Quills

This is a response to Brown Phantom's 'Hidden Bloodline' Challenge, which I will be calling the 'Unexplained Kekkei Genkai' Challenge; mainly because the other will confuse me(as I do have my own 'Hidden Bloodline' story in process, and has been for nearly a year and I do work on it once in a while). Anyway, what it means is that Naruto somehow gains a Kekkei Genkai, be it a latent bloodline that he himself unlocks or a bloodline that the Kyuubi sees fit to 'bless' him with or a problem with the seal.

Here are the rules for the challenge(copy and pasted from Brown Phantom's profile):

Challenge: Hidden Bloodline

We've all seen fics where Naruto inherits or gains a kekkei genkai and gets a scroll, relative, or a knowing teacher to teach him how to properly use it. So what if he got a kekkei genkai but he had none of those things to help him learn what to do with it? And he had to learn how to use it on his own?

Things to happen in this challenge:

One, Naruto can only have one bloodline. Which bloodline he gets is writer's choice and can be a canon bloodline or a fanfic-original one, but he can only have one. The more unique the better. Ones I use in Students of the Snake are allowable if writer asks first.

Two, how he gets the bloodline can happen one of two ways. He can:

A. Inherit it from one of his parents or grandparents. In this scenario, Naruto can't have immediate access to any family scrolls or notes from his parents explaining to him the nature of his bloodline and what he can do with it. He can eventually but not right away or within the first half of story. Too soon would defeat the purpose of this challenge. Reasons why are up to the writer. Be creative but reasonable. Possible ideas to use are they were all destroyed, they didn't know Naruto would gain one, or no one knows where that info is kept.

B. Have the Kyuubi give it to him. In this scenario, the fox may decide Naruto is better off with a bloodline to give him some sort of advantage over others. If it's a friendly Kyuubi, maybe he/she wants to give Naruto a helping hand or make amends for him having a bad life. If it's not a friendly Kyuubi, maybe he/she does it just to make sure Naruto survives or has a better chance of survivng. Another option is that another seal placed on Naruto, preferably a badly-made one, acts up thanks to Kyuubi's chakra and ends up giving Naruto a bloodline unintentionally. Eitherway, Kyuubi doesn't or can't tell Naruto everything about the bloodline. Reasons why are up to the writer. Be creative. Possible reasons to use are Kyuubi doesn't know that much about it, isn't capable of talking to him at the time, or just doesn't want to.

Three, the preferred time for him to get/awaken his bloodline is anywhere from the night he became a genin to the Sasuke Retrieval arc.

Four, Naruto can know two or three things about how to use his bloodline in the very beginning, but nothing that would make him competent in using it or higher than basic lessons. How he learns this is up to the writer.

Five, NaruHina is the strongly preferred pairing for this challenge. Harems can be done but Hinata must be the main girl and no more than five girls total. Lemons are allowed but are not mandatory. No yaoi whatsoever or gender-bending to make men into women so Naruto can be paired with them. FemHaku is the one exception.

I actually have two ideas, but I will only be posting one at the moment. Maybe later, after this story; I'll post the second one as a 'What if he had this Kekkei Genkai instead of(insert name here)…' And actually, I may do that. Why? Because I want to do two different varieties for the challenge. I'm not going to tell what those are, sorry; but I need to keep them in my mind(computer/on paper).

Now, some of you may be asking(if you've seen my profile/read my stories or A/N or reviews in the past) why I'm writing a challenge where the romance is strongly preferred as a Naruto/Hinata story; seeing as I dislike the pairing with a passion. Well, the reason why I'm writing this, is because I like the idea; the premises, of Naruto getting a power; but not knowing how to use it. Plus, I've already asked Brown Phantom and he told me that while he would prefer it to be a Naruto/Hinata story; should there be romance; it does not have to be so, unless it is a harem story(which this will not be-not because I don't want Naruto and Hinata together, but because of my own; personal issues with the option(didn't use to have one a couple of years ago, but now…)). All he asks is that I don't use her at all(I'm guessing he means in any sort of romantic/sexual ways, which is not a problem. There will be no flirty-flirty between the two or anything else like that, but if he means at all, then I can do that too.) and that I don't bash her.

Now, on to the usual, boring disclaimer and whatnot:

I don't own Naruto. At this point in time, based on the Manga and the disappointment that it has turned into; I don't think I want to. But I would love a new high powered, gaming laptop though. Oh! And I would also love for all of my bills and debt to disappear forever and never come back to haunt me.

