"Those two are going to die… Kurama, Shut up!" Naruto yells at Kurama as the beast laughs his fur off.

"That… Hahaha… Was priceless! Hahahaha!" His deep voice rumbles throughout Naruto's mind. Naruto growls and shuts him out before going and cleaning himself and his bed. It took an hour, oh they were so dead.

•••

Naruto spin kicks a tree, breaking it in half. He was stress relief training. He pants as he drops to the ground, laying on the grass and staring up at the sky.

It had been a week since that Kakashi bathroom incident, five days since the final round. Well, it would've been the final round had it not been for there being too many people.

Hiruzen had them fight against everyone, the winners were the ones going to the finals. Naruto smiled, he was feeling a bit guilty about beating Kiba but he really wanted to go. He apologized later that same day. Luckily, Kiba forgave him.

He quickly grabs a Kunai and throws it to his left. Sitting up, he looks to see who was the one who interrupted his rest. His eyes slightly widen.

"Gaara?" Naruto says, getting to his feet.

Gaara stares at him with a blank expression. He tips his head in greetings. "I come here to ask you some questions." His voice was flat and Naruto found that he didn't like it.

Naruto nods cautiously before walking towards his home. "Then follow me. It's to open for questioning out here." Gaara nods and follows obediently.

•••

Gaara sat on one of Naruto's desk chairs while Naruto sat on his bed. He activates a privacy seal. "So, what's up?"

Gaara remains silent for a few moments before he speaks up. "How did you know I had the One Tails?"

Naruto looks at him oddly before smiling. "That's because Kurama told me. He's the Kyuubi." Naruto says cheerfully.

At this, Gaara's eyes widen slightly. His mouth opens a fraction. "Your… like me?" Naruto nods. "Yes, I just get along with my Beast. If you want, my cousin has some suppressor seals to suppress the things you want."

Gaara still remains to just stare at Naruto in awe before he soon snaps out of it, his eyes narrowing at the offer. "What's the downside?" He says cautiously.

Naruto just smiles at him. "Don't worry, there aren't many downsides. The only thing the seal can't do is suppress a mind. What that means is, you will still be able to hear him but his Chakra and powers can't influence you. On the bright side, you could try and become friends with him. I did that to Kurama."

Gaara remains quiet, thinking of what he said before he looks up at Naruto. "How much will this cost?" Gaara asks, his voice slightly quieter than before.

Naruto grins. "Nothing at all! All I ask is your friendship!" Gaara's eyes widen. "Just my friendship? That's it?"

Naruto nods and stands up, extending his hand out for Gaara to shake. "Yup! This will be my give to you at becoming my friend."

Gaara eyes his hand before slowly shaking it with his hand. "Okay.." Naruto's eyes brighten before he bounds off towards the door. "I'll be right back, I need to get my cousin!" After that said, Naruto runs out of the room and down the hall.

He knocks on a door before going in. The room was smaller than his room and it had dark colors instead of Naruto's light ones. Papers, pens, pencils, and a lot of other stuff like books were scattered all across this floor in an organized mess.

He smiles and looks to one corner of the room, seeing a form hunched over a desk with a lamp above him. He walks over to it, careful not to trip. Once he was a few feet away, he stopped. "Hey Ruru, can you help me for a second?"

Ruru stops what he was doing and turns around to look at his cousin. "Depends on what you need help on." He smiles at seeing Naruto pout.

"It's about Gaara, the one who has Kurama's brother in it. He's in my room right now. I need you to put the suppressor on him. Don't worry, he's agreed to have it." Naruto said softly, his voice lost its roughness because he didn't have to pretend in front of Ruru.

Ruru reaches out and ruffles his hair before getting up, grabbing a slip of paper on his desk as he went. "Okay, let's go then Naru-chan." With that, they head back to Naruto's room.

Once inside, Naruto introduces each other. "Gaara, this is my cousin Ruru. Ruru, this is my new friend Gaara."

They study each other before nodding. Ruru steps up and over to Gaara. "Where do you want the seal?" Ruru asks.

"On my stomach," Gaara said, shifting in his seat so that he can get his shirt off. Ruru nods and grabs some of Naruto's ink and brush before he gets to work on Gaara's stomach. Naruto goes over and sits on his bed, watching.

