Chapter 3 is up and ready to go.

I've received a mixed reception on the pairing, most arguing that Ophis is technically not a female but rather, an 'it'. Ophis has no true gender, I'll acknowledge that, but the fact is that Ophis has chosen to use a female form (yes, I know she once chose an old man's form) so let's just take that into account. And no, I won't be using the loli Ophis' body, that'll be a little creepy to write about, especially when they get together (which will take awhile).

All issues you might have will be answered at the bottom of the story, 'kay!

Let's go!

He once again found himself at the entrance of the massive academy. The last of the wisps of smoke from his shushin was wafting away and the small leaves fell to the ground with a flourish. A sigh of relief. He might not have shown it while he was within the confines of the dimly lit room, but Naruto was anxious to have gotten away from the girl's sight. It wasn't because he feared the girl, but rather because he had felt the vaguest sense of foreboding in her presence. Perhaps it could have been contributed to her heritage? Naruto wasn't one to blindly judge someone for things out of their background. Yet, he wasn't the same naive boy who would blindly assume the best of everyone. It had led to many heartaches in his life so far, so while he had kept his optimistic outlook on life, he was guarded towards certain things.

And abandoning his humanity was surprisingly high on his list.

Surprising, wasn't it? (That was sarcasm people!)

He was sure that this meeting wouldn't be their last. With Kurama's influence, he had gained the passive ability to sense 'bad' emotions. He was sure that these types of emotions weren't necessarily 'bad', in the sense of evil, but rather were driving factors to why persons did bad things. The girl reeked of desperation. She had tried to hide it from him but he sensed the feeling wafting off her in waves. The redhead had wanted him in her peerage so much that he was sure that she might even attempt to bend a few rules to get him.

Like he said before, these weren't bad emotions themselves, but emotions that led to people doing bad things.

The sun was soon finishing its course across the night's sky and the orange hue that had fallen upon Kuoh Academy was darkening with each passing minute. Shadows from the buildings were being cast onto the road below and few persons could be spied on the road. Night was fast approaching and that brought to the forefront one of Naruto's prominent problems.

The teen was once again homeless.

Fortunately - depending on how you want to look at it - this was not a new experience for the blond. For a day short of a week, the boy had been forced into a state of homelessness as a child when the patron of the orphanage he was from had finally ejected him from the premises. It had only been through the Third's goodwill and timely visits that had taken the boy off the streets. Back then, it had been a daunting task for the youth to take on, but now, as a war hero and a seasoned shinobi, this was a mere inconvenience at best.

He could easily find a nice spot to sleep for the night before waiting on Sasuke to arrive...

His stomach growled loudly.

After he ate something first of course.

The old chef felt his jaw hit the counter, his mouth wide agape. Never ever, had he met a customer like the blond teenager that was Naruto Uzumaki. The chef had begun to bald over the years since his youth and his remaining hair had grayed. He wasn't the tallest man around, just short of 5'6" and his slightly hunched posture didn't help either. The walked with a limp favoring his left leg and a light scarring on his forehead was a sign that there was perhaps an accident in his past with had led to that.

Naruto didn't know the old man's name, mentally dubbing the chef as 'Ramen-ojiisan', and the name fit the bill. While his noodles weren't on par with the likes of Ichiraku's, the blond could attest that they were a close second. Which was why after he had immediately ordered five bowls under rapid succession after he had finished with the first.

It was heaven in a bowl.

"Another one!" Naruto shouted after slamming his sixth consecutive bowl onto the counter and was pleased when the man snapped out of his stupor in order to fix yet another serving. With the man gone, it allowed Naruto some time to think. Especially on how he was going to pay the old man. He wasn't sure if this dimension used the same currency as his own, and even if they did, Naruto had not a single dime on his person. It wasn't as if he had went into the war with a wad of cash in his pockets.

Would the chef be compensated with manual labor in return? From what Naruto could tell, while the building was far from being dilapidated, there were a few things that ought to have been fixed ages ago. Some of the stools looked wobbly at best and the place could do for another round of dusting.

Maybe that wasn't such a bad idea to have? The ramen stand could act as a familiar landmark for him to have in this strange world.

He was dragged from his thoughts as someone settled onto the stool beside him, setting off a low creak from the wooden furniture. He was a tall man, and was oddly dressed from what Naruto had gathered from the others of this world. He wore a violet coat buttoned so that it showed of his bare chest. He had a shinobi's physique, lithe yet sturdy. Grey trousers ran the length of his legs and were fitted nicely with a pair of black shoes. The man had dual course hair, coarse black with golden bangs and a smile that seemed familiar yet Naruto couldn't place it.

He tossed a quick glance in Naruto's direction but he called for the owner of the establishment. "Ojiisan!" he hollered.

