Hello FanFiction! This is pain17ification with the next issue of "Evolving Bonds"! I hope you all enjoy the chapter!

Disclaimer (aka: pain in the ass): pain17ification doesn't own anything except for the story idea

"Speech"

'Thoughts'

Techniques

Bijuu

Radio/TV

"Telepathic"

[Scene Shift]

Chapter 4: Tests and Discovery

After leaving Tsunade's office, Naruto had taken Akarei to his favorite eatery in the village; Ichiraku Ramen. Of course, it was his favorite due to not being served anywhere else and because he was close to the ramen chef family.

She didn't mind in the slightest at being taken to what many in the village would call cheap food. So long as the place was friendly and the people were accepting, then she was fine. So, it made her smile brightly when, as soon as they entered the curtains, they were greeted by a smiling Ayame Ichiraku.

"Welcome to Ichiraku Ramen!" she greeted. "How may I-?" She suddenly stopped short when she took note of the redheaded man standing before her. Her eyes widened and she raced around the counter to embrace the Uzumaki with a joyous cry of, "You're back!"

Naruto smiled as he hugged back the female chef. "It's great to see you again, Ayame-nee. I just got back today and came from a meeting with Grandma Tsunade."

"So you didn't come here first?" asked the brunette as she let go of the Jinchuriki and gave him a mock scolding look, complete with wagging finger. "Tsk tsk tsk, that just what do, Naruto. I expected better from our number one customer."

He rubbed his head sheepishly at that while Akarei giggled at the obvious closeness the two had. The Uzumaki took this opportunity to introduce the transformed Pokémon. "Ayame-nee, this is Akarei Alto. She came with us during the trip and is being given a chance to join the Leaf's Ninja Corps."

The chef looked to the amber-eyed female and smiled in greeting. "Nice to meet you, Akarei-san. I hope my little brother didn't bother you too much."

"Oi, I resent that!" he complained while crossing his arms.

"Hush, you," silenced Ayame. "The women are talking."

The redhead slumped in defeat while Ayame and Akarei laughed at his plight. "It's nice to meet you too, Ayame-san. I hope it wouldn't be too much trouble for Naruto-kun and I to have a couple bowls of ramen?"

"Of course it wouldn't!" answered a male voice as a slightly elderly man stepped out from the kitchen. "Welcome to Ichiraku's and welcome back home, Naruto."

"Hey there, pops! Man, have I missed your ramen! I'll take a large miso to start!"

The father chef nodded before he turned to Akarei. "And you, miss…?"

"Akarei Alto," she answered before adding, "And I'll have what Naruto-kun's having."

"Two miso ramen, coming up!" he exclaimed before heading back to the kitchen, leaving the younger patrons of the stand to talk.

Ayame asked Naruto about his trip, asked Akarei about Altomare, and asked them both about how they met. Of course, everything had to be downplayed so that the classified information was left out; but Ayame still got enough to satisfy her questions. Naruto gave her a brief overview of his training, Akarei told her of the beautiful view of the ocean her home got, and they both left out the issue with the Sister Thieves at Altomare.

Eventually, Teuchi came back out with their ramen and Naruto ate it with his usual gusto; though he made sure not to look like a total glutton. Akarei on the other hand calmly took her first bite of the ramen noodles and immediately enjoyed the symphony of flavors that entered her mouth.

Both Teuchi and Ayame knew that they had just found another regular.

After having two more bowls for Naruto and one more for Akarei, the two headed off to the training grounds. More specifically, they made their way to Team Seven's training ground where the redhead was told they'd have their test.

"And this is my old stomping grounds," he said as he gestured the area with a wave of his hand. "We have access to all kinds of terrain, so we'll be in for a pretty hectic matchup against Kakashi-sensei."

The transformed Dragon Pokémon looked around as her mind went through the memories of Naruto's life. When she spotted the training posts, she frowned slightly at the memory of Naruto being left tied up against the post and not being released until late in the evening when Kakashi finally went back.

She shook off those visions before sighing, gaining Naruto's attention. "I know I said I was ready for this, but what do you think, Naruto? And be honest with me."

