Chapter 2

Meeting the team


"Tap, tap, tap". Groggily a young woman in her early twenties turned around, trying to stay asleep in spite of the annoying tapping against her window. "Tap, tap, tap". Not really registering what it meant, she did what she always did when something disturbed her rest too early. She took the first object she could get her hands on, which happened to be her latest alarm clock, and threw it in the general direction of the noise.

The familiar sound of a breaking window reached her ears a few seconds before the cold morning air did. Shivering from the freezing morning breeze, she quickly dove beneath the blankets in order to escape the cold and get some more sleep. Content with the results for now she turned around fully intending to continue the rest she started only a few hours ago.

Someone else didn't seem to keen on letting her sleep however. The life form that had been tapping her window had returned after being so rudely disturbed in her work. Deciding harsher methods were needed she entered the room, clutched the blanket between her talons and flew off with it through the window, dropping a small note in the process.

Shivering from the morning cold that suddenly attacked her entire body she woke up completely in an instant. Disgruntled because her sleep got interrupted anyway she quickly scanned the room with a menacing look. Looking for the perpetrator like a hunter lurking after its prey. Someone was going to suffer for her rude awakening!

An assignment scroll fell from her bed and she was barely able to see the fast retreating form of a very familiar eagle, still clutching her blankets in its talons. It was about the only creature that always seemed to manage to wake her up without getting injured, and right now that irked her unlike anything else.

"Damn you Akari! Get back here with my blankets so I can kill you for waking me up!" She shouted in frustration at the overgrown bird while she was hanging half out of the remains of her window shaking her fist at it.

She would have properly chased the damn bird down to retrieve her covers and get back to bed if it hadn't gotten distracted by the sound of something crashing into a wall on the street below her. Looking down she saw a lot of blood and a man who seemed to have passed out from a major nosebleed.

Checking herself over she noticed she was still in her night clothing which consisted of nothing more than her light mesh bodysuit, which looked very similar to a fishnet shirt; and the necklace she never took off. She had to admit that since the mesh hugged her body at every curve and was partly see-through it left very little to the imagination.

Looking around she picked up one of her old training weights and threw it at the pervert for good measure. With satisfaction she heard a sickening crunch of bones breaking when the weights hit their target death center. It served him right for peeking on her, even though it was mainly her fault for hanging out of the window dressed like that. Deciding that little detail wasn't important she turned around to get dressed for the day, making a mental note to send a message to the maintenance guy for another new window. It wouldn't surprise her if she was keeping his business going singlehandedly by now.

She moved over to the chair she left her standard ANBU outfit on before turning in, and put them on. After fastening her forehead protector, hiding her assortment of ninja weapons in her clothes and strapping her ninjato to her back she reached for her mask. It had the shape of the head of a wolf with a dark blue swirl on the bottom ending just below the nose.

Having finished her morning routine her eyes fell on the scroll that damn bird had woken her for. "O well might as well see what it says since I'm awake now anyway". She reasoned. Carefully scanning the scroll for traps with a few scanning Jutsu she deemed it safe and carefully opened the wax seal. Unrolling the scroll she read the single sentence it contained.

'Be present at the meeting of 5.30 AM in the usual place concerning a future assignment.

Eagle

Glancing at the clock she saw she only had 10 minutes left to make it to the meeting. "DAMMIT! I'll get you for this old man!" She screamed in frustration. "He could have told me yesterday but no! He had to send that overgrown canary of his to wake me up in the middle of night like always." She complained to no one in particular. She was sure he just loved to irk her like this and she would make sure she'd make him pay for it one day, consequences be dammed.

With one last glance at the clock (in the kitchen since the ones in her bedroom never seemed to survive long for some reason) she grabbed her beige trench coat and jumped out of the window. Leaving for the meeting place at top speed, accelerated by her frustration of being woken at such an ungodly hour.


About ten minutes ago she had arrived at the usual meeting place fully intending to give the old man a piece of her mind only to find it completely deserted. So obviously she did the next best thing. She turned around and went over to the old man's house to shout at him there.

With a brisk pace she walked through the garden over to the door of the Uzumaki's property. "KENAMO! Open this damn door right now!" She shouted while banging on the door as loudly as possible. She kept on knocking until the door opened revealing the groggy face of the old man. His normally well tended long white hair standing on all ends. Obviously he had still been asleep when she arrived and that infuriated her even more.

Before he had any chance to react or say anything to her he felt a kunai pressing into the skin of his throat and she started her verbal assault. "What the hell were you thinking, having that overgrown canary of yours waking me up in the middle of the night, only to send me to a meeting that didn't exist! Is this your idea of a joke!?" The kunai she was holding against him pressed deeper into his skin with every point she made, and was starting to draw a bit of blood by now.

The only indication she got of Kenamo having heard anything she yelled in his face or noticing the kunai poised at his throat for that matter was the extremely confused look he was giving her. Taking a deep breath to calm her demeanor she retracted her kunai licking of the blood in the process with a maniacal gleam in her eyes, only to replace it with the scroll his bird had left her and thrust it none to gently in his face.

Picking himself up from the floor he quickly read over the note, a look of realization slowly dawning on the old man's face. "Sorry about that Anko that note was supposed to be for Kakashi, go back to sleep". He replied. Without giving her any chance to reply he shut the door in her face and went back to sleep.

Annoyed at his rude behavior, Anko tried the door fully intending on following him, only to be shocked by the handle. "So that dirty old man thinks he can wake me up at this time of the day and get away with it eh? Well, we'll see about that!" She thought sadistically. Stealthily Anko made her way through the huge garden, moving around with the grace of a cat. She left no sign of her presence nor made any sound to give any indication of her whereabouts.

Suddenly she froze; her foot poised only a few scant inches above the ground while she listened intently at the steadily growing alarm. "SHIT", she thought, "I should have realized that old bear would have an intruder alert".