Immediately upon the call, the chef returned, a steaming bowl of ramen in hand. He slid the food towards Naruto before addressing his new customer. "Welcome to Sanae's Ramen, what can I do you for?"

"Sanae's? Isn't that a woman's name?" the newcomer asked bluntly.

The man nodded. If he was output by the man's tactless tone, he didn't show it. "It was my wife's name. It was her little stand originally, but she died a few years ago. I'm just running the old place in her memory," the man explained, and Naruto noticed on the fact that he explained the ordeal so casually that this was probably not the first time that someone had commented on the naming of the stand.

"Ah," the man sighed. "Well then, get me a bowl of whatever the kid's having," he jerked a hand in Naruto's direction and the man rushed off yet again to complete the order. "And could you turn on the TV? I want to see the news,"

"Here,"

The man caught the remote that was tossed to him by the chef and immediately switched the appliance on. By now, Naruto had polished off yet another bowl and was not-so-discreetly looking in the man's direction. There was something odd about the man. He was a whole lot different than the normal human beings he had sensed of this world. Naruto couldn't get a full scope of the man's energy, but from what he could tell so far, he was at least kage-level, perhaps even higher.

' - what we can tell from the site, it seems as though a meteor had fell from the skies and landed in the mountainous areas surrounding Kuoh. So far, there isn't any definitive signs of the actual meteorite but eyewitnesses attest to that fact they had seen a golden comet-like UFO hurling towards the earth at breakneck speed. Scientists at the site- "

Naruto tried his best not to blush at the news report, knowing full well the source behind the mystery. He hadn't really thought about it, but it was rather obvious that his entrance would have caused quite the stir.

"What a day, huh?" the man spoke to Naruto for the first time.

Naruto chuckled. It sounded weak to his own ears. "Yeah, I guess so,"

"Makes you wonder what caused that, doesn't it?"

There was a knowing twinkle in his eyes that caused Naruto to tense.

He knew.

The man laughed loudly, eliciting a sense of nostalgia from the misplaced shinobi. He could now place the familiar smile. It was the same as the one that Jiraiya wore whenever he was up to something stupid and mischievous.

"Calm down gaki, I'm not looking for any trouble." He slipped a hand into the interior of his coat and Naruto instinctively reached for his pouch. This caused the man to stop and warily gaze at the grey pouch. "Ha, aren't you the eager beaver." He continued his actions, this time slower, showing Naruto that he meant no harm. Finally, he revealed in his hand a stack of green papers and a white nondescript card.

"Here, the next one's me," he said. He unfurled a few of the green papers, before placing them on the counter. He slid the card over to Naruto and stood from his stool.

"Give a shout sometime. I'll think you'd be interested in what I have to say,"

With his piece said, he was gone.

It was much longer that the chef returned, a piping hot bowl in his hand. He frowned when he noticed his customer was gone and looked to Naruto with an inquisitive brow raise.

Naruto shrugged. "I don't know. He left after he heard the news."

The chef nodded, appeased by the explanation. "I see. Would you want this then?" he indicated to the bowl in hand and Naruto nodded.

"How much do I owe ya?"

The man eyed the green papers before picking them up. "This should cover it, kid. Thanks for the service."

'Eh, that's their currency? Odd. Why would he pay for my meal? Well, I ain't one to complain, free ramen is the best ramen after all, -ttebayo!'

He returned his attention back to the steaming bowl in front of him and eat with gusto. With man covering for his meal, Naruto's problem had been solved. That didn't mean he wouldn't still look for work here. He would need something to keep him busy before Sasuke's arrival. For some reason, the teme was taking a lot longer than Naruto had expected. Was the two dimensions so far apart that it would take so long for the last Uchiha to arrive? Naruto wasn't familiar with specs of with Sasuke's rinnegan so he couldn't think of anything that would cause the delay.

'I need something to pass the time,'

Instantly, the card to mind. He hadn't looked at it since the man left. Surely it wouldn't hurt to? He grabbed the small thing. It fit perfectly into his palm, a simple blank white note. Scrawled across its face in a lazy the manner, was a barely legible handwriting that said 'Call if you ever need a job, -Azazel'. Beneath this, an address was scribbled in the same handwriting.

It seemed he was just given a job offer. To what? He had no idea. From whom? Some strange man called Azazel. It reeked of suspicions and Naruto was of a profession that believed that situations like this could only end badly. But... then again, Naruto was not one to conform to normality. Perhaps there was something that Azazel had to say that he was interested in. Information was key, and no one knew this lesson better than the apprentice of a spy master.

But he had other things to see to first.

"Hey Ojiisan! Are you hiring?"

Kakashi Hatake was never one to truly believe in hope.

