Yeah, sorry for the long wait for the new chapter. I was more focused on my other story, but here I am with a new chapter.

Naruto does not have fire powers, after reading the Naruto manga over the last couple of months, I got a better idea for him.

The redhead boy was still knelt on one knee on the ground, not having moved from that position since he had landed there a few hours ago. Looking around, he noticed that the walls and ground were still covered in blood, and that it had quickly dried during his rest.

Despite the seemingly useless blood, Naruto extended his right hand and released a pulse of yoki. Almost like magic, the brown stains lifted from the wall and started to liquify, floating over to his hand. When the now crimson blood reached his hand, it started to coalesce into the shape of a ball.

Once this task was completed, he released another pulse of yoki and solidified the ball. Lifting it up, he opened his mouth and dropped the marble sized ball into its depths. Closing his mouth, he chewed on the ball, evident by the crunching noises that originated from his mouth.

This strange action had an effect that no one but Naruto was privy. As he consumed the sanguine orb, memories of his clone flitted through his mind. His brutal treatment in the orphanage was soon followed by his hell on the streets. After that came his permanent residence, which only made it easier for the mobs of the 'Fox Hunts' to find him.

Clenching his fist, Naruto sat down and crossed his legs, carefully sorting through and assimilating the memories. While the memories were horrible and nearly useless to him in almost all applications, they still held vital information that he would need in order to prove his identity.

Naruto spent the rest of the night sitting on the floor, sifting through the memories. He only had a few hours, and he needed to get as much information as he could out of the memories.

Next Morning

Hikari sighed as she sat in the classroom. Contrary to what people thought, Hikari was more level headed than her sister, who was usually ruled by her passions. The meeting the night before was a disaster.

Her beloved nii-chan hated them, and not without due cause. She still remembered looking into his medical file, and the things that she saw in there scared her. Heck, they kept her up half the night because she would suffer from nightmares.

Looking next to herself, Hikari saw her sister, Narumi. Unlike her, the redhead's thoughts were easier to perceive. If looked at close enough, the guilt and fear could be easily detected on her face.

Just like Hikari, Narumi wanted to be closer to her brother, but she had no idea how to do it. If the performance last night was any indication, Naruto would sooner slit their throats than have anything to do with them. She didn't blame him. If she was in his same situation, she would have done worse, even going as far as assaulting the people who had left her behind.

Narumi released a sigh as she looked over to her sister, and pasted a smile on her face. She was supposed to be the happy one, and now was not the time to get all depressed. She reached over and placed a hand on her blonde sister's thigh, rubbing it in comfort. "Don't worry Hikari-nee, we'll get him back."

Hikari sent a small smile to the redhead, and nodded slightly. Unlike her sister, she knew that getting any kind of positive reaction from Naruto would be an uphill battle. Despite this, she was ready to fight tooth and nail for it. After all, she was an Uzumaki.

After she had finished brooding to herself, she looked around the classroom. Since it was still early, not many people had entered the classroom, but there were seven people who caught her interest. Coincidentally, all seven of them were either clan heirs on in the line of succession.

The first was obviously an Uchiha. If the ink black hair and onyx eyes did not give him away, then the red and white fan crest on his back did. He had his hands steepled in front of his face, and he seemed to be brooding. The one thing that set him apart from the rest of class was his aura. He seemed to exude a sense of superiority, something well earned since he was supposedly the best in the class. Still, he was the type of person that Hikari did not want to her team.

The second was a Hyuuga, if he lavender eyes that lacked pupils were any indication. Unlike the stories that her mother used to tell her, this Hyuuga seemed to be the antithesis of what an ideal member of the clan should be. Instead of being impassive, composed, and slightly arrogant, she seemed to be nervous and withdrawn into herself.

The third was an Inuzuka, without a doubt. He had a fang-like tattoo on both of his cheeks, and his eyes were slitted. His ninken, a small white puppy, was seated on top of his head, napping. Much like the Uchiha, he also exuded an aura of arrogance, but this one seemed to be born out of cockiness. Hikari would not have spared him as much attention as she did if he was not ogling her. The blonde girl's eyes narrowed when she noticed this. If there was one thing that she inherited from her mother, it was her dislike of perverts. She resolved to...teach...the pervert on how to treat a woman at some point in the future.

