I'm done. It's over. Seven ap exams conquered, eight eoc's defeated. In two weeks I graduate, and for the next two weeks I'll write, eat and play video games cause ain't shit else to do. So here's the next chapter of starting small.

XXX-Kushina-xxx

She rushed around the kitchen. The wayward light of the far-off sun shone through the open windows. A cool breeze carried the smells of cooking foods out of the house. It also took the night heat with it, and left a cool, comfortable air. Saturday morning breakfast was a tradition in her home. On Saturday Mornings all of the Uzumaki-Namikaze household arrived from their morning preparation to a wholesome meal. They talked about their week, they joked, and they spent time together. She enjoyed it, and she assumed her family did as well. But today…she was in more of a rush.

She had a son.

She had always wanted a son. It was not that she didn't love her daughters, she did. They were successful, strong, beautiful women, or in the case of Mikito young girl. She was proud of her daughters, but…still, she had imagined. What would a son look like? A boy…

She had a son.

She'd read his files, scanned through most of his life and had seen what he had lived through. His life was tough. It started in tragedy, their deaths, the Kyuubi's escape, and left an orphan with less than an hour into the world. Childhood was hard by yourself, and he was alone, and hated. The first thirteen years were loneliness, though she had a feeling words were not enough to explain the pain of his existence at that age. Life as a ninja for him was harsh, especially so for a gennin. C-ranks gone wrong; turned A-ranks. Insane sanin, and traitorous teammates. Three years of hard training and a fourth great ninja war. Love gained, then lost, then gained again, then lost again. A married man turned a widower.

She had a son.

She looked at the clock with a casual glance. Brushed a strand of deep blood red out of her eye, and smiled. It was six thirty. Naruko, Mito, and Minato wouldn't be up for another two hours. More than enough time for her to finish the meal and clean up the mess she made as she did so. She continued on, checked the rice, and took another look at a photo of Naruto. It had been included with the dossier, he looked like her. His nose, her lips, her eye shape, yet….Yet he had his father's coloring. Hair like silken gold, eyes as deep and as blue as the sea…Handsome. She smiled again. She heard footsteps, soft light sounds from the feet of a trained ninja.

She turned, and there he was.

His hair wasn't blond. Minato had already had it changed. It was a deep blood red, like hers, like most Uzumaki. And his eyes were grey like a cloudy sky, hints of his deep, deep blue shined through though. Fragments of what lay underneath. A shifting morphing thing. He was tan, like Minato, but that tan had a sickly weak pall to it. She could feel the warm rhythm of his chakra. Beneath that; she could feel the Kyuubi. A second Kyuubi. Its chakra more potent, and yet…subdued? Merged more equally and far better into his system then the Kyuubi was into hers. He had stopped on the stairs and was looking at her.

He seemed as stuck, as awe struck, as unable to speak as her. He opened his mouth, gaped like a fish then closed it again. She felt herself doing the same. It was weird, meeting a son, seeing him fully grown and looking like a young version of his father. So much alike, and yet, not exactly the same.

"…" He opened his mouth to talk, but words fell away.

"H-hello." He mumbled it out. His voice was deep and cracked, it felt dry like a desert gulch.

"Hi," a pause, "would you like some tea?" He looked at her, and suddenly she felt wholesomely self-conscious. That was a stupid question of her to ask.

She had a son.

But he wasn't a little boy. Those deep grey eyes that were once blue, that face that was now sharp, and defined, and lacked all the fat that marked innocence. He'd lived a hard life and that look…the look of a man.

"Yes."

He sat down at a table and watched her. A tense silence fell between the two of them. It was awkward, and she resisted the urge to scream out of frustration. She wasn't going to sit here, unable to face him. Barely able to look him in the eye. She grabbed a tea cup from the cupboard, then poured a cup of deep rich black tea for the both of them.

"Naruto."

He looked up, an eyebrow raised. "He told you who I was."

She laughed at that. "Of course he did. I'm his wife…technically your mother, and one of the people who can validate your back story. It'd be stupid if he didn't tell me, and I'd make him pay for not doing so." He smiled a wide smile at that. She was feisty, like he'd always imagined her, and he liked it.