After a few seconds of nothing coming at her she relaxed and tried to trace the sound to its origin. Only to create a Kawarimi no Jutsu (replacement technique) out of reflex when a loud ringing object came flying straight at her at high speeds. A deafening crash was heard when the object hit and effectively splintered the log she had used for the replacement on impact, the ringing stopping nearly immediately afterwards.

Looking down at the deadly object from her position in the trees she realized that the "life threatening" situation she had escaped by a hair, had been nothing else then a ringing alarm clock that had been flung out of one of the houses opened windows at high speed. Not being the kind of person to let a blow to her pride like that go unanswered, even if it happened unintentionally, she made her way over to the open window. Using chakra to stick to the wall she quietly made her way up to the second floor.

Listening intently she tried to gauge if it would be safe to check through the window without being discovered. As she didn't hear a sound after a few moments, she took the chance and moved the last bit required to see into the room; only to stare straight in the brightest half opened blue eyes she'd ever seen, belonging to none other than an apparently half awake Uzumaki Naruto.

Surprised as she was by looking straight in the eyes of the kid she hadn't even been able to sense when there was less then three feet between them, Anko was involuntary impressed. Even she would have never thought that the loudest person in the entire village possessed such an incredible amount of natural stealth. Reflecting on the little she knew about the kid though she grudgingly had to admit to herself that she shouldn't have been. After all, pulling pranks on high level ninja's like he had on occasion required a high skill level of stealth. Just like everyone else in the village she had apparently been fooled by his loud façade and underestimated his abilities.

Focusing her thoughts back on the kid she realized he was still staring at her with that blank faraway expression he had worn earlier. Most of the respect he had just earned from her plummeted back down the drain. She noticed he was literally standing there still half asleep, seemed like he hadn't even noticed she was there. Deciding to test her theory she snapped her fingers right next to his left ear as loud as she could.

The effect was immediately noticeable when he jumped back picking something up in mid jump and dropped in a basic defensive stance, his arms positioned like he was holding a sword. Only to realize a moment later that the "sword" he was holding was still lying next to his bed.

Sparing a confused glance at the arm he had raised above his head, poised so that the sword should have been pointing in the direction of his enemy perfectly aligned to the floor. His eyes met with the fiery look of a very offended little vixen which seemed to be in an extremely bad mood by being woken in such a rude matter. If the glare she was giving him hadn't been a dead giveaway then the fangs snapping only millimeters from his ears certainly were.

Wiping away the huge sweat drop that had appeared on the back of her head she decided to climb the rest of the way in the room and sit down on the windowsill. Turning her attention back to Naruto she couldn't help but bursting out laughing as she saw the kid desperately apologizing to the highly insulted fox.

Hearing her laugh, the attention of Naruto and his fox were drawn from their current conflict to her, noticing their questioning looks Anko was forced to think fast. She didn't want the old man to know she had ventured inside his house without permission. So she used the first obvious solution that came to her mind, she removed her mask and said: "Ne, Naruto want to help me prank the old man?"

Immediately she saw his eyes light up in delight with the prospect of helping an ANBU out pranking his gramps. "I'll treat you to ramen if you manage to pull it off". She continued almost as an afterthought. The look on his face told her all she needed to know. "Hehe got him; let's see what this kid can do!"

"Of course I'll help you Nee-chan", Naruto replied bouncing with excitement at the prospect of free ramen. He could practically taste the flavor of his favorite kinds already when a stray thought forced its way through his ramen indulged mind. Anko raised an eyebrow at his familiar form of address but decided to let it slide for now. She was not supposed to be there and she was sure Kenamo would let her pay for it if he ever found out. He was her superior after all. She still shuddered at the memory of what happened last time he found out she had taken revenge on him for another one of his mistakes. She'd been stuck doing D-rank missions for a month. If she ever had to catch that bloody cat again…

Glancing back at Naruto she noticed that he had stopped his dance of joy and a thoughtful look had appeared on his face. Catching her looking at him he decided he might as well voice the thought that kept nagging him in the back of his mind. At least he'd have some peace and quiet in his head again. "Why?"

Anko told him what had happened. "So I want to take revenge on him for sending me Kakashi's message and having that bloody bird of his waking me up at that ungodly hour! Which reminds me he still has my blanket!" She concluded rather loud.

"Well he has this thing with snakes." Naruto replied thoughtfully, grateful that the little voice in his head had stopped nagging him.

"He does! So there is something good about that old pervert after all!" Anko replied surprised. "He sure fooled me; he never did appear to like them much when we were on a mission".

"Huh"? Naruto replied intelligently as he was thoroughly confused by then. "Gramps likes snakes? Ha, not in this lifetime, he's scared to death of 'em!"

"What! How can he be afraid of snakes? Just look at them." She replied pulling a young black mamba from her left sleeve. "Just look how beautiful she is, those wonderful dark-grey scales reflecting the sunlight, the muscular but lean body allowing it to reach up to 13 miles an hour and the pitch-black color on the inside of her mouth bringing out those lovely fangs dripping with their deadly poison. She continued while she expertly opened the snakes' mouth without giving it a chance to bite her in order to show Naruto what she was talking about.

Naruto however was slowly backing off getting thoroughly freaked out from the strange woman who was lovingly stroking the highly dangerous snake while she admired its fangs.

"Did you know that a single shot of their neurotoxin can paralyze a full grown man within minutes, completely killing him soon after when it reaches the hart, unless he gets treated with an antidote before that happens?" She continued apparently completely oblivious to Naruto's discomfort with the deadly creature in his room.

An undignified yelp coming from a highly offended and slightly edgy fox brought her out of her rant about the beauty of snakes, only to see Naruto pressed against the far end of the wall on the other side of the room. Trying to hide himself behind the little vixen he was holding as some sort of shield in front of him. The red furry creature wasn't pleased by that arrangement as she made painfully obvious by biting down on one of Naruto's hands as hard as she could.