In a completely unrelated note, said Inuzuka felt a shiver of dread go down his spine, and he had the sudden urge to run screaming out of the classroom. Shaking off the feeling, he stayed in his seat, albeit eyeing the room with more caution.

Sitting next to the Inuzuka was the fourth, an Aburame, and he was the complete opposite of the boy sitting next to him. He wore a jacket that covered everything up to the bridge of his nose, and wore a pair of shades that hid his eyes. He personified stoicism, and seemed to be trying to call the least amount of attention to himself. Should someone had listened closely to him, they would hear a faint buzzing sound about him, not unlike that of a hive of insects.

The fifth was a Yamanaka. Much like the rest of the clan, she was a blonde, albeit a platinum one. Other than the fact that she was a clan heiress, there was nothing special about her. Looking at her one more time, Hikari's nose wrinkled in disgust. It had only taken her one look, but she was able to tell right away that the Yamanaka was a fangirl. The signs of dieting was obvious with her thin build, and she was wearing clothes that held more of an aesthetic value rather than a practical one. This, coupled with her lack of muscle tone, almost guaranteed that she would die during her first mission outside of Konoha.

The sixth was an Akimichi. Unlike the rest of his clan, he was fat rather than muscled, and he was constantly eating a bag of potato chips. Other than the few clan jutsu that he probably knew, he had no value as a shinobi. The abundance of fat would equate a lack of stamina and speed, which would make him rather useless on the front lines.

The seventh and final was a Nara. His hair was pulled up into the signature pineapple ponytail, and he had his head on the table, sleeping. Despite his lazy demeanor, he was obviously as smart, if not smarter, than the rest of his clan. He would make an excellent tactician in the future, once he got the necessary experience.

As Hikari finished reviewing the promising members of the class, she began to personally evaluate each of them. Once she was finished, she came to the conclusion that the Uchiha, Aburame, and Nara would be the greatest threats to her, and that they had the highest likelihood to attain the rank of chunin. Considering that the graduated class numbered thirty strong, the thought was kind of depressing.

Not for the first time, Hikari was glad that she was not raised in Konoha. Sure, she was sad and enraged that her brother was treated horribly, but at least she did not grow up to become a fangirl, like the rest of her graduating class.

Done with her task, Hikari leaned forward and rested her head on the table, desiring to take a nap. Her team would be announced today, and she needed to preserve all the energy that she could for the upcoming test that her parents were hinting. Looking next to her, she noticed that Narumi had the same idea, and then sank into the comforting embrace of Morpheus.

Hokage's Office

Minato sat behind the Hokage's desk, with his predecessor seated next to him. After their verbal fight the night before, the older man chose to resign and give his position back to his successor. As he put it, he was 'just to old for this shit'.

The blonde kage had eleven jonin that lined up before him. Usually there would only be ten, but his wife's very...convincing...argument from the night before had him add her to the list, if only to maintain the health of his manhood. He was till young, and he had to desire to be separated from it.

On the desk in front of him was a crystal glass orb, the one that the Sandaime used for his famed Tōmegane no Jutsu. Using this, he was able to view what was happening in the classroom. Much to his sadness, Naruto had not shown up yet. His two daughters were seated next to each other, and he wanted nothing more than his only son to be there with the two of them, laughing and having fun.

Looking up at the jonin in front of him, he gave a slight nod as he began to address them. "You all know whom your teams consist of, so I expect you to pick them up by noon. Am I understood?" After a rousing chorus of 'Hai Hokage-sama', nine of the jonin departed, leaving behind his wife and another man younger than him. This man had spiky gray hair and wore a mask that covered much of his lower face. To complete the look, he had a hitai-ate that covered his left eye. This person was Hatake Kakashi, one of Konoha's most powerful shinobi.

Realizing that the meeting was now over, Kakashi reached into his pouch and pulled out an orange book. Ignoring the small killing intent (KI) that was directed at him by the only woman in the room, he started to read the book as his sensei started to address him.

"Kakashi, you do realize who your team is going to be right?"