"Tell me about yourself."

"You already know my whole life." She nodded.

"It's not the same as having you tell me. You don't have to tell me about anything you don't want to talk to me about. We don't have to talk at all if you don't want."

"It's fine. Ask away." He looked at her now. Took a sip of his tea then sighed. "It's good."

"Thank you." She took a sip as well. She leaned against a counter. Her red hair pooling and flowing across it. "Tell me about…." She took a moment to think it over. What to ask. She wanted to know so much, about his friends, about his team, about his missions and life, and perhaps most dauntingly about his wife…But asking for anything like that seemed completely out of place. Still. She'd take the chance.

"Tell me about your wife."

He was quiet for a minute, and she feared she'd went too far. But then, a small smile blossomed on his face. A tiny, barely seen thing. But she noticed. He took another sip of tea. Then he let out a long, deep breath.

"Ino." The word hung in the air forever. "Ino was something else. She wasn't the first woman I loved, that was Sakura-chan. She wasn't the first woman to love me either. That was Hinata-chan….but Ino-chan was the first to see me at my weakest. We'd beennot exactly close friends, but friends. She noticed my depression, it was after Sakura-chan had died. She came to my house, burst through my door when no one was really around me, they thought I needed my space. She knew better…" He laughed. His smile growing and she couldn't help but to smile as well.

"One day, I was feeling depressed, and she burst in the door. She had this look on her face….it, it's so hard to describe. She was fierce, that's the best word I can come up for it. Fierce. Like she was on a mission and that mission was me. I still remember exactly how she looked, her hair was wild, and not in her usual ponytail. She had this tight fitting dress, like a second skin."

"Scandalous." He laughed again.

"It was purple and orange. A deep rich purple with orange leaves that fell into an inferno that tapered around the edges of her dress. She looked me in the eyes from my doorway. She looked me dead center and said 'Get dressed, we're going to go get wasted, and if you say no, I swear I'll kick your ass from here to suna.' So I got dressed, and we went and got dinner, and bought some of the strongest Sake we could get and went back to my place. We got drunk. Absolutely drunk, and she told jokes, and kept me laughing all night. She passed out on my couch and I passed out on the floor. She was back every couple days after that, then every day, then we were inseparable. We became Ino and Naruto. When she died-"

The smile fell and he trailed off into silence. The awkwardness was gone, but in its place was a muted silence. Tense and strange. She looked back at the clock another hour before the rest of the house would be awake. They could still talk.

"Okay…"

She paused as she checked the tamagoyaki. The rice was almost done boing, and she still had to fry the eggs for it. She turned her back to him as she began to work.

"You said Sakura? I know her. She was Naruko-chans teammate. Nice girl, she's a chunnin now I think. She's part of the medic force now, I know that for sure." She paused as she cracked some eggs into a bowl and quickly started batter them. "Okay. Tell me about…. You. What you like, what's your favorite food. Your dreams."

"My favorite food is miso Ramen. I like training, and food. I like spending time with friends too, but I doubt I'll be doing much of that anymore." He laughed at his own dark joke. "My dream was to be Hokage, but, I think that died a long time ago. I don't know now."

"Maybe you can find a new dream here?"

"Maybe." His voice trailed off again, and she sighed.

xxx-Minato-xxx

After preparing for the day he walked down stairs to see Naruto and his wife talking. The atmosphere was one of ease, and they spoke in quite soft tones. A rarity for his wife, and he allowed the peaceful situation to birth a smile on his face. They turned to him, his wife sending a small kiss, and Naruto nodding his head in acknowledgement. Outside the windows the morning sun shone bright and true. The sky was a light, baby blue hue. Flecks of white clouds marred its essence.

"Arashi, Kushina, good morning."

Kushina smiled and spoke. "How did you sleep Minato?"

"Like usual."

She turned to Naruto as she spoke. "He sleeps like a dead man. It's impossible to wake him up in the morning. And he drools too." She made a sickly face, and cast a judgmental eye at him. He feigned insult, laughed, and walked around the kitchen grabbing his breakfast. The two of them returned to their conversations and he listened in as he ate.