He looked to her blankly for a moment, making her grow less sure of herself, before she suddenly felt a flick to her forehead. "Silly," he began with a grin. "Of course you'll do great, and of course you're ready. You have all kinds of abilities no one even knows about at your disposal. Not to mention you're insanely fast, so you could easily get out of the way of attacks."

She was touched at the amount of faith he had in her, and she couldn't keep the slight blush at his sincerity. It grew when he stepped up and embraced her, making her go rigid at the gesture.

"You'll be fine, Akarei-chan," he assured her as he let her go. A foxy grin came to his face as he finished, "If all else fails, we'll watch each other's backs and work as a team."

She looked him in the eye, getting lost for a moment in those cerulean orbs, before she smiled back and nodded. "You're right… As long as we work together, we'll get through anything; just like we did back at Altomare."

"Exactly! So relax, Akarei-chan. We'll get through this test and we'll pass with flying colors!" he exclaimed with a fist pump.

She nodded once more and matched his fist pump, making them both laugh at their actions before they left the training grounds. Unknown to them, a pair of pale lavender eyes had seen them and the owner was worried about how close the two of them were to one another.

[That Evening (Naruto's Apartment)]

Seeing as his friend had no money or place to stay, Naruto offered her a room at his apartment. She was allowed his room while he slept on the couch, and he didn't back down from her when she tried to tell him she'd take the couch.

Right now, Akarei was sleeping in the bedroom in her natural form while Naruto was seated on the apartment building rooftop. The moon was full this evening and the stars filled the open night sky. Next to him were his partners with Yurei floating next to him and Gojira seated in his lap.

"Tomorrow's the big day," he said, watching the night sky. "You guys ready for it?"

Both Pokémon made committal noises while Gojira raised one of her arms up in a fist pumping way. Yurei merely grinned and rubbed his hands together devilishly.

Their actions made the redhead chuckle. "Glad to hear it, guys. I'll let you two rest for the night." He then pulled out their Pokéballs and returned them before putting the balls in his pouch. As soon as he did, he took note of a presence nearby and turned to see Kakashi leaned against the rooftop entrance.

"Yo," greeted the Jonin with his signature eye-smile and lazy wave. "I figured I'd find you up here."

"Is that right?"

"Of course, considering you were never really one to rest, even if it was for something important," teased the silverette.

The Uzumaki rubbed his head sheepishly at that. "Got me there, sensei. So, what's up?"

The Jonin walked over to his student and sat next to him on the roof ledge. "Lady Tsunade told me about your newest…discovery. I wanted to make sure she wasn't seeing things, no matter how much I trust her."

Naruto frowned only slightly, though he could see the merit in his sensei's worry. Looking him in the eye, the redhead activated his dojutsu and a single black eye met two Sharingan eyes.

"I see," the elder shinobi commented before sighing. "I never would have guessed that another of my students would have Uchiha blood in them. When did you find out?"

"On the return trip home," answered Naruto. "I accepted an…energy I had come across during the trip and it awakened these eyes. I never knew I had Uchiha blood until Granny told me herself."

The Jonin hummed in thought, trying to think of an Uchiha that could've been related to Naruto. However, none came to mind. "I'm not sure who you could be related or descended from, but I'll do what I can to help you control your Sharingan better. Although, I'm a bit worried about how Sasuke will react if he sees your eyes when you run into him."

"You seem pretty sure we'll run into each other, sensei," noted the Jinchuriki.

"If there's one thing I know about you both, Naruto, it's that you two are drawn to each other like Madara and Hashirama-sama were in the past."

That slightly surprised the redhead. "You really think that?"

"Without a doubt," answered Kakashi before he stood up. "Anyway, you shouldn't worry about that for now. Just focus on the test we'll have tomorrow and bring your best to the table, Naruto."

The Uzumaki chuckled at that, making Kakashi raise a brow. "Sensei, if I brought my best then you're going to be in for one hell of a fight. I've learned more than you can imagine on my trip, so you better bring your best."

