Hello again. Thanks to everyone that reviewed and agree that Naruto isn't mine, I appreciate it a lot. Anyway, here's chapter 4, I hope you guys like it.

-"There is no such thing as a Will of Fire, Naruto! I proved it by burning Konoha to the ground!

Chapter 4: The Will of Fire:

Only ten minutes after Minato left them, Kushina's group heard the yell of Samurai as they charged through the trees right into the genjutsu Yakumo weaved to mask their presence and making it seem there were more chakra signals then their actually were. There were around ten of them, and she had to wonder if they knew they were even bait, that they were sent first to find Kushina's group's location and make any traps ineffective before the Iwa ninjas themselves decided to fight.

Kushina looked back at Mikoto who was also watching the trees that the Iwa Samurai had just come from. Mikoto looked right back at her and gave her a couple nonverbal signs and Kushina nodded in understanding. They needed to get rid of these Samurai as quickly as possible. Even if a Samurai could not fight a ninja one on one and win, that did not mean that they were without their uses. Even a ninja would die if hit with one of the Samurai's chakra induced arrows if they were too caught up in a battle to notice one coming.

She suddenly saw two Samurai, who had spread out in the thinning trees, fall to the ground dead. She knew that it was her sensei that did it. She unsheathed her sword and stabbed it into the ground and nodded to Mikoto. After getting the confirmation that Mikoto was indeed ready, Kushina bit her thumb hard enough to draw blood and slid it done the middle of her blade.

"Fuinjutsu: Suijin," Kushina whispered to her sword. As soon as she finished, she could see small droplets of water start to leak out in a fast pace from the hilt and blade.

Two more Samurai fell to the ground dead, causing the rest of the Samurai to glance at where they had fallen. They were a little spread out in groups of two with just enough distance between them to see each other's movements.

"Damn it!" one of the Samurai yelled in frustration. "Where the hell are they!"

Feeling that there was enough water in the atmosphere surrounding the four samurai closest to her, she pulled her sword out the ground, rounded the tree she was hidden behind, and attacked.

The Samurai who had spoken saw her coming and lifted his blade in the air while yelling a warning to his comrades. He brought his blade down intending to cut her in half. She brought her own blade up and met it with her own. Looking into the man's face she saw him smile even as a hint of fear shone in his eyes.

Around him came another Samurai, his blade pulled back. Expecting it, she waited until he was committed to stabbing her with a sharp thrust before making her own move.

"Mizu no Yari," she said softly, but loud enough for the two Samurai to hear. In the blink of an eye two spears made of water materialized in the air and proceeded to plunge themselves into her opponents. They both fell dead.

With a battle cry, the other pair of Samurai attacked her. Clashing blades with the first, she kicked him to the side and engaged the other. She heard two thunks and saw out the corner of her eyes the Samurai fall dead on the ground with two kunai buried in his head.

Wanting to end it quickly since she was exposed to the Iwa ninja trying to draw her team out, she used her superior speed and strength to unbalance the Samurai with her blade before pulling out a kunai and coating it with wind chakra before plunging it into the Samurai's armored chest, right where his heart was.

As he fell dead, she looked for the last two but saw that Mikoto, her Sharingan active, had them handled. With two kunai in a cross handed position, Mikoto coated them with fire. In no time at all, the two Samurai she was facing fell at her feet, their faces seeming to be melted onto their Samurai helmets, the Kunai sticking from them.

Sensing chakra being manipulated, she spun back to the part of the dense woods where the Samurai had come from. Three Iwa nin were charging at her and Mikoto with spears that seemed to be made from the earth.

"Mikoto," she spoke to her teammate to get her attention before sheathing her blade and began going through a set of hand signs. She saw Mikoto look over to her and knew she understood what she wanted when Mikoto nodded at recognizing the hand seal sequence.