Not even bothering to look up from his book, Kakashi answered. "Hai. I got gaki-Kushina, sunshine, the kid with the orange fetish, and the brooder, correct?"

Ignoring the look of anger that crossed Kushina's face, Minato replied. "Hai. So are you going to pick up your team soon? I heard that you have a notorious reputation for being late for anything that is not of B-ranked importance or higher."

This time, Kushina broke into the conversation, and started to talk in a sweet voice. "Oh, don't worry, Kakashi-kun will be on time. It would be a shame if his entire collection of smut books were cut to pieces would it not?"

Understanding the not so subtle threat, Kakashi paled rapidly. He raised his hands in a sign of surrender as he tried to placate the angry redhead."Maa, maa Kushina-sempai, don't worry, I will be on time. I should even have the time to introduce my cute little genin to the wonder of Icha Icha." He finished the statement by closing his one visible eye in an eye smile and giving a thumbs up, a pose that was highly reminiscent of the Nice Guy pose.

Apparently, this was not the right thing to say as the KI that was being directed at him spiked to exorbitant levels. When he opened his eyes to located to source of the feeling of death, he saw an angry redhead looking at him, her hair separated into nine parts highly reminiscent of tails as it swirled about her. The near demonic visage was completed by the black aura of death that surrounded her.

Paling rapidly, Kakashi made a move and dashed out of the room, intent on escaping what he saw as a mad woman. Even as he tried to make his getaway, he was chased by the crimson haired mother, as she spewed threats after him. "Get back here you damn pervert! You aren't getting away from me! If you dare corrupt my children, you'll wake up with your manhood missing"

Instead of slowing down or stopping, this declaration only seemed to spur Kakashi on as he tried to pick up speed in a desperate attempt to escape his sensei's wife. He knew that should she catch him, then he would be in for a world of pain.

Academy

The click of a door opening shocked Hikari out of her nap. After regaining her bearings, she reached over and gently shook her sister awake. Both of them now, properly alert, they sat at their desks and waited as they eyed Iruka walk into the room and stand in front of the class.

When the teacher got to the front of the class. He cleared him room. "Class, settle down"

The class either ignored him or seemed to have been unable to hear him. Given how loud the noise in the room was, either explanation could have been the case.

When Iruka noticed that the class did not hear him, a small tick mark formed on his head. He repeated his statement with a little bit of agitation. "Class, settle down."

The second attempt was only rewarded by an inexplicable increase in the volume of the class.

The tick mark that was on Iruka's forehead grew in size and started to throb. Irate, his head swelled to a comical size, and blew up. "SIT DOWN AND SHUT UP YOU BUNCH OF BRATS!"

This got the attention of the newly-graduated genin. The class as a whole planted themselves in their seats and closed their mouths, some of them staring in fear and wariness at the the sensei that they had for the last six years.

Hikari chuckled inwardly when she saw this. Seeing the others react like this amused her for some odd reason. Narumi stared in in disguised awe at the teacher, resolving to irritate him until he showed her the secret of that jutsu.

Coughing into his fist, Iruka started to address the class. "Thank you. Today, I am glad to say that you all have become official shinobi of Konoha, it will be your jobs to carry the Will of Fire and..."

Iruka was so absorbed in his speech that he failed to notice that the class was starting to lose interest. By the time he finished his speech and looked up, the class had devolved into groups of children who were engaged in their own activities. Shikamaru was asleep with his head on his desk, and Kiba was throwing pencils at the sleeping Nara. Shino seemed to be paying attention, but soft snores could be heard emanating from his jacket. Hikari and Narumi were conversing with each other about who their sensei could possibly be. The only person who was paying even an iota of attention was Sakura, who was dutifully taking notes verbatim of what Iruka was saying.

Another tick mark formed on Iruka's forehead. Instead of blowing up at his students for ignoring his carefully prepared and superb speech, Iruka just released a sigh and pulled out a piece of paper. "Well, since you all seemed so riveted to my speech, I will just go ahead and announce the teams."

It was as if a switch was flipped in the class. The green shinobi all desisted from their various activities and gave their undivided attention to their erstwhile sensei. Smiling slightly in amusement, Iruka cleared his throat and started to read off of the list.