Naruto frowned angrily as he walked away from the edge of the Hokage Monument; a pair of paint cans in his hands, each with two brushes; rubbing his right forearm against his stomach as he walked away from the edge. For the last few days his arms, hands and fingers had been burning off and on, as if invisible, miniature fires had been lit and left to smolder. Waves of stinging pain had also attacked the same areas of his body; but it wasn't nearly as frequent as the burning sensation had been. 'Did I brush up against some Poison Ivy?' Poison Ivy was prevalent in the forests that surrounded the village; and it wasn't unheard of a stray plant or two growing within the village.

The sound of stampeding feet stopped his thoughts, and instinctively; the blonde snapped his head toward the oncoming sound. There, less than thirty feet; bounding up the path that lead from the bottom of the monument to the top; and the observation station seated there, were several Chuunin; all of whom were red faced, whether it be from exhaustion from running up all twenty flights of stairs or the anger that they felt as they saw his work. "Oh shit…" he exclaimed as two of the six visible Chuunin made a bee-line straight toward him. Swinging his body, paint buckets and brushes as well; the blonde boy turned himself around and dashed toward the observation station.

"Get him!" one of the Chuunin yelled as she joined her two male counterparts in chasing the blonde haired, orange clad; paint bucket wielding Academy student.

Running as quickly as he could, Naruto reached the observation station and slid around the far left corner of the building and began to look for a place to either hide or slip under to hide from the Chuunin on his tail. Looking around, the blonde haired pre-teen couldn't find anything. Hearing the Chuunin advance on his position, Naruto's heart began to beat faster. Adrenaline pumping, the blonde looked toward the edge of the monument and walked toward it quickly. Looking over the edge, he gulped.

Down, about twelve or so feet, was the top of the Nidaime's head, and with it; a small hiding spot created by the stone that made up three of the Nidaime's hair. The only problem was that if he slipped, he would fall; over two hundred feet and die. He didn't want to die.

"There he is!" the female Chuunin shouted as she and two others rounded the observation station. "Whoa!" she immediately called out, holding up a hand once she saw where the boy was and how close he was to the edge of the mountain. Naruto glanced at her oddly, wondering why she had stopped her comrades from advancing toward him. The other remaining three Chuunin rounded the opposite edge of the building and they too came to a halt; fearful of what the blonde might do. "Step away from the edge, Uzumaki!" the woman called out, a fearful tone in her voice.

'What the?' the blonde orphan asked himself as he stared at the woman in confusion. 'What? Does she think that I'm going to jump?' He looked back down at the Nidaime's head and gulped. 'Oh…Right…I was thinking about jumping…Gah! I'm a moron!' A shot of pain raced up his right arm, causing him to flinch and stumble backwards slightly. His right heel teetered on the edge, sending fear through both Naruto and all of the Chuunin present. Luckily for him, Naruto leaned forward and swung the two paint cans out in front of him, their weight propelling him forward, and away from the edge of the mountain. A series of relief filled sighs filled the air. 'That was close!' Naruto told himself, glaring at his right arm for a split second before remembering where he was, what he had done not even ten minutes ago and who had surrounded him. He glanced up at the six Chuunin and found them placing hands over their hearts, their heads held low. A grin broke out, taking over his face. "…Here!" he swung one of the paint cans, brushes and all; at the group of Chuunin to his right, covering the woman and the two men in purple paint. Using the moment of shock and confusion that he had just created, the blonde blitzed them; easily breaking passed them as he ran toward the stairs that descended into the village below.

"Grr!" the woman snarled loudly, her arms at her side, hands balled into angry fists. "AFTER HIM!" she roared as she and the five men moved to continue pursuing the blonde.

00oo00
Somewhere in the Village
00oo00

Naruto laughed loudly as he evaded two of the five male Chuunin who had managed to find him walking in broad daylight, paint can still in his hand; in front of the Ichiraku Ramen Bar. The two had been chasing him for nearly ten minutes now, and while the pricks of pain and the searing, almost fire like sensation did keep him from running his fastest, Naruto was still able to dodge, parry and evade their assaults on his person. "Can't catch me!" he taunted as he rounded a corner, leaving the village proper and entering onto one of the residential roads. The two Chuunin growled loudly, swore at him; and sped up. Grinning like a buffoon; Naruto saw a chance to lose the two men. A large section of wooden fence was less than fifty feet away. Remembering that he had his cloak; Naruto grinned as he thought of a plan to shake the two Chuunin.