"OUCH! Dammit Akane let go!" Naruto screamed out in pain while losing his grip on her. Apparently satisfied with her revenge and re-found freedom she did exactly that and settled down next to him. Sporting what looked most like a smug expression on her face. Deciding to ignore the scene in front of her when she noticed the wound on his hand healing rapidly, she let her pet go which immediately crawled back into its cosy warm spot in her sleeve so she could get back to sleep. "So the old man is afraid of snakes?" She continued as if nothing strange had happened before. "How about we…"


"I raise with 5 ramen coupons." Kenamo declared after rechecking his cards. He smiled in his mind's eye while keeping his features perfectly schooled, masking his glee at his good fortune. He had a Royal Flush so there was no way he could lose this game. He couldn't raise the stakes by too much however or else the others would know he had a good hand. They had been playing poker for years together and knew each other's play styles like the back of their hands. He always had the habit to bet a lot when he was dealt a good hand and they all knew it, so this time he did everything he could to resist the urge. The stakes would rise on their own good time if he played his hand carefully.

Discretely he looked around the table at his opponents, he was able to read Sarutobi like a book and he could clearly see the frustration in the old man's eyes. Kakashi and Hiashi were a different case altogether though; both of them had learned to school their features perfectly years ago. And just like every other time he had tried he was unable to get any indication of the cards they held. For once it didn't matter though, he would win this one for sure and the stakes kept rising. Sarutobi had called out at the first raise, knowing his cards wouldn't be able to bring him any luck this round. Kakashi and Hiashi however kept going strong, either bluffing very convincingly or holding good hands as well.

Eventually though the time to show the cards had arrived and he allowed his smile to break through on his face knowing he had just won a weeks' worth of free ramen. As his friends saw the huge smile on his face they knew they had lost since obviously both of them had been bluffing enormously. Hiashi was holding a pair of two's and Kakashi wasn't even holding that much. For a short moment he was allowed to be aware of an event only few were privileged to see in a lifetime and even fewer were left to tell the tale about. He could clearly read the frustration in the eyes of the Hyuuga clanhead that had just lost a fortune worth of ramen.

At the moment he slammed his cards down on the table however the whole scenery changed. His garden where they had been sitting in suddenly turned into a dark swamp and he could clearly hear the unmistakable sound of those terrible creatures closing in on them. Looking around trying to determine where the sounds originated from his eyes fell on his friends, as they were suddenly pulled down into the swamp so fast that all he was able to distinguish was the smooth slimy and scaled body of a huge snake that was devouring his friends.

He moved as fast as he could in order to attempt to save them before they were severely injured despite of his fear for these horrible creatures. His sword was summoned by his side in an instance, but before he could take any action to save his companions he felt the sensation of a slithering body wrapping itself around his legs, crawling up at an agonizing pace while he was paralysed with fear.

Fighting off his initial reaction by biting down hard on his tongue he broke free of the fear induced paralysis and started trashing around, struggling to break free so he could take care of this monstrous creature and hopefully save his friends in the process. Suddenly the scenery disappeared as he became aware of a falling sensation only moments before he crashed down on the floor next to his bed. His fateful sword kept steady in his right hand.

Looking around he noticed he was in his bedroom. "Sigh that dream again…" It had been hunting him for ages ever since that event in a past he had tried to leave behind. Deciding he might as well get up since he was awake anyway he started to get up. Only to realize his legs were still tightly bound together. Almost afraid of what he might see he slowly turned his head to look down.

His heart skipped a beat and shot up to his throat when he saw a very real looking snake was still curled around his legs looking straight at him and hissing ominously.

Faster than the eye could follow his sword had left its scabbard and with one perfectly executed horizontal strike the terrible creature was decapitated, effectively breaking the illusion. As the ropes that had been manipulated to look and act like snakes fell of his legs down on the floor.

Wide awake by the recent events his mind took little to no time to figure out what had happened, the unmistakable laughter of Naruto from his room across the hall, being a dead giveaway. He knew one sure way to get back at the kid though and effectively stopping the laughter at the same time.

"NARUTO! Get your arse in the courtyard right now! And bring your sword! We have some 'training' to do." He bellowed across the hall, putting an emphasis on the word 'training'. He smirked with satisfaction as the laughter died down immediately. Normally the kid loved training but he knew after pulling a stunt like that, that bringing his sword for training wasn't something to look forward to.

Looking back at the brilliant prank the kid had played on him, he noticed something that he hadn't realized before. There was something very peculiar about the Genjutsu that made him believe the ropes were in fact snakes. The skill itself really wasn't what made it strange. After all the illusion had been perfectly executed. However that was exactly the problem, t he kid simply sucked royally in the entire Genjutsu field. He just couldn't have pulled one off if his life depended on it; someone had to have helped him out...

Absentmindedly he softly traced his fingers over his throat, abruptly seizing the motion when he felt his hand crossing a streak of dried op blood. Suddenly a huge smirk lit up his face as he remembered the scene of an angry Anko banging on his door demanding an explanation for the note his companion had taken to the wrong ninja. Reflecting on it he realized the prank had her name all over it. It was just like her to pull a stunt like that. Apparently forcing her to catch that damn cat over and over for a month hadn't taught her not to mess with him again like he intended it to do. The 'fearsome beast' actually seemed to have taken a liking to him after all the times he had helped her escape.

This time he would take drastic measures. Hearing Naruto grumbling to himself while he made his way downstairs for his 'training' session Kenamo formed a seal creating a single Kage Bunshin. He quickly passed the orders to the solid clone he had just created. It would have to give the kid his training instead. He had some arrangements to take care of, and he didn't have much time left to do it in.


"Oi Sarutobi! Listen up; we have a bit of a problem with the new Genin teams." Kenamo stated while he barged into the Hokage's office unannounced. The Chuunin on guard duty was standing slightly disheveled behind him looking at the Hokage with a sheepish apologetic smile.

Knowing that his old friend couldn't care less about proper etiquette or who was standing in his way when he was worked up about something, Sarutobi waved the Chuunin off and signaled for him to close the door behind him.