"Then, Jiraiya, the ass, decides it's a good idea to make a fourteen year old boy spell check his manuscript for his latest ero-novel. I was an awful editor by the way." Naruto stopped, shoved the last morsels of his meal into his mouth. "His editor called it "an absolute piece of shit. The worst, least legible thing I've ever read."

He chuckled to himself. "He wouldn't speak to me for a week afterwards." A smile was on his face. Then another laugh. "The pervert had to pay back the advance he'd gotten from the publishing company."

"No." Kushina dragged the word out in mock horror, and Naruto's laughter increased. He was grinning too. "It didn't even matter. The pervert made the money and then some back off my gambling winnings."

"He took your to a casino?" Kushina seemed slightly agitated at that, and he could quite understand. Often times it was early in ones ninja career that you could get caught by one of the major vices. Sex, drugs, gambling, they had taken a many promising ninja into their grasps, and had squeezed until nothing but shells of people were left.

"He took me all over the elemental nation. He was an awful influence. But…" He left the word hang in the air. "He was great." A small smile was on his lips.

"HI." Minato turned around at the sound of his eldest daughter. Naruko. Her hair was red, and long, like blood, like her mothers. Her blue eyes peered back at them, and her pale skin, another of her mother's traits had a saintly glow in the dawn light.

"Hello." It was Naruto who answered first. A smile was on his face again, an inviting one. His foot pulled out a seat for her, and Naruko obliged the red-headed teen. Minato inspected him while his daughter grabbed herself a meal as well. He wasn't as pale as the day before, he'd changed his bandages, though his abdomen was still bear with only them protecting them. His eyes seemed brighter, and the depression that had gripped him the day before had seemingly lifted, if only temporarily.

And Naruto's chakra…it hummed. It was just barely Jounin levels now, and it seemed to be growing steadily. Good.

"Hello Naruko-chan." He and his wife said in unison. It had become a habit for them. Something that had started when Naruko was barely able to talk. She sat at the table, food on the plate and started stuffing her face. He'd have to wait until she was done. He sighed. When eating the girl seemed to ignore all things other than the food she was currently shoving into her mouth.

"Arashi-san." She spoke in-between bites. Though she seemed somewhat hesitant to address him directly. He took note of it for later.

"Yes?"

"This is your first day in Konoha, not in a hospital right? Why don't I show you around? I have a week of mission leave and it started yesterday. We can tear up the town."

"Naruko," she sighed in frustration. "Please, Arashi-san's still injured. Show him around town, but don't go wild. Please? I don't think he'd do too well in a situation like that."

She laughed, then blushed in embarrassment. He smiled in response. Naruko was just like Kushina when they were younger, before he became a Kage and a family man.

"Take him to some stores too. He came here with only the clothes off his back, He'll need a new wardrobe, and new weapons. His old ones were ruined when the ANBU found him."

"No problem Tau-san. I know a place with decent gear. Ten-ten's father runs a weapon shop down on Hangama Street."

"Good."

His eye walked upwards to the clock mounted on the wall, he frowned when he realized the time. He was late…He tsked is annoyance, and hurried to finish his meal. Then he stood up and kissed his wife and Naruko.

"Tell Mito I said I love her when she wakes up. I don't think she'll be getting up anytime soon."

Kushina then looked at the clock and laughed as well. "No, I don't think she will."

xxx-Naruto-xxx

Konoha had changed, no it hadn't changed. This was a different Konoha. The village was…he found it difficult to put a finger on it. The people seemed happier, the village seemed more populous, more prosperous somehow. Tall building of steel and glass were being erected in a few key places, it reminded him of Tanzaku-gia. The suddenly it dawned on him why, t wasn't a place ravaged by years of war. The civilians didn't walk with the careful caution and fear of death. The sun gleamed and a bright blue sky hung overhead. It was Iconic of the Konoha romanticized in his childhood.

It seemed under the rule of Namikaze Minato Konoha had thrived. He took it all in as he walked with Namikaze-Uzumaki Naruko. A small smile was on his face as he walked. It felt good to see Konoha thrive, even if it wasn't his Konoha.

"Impressive isn't it?" Naruko's voice called out to him.

"It is." He responded back quietly.

"You've never been to Konoha before have you?"