00oo00
A Couple Hundred Feet Behind the Two Chuunin…
00oo00

Himari narrowed her paint splattered brows as she ran after two of her fellow Chuunin as they slowly closed in on their blonde haired, orange wearing target. To her left, a person landed next to her; she recognized him. "Iruka?" she snapped. The brown haired man looked at her briefly, a scowl set on his face. "What are you doing?"

"Hunting down a runaway clown…You?" he replied. Himari's own scowl deepened.

"Hunting down that same clown." She stated. The brown haired man nodded. "…Do you mind if I make him scrub my clothes clean before you haul him off to the Academy?"

"Unfortunately, I need to be back as soon as possible." He stated. Himari's scowl deepened even more. "However, after he's done with his school work and cleaning off the Hokage Monument, I'll be sure to bring him to your apartment." The woman nodded, a feral grin quickly forming. "So, how many of you are chasing him? Just you three?"

"No…There were three more…" she trailed off, noting that her two teammates rounded the corner, around the wooden fence. "…They must have lost him."

Iruka shook his head in disagreement. "Naruto may not be the smartest kid in the world; and he's definitely not the best student in the history of the village…But he is fast, tricky and can think on his feet. He's not someone who you want to be chasing through the village; not with his knowledge on where all the best hiding places are. If anything, he lost them; not the other way around." Himari nodded slowly. Suddenly, less than fifty feet away from the corner of the wooden fence, the Academy instructor pointed at a small orange speck that could be seen through a small hole in the fence. "That's him."

"How can you tell?" the kunoichi asked her shinobi counterpart. Iruka snorted lightly.

"No one else in the village wears orange clothes as bright and hideous as that jumpsuit that Naruto wears…" he trailed off for a second, his eyes narrowing slightly. "…That; and I have a sixth sense when it comes to that boy…" Himari blinked in confusion but let the matter drop.

00oo00

Naruto laughed loudly as the two Chuunin ran past his hiding place; which happened to be right behind a small tarp like item that had been painted to look like the fence behind him. Rubbing his head and laughing victoriously, the blonde smiled as he walked away from the fence. "Idiots!" he barked out. "You can't catch the Great Uzumaki Naruto that easily!" His eyes closed as a large smile bloomed. The sudden darkening of the area around him and the coolness that touched his body as shadows quickly overwhelmed his position didn't go unnoticed. 'Oh shit.'

"Naruto!"

There were two of them, one very familiar; and one slightly familiar. He opened his blue eyes and found the Chuunin woman he had thrown the purple paint on earlier standing over him like a hawk. To her left was a very familiar, and very pissed off Academy sensei.

"Hehe!" he giggled sheepishly, suddenly feeling very small. "H-Hiya, Iruka-Sensei…" A strong hand gripped the back of his white T-Shirt and lifted him up off the ground. "Wha!" he yelped.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" the angry man snarled at the blonde; who hung from his hand helplessly, like a fish that was dumb enough and hungry enough to bite at a baited hook, and then too weak to fight the fisherman and the retracting reel.

"…U-Uh…" the blonde began, trying to think of something to say. A quick shake shut him up.

"First; we go to the Academy; Naruto." The angry man stated slowly; "Then you clean the monument; and then, after that; you are going to scrub all of the paint off of Himari-San's clothes…understand me?" the man's narrowed eyes made it hard for the blonde to disagree. Nodding, the man nodded sharply as well; in a way that screamed 'Good'.

00oo00

Arms and fingers on fire, his stomach upset from the pain that coursed through his body; Naruto continued scrubbing the paint out of Himari's clothes. Off to the side, sipping on a cup of tea; stood both Iruka and Himari; conversing lightly to each other.

'Sure, sure! Laugh at each other's jokes while I'm over here, standing over a wash tub washing her damn clothes by hand!' he cast a quick glance at the two Chuunin; his blue eyes narrowed dangerously at them. 'It's not like I feel like crap or anything!'

Maybe if he had voiced how he was feeling? 'No!' he shook his head and began to scrub faster and harder; ignoring the pain as best he could. 'Iruka-Baka will send me to the nurse or something! I'll just get this done and then go home-He doesn't need to know about it! Yeah!'

00oo00

"A-Are you sure you don't want any ramen, Naruto?" Iruka asked his blonde haired student; wondering if the blonde was okay or not. The blonde nodded.