Relief obvious on his face the newly instated Chuunin hurried to follow his leaders' orders, closing the double oaken doors with a resounding thud, and taking up his former guarding position again. Pulling up his resolve as he promised himself he would do what he could to prevent a similar situation from ever occurring again.

"What has gotten you so worked up Kenamo? You mentioned something about there being a problem with the new Genin teams?" The Hokage said addressing his friend while raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah well you see it's like this. Akari here," he said pointing at the magnificent eagle that was currently residing on his shoulder "made a little mistake with one of the messages for the new Jounin instructors. The one that I sent three hours early that was supposed to go to Kakashi so he might actually arrive somewhat on time for once, ended up going to Anko instead. Needless to say she wasn't very thrilled about it."

Sarutobi winced at the mental image that appeared when his old friend told him exactly what had happened with Anko this morning, ending his story with the prank that had been played on him by the two of them.

"Well I agree that a bit of payback is in order. But how is this story related to the Genin teams?" The third asked slightly confused.

"Well that's obvious isn't it?" Kenamo replied wondering how on earth Sarutobi was able to overlook the problem. "The meeting is in about fifteen to twenty minutes and Kakashi didn't get a note yet."

The sound of splintering wood echoed through the room as the Sandaime slammed his head onto his desk with a bit more force than the poor piece of furniture could handle, indicating that the third was fully aware of the problem now. There was no way that Kakashi would arrive even nearly on time to get his team assigned to him.

The doors to the office suddenly slammed open. Revealing several ANBU and the Chuunin guard streaming in the office in order to check out what had caused the disturbance, and ready to defend their Hokage with their lives would the need arise. It wouldn't have been the first time one of the other villages attempted to assassinate their leader. Not that assassinating a Hokage was an easy feat mind you, only the strongest ninja's of the village could be elected by the council to rise to the position. With Kenamo already in the office, one of the few ninja in the village that could challenge their Hokage to a duel and stand a good chance of winning; the guarding squad seriously doubted they were needed even if there was an attempted assassination. The last time that happened with both of them in the office the battle had been even over before they could intervene. The poor Chuunin started sweating profusely when he noticed a katana barely gracing the skin of his throat and the blue orb of whirling chakra only barely separated from the mask of one of the elite ninja's that came in with him.

Identifying the ninja that had come in the office as their own, Kenamo flicked his sword which disappeared to Kami knows where and let the ball of chakra dissipate harmlessly. Breathing easier with the extremely sharp weapon removed from his throat he turned his attention to Kenamo as he realized he was being addressed.

"Find Mitarashi Anko and tell her to come here in twenty minutes."

Rapidly paling as the orders he had just received processed in his mind, the Chuunin acknowledged the command and left in a puff of smoke. It just wasn't his day. He had been flung aside, held at sword point and been ordered to find one of the craziest ninja in the village and it wasn't even eight AM yet. Paling even further as he remembered the tales of her legendary morning temper as told by his fellow Chuunin, he swallowed heavily and hurried on to finish his mission. At the very least he would have some interesting tales to tell his friends tonight, well assuming he would be able to that is...

Raising an eyebrow at his friend, Sarutobi ordered one of his ANBU to get him a new desk and dismissed the rest. "You want to give Kakashi's team to Anko?" He asked incredulously. "I mean, I'm sure Naruto will have no problems with her, and Sakura... well will either thrive or quit on her first day due to mental trauma... but I really don't think it is a good idea to let her teach the Uchiha. The boys mind is fragile enough after what happened to him even without her influence." He continued in a tone that clearly stated he thought Kenamo had finally lost the last of his marbles while shuddering at the mental images his mind was creating with the possibilities.

"Hell no! Has all that paperwork finally driven you around the bend?! Those two together in one team is just asking for a disaster and I don't even want to think about the effect that would have on the Uchiha's personality. We'd probably have a whole new Uchiha massacre on our hands in no time if we stuck those two together. No we need to give her Genin that can handle her... unique personality. Besides since you seem to have forgotten, Naruto was supposed to be teamed up with Hiashi's daughter, Hinata."

"You mean that wasn't off the table? Didn't you tell me years ago that the Hyuuga kinjutsu Hiashi mentioned failed to work because of the Kyuubi's seal?"

"Wait.. are you saying I forgot to tell you? Whoops, I could've sworn I did..." Kenamo responded, rubbing his chin in thought. "Anyway remember about seven years ago when Naruto got a severe head injury at the Hyuuga clan and lost most of his memory up to that day?"

Sarutobi nodded in response, the horrible day still vivid in his mind. If it hadn't been for the restorative powers of the Uzumaki bloodline Naruto probably wouldn't have escaped with nothing but memory loss.

"Turns out that little Hinata did more then awaken her Byakugan that day. Hiashi told me later that she woke him up in the middle of the night demanding to go see Naruto because he needed her. She was convinced he woke up scared and alone. At the time he didn't take her seriously and put her back to bed, but after some checking with the staff we discovered she had been right. So while not working as expected we can't say it failed completely. As far as I can tell from studying the seals there is a chance it'll fix itself eventually."

"Hmm I see, that could turn out to be useful. I assume you have a suggestion for the teams then?" The third asked him with a knowing twinkle in his eyes. Having known his friend as long as he did he was pretty certain that it was no accident that Kakashi's message had ended up with Anko instead. Sure enough in response Kenamo took out a note with his suggestion for the teams for Sarutobi to read. "Hmm, yes I see. You went for allround teams instead of specialist. Ah well, why not, it should work and we would be able to assign them a wider range of missions to them. We can just order Kakashi to tutor the Uchiha in his free hours if the kid awakens his Sharingan."

His personal assigned mission completed Kenamo left the Sandaime on his own, who was busy talking to himself going over all of the pros and cons.