The Jonin was silent for a moment before he chuckled in return and left in a Body Flicker. When he left, Naruto went back to his apartment room for some sleep.

[Next Afternoon (Team Seven Training Ground)]

Tsunade, Jiraiya, and Shizune were all situated out of the way as Kakashi stood across his two old students and Akarei. Sakura was in the middle of placing some gloves on her hands while Naruto cracked his knuckles eagerly and Akarei stood with her eyes focused on the Jonin.

"Well then, the same rules as last time apply. There will be only one bell, but the focus of teamwork will still be expected, along with seeing how you've grown," explained Kakashi while the other three nodded. "Alright then. You'll start when I say so."

This was mainly directed at Naruto who was reminded of his brash actions during the first bell test. The redhead smirked at his sensei as he lowered himself into a ready stance while his two teammates did the same. They watched as Kakashi lifted his headband over his Sharingan eye and pulled out a kunai.

"Ready…start!" he called before he suddenly disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Naruto was the first to act and he turned to Akarei expectantly while she already had her eyes closed in focus. "Anything?" he asked, confusing Sakura.

"Hold on… I almost have him," murmured the white-haired girl before her eyes shot open. "He's beneath us!"

Sakura tensed at that before she pulled her fist back and struck the ground, cracking it and making it fracture at the force of her punch. Naruto and Akarei both leapt out of the way and landed behind the pinkette while a comically shocked Kakashi looked to Sakura in slight fear.

Jiraiya gave Tsunade a dry look. "You made her into a mirror image of yourself."

The Hokage smirked while Shizune sweatdropped at his comment. "Who knows what kind of trouble Naruto would get into if there wasn't someone like me to keep him in line?"

The Toad Sage rolled his eyes, seeing little merit in her question. As far as he knew, Akarei was just as capable calming Naruto down and she could without the use of force.

Back with the others, Kakashi began his counter attack with an Earth Dragon that raced toward the others. Naruto jumped between the jutsu and his team with a Rasengan in hand, using it to destroy the dragon while Akarei aimed her hands at Kakashi.

The tips of her fingers began to give off a bright glow before a blast of energy came from them. The Psybeam flew from her fingers and streaked toward the Jonin, who began backpedaling away from the technique.

'Strange,' he mused as he back flipped out of another shot. 'I don't sense chakra from it, but it's very similar. What a peculiar technique.'

He was brought out of his thoughts when Naruto appeared next to him with his fist cocked back. His dojutsu allowed him to properly move and block the Uzumaki's attack while he countered with a snap kick. When it landed, the redhead disappeared and revealed that it was a Shadow Clone. The Jonin then found himself being charged on all sides by four more clones while Sakura was descending with her prepped for another devastating punch.

Seeing no options, the Jonin leapt over the charging clones and maneuvered his hand so that it grabbed Sakura's wrist while his other grabbed her shirt. He then twisted his body so that he threw the pinkette down at the clones before he noticed Akarei standing on a tree branch and inhaling deeply.

His eyes widened at the energy buildup in her core before she unleashed a torrent of purplish-orange flames at the Jonin. The Dragon Breath struck the man, but it was a miss due to his well timed use of the Replacement technique. He was hidden behind some brush and planned his next move, but he was forced to move when a hand popped out of the ground followed by the body of Naruto who went for a rising punch.

The silverette barely evaded having his chin struck by the vicious punch, but it was revealed to be a feint when Naruto smirked and called out, "Now!"

A blur shot past him and he felt a sharp pain erupt on his side. He leapt away and held his side, wincing at the sting he felt as well as the blood. He took a quick glance and frowned in confusion at the claw markings her saw before he noticed Akarei's right hand changing from a strange scaled form back into a human hand.

'She's fast,' he noted. 'Insanely fast… That was nearly as fast as Gai, and she caught me off guard.' Sakura was seen landing next to the other two and all three of them readied themselves for another round. 'They're really taking this seriously. Good, that's what I want to see.'