"No, I haven't. But I like it. It reminds me of Tanzaku-gai except more restrained, more sensible and less debauchery filled."

"I'd hope so, Tanzaku is 'a hive of scum and villainy never before seen'." She contorted her voice, as she said it. The laugh that followed her own awful joke sent him into laughter.

"It wasn't too bad the last time I went there, but that was almost six years ago."

She was quiet for a moment. "That was with the pervy sage right."

"You call him that too?"

"He's a huge fucking pervert. What else am I supposed to call him? " She laughed, but the quiet stillness she previously had returned.

"Where did you meet the pervert?"

"Tanzaku-gia," He had a prepared response from Minato for situations just like this. The sage had dropped out of the Namikaze family life for nearly ten years, only dropping in occasionally on birthdays and special events, and then leaving shortly after. He hadn't done even that for the past six years. It provided a convenient excuse for Naruto.

"I was a street urchin. I'd been one for a few years. There's a lot of us in Tanzaku, lots of whores having kids they don't want." He was candid about it, it wasn't his life, and in his world it had been a truth, it seemed to be a truth here as well. "My mother. She was one of them, she died giving birth to me so my grandmother ended up raising me." They walked slowly through Konoha as he spoke. This was rehearsed, told in a laid back if somewhat depressed tone. He called on the emotions easily, that blank empty feeling tinged with sadness that came when you wretched back memories for your lost loved ones.

"She was a shinobi from Uzu, back before it fell. She knew some fuuin-jutsu from her family. She thought them to my mother, and then to me later. She died when I was eight, leaving me with nothing but the clothes on my back, and the little ninja tricks she thought me." He laughed. "I was using them to hide myself and steal food when Jiraiya saw me. I was about ten at the time. Most civilians couldn't see me, but he could, and he seemed surprised. He picked me up from there, but not before he whored around some first. I think that's what he was doing there at least, whoring around."

She looked at him in…he couldn't place it, envy, anger, sadness? He looked up.

"Is this the place?"

The Steel Dragon was a small flat building nestled between a larger, taller, civilian clothing shop to its left and a tea shop slightly smaller than it to its left. It was inconspicuous, the windows were small, and were it not for a seemingly steady stream on ninja that flowed in and out he wouldn't have had a clue what it was. It sign was a dragon made of kunai painted above it door.

"Yeah," Narku grabbed his arm and pulled him into the building with her. "My friend Ten-Ten runs this place with her father. She's on leave too so she should be here." Naruku explained calmly.

"Ten-Ten, are you here?"

"I'm in the back," loud sounds of metal clanging against one another and hitting the floor reverberated from the back of the shop. The sounds went on for a few minutes before finally, a head topped by twin buns appeared at last. Ten-Ten looked just like she did from his world. A small smile was plastered on her face, as she noticed Naruko. Then her jaw dropped some when she finally recognized his presence.

He could understand that though, he looked very much like his mother, but so did Naruko. But unlike before he had his mother's coloring. The deep rich spikes of blond hair that had let people know he was Namikaze Minato's son was no longer there. His once rich sky blue eyes were now the color of a coming storm.

"Is this a new technique? I mean," Ten-Ten walked past the counter and looked at him. Her eyes roaming up and down his body. "He looks a lot like you, but well…he's a man. I don't really see the purpose behind it, but still." She reached out a finger and poked him in the stomach. He laughed.

"He's really convincing though."

He laughed again. "I'd hope so, I am real person after all." She looked at him, took another look, and turned to Naruko.

"Really?"

"Yes. He's a distant cousin on my mother's side, and apparently Uzumaki genes breed strong. Hopefully he'll be a new customer for you."

TenTen took yet another look at him. Her eyes were evaluating, taking note of every detail of his face. Brown stared into cloudy grey. Then, suddenly she smiled at him.

"He's alright."

Naruko slapped him on the arm and he winced. His entire body was still sore, and that hit had had enough force behind it to feel it in his chest. He looked down, the white bandages were already starting to tinge pink in some places. He should have been healed by now, but he could feel something was wrong.

"So," Ten-Ten went back behind her counter. His eyes were rapt as he watched her. "What do you need?"