Unknown to the entire congregation, and figure landed outside the window of the classroom. The person was clothed completely in black, and watched the events of the classroom with slight interest. He knew that he had to be here, and he was interested in the compositions of the teams.

"...and Team seven will be Uchiha Sasuke, Haruno Sakura, Uzumaki-Namikaze Hikari, Uzumaki-Namikaze Narumi, and Uzumaki-Namikaze Naruto. Your senseis will be Hatake Kakashi and Uzumaki-Namikaze Kushina."

Before Iruka could continue reading the list, he was interrupted by an uproar from the class. Some of the girls were complaining about not being on Sasuke's team, while some of the boys were complaining about Sasuke having all the good looking girls on his team. This, however, was nothing compared to the explosion of complaints when the name of the final member of the team registered in their minds.

Cries of disbelief rang throughout the class. Some of the students were wondering why the class dobe was allowed on a team when he had clearly failed, while others were complaining about the fact that the dobe got the best team.

While all this was happening, Hikari and Narumi were sitting in their seats and frowning. They knew that their brother was not the most liked person in the class, but this was ridiculous. The others seemed to be frothing at the mouth facing the fact that Naruto had passed. Any further, and they looked prepared to crucify him.

This time, Iruka could not contain his anger. "SHUT UP!". When the class had calmed down, he continued. "Thank you. If you have a problem with the teams, take in up with Hokage-sama. He was the one who made the teams." Iruka raised the list back up to his face and continued to read.

"Team eight will be Aburame Shino, Inuzuka Kiba, and Hyuuga Hinata. Your sensei will be Yuhi Kurenai." The members of the newly dubbed Team 8 looked at each other and gave a slight nod, a timid one in the case of Hinata. "Team 9 is still in circulation from last year. Team ten will be Nara Shikamaru, Yamanaka Ino, and Akimichi Choji. Your sensei will be Sarutobi Asuma. Your senseis will be here soon enough." Ino was about to open her mouth and complain about the teammates that she had received, but resisted when she received a withering glare from Iruka.

Done with his task, Iruka walked out the door. A few minutes later, the door was reopened, and a group of jonin walked in. After taking their teams away, only team seven, team eight, and team ten were left in the room.

Narumi was about to set her head on the table and take a small nap when a shadow enveloped her desk. Looking up, she saw Hinata looking down at her, her figures pressed together in a shy manner.

"A-ano N-Narumi-s-san, w-where i-is N-N-Naruto-k-kun?" Her face turned an interesting shade of crimson when she had said this.

Narumi flinched slightly but then her face adopted a confused look and she answered the inquisitive clan heiress. "I don't actually know. Naruto-nii seemed very angry yesterday, so I thought that it would be better if I only talked to him today."

When Hinata had heard this, she gave a small nod and went back to her team, with her mind whirring. Naruto was actually angry enough to scare someone away. She had never seen Naruto get like that before, even when he was constantly ridiculed and beaten by all the kids in the academy.

When she had gotten back to her seat, the silence in the room was interrupted by the door opening. Through the opening walked in two people, a male and a female. The female, a woman who looked to be in her twenties with raven locks and crimson eyes was accompanied by a slightly older looking bearded man with dark blue hair and a cigarette hanging lazily from his mouth.

The woman looked sharply at team eight and called out to them. "Team eight, my name is Kurenai. You may address me as sensei. Meet me at training ground eight in fifteen minutes."

Shino, Kiba, and Hinata scrambled out of the room as they headed to the assigned training ground. The area in question was a good distance away, and they needed all the time that they had to reach their destination in a timely manner as well as conserving as much energy as possible.

With this terse statement, the woman departed from the classroom with a classic shunshin in an explosion of smoke. When the cloud had cleared away, the older man sighed and dropped his cigarette to the floor, grinding it out with his heel. "Team ten, you are with me. Let's go get some food to eat." After saying his part, the jonin turned around and walked out the door, expecting his students to follow him.