A soft gasp escaped the lips of a lavender eyed girl, shocked at the bloody appearance of her most precious friend. The friend she had admired for years. The friend who since that horrible day seven years ago, didn't even remember her... Seeing him stumbling into the classroom, clothes cut to ribbons and covered in blood brought the memory right back to the forefront of her mind...

[Flashback, seven years ago.]

"Catch me if you can!" Little Naruto hollered over his shoulder, as an excitedly yipping Akane and laughing Hinata chased after him. Running as fast as they could in a game of tag through the vast Hyuuga grounds straight into the large clan compound. Neither of them remembering they weren't allowed to run inside. Naturally it didn't take long for the reason for that rule to become painfully apparent as Naruto bulldozed straight into one of the elders of the clan.

"Oops, sorry Jijii. Didn't mean to run into ya." Naruto apologized sheepishly as he offered the old man his hand to help him up. He was shocked though when instead of accepting his apology the old man glared at him and harshly slapped his hand away. Tears coming to his eyes as his hand immediately flared up in pain and refused to respond to his wishes.

Sensing her companions distress at his paralyzed hand, Akane did what every good fox would do in such a situation. She attacked the offender in defense of her friend. Unfortunately for her though she wasn't dealing with your average old man, but a retired ninja. A ninja who had been powerful enough to actually survive long enough to retire.

Showing exactly how he managed to do so for so long he struck her in the middle of her leap with a Jyuuken powered strike. Causing her to yelp in agony and smash into the wall. She didn't get up after hitting the floor.

"You bastard! Leave Akane alone!" Naruto yelled. His distress quickly replaced by fury, traces of a frightening chakra starting to leak from his form as his anger increased. His muscles tensed in preparation to attack the old man that hurt his little fox.

Instantly recognizing the feel of the tainted chakra as that belonging to the giant demon fox that killed so many of his loved ones five years ago. The elder lost all traces of reason.

"Be silent you insolent demon whelp! I don't care what Hiashi says, I'll do the world a favor and kill you right here!" He screamed. A frighteningly mad look in his eyes as he quickly got up and proceeded to attack young Naruto. Not even using the clans' gentle fist style but brutaly beating the defenseless five year old, inflicting as much damage as he could. He knew he had to be quick. There was no doubt in his mind that Hiashi would hear the commotion and investigate. As it was, he could already hear the door to his clan leaders office slam open.

He prepared to quickly deliver the finishing blow, consequences be dammed. No matter what happened to him, at least he would have the comfort of having avenged his wife and the many other victims of the demons' attack. Fortunately for Naruto though he never got the chance to end it. As his whole body stiffened by a murderous killing intent coming from shy little Hinata-chan of all people.

Wild chakra flaring around her little form, veins pulsing around her eyes. Eyes that to his shock weren't the lovely lavender he was used to but flaring with her newly awakened Byakugan. Sweet and shy little Hinata who until that moment he had considered to weak to be the heir to their prestigious clan, held him frozen with killing intent. His mind unable to reconcile the sweet little girl he knew, with frightening child that held him rooted to the spot. He watched in growing horror as she instinctively slipped into the stance for one of the clan's most devastating techniques. A skill she had no way of knowing, but somehow seemed to prepare for anyway.

"Don't your dare hurt my Naruto-kun!" She snarled at him. He all but felt her Byakugan scanning his chakra system, instinctively looking for the best place to strike. Followed by the most frightening proclamation he ever heard from a five year old girl in his long life. All the more frightening because it was delivered completely devoid of emotion.

"Locked on". With that she disappeared from his vision. Nearly instantly reappearing within his guard and delivering a powerful Jyuuken powered strike straight into his family jewels. Before his brain even had a chance to recognize the crippling pain that would cause she followed up with an even stronger blow right above his heart. A blow he had been unable to defend against and that he knew would be fatal due to his advanced age.

He flew backwards against a cabinet, his old spine mercifully snapping, taking away the agonizing pain in his nether regions in the proces. With his mind cleared by the shock, a small smile appeared on his face as he felt his life force slowly slipping away. Hinata-sama proved without a shadow of a doubt that she was a worthy heir, and he was confident she would make a great leader when the time came. His only regret was that he had allowed his grief to cloud his judgement and she would likely hate him for hurting her best friend.

It was at that scene Hiashi arrived, followed moments later by Kenamo. The latter took one look around, picked up Naruto and disappeared. No doubt rushing to the hospital. Quickly checking on his daughter who had fainted with chakra exhaustion the moment they arrived, he picked her up and hurriedly made his way over to his uncle. The man who had taught him the gentle fist and had been more of a father to him then his real father ever was.

"Don't blame her Hiashi" A weak coughing fit overcame the old man before he was able to finish.

"Ssst, save your strength Chaurau-san." Hiashi responded soothingly, only to turn his head around to shout at one the clan members arriving at the scene. "Get a medic over here, NOW!"

"Don't bother kid, you know as well as I do that I will die long before they can get here". Having realised as much Hiashi nodded, grief showing in his eyes.

"Like I said don't blame her, I lost my mind when I felt the beasts' chakra... She stopped me from making the biggest mistake of my life and allowed me to die a warriors death with my honor intact. For that... I thank her." He held up his hand as another coughing fit overcame him determined to finish what he wanted to say before the Shinigami collected his soul.

"You sired a worthy heir kid... she really was... amazing..." With those parting words his last breath left his body and Hyuuga Chaurau died with a proud look on his face, in the arms of his closest remaining family member. Content that his clan would have a strong leader for years to come.

[End flashback]

Granted her memory of that day was fragmented at best. She vividly remembered Naruto getting brutally assaulted in her clan house and the feeling of desperation that overcame her as she felt powerless to stop it. Followed moments later by a splitting headache and a painful throbbing of her eyes. The next thing she knew it was the middle of the night, and after she ran into her parents' bedroom convinced for some reason that Naruto was scared and needed her, she found out she had awakened her families' bloodline limit. Her parents told her it had completely exhausted her chakra and she was told in no uncertain terms that she had to go back to bed. Only to be devastated the next day when they went to visit her friend in the hospital and discovered he had lost his memory and couldn't even remember her.