'Maybe I can convince him to teach me this seal, it seems handy…' Naruto smiled.

•••

Ruru stands up and away, admiring his handy work. He grins slightly and looks at Gaara. Gaara was looking off to the bed where Naruto was, so Ruru followed his gaze.

Naruto was asleep leaning against pillows at an odd angle. Ruru snorts. "All done Gaara. How do you feel?" He asks, gaining Gaara's attention. "I feel tired… and free…" Ruru smiled gently at Gaara.

"Good, that's perfectly normal. You should go and get some sleep, Shukaku won't do anything, I promise." Ruru said and Gaara looks slightly surprised before shaking his head and standing up slowly. "Okay. Goodnight then and thank you."

Ruru just smiles as he watches Gaara leave. He goes over to Naruto and shifts him to where he was laying correctly on the bed with the covers pulled over him. He moves Naruto's hair out of his face and kisses his forehead.

"Night Naru-chan."

•••

Gaara moves silently in the shadows as he makes his way towards the Hokage building. He had some important news to tell Hiruzen.

•••

Gaara holds a yawn in as he sits in front of the Hokage. He looked to the window in the room, seeing that the sun was starting to come up. He looks back at Hiruzen as he starts to speak.

"What do you propose we do, Gaara?" Hiruzen voiced out. Gaara thinks for a moment before replying.

"I can get my team and a few others to help us, that way we have more of his troops on our side," Gaara said and Hiruzen nodded. "Alright, That will be good for now. We'll continue this later."

Gaara nods and stands up, stretching a bit as he goes before starting to make the hand seals to shushin away but Hiruzen stops him.

"By the way, what made you decide to tell me this?" Hiruzen voices and Gaara pauses.

Gaara smiles softly. "I had to repay a debt to a… friend. He, Uzumaki Naruto, helped me in a way I thought no one could. Now if you'll excuse me Hokage-sama." Bowing, he teleported away.

Hiruzen smiles before letting out a sigh and lights his pipe again, letting the sound barrier fall. His Anbu comes in shortly after.

"Gather all the Captions and Commanders, we have much to discuss." His Anbu nod at the command before bounding off to do as told. One remained to guard.

Hiruzen just takes a puff of smoke, letting it out slowly. 'This is going to be a long day…'

•••

Naruto yawns and plops down beside Sasuke and Sakura, who was leaning against the railing. They were waiting for Kakashi again. He should be here soon as it has already been three hours.

Naruto had just sat down to take a break from doing Katas when a poof of smoke appeared before the downed group. They look up.

Kakashi was in front of them with an eye smile. "Sorry I'm late, I got lost on the road of life." He said hidden amusement in his voice.

The three Genin glare. "Stop lying Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura yelled as she and the others stand up. Kakashi just continues to eye smile.

"Well, today I have some news for you three. Sadly, it's not good news either." He said lazily as he leans against the railing of the bridge.

The Genins narrow their eyes, looking worried. "And what's that Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asks. Kakashi lets out a sigh and drops his smile eye. He stares at them seriously.

"First off, I won't be training Naruto and Sakura. Don't get mad, the council is making me and I can't refuse. I'll be training Sasuke on the Sharingan. Sakura, I want you to go to the Hospital and learn medical Jutsu. Naruto, I got you a sensei to-"

"I don't want another sensei, Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto yells, looking slightly hurt. He balls his fists. Sakura and Sasuke look at him in surprise. Kakashi sighs and closes his eye.

"I'm sorry Naruto, but the council ordered it and I can't disobey. If I did, I could be taken off this team." Kakashi said, his voice a little weary.

Naruto snorts and looks away. "I'm still not taking a different sensei!" He says and runs off. "Naruto!" Kakashi yells before sighing again.

Kakashi looks at his other two students and sees their looking off in the direction Naruto ran, their faces covered with worry. He smiles. "You two are dismissed. Sasuke, meet me here tomorrow morning at 8. Bring enough clothing for a month. I'll go check on Naruto…"

After saying that, he disappeared in a poof of smoke. Sakura still looks at where Naruto ran off. "You think Kakashi-sensei can calm him down? He looked really hurt…" She said, her voice small.