"I…I'm too tired for ramen today, Iruka-Sensei…" the blonde replied, waving the man's unspoken concern away. "…My arms hurt, my hands hurt…I just want to go to sleep." Iruka's worried frown disappeared slowly and a small smile replaced it. He slapped the blonde's back, sending painful waves of sharp, pin-prick like pain racing up and down the blonde's back; unaware of how his student felt at that point in time.

"I guess this will teach you a lesson then, hmm?" he asked the blonde; who frowned. "Don't paint the monument-or fellow Konoha Ninja-if you don't want to do the time." The blonde grumbled under his breath. Iruka's smile widened. "Well, I'll let you go home then…After all, you'll need your rest if you hope to pass the exam tomorrow!"

00oo00
The Next Morning
00oo00

It took all he had not to scream in pain as he sat down in his designated seat in the classroom at the Academy. The painful, burning; pin prickling sensations were back and it was worse than it had ever been, 'All because Iruka-Baka made me scrub the stupid monument…' a faint blush creped onto the boy's face as his mind replayed a portion of the previous night's events; scrubbing off Himari-San's bra; were some of the purple paint had stained through her shirt and soaked into her underwear. He shook his head violently; trying to shake the memory, only to wish that he hadn't as new waves of pain flared up. Clenching his eyes shut, the blonde gently laid his head down on the surface of his desk; somehow hoping that the cool desktop would be able to cure his pain.

It didn't.

'I hope this goes away before it's my turn to take the test…The last thing I need is for this stupid pain to cause me to fail…'

00oo00
Genin Examination
00oo00

"-wo Bunshin. Got that, Naruto?" Iruka asked as he stared at the blonde, his eyebrows furrowed as he watched his most annoying, most interesting and more importantly, most confusing student fidget in a way that made him think that the boy was in pain; but desperately trying to hide it from everyone. It wasn't working; he noted as he glanced over at Mizuki; who also stared at the boy oddly. "Are you okay, Naruto?" he voiced his thought. The question brought the boy's eyes snapping to his brown eyes.

"I'm fine." Came the blonde's terse response. Frowning, but ignoring the blonde's tone; the Chuunin waved for the blonde to continue. He nodded, rubbed his arms in an almost desperate manner against his stomach for a couple of seconds; and then took up position and started to summon his chakra.

The floor started to shake and the pictures on the walls started to shake as a blue(1) hue surrounded the blonde's body. Spider web like cracks appeared in the paint that decorated the walls as the blonde concentrated. Both Chuunin stared at the boy in disbelief. 'S…So much chakra…He's going to overdo it!' Iruka thought to himself. Never had the brown haired Chuunin seen an Academy student summon so much chakra that it became visible, shook the floor; paintings on the wall and caused the paint on the walls to crack like ice covering a puddle on a cold day in winter.

"Bunshin no Jutsu!"

00oo00
Later That Afternoon
00oo00

Mizuki spotted the blonde haired boy trudging through the village, more than likely heading toward his apartment; with his head hung low. He couldn't tell whether or not if the boy was depressed because he had failed the exam for the third time in a row; or if it was because he was still in pain; like he had been earlier during the exam. 'Not that it really matters if he's in pain.' The silver haired man thought to himself, 'All he has to do is bite after the worm.' "Hey!" he called out. The boy seemed to ignore him as he walked through the streets. Frowning, the white haired man wondered if the boy hadn't heard him. He tried again, this time louder; "Hey! Naruto!" the boy snapped his head up and looked for him. He jogged over to the boy and placed a hand on his right shoulder. The touch made the boy jump slightly, but Mizuki ignored it.

"H-Hey, Mizuki-Sensei…" the boy greeted him, offering a smile that the Chuunin immediately picked out as a fake smile. "What's up?"

"Don't blame Iruka, Naruto-Kun." He began. "He may be a bit harsh and may have been a bit forceful, but he's only got your best intentions in mind." The blonde frowned.

"It's that damn Bunshin!" the blonde griped, not caring in the slightest about the people around them as they walked through the street. "No matter how many times I try it, no matter how long I practice it, I can't do it!" Mizuki gave the boy's right shoulder a sympathetic pat or two.

"I'm sure you'll get it soon enough, Naruto-Kun." He stated.

"I wanted to graduate today Mizuki-Sensei!" the boy stated loudly. "I wanted to become a Genin and go on missions! Beat up bandits, rescue pretty princesses in distress!" the boy's arms flew up toward the sky, nearly knocking his right fist into Mizuki's face-thankfully, the Chuunin had the sense to move his face to his right to avoid getting nailed by the boy's fist.

"…You know, Naruto-Kun…" Mizuki began, casting a glance around himself as he began lowering the proverbial line and baited hook in front of the pre-teen. "…There is another way…"

"…Another way…Another way, what?" Mizuki smiled brightly at the blonde.

"To become a Genin, of course…"

"…Tell me!"

00oo00
Several Hours Later
00oo00

Naruto stared sleepily down at the scroll that he had laid down on the forest floor; spread out in front of him. He had, for the last hour or so; been dangerously close to falling asleep, but had kept himself awake through sheer force of will alone. That; while a tiring thing to do, turned out to be a good thing; the terms and conditions of the makeup exam were that he had to steal the Forbidden Scroll from the Hokage's office; which he had already done; despite the pain that continued to attack his body. The other conditions were that he had to be near the training cabin, south of the village; that was used by academy students from time to time; and that he had to learn at least one jutsu.

The scroll was full of jutsu; but save for two, Naruto couldn't understand them in any way, shape or form. A lot of them revolved around sacrifice, super speed and time bending. It made him feel even stupider than he knew he was. The only two he could understand, were a Genjutsu; which he immediately cast aside, remembering a tiny portion of Sakura's explanation yesterday about Genjutsu; something about needing really good chakra control-and that if you couldn't make a single Bunshin, then Genjutsu was an impossibility-that comment was more or less directed at him, and if it weren't for the glare she had sent at him while she spoke; he might has mistaken it as a piece of helpful advice. The other jutsu in the scroll, was a type of Bunshin; and despite fearing that he wouldn't be able to do it, it was the only jutsu that scroll had that he could understand properly.

So, sitting down on the ground; staring at either the scroll or the inside of his eyelids for seconds at a time; for nearly two hours, the blonde had studied and studied; going over all the notes that were written down on the scroll-there weren't that many-and going through the hand signs for the technique. He had, from time to time; tried the jutsu, but the clones had either turned out just as bad-if not worse than-the original Bunshin technique taught at the academy. He did notice however, that some of the latter attempts were getting better and better; albeit slowly.

As he forced his burning hands and fingers through the seals once more, ignoring the pain as best as he could; the blonde haired pre-teen failed to notice the brown haired man who had landed on a tree limb several yards to his left.

"…On…One more shot…" Naruto told himself as he pushed himself through the jutsu. Summoning his chakra; which felt like boiling water flowing through his veins rather than blood, the blonde had sucked in a breath of air when the faint moonlight that had bathed him all night thus far, turned to a dark, almost dangerous shade of black. He fumbled his seals and mispronounced the words of the jutsu as he turned his head in a effort to see what had lumbered up behind him while he trained. The resulting explosion sent the scroll, himself and the shadow behind him sprawling several feet away from the epicenter of the chakra based explosion. "Gah!"

"Gah!" his pain filled yell was echoed by an older, deeper and more aggravated from his left. Looking up from his resting spot, he noted the familiar figure of his academy sensei, Iruka; lying on the ground, groaning and testing portions of his body; like his neck, hands, arms, legs and feet.

"I-Iruka-Sensei?" Naruto asked, his voice low and hoarse. "Wha-"

The academy instructor glared harshly at him, a look so fierce that it shut the blonde up almost instantly. "Naruto!" the man snapped loudly; a dangerous edge lingering on his voice, "what are you doing stealing from the village?" mismatched eyes narrowed in confusion. "Why on earth would you steal from the Hokage?" the man continued. "I know you're angry about not passing the exam; but this is most certainly not the way to become a Genin! This is one of the quickest ways to become a Nuke-Nin!" the boy's eyes widened to their fullest as the shock bombarded him completely.

"B-B-" Neither the academy sensei nor the blonde had time to say anything else as several kunai rained down from the surrounding trees; cutting through the air toward them. Instinctively; the older of the two in the tiny clearing near the cabin pulled out his own kunai and jumped in front of the blonde; blocking several of the incoming kunai, saving the blonde, but leaving himself open to several of the flying blades as they sliced into his back, legs and left shoulder.