Naruto then flew through handseals and pointed his cupped hands at the Jonin, revealing a bright light that shot in the form of a beam of energy. "Storm Release," he began, shocking the man, "Laser Circus!"

The single beam split into four that shot at Kakashi, forcing him to dodge. However, as soon as he did one of the beams split into two and changed their flight direction while the other three crashed into a tree. The tree had its trunk splintered from the jutsu, showing Kakashi the force it had at its disposal.

He kept evading the jutsu before he retaliated with his famed Lightning Blade, meeting the jutsu with his own. The two cancelled each other out in an explosion of smoke. From it, a bright glow in the shape of a sphere was seen and Naruto raced out with another Rasengan in hand. Behind him, Sakura threw a volley of shuriken while Akarei's eyes gave off a blue glow. The shuriken responded to the glow and increased their flight speed greatly, flying past Naruto and toward the Jonin.

Kakashi pulled out a kunai and charged it with his lightning chakra before he batted away each of the shuriken and readied another Lightning Blade in his free hand. He charged at Naruto with his Sharingan eye blazing, taking note of Naruto's own Sharingan eyes activating.

'So, a game of chicken, huh?' mused the silver haired shinobi as the two jutsu met in a fierce clash.

Lightning met maelstrom as the jutsu erupted in a bright flash of light, engulfing both men in its glow. Within the sphere, in a manner similar to how Naruto and Sasuke met during their fight at the Valley of the End, Kakashi and Naruto stood across from one another. One lone Sharingan eye met a pair of them with both men smiling at one another.

"You've really grown…Naruto," stated the Jonin as the light erupted again and the two flew apart in the real world. The bell that was tied to Kakashi's waist flew into the air before it was covered in a blue glow and floated into Akarei's waiting palm.

The Jonin groaned slightly as he leaned his back against the tree he crashed into while Naruto was already getting to his feet. His dojutsu was deactivated, so blue eyes stared down at his old sensei while a grin made its way onto his face.

"Looks like we won, Kakashi-sensei," he declared as his two teammates smiled next to him.

The man looked up to them, seeing them standing side by side with the afternoon sun behind them. He eye-smiled at them and nodded. "I suppose you have. Great work, you three."

As soon as he said those words, Naruto gave a short cheer as he embraced Akarei and spun her around once. Even though she was blushing brightly, she couldn't help but laugh at his excitement while Sakura merely smiled; though her brow twitched slightly at her teammate's actions with the other girl.

The three spectators walked over to them with proud smiles on their faces. "Good work, you three," commended Tsunade. "I'm glad to see that your training with Jiraiya wasn't a wasted effort. Sakura, you've made me proud to call you a student of mine. And Akarei, you've shown incredible skill and teamwork. As such, I've decided to add you officially to our ranks; though you will have to start out as a Genin. Naruto, you will be promoted to Chunin since you still need the experience required of a Jonin to be promoted further."

Naruto nodded and accepted the Chunin vest given to him, putting it on over his clothes and leaving it unzipped. "Thanks for this, Granny," he said with a grin while the Hokage sighed tiredly at the use of her nickname. "So, is Akarei-chan going to join Team Seven?"

The Slug Sannin nodded. "Yes, I believe that she will be a fine addition to your team. Now, you three will-"

She was interrupted by a bird screeching and heading for them. She held her arm out, letting the bird land, before she took the scroll that was tied to its back. Opening it up, she read it carefully before she frowned and looked to the new Team Seven seriously.

"Change of plans. You four will head to the Hidden Sand and assist them in both the recovery of Kankuro and the retrieval of Gaara of the Sand."

Naruto's eyes widened in shock. "Gaara? What happened to him?" he asked worriedly.

Tsunade sighed before she answered solemnly, "He was taken by the Akatsuki."

[Half an Hour Later (Village Gates)]

Team Kakashi, named for Kakashi's role as the team leader, stood at the gates of the Hidden Leaf ready to move out. Jiraiya was there as well with some last minute advice for his student and his friend.