Sasuke looks at her and smiles slightly. He reaches out and pats her head, making Sakura blush. "Don't worry Sakura, I'm sure Kakashi-sensei can do it. If he doesn't… well, I got a whole month to myself with him. I'm sure I can land at least one hit on him."

Sakura giggles. "Sasuke-Kun, are you trying to cheer me up?" Sasuke blushes slightly and looks away, removing his hand from her head. "Hn…" Sakura just giggles more.

•••

Naruto scowls and walks forward through the streets, the glares and rocks people throw at him were not helping his sour mood. He was so confused at being mad.

'Why am I so mad about this?!'

"You haven't figured it out yet, Kit?" Kurama's voice intrudes into his thoughts like a thunderbolt.

'What do you mean by that?'

Kurama chuckles, "You'll find out on your own Kit. It's fun watching you try and solve stuff. Good luck!"

'Kurama! Hey! Tell me!' Naruto yells through the link they share but he gets no response. He growls slightly, low enough no one can hear.

He continues to walk, thinking about what it is that he's trying to solve before he hears a weird giggling coming from his right. He stops and looks up, noticing he's in front of a bathhouse.

He goes around to the side, where he heard the giggling. His eyes widen.

There, crouching beside the wall, was a white-haired man who was looking through a hole in the wall. The man's hair was long and spiky and his clothing was a bit baggy with a huge scroll on his back.

Naruto looks at the man weirdly before he grins. He starts to make hand signs. When he was almost done, the man looked behind him to see who was watching him.

The man's eyes narrow at the seal making before his eyes widen when Naruto turns into a female version of himself. She had on a small sundress and flats, her blond locks of hair down and curly. It went down to her butt. Her eyes were slanted and her skin was flawless.

Naruto still had a grin on her face and she opens her mouth. "AHHH! Pervert! Help!" She yells with a high pitched voice. Screeching could be heard behind the wall of the bathhouse.

The man panics and moves forward and puts a hand in her mouth. "Shh! They'll hear you!" He said with a panicky voice.

Naruto grins before making it to where she looks like she's crying. The man panics and was about to move away before he hears screeching. He looks to his side, seeing a hoard of females in a towel. He pales.

Quickly backing away, he decided to run but it was too late. The girls advanced on him quickly and aggressively pounded him into the ground. Once they were done, they head over to the male turned female.

One of the girls hugs Naruto and comfortingly pats her head. "There, there, you're safe now. That big pervert won't hurt you anymore." She says.

Naruto gives them a small smile. "Thanks…. I don't know what would have happened if you ladies weren't there…" Naruto says, her voice soft.

The females aww at her and one of them suggests, "Hey, why don't you come join us in the bathhouse? We could always use more women around."

Naruto giggles and backs away from them. "Um… that's alright. I have to go home actually. My mom sent me out in search of something and it's about time I go home…"

The women nod, understanding the problem. The women start to head back inside the bathhouse, some saying goodbye. "Well, if you need any help, come and get us. We're always willing to help fellow women out."

Naruto nods before they women disappear completely into the building. Naruto drops his Jutsu and looks at the man who was just now getting up. He grins.

The man glares at him before grinning. "Can you do that Jutsu again?" He says with a slight blush.

Naruto glares and starts walking in the direction of the food part of the village. He was hungry…

The man quickly catches up and walks beside him. "Come on! Just this once! Please!" He whines.

A look of disgust covers Naruto's face. He looks at the pervert. "Hell no! Stop following me!" Naruto speeds up his walking. The man just grins and keeps pace with him.

"Sorry shrimp but no can do. What's your name anyways?" He asks as he looks around. Naruto gives the man a glare. "Pervert, it's rude to ask my name and not give yours first."

The man just grins. "My name is Jiraiya! The legendary toad Sennin!" Jiraiya proclaims. Naruto gives him a look that clearly says he doesn't care.

"So…. Ero-sennin it is then…" Naruto says, his voice sounding bored. Jiraiya frowns and glares at him. He opens his mouth to say something but a man calls out to the kid.

"Naruto! There you are!" Kakashi says as he drops down on Naruto's other side. Naruto huffs and looks the other way.

"If you've come to convince me sensei, it's not going to work," Naruto said as he continues to walk. Kakashi frowns and walks beside him. He takes notice of Jiraiya soon after. He narrows his eyes.