As a child he had lost his mother at a very young age. It hadn't affected him much though. As sad as it was to admit, he couldn't exactly miss what he didn't even remember having. He was so young at the time - a mere babe - that the death hadn't taken a massive toll. These days, he could barely even recall her face. His father, on the other, was devastated. The man had only pulled through for the sake of the son he had to raise.

And raise him he did.

Sakumo was a great shinobi and he had made sure that Kakashi was one as well. he was never strict in his teachings but his mere presence was on that commanded respect. The was the legendary White Fang of the Leaf village. A figure that was on par with the Legendary Sannin. In his son's eyes, he was invincible.

Needless to say, he was Kakashi's idol.

The young silver haired boy had proved to be a prodigy in his early days, performing even some of the most complex jutsu with ease. He had been the youngest genin in Konoha's history and had surpassed that record by becoming the youngest chunin. But it had all spiraled downhill from there. His father - the man he thought could do no wrong - had been disgraced. He was thrown from his high pedestal and in the end, had committed suicide in front of his own son.

It was only years later that Kakashi would come to understand the truth. His father - despite his strong facade and overwhelming battle presence - was a heartbroken man. He had still carried the death of his wife with a heavy heart and h ad only continued for the sake of the son that had needed then. But the pressure from the village and the war had proved too much, and the fragile man that he was beneath the hardened shinobi had finally cracked.

Kakashi had become withdrawn after his father's death and it had taken the group effort of Minato, Obito and Rin that had brought him back into the world. Rin, the lovable fan girl that she was, had fallen hard for the young Hatake. He could see it clearly in her eyes, but unlike the other girls back then, she had buried under a mask of professionalism and camaraderie. Perhaps, in another time and place, he would have returned the sentiment. But back then, he knew he couldn't. And that was due to his other teammate.

Obito Uchiha. Dubbed the most 'un-Uchiha' Uchiha that ever lived. The boy had been a nuisance that had grown to become his greatest friend. The bumbling idiot was in love with Rin, and had blamed Kakashi for her not returning his feelings. The two had declared a rivalry (well, it was more like Obito messing up and Kakashi lording it over him) that had somehow evolved into a deep sense of respect and admiration for each other.

And this had all happened under the watchful eyes of Minato Namikaze. If there was someone who the man had grown to respect more than any other in the world, then it was his own sensei, Minato. The man had become the figure that Sakumo had failed to live up to, and had become Kakashi's anchor in the most turbulent times.

But yet again, Kakashi had watched as those he loved and cherished had been ripped from him, one after the other. They had all fallen in the line of duty. First Obito, then Rin. And finally Minato.

Perhaps it was then that his belief in hope had died. When the news of the Fourth's death at the hands of the monstrous demon, the Nine-Tailed Fox.

How Kakashi loathed his life. In that state of despair, he understood why his father did what he did. He realized how sweet the embrace of death could be; to take him away from the pain.

He pulled through however. Not by his own accord, but rather, by the intervention of Might Guy and the Third Hokage.

Since then, his life had been a dull routine plagued by ANBU missions and porn. Over and over and over again. Until he met that bright eyed, loudmouth blond that looked so much like his sensei but acted like a second Obito.

Through the ups and downs of Team Seven, Kakashi had done what he hadn't done on a long time...

... He dared to hope...

Which was why, as the earth had finally stopped shaking and the explosions had ran their course, he closed his eyes in a silent prayer. The battle with Kaguya was finally over, but Naruto was missing. And the only person who could bring him back was Sasuke.

He wasn't sure if the avenger would bring Naruto back, but Kakashi hoped against all odds that the war had reformed in Sasuke, a sense of comradeship. Sakura was by his side, the pinkette biting on her lower lip as she too waited on what was to come. Behind them, the astral form of Hagoromo floated, his lips pressed in a thin line.

As the form of his wayward student came closer, he felt a cold hand tightening around his heart. 'No... Sasuke, no... '

The Uchiha's right eye bled crimson while his left, a royal purple.

Kakashi's throat tightened...

... then a single word...

'Amaterasu,'

And the world was consumed in black flames.

There it is, a new update and for the first time, you get to see what happened in the Elemental Nation without Naruto there to stop Sasuke.

I don't think I should have to mention this but... Sasuke ain't coming for Naruto. But Naruto doesn't know this.

Most the reviews last chapter was about the pairing and such, so I'll have this to say. The pairing is a single pairing between him and Ophis. No one else. There will be other relationships that will be formed but will ultimately fail in the end. Thank you.

In this chapter, you'll finally see one of the scenes that I've added to the story and will change the plot slightly from the original. It is one of the added scenes that will replace the unnecessary canon ones, and you can expect more (not just those from the Elemental Nations) to make their way into the story.

So then next time, you know what to do.

Review, Favorite and Follow,
-Gregorybryce9.