"Suiton: Mizu Kabe," she said while trusting her two hands out. Water once again materialized out of the air as two large walls of water shot out to the outside flanks of the three Iwa nin attacking. Doing exactly what she hoped, the two Iwa nin on the outside of the three man formation closed the gap between each other to avoid her jutsu.

Not bothering to glance at her teammate who had moved closer to her, she sped through another set of hand seals.

"Futon: Kamaitachi," Mikoto yelled as soon as Kushina yelled her own jutsu out.

"Suiton: Mizurappa," Kushina yelled bringing a hand to her mouth and expelling a jet of water while Mikoto extended her arms to create a whirlwind of cutting wind.

The two attacks blended together as they shot toward the three Iwa nin. They were trapped, the only way to avoid their combination jutsu was to retreat seeing as they were too close to perform any jutsu strong enough that could save them.

The two attacks created a small but powerful typhoon and hit the Iwa nin head on, the jutsu drowning and cutting them with no chance at escaping.

Kushina's and Mikoto's small victory didn't come without a cost however. Because of the two jutsu, there was too much chakra in the area and Yakumo's area genjutsu disappeared, exposing their whole group and their real numbers. Kushina and Mikoto almost realized their mistake too late as three Rock ninja surrounded them.

Two of the rock ninja threw kunai at them as the third went through a couple of hand signs and pressed both palms to the ground. "Douton: Doryuu," the ninja yelled out his jutsu. Even as Kushina and Mikoto started sinking into the ground they prepared their own jutsu.

"Kaze Tate," Mikoto spoke going through hand seals as fast as only an Uchiha can. Before the kunai could hit them, wind picked up around the two of them and threw the kunai in other directions, some right back to the ones who threw them. As the wind died down, Kushina unsheathed her sword and spoke her own jutsu.

"Mizu no Muchi," she said and a whip made of water extended from the sword. She swung it and wrapped it around the neck of the ninja that had cast the mud jutsu before he had time to dodge. With a grunt and a hard pull she threw the man at one of his Iwa comrades. She faintly heard the man's neck crack at the pressure and force of the whip and knew she had succeeded in rendering him useless with a broken neck, or he was just killed. Either way, he would not be a problem now.

She released the whip from around the man's neck and spun it around and grabbed the leg of one of the rock ninja that had jumped to dodge the kunai that flew back at him from Mikoto's wind shield. She brought the whip down and slammed the rock ninja into the ground. However, before she turned her head to see what Mikoto was up to, she saw the rock ninja turn into stone and break apart.

'Shit! A substitution!'

Before she could even try to locate the now missing ninja, however, she felt Mikoto grab her arm and form a couple one handed hand seals. "Kaze Chouyaku," she said. Kushina felt herself pulled out of the mud they were half enclosed in and landing back onto ground about thirty feet from where they were.

As soon as they landed, however, she heard a whisper and the ground shook slightly. Turning, she was almost impaled with a skinny spear made out of the earth. She could not dodge the attack fully, and the earth spear cut straight through her left arm. She let out a scream of pain before she swung her blade upward using her good arm and tried to slash the ninja holding the spear. Said Iwa ninja, she noticed when he jumped backwards out of the way, was the same that had used the substitution.

Kushina pulled out the spear ready to charge the rock ninja and engage him and saw Mikoto about to do the same thing. However, as Mikoto began her charge, she was suddenly pulled down into the earth until the only thing visible was her head. Kushina was about to aid her when the rock nin she was just engaged with came at her, knowing he had the advantage with taijutsu now that her left arm was useless.

Kushina dodged the first punch that the rock nin threw at her and was able block his kunai from cutting her throat with her blade. She pushed the rock nin and her apart just as she caught a glimpse of a tall man rising out of the earth in front of Mikoto's head. Knowing that she had very little time to spare, she looked toward her opponent as he once again charged her. Waiting until the right moment, she suddenly swung her sword at the rock ninja's head. He blocked it with a kunai, but before he moved to do anything else she whispered, "Mizu no Hebi."