Right now that didn't matter though, something obviously happened to Naruto and he might even need her! With that thought she focused her attention back on him and noticed the ecstatic smile he was sporting, despite the state he was in.


"I finally hit him!" Naruto thought exited, thinking back to the 'training' he endured as a result for their prank earlier that morning. He had long ago discovered that he learned fighting better under pressure and getting his gramps riled up was a sure way to fight that way. Unfortunately getting the old man angry wasn't easy, but the snake prank certainly did the job this morning.

"What are you smiling about, Dobe?" Sasuke asked apparently annoyed with him like usual. "You look like you've been run over by a pack of rabid fangirls." Several people shuddered nearly inconceivably at the mental image that his comment produced.

Naruto noticed they were looking at him with contempt again. He didn't know why people did that but for some reason he always had felt like some sort of outcast; the people who didn't stare at him like he was some sort of filthy creature that shouldn't be allowed to exist were a rare breed indeed. It had always been that way. At first only the adults reacted to him that way, shortly after their children took over their elders' behavior. His only other living relative being a Hunter Nin didn't help matters either since she spent nearly as much time away on missions as she did at home.

Early on he noticed that bringing Akane with him outside of his families grounds' seemed to make things worse, as she seemed to be in even more danger then he was. He had decided to leave her at home until the day he would become a Genin, would be able to protect her, and maybe even get some tips from Kiba. One of the few people who treated him normally. Well as normal as Kiba treated people anyway, to train her to be viable in battle.

When his gramps had taken him to the local weapon smith on his fourth birthday it had been one of the best days of his short life. The man had treated him warmly and without contempt, he'd even patiently helped him choose a sword that was suited for his physique. After thirty minutes of trying sword after sword they decided to give him a bit of a breather and let him look around, checking out the displays his eyes fell on a strong and heavy looking blade. It was single edged, straight and had a large metal cross guard placed between the blade and the handle.

The shopkeeper noticed his interest and walked over. He took one of the Nandao, as they were called, that was suited for his length out of the case and handed it over. The moment he tried to use the Southern style Chinese Broadsword they all knew he had found his sword. It felt natural in his hands and unlike the other swords he tried it moved exactly the way he wanted it to, well at least as exact as possible in untrained hands.

On their way back home he proudly carried his new sword with him. When the euphoria of his present wore off a bit though, he noticed his gramps glaring at the villagers who were looking at him and the sword with contempt. As if they disapproved of him learning the art of the swords his clan had been known for. Like with Akane his little fox companion he decided to leave the blade at home until the day he became a Genin.

Being shunned by nearly everyone all of his life and being forced to leave his companion at home whenever he stepped out, left Naruto a little lonely and infused with a need to prove himself and to be acknowledged by others. So he grasped every opportunity to stand in the spotlights forcing people to acknowledge his existence, the opportunity Sasuke's question provided wasn't an exception to this. Just when he gathered his thoughts back to the scene at hand though, he got distracted by a question of the shy girl he had sat down next to when he came in.

"Ano... Naruto-kun? ...what happened to you, are you okay?" She asked with a soft voice. The shy girl next to him hardly ever spoke at all so everyone looked at her in surprise as she ducked her head blushing furiously from the attention she suddenly got. The concern at Naruto's disheveled appearance and his lack of response to his rival immediately forgotten.

Seemingly oblivious to her distress at her situation Naruto jumped back up from his seat, ignoring the pain it caused him and launched excitedly into his explanation. A small smile gracing his lips when he heard her breathe a sigh of relief when he ones again became the centre of the attention.

"I feel great! You see I had this morning training session with gramps, and you should have seen it! He was like cutting me up pretty bad...

"Yeah that's pretty obvious" Sasuke rudely interrupted Naruto, smirking as he looked at the blonds' disheveled appearance.

Glaring at him but further ignoring the jibe for once Naruto continued on with his tale as if he hadn't just been rudely interrupted. "But in the end I expertly parried his attack, moved in through his defense and put my sword right through him in a single move!" He told them avidly with the movements to boot, wincing in pain every once in a while.

"You put a sword right through your own gramps?!" Sakura joined in, in shock. Apparently the comment had taken her off-guard, since she usually ignored him to the best of her ability.

"Pfft, that's just an idle boast, to get attention, if he could use a sword he would have taken it with him for the physical combat tests exams, besides only the ANBU are taught to use them." Ino said from the back of the room.

"Yeah you should have seen it! It was the first time I was able to beat one of his clones!" Naruto continued as if Ino hadn't just blatantly made him out for a liar at all.

"Clones?" Sakura replied dumbstruck.

"Yeah Clones, you know those things that look like you and get created with chakra?" He replied slowly as if he was talking to a particularly dense girl.

"BAKA!" she shouted while she slugged him hard over the head resulting in Naruto having a rather unpleasant meeting with the floor. Shikamaru who had once been a victim of that punch as well, when he had made a comment about her forehead (which seemed to be a touchy subject with the girl for some reason) winced in sympathy. "I know what clones are! But they aren't supposed to be solid… are they?" She replied slightly confused.

Naruto's face lit up in a huge smile when he realized that for once he knew something the beautiful although rather violent Haruno Sakura didn't.

Seeing his face lit up in obvious enjoyment as he picked himself up from the newly created dent in the floor, Sakura groaned in despair. Ino would never allow her to live that one down: not knowing something the Dobe obviously did.

"You see Sakura-chan it's like this." Naruto said adopting a sage like tone of voice.

"Alright everyone take your seats." Their teacher Iruka yelled while he walked into the classroom, effectively cutting Naruto's explanation short before it even started.

Grumbling something about rude people that kept interrupting him all the time he trudged back over to his seat. He was still a bit dizzy due to a lack of blood caused by the multiple cuts all over his body. But he didn't spare it any thought since his body was healing the damage as rapidly as usual and he was already feeling a lot better anyway.