When Choji heard the mention of the word 'food', his eyes immediately transformed into stars and a wide smile split his face. He dashed after his sensei, intent on eating all the barbecue he could and have his sensei pay for it. The second to walk out of the room was Ino, who walked out with no small amount of exasperation in her step. Finally, Shikamaru was the last to exit the room, having been forcibly awoken by the sudden exodus of his porky friend.

The only ones left in the vicinity were the members of team seven. Sasuke was sitting at his desk and looking at the far wall in his desire to brood while his pink-haired teammate was continually badgering him for a date, but to no avail. Narumi and Hikari were talking to each other about their expectations for the team and the horrors that they would face at the hands of their mother while avoiding the touchy subject of their brother. Finally, the shadow outside the window quietly slid the window open and sat on the window sill, the rest of the team still completely oblivious to his presence. Now that he was inside the classroom, the male could be easily identified as Naruto, the final member of the team.

Minutes ticked by, and some of the people in the classroom were starting to become agitated. Sakura did not even try to hide her irritation as a tick mark formed on her forehead and her eyebrow started to twitch. Sasuke was more subtle with his expression of annoyance, nothing more than an irritated glint appearing in his eye. The two daughters of the Hokage were not much better than the brooding Uchiha, but their irritation was overcome by their worry for their brother. Naruto himself was seated on the window sill with his eyes closed, none of the people in the room any wiser to his presence.

When the clock marked one hour from when the other teams had left, a crashing sound was heard from outside the room. Four of the five genin inside the classroom tensed themselves as they prepared themselves for battle, and grew slightly nervous when the door slammed open.

Through the opening came a beautiful red-haired woman, but her beauty was marred by the deep scowl on her face. This scowl was aimed at the spiky gray-haired jonin sitting tied up next to her, still shamelessly reading the smut that he called literature in front of her despite the glare that she sent his way.

Irate, Kushina did not even take her eyes off of Kakashi before she barked out an order. "Team 7, meet us on the rooftop in five minutes! If any of you are late, you'll be running laps until I say stop!" With this terse command, Kushina grabbed her co-sensei and shunshinned to the roof, not even stopping to check if her students were moving, or even if all of them were there.

Sakura, not wanting to earn the ire of the 'scary person' ran out the classroom and went for the stairs, her fear of the redhead temporarily overriding her disturbingly deep infatuation for the onyx-eyed boy on the team. She was shortly followed by Sasuke, who despite wanting to reach his destination in a timely manner, went at a sedate pace. In accordance to his pride, he would not lower himself to the level of rushing out of a classroom like some hooligan. Narumi and Hikari gave a look to each other. Both of them instinctively followed their mother's command, having trained under her long enough to know that not listening to her would cause bad things to happen. Despite this, both of them were worried about Naruto. They still had not heard nor seen him since the night before, and now their hyperactive imaginations were coming up with ideas of what could have happened to him, the scenarios becoming progressively worse as each one followed its predecessor through their minds.

In their rush to get out of the classroom, none of the four of them noticed Naruto climb out of the window and leap up to the roof, landing in one of the trees on the roof. He got comfortable in his spot, his arms crossed over his chest with left leg crossed over his right and peered down at his two soon-to-be 'senseis'

Naruto did not understand why he was doing this. Sure, he had nothing better to do until tonight, but surely there were better things to do than this. He could be practicing his swordplay, he could he training physically, he could be bashing his head against a wall, he could even be ripping out his own intestines...

It is safe to say that Naruto did not want to be here. He settled for the fact that the meeting might prove to be a little amusing, if that death glare the redhead was sending the masked jonin was anything to use as reference.

Before he could continue his thinking, the door to the roof was thrown open and in came a panting Sakura. She stumbled in exhaustion and eventually collapsed onto the ground near the two jonin, panting as she tried to recover any amount of her minute chakra reserves as they waited for the others to come.

Naruto looked down at this girl with contempt. She was supposed to be a warrior, yet she is already drained from the short travel? Clearly Konoha had low standards for its shinobi program, or this girl was just cannon fodder. Considering what he had seen so far, the redhead sword wielder was more inclined to believe the first theory. Naruto dismissed the girl. She would die during her first mission outside of the village.