Her sword suddenly turned into a water snake that shot at the rock nin, who was too close to dodge. The ninja's eyes opened wide right before the snake tore through his neck and he fell to the floor dead. Looking back over to the tall rock nin, her heart jumped to her throat. Seemingly not one to taunt his opponents as long as most ninjas would another helpless ninja, he rose his fist and said loudly enough for her to hear fifteen yards away, "Domu!"

His fist became blackish and she could tell that it was as solid as stone. Kushina could not help the scream that came out her mouth even as she began to run to stop the ninja from killing her teammate and friend. She saw Mikoto close her eyes, waiting for the final blow. She knew she wouldn't make it in time.

Concentrating, she reached into herself and felt her chakra respond to her wishes immediately. Thrusting out her arm four chakra chains shot out of her skin and raced to the tall Iwa nin almost as fast as a thought. However, as fast as her chakra chains were, they were not needed.

There was a flash of red light and then the tall man's upper body fell to the ground as his lower body fell the same way. There, standing next to the now dead Iwa nin, was a man with sunny blond hair standing with his back to her, his sword glowing faintly red before it disappeared. It was a man that she felt she knew. He turned his head to look back at her and Mikoto and he smiled, whisker lookalike scars on his face, ocean blue eyes gleaming with mischievousness.

He shrugged at something Mikoto had apparently asked and scratched the back of his head. "Kaze Senkouken," the man said.

Kushina would have wondered what they were talking about if it weren't for the fact that she was so preoccupied with her own thoughts. As it was, she could not get the man's nose out of her head, or the sunny kissed blond hair, and of course those gorgeous eyes.

He looked so much like Minato that she would have thought it was him if not for a couple of things. The fact that he had those whiskers that somehow made him look kinda feral and added to his overall attractive face, and the fact that this man was slightly taller and had a sheepish smile that didn't scream overconfidence.

Of course, the fact the man had on a red coat with nine fox faces, all with a different expression, running on the bottom of it, as well as the name that ran down the middle of his back, assured her it wasn't Minato even if it still confused the hell out of her.

"Uzumaki?" she whispered her puzzlement out loud, catching the attention of her teammate's savior.

Hatake Sakumo once prided himself as the strongest ninja, aside from the Hokage, in the whole village. He still was one of the strongest, if not the strongest, in the village, but that same pride was no longer there. Or, to be more accurate, no longer what it used to be.

The Sannin could give him a run for his money, but he really doubted it. Individually, they were exceptional ninjas and they made the best team Konoha had ever seen. However, what made the Sannin capable as individuals were the summons they each possessed, and the abilities learned and acquired from said summons.

Orochimaru could do things only a snake should be able to do. Extend his tongue and torso, spit out hundreds of snakes out his mouth, an inhumane tolerance for poisons, and killer intent that radiates and paralyzes weaker opponents through just his freakish eyes. On top of all that, the damn bastard seemed to never age. Seriously, the guy was thirty-two, but he still looked twenty.

Which Tsunade-hime had apparently taken offense to or something, because when she turned thirty she had created some type of jutsu that made her look in her early twenties too. He was sure that slug of hers had helped with that. The slug boss was said to be one of the oldest of all summons. Her abilities were subtle, but the slug boss was much more dangerous than she appeared.

Just like Tsunade-hime, whose unnatural chakra concentration made her great at medical jutsu, both for healing and decapitating, as well as giving her monstrous strength that could land a man in a hospital with a full body cast.

Jiraiya was the one with the most flexibility, and even Sakumo had no idea what he was truly capable of. Out of the three of them, Jiraiya would be the most difficult to defeat, especially because Sakumo had no idea how much stronger he got when he went into 'Sage Mode'. Sakumo had seen it used once, accidental really, but the battle was over so fast Sakumo still wasn't sure what happened. He was one of the few who had seen him in that state.

Also because of those toads, Jiraiya was unrivaled when it came to fuinjutsu and stealth. Being able to hide inside a toad the size of a hand made it a lot more difficult for enemies to detect him.