"First of all I would like to apologize for being late. There was a little problem with getting a hold of one of the Jounin sensei this morning so we had to change the teams a bit to adjust to the situation. And as to why we are here today." Iruka continued launching into his speech mode.

"Starting from today you are all official ninja's but, you are all still Genin. It's going to get harder from here. Once your instructors feel you are ready you will start taking mission outside of the village. You will be required to escort nobles, to protect merchants, or even to deliver messages to allied hidden villages. There is a decent chance that you will be required to fight of bandits while protecting a caravan or even enemy ninja. In order for you to learn decent teamwork and develop the skill you need for these missions you will all be put in groups of three where you will accomplish missions under a Jounin rank teacher."

Looking around the class of students he had trained for the last couple of years he noted their surprise at being put in groups. They had started talking excitedly the moment he had let that part of the announcement slip, all of them wondering whom they would be teamed up with. 'Well might as well leave the rest of my speech for the Jounin teaching them'.

"All right listen up. Team 1..." Iruka announced to the class capturing the attention of most of them immediately.

-A few minutes later-

"Next, Team 7. Uchiha Sasuke." Suddenly nearly every single female in the class that hadn't left with their team yet was paying full attention. It had become so silent that one could hear a pin drop. Nearly every single one of them wanted to be in his team. The Uchiha was good looking, the number one rookie and a talented ninja who had somehow attracted his own female fan club, to this day it still baffled Naruto how he did it since he was usually found either training or brooding and ignored everyone as much as he could.

"Inuzuka Kiba" Iruka continued somewhat nervously seeing the stares of the girls intensifying probably hoping to influence his announcement that way, and throwing jealous glares at Kiba.

Kiba a member of the Inuzuka clan who trained dogs for battle and ended up with some doglike tendencies to boot, groaned rather loudly muttering softly to his young ninja dog Akamaru. Iruka wasn't sure but it sounded like something among the lines of cursing his bad luck at being stuck with the stuck up Uchiha. "And Yamanaka Ino."

A shriek of joy loud enough to make a banshee recoil in shock and cover its ears (like everyone in Konoha was probably doing right about now) followed nearly immediately after. She was a member of the Yamanaka clan who were known for their specialty Jutsu which allows them to take control over someone else's body for a short while.

"Take that forehead girl; I got Sasuke, now it's only a matter of time before he falls in love with me!" Ino taunted her old friend turned love rival for the Uchiha's affections while swinging her hair around.

Sakura was prevented from retaliating to her words when Iruka continued undaunted with practiced ease.

"Your Jounin-sensei will be Sarutobi Asuma."

A Jounin with a short trimmed ring beard and an utterly lazy expression on his face entered the room and motioned for the newly instated team 7 to follow him outside.

"Next, Team 8. Haruno Sakura, Akimichi Chouji and Aburame Shino." Iruka announced as soon as the door closed behind them, it almost seemed like he feared to be interrupted again.

The horror at his announcement was quite plainly visible on the face of the Haruno girl, while her new teammates seemed completely indifferent to the news. Unlike her new partners she didn't come from a renowned family and she didn't possess a cool bloodline like them. Her parents were merchants who never really understood her drive to become a ninja but they had supported her every step of the way anyway.

Chouji a rather 'big boned' boy who could be seen eating twenty-four hours a day continued doing exactly that from his ever present and apparently bottomless bag of chips, so he could keep up his energy as he put it. And Shino who was the heir to one of Konoha's most powerful clans thanks to their bloodline ability, which allows them to use killer bugs in battle, showed as much emotion as he ever did. He raised an eyebrow over the sunglasses he never seemed to take off, apparently processing what he heard and went back to conversing with the bug on his hand.

"Your Jounin-sensei will be Yuhi Kurenai, due to circumstances she won't be able to meet you here but will be waiting for you three in training ground twelve in one hour from now." Iruka continued.

Having received their orders Team 8 was dismissed to make their way to the said training ground, followed in the shadows by their new sensei who wanted to see how her new team interacted before she introduced herself.

"Since Team 9 already exists, the three of you that are left will be Team 10 and your Jounin Teacher will be Mitarashi Anko who said she'd meet you at training ground Ten in an hour since she was still busy with shouting at your gramps Naruto." Iruka finished with a smile.

Naruto who hadn't been paying much attention to what was happening since he hadn't heard his name yet, was surprised to discover there were only three of them left. And apparently the other two ended up being his teammates. Looking around the room as to determine the identity of the people he was going to team up with, his eyes fell on the shy girl next to him. She was shy, timid had dark hair and fascinating lavender colored eyes.

Those eyes were the signature that made her clan instantly recognizable since they held the power of a special ability that was passed down by her families' blood. Kenamo had once told him that it allowed them to see in nearly 360 degrees range and to see the inner chakra coil system of a person. Her clan was respected and feared all around for the Gentle Fist technique they had developed to exploit their unique ability. As he wasn't a member of a clan the details weren't known to him but it was said they possessed the skill to kill a man with that technique without leaving a single mark on the body.

Hyuuga Hinata as one of his new teammates was called was the complete opposite of the rest of her clan, while they were arrogant, proud and walked around as if they owned the place no matter where they were. She was shy, timid and preferred to stay as far away from the spotlight as humanly possible. How she actually turned out that way in a family like hers was beyond him, but he didn't mind at all. The last thing he wanted was someone as stuck up as the Uchiha in his team.

"Ne, Hinata-chan are you okay?" Naruto asked slightly confused while laying a hand on her head to check for a fever. It didn't matter that he didn't have a clue as to how to tell if she actually did, but he figured since his gramps could always tell whether or not he had one, he would find out by that motion somehow as well. This proved to be too much for the poor girl who had been growing steadily more embarrassed while the object of her affections kept staring at her. The moment his hand made contact she did the only reasonable thing she could at the time… she fainted.