"Well, hello Jiraiya. What brings you back to the village?" Kakashi asks as he keeps pace with the others. Naruto gives them a weird look.

Jiraiya grins. "Sarutobi-sensei called me back. He called Tsunade back as well but she declined. Something major is going to happen soon."

Kakashi gives the white-haired man a questioning look before turning his attention back to Naruto. "I'm sure Hokage-sama will tell us in due time. Anyways, I didn't come here to try and convince you Naruto. That's impossible with your stubbornness. I came here to apologize."

Jiraiya remains quiet as he watches the scene play out with interest. He's never seen Kakashi act like this.

Naruto glares up at his sensei. "That's still not going to change anything. I don't have a Sensei for a month. Jeez, I get it that you're the only one that has the Sharingan and can train Sasuke but it still doesn't change the fact that you're excluding me and Sakura, counsel be damned."

Kakashi sighs. "The council ordered it Naruto. I couldn't disobey-" He gets cut off by Naruto when he turns around to glare at him.

Naruto's glare felt like fire was burning his skin. "And when have you ever obeyed them?! Their not Jiji so they don't matter! I know your reputation Sensei! What your doing right now doesn't sound that it at all! You know I'm right about this so just stop trying to apologize and leave me alone!" Naruto growls out before huffing and taking off again, going to Ichiraku's.

Kakashi stands there frozen, registering his words before he slumps down in defeat. He sighs miserably and closes his eye.

Jiraiya, who at this point had been silent, walks forward and puts a hand on Kakashi's shoulder, prompting the man to look at him. Jiraiya stares into Kakashi's eye with determination.

"Don't worry, I'll look after him while you're gone." He said and squeezes Kakashi's shoulder. He lets go once Kakashi nods, he grins. "I'll try to see if he feels the same while I'm at it!" Jiraiya said, taking to the rooftops.

He grins when he hears a yell. "Jiraiya!" Said man just laughs and continues on his way. 'This was going to be interesting…' He thought with amusement.

••• Three Days Later

Naruto sighs as he turns over in his bed. It was still dark out as it was only five in the morning, the sun coming up at six. He turns over again, getting a face full of soft blonde hair, his back to the window.

He closes his eyes and thinks back to what's happened these last three days.

Apparently, after Jiraiya found Naruto, he decided to take Naruto on as a student. Naruto had of course refused but he was almost instantly whirled into training. Naruto's got to admit, Jiraiya was powerful, even if he was a pervert.

You see, Jiraiya has been pestering him to do the sexy no Jutsu again and Naruto keeps refusing. Jiraiya once tried to threaten not to teach him and Naruto was all too happy to not show him. Sadly that did not go as planned. Now he decided to bother Naruto at home as well in the form of an early wake-up call.

Yesterday he came barging into Naruto's home, waking up everyone in the house as he dragged Naruto out of bed and told him to get ready as he had something planned for that day. Oh and boy was it something. Naruto found out yesterday that Jiji told Jiraiya of his Anbu status so Jiraiya deiced to up Naruto's Anbu training regime.

Naruto was surprised to know that Jiraiya didn't like that he was an Anbu but was proud of what he had accomplished non the less. Naruto had looked away with a blush at the praise while Jiraiya laughed at him and patted him on the back, nearly making Naruto fall. His hands were huge…

It was weird, he had thought, he felt so at ease with this person he barely knew. Naruto found it kind of disconcerting but he trusted Jiji so he trusted Jiraiya to a small part as well.

"Don't worry Kit, trust him," Kurama spoke, snapping Naruto out of his thoughts.

Naruto sighs. 'Why? I barely know him! This is all going so fast Kurama!' Naruto says to him, fear apparent in his voice. Naruto suddenly feels warm, making his tense shoulder relax. Kurama had wrapped his body around Naruto in their mindscape.

"I know Kit but trust me, he's trustable. He won't betray you. I can feel it…" Kurama said gently, well, as gently as his gruff voice would allow. Naruto was about to respond before something interrupted him.

Tap! Tap! Tap!

Naruto stiffens and quickly sends out a chakra burst to see who was at his window. He sighs and relaxes at who it was, he makes a fox seal. The window behind him glowed a faint purple before a person slips in. Naruto doesn't move and mumbles out in annoyance.