But without those abilities and summons, none of the Sannin could even come close to being as strong as him, he was sure. He had an almost unrivaled amount of chakra control do to his bloodline, even if white chakra made it so difficult to have children. He also had almost as much strength and concentration as Tsunade. Orochimaru may know tons of jutsu, but he could not perform many of them due to his affinity. High level jutsu of his none affinities were out of reach for Orochimaru, regardless of how much he hated it. But Sakumo didn't have that problem, due to his control over his white chakra. He had full use of four elements; Earth, Lightening, Fire, and water.

That was the reason why he was able to last this long against the Kazekage, or as he liked to be called, Asori of the Iron Sand, and fifteen of his top Sand Special Unit (SSU). No normal shinobi would be able to stand after performing his Fire Pit Jutsu three times in as many days.

Yet, after fighting for so long and performing such high level jutsu, he was only now starting to get tired. He had managed to kill eleven of the Kazekage's SSU, so only four were left, as well as slice the Kazekage across his left leg. Any lesser ninja would have given up by now or died, but he could not, too much was at stake.

He had to end this here and now, and that was pushing him onward more than anything. He had to stop the war he had started. It was a fact that whatever documents he and his team failed to intercept had somehow played a major role as to why the Sand decided to attack Hi no Kuni along with Iwa.

He had to defeat the Kazekage now that he had the chance, because he wasn't sure if he would get the chance ever again. If he stopped the Kazekage, maybe he would regain his honor, the pride that he lost for being the most celebrated ninja under the Hokage. Maybe he would get his respect back from the villagers and many of those ninjas that detested him now, all for saving one ninja's life and starting a war where so many have already died.

Perhaps his son would be able to look him in the eyes again. He missed those eyes, full of awe, respect, and love. He wanted it all back. He wanted his son back.

If he defeated the Kazekage now, all those things were possible. He could not fail.

With determination, he once again dodged the wind sword one of the SSU's swung at him, and with a flexibility that many females wished they had, dodged each of the iron needles the Kazekage shot at him. He noticed as the needles cut holes in the SSU ninja attacking him that the Kazekage didn't even flinch. He had killed a comrade just for the chance to injure him. That infuriated the White Fang even more and fueled his already dire need to end the bastard's life.

"What the hell is wrong with you," Sakumo exclaimed in his deep voice. "He was one of yours!"

The Kazekage ducked out of the way of the Sakumo's extended white blade and started laughing. "What's wrong with me? You cannot be serious. I am not some tree hugger, I am a ninja, and as such I will do everything that must be done to kill you. You are a threat to Suna's victory over Konoha, and you must be killed now no matter what. If one of my underlings can be used as a distraction to get my chance to kill you, then that is what they shall be used for!" With his part said, he went through hand seals and attacked. "Satetsu Kesshuu,"

The iron sand the Kazekage carried with him in a type of seal gourd flew out and started to form the shape of two huge boars. Not taking the chance to go anywhere near those boars, he jumped back and flipped through his own hand seals as the two boars raced toward him.

"Douton: Dorou Doumu," Sakumo yelled putting his hands on the ground. A dome of earth rose from the ground and trapped the boars inside. Already feeling the effects of the jutsu as it sucked the chakra out of the boars, he turned back to his target.

Only to remember that the Kazekage was not the only person he still had to fight.

"Kaze no Yari," he heard behind him. Turning, he saw two SSUs standing behind him and a spear of wind speeding toward him. However, this did not worry him as much as the second ninja's jutsu.

"Katon: Endan," the second ninja said and he spat a fireball that hit and joined with the wind spear making it two times bigger and deadlier.

Using pure white chakra, he pointed his white blade at the incoming spear. "White element: Twirling Leafs," he said.

The white blade extended, meeting the spear head on. As soon as it touched the flaming wind, white chakra started spinning rapidly until the wind and flame disappeared, the spinning white chakra doing its job of breaