Rise of Ryujin

by Arcana37210

One small change, an impulsive action at the right time...that was all it took. Now, both Konoha and Naruto have to deal with a long forgotten race's return. Kazuro i tenomaru jete ahui de na...Ryujin. Naruto will be GOD-LIKE in this story, but not until near the end. Main pairing: NaruHina.

1. Prologue: A Dragon emerges

Rise of Ryujin

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, Skyrim, or any other media this fan-fiction contains traces of.

A/N: This is the first chapter of my first story, "Rise of Ryujin". As I have nearly no experience in writing, critique and constructive criticism is not only appreciated, but desperately needed.

Please just remember that this is my first attempt at fanfiction.

And before anyone gets the idea: No, this is not a Naruto/Skyrim crossover. I only liked one small thing from Skyrim so much that I incorporated it in my story, hence the disclaimer.

One last thing: This chapter, for several reasons, has become a true monster. I would highly suggest everyone who wants to read it to bring enough time with them.

Well, on to the story. I hope that some of you will like it.

Prologue: A Dragon emerges

It was a cloudless, starlit night. Near a medium-sized mountain chain, which was covered in woods, there was a small village, illuminated in the bright moonlight.

Outside a house at the edge of the village, a man with white, gravity-defying hair, whose lower face was covered with a black mask, was leaning against a tree. His one visible eye –his left was covered with a hitai-ate– was fixated on the road that led up the mountain.

Normally, nights like these made Kakashi Hatake, Jounin of Konohagakure, unusual nostalgic and eager for a night stroll. This night, however, a nagging, tenacious feeling of restlessness kept him tense and rooted in place. He sighed and continued to watch the mountain-road.

Maybe I shouldn't have send him all by himself…

Normally, he and his Genin-team would be busy training for the upcoming Chunin-exam-finals right now. But a shortage of manpower, due to the extra security measures because of the worrisome recent incidents, had forced the Sandaime to get Kakashi and his Genin-team back to duty for one specific mission – one week before the final stage.

It was nothing special. About a month ago, someone from Kakutane -the village they were in right now- had found an unknown type of plant, and had taken it to Konohagakure for the botanic research-team to analyse it for possible medical use. Now, the analysis was complete, and the results had to be taken back to Kakutane. Again, this was nothing special – but someone had to do it. Much to the annoyance of some members of his team …namely a certain loud-mouthed, blond and orange-wearing knucklehead, who had hoped the reason he had been called back to duty would have been a "super-cool important kickass-mission".

It was said member of his team who had been chosen to carry the scroll which contained the results.

However…

***Flashback, four hours prior***

Kakashi looked back at his team as they approached the village. Sasuke was brooding, and walked down the road stoically, while Sakura leered at him every few seconds. Naruto walked right next to them and was sulking, both because of the mission they had been given and because of Sakura fawning over Sasuke. In other words: everything was as usual.

The copy-nin stopped right at the first house of the village. The travel between Konohagakure and Kakutane took only one day for each way, and the territory between, although sporadically rock-fall-dangerous, was completely free from bandits and dangerous wildlife. And for the one night they had to stay, the mountain-village had provided them this vacant house.

Kakashi opened the door and turned to his charges. "We aren't expected to deliver the scroll to the village elder before tomorrow. So make yourself at home!"

Naruto and Sakura went inside to pack out their things. Sasuke, however, stopped next to Kakashi. "Can we resume our training once we finished unpacking?" Kakashi sighed.

"Sasuke, you know as well as I do that our current surroundings aren't suited for that. We will continue as soon as we get back, I promise."

Sasuke snorted, clearly not happy with what he had heard, but went inside without complaining nevertheless. Kakashi followed suit, closing the door behind him.

He then went upstairs to his own room – Sasuke, Sakura and Naruto occupied the three bedrooms downstairs. Just as he unsealed his Futon from a scroll, a scream from downstairs made him flinch.

"The scroll is gone!" What?!

In the blink of an eye, he was on his feet and in Naruto's room. Said blonde had emptied the contents of his backpack on the floor and scrabbled through them. As he noticed Kakashi, he specified his former statement. "The scroll with the information about the plant! It's gone!"

For one second, it was silent. Then…

"NARUTO YOU IDIOT! HOW THE HELL COULD YOU HAVE LOST THE VERY REASON WE ARE ON THIS MISSION?!"

Kakashi winced at the sheer volume of the voice of his female charge, Sakura. Both she and Sasuke stood behind him in the doorframe, and obviously had heard Naruto's every word. While he wasn't saying anything, by the way Sasuke was looking at Naruto, it was obvious that he was just as upset as Sakura.

"I didn't! I mean …I know I packed it in my backpack and that nothing fell out of it during our journey."

Kakashi barely paid them attention as he thought carefully. About two and a half hours before they got to the village, they had taken a small break. During this break, Naruto had partially unpacked his backpack to get at something to eat. Among the things he had taken out, there had been the very scroll that was missing now. However, Kakashi was sure he had seen him placing it back inside. That meant the scroll must've gotten lost between there and here, and that if someone would go search for the scroll, he would need five hours at a max – which would mean he would come back two hours after nightfall, at most.

"Oh really?! If that's so, then where-" Kakashi silenced Sakura with a gesture.

"The scroll must have been lost between our last break and here. As a punishment for losing it, you will go and search for it, Naruto."

"What?! But Kakashi-sensei, I'm certain I…"

"Listen." Kakashi sighed. "Regardless whether or not it was your fault we lost the scroll, it was placed in your care. So you have to take responsibility for it."

Naruto looked like he still wanted to protest, But Sasuke send him a cold glare and said: "Kakashi-sensei just gave you an order. Go look for that scroll now, dope!"

Sasuke always treated Naruto a bit like an underdog. However, right now there was dripping venom and a snarky tone in his voice.

"Right! Listen to Sasuke-kun and don't get us in trouble just because you can't admit your mistake!" Sakura added. Naruto's eyes flashed with surprise and hurt, before he hid it behind a fierce look.

"Well …you know what?! Alright! It's not like that's a big deal for the future Hokage. Just you watch, I'll have found that scroll in no-time!"

With that, he stormed past them and out of the house.

After a moment of consternation, the white-haired Jounin turned to look at his two remaining charges. Sasuke had nothing but irritation and exasperation written across his face, while Sakura looked at the entrance of the house with a mixture of annoyance, and a little bit of frustration.

It made him cast down his eyes in disappointment on the inside.

Kakashi Hatake was neither blind nor oblivious. He never would've lived to see the day he made Jounin if he would be. He'd known right from the start that his Genin-team would need a while and some tough joint experiences to truly learn proper teamwork.

Sasuke seemingly had a subtle inferiority complex, which most likely stemmed from his inability to do anything to save his family during the Uchiha-massacre, and his desire to be strong enough to avenge them. It showed in his arrogance towards his peers. And non-Shinobi adults. And Shinobi who, in his eyes, were inferior to him. And …pretty much everyone else who couldn't charge him for disrespect towards his superiors if he did it.

Naruto, too, had sort of an inferiority complex …for obvious reasons. However, unlike Sasuke, who really only wanted to prove his worth to himself, Naruto wanted to have the respect and acknowledgement of pretty much the whole village. Again unlike Sasuke, he didn't have any skills to impress his peers and make himself the centre of positive attention – partially because of his lack of proper guidance during his childhood and at the academy, as Kakashi could easily tell after a short time of being his Sensei. That was why he lightened his psychological strain by pulling pranks and bloating his own self-confidence to unreal levels, attempting to convince both his environment and himself that he was worthy of acknowledgement – even if it was mostly just negative attention.

Lastly, Sakura was paying nearly all of her attention to Sasuke, and barely felt anything but annoyance concerning Naruto. She seemed to be absolutely convinced that Sasuke was a perfect Prince Charming, and that Naruto was nothing but an idiot who was getting in her way towards that Prince.

In short, the harmony between the members of the team was nearly non-existent.

Kakashi, who never had trained a Genin-team before them, had initially thought it best to let them work things out between themselves. And for a while, it had seemed like it was going to work as well.

Sasuke had begun use a more casual attitude when being with his teammates, and Sakura had started to be equally loyal to both her teammates, even going as far as giving Naruto advice on the tree-climbing exercise when he asked, and not explaining it to Sasuke, since he hadn't asked. As for Naruto…he'd gotten over the bad blood between him and Sasuke, and the frustration of Sasuke being between him and his crush, Sakura (he seemed to ignore the fact that she didn't even waste a thought on him as a potential boyfriend completely). He had subsequently started an amicable rivalry with Sasuke, and was slightly less aggressive in his attempts at having a relationship with Sakura, concentrating on a companionate one more. Things had appeared to improve.

But ever since the second round of the Chunin-exams, all the improvement seemed to have went down the drain.

Sasuke was stoic and indifferent once again, cold at times, even. There seemed to be an aura of inexorability around him, daring anyone to get in his way. Kakashi suspected that it had something to do with what had happened in the `Forest of Death`. Sakura had only experienced this subtle change in Sasuke for one day – today, when they had started the mission. Kakashi couldn't tell whether she noticed the change or not, but she'd reverted to her previous way of acting and taken the same line as Sasuke in hopes of getting closer to him, abandoning Naruto in the process.

Naruto had been the only one who had kept his slightly improved attitude. And that was why it was almost painful to see him being treated like that by his own comrades.

Kakashi's face hardened (not that it would've been visible under his mask). The disharmony among his pupils painfully reminded him of his old team …and Naruto of one certain member of that team. With the difference that back then, he had been the only one who'd disturbed the teamwork. Only one inhibitor among three. And he could clearly remember what had come of it as a result.

Perhaps it was high time for a good lecture.

"Now, now." He said, making his two remaining pupil turn to him. "You really shouldn't make this any worse for him than it already is."

Sakura looked at him incredulously, while Sasuke's eyebrows puckered.

"It's not even proven that it was his fault the scroll fell out of his backpack. And it's not like he wanted to lose the scroll, you know? Imagine how ashamed he must be feeling right now."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow, while Sakura, after a short, disbelieving look she send Kakashi's way, seemed thoughtful at first, before her face got a look of uncertainty. She glanced at Sasuke.

"No matter what the circumstances, a Shinobi needs to be reliable. The more ashamed he feels, the better. It'll keep him from doing something like that again." At Sasuke's words, Sakura seemed to become steadier somewhat, and she turned to Kakashi, looking about ready to protest…

"Sakura." Said girl grew stiff at the unusual serious and hard tone in her Sensei's voice. "Do you remember what I told you all when you passed my test?" He continued in the same, unyielding voice. Sakura swallowed and nodded, wondering what their Sensei meant by that.

"Y-you told us that while the ones who don't abide by the rules are trash in any case, those who abandon their comrades are even worse than scum."

Kakashi nodded. "Exactly. Now…like I told you, all the Genin-to-be I tested beforehand caved in under the authority of a higher-ranking Shinobi, and rather abandoned their comrades than taking a personal risk. That's why I failed them."

He focused on the two Genin in front of him. "I passed you because I saw two people who risked their chance at becoming Genin for their comrade. I don't recall…"

He fixated Sakura.

"…having passed a narrow-minded fan-girl who would turn on her comrade in a heartbeat just to toady to the object of her affection…"

Sakura paled and seemed to shrink. Kakashi's gaze wandered to Sasuke.

"…or an inconsiderate ignorant who has no tolerance for mistakes his teammates are making, and refuses to admit his own mistakes."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed, but otherwise, he showed no reaction.

Sakura remained silent for a few moments. Then, her gaze dropped and her shoulders slumped. "I …I see. Y-you're right, Sensei. I'm sorry. You're completely right." As she turned to Sasuke, Kakashi could see that her eyes were slightly bleary. "He's right, Sasuke. He…might have made a mistake, but we shouldn't have made this even more difficult for him than it already is. Let's apologize to him as soon as he gets back." Her voice was strained, but it didn't quaver.

Sasuke's eyes had widened a little. He seemingly really hadn't expected Sakura to turn on him. He looked to Kakashi, and then Sakura again, before he snorted yet again.

"Fine…But if something like that happens again, I won't apologize anymore."

***End of Flashback***

Kakashi really was worried about Sasuke. It was obvious that the reverse had begun with him. And with all due respect to the boy's past, Kakashi couldn't – and wouldn't – let him mess up the chemistry in the team. Regrettably, with the Chunin-exam-finals just around the corner, he needed to put all the remaining time in Sasuke's training to make sure he stood a chance against Gaara. But he resolved to have a very serious talk with him as soon as all this was over.

However, that wasn't the main concern for now. Kakashi looked up the Mountain road again. Still no sign of him…

Naruto had left about four hours ago. And Kakashi grew more and more worried as the time passed. He had, in fact, already started to solve well-known Ninja-riddles in his mind by now, in an attempt to calm down.

There are no known dangers in this area…but still, I can't help but worry. He's taking very long…and he was in such a turmoil when he left…

Kakashi shook his head. It was only a little more than four hours that Naruto had been gone, and he could've lost the scroll just a few minutes after the last break. In that case, there was still at least an hour left before worries were justified. But still…

Reaching for his infamous orange book, Kakashi intended to ease his mind with reading…

When all of a sudden, his whole body stiffened.

Not in a bad way, however. It was as if his body was freezing in awe. As if something great was just happening and Kakashi would have the honour of witnessing it.

What the hell is happening?!

Kakashi's eyes darted all over the landscape. The last time I felt this way was…was…when Sensei became the Yondaime Hokage…!

The strange sensation ended, and Kakashi's body slumped a little as the tension left his body. But he could still feel it in his bones, like the echo of a loud outcry, which was slowly fading away.

He cast a glance at the mountain road, now on high alert.

Naruto…why do I get the feeling that you're somehow involved in this? …And that, whatever it is, is going to cause me a horrible headache?

*Meanwhile*

In a hidden base near Hi no Kuni, Orochimaru suddenly awoke with a start. He was panting and sweating. Had he just …had a nightmare?! He hadn't dreamed anything for years!

What the hell is wrong with me?!

He thought as he stared at his shaking hand.

Everything is going according to my plans. Sasuke-kun is marked with my cursed seal. His lust for power will drive him to come to me sooner or later. In less than a week, Konohagakure will be destroyed by my hands, eliminating one of the greatest hindrances on my way to immortality. So …WHY THE HELL DO I FEEL AS IF THE DAY OF MY DEATH HAS JUST BEEN DECIDED?!

Orochimaru shook his head to clear his thoughts and left his chamber, intending to ease his mind by listening to the screams of agony of the men who were being tortured and experimented on under his command.

*Meanwhile*

Sarutobi Hiruzen froze in the middle of leaving his office. He didn't know why he was feeling this way, but the tingly tension in the atmosphere was all too familiar to the aged Shinobi. Something important did just happen…something that will greatly affect history.

His hand still at the doorknob, The Sandaime Hokage turned his head to the window and looked at the sky.

"Whatever it is…I hope it is something good."

*Meanwhile*

Inside the hidden chamber at the top of his tower in Amegakure, Nagato – better known as Pain – suddenly stirred.

Konan (who was busy checking a part of the mechanical walker Nagato used at that very moment) looked up to him. "Nagato? Is something wrong?"

"…No. Don't worry, I'm fine."

Konan nodded, and was just about to resume her work, when…

"It's just …I have a feeling …as if something in the rain has changed."

She stiffened. Her head whipped around to stare at him. That phrase …`something in the rain has changed` …to Nagato, it had the meaning of something beginning to change for the better. And the last time he had used it had been before Yahiko's death, shortly after Hanzou had made that treacherous offer to the Akatsuki.

Nagato…? She thought shocked and confused. Nagato barely noticed her actions as he stared out of a window (which was hidden by a Genjutsu to the outside-world) into the sky.

What is this feeling…?

*Meanwhile*

Besides the faint and rhythmic `beep-beep` of the pulse monitor, there was no sound in the Konoha-hospital-room. Nothing disturbed Hinata Hyuuga in her sleep. She lay in her bed, the blanket covering her neatly. Only her slight smile gave away the fact that she was dreaming.

Inside Hinata's dream

Hinata was hiding behind a tree, watching Naruto train as she had done so often in real life. She knew she shouldn't stalk her long-time crush like that. What was she going to do if anyone – or even worse, he – would catch her in the act? This was by no means proper behaviour. If word would get around, her already poor reputation in the Hyuuga-clan would worsen even further. And if Naruto were to know she was deliberately spying on him …she didn't even want to think about it!

But…

Naruto's face hardened in determination…the seemingly endless enthusiasm with which he was doing exercises and Kata's again and again, even if he was seemingly only making small progress …the unwavering resolve in his eyes as he continued to train even when his body was reaching its limit…to Hinata, there was nothing more captivating, inspiring and…beautiful in the world.

Just watching him put her into a state of utter awe and admiration that was comparable to the joy an artist would feel if he would see the most perfect painting ever.

She just couldn't help but doing it again.

Apparently, she really was, in every sense, addicted to Naruto. The very thought made her blush even in her dream.

Naruto hit the training post one last time with all the strength he had left. The part of Hinata that knew she was dreaming sighed sadly. She already had had this dream before, so she knew where this was going: Naruto would step back from the training post, sagging from exhaustion, and reach for a towel on the ground to wipe off his sweat. In doing so, he would turn in her direction…and the dream would end with her being unable to tell whether he had seen her or not (she was scared of his reaction, but a small part of her wanted him to see her so she would finally be forced to tell him just how much he meant to her). True enough, Naruto stepped back from the training post…

However, that was as far as the dream was akin to its predecessors.

Instead of sagging, Naruto's body straightened with a sudden, newfound strength. His entire figure abruptly seemed to emit solemnity, dignity and pride – not the cold, stern kind Hinata's clan displayed and that she had always secretly disliked, but a warm, fiery and wild kind. It wasn't respect-demanding and imperious, but awe-inspiring, open-hearted, confident and acknowledging.

Naruto looked up to the sky, where the clouds parted to reveal an astonishing sight: somehow, both the sun and the stars seemed to cover the sky at the same time. They shone brighter and brighter, until the entire sky was blanketed by a sea of light. For a moment, Naruto looked calmly at the blinding bright sky…before, without any warning, all of the light shot down and engulfed the boy Hinata loved in an explosion of light.

Hinata had closed her eyes, covered them with their hands and turned away when she had seen the light coming down – yet, she was still blinded.

For about ten seconds, all she could see was colourful darkness. When her eyes finally began to function again, she anxiously looked for her crush – Only for said organs to widen in astonishment once again.

The sky was pitch-black now. But it wasn't dark at all. Because Naruto was still standing in the very same spot – and shining!

He radiated in a bright, yellow light with orange streaks here and there. The light seemed to come out of his body as if Naruto himself was a sun. On his back swirled two bigger masses of light like two additional body-parts. The sheer amount of light he emitted was enough to make the dark surroundings as clear as day.

Naruto-kun…he looks like an angel. Hinata thought in awe.

As if he'd heard her, Naruto turned around, looking straight at her. Eyes, blazing in a bright blue light, riveted on her face.

Hinata froze in awe, shock…and fear.

Naruto-kun noticed me! K-Know he knows I was s-stalking him! Oh no …I h-have to e-explain! Please Naruto-kun, don't th-think bad of m-me! But before she could open her mouth to explain herself, all fears, shame and doubts – or all coherent thoughts, for that matter – were washed away as something happened that she had never dared to hope even in her wildest dreams.

Naruto smiled at her. Not his usual large grin, but one of his incredible rare, beaming and beautiful true smiles. His eyes were filled with understanding, acceptance and caring …for her.

Hinata forgot how to move. She forgot how to breathe. She forgot how to think.

Slowly, Naruto raised an arm to reach out to her, his palm facing the sky and his fingers stretched in her direction. Like in a trance, Hinata stepped out of her hiding place behind the tree and walked towards Naruto, step by step.

Strangely, even though the closer she got to Naruto, the brighter the light he emitted became, it didn't hurt her eyes at all.

When she was only a meter away from him, Naruto closed the distance between them in one last step, raised his other arm – and pulled her in a tight, yet gentle embrace.

All she could see was yellow-orange light. All she could feel was his warm body pressed against hers. All she could hear was her own, thundering heartbeat. It was so warm…it was so full of life…so pleasant…so comforting…so caring…strong…blissful.

It was Naruto.

*In the real world*

Hinata shifted in her sleep, changing into a comfortable foetus position. An utterly beatific smile was spread on her face. "Naruto-kun…"

*Meanwhile*

Far away, inside a temple in a secluded village in Yuki no Kuni, a strange ceremony was taking place.

About fifteen people in brown robes were standing around a colourless orb of the size of a human head that was resting on a small pedestal in the middle of the room. One upper-middle-aged man with black, silver-streaked hair which was just so long that it touched his shoulder, stood closer to the orb than the others. His eyes were full of faith and devotion. The other men's' eyes travelled between him and the orb.

As if following an unheard command, the man got down on one knee, and the others followed suit. He then began reciting:

"The light, the light born of a Hero's heart."

And the others followed with a chorus:

"Will come back to him with heaven's reward."

"With the gift, the secret of the Rikudou's arts."

"An ancient power to rival the stars."

"It's the beginning of the end of the ancient tale."

"Destiny will become unveiled."

"For the Darkness still lurks and the legend yet grows."

"For that we know the Dragon-god comes"

Then, they all began to hum in a strange melody that was full of desperate hope and longing.

After a while, they all began chanting:

"Dovahjun Dovahjun, naal ok zin los vahriin, wah dein vokul mahfaeraak ahst vaal, ahrk fin norok paal graan fod nust hon zindro zaan, Dovahjun, fah hin kogaan mu draal."

After the last tone had faded into silence, the leader stood up and turned to his followers. "I once again thank you for your belief. There's nothing to do in the temple, so you're free to do as you please for the evening."

Everyone else stood up and turned to leave – but they stopped when they noticed that one of them stood still. The leader looked at him.

"Is something wrong, Kigi?" The man was silent for a moment. "`Thank you for your belief`…that's what you're always saying, Shinnen-sama. But…isn't all that belief for nothing if we believe in an illusion?"

Shocked murmurs rose in the room as the Ryu-souni were facing yet another crisis.

"What do you mean?" Shinnen asked, even though he knew exactly what Kigi meant. The man gritted his teeth and half-shouted the next words.

"Since the day I have come to this temple all we have been doing was keeping it intact, dutifully reciting our prayers and fighting to keep a dying order alive! Most of us can't start a family because no woman wants to have anything to do with the `strange obsessed cult-freaks`! Ten years ago, when Dotou Kazahana killed Sousetsu-sama, our Daimyo and former head-monk and overtook our country, you said that we couldn't join the rebels because if we were to die, no one would be there to welcome the Dragon-god when he finally emerges – resulting in about half of us leaving the temple to join them anyway! When I was a starving orphan, you took me in, and I'm grateful for that. But…you have to understand that I'm not willing to sacrifice my entire life for some half-forgotten fairy-tale!"

At this, everyone in the room inhaled sharply. No one had ever dared to call their religion a fairy-tale right in front of the head-monk.

"The Dragon-god is not a fairy-tale." Shinnen spoke with absolute conviction. "Thousands of years ago, he roamed the world, caring for the humans and trying to bring constant peace. When he had to return to his own realm…"

He pointed at the colourless ball. "…He left our predecessors this orb – the tear of the dragon god – that would give us a sign when a new Dragon-god would arise. Since then, we Ryu-souni have kept the memory of the Dragon-god alive, so he-"

"Prove it!" Kigi interrupted him. "Prove that this is not just an ordinary –albeit virtually indestructible– ball that our founder created to gather followers! Prove that this old legend is actually true!"

Shinnen saw how the doubt spread among his brothers; saw how their resolve and belief was wavering. His own belief in the Dragon-god was unshakable, but he couldn't help but worry at the developments among their order. They –these fifteen men– were all what was left of the once numerous and proud Ryu-souni. If it continued like this…

His thoughts and the whispers of the other monks were silenced as a bright, blue light suddenly flashed up behind him.

Shinnen spun around so quickly he almost lost his balance. The orb – which had been completely bare of all extraordinary features just a second before – was now radiating in a bright, sapphire-blue, glinting light.

All the other monks had drawn back as the orb had started to shine, and some had even fallen on the ground. Now they were all staring at the orb – and at the back of their leader – in astonishment.

-"What…what the…?"

Kigi whispered in absolute bewilderment. Loud murmur began to fill the room.

"What is this?"

"Did Shinnen-sama do something?"

"What is the meaning of this?"

Then, a voice arose over the others, silencing them. "Shinnen-sama! Does…does that mean…?"

"Yes, Shousa." Shinnen said, his voice slightly quavering. He slowly turned around to his brothers, tears in his eyes and running down his cheeks.

"Our millennium-lasting prayers…have finally been answered!"

*Meanwhile*

On a training ground near Konoha, Hayate Gekko froze as he felt the strange sensation. He had just finished training, wanting to sharpen his skills for whatever Orochimaru had in store for Konohagakure. He was really worried because of the recent incidents.

And this unexplainable chill didn't exactly help easing his mind. Things couldn't possibly have gotten any worse – could they?

Not taking any chances, Hayate performed the "Crescent-moon-dance" once more as a top-off to his sword-training, before moving on to the Nin-Jutsu part.

Unbeknownst to him, these few extra-seconds would save his life.

***Twenty minutes later***

How the hell did this happen? Hayate thought. He was currently standing in front of a Suna-nin, his sword buried in his shoulder-armour.

After he had returned from his training, he had located Kabuto, the traitor, and the Suna-nin in an alley. However, he hadn't had the chance to hear anything of their talk since they had just been about to separate – and had noticed him immediately.

Kabuto had taken his leave as the Suna-nin had confronted Hayate. Hayate took great pride in being able to tell the strength of an opponent just by looking at his combat-face. He had noticed right away that this Shinobi was more powerful than him, that his only chance to win was to take him by surprise.

However, he had wasted his chance. The final attack of his Crescent-moon-dance hadn't hit the head as intended, but only the shoulder. And now he was stuck – and knew he couldn't possibly get out of this.

Well …I guess it wasn't such a bad life. I have done many good deeds, earned much recognition and had an amazing girlfriend. But still …this is not how I imagined my life ending.

Being convinced he was about to die, it was no wonder that when something bright yellow-shining descended from the sky, he thought it was an angel who had come to take away his soul…

That is, until it landed behind the Suna-nin, grabbed him by the vacant shoulder – and literally threw him across the village.

Said man was so stunned at his unexpected detour that the thought of moving – or screaming – never even crossed his mind until he came crashing down hard in the Konoha forest.

Hayate, likewise, needed several seconds to wrap his mind around the fact that he was still alive and well. When he finally snapped out of it and tried to take a closer look at his saviour, the radiant being raised itself into the air once again. In a matter of seconds, it was nothing more than a point on the horizon, impossible to tell apart from the stars.

Hayate blinked. He blinked again. And again.

When he was finally able to get his act together, he quickly headed for the Hokage tower, banning the strange encounter from his thoughts for now.

***Thirty minutes later, Kakutane***

Kakashi was fidgeting nervously by now. Naruto was still not there. By pure logic, it was still possible that he simply had to go all the way back to the resting place – but ever since he had felt that strange sensation, his worry had doubled every second. Alright, that's it. I'll just go and look for him.

Just as he stood up from the place beneath the tree he had been sitting under, intending to do just that, he saw a figure coming down the mountain road. Was it Naruto? Yes!

Kakashi breathed a sigh of relief as he walked up to meet Naruto. Said boy was coming down the road at a middle-quick pace, not exactly running, but not walking either. His eyes had a far-away look, as if he was deep in thought. Were it not for the fact that he slightly adjusted his path to meet Kakashi, he would've thought he hadn't even noticed him.

Kakashi frowned. Normally, Naruto would come running at him and yell something like `The future Hokage has done it again! `. Did something happen to him while he was gone?

When the two of them met, Naruto quickly put on a goofy grin and presented the missing scroll to Kakashi. "Here is it! Sorry for the wait, but I kind of had to walk back all the way to get it."

He giggled embarrassed and scratched the back of his head with one hand. Kakashi eyed him suspiciously. He acted like the same old Naruto…but that was just it! He acted like the same old Naruto.

Kakashi was positive this wasn't an impostor (he looked too much like the real thing for that). So what was going on?

"Is something wrong, Naruto?"

"No, no, everything's fine …it's just …well …I'm still really embarrassed I lost the scroll."

Kakashi didn't buy it for a second. First of all, Naruto's face had slightly twitched when Kakashi had asked him if something had happened. And second, Naruto nearly never talked about his true feelings (which wasn't necessary since he was embarrassingly easy to read).

But considering the fact that Naruto seemed to be fine and that the scroll was safe, he decided it could wait until the end of the mission. "Well…"

He took the scroll and put on his famous eye-smile. "Take it as a lesion to pay attention not only to your surroundings, but to yourself as well!"

Naruto giggled nervously. "Yeah, I'll do that. Can we go to sleep now? I'm beat."

The easy acceptance of the lecture was absolutely unusual for Naruto, which hardened Kakashi's suspicion that something was off. But he nodded and led the way back to their house nonetheless.

.

As they entered the hallway, two doors suddenly opened, and out came Sasuke and Sakura.

Kakashi stopped. Naruto nearly ran into him, and, after regaining his bearings, peered from behind him in slight confusion. Sakura looked like a picture of misery, while Sasuke had one of those 'Do I have to?'-looks on his face. Kakashi gave both of them a meaningful look, before stepping aside, clearing the way for an eye-contact between them.

"Hello, Naruto."

"Hm."

"Hey, guys."

Naruto replied absent-mindedly. Sakura's bottom lip trembled, and she looked so guilty that Kakashi felt a little bad for having been so blunt with her. But he knew that she'd needed to hear it.

She took a deep breath, and looked him in the eye. "Listen…I'm very sorry for the way I acted before you left. That was really un-comradely of me. So…sorry."

She looked inquisitively at Sasuke, which was amplified by a prompting glare from Kakashi. He sighed and just barely didn't talk through his teeth. "I apologize for my behaviour from before."

He gave both Sakura and Kakashi a look that said 'There! Happy now?'

Naruto blinked confusedly, before giving a dismissive wave of the hand and saying, "Oh, don't sweat it, I almost forgot about that already. You know me, nothing can depress a future Hokage for long! He he…Well, I'm gonna go sleep now. 'Night."

With that, he went past them and into his room. Sakura breathed a sigh of relief, while Sasuke rolled his eyes. Kakashi in contrast, stared at the door of Naruto's room.

…Just what's going on? He was very upset about what happened when he left, I'm certain of that. What could've happened that he's so indifferent about it now? Kakashi contemplated going into Naruto's room and confronting him right now, but ultimately dismissed that idea. Whatever it was, it was better discussed back home in Konoha.

With that in mind, he addressed Sasuke and Sakura. "Well, Naruto made a good point. It was a long day, and we all can use some rest." And with that, they bid each other good night and went to sleep.

No one except Naruto would've guessed the things that were to come in the following days.

*Meanwhile*

"So let me summarize." The Sandaime said. "You saw the Suna-nin Baki with Kabuto. But you know nothing about their connection since they noticed you right away and Baki moved to silence you. He nearly succeeded, but then…"

At this point, he was frowning. "…Something that radiated in a bright yellow light came down from the sky…and saved you by throwing the enemy all the way across the village, only to disappear right away again?"

The sickly looking Shinobi in front of him nodded. "Yes. And no, I'm neither drunk nor did I take anything strange – as far as I know, at least."

"And you cannot remember what exactly it looked like?"

"Well…" Hayate frowned in concentration. "It had wings and there came light out of its body. But…I think the rest of its body looked more like a human – it stood on two legs and all. Its main body was much smaller than a human's, though. That's all I know. I'm sorry…it happened too fast and sudden, and I only saw it from the backside."

"So you are saying that its form resembled an angel?"

"Yes…and no. I don't think its wings had feathers. They were…skinny, like a bat's…but at the same time, it didn't look like a bat's ones at all. I know how crazy that sounds, but like I said before, I'm certain of what I saw."

The old Hokage took a careful look at Hayate. "Please do not take this personally now…but I think we should still take a sample of your blood – just to be sure."

Hayate nodded in understanding. The Sandaime instructed an ANBU to bring Hayate to the hospital for a check-up, and the two of them left.

Hiruzen leaned back in his chair and put one hand on his head (It was still slightly wet because he had just taken a shower when the ANBU had come to inform him of the incident, and he hadn't had the time to dry it properly). He sighed.

First his fallen disciple had showed up and threatened his former home, and now not only did it seem like Suna had ties to Otogakure, but one of his Shinobi had seemingly only survived because of some strange being they knew absolutely nothing about.

Orochimaru and conspiracies of supposed "allies" were worrisome and sad things, but at least it was something the Sandaime had an idea of how it worked. That strange being – taken it really existed – was something completely unknown – and unknown factors usually meant danger since you didn't know how to react to them.

He looked up as the office door opened and another ANBU with a cat-mask stepped in. She kneeled down before she began to speak. "We examined the area where, according to Hayate, the enemy landed. We found a spot where the ground was slightly crushed and covered with blood, as well as many broken tree-branches above it. However, a body wasn't found. Someone must have been there before us."

The Sandaime nodded. Inside, the last hope of Hayate merely being fooled somehow died. That meant there really was a strange creature with enough power to throw a grown-up man nine kilometres far out there. "Thank you. You may call it a day now, Neko."

As the ANBU left, Hiruzen allowed himself to sigh in exasperation.

I am getting too old for this stuff… The old warrior thought tiredly.

***Five minutes later***

As Hayate left the hospital, he was pleasantly surprised to find that the ANBU who had been guiding him had been replaced by another one. One with a very familiar mask.

They silently joined each other and walked through the streets for a while before they reached a small, inconspicuous house. As Hayate opened the door, he turned his head to look at the ANBU.

"Is your shift over now?" He asked.

"Yes." Was the reply from underneath the cat-mask. Hayate opened the door and stepped aside to let her in as a response.

As he closed the door behind them, the ANBU reached up to take off the mask – and revealed the face of Hayate's girlfriend, Yugao Uzuki.

She turned to him. "Are you really alright?"

"I'm fine, don't worry about me."

"I'm glad." She walked up to him and put her hands on his shoulders. "I was really worried when I saw no light in the house on my beat."

"I'm sorry." He said and leaned down to kiss his girlfriend.

***The next day, evening***

"…And then, we returned here. We're a bit late because a rock-fall had blocked the road we had originally come from over the night. That's all." Kakashi finished his report.

The Sandaime nodded, but at the same time, eyed team seven carefully. Sakura looked like she was ready to throw herself at Sasuke at any moment, while he ignored it stoically – as usual. But Naruto and Kakashi were acting strange. Naruto had not loudly announced their presence when they had arrived, he had not grinned like a madman even once in the entire time, and most disturbingly: He had not fidgeted like the bundle of pent-up energy that he was at all. Instead, he had remained silent ever since they arrived, and was staring into nothingness, deep in thought.

Furthermore, he had caught Kakashi casting him nervous glances a couple of times. Did something happen that he didn't want to mention in front of his Genin?

"I see. Good work, everyone. Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke, you may spend your time from now on until the finals as you wish. Kakashi, I would like to have a private word with you."

The Genin (except Naruto) were looking at their Sensei curiously, but exited the chamber anyway.

Before the Hokage could say anything, Kakashi spoke up. "One of the ANBU told me about one of our men clashing with a Suna-nin last night. Is that true?"

Well …I guess I cannot blame them for telling a former co-member. The Sandaime thought. "It is."

He confirmed before he gave Kakashi a detailed summary of the incident.

"…What does Suna say to this?" Was what Kakashi said after the conclusion.

"That they are shocked and had no idea that one of their men had ties to Kabuto. Of course, they could tell me anything they want since we do not have any solid proof Baki was not acting by himself. They gave me all the information about Baki, but naturally, that could be doctored too." He answered with a sad and grim smile. Kakashi nodded with a hard eye.

"Anything new about that…creature?"

"Regrettably, no. No one has seen it ever since, and none of the guards or patrols saw it. I cannot blame them. When you are on guard-duty, you usually do not look at the sky, after all."

"So…enough of that matter – what is wrong with Naruto?" When it came to matters concerning the blonde boy, Hiruzen didn't beat around the bush.

Kakashi sighed, suddenly looking really worried. "When he came back from retrieving the scroll yesterday, he was like this. Deep in thought, silent and introverted – though he tried to act normal all the time. That hasn't changed ever since."

"Seeing as it didn't seem to be anything urgent and we had a mission to do, I let it slip. But…I'm almost sure something happened while he was away – though I seriously don't know why he wouldn't tell me." The Sandaime nodded slowly. Those were disturbing news.

"I assume you will talk to him now?" "I will. And I'd like to do it as soon as possible, so if I may…"

"Of course. You are dismissed." Kakashi thanked Hiruzen and quickly left the chamber.

Just what is going on recently? It seems as if all bad things that can possibly happen actually do happen. The Sandaime thought worriedly before facing the sworn arch enemy of all authorities – the paperwork – again.

.

Ten minutes later, the door to his office suddenly flew open and a very concerned looking Kakashi barged in. Hiruzen looked up quickly in alarm. "Kakashi? What happened?"

"It's official now. Something happened to Naruto while he was away!" Kakashi almost ran to the desk and handed the Sandaime a piece of paper.

"I found this letter in Naruto's apartment. He himself was nowhere to be found." Hiruzen looked down at the letter.

Dear Kakashi-sensei

I guess you have already figured out by now that I wasn't truthful about the time I was gone – if you haven't known from the very beginning.

I'm sorry, but I can't explain what happened in a letter. Simply too much to fit on a single sheet – not to mention that I don't even quite understand it myself yet.

I just wanted to let you know that I'm sorry about that…and what's to come now. Because…I'll be gone for some time.

Again, I can't explain. Just please believe me when I say that I wouldn't do this if I'd see an alternative. Don't worry about me – and don't search for me. You won't find me.

I promise I'll be back in time to attend to the Chunin-exam-finals and answer all questions there.

Naruto

The Hokage read the letter twice. There was no mistaking it, it was Naruto's handwriting. He dropped the letter and drew a piece of paper out of a drawer, which he handed to the Jounin in front of him. "Go get two ANBU of your choosing and set out to find Naruto."

Kakashi nodded and wordlessly left the office. Hiruzen stared after him in concern.

Naruto…what happened to you?

Kakashi and two figures in ANBU-attire stood in front of Naruto's apartment. He looked at the two ANBU in front of him. "As I said before, one of our Genin, Naruto Uzumaki, has gone missing. We've been given the mission to retrieve him. Any questions?"

None of them answered, but he was almost sure he saw the one with the mantis-mask tense at the mention of Naruto (the general hatred against Naruto didn't stop at the ANBU ranks – though most of them hid it better than regular people). Kakashi ignored him and bit his thumb before slamming it on the ground. With a `pop` and a small cloud of smoke, a small dog named Pakkun appeared.

"Hm ...? Oh, Kakashi! What do you want from me this late in the evening?"

"Pakkun, I need you to find Naruto for me. He's gone missing."

"Oh! ...'Gotcha." Pakkun replied and sniffed the air few times before he started to lead them in the direction of the village gates. They went through them and were almost at the forest – when he suddenly stopped.

He sniffed confused, ran in a circle two or three times, and finally looked at Kakashi with a look of absolute bewilderment on his face. "The trail…the trail ends here."

Kakashi was in shock. "What?! What do you mean by that?!"

"You heard me, and I mean exactly what I said. The trail ends here…and there's no trace of his scent anywhere around, either." Kakashi was stunned to say the least. If this would have happened at a river, he would have understood it. But on even ground? How the hell was that possible?

There was a Jutsu to suppress your own scent and trail, but there was no way in hell that Naruto would even know about that Jutsu, much less being capable of executing it. Even most Jounin couldn't do it.

-"Kakashi…look."

One of his companions said, incredulous bewilderment in his voice.

Kakashi tensed. It was never good when one of the ANBU – the most battle-hardened Shinobi in the village – showed his emotions on duty. He turned in the direction the ANBU was staring…only for his one visible eye to widen so much it almost fell out of his socket, and his jaw falling so deep it almost ripped the mask off his face.

There, at the border of the forest, were two squirrels playing with each other. That alone wasn't an unusual sight – if it weren't for the fact that they were on the ground, not even pretending to pay any attention to their surroundings (which was highly unusual and practically suicide for wild animals) and that there was a fox playing with a small piece of moss not even one meter away, not even looking in the direction of the easy and delicious prey.

Furthermore, he could see a feral pig with its piglets in the distance, practically at the foot of the village wall. To top it all off, one of its piglets was playing with a badger, and the mother watched calmly while relaxing on the ground.

Foxes never let a prey as easy as this escape. Feral pigs hated being near humans!

Wild hog-mothers normally attacked any living creature who dared to come that close to their piglets with the rage of Kyuubi!

What in the world was going on?

*Meanwhile*

A woman with a small, yellow handbag waited anxiously in the hospital hallway. What took the doctor so long?! He said he just had to read the blood-test-results over.

She blinked back tears when she thought about the first blood test that had been made of her son.

Two years ago, her three-years-old son's health had suddenly rapidly worsened. After a visit at the hospital, and a blood test, the doctors had told her that her son was infected with Akasuji, a lethal virus that had no cure. Thankfully, it wasn't contagious by touch or air, so her son could still stay at home with her and her husband.

The doctors could do nothing but slow down the process as much as they could. They said that if it progressed like this, her son would die at the age of nine.

Only four more years to live.

One glistening tear escaped her eyes. She quickly wiped it away.

In that moment, the door finally opened to reveal the doctor. Getting up, she froze when she saw the incredulous look on his face.

"Is something wrong?" Fear gripped her heart. "Has the progress quickened?"

The doctor shook his head wordlessly and stared down at the blood sample she had brought to the hospital this morning. "Mrs Toriumi…did you give your son anything out of the ordinary to eat or an experimental medicine of some sort?"

"What?! No, of course not! Why are you asking me this?" The doctor looked down at the phial again.

"The…the sample…" He stuttered out. "We…we couldn't find any traces of Akasuji in it."

The handbag the woman had been carrying hit the floor.

*Meanwhile*

Kankuro stared at the clock on the wall.

Baki-sensei is late. He thought.

He looked at his sister, Temari, to see that she, too, had a worried look in her eyes. Even took a glance at Gaara, who leaned against the wall of the apartment they had been given upon their arrival in Konohagakure, although he knew Gaara didn't care what was going on as long as it didn't involve fights and blood.

Baki, their Sensei, had told them they would meet in the late afternoon today – and now it was already getting dark outside. He had never before missed a meeting, so naturally Kankuro was very nervous.

His head turned around as a knock was heard on the door. As he opened it, he came face to face with a Suna-nin – but not with Baki. "Good evening. Don't mean to be rude, but what are you doing here?"

"Lord Kazekage sends me to inform you that Baki will not come. And to go over the invasion plan with you in his stead." Kankuro nodded and opened the door to let the man in. He went inside, took a seat at the table and took a map out of a pocket in his vest to visualize their role in the invasion. There was but one logical question that one would ask in such a situation, but before he could voice it, Temari beat him to the punch. "Why are you here instead of Baki-sensei?

The man eyed them carefully, as if unsure how to tell them. Finally, he answered. "Baki was severely wounded in a clash with a Konoha-nin and an unknown enemy. No lasting damage, but it's so worse he won't be able to participate in the invasion. Kazekage-sama send him home yesterday, in the dark of the night, so the Konoha-nin will not be able to find him and discover the entire plan."

Everyone in the room was shocked – safe for Gaara. Kankuro was the first one to break the silence. "Do we know who did it?"

"Regrettably, no. Baki was able to speak a little, but he doesn't know it himself. It happened too fast and sudden. He said that one moment, he stood in front of a Konoha-nin, about to cut him down – and the next, someone – or something – grabbed him by the shoulder and threw him all the way across the village into the forest. Since he has a heavy concussion, it's a miracle he knew even that much."

Temari spoke up again. "How worse exactly are his wounds, anyway?"

"As I said before, he has a heavy concussion. In addition, several ribs are broken and fractured, one arm is broken and the other is dislocated and badly twisted, and he has several cuts and bad bruises on his body. All of the wounds are a result of the fall out of the big height. Fortunately, the branches he broke through on his way to the ground slowed him down. Otherwise, he would be dead."

"Enough."

The silent whisper made everyone in the room freeze in fear. "All this talk is pointless. Let's move on to the invasion plan. You're starting to irritate mother." Gaara continued, leaving no room for arguments – as long as someone valued his life.

And so the man started to explain the plan to them. However, Kankuro couldn't help but think more and more negative about what was about to come.

He had never really liked this plan from the very beginning. Although to most people, he appeared arrogant and aggressive, he didn't enjoy the act of killing others unnecessarily (although he found it quite satisfying to beat and scare the shit out of someone who challenged him in some way).

He had never really understood why they should attack the village that was supposed to be their ally. Then again, he also didn't understand why their father had willingly risked (and sacrificed) their mothers' life to seal Shukaku into Gaara, and tried everything in his power to turn him into a soulless weapon. Sure, he understood the term `for the good of the village`, but did that really justify everything?

He gave himself a mental shake. There was no use in thinking about things he had no control over.

***Four hours later, midnight, Konoha hospital***

Even though she was considered a disgrace to the Hyuuga-clan, Hinata was still the heiress by birth right (although the elders couldn't wait to finally officially strip her off that title) and bearer of the Byakugan.

While they didn't care whether or not she survived her missions (If she died on a mission, it would only prove that she was a complete defect and even her Byakugan was so weak it was no loss), it was something different when she was defenceless, like now. That's why a guard had been assigned to keep watch over her during her stay.

However, said 'guard' was none other than Nan Hyuuga, a main family member who rejected Hinata just as much as the elders did (the reason he had to do this instead of a branch family member was that he had accidently damaged a prized painting in the Hyuuga estate, and was punished this way). That's why he found it to be more than enough a fulfilment of his guard duty to simply sit under her window outside the building, with the main entrance left hand, and to scan her room every few minutes with his Byakugan. He preferred it that way since he had a penchant for smoking, and even his status as Hyuuga couldn't give him permission to smoke inside a hospital.

If he had taken his guard duties more seriously, the unseen event would have had much more trouble happening.

The window to Hinata's room was open, and a streak of moonlight fell on her sleeping face. Besides her quiet breathing and the noise of the pulse monitor, it was absolutely silent. She would occasionally twitch in her sleep, and from time to time, a slight smile graced her lips. Nan had just deactivated his Byakugan again (refusing to waste the Hyuuga's prized bloodline on the failure more than necessary) when it happened.

One heartbeat, the room was completely empty besides the bed and the patient…and the next, a shadowy figure stood next to the bed, looking down at the heiress.

It stood with the back to the window, so the face of the person was in the dark. But it wasn't a big shadow: In fact, he was as small as the fragile looking girl – or maybe even smaller. He (or she) watched Hinata sleeping for a while, as if thinking about something. Then, he slowly and soundlessly stepped closer to the bed and started to raise his hands when…

"Naruto-kun…"

The figure froze. For about a minute, it didn't move an inch.

"Naruto-kun…" The girl murmured again, changing into a foetus position, facing the figure. A content sigh passed Hinata's lips.

For a long moment, the figure simply stared down at her, unmoving, as if made of stone. Then he bend over her, his hands raised above her, palms facing the sky. His hands began to glow in a yellow light. When he turned them around and held them close to the sleeping girl, almost touching her, the light seemed to drop from his hands like a living gas and engulfed Hinata's body completely.

It swirled around her, embracing her entire form, before it seemed to be drawn into her body like a sponge sucking in water. Hinata's only visible reaction was a quiet hum, as if she had just eaten something delicious.

The figure straightened again and watched her for another minute.

Then, in the blink of an eye, it had vanished without a trace. Not even ten seconds later, Nan Hyuuga activated his bloodline again, to find nothing out of the ordinary.

.

A few moments later, the figure reappeared inside another room in the hospital. This was a one-bed-room too – but the occupant of this room was in worse shape than the other.

It couldn't be seen under the blanket, but Rock Lee's left lower arm and leg were badly squashed. The doctors said that the damage inflicted to him would force him to quit being a Shinobi – even though they had unexpectedly managed to put all bone splinters back in place again.

The figure wasted no time this time, as he stepped close to Lee and brought his hands up and down in one fluid motion, covering Lee's body in the same yellow light from earlier. This time, however, more light appeared on the shadow's hands and kept flowing onto and into Lee. Furthermore, if you looked really closely, you could see that the blanket slightly shifted where the left lower arm and leg would be. The procedure lasted about five seconds before the last remains of the light sunk into Lee.

The figure visibly slumped as it stepped back from the bed, and a quiet panting could be heard. The act had clearly exhausted him. A few seconds later, the panting made way for a sad sigh, and the shadow slowly shook his head. He looked down at Lee, looking as if he was sorry for something.

This time, the figure didn't disappear in a heartbeat, but in a blur and a breath.

.

About one block down the road, Gaara crouched on the roof of a building, looking towards the hospital.

Just a few hours ago, he had been determined to end what he had started at the Chunin preliminaries tonight…but then, their visitor had come and told them about what happened to Baki. Even though he had acted as if he didn't care about what had happened, the information that there was an enemy in this village that was able to best Baki, one of the strongest Suna-nin…interested him.

The curiosity had cleared his head somewhat. If he were to kill Lee now and get caught in the act, he might get trouble with the council and his 'father' again. And he really didn't like the assassination attempts on his life (even though he could feed the assassins' blood to mother and proof his existence). So here he was at the moment, contemplating whether he should kill Lee or not.

He was, in fact, so deep in his musings that he almost failed to notice the sudden movement at the hospital building.

Something came through one of the hospital's windows and quickly climbed up the wall before making its way to the centre of the hospital's roof. Gaara narrowed his eyes at the unusual sight and tried to identify the figure from the distance. Then his eyes widened as the silhouette began to glow faintly and two wing-like objects emerged from its back, before it shot up into the sky with a mighty flap to disappear into the starlit darkness. The whole process didn't last longer than five seconds.

Gaara stared into the sky, mesmerized by what he had just seen. He didn't know what this thing was, but judging by the presence he had felt, it had to be a proud and strong creature. Furthermore, he had felt the Bijuu inside him stir at the sight of it.

He grinned maniacally. Oh yes, feeding that creature's blood to mother would be a great proof of his existence.

If he had paid more attention to Shukaku than to his bloodlust at that time, he would have felt it freeze in shock at the thought of killing that creature. But he didn't.

It came to the hospital once…maybe if I wait here; I can intercept it when it comes back. He crouched down again, focusing entirely on the hospital and its surroundings.

And so, without anyone realizing it, the hospital security staff increased by one.

***Five days later***

Hiruzen rubbed his temples in a futile attempt to ease the headache that had become like a chronically illness during the last five days.

He had been shocked and alarmed after the incident with the Suna-nin and the still unknown creature. He had been confused at seeing Naruto acting so strange after his return. He had been really worried when he had suddenly disappeared. He had almost fallen off of his chair when the reports about the wild animals' strange behaviour had started to come in. As he had witnessed first-hand, the wild animals in the immediate vicinity of Konohagakure had literally lost all their fear of humans, going as far as attempting to enter the village itself, and they obviously didn't fear their natural enemies around the village anymore.

The next day, he had heard that the doctors had checked up on Hinata Hyuuga that morning, to find that all the internal damage she had incurred in her fight against Neji Hyuuga had fully healed overnight, and Rock Lee had made a likewise miraculous recovery (although he still couldn't walk without a crutch and in pain, seemingly because of an unknown injury to his spine).

Furthermore, a supposedly incurable sick boy had gotten completely healthy overnight, and countless other sick people had recovered at exactly the same time. He had thought that things couldn't possibly get any crazier.

As if the gods wanted to make fun of him, they had gotten crazier.

The Sandaime stared down at his desk. Twenty forms were spread on it. Twenty cases. Twenty more or less completely unconnected people. Yet only one occurrence that had happened to them all.

The first one was a female, and it had happened the day after Naruto had disappeared. The young woman had attempted to cut off the branch of a tree to make a Kendo-sword, only to flinch back as a sharp, stinging pain shot through her body. When she had looked down at the arm that had held the saw, she had screamed in fright.

Her entire body was covered in a faint, strange blue mark that, according to a witness, had appeared on her skin the moment she had applied the saw. In that very moment, it had burned like blue fire. During her questioning, she had mentioned that she had been unbelievable reluctant to cut the tree for some reason, and had only attempted to do it because wood for Kendo-swords was very expensive and usually hard to get.

The next one was a man, a husband, and it happened the following evening. When his wife had called the ambulance, she had been in tears and said that her husband had `suddenly` collapsed screaming. When the ambulance had come, they found the same mark on his skin – but much more pronounced than the last one. One of the doctors had noticed the woman tensing when he had asked her what exactly he had been doing before he collapsed. At first, she had kept insisting that he hadn't been doing anything special…but after some coaxing, she had burst out in tears and confessed that he had been about to hit her when it happened.

After a little chat with Ibiki, the man had confessed that he had abused his wife both psychological and physical for some years now. He also mentioned that, for some reason, he had been unusually hesitant about hitting her that evening – though it hardly mattered in the case itself, It was a striking similarity to the former case. The man was imprisoned, and his former wife was with her relatives now, who did their best to help her overcome her bad experiences.

The next incident had delivered not one, but eight people: A long wanted ring of burglars. They had been about to take the valuables of a noble home, as a mark completely identical to the previous ones had made its painful appearance, and one of them had triggered the alarm system as he cringed from the pain. They, too, reported that they had felt extraordinary reluctant to actually go through with their plan, to such an extent that they had nearly cancelled the whole action.

The next one was the fifteen year-old son of a poultry keeper. He had attempted to take a fertilized egg from a hen, and had collapsed releasing an ear-shattering scream with the very same mark appearing on him. The pain he described was much worse than the pain the other victims had suffered, and his mark was not only the most pronounced up to that point, it glowed faintly, but clearly visible. He too stated that the guilt he was feeling for what he had been about to do was much worse than usual, but he had pressed on since he'd feared his father would get angry if he wouldn't take all eggs.

Next one: The only butcher in the whole village who was keeping and butchering his own pigs (He lived at the outskirts of the village, almost inside the forest). Collapsed screaming uncontrollably with the mark appearing on him as he attempted to butcher one of it. His mark was just as pronounced as the boy's was. He too reported very unusual great hesitation before he had attempted to do it.

Five more cases were two men and three women. They were distributed over the first four days, and all of them were quite similar. The victims had taken a walk outside the village walls, and had encountered a potentially dangerous animal – like a bear or a wolf. They, like all wild animals, had been completely unbashful around Konohagakure ever since the day Naruto disappeared.

They had shown no signs of aggression, but even so, the people had gotten so scared – either they feared for their own well-being, or they had kids with them – that they'd thrown a stone at the animals to get them to leave. The moment the stones connected, their throwers had cringed in pain as the mark had made its appearance. As for the animals, they had first grunted or wailed, more out of surprise than out of pain, according to the victims. Then they had seen the victims, growled in both fright and anger and had run away.

The last three had gotten the mark just a few hours ago: A group of three pickpockets who had gotten the mark the moment they tried to steal from random people on the streets. From what they told, the pain they had felt upon the marks' appearance was the least intensive of them all, and their marks were so faint they were barely visible. They said the guilt they had felt was almost unbearable, and that the only reason they had even considered doing it was because they all had no work to do, and that they had been starving for five days before they had resolved themselves to commit the crime.

On top of the twenty forms was a photo of the butcher's body with the glowing mark. The blue glint covered his entire body in a seemingly random pattern. The meaning of that pattern was obscure – as long as you couldn't see the victim's chest. There, in a circle created by the mark, was a simple Kanji: "Aku".

And if you looked at the pattern with that in mind, you could see that it was actually countless "Aku"-signs, which blended into each other.

Well…considering the circumstances, the meaning of the mark is very clear. The culprit has to be one of these people who think that all live is holy, but have a very ruthless behaviour towards people who do not share the same belief …but who can it be? Who could have known about what all these people were about to do? Who could have cast a Jutsu as complicated as this without any of the ANBU noticing it? And get away from the crime scene unnoticed, on top of that? The old Hokage gripped his head with one hand. It was as if the entire world had gone crazy.

"It's been tough on you recently, wasn't it?"

Hiruzen startled at the voice, and his head whipped to the window to see his former student, Jiraiya the Toad-sennin, crouching in the frame. "Jiraiya?"

Said man grinned.

"The one and only beloved wise-toad-Jiraiya, yes!" He said in an excited voice while jumping in front of the desk and doing a small dance. That made the Sandaime smile as he remembered the old days, when his three little students had trained together and the world had seemed to be completely at peace. "I did not know you were back in the village. It truly is good to see you again."

"Well, same here. I'm sorry I didn't inform you of my arrival, but you know that I don't like getting attention…unless it's feminine, of course!" Both of them laughed a little at that. But soon enough, Jiraiya's face got serious.

"However, when I heard about the disappearance of a certain orange-wearing Genin, I decided it was time to pay you a visit." At that, Hiruzen's face instantly got sombre, and his eyebrows raised a little. "So you finally made the boy's acquaintance."

Jiraiya looked a little guilty at these words. The day before he left the village after Naruto's birth, he and his Sensei had had one of their rare arguments, because Jiraiya said he had to maintain a spy network, and therefore couldn't take care of Naruto like Hiruzen had asked of him. And deep down, he had always known that his Sensei had been right when he had said that `Minato and Kushina would roll in their graves if they could see how irresponsible you are with your godson`. "Yeah …we met one day after the end of the second stage of the Chunin-exams, to be exact. I let him sign the toad-summoning-contract, and he has just recently learned how to summon Gamabunta – albeit with the Kyuubi's help."

The Sandaime's eyes widened a little before the corners of his mouth twitched. "I see…so that was the reason he was just being released from the hospital when Kakashi came to get him for the mission."

"Yeah…when Gamabunta climbed up the cliff, I wanted to run away for a second – you know he and me had always sort of an umm…complicated relationship. But just before I could make a run for it, I remembered that Naruto's chakra had to be completely exhausted from the stress. So I stayed, endured Gamabunta's roasting, and performed this chakra-exhaustion-alleviation-Jutsu I learned by watching Tsunade. I think he would have stayed unconscious for a couple of days if I hadn't."

The old Hokage sighed. "Maybe that would have been better…then I could not have send him on that god-damn mission to Kakutane, and whatever happened to him that made him leave would not have happened." Beholding Jiraiya's confused face, he explained the basics of the mysterious Kakutane-incident to him, before he reached into one of his drawers and handed him the letter Naruto wrote. Jiraiya scanned it with a frown on his face. "He went missing five days ago. And just like he wrote, all attempts to find him have failed. It is as if he has just disappeared."

Jiraiya's eyebrow's rose. "Five days ago, huh…what an incredible big coincidence…"

"Ah…so you know…"

"About the clash with the Suna-nin and the appearance of that strange creature and the mark-incidents? Yeah, I know about that."

The efficiency of Jiraiya's spy-network never ceased to amaze him. While the miraculously recovery of the patients at the hospital and the wild animals' strange behaviour were public known, he had chosen to keep the mark-incidents, Naruto's disappearance and the unknown creature a secret – at least for now. He had done everything he could to keep it from leaking out. The fact that Jiraiya heard about it –albeit five days later– was remarkable.

Following an impulse, he took the photo of the mark and held it out for Jiraiya to look at. "Have you ever seen this mark somewhere?"

Jiraiya bend over the desk to get a closer look at the photo. After about ten seconds, he shook his head. "No, I'm sorry. I've never seen anything like this before. Has the research team found out anything?"

Hiruzen sighed. "That is where it gets really messed up. No one – not even our best sealing experts – can even sense the mark, much less interacting with it and analysing it. And when we analyse pieces of the coloured skin we find no traces of anything that could have caused the discolouration. If it were not for the fact that we can clearly see it I would say it does not exist at all."

That left Jiraiya speechless for a second. Before he could respond, the Sandaime continued. "Like you indicated I too believe that all of this – the animals, the mark-incidents, the recovery-miracle and even the unknown creature – are somehow connected to Naruto and whatever happened to him on that mission. I just cannot fathom how!"

He let some of his bottled up frustration slip out in that last word.

Both remained silent and unmoving for about a minute. Then Jiraiya rounded the desk and placed a reassuring hand on his Sensei's shoulder. It felt really weird, considering that his Sensei had done that for him very often when he was younger. "Well…Naruto wrote he will answer all questions as soon as he gets back, didn't he? So we will be smarter tomorrow evening."

The old Hokage sighed in exasperation. "We can only hope, Jiraiya. We can only hope."

***Day of the Chunin-exam-finals***

Konohagakure was abuzz with a very intense and solemn atmosphere. The Chunin-exam-finals were not the biggest event of the year in Konoha, but it was an event that countless nobles, Shinobi and businessmen from all nations (especially from the ones where the participants came from) attended, and one of the few events that could be watched all around the world via big, public screens. Everyone who was able to attend looked forward to it and was in a hurry and eager to get to the arena – especially the participants.

One certain boy wasn't.

Naruto Uzumaki took his time, going step by step through the crowd. It was hard for him not to show his amazement in the face of all this…everything around him was so familiar and yet so new.

Familiar because he had seen and felt all of it before, and new because he had never seen or felt it like this. He drank in all of these overwhelming impressions…sensations…

The feeling: His feet touching and rolling over the ground through his sandals, feeling the slightest fissures and even corns of sand underneath them. The air moving around him as he walked, tiny fragments of dust and pollen rubbing against his face and clothes, the rubbing of his clothes against his skin…

The vision: He could see slight discolorations caused by the damp of the freshly cooked food on the sign of a ramen stall three hundred meters away that would seem immaculate to normal people even if they would press their foreheads against it. All colours were so intensive and contrasted from each other so strongly that the phrase `grey reality` couldn't possibly be farther from the truth, and he could see scars on the exposed skin and faces of people which their bearers probably didn't even know they existed…

The hearing: he could hear a mouse running through a cellar one-hundred fifty meters to his right behind even though the street noise seemed to be as loud as thunder to him. He could tell that the guy in the black Yukata in the restaurant two hundred meters down the street left-hand was soliloquizing about what to get his wife for their wedding anniversary – in a quiet mumble that no one else in the restaurant could hear…

The scent: he could not only tell the exact locations of all the restaurants in Konohagakure, but also what they served and what they didn't. He knew if someone cooked – and if, what meal – in the flats in a seven-kilometre radius. He could tell how much time had passed since the persons walking past him had had their last bath and what shampoo and what bath additive they had used. And he could tell that in the seven-kilometre-radius around him, there were six couples having sex in six different rooms – and one room with three people and a real-life threesome (his nose wrinkled as he got aware of that last fact)…

The taste: did you know that saliva has actually a taste? Well, it has, and Naruto had yet to get used to that constant sensation in his mouth. In addition, even though he had nothing actually in his mouth, the spoors in the air enabled him to taste enough to feel like he was cheating on every restaurant owner and grocer in the vicinity…

He let out a quiet sigh. It was all still so new to him …and his heart was still in turmoil because of all what happened, all he had learned, all he had realized…

...What he had become.

Unfortunately, his sharpened senses hadn't only upsides. Because of them, he was a thousand-times more aware of the hatred-filled glares and fearful glances the villagers send his way. And the stings he felt in his heart were much more painful, too.

As he looked towards the Chunin-exam-stadium, he felt very edgy and even slightly fearful of what was about to come. Sure, what he was about to reveal there was pretty cool and very beneficial for not just him but everyone else in the village if you thought about it. But…most of the villagers hated his guts even now, when they were thinking that he was merely a boy carrying the most powerful and feared Bijuu in existence.

How would they look at him as soon as they knew he wasn't even completely human anymore?

Man …what is with me today? Getting all depressed and uneasy is not like me at all!

"For once I agree with you, kit."

Naruto didn't show anything on the outside, but he jumped a little on the inside. Ah! …Good to know you're still alive in there!

The mighty Kitsune gave an annoyed mental snort at that.

But seriously, it's good to hear your voice again. You've been awfully quiet ever since your talk with the old sage.

"What do you expect? Old man is the only one who I would allow to call himself part of my family. How would you feelif Iruka would tell you that Mizuki was merely the product of the world around him, and that you would have to try to get along with him from now on?"

Even the Kyuubi himself knew that this comparison was exaggerating (Naruto had never been openly hostile towards him, after all). But he wasn't going to admit that. Hey! Come on, I was never that bad to you, was I?

Both of them were `quiet` for a few seconds. But…I can sort of understand how you feel, I guess.

"You…can?"

The Kyuubi asked in a slightly surprised tone.

Of course. I mean…Every one of you were looked at as merely immense powerful animals by pretty much every human, with the notable exception of the old sage. And because of that, when you started bearing resentment towards them for all the attempts to steal your power and freedom, they called you creatures of pure evil, instead of asking themselves why you were like that…Considering that, it's only understandable that you bear a grudge against all humans – although that's not really good and what I – or the old sage – would want for you to do.

To say that the mighty Kitsune was shocked was quite fitting – although it was careful Naruto didn't notice. "Why are you so…accepting? I'm the very reason you're treated the way you are. Don't you hate me?"

The Kyuubi was more than confused. By all he had seen how the human mind worked like, Naruto should hate him just as much as the villagers did…if not more. But instead, he said that he could understand him…and wasn't lying.

To be quite honest, I sort of did, for a time. It was much easier to bear through the pain when I blamed someone for it. But…lately, especially with everything what happened the last days, I've begun to realize that if I would hate you, I would be just as petty as those narrow-minded villagers. Besides…the loneliness and the frustration at all the damn crap I experienced while I was a kid give me sort of an idea of what it must've been like for you…and god knows, I don't want anyone to have to go through that. If I wouldn't have had Jiisan and Iruka-sensei later, at least, I might have very well turned out quite similar to you…or Gaara.

I…can't honestly say it doesn't bother me that you're living inside of me or that I like you…yet…but…I don't hate you, Kurama.

Damn it brat, don't be so…nice to me! I have enough turmoil in my head as it is! Why do both you and the old man have to make me feel so…guilty?!

"Just mind your own business already, kit! I don't think you'll be able to beat that Neji-brat by getting all sentimental!"

Hey, I was trying to be nice, why the hell do you get mad at me?! I don't mind you keep being at my throat, but fix the way you respond, at least! …But…maybe you're right. He turned his attention back to the real world and looked towards the stadium, low-spirited. He was still not fully calmed down…That he had let the matter drop that easily was just another evidence for that.

There's still a bit of time until the finals start…I have to relax somehow. Sighing, he changed directions and headed towards a place that would (hopefully) calm his troubled mind with the memories that came with it.

.

Huh? That scent… Due to the overwhelming amount of information that attacked his senses and the chaos in his head, he only noticed it when he was just about two kilometres away from training ground three. Curiously, he picked up the pace. What's she doing there?

.

He silently exited the forest and entered the training ground. There, in front of the three logs, she was.

For once, she wasn't wearing her usual bulky jacket, but a grey sweatshirt with short sleeves that went just below her elbows (it still hung a bit loosely around her, though), and combat bandages on her lower arms. She was simply standing there and stared at the logs, as if she was reminiscing something.

He too, stayed where he was and watched her for about half a minute…that shy, quiet girl he used to never think much about…until recently…

Finally, he decided to make his presence known. "Hi, Hinata."

She jumped and made an `eep`-sound, before spinning around and moving behind one of the logs at the same time. "N-N-Naruto-kun?!"

"Yeah…hey."

Hinata fought desperately to keep the blush from surfacing and her body from fidgeting…and, like usual, failed miserably. Naruto had been clueless about the Hyuuga heiress' feelings towards him in the past, despite the obvious signs. He never thought that anyone would actually feel that way about him, and his nature as Konoha's number one knucklehead didn't exactly help.

But with his new improved senses, it was too obvious even for him to overlook.

The way her voice quivered nervously, but her face showed no signs of discomfort…the blush that graced her face, but the lack of any sign of strain or anger…her heart and pulse rate speeding up without the produce of stress hormones…the age-related still weak and few hormones her body was releasing and the undeveloped, faint pheromones she unconsciously send out to him…

She was nervous, yet not anxious. She was flustered, but not in a bad way. She was excited without any actual physical cause. She was attracted to him. Every fibre of her being – except the speech centre of her brain and her mouth – was screaming 'I love you!'

It was a good thing he had already learned of her feelings for him – otherwise, he would be gaping like a fish right now.

"N-Naruto-kun w-why…why a-re you h-here? I-I mean…not that I m-mind, but…shouldn't you be h-heading…to the s-stadium by now?"

"Well, yeah…but I still have time, so I wanted to check out this place before I go. Since this is the place where I became a Genin."

"O-Oh…I s-see."

"And what are you doing here?"

Hinata blushed a little more at that. "I-I'm…waiting for Kiba-kun. W-We wanted to m-meet up h-here…before we g-go to the f-finals together."

"Really? Why here, of all places?"

Because Kiba-kun let me decide the meeting place, and I wanted to come here before the finals, since it makes me remember all the times I've watched you. And also because I was hoping you would be here, since I haven't been able to find you ever since I was released from the hospital.

"N-No…no s-specific r-reason…we j-just h-happened to ch-choose it."

"Ah…Okay."

Both were silent for a minute. "A-Ano…I d-don't mean to p-pry…b-but…w-where have you b-been…over the l-last few d-days? I…h-haven't s-seen you around."

And she had really looked for him! Immediately after her release from the hospital and the lecture (meaning humiliation) from her father for losing to a branch family member, she had set out to find him, hoping to find solace in watching him. But no matter how hard she had looked, she hadn't been able to find him. She must've searched the entire village more than ten times over the last five days without finding a trace of her crush! Even the places where he normally went to when he wanted to be undisturbed (yes, she had followed him to those places, too) and Ichiraku had been a no-go.

"Well…a lot of…stuff has happened lately, and because of that, I was…training outside the village for a while."

"Oh. I th-think I…u-understand."

No, you don't. No one does right now. He thought, but didn't voice it aloud.

"Umm…how are your injuries? Is it okay for you to walk around already?" He asked even though he already knew the answer to that. "Y-Yes. Just a f-few days ago, the doctors s-said my i-injuries were f-fully healed, and I was r-released from the hospital."

"Ah…that's good."

After a short silence, Hinata raised her voice again. "A-Ano you should g-go now…otherwise you'll be late for your f-fight."

"Yeah…"

Out of Impulse, he decided to ask her a question. "That Neji…he's your cousin, right?"

"Y-Yeah…"

You would never get the idea from just looking…despite the eyes. He thought to himself.

"He's…a very powerful Shinobi." It was a statement, not a question. "A-Ano…y-yes."

Silence.

"B-But…I think you m-might be able…to d-defeat him."

He was honestly surprised. "You…really think that?"

"Y-Yes…b-because-"

"I'm…well…surprised. I mean…most people tend to see me as nothing but a failure."

"That's not true!"

Hinata blushed and looked to the ground for a second, embarrassed of her loud outburst. "N-N-Naruto-kun…" She continued, "…Even if you fail s-sometimes…in m-my eyes…you're a proud failure."

Naruto's eyes widened.

"B-Because…no matter h-how often you f-fail…you always g-get back up…and k-keep g-going and t-trying. I think…that's w-what t-true strength is…t-to me…you're an i-incredible strong person, N-Naruto-kun." She was poking her fingers together now. It took all of her willpower, but she pressed on.

"W-Whenever I look at you…I get…this intense feeling in m-my chest…and…you m-m-make me w-want to b-become a stronger p-person. W-When…you w-were…ch-cheering me on in the Chunin-p-prelims…I felt…like I had…ch-changed a l-little. I d-don't think o-others s-see me different but…I th-think I am…a-and…I…like m-myself a l-little m-more n-now. It…It is a-all…thanks to y-you Naruto-kun. I…w-wanted t-to thank you f-for…a w-while n-now…for b-believing i-in me b-back then…"

She trailed off, her face a previously unknown shade of crimson red. She had almost confessed her feelings for Naruto. It was definitely the closest call so far.

In the back of Naruto's head, he wondered just how exactly he had managed to miss the signs until now. But the rediscovered confidence, enthusiasm and gratitude he felt for and because of what she had just said were much more dominant.

His eyes dropped to his feet as he took in all she had just said. A proud failure, huh…?

He decided right then and there that he really liked Hinata.

As he raised his eyes to meet hers (she was eyeing him uncertainly and with a bit of worry in her eyes by now) he thought carefully.

He wanted to know more about this girl who believed so much in him even despite what everyone else believed. And he knew he would love to become a closer friend to her.

About her apparent wish to become something more to him…well…

He had been convinced that he loved Sakura, but after the recent changes in his life, he had thought about many things. What exactly did he love about her? Was it love? Or did he simply like her beauty?

Looking at Hinata, he thought about her. She was kind and sweet. She was a strong Kunoichi. She loved him. She had just pointed out and admired one of the most important traits and principles of not only who he was, but also of what he had become. And if he looked at her that way, she was really pretty – though in a much more subtle, mystic and delicate way than other girls.

He really liked her. Somehow…he got a funny, warm feeling in his chest when he looked at her. So…was it possible for him to return her feelings one day?

But…he had also thought he loved Sakura – and wasn't even sure how he felt about her now. The only thing he really knew right now – one of the things he had realized during the last five days – was that he didn't want to hook up with a girl only to realise he loved someone else later. He couldn't stand it when people were sad…especially not when he was the cause. If he would get a girlfriend one day, he wanted to be absolutely sure that he wouldn't break her heart sometime later.

Mulling things over in his head over and over again, he finally came to a conclusion. Well…I'm certain I want to get to know her better, so let's just start with that.

He finally smiled at her. "Thank you too, Hinata."

Her eyes went wide. "When I came here, I felt so insecure…so unlike me. But…" Making a fist, he punched into the air. "…Now I feel all ready to charge in again!"

Hinata blushed and couldn't stop the quiet giggle that escaped her lips. "It w-was nothing…you're w-welcome, Naruto-kun!"

Naruto's face got a bit more serious as he thought about what he was going to say now, wanting to be sensitive for once. "Umm…Hinata…"

She looked at him curiously. What could he want to say? Why did he look so hesitant?

The blonde Genin's face contorted a little in an apologetic expression as he looked at his feet.

"To tell you the truth, I didn't think that much of you in the past. You were always so quiet and I hardly ever got to really see you, you know? So…I thought you were kind of…weird. So different from all the other girls I knew." He lifted his head to face her, guilt in his eyes. "That wasn't fair of me. I mean, I judged you before I even really knew you. I'm…sorry for being such a jerk."

"A…Ano, It's a-alright…" Hinata replied even though she felt sad knowing that the person she loved most in the world had thought of her as weird.

"So…to make up for that …how about if I treat you to a meal as soon as we get the chance? That way, we can talk and get to know each other better."

Her entire being froze. Her body…her heart…her soul…everything.

When she didn't answer, Naruto became a little nervous. "Would that …be alright with you?" Somehow, she managed to nod. That got him to grin widely.

"Wednesday, six o'clock, after the finals?" Agreement again.

"Is ramen o.k.?" Naruto grinned. Somehow, the way she had turned into a frozen statuette when he had offered to treat her was a bit amusing.

Hinata wanted to yell 'I would even eat crabs and shrimps as long as it's with you!' but could only nod once again. "Alright, it's settled, then! Wednesday, six o'clock, at Ichiraku!" The Hyuuga heiress wondered in the very small part of her brain that still worked how someone could feel like he was on fire and be frozen solid at the same time.

"Sweet! O.k., I gotta go, before they start searching for me!"

…again. He silently added. Turning around, he gave her one last grin. "Just so there are no misunderstandings – I don't think you're weird anymore. In fact…I think I like people like you the most. So you better be there and watch me polish the walls with Neji's back!"Then he took off bouncing, feeling happy and confident, and completely like his normal self again.

Hinata watched him leave. Even after he was gone, she kept staring…and staring at the spot where she had seen him disappear, unable to wrap her mind around the fact that Naruto had just described her as the kind of people he liked the most, and that she had a date with him – albeit not romantically, as she would want it.

A few minutes after, Kiba and his puppy dog Akamaru arrived at the training ground. "Hey, Hinata! Sorry I'm late – my sister's dog food ran out, and I – uh…Hinata? …Hinata?"

She didn't move at all, nor did she give any sign she knew he was there. He held his hand in front of her face and moved it up and down.

No reaction. It's like she's just a statue…but according to Akamaru, that's definitely Hinata!

After a few more attempts to coax a reaction out of her he got fed up, simply threw her over his shoulder and carried her towards the stadium.

Even then, she didn't move an inch.

.

Hiruzen was tired. Yes, that was the appropriate word.

After he had come back from retirement to replace the Yondaime, many people had expressed their worries that he wouldn't be able to do his duty properly because of his age.

He had proven them all wrong, and led Konohagakure well in the last twelve years. And if you would've asked him just a week ago if he shouldn't appoint the Godaime Hokage soon, he would've laughed and said that he intended to do this job for another five years, at least.

But…these last, stressful days had made him realize something. Everything around him was unbelievable crazy, yes…but it wasn't the first, and by far not the only time things had been crazy around him. When he was still young, that had made him confused and mad. When he was older and in his prime, so to speak, it had made him worried and on edge. Now, the craziness around him made him not only incredible worried and mad on his people's behalf, but…he was also frustrated…and tired. His will of fire and his determination to protect his precious people were as strong as ever…but lately, when he worked late into the night and stewed over ways to find out what exactly Orochimaru, his once beloved fallen student planned, how exactly Otogakure was connected to Sunagakure, and how he was supposed to protect his beloved village…his limbs felt so heavy. Sometimes, he wished he could just go into bed and sleep for a long, long time.

He was old. There was no denying it anymore. He had done everything he could for as long as he could …but there was a limit to how long a human body could function properly…and how much it could take. And the Sandaime had now reached that border.

His eyes were tired of seeing people die because of missions he had assigned them to, and other people throwing the world into chaos in their foolishness…his muscles felt numb from all the times he had dragged his old body to fights and negotiations for the sake of the village.

His time was over. It had been denied for the longest time, but it was the simple truth.

He had realised and accepted that the moment his former student Jiraiya had had to reassure him, like the old Hokage had done it for him so many times in the past.

This is my last crisis. He thought calmly. If I am still alive by the time everything has calmed down…it is time to hand over the mantle to someone who can conduce the village with everything he or she has…because I am not able to serve them to my fullest anymore.

For now he concentrated on looking as strong as he could and on the arena around him, which was filled to the brim with Konohagakure-citizens and shinobi, as well as guests from all nations.

Just as he began to wonder where the Kazekage was, he entered the Kage-box, flanked by his two bodyguards.

"Ah! Welcome, Kazekage-dono!" The man gave a nod as a greeting and took his seat next to the Hokage. The Sandaime noticed that the other Kage was very tense.

"You must be tired from the journey." He asked, testing the waters.

"Not at all! I'm fine." The leader of Sunagakure replied. The last word carried a tiny bit of his tension out into the atmosphere. Hiruzen raised an eyebrow, but refrained from asking any further and looked back into the arena.

Whatever secrets Suna had, he had a feeling that it wouldn't be long until he knew. The Kazekage's tension was proof that something was going to happen soon.

Meanwhile, the disguised Orochimaru silently cursed under his napkin. What was he thinking, acting that nervous in this last, deciding part of his plan? Just what was wrong with him lately? He was Orochimaru, a man the entire world feared, for heaven's sake!

It all had to do with that dream. That dream from a week ago. He just knew it.

After he had calmed down that night, he had tried to remember just what he had dreamed that had put him into a state like that. But…for the sake of immortality, he couldn't remember!

Using all memory restoration Jutsu he knew (quite a significant count) he was able to restore a part of the dream…

Orochimaru was standing in the midst of a huge landscape. The ground was waste and even, and stretched out so far that the mountains and woods in the distance seemed to be as small as toys.

He had the Kusanagi in his right hand and stood in a ready battle stance – which surprised him, since he couldn't see any danger around him.

But before he could think of that matter any further, the ear-shattering impact of something on the ground near him shook the earth so violently that Orochimaru bounced off and over the ground like a rubber ball countless times, before he came to rest on his back about a minute later.

Palpating his thorax, he noticed that multiple ribs were broken, and his left leg was twisted in a way it obviously wasn't meant to be.

Looking around, he saw the cause of the earthquake: Two giant strangely bend…pillars, made of a strange substance that looked like light itself – like a mass of yellow-orange light with a blue gleam dancing on its surface – towered on his left and right. They were so thick that they each covered nearly half the horizon, despite the fact that they both were very far away from him. Looking up, he saw that the pillars supported a…structure of the strange substance that was so incomprehensibly huge that Orochimaru couldn't even begin to make out what it was from this close up. It filled the entire sky.

Suddenly, black-red lightning shot down from the sky, to form an infinitely high cage around Orochimaru's body. Before he could react, the ground cracked where the lightning touched it, and the entire clod of earth with Orochimaru was detached from the ground and floated upwards at an amazing pace, the black-red lightning never ceasing to form a destructive curtain at the border of the clod.

But even though it was moving upwards almost as fast as a Shunshin-no-Jutsu, it was only very slowly that more of the structure came into view. It was after eighteen seconds that the two pillars finally united in a single piece in front of Orochimaru.

So huge…even though Orochimaru was at least a kilometre away from the structure, he could see no end – not left, not right, not up. How could something so big still be transportable?

After twenty more seconds of rising, again something changed. He was no longer only ascending – he was also brought closer to the structure at a slow pace, and the overall speed slowly decreased. Immediately after, the structure changed again. It seemed to have gotten much slimmer (although there was still no end in sight) and he could see the next portion of the structure protruding over him, so it was also much shorter.

The clod was now only about a hundred metres away from the structure. And when it reached the next part, which reached much farther out than the former, it followed its outline.

Finally coming from underneath the next part the clod rose higher, passing a relatively pointy part before a giant horizontal and gashed rift that extended over the entire width of the structure came into view. It seemed to go upwards slightly left and right…and the display seemed to be somehow familiar to Orochimaru.

But it didn't click until after ten more seconds when he rose even further and saw the end of two other giant rifts left and right, which went half upwards and half in the direction where they were located in. A big, plain part of the substance the structure was made of between them…

His eyes widened in utter disbelief. Was that…jaws and a snout?

It was. It finally dawned upon him that he was raising to the top of a living creature…a monumental monstrosity made of light, big enough to swallow an entire village of the size of Konohagakure with a single bite!

Since the clod had gotten significantly slower, it took about fifteen seconds until he could barely see the edges of something that looked like two giant dark blue shining orbs to his left and right (eyes!) as he passed them, and another fifteen seconds until he was suddenly no longer floating next to yellow, orange and blue glint, but next to an oval that – albeit smaller than most of the other body parts he had seen– was still at least 1/6 the size of Konohagakure. It was of a bright, cyan colour.

The black-red lightning ceased. And there, floating in the midst of the oval …was…

But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't remember what had happened next! Not even the strongest memory restoration Jutsu had worked.

It seemed as if his sub-consciousness was blocking the memory out. But why? Sure, the size of the creature had been…impressive, but it was still only imagination. What could he have seen that had frightened him that much?

Unaware of the musings or the identity of the man sitting next to him, Hiruzen kept watching over the stadium.

.

Meanwhile, another man was doing the same thing from the grand stand. Completely throwing aside his trademark lateness, Kakashi Hatake had ended the training with Sasuke as soon as possible, and had been one of the first to arrive in the stadium.

He gazed at the arena with nervous anticipation. Today and here were the time and the place Naruto had promised to be back. But…after he had searched for him for two whole days, and failed to find a trace of him no matter how hard he looked and what he tried, he was very confused – and worried that the letter might have been a fake, that someone had taken Naruto for unknown purposes. Not to mention that he felt extremely guilty, thinking that all of this could've been avoided if he'd talked to Naruto back in Kakutane.

Considering that, it was no miracle that the waiting and uncertainty were killing him. Okay…it's almost time for the participants to show up…gotta stay calm…he will be there! He tried to reassure himself. In that very moment, he noticed a figure moving to the centre of the arena – Hayate Gekko. The chatter in the stadium died down as the other watchers noticed him.

The waiting was over, and the moment all the occupants of the stadium had been waiting for was there. "Alright *cough*. The participants of *cough* the Chunin-exam-finals may please enter *cough* the arena now!"

The last word still echoed in the silent stadium as the participants entered the arena. And among them…

There he is! The Sandaime and Kakashi thought in unison.

Naruto Uzumaki was there, standing among the other participants, healthy and – going by his face – in a very good mood. The two men unknowingly breathed a silent sigh of relief at exactly the same time.

After the initial relief was over, though, anger and burning questions followed. That boy has a lot of explaining to do once I get my hands on him! Both thought at the same time. Down in the arena, a certain Genin felt an unexplainable chill going down his spine.

Naruto took a look at the other participants. His teammate Sasuke had switched his blue T-shirt with the Uchiha-emblem with a black, skin-tight T-shirt that would blend into his black pants flawlessly in every normal human's eyes (Naruto could clearly see the small rift where the end of the shirt was stuffed in his pants). All the other participants looked exactly like they had looked like one month ago.

Kankuro: still with the mummy-like object on his back, and make-up (Naruto wondered whether that was fashionable in Suna, or if Kankuro unconsciously wanted to cover the two scars on his face that went from the bottom of his eyes all the way down his face, and were invisible to a normal human's eye). Temari: four pigtails, and a giant fan on her back. Shino: bulky, grey jacket – its collar covered the lower half of his face – and dark sunglasses (he wondered whether the boy had a secret complex about his face, or if it was some Aburame-tradition). Gaara: gourd on his back, black rings under his eyes, and that empty eyes with craziness in them. Shikamaru: lazy looking as ever. He noticed that the Oto-nin was missing, and was confused for a second – until he remembered his first return to the village, after he and his team had left for Kakutane (at the same time, Hayate explained that there had been some changes in the tournament-schedule, which Naruto listened to with half an ear).

And then, there was Neji Hyuuga: crossed arms, long black hair and the cold, hard Byakugan-eyes (they were so unlike Hinata's – her eyes were soft, with a light tint of lavender mixed in the white, and seemed to radiate politeness and kindness, making Naruto wonder how two sets of eyes could be so similar, and yet completely different at the same time).

His unmoving face that showed cold dignity and just a hint of arrogance, and his stoic posture made Naruto remember Hinata, lying on the ground in a small pool of her own blood, and more red liquid dripping from her mouth…her pale face seemingly getting even whiter by the second…

He unconsciously clenched his fists. Oh, he would make that bastard pay…Dattebayo!

Tearing his gaze from Neji, he looked at the other participants to calm himself down. He noticed that Sasuke looked slightly annoyed, though he tried to hide it with his usual brooding face.

Did someone question the statement that Uchiha were the best?

And Gaara looked down at the ground, as if he was thinking about something – or was he merely eager to begin with his 'blood-feeding'?

The two boys in question were not very happy indeed. Sasuke was annoyed because not only had Kakashi made him wait two days before they had resumed the training, but he had also kept it as short as possible, and had obviously been more eager to make it to the stadium on time rather than to make the training the most effective. When Sasuke had asked what was wrong, he had merely replied that there was something he had to make sure of.

Gaara, meanwhile, couldn't get the strange creature out of his head. He had kept watching the hospital every night after he had first seen it, but it hadn't returned. The urge to find that creature was so strong that he didn't even regret he had wasted his chance to kill Lee. The fact that the Shukaku had been unusual quiet ever since made him even more curious about it … and slightly confused.

*Inside Gaara's seal*

Unbeknownst to everyone else, the giant Tanuki was lost in his very own thoughts. The creature at the hospital six days ago …that was one of them. No doubt about it. Shukaku hadn't seen one of them in centuries…scratch that, millennia! That made him very curious…and slightly scared because…

If it's really one of them…then he or she most likely met the old man.

Shukaku, like every other Bijuu, saw the Rikudou Sennin as a father-figure, and cared deeply for him. The possibility that he might be able to talk to him once again excited him…but at the same time, it made him think about how the old man would think of the way Shukaku had lived.

He had not always been the crazy, bloodthirsty creature he was today. There had been a time when he'd enjoyed watching the moon in a clear night in the desert, and taking long, peaceful naps during noon, listening to the noises of his surroundings.

But when the humans had started hunting the Bijuu for the sake of power, it had been the first one to be captured. Not only had that been terribly humiliating and frightening, it had also made him incredible angry – not just because of what the humans had done to him but also because the fact that he had been captured first supported Kurama's belief that their strength depended on their number of tails.

All Bijuu had extremely disliked Kurama because of that belief, but none of them as much as Shukaku. That his belief had seemingly been proven had driven him completely crazy. And over the centuries and millennia of enslavement that craziness had become full-blown madness and a bottomless hatred not only to all humans, but also to every being that co-existed with them – like the summoning-animals.

Only now, he remembered that old man Rikudou had also been human…and that he had done everything he could to protect them and to allow them to lead a good life.

What would he say if he knew – and there was no way in hell he didn't know – that Shukaku had destroyed human life whenever he had gotten the chance?

Would he be sad? Would he be mad? Would he…hate him?

Doubts and guilt plagued his mind as he brooded in the depths of Gaara's soul…

*Outside world*

"Ahem…-*cough* may I ask you to *cough* face the audience instead of each other? You guys are *cough* the main actors in this event, you know?" Hayate's words snapped Naruto out of his observations. As asked, he directed his gaze to the audience, searching for familiar faces.

There was Sakura. It was really strange…he still felt that need to be close to her, but…

Ever since the first day of the academy, he had felt an unexplainable urge to be near the pink-haired Kunoichi-to-be. He had figured that that feeling was love back then…but if he looked at it purely observant – something he hadn't been able to do prior to the incident that had changed so much – he couldn't think of a single thing he could list as a reason why he'd have had fallen in love with her. It wasn't that he didn't like her – he could think of many reasons he would like her…but 'like' and 'love' were two entirely different things – and he knew that difference now. Furthermore, he noticed that he didn't feel any real jealously when he saw her fawning over Sasuke. Just a sting at his pride as Sasuke's rival.

Next to her was Ino, who was sitting next to Choji and his all-present bag of potato chips. Neji's teammate Tenten, who was wearing a red sleeveless shirt instead of a pink one today sat in another corner of the stadium. Next to her were Super-bushy-brow-sensei and…Bushy-brow!

So he did come out of the hospital for this! Naruto remarked mentally. A twinge of guilt hit him as he thought about Lee's injuries, even though he had done everything he could. Well…not all hope was lost just yet.

He let his gaze wander further to meet Kakashi-sensei's eye – and immediately understood the chill he'd felt earlier.

Oops…if looks could kill… Shuddering, he broke the contact with his Sensei's flaming eye and let his own gaze wander to the Kage-box…

Bad idea.

…I just hope they'll listen to me before they tear me apart. He thought, feeling bad he had worried his precious people that much.

Last, but not least, he saw Kiba…who was busy arranging the limbs of a certain, limp Hyuuga, so she could sit without his help. Naruto had to suppress a half-embarrassed, half-amused giggle. I really have to think of a solution for this…wouldn't want her to go through that every time I ask her out…wait a second, does that mean I'm planning to make this a regular thing?

In that moment, the Hokage rose up to announce the beginning of the Chunin-exam-finals.

"To all our guests: welcome to Konoha and the Chunin-exams! I whole-heartily wish that what you see and experience here will make it worth your long journey. To everyone present: thank you for coming to the Chunin-exams! Please stay and watch to the end!" As he sat back down, the audience gave him a grand, cheering applause. When everything was quiet again, Hayate (with some difficulty) raised his voice to an audible level.

"We will now begin *cough* the exams. Our eight participants will engage in *cough* one-on-one battles in classic tournament style. The first fight *cough* is Neji Hyuuga against Naruto Uzumaki! Everyone besides the two in question: Please leave the arena and go to the grand stand."

Up in the stand, a dazed Hyuuga finally blinked and stirred at the mention of her crush's name.

"N…Naruto-kun?" After she stared down at the object of her affection for a second, she blinked again and looked around, bewildered.

"Finally!" Kiba sighed in relief. Hinata started. "H-huh? Kiba-kun?"

He cast her a disbelieving glance. "You mean you haven't even noticed how I carried you here?"

Hinata blushed deep red and got unbelievable flustered when it dawned upon her what had transpired – and that what Naruto had said to her had not been a dream. "U-U-U-umm…W-Well…I-I-I-I…"

Kiba raised his hand to silence her. "Naruto's fight is starting now. You can tell me later."

Hinata blushed even more and nodded, while she looked down to the arena again.

Naruto and Neji had positioned themselves in the opposite halves of the arena, and stared at each other. The Hyuuga noticed Naruto's narrowed eyes and his clenched fists.

"You look as if you want to say something."

"…I already told you."

Naruto replied, while raising a closed fist and pointing at Neji with his arm. "I'm going to give you hell for what you did to Hinata!"

Neji activated his bloodline to check out his opponent. There is no doubt in his eyes…the possibility of losing doesn't even exist in his mind.

With a small smirk, he got into his battle-stance. "It'll be fun to watch you fall apart when you finally discover the inevitability of fate."

Up in the stands, two people next to Hinata and Kiba started talking. "I can't believe that guy actually made it to the finals."

"Yeah…he must've been very lucky."

"But…he cannot possibly win this."

"No. It's kind of sad, but there is no way. His opponent is too strong."

Hinata send the two people an angry glare (by Hinata's standards, at least).

You don't know Naruto-kun! She thought angrily. Kiba had similar thoughts.

Well…a while ago, I might have said the same…but…you will pay if you underestimate this guy.

In another corner of the stadium…

"Yes, Naruto-kun! Show him your youthful flames!" Lee cheered happily, although the fact that he couldn't move that much slightly hindered him.

Gai smiled fondly at his student, but didn't cheer himself. Not because he didn't want to, but because he couldn't.

He knew that Neji was in the wrong in this matter and wished for Naruto to win…but Neji was still Gai's student. And the youthful Jōnin – who took his responsibilities as a teacher much more serious than some people gave him credit for – didn't want to turn on one of his students. So he remained silent.

His female charge, Tenten, sighed. Damn…I know Neji is technically in the wrong here…but…teammates should support each other, shouldn't they? So it should be okay if I'd cheer him on, shouldn't it?

…Oh, who am I kidding…I always told the other girls that their brainless fawning over boys is unfitting for Kunoichi…and yet, I'm doing no better than them. …I never would've imagined myself to be a hypocrite…

In yet another corner of the stadium…

"Watch this match carefully, Hanabi. No one has inherited as much of the Hyuuga's blood as Neji." Hiashi, leader of the Hyuuga-clan, told his younger daughter, Hanabi.

"Yes, father." She replied.

Back down in the arena…

"You sure talk a lot about fate. Do you plan to marry that guy?"

Neji snorted. He regarded Naruto with an almost pitiful look.

"You shouldn't talk as if you know anything about fate. It's inevitable. You will soon understand it."

Naruto snorted back. "I don't know whether or not I know fate. But I know that there is no excuse for doing something like what you did to your own family!"

Neji's activated Byakugan narrowed and hatred glinted in his eyes. "What would you know about family?" He snarled.

Naruto's gaze hardened, and he decided to speak out one of the things he'd learned during the last five days. "I'm not stupid, Neji. I know that there's a difference between 'family' and 'people who happen to have genes similar to yours'."

That was something so un-Naruto-like to say that everyone who knew him was shocked by it. Even Neji raised an eyebrow at his words.

"But I also know that Hinata would be happy to be a part of your family – even despite what you did to her. If you would only let her. But you don't. In fact you keep everyone who could be a part of your family on distance. Your teammates, your Sensei, Hinata…for what purpose, Neji? Do you like being the lonesome jerk?"

Neji was almost trembling with anger now. "Enough of this nonsense! I will make sure you understand soon."

Hayate, seeing the two participants getting heated up, raised his arm. "The rules *cough* are the same as in the prelims. There are none. The fight ends once one of the participants gives up *cough* or dies. However, if I find that the fight is decided, I will step in and end it. Got it?! Good *cough*. The first fight of the Chunin-exams will begin now. Get ready…and…FIGHT!"

Neji started rushing towards his opponent the moment the proctor's hand descended to the ground…but was stopped short as he saw what his opponent did.

Naruto, instead of going in a battle-stance, turned around calmly, and started walking towards the wall of the arena at a slow pace, not looking back once. He was almost there already when Neji snapped out of his stupor and asked in a confused tone: "What's wrong? Didn't you say you would make me pay? Or did you finally understand that you cannot win this fight and are trying to flee?"

Naruto reached the wall and turned around to face Neji again.

"No, why?" His face was completely straight when he said that.

Neji's eyes narrowed and he rushed towards Naruto at full speed. Naruto, meanwhile, remained completely unmoving, awaiting him. The Hyuuga prodigy was honestly confused, but at the same time so angry that he didn't think much of it. As he closed in, he raised his right hand at Naruto – who still did nothing to prevent his apparent doom – and struck at his chest with a jyuuken-strike.

He really expected him to move, to block him, to do anything…but he didn't. The strike connected with his chest flawlessly – right were the heart was.

He was so stunned that he lost his footing and tumbled against Naruto, with his head landing in the crook of his neck.

The audience held their breath. Was this the end of the fight already? Neji, likewise, was shocked. Despite what Naruto had said, he hadn't wanted to kill him, only to disable him. He had honestly thought he would evade that strike…

Lifting his head, he expected to see a fountain of blood coming out of the blonde's mouth, maybe dull, lifeless eyes staring back at him…

He had certainly not expected him to grin at him mischievously and carefree.

"Why, I feel flattered, Neji…but I don't swing that way."

The entire audience – Neji most of all – was shocked speechless.

What happened next was so fast that only Neji and the more experienced Genin, Chunin and Jounin in the stadium really saw it.

1/3 of a second: Naruto stood before Neji, both arms at his sides and completely relaxed.

2/3 of a second: Naruto's left hand suddenly had Neji's right wrist captured in an adamant grip.

1 second: Neji was lifted off his feet as Naruto swirled him around and smashed his entire body into the wall to his left.

1 1/3 seconds: Before Neji's body had a change to surrender to gravity, Naruto's left hand – which still held Neji's wrist – took another round around his body, in effect smashing him in the wall again – this time to Naruto's right.

1 2/3 seconds: Naruto smashed Neji in the wall to his left again – this time, the resulting smack was loud enough to resound in the stadium.

2 seconds: Naruto whirled Neji away from the left wall again and finally let go of his wrist when his hand was halfway to his front, in effect hurling Neji to the other side of the arena where he collided with the opposite wall and finally slumped down on the ground.

During the entire act, Naruto hadn't moved, safe for his left arm.

Neji slowly pushed himself up on his hands, only stopping to spasm a little as he vomited a gush of blood. His entire body hurt like hell. At least four ribs were broken. He could clearly feel it, and see it with his Byakugan. Shakily, he rose to his feet again, wiping the blood off his mouth. His entire head was filled with shock, disbelief and confusion as he looked at Naruto, who still stood unmoving at the other side of the arena. What the…how did…what…is…

But before his mind could form any coherent thoughts, Naruto suddenly rushed over the arena-floor with such speed that by the time Neji fully realised he wasn't standing in his previous spot any longer, he was already only a meter away from him. His right fist raised to strike.

It was only by sheer reflex that Neji managed to dodge. And Naruto's fist missed his right cheek only by the breadth of a hair before it collided with the wall behind Neji…

And shattered it.

The impact was ear-deafening, especially from as close up as Neji was. Which resulted in him stumbling and falling to the ground.

In the very moment Naruto's fist made contact with the stone, countless medium-sized and small stone-clods broke out of the solid wall and bend around his fist, similar to water. At the same time, several thick cracks appeared, right before a three-meters-wide part of the wall – and even a one-meter-wide part of the fence on top of the wall – collapsed in massive clods of stone and small stone-splinters, revealing a part of the gallery around the stadium.

A shocked, frozen in mid-step man stood there, looking flabbergasted through the new hole in the wall.

Naruto evaded the rain of heavy rocks and splinters by quickly shuffling back. It was only by sheer luck that the stunned Neji wasn't hit by any of the fragments.

"Oops…" Naruto rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Maybe I overdid it a little…"

Neji, by now, was starting to hyperventilate. Holy…! If…if that would've hit me… Images of flesh and blood splashed all over the ground, and of a headless corpse filled his mind. I would've…!…I…I would be…

His thoughts were silenced as he saw Naruto coming down on him with an axe-kick.

Quickly rolling to the side he just barely avoided being broken in half. The impact shattered the ground and send pieces of earth flying in all directions. Neji was send rolling over the ground a few times from the resulting shockwave before he got to his feet, the adrenaline washing away all the pain and weakness he felt – though the fright, confusion and uneasiness remained.

He straightened up only to have to side-step to narrowly avoid a punch to his stomach. Giving him no break Naruto send a swift kick to his opponents' chest, which he dodged by quickly kneeling down – but again only a hairsbreadth had separated Neji from certain death, and the wind that blew through his hair from the force of the kick was testament of that.

Immediately after, he had to do a back-flip so quickly that his sandals painfully rubbed on his skin from the sudden pressure as Naruto used the momentum of the first kick to whirl around and kick again – this time at Neji's feet.

The Hyuuga got no time to breathe as he landed on his feet, already seeing Naruto come rushing at him again. He spent the next minute desperately dodging Naruto's constant flurry of punches and kicks.

Besides the sound of the fight – if you could call it that – it was absolutely silent. Not a sound came from the audience, neither cheering nor booing. Instead of the prodigy easily winning, Naruto – the former dead-last of his class – was chasing Neji Hyuuga – the most talented Hyuuga in generations – through the arena like a frightened rabbit! The general disbelief the display brought had muted everyone.

The orange-clad Genin didn't even use proper forms. Just the sheer speed and the impendent doom at the end of his fists, knees, feet and elbows was more than enough to drive the Hyuuga back effortlessly.

Only the sheer instinct of survival and the knowledge he couldn't doge Naruto's attacks forever forced Neji's brain to form a plan for a counter-attack.

The next time Naruto struck at him he jumped into the air as high as he could, and threw a shuriken at him. Naruto bend his upper body just enough to let it fly past him, not even blinking as it did. But as he jumped up and tried to hit Neji the Hyuuga prodigy was suddenly jerked back to the ground as he pulled at the ninja-wire in both his hands. When he had thrown the shuriken at Naruto, he had thrown two kunai into the ground to his back at the same time: special kunai with barbs, which struck to the ground enough to withstand the strain Neji's pulling put on them – at least for a moment. This enabled him to narrowly avoid Naruto's attack once more. And now Naruto was up in the air – with no means to escape as Neji threw eight Shuriken at him.

The white-eyed boy almost sighed in relief when the shuriken actually made contact with Naruto's body – but then his breath got stuck in his throat as they simply bounced off of him with a dull clanging sound.

The next moment, the air was forced out of his lungs as he fell on his back: The sight had shocked him to such an extent that he had forgotten he had still been falling.

There was no time to chastise himself though, as he saw Naruto using the arena wall he met on his flight to catapult himself at him with a raised fist. Neji put his hands on the ground beside his head and swung his legs over his head, doing a back flip and escaping the danger zone. The crater and the area of cracked earth the blow created was even bigger than the last one.

The Uzumaki's opponent skidded over the ground a little from the shockwave, but managed to keep standing. Through his Byakugan, he noticed that Naruto's jumpsuit was cut where the shuriken had hit him, but his skin underneath was perfectly fine.

When Naruto rushed at him again, Neji decided to do the one thing he hadn't been able to do during their previous clash, since he had had to move his feet all the time.

"Kaiten!"

The sphere of Chakra and the incoming blur of a Genin collided with a loud, crashing sound. Naruto stumbled back, but the Kaiten dissipated at the same time and the crater in the ground was not circular, but stretched.

Despite the Kaiten, Neji had still been pushed back slightly.

How can…a human's body…be this strong? He thought in the back of his head. True, there were many Shinobi in the world who were strong enough to throw a human body over certain distances with one arm – Neji's Sensei, for example. But even Gai-sensei had to move his shoulder and shift his ankle a bit for that. Naruto hadn't done that. And Neji had had his Byakugan activated, so he knew for sure (although his vision had, of course, been very blurred at that time).

It was as if Naruto hadn't even noticed his weight. The thing with the shuriken was still completely unexplainable. And shattering stone-walls without breaking your hand and pushing back a Hyuuga who was executing Kaiten with brute force was completely unheard of – well, maybe not quite –Tsunade of the Sannin had proven to be capable of at least the first feat, to name only one example – but a Genin? And the former dead-last of the class, on top of that?

His survival instincts, however, had taken control of his battered body and the majority of his thinking ever since Naruto had crushed the wall behind him, and his body was moving on autopilot.

Going into a certain stance, he yelled: "You are within my field of Hakke!"

Up in the stands Hiashi inhaled sharply as he recognised the stance. Naruto's eyebrows rose as Neji came at him.

As Neji closed in on Naruto, he was very afraid. Even though the Hakke-Rokujuuyonshou granted its user a huge burst of speed during the move…considering what he had seen so far, Naruto might still be able to counterattack.

Said boy, however, remained straight and unmoving, almost as if anticipating being hit – which added to Neji's confusion, which grew by the second.

That didn't stop him from executing the attack, though. "Two palms! Four palms! Eight palms! Sixteen palms! Thirty-two palms! Hakke-Rokujuuyonshou!" With each yell he struck more and quicker, until his arms were finally nothing but a blur during the last strikes. A perfect execution of the most famous attack of the Hyuuga.

His opponent, however, was neither thrown back nor did he collapse at the end of the attack. Instead, he merely skidded a little more than a metre over the ground and his body bend to dampen the force.

To his horror, Neji saw through his Byakugan that his opponent's Tenketsu were still wide open.

"Wow." Naruto said.

Since he remained in a slightly bend position, his eyes were hidden by the shadows of his head and his hair.

"The strongest defence, and the strongest attack. Both of them are only taught to members of the main branch…and even there, Hakke-Rokujuuyonshou is usually reserved just for the eldest child of the parents. You recreated it by yourself, right? …You invented it again, just by watching some main branch members, and thinking about it. It seems that…you truly are a genius."

As Naruto unbend himself, his eyes had a hint of…sadness in them. "I really don't get it…If you're so smart, then why are you such an idiot at the same time?"

If someone would've dropped a needle right now, it would've seemed as loud as thunder.

Kiba had his jaw on the floor and didn't even realise it while he asked himself how the hell he'd managed to survive his last fight with Naruto.

Hinata was in a state of shock, and didn't understand what was going on at all. But she was also proud of the strength her crush displayed, and glad that he didn't seem to be in danger – even though she fiercely believed in Naruto, she still had been worried that he might get hurt in his fight against Neji.

Ino was simply frozen solid, while Sakura's eyes were for once not riveted on Sasuke (who stood just three meters away) but on her other teammate. Naruto? …Is…is that…really you?

Sasuke watched the match in utter disbelief, but also in jealously. He wanted to know how the dope had managed to gain that much power in just a week.

Choji had actually dropped his bag of chips, and Shikamaru was watching the match intently and with wide eyes.

As for Hiashi Hyuuga…he couldn't decide what amazed him more. Neji's talent or the unwavering force the other boy was – the fact that the Shinobi who was once nothing but the village pariah and prankster now possessed a power that allowed him to take the full force of a Hakke-Rokujuuyonshou and remaining unscathed.

Gaara for his part was…intrigued. So much power…killing this boy would be a thrill. Furthermore, he'd though Naruto's form to be familiar somehow. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but…

Both Kakashi and the Sandaime felt the same kind of disbelief, amazement…and worry and confusion. Unknowingly, they thought the same thing once again.

Naruto…just what on earth happened to you on that day…and in the following five days?

Neji, meanwhile, was starting to despair. His strongest attack – the only one he could possibly hit an opponent with that speed with – had proven to be ineffective for reasons he – once again – didn't know. A normal Juuken-strike hadn't faced him either. What else could he possibly do?

This can't be…it's impossible…just…just who the hell is he?

Just before he could voice that question, Naruto spoke up again. "You know come to think about it…this is actually a great opportunity to test something."

"Huh?"

"Neji…use that Kaiten of yours with more power this time." Naruto bend his knees a little as he talked. "'Cause otherwise…you'll die."

With that being said Naruto leaped into the air. Three meters, five meters, ten… By the time he stopped ascending, he was twenty meters over the ground. But neither Neji nor the audience had the time to be surprised as he stretched out his right arm with his fingers slightly bend and spread apart, and his palm pointing at Neji.

Tiny, blue shining particles that seemingly appeared out of nowhere in the air surrounding Naruto's hand were drawn to the centre of his palm to gather and compress there…until after about two seconds, a fist-sized ball of blue energy had formed.

"Soul Flare!" He cried out before the orb of light shot down like a small meteor. The shockwave that occurred as it was let loose was so strong that the air around him pulsed, Naruto's arm was driven back a little and he himself was lifted two more metres into the air.

The energy-bullet was so fast that by the time Neji reacted it was almost too late.

"Kaiten!" He screamed, pouring as much Chakra as he could in his Jutsu. As he started spinning, the orb hit. The resulting explosion blew several people at the fence off their feet. It was different from normal explosions. The blue energy didn't simply expand but it vibrated, raged and rampaged violently as if the blue mass had a will of its own and wanted to annihilate everything it touched without a trace.

When the dust settled down and the audience dared to uncover their faces again, they saw the results of the clash. Nearly the entire arena ground had turned into a giant crater. Only the last two metres before the wall had escaped the destruction. And in the middle of the crater…was an elevation with a smaller crater on top of it. In the middle of it was Neji, his clothes torn and several bad burns adorning his skin. He was down on his hands and knees and tried to get up, shacking uncontrollably. How…how can this be…? I poured fifteen percent of my maximum chakra into that Kaiten…how is it that that shot could break through, still?

In that moment, Naruto landed near the arena wall. The now most mysterious Genin of Konohagakure overlooked the destruction he had caused.

Then he sighed. "Crap…I used much more power than I intended to in that flare. 'Guess I still need more training…"

With a painful-sounding hiss Neji managed to get up on one knee. One hand supported his upright knee and the other was still on the ground. He didn't need to lift his gaze to look at Naruto.

"Who…*wheeze* who are you? …What are you?" Naruto's face got uncharacteristically solemn. And if you looked really closely you could see that his eyes held a slight glint of uncertainty. For a few seconds, he was silent.

Then he spoke. "Well…oh, why am I beating around the bush? Now is as good a time as any." The Uzumaki started walking forward at a slow pace until he came to a stop halfway between Neji and the wall he previously stood at. Lifting his head he faced the entire audience. "I'm sure you're all very curious about the reasons behind…well, this. And probably a whole lot confused as well."

True words.

"I promised I would answer everything when I come back before I left. And I never go back on my word, since that's my Nindo. So I'll answer everything I can – some things I shouldn't say right now, since I'd need to go too far afield for a monologue during a fight."

Not only Kakashi and Hiruzen leaned forward in their seats at those words. Naturally, the new abilities the village pariah had displayed had driven the curiosity level of the entire local audience to the critical level. Naruto raised his hands. "That being said…I guess it's best if I show you instead." With that, he put his hands behind his head and began to untie his Hitai-ate. A few people raised their eyebrows and murmured in confusion.

But the murmurs changed into a collective gasp as the Hitai-ate fell away to reveal a…not bare forehead.

Where once was only even skin, there was now a cyan jewel-like object of the size of an egg imbedded in the middle of his forehead. It looked slightly sheer, but thankfully not so much that you could see deeper body regions.

Dropping his hands while still holding his Hitai-ate in his left hand, Naruto remained unmoving for a couple of seconds. Then he closed his eyes.

At the same moment the oval on his forehead began to glow…before his eyes snapped back open and his body followed suit as a substance that looked like yellow, luminescent air was seeping out of his body.

In a split-second his entire body was emitting the light-like substance, forming some kind of second skin around him. It wasn't skin-tight everywhere, though. On his chest, groin and pelvis the substance was thicker – and there seemed to be strange ornaments on them. He stood on the balls of his feet, and the substance down there formed longer feet than Naruto actually had. His toes were longer too.

The head the substance formed was so different from Naruto's actual head that it looked almost ridiculous. Instead of a small mouth, it had jaws with toe-long, sharp teeth and ended in a snout with slotted reptilian-like nostrils that reached about fifteen centimetres farther than Naruto's actual chin. The glowing eyes covering his actual ones had no pupils and were entirely coloured in the same dark-blue as his actual eyes, making him look quite intimidating.

At the back of the projective head there were several horns and strange sprout-like protuberances – they were shaped kind of like tentacles but were unmoving and solid, and had the same colour and surface as the rest of the head – forming a crest of some sort.

The ends of his fingers and toes extended to sharp, blue-glowing claws, and there was an additional horn-like claw at the back of each of the newly placed ankles.

Last, but certainly not least two big masses of the glowing energy burst forth from his back to form…wings!

They consisted of three limb-like parts, of which the first two were each about five centimetres longer than Naruto's outstretched arm (including hands and fingers) would be, while the third was about twenty-five centimetres longer. At the end of each second part were three clawed fingers of the length of Naruto's hands, and half the width – one of them seemed to be freely movable, like a thumb. The last segment of each wing looked like an oversized, bend finger of the half-hand at the end of each second segment.

Instead of feathers, the aerofoils were made of a scaly, leathery membrane, which seemed to be solid and elastic at the same time. The joints of the first limb-part of the wings were located at Naruto's shoulders, while the ends of the membranes were attached to his hips.

In the instant the wings were spread apart as they appeared, the membranes were stretched by a bone which was imbedded in the midst of each of them which was attached to the half-hand like another mutated finger, and each of the wings was wider than Naruto's body – and more than two times as long.

Then he bend the wings' joints, showing that the second joints bend inwards and the third's outwards. Thus, he folded the wings close to his body, making them look much smaller than they actually were (they protruded only about twenty centimetres from his shoulders and reached down to the height of his knees in their folded state).

Strangely, even though the ethereal layer differed from his physical body so much it looked completely natural on him…just as any other part of his body. His entire ethereal form was coloured in a bright yellow, adorned with numerous thin orange lines that spread over his entire body, a bit like veins…and he shone like a small sun.

Hinata was struck by an incredible strong sense of Déjà vu as she remembered the dreams she had had the last couple of days.

"Naruto-kun…like an angel…" She was too awe-struck and stunned to even notice she had muttered the words out aloud. And the people around her were too caught up in her own feelings to hear what she had said. Only Naruto heard it – and had to fight down a blush and a flustered smile.

Kankuro was brought out of his stupor as he noticed Gaara tensing beside him. "He…it…that's it! It…is…he!"

He gripped the fence so hard the metal bend under his fingers, sand started to swirl around him…and he stared at the luminescent boy with a look of utter madness…and hunger. Kankuro immediately started doing all he could to convince Gaara to wait until the right time.

Unbeknownst to everyone else, Orochimaru's eyes widened as a memory flooded his brain. What countless memory restoration Jutsu had been unable to do…the sight of the luminescent boy down in the arena did it. Orochimaru remembered the rest of his dream.

The black-red lightning ceased. And there floating in the midst of the oval…was…Naruto Uzumaki!

There was no room for doubts. The Naruto in front of him was bigger and broad-shouldered – a teenager and no longer a boy. Also, his outfit was now a mix of black, white and orange that was acceptable for a shinobi instead of nearly completely orange. But it was definitely him. The whisker-marks, blue eyes and yellow messy hair left no doubt.

His eyes and his entire posture were different, too. He had that kind of radiance that you only got if you saw many unbelievable things…survived dangers most people didn't even know about, accomplished feats that would seem impossible to most people…the aura of a truly great man.

Actually it was even stronger than that. He looked as if nothing could face him…as if he knew everything…could do anything. Floating in that orb in this monstrous creature he seemed…like a god.

He looked down at Orochimaru with sadness. As if he felt sorry for the fallen Sannin.

Then, Orochimaru felt his lips moving. But he didn't hear what he was saying. Naruto slightly tilted his head to the side – a gesture which should look child-like and dump, but didn't – and his eyes glinted with a look of…fulfilling destiny and understanding. He moved his own lips, but just like Orochimaru hadn't been able to hear his own words he also couldn't hear Naruto's. But he felt his head bow to give the blonde man a nod.

Naruto answered with a nod of his own. A second later yellow energy gathered itself in front of Orochimaru, compressing into a tiny spot of brightly shining light.

A bright flash, and then…

Darkness.

Sucking in a sharp breath, Orochimaru returned to the real world.

Now he understood perfectly. This was what had scared him so much he had blocked it out. Death. The one thing he had feared the most ever since his parents had died. But…that was preposterous! Sure, the blonde kid had displayed some surprisingly impressive abilities in the last few minutes but…could it really be he would one day become the very thing that would bring Orochimaru to his end?

"That was you!" Many spectators flinched at the sudden yell. Naruto turned to the proctor Hayate, an eyebrow raised quizzically.

"That creature from a week ago – the one who saved me from that Suna-nin – that was you!" Hayate repeated. Naruto chuckled awkwardly, and scratched the back of his head (that gesture looked a bit strange due to the ethereal horn-sprout-mane).

"Well…yeah, that was me." Several people – including the Sandaime and Kakashi – looked at Naruto even more shocked than before.

"I'll get to that in a moment… To that and a few other things." Naruto continued. When he spoke his ethereal jaws opened and closed and the glowing skin around his second teeth moved lightly, matching the movements of his actual mouth. He raised his gaze to look at Kakashi in the grand stand.

"First of all…Kakashi-sensei." A bit of guilt leaked into his voice. "I'm really sorry for lying to you about the time I was send to retrieve the lost scroll on that day in Kakutane. And I'm sorry I made both you and Jiji worry so much about me."

Both Kakashi and the Sandaime slowly gave a slight nod in affirmation. Naruto lowered his gaze and seemed to hesitate a little. Then he looked up to face the audience again.

"The truth is…I died that day."

Translations

Hitai-ate: Headband of a Shinobi

Shinobi: Ninja.

Jounin: Highest regular ninja-rank.

Chunin: Mid-rank-ninja. Ranked higher than Genin and lower than Jounin.

Genin: The lowest Ninja-rank, which is entered after someone graduates from the Ninja-academy. Genin only operate in three-man-cells and under the supervision of a Jounin-sensei.

Ninja-academy: Whoever wants to become a Shinobi has to graduate from this facility. The common age to enter the academy is six-year-old. All the basic-knowledge a Shinobi needs is taught there.

Sensei: 'Teacher'.

Konohagakure: 'The village hidden in the leaves'. Naruto's birthplace and home, and one of the five great Shinobi-villages.

Chunin-exam: Exam Genin can participate in to earn the rank of Chunin. Although a successful admittance doesn't ensure the promotion.

Sandaime: 'The third'.

Hokage: 'Fire Shadow'. The leader of Konohagakure.

Yondaime: 'The fourth'.

Hi no Kuni: 'Land of fire'. The land Konohagakure is located in.

Genjutsu: 'Illusion-technique'. The art of manipulating the opponent's five senses with Chakra, similar to hypnosis. Most Battle-oriented Genjutsu require a 'trigger' of some sort (meaning the opponent has to see, touch, hear, smell or taste a certain thing in order for the Genjutsu to activate). However, there are also Genjutsu that conceal or change things for everyone. Those non-individual-related Genjutsu are tied to the objects or people (or part of the landscape) they conceal or change, and don't require any trigger.

Chakra: The fusion of spiritual and physical energy. The power Shinobi use to execute Jutsu.

Jutsu: 'technique, art'. The techniques Shinobi use. They are divided into Ninjutsu-, Genjutsu- and Taijutsu-techniques.

Ninjutsu: 'Ninja-technique'. The use of Chakra to manipulate your surroundings or even other people's bodies and minds.

Taijutsu: 'Body-technique'. The techniques and attacks that merely require the user's body. Although it is possible to use Chakra to strengthen and influence someone's own body – and some Taijutsu moves even require it – it isn't a must.

Yuki no Kuni: 'Land of snow'.

Kata: Sequence of movements that serves to train Battle techniques and to incorporate them into your reflexes.

Sunagakure: 'Village hidden in the sand'. One of the five great Shinobi-villages. Ally of Konohagakure. Officially, at least…

Tokubetsu Jounin: A ninja who doesn't possess the overall-level regular Jōnin possess, but rather has a specialisation in which he has Jōnin-level-abilities. They rank above Chunin and behind regular Jōnin.

ANBU: „Ansatsu Senjutsu Tokushu Butai" ("Special Assassination and Tactical Squad"). This kind of ninjas can only be found in the five great villages. The members of this squad are hand–leased by the respective Kage for their skills. Going by rank, ANBU is the highest of the common ninja ranks: They cannot be arrested by normal police forces and only the Kage is authorized to give orders to them. There are also special branches of the ANBU, whose members specialise in one deed. For example, there are the "Hunter Ninja" whose only duty is to hunt down and kill/capture Nuke–nin.

Nuke-nin; Shinobi or Kunoichi who were formerly members of a village, but betrayed and/or abandoned their village. Some keep their headband but carve a slash through their village's symbol to show they're no longer members of it. Most of them are villains who either follow their own ambitions or take highly dubious missions from even more dubious people

Kyuubi: One of the Bijuu. This is only the name the humans gave him. His true name is Kurama – though at this point of the story, only the Bijuu, one human and a certain species know that. Its form resemblances a giant, nine-tailed fox.

Bijuu: Nine giant beings of Chakra in the Naruto-Universe. The humans named them after their tails which differ in number for each one – from Ichibi the one-tails, to Kyuubi the nine-tails.

Kitsune: Japanese 'fox' (also a mythological creature).

Kazekage: 'Wind-shadow'. Leader of Sunagakure.

Shukaku: One of the Bijuu. Sometimes referred to as 'Ichibi' (one-tails). Its form resemblances a giant Tanuki.

Tanuki: Japanese name for racoon dogs.

Byakugan: A Doujutsu. The only ones to possess it are members of the Hyuuga-clan. The Byakugan grants its possessor a nearly perfect 360°-vision (with only a tiny, blind spot at the back of the user's head) when activated. It also has the ability to see Chakra, Keirakukai and Tenketsu, and see through solid objects.

Doujutsu: A Kekkei-Genkai that lies in the eyes of a person.

Kekkei-Genkai: 'Blood-line'. An ability only the carriers of a certain gene can use.

Keirakukai: They are the 'veins of Chakra' that channel Chakra through a person's body.

Tenketsu: 'Crossroads' of the Keirakukai. Places where Chakra is spread through the single branches of the Keirakukai. There are 361 of them in a human body.

Aku: 'Wrong, evil'.

Sennin: A special kind of Shinobi who is able to draw on the natural Chakra in his surroundings to strengthen himself.

Kun: Suffix used for male friends.

Kunoichi: Ninja (female).

Ramen: Noodle-soup.

Shunshin no Jutsu: 'Body-flicker-technique'. The user uses Chakra to move so fast that he can't be seen anymore – but he can't interact with anything while it's active, so it's mostly used for travels. Furthermore, you have to see the spot you're moving to, or at least know it well. Its execution is usually accompanied by a cloud of smoke, leaves or something else.

Dono: 'Lord'.

Dattebayo: A verbal uniqueness of Naruto. It can be roughly translated as 'Believe it' or 'For real'.

Rikudou Sennin: 'Sage of the six paths'. A man who lived several millennia ago. The first man who was ever able to effectively meld and use his Chakra – in other words, the first Shinobi to ever walk on earth. He was also without a doubt and by a far amount the most powerful one to the present day. With one particular exception…

His teachings were the basis for the way of Shinobi.

Jyuuken: 'Gentle fist'. The Hyuuga's fighting art. By channelling Chakra in the opponent's Keirakukai, the user causes heavy damage to the internal organs. Even the barest touch of a hand can be deadly if placed accurately, hence the name. The masters of this style can also stop or manipulate their opponent's Chakra-flow by hitting the Tenketsu.

Shuriken: Ninja star.

Kunai: Ninja knife. Can be used for both cutting and throwing.

Kaiten: A secret defence-technique of the Hyuuga-clan. The user pushes Chakra out of all his Tenketsu, thus creating a layer of Chakra around his body. Then he spins his body like a spin-top, creating a whirling dome of Chakra that deflects anything that touches it.

Sannin: Collective term for the three legendary Ninja Jiraiya the Toad-sennin, Tsunade the Slug-princess and Orochimaru. All of them were once pupils of the Sandaime.

Hakke Rokujuuyonshou: A secret attack of the Hyuuga-clan. The user hits 64 of the Tenketsu with a speed that is far greater than his usual due to a Chakra-boost. Because those 64 Tenketsu lie in very central parts of the body the opponent's Chakra-network is completely shut down, leaving him unable to move for a while. It doesn't kill him though.

Jiji: Grandfather, old man (It's actually a playful minimization – the correct word is "Ojii-san")

A/N²: Well, that was the first chapter. I really struggled with it, especially with the beginning. I'm still not 100% satisfied with it, but I had no idea on how to make it better without rewriting giant pieces of it. And that really was too much for me. That being said, I really like the cliff-hanger. It's one of the reasons this chapter is such a monstrosity. Sorry again, but I really felt this was necessary.

I'll update as soon as real life permits me to do so.

Until then, I wish all good authors – Fanfiction-writers and regular authors alike – in the world a sea of creative juices.

Arcana37210

A/N³: As promised, I edited this chapter a little – mostly just changes to the style. Hopefully it's not that different from my later chapters anymore now.