"I'm not getting up…"

A deep voice snorts before Jiraiya's voice sounded throughout the room. "Sorry Naruto but Sarutobi-sensei is calling us. We got a mission." He sounded amused as he said this. Jiraiya stares at Naruto's prone figure. He never knew Naruto's hair was that long.

Naruto lets out an annoying groan before sluggishly sitting up.

That was another thing he forgot to add. Ever since the first mission with Kakashi in Anbu, he has been going on more missions with him, though not long ones. Naruto has built some kind of partnering friendship with him. It was kind of refreshing.

He sighs and gets out of bed and heads to the bathroom. "I'll be out in five…"

••• Ten Minutes Later

Naruto and Jiraiya were standing in front of the Third Hokage's desk. Naruto was clad in his Anbu gear and had his Kitsune mask on. They waited patiently for Hiruzen to start talking and after a few moments, he did.

"I want you two to go and retrieve Lady Tsunade. I received some very troubling news that Orochimaru is planning to attack. We need Tsunade here no matter what." Hiruzen says since the silencing seals up so he didn't worry about anyone hearing them.

Naruto, now Kitsune, nods and bows his head slightly. "Yes, Hokage-sama." Jiraiya nods as well. "Yes, Sensei. Come on Kitsune, let's get ready. Be at the west gate in 10, pack enough for two weeks." He says and Kitsune nods, disappearing in a poof of smoke.

Once he disappeared, Jiraiya looks at Hiruzen. "Why?" He asks, his voice low with sadness. Hiruzen sighs and lowers his head, hiding his expression in his hat. "The village Jiraiya did not honor his last wish. This was to save him…" Hiruzen's voice was unreadable. Jiraiya sighs and nods. "Very well, let's just hope that Sensei of his can help. I'm sure I'm not the only one who noticed."

Hiruzen nods. "I noticed and I accept. All we can do now is wait and see. Push him in the right direction Jiraiya, please." Jiraiya's eyes widen slightly before his eyes shine with determination. "Yes Sensei, I will." Hiruzen smiles and takes a puff of smoke before letting it out. "Good, you're dismissed."

After saying that, he let down the privacy seals and Jiraiya disappeared as if he was never there. Hiruzen sighs and stares at the photo of the Forth on his wall.

••• Ten Minutes Later

Kitsune meets up with Jiraiya ten minutes later at the west gate. They took off soon after, taking to the trees. There was a peaceful silence in the air as they jumped before Kitsune broke it.

"Where was she last located?"

Jiraiya answers almost immediately. "Tanzaku is the last place she visited so she should still be there if we hurry." He says and Kitsune picks up speed. "Then we must hurry." Was Kitsune's reply.

••• A Day Later, 6:34 pm Tanzaku Village

Jiraiya sighs and glances discreetly at Kitsune's, Naruto's, sleeping form in the bed next to his. They had made it to Tanzaku Village early in the morning and looked for Tsunade but couldn't find her. They soon went and rented a room in a nearby Inn and went right to bed.

Jiraiya looks off to the side, at the clock and smiled at the time. It was 6:36 pm. He gets up and goes over to Naruto, shaking his shoulder until he wakes up. After a few minutes, he does wake up.

Naruto opens his eyes and looks at Jiraiya with a glare. "What?" He grunts out. Jiraiya snorts. "Get up, time to go find a slug," Jiraiya says and moves away to get ready. Naruto groans but does as told.

He gets up sluggishly and gets ready, dressing in his Anbu gear. He looks at Jiraiya, seeing him ready before he walks out of the room and Inn, Jiraiya behind him and his masks on.

They search through the casinos first before going to at Bars when they find nothing. Kitsune sighs and walks into another Bar with Jiraiya. "This is the last one… you think she left?" He questions.

Jiraiya was about to answer but stops and looks ahead of himself. He grins. "Nope, in fact, she is right there." He says and tilts his head to in front of him before he walks forward, sitting beside two women. One had a pig in her arms while the other had big breasts. Kitsune stifles a snort and follows Jiraiya.

The big breasted woman looks at Jiraiya, her eyes widening. Jiraiya grins at her. "Well hello, Tsunade-hime."