"New clothing, mostly." He paused for a moment, his eyes un-focusing as he tried to think. "I'll need a new kunai set, a dozen will be fine. I'll need two class b Kunia as well, made of chakra metal If possible. Scrolls, grade A scrolls infused with a chakra paper blend, as well as chakra conductive ink."

"A seal master?"

He smiled in response. "I dabble and know enough to get by."

Ten-Ten nodded, and turned around. "I should have standard issue kunai set in the back. The scrolls and chakra metal kunai though, that'll have to be special ordered. You'll have to come back and get them later for those. Check the isle find something you like, and I'll get your measurements and make an order for them."

He nodded in response and started to walk around the store. He smiled at what he saw. Dark grey and green pants, patterned in the like the leaf foliage. He grabbed them, and walked into the store some more. An orange shirt called out to him, it was burnt umber, so dark orange it seemed almost brown. On it shoulders in rich dark brown was the Uzumaki-clan crest. He then grabbed a pair of long black sweat pants, and a white shirt.

"Is that it?" TenTen was back, a tape measure in her hand.

"Yeah, I like these two. I'll want three sets." She walked up to him, and worked her way around his body. In her hand was a bright yellow tape measure. She measured his leg length, his waist, and his arm length and shoulder width. When she was done, she smiled a broad smile at him.

"Come back in week." She turned to Naruko, "It'll be done by then."

"Thanks TenTen." Naruko grabbed him by the arm then pulled him back out into the street. He followed her with slight amusement.

"Where to now?"

"Where else? Ichiraku-ramen. The best ramen place in the world. You like ramen right?"

"I do."

She grabbed his hand and leapt to the roof. He tripped, and almost fell at the sudden jerk. "This way, hurry up. Nothing like Ichiraku for lunch."

"But it's still early morning."

"And?" He smiled in response and followed her.

xxx-Authors note-xxx

Egh, Fuck extra-long chapters. I realized I shouldn't try to force myself into specific chapter lengths. Anyways, I've been working on something new, and I want you guy's opinion. It'll be at the bottom of this. I want you guys' opinion. It's a brawl story, mainly meant for me to write fight scenes. I want to see how'd you like it. It's a rewrite of my one shot battle royal.

Xxx-Battle Royal-xxx

The room was cold, that was the first thing he noticed. It was ice cold, and it made his skin prickle, and goose bumps chase down his body. He opened his eyes, sky blue pools looking around him. Others were doing the same. There were dozens of people around him, some were children…others…others were adults.

Where was he?

Where ever it was it was cold, and the air was still. Like a cold Konoha morning, except without the warming light of the sun hanging overhead like a lamp, heating all it's far reaching arms could touch. He looked around. The other people around him seemed to slowly coming to as well, and as they sat up, or stood up he started to recognize some. Shikamaru, and there was Kiba, and his weird teammate Hinata. Kakashi sensei…and Sakura-chan. She brought a wide toothed smile to his face, even the bastard.

There were other ninja as well, ninja not from Konoha, some with slashes through their headbands, and some with rich dark skin, and platinum blond hair. He shivered when a blond headed man sat up, his cloak was white, starch, starch white. Blue flames licked at its bottom, and his spiked blond hair went wild and everywhere. His eyes were so rich, and so blue they reminded him of a rich morning sky…

"The Yondaime…" His voice came out in a stager, but it was the only voice around. People turned and looked, all eyes landing on that blond mop of hair. The man in question just sat there, breathing long slow breaths, and staring at his hands. They quivered, and after what seemed like an eternity his eyes looked up.

He then a second mop of blond hair. This one richer, darker, like silken gold, like his. The eyes were as blue as the sky, and three deep whisker marks marred each cheek. It was him, an older him. He could tell, he didn't need any validation, it was him. Those perfect copy of his own eyes stared back at him. The same confusion, the same awe. Then suddenly, the other he stood up. His eyes roaming, landing on the different people, and frowning.

"Does anyone here know what's going on?" That was his voice, it was deeper though, richer and far more calm. It carried easily.

The old version of him looked around.

"Y-you're me."