Coming back around Hinata stared around confused at the change of scenery. Unlike the classroom she'd been at as she expected to find herself in, she saw a large dark room, sporting several large doors. Taking in her surroundings, recognition dawned on her face, she found herself once again in what she assumed was a part of her mindscape.

On her right was a large solid oak door standing slightly ajar allowing a narrow beam of light to filter through, slightly illuminating the room she was in. This door she knew from previous encounters with the room would take her back to her consciousness, back to her class and… even here in her own mind she was inventing new shades of red as she remembered her reason for passing out.

"Naruto was staring at me! Not one of my beautiful classmates like Ino or Sakura but me!" Admitted though she was the only girl left in the class, Ino and Sakura had left before with their new teams. But maybe he finally started to remember her! And even if he didn't they were in the same team now! It was like a dream come true, surely it was only a matter of time until his memory came back to him now and she'd finally get her best friend back!

"Or maybe he was simply lost in thought, only looking in my direction by coincidence without even seeing me..." She thought to herself dejectedly.

"Don't put yourself down like that!" She mentally scolded herself fiercely. "You have Naruto in your team now, without any other girls to steal him away from you!"

Cheering up at her own mental scolding she got back to the matter at hand. She was still stuck in her mindscape after all. She knew what she had to do to get back, but like many times before one of the other doors in the room fascinated her. It was much larger than the others, made of thick steel and shut tight by a very complicated looking seal. An ominous yet comforting feeling emanated from it, it felt peculiar, wild, primal yet oddly comforting at the same time. She didn't really understand how those feelings could be comforting, but she couldn't deny that they were all the same. On top of that the curious sensation seemed to be stronger then usual.

Ever since the first time she had arrived in this particular part of her mindscape, the seal had fascinated her, so she took it on herself to scan through her family library and the public ones trying to find out what it meant. She had searched everything she could get her hands on but apart from getting a little knowledge on the basics, it hadn't done her any good. Apparently sealing Jutsu was mainly restricted information only available to ninja who had gotten permission to study it.

None of the scrolls concerning the particular brand of techniques contained a seal even remotely as complicated as the one she was looking at right now however. She had only been able to identify one small part of it after months of research; the seal appeared to be some sort of a trigger. This discovery let her to believe the door would open one day once a certain event had taken place. Perhaps she had to master a certain family Jutsu, or she might have to reach a certain age, or it could be something else altogether. And even then there was no guarantee that she was correct and the door would open, as for its purpose she could only guess.

A faraway sound coming from the other door leading back to her consciousness, drew her attention away from the mystery that had been plaguing her for so long. She couldn't be sure since it sounded so far away but it almost sounded like Naruto worriedly calling out her name.

"Naruto is worried about me?" She thought incredulously. With that thought set firmly in her mind she completely forgot about the sealed door for now and hurried back to her consciousness so she could ease their worries and let them know she was okay.

"Hinata! Time to wake up! Hinata! Are you alright!?" Having rushed through the open door of her sub-consciousness she was slowly coming to, confirming that it was indeed Naruto who was calling her name worriedly.

"Man this is so troublesome" She heard the unmistakable voice of Shikamaru from her right. "Sensei will be here in ten minutes…"

"Ten minutes!" Thinking back to Iruka-sensei's words earlier she recalled him saying that their Jounin instructor would be awaiting them at one of the training grounds in one hour. She was shocked as she realized she'd been out cold for nearly fifty minutes. No wonder Naruto-kun was worried about her! Quickly pulling herself back to full awareness she tried to place her feet under herself in order to get up, only to find the ground was missing. Finally she became aware of the strong arms placed under her knees and armpits and a flash of sun-kissed golden hair flashed through her vision..

"Naruto-kun is carrying me bridal style!" The realization hit her like a ton of bricks causing her earlier blush to reappear with a vengeance, she felt that if possible she was coloring even more then when she passed out initially.

Immediately noticing the color returning to her pale complexion, Naruto who had been staring at her quite intently while trying to bring her to; gently set her back down. Making sure to support her until he could make sure she could stand on her own feet again.

She battled fiercely against her own embarrassment so she wouldn't pass out again as she noticed Naruto wasn't letting go of her. She heard a deep breath escape his mouth as she balanced herself out again.

"Oi Hinata! you're okay!" Naruto remarked happily as he saw she seemed to be alright again. Just as she was about to nod in acknowledgement his next question stopped every single though that was coursing through her mind up short.

"Ne, why did you pass out?" He had asked her sounding confused.

"A..a…ano Na…na…naruto-kun." She was reduced to a nervous stutter, praying that the ground would just swallow her whole, so she would be spared the embarrassment of answering his question. Thankfully for her someone seemed to have heard her prayers as their Sensei decided that that exact moment would be perfect to show up.

"Alright short stuffs follow me!" Anko shouted looking straight at Naruto only to sprint away from them immediately after.

"I'm not short, I just haven't hit my growth spurt yet!" Naruto shouted at her in immediate response. He always had been a bit touchy about his height or rather the lack of it. He removed his hand from Hinata's back so he could rush after his new sensei in immediate pursuit.


Author's note:

First of all thank you to everyone who reviewed the prologue, every single one of them was much appreciated and helped keep my muse alive and kicking! As for the other 99% who read it and didn't review: I hope you enjoyed it anyway! Chances are if you are reading this you did. _

This chapter took a bit longer then expected. I had a good bit of the chapter prepared but as usual my muse butted in and scenes just kept appearing. Initially I expected to get the Genin test out of the way in this one... let's just say it didn't work out that way. I'm pretty sure I'll manage to get around to it in the next chapter though ;-)

This morning I looked it over this chapter one last time. With the purpose of proofreading and editing out as much of the errors I could find. Figured I'd have it up in a few hours at the most. So naturally my muse popped up again. Result: another 1200 words added to the chapter and the rating bumping up to M due to the flashback...

Anyway I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and I would love to hear what you thought about it.