"Phooey…I hope that I'd catch you off guard, Iruka…I guess you weren't given the title of Chuunin out of pity after all…" came an all too familiar voice from one of the surrounding trees. Both the wounded Chuunin and the pre-teen guided their eyes toward a tall oak and found the white haired Mizuki smiling down at them, one of two large shuriken hanging down from his right hand as he crouched on the large limb he had perched on. The sound of rustling filled the small clearing and two other figures appeared, enclosing the wounded Chuunin and Naruto within the small clearing. Both were tall and lanky; and both seemed to be extremely dirty; rusted Iwa headbands dully reflecting part of the moon's rays as they walked toward the two slowly.

"M-Mizuki?" Iruka gasped out in shock and confusion as he looked from the two Iwa-Nin to his academy colleague. The man in question smiled widely, the look in his eyes cold and yet; at the same time, alive with a burning, borderline insane; hatred. "Why?"

"Two reasons, really; Iruka-Kun…" the white haired man began, waving his right hand and large shuriken at the same time; signaling for the two Iwa-Nin to advance closer to the two in the clearing, "Fame…and money. Two things that this village robbed from me two years ago when they forced me into village arrest." He hoped down to the forest floor and sauntered over to the brown haired man, stopping a foot away from the Chuunin. "You recall my last mission, don't you; Iruka?" the white haired Chuunin asked. The academy sensei nodded slowly, ignoring the pain the small weapons had caused him. "How my teammates 'disappeared' and then 'showed up dead'?" again, the brown haired man nodded. Mizuki leaned closer to him and placed his mouth several inches away from his left ear. "They didn't disappear, Iruka-Kun…They were killed…" a hitching gasp escaped Iruka's mouth as the shuriken in Mizuki's right hand trailed up the brown haired man's left leg; the furthermost tip slicing through the clothing and armor and finally skin like a hot knife cutting through butter. "…That's right, Iruka-Kun…I did it…" he pulled the shuriken away from the loyal academy sensei's leg and smirked nastily. "History, as you no doubt know; has a way of…repeating itself…" the white haired man pulled back from Iruka and turned his attention to the battered scroll on the ground and then lastly; the blonde who had procured it for him.

"You've done well, Naruto-Kun…" he admitted. "Even for all of my skills, I wouldn't have had the stealth and the luck to steal something of such value and importance to the village out from underneath the Hokage's nose like you…" he snapped his fingers and the two Iwa-Nin rushed forward and grabbed the blonde; one holding one arm and the other holding the other. Together they pulled him away from Iruka and held him out like a training dummy. Wriggling like a fish out of water, the blonde tried to escape the of the two Iwa-Nin who were holding him up like a scarecrow; but found that he was far too weak to break free-the fruitless struggle amused both of the Iwa-Nin as well as Mizuki. Walking toward the blonde slowly, "Now, what to do with you; eh, Naruto-Kun?" the white haired man wondered aloud, his dark undertone not going unnoticed by anyone; including the blonde haired pre-teen suspended in mid-air. "I know!" the Chuunin exclaimed, snapping his fingers and slamming his right hand into his open left palm; "I'll tell you a secret, a secret that everyone in the village knows, save for you; those who are one or two years older than you and those younger than yourself…Do you want to know what it is?" Naruto shook his head slightly. "Are you sure? I mean, it is about you after all…I thought you'd like to know it." The blonde's eyes widened. He, of course; hadn't known about a secret that involved himself…He cast a glance to the wounded Sensei who had tried and failed to protect him moments earlier. The man's face was alit with both pain, fear and…shame? He looked back to Mizuki, a frown set in place. "I thought so…Curiosity killed the cat…Or, in this case; killed the fox."

"You see, eleven years ago; soon to be twelve, the greatest of all the Bijuu attacked our fair village; for no reason-but of course, you should know about this; we've only covered this lesson about seven times so far this year." The white haired man cast a dark look over at the bleeding man on the ground, who flushed slightly. "And as you know; it attacked on October Ninth and wasn't defeated until October Tenth…" the white haired Chuunin was once again looking at Naruto. "You…You were born on October Tenth…The same year that the Kyuubi attacked the village." The blonde narrowed his eyes in confusion; wondering why the traitorous man was giving him a history lesson rather than the secret he promised to tell him. He opened his mouth, but Mizuki closed what little gap there was between them; and stuck one of his fingers over his mouth, pressing harshly against his lips; preventing him from interrupting. "If you're going to interrupt, Naruto-Kun; then I'm not going to tell you the rest of the secret…Understand?" the blonde grunted, but nodded nonetheless. "Good."