The old him didn't respond. His eyes just glazed over him again. "It looks like I am, and you're me." So calm, so collected, so…cool. He smiled. A wide uncontrollable grin that birthed on his face. Old him was awesome!

By this time everyone had woken up, and a realization had started to spread. Most people had two versions of themselves. One old, the other young…relatively speaking of course. Some people seemed to only have a few years between the old and the young. He looked back at the yondaime, he was standing next to a red headed woman. The woman and the yondaime looked at him, both version of hims and gapped mouths open. The younger version of the yondaime walked over to his older self, and he too took with him a red headed woman. Maybe his girlfriend or wife?

"Does anyone know what's going on? Or where we are? Any clues or suggestions?"

"I do." The voice came from everywhere and nowhere. The white room seemed to reverberate, a deep all reaching shaking that touched the depths of his core. The whiteness of the room, or space gave way, flickering away like the falling particles of chipped paint. Revealing beneath the surface a deep rich unseeing black void. The whiteness flaked away, and the void it left was a deep gaping hole. From that whole came a man.

He was tall, dressed in a suite much like he'd seen some businessmen and Yakuza around Konoha partake in. It was a dark thing, a rich black hue, and was accented with a deep blood red tie. His hair formed fluffy dark globe around his head accented with the salt and pepper markings of age, and his skin was a dark hue, much like some of the ninja he'd seen. His eyes, his eyes were twin pools of far seeing gold. A shimmering hue that seemed out of place on his face. He smiled, and white perfect flushed teeth shined against rick pink gums.

"And who are you?" A smooth voice called out. It was Sasuke…and yet, not Sasuke. His voice was too deep, an older version of him them.

"You may call me Tiny-san." His voice was rich, jovial, even calming.

"Is that supposed to be a joke?" It was the red headed woman, she was next to the Yondaime.

"No." He smiled again. "It's not a joke. You might be confused as to why you're here. You're likely more confused by why there's two versions of you, at least for some of you." Another smile that sent warming feeling through his heart. "It's simple. I'm a fan of fights, I've chosen you because you have something special about you, your powerful, fast, dedicated, witty, something to make you different from other fighters. You're here to fight, and die."

"Die?" That was Sakura-chan.

"Yes die. But not permanently. You'll fight, you'll die. And the winners, they each get one wish. One wish that I'll grant them. No strings attached. Money, wealth, power, even women. The dead back from life, I can do it all…as long as you win the championship."

"What if we don't want to fight?"

"I chose you all because I Know you'd all want to fight. You do don't you?"

"Not if I have the chance of going up against someone like him." Shikamaru was pointing at the Yondaime. "That's hardly a fair fight."

"Of course it wouldn't be a fair fight. There will be three tournaments. One for every skill groups. Genin level, Chunin level and jounin level, and finally Kage-level. Three winners. Three wishes." His smile was back.

"Can we wish you dead? Or for more wishes?" It was a busty blond headed woman.

"It'd be a waste of a wish, but yes, you could. Beings such as I don't die, we...disappear for a while. In a few short lifetimes we come back good as new. As for the more wishes…no. You can't. One wish, and one wish only."

The void behind him receded as he stepped forth. His form touched the white rooms floor, and the wide faded, leaving behind soft earth and fresh green grass. As he walked towards them, the whiteness faded. Slowly, but surely the place turned from a white room, into a deep, rich forest. The ground shoot, and the forest fell below them. Large televisions rose on either side of them, and with them a thick steel railing. To the far left and far right crowds birthed into existence, when he tried to look he found his vision going blurry, and his eyes aching. He stopped trying to look after a while. Tiny's hand stretched out, and he cut a thin line into his palm with one of his nails. A droplet of blood fell, and hit the earth. From it rose a man, shorter than mister tiny, his skin holding that same dark hue. Then, like the wind the man known only as tiny was gone.

His eyes were brown, and his head was shaved bald. In his hand was a microphone, and his belly hung over his chest. He seemed to be sweating with exertion from the sheer act of life itself. He used a kerchief in his other hand to wipe the sweat away.

"Are you ready to rumble!?" The crowd cheered in excitement.

xxx-Authors note-xxx

So opinions? Thoughts ideas? What do you think, worth turning into a story?