"Be sure to face each challenge calmly, Naruto. These are Akatsuki, after all. They may do anything to get you riled up and make mistakes." Naruto nodded and the Sannin turned to Akarei. "Make sure he stays calm and enter your true form if need be. But try your best to keep it as discreet as possible."

"I will," promised the amber-eyed girl.

The Sannin nodded and gave the Jonin a serious look. The silverette merely nodded at the unspoken message before Team Kakashi rushed off.

Through the trees they flew with Naruto unconsciously taking the lead due to his worry for his friend. Kakashi was right behind him with Akarei right next to him while Sakura took up the rear. The transformed Pokémon looked on sadly as she felt the desperation coming off from the redhead.

Feeling bold, she increased her speed so that she was right next to him before she gently took his hand in hers. He tensed slightly at the unexpected feeling before cerulean eyes met amber orbs. Worried met caring as she squeezed his hand softly.

"Don't worry," she mentally comforted, making sure to only focus on him. "We'll get your friend back and we'll make sure he gets back to his village safely. Please calm down, Naruto-kun."

They kept jumping along their path with the other two watching the – in their eyes – silent conversation. Sakura also felt jealousy bubble up inside her at how close this stranger was to her oldest teammate. And she knew that if she felt like this, then a certain heiress would most likely snap at the sight.

Naruto slowly smiled at his friend, returning the soft squeeze of their joint hands. "Thanks Akarei-chan," he whispered, making her smile beautifully at his calmed state of mind.

Giving his hand one last squeeze, she let go of him and kept up the pace so that they were jumping side by side. Kakashi smiled at the sight while Sakura clenched her fists but stayed silent.

During their travel, they ran into Temari, Gaara's older sister, and explained the situation. She instantly grew just as worried as Naruto was and began to follow them back to her home village. With the group now being five and traveling at a great pace, they rushed off to help the kidnapped Kazekage.

[With Jiraiya (Hidden Leaf Catacombs)]

While his apprentice and charge were out to rescue the Kazekage, the Toad Sannin took it upon himself to try and figure out the mystery that was Naruto's ancestry. He knew that Minato's family had come from a small village within the Land of Lightning, so the Uchiha blood was out on his side. This also further proved Tsunade's discovery of the Uchiha blood being from Kushina's side of the family.

And so, here he was in the catacombs of the Hidden Leaf in hopes of finding something within the old documents that were stored there. So far, he had been through two rooms stacked full of old papers concerning the village during the time his old sensei was Hokage and when Tobirama Senju was Hokage.

He was about to enter the room holding documents during the First Hokage's time before he tensed at the feeling of being watched. In a flash, he threw a kunai and struck a rat that surprisingly exploded into ink that instantly dried up. He frowned at that, wondering who the user of the interesting technique was.

Not sensing anyone else, he opened the door and looked around the large room. It was styled like the others; as a very large office filled with boxes of documents while still leaving room at the single wooden desk. The Sannin sat down at the desk, looking through the papers and small booklets in search of anything. However, he found nothing after a half an hour of searching.

Sighing in frustration, and nearly giving into the urge to toss the papers aside in anger, he placed his hands on the desk and stood up. But when he made to move, he felt one of his hands glued to the desk and saw a small hidden seal appear near his thumb. He then felt a significant drain on his chakra reserves before a plume of smoke erupted from the seal.

When it cleared, Jiraiya's hand was placed on top of a journal that had the Uchiha Fan Symbol on the front. Curious, he opened it and his eyes widened at the handwritten note on the inside of the cover. They widened even further at the signature and the symbol stamped next to it.

The stamp was that of the Uzumaki Clan, and the note was written by Mito Uzumaki for one Madara Uchiha.

(End Chapter)

So, what did you guys think of the fourth chapter? I hope it turned out well and made you all eager for more!

Now, I'm sure you guys have plenty of questions or concerns. If you do and would like them answered, please PM them to me and I will get back to you as soon as possible! Also, be sure to review this story guys! Please and thank you!

Next Time: Team Kakashi arrives at the Hidden Sand to help rescue Gaara from Akatsuki! Plus, the hidden journal is read in depth! Stay Tuned!

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