"You were born on the very night that the Kyuubi was defeated…" Naruto felt one of the Iwa-Nin twitch and cocked his head the best he could to see why the man had flinched. Mizuki's finger turned into a tri-fingered grip and grabbed him by the chin and wrenched him back to look into his eyes. "…I'm not done." He snapped. "…So I'd like to have your undivided attention on me…" the man took a breath of air before continuing with the tale he had to tell; "The secret that revolves solely around you, Naruto-Kun; is the fact that in truth; the Yondaime didn't kill the Kyuubi; no-no…If he, a mere man; could have killed the Kyuubi battle; then other nations would have done so to the demons that had attacked their villages…No, instead; he injured the demon with an unknown jutsu and with a brilliant white-purple flash and a massive wave of chakra; the Kyuubi vanished, the Yondaime Hokage was dead, face first on the ground; mouth full of blood, mud and grass; and you, lying on a stone alter; surrounded by candles…" Mizuki leaned in closer and rested his mouth near Naruto's left ear and spoke softly; "The Kyuubi never died, Naruto-Kun...Do you want to know what happened to it? Why you're always picked on, made fun of, why no one; not even Iruka-Sensei likes you?" the blonde managed to gulp down his fear and gave a half nod. Mizuki's smile widened. "The Kyuubi didn't die…Instead, the Yondaime forced it to change bodies…With a small, blonde haired; purple eyed baby with whisker marks on his cheeks." Naruto felt himself take in a sharp breath of air, and felt his body shaking furiously. The affair made the white haired Chuunin in front of him laugh loudly. Standing up to his full height, suddenly appearing much more intimidating; the man opened his mouth once more; "Not as dumb as you'd like us to think, eh; Kyuubi?"

"K-Kyuubi?" Naruto breathed out, frantic. The man nodded. The sounds left the world as the beating of his heart quickly filled his ears…And then, like an angry bee protecting its hive; the pain that had been plaguing him for the last few days started increasing, tiny pin-pricks turning into stabs and the burning sensation changing to liquid fire. The blonde was in such a state of shock, fear and pain; that he didn't even realize that the Iwa-Nin who had twitched earlier at the mentioning of the Kyuubi; had dropped him to the ground and had started to shout at Mizuki. His heartbeat quickened rapidly and the world around him began to spin.

What's up? Been a while, hmm?

Yeah, a long break is what I needed; along with finding a job that doesn't have a woman who acts like a pissed off six year old throwing a temper tantrum 24/7; as well as just making some money, has done me a bit of good. I'm still not ready to post anything related to Kitty or Lieutenant's Lieutenant at this time. I'm working on a lot of stuff, these included; but they aren't my primary focus at this point in time.

This is, as stated above; is a challenge fic, which I have written after finding the challenge idea/info on Brown Phantom's profile page. This will not have a regular update rate, as I write when I feel like it; not because I feel like I should write something every day. Now, this is only one part of this challenge…I have another idea I'm working on, with the same base challenge; only with several twists. It won't be up for quite some time, but I thought I'd let you know anyway. By the way, I started writing this quite a while ago, and finished it several days ago; but decided to jump into chapter 2 before posting it. Chapter 2 won't be out for a while, just to let you know.

I won't give you any hints, at least I don't plan on doing so anyway; so please don't ask. So, if you want to know what's going to happen later on, keep reading.

I am working, and while my hours will drop here in a few days because it will no longer be Christmas season(I hate that holiday. I like the meaning, as it's based off of my own religion, but I hate the fan-fare brought up by companies and the like. The meaning of Christmas is NOT rush to a store two/three/four days before Christmas, drive around the parking lot for hours on end trying to find a parking spot close to the doors(you won't find one) and then try to run the Cart Pushers down because you're pissed that you weren't smart enough to buy your items before the start of the Christmas season and can't find what you want. I've don't absolutely nothing to you, but because of your anger; I have injured my knee slightly; ensuring that you didn't run me over. To the two people who nearly killed me yesterday, go fuck your selves with a rusty iron pike, and then drink a glass of piss and shattered glass. That is all.)-my hours will go back up eventually; and my time to write stuff will be stifled once again.

Anyway, next update won't be for a while, so I'll say this: I hope you enjoyed and I hope you have a wonderful Christmas or, in the advent that you don't celebrate Christmas; I hope that you all have a wonderful End of Year.

Write at you all later.

Isilithix