When he finished musing about the pathetic pink-haired girl, the through the door came Sasuke. He carefully walked to where the two jonin were, and slowly sat himself down, as if he was trying to keep a proper decorum for his status in the village. The Uchiha gave one look to the jonin before dismissing them and resuming what he was doing in the classroom, mainly brooding.

Naruto also frowned at this one. Unlike Sakura, this one had some skill, but not enough to act like the way he was. Sasuke was a fresh genin, and the two in front of him were seasoned jonin. He should have been weary of them, not dismissive. Normally Naruto would think that Sasuke was a fool, but he had seen the memories of his clone. The black-hair boy was not afflicted with ignorance, but arrogance. He would also die on his first mission outside of the village, if only because he had underestimated his opponents.

Finally, the last two had come through the door, his 'sisters' Narumi and Hikari. They walked in confidently before making their way over to the group and sitting down while eying the jonin wearily. Naruto approved of this. While the both of them were more skilled than the Uchiha, they had none of the arrogance that he had, only confidence in their abilities.

Naruto honestly had no idea what to think of his sisters. He knew that his sisters were determined to bring him into the family, but he had no emotional connection to them, whether it be love or hate. He felt nothing for them. He continued to ponder what he should do as Narumi and Hikari sat down.

When all of them were seated, Kushina cleared her throat. Both Kakashi and she had heard Naruto land in the tree earlier without making a scene, but that was not what surprised them. No, what surprised them was that they could not sense Naruto. If it was not for him making that sound when he landed in the tree, they would not have noticed him at all! Considering that the day before he had been spewing chakra like a burst pipe, this change was quite disconcerting.

"Well, I want all of you to introduce yourselves to each other. You know, your name, your likes, your dislikes, your hobbies, and your dreams."

Before she could point to someone to start, she was rudely interrupted by the only pink-haired kunoichi on her team. "Hold on, we deserve some answers! First of all, where the hell were you two? All the other senseis picked up their students an hour ago! Second, where is that baka Naruto? Probably forgot that today was team placement or was too slow to get up here on time, that loser." she jeered.

When Narumi and Hikari heard this, they reacted negatively. Narumi, the more hot-headed one of the two, had to physcially restrain herself from launching herself at Sakura and beating the crap out of her. Hikari gave a glare that promised pain to her so-called teammate. Kushina gave no visible reaction other than the slight twitch of her hand.

Before Kushina could retort, they heard a soft thud of someone landing behind them. When they turned around to see who it was, all six jaws dropped as they gave a gasp of shock in unision.

Standing before them was someone that they recognized to be Naruto, but it was not the happy, blonde, orange-clad idiot that they all had come to know. The most obvious change was his hair. Gone was his iconic sun-kissed blonde hair, replaced by crimson locks that fell to his waist. What was once a painful orange jumpsuit was replaced by admittedly intimidating clothes.

Naruto was clothed in a shirt and leggings of pitch black. On his upper chest near his throat was a dicky that had the engraving of what seemed to be a whirlpool made of straight lines on it. Along his throat was a buckle that offered a modicum of protection to those who would aim for a quick kill. On his shoulders were some spaulders, which gave way to the vambraces that protected his forearms. Invisible to the group was a holder on his back that supported his claymore, the handle of which could be seen peeking over his shoulder. Along his waist were a set of faulds, which led to chausses to protect his legs. The look was completed by some sabatons that replaced the usual shinobi sandles on his feet.

When given a further look, a pouch could be seen attached to his waist, and on both thighs were two tanto-length swords. Kushina's eyes only widened even further when she saw a plethora of seals engraved on the blades.

However, the most striking feature of Naruto was his eyes. Gone were the cerulean blue eyes filled with mischief and innocence. They were now replaced by cold, hard, cobalt blue eyes swimming in twin pools of inky blackness.

Before anyone in the group could say anything, a soft, hard voice could be heard from the figure. "I am here."

The group of six could only keep gaping.

Word Count: 5,382 Words

Well, I am finally done with this. Sorry for not posting in a while, but my life has gotten pretty hectic, and I lost about half this chapter when my computer died on me.

Well, you know the drill, read and review. Meaningful reviews, remember that! I don't want the regular 'good job' or some spiel like that. At least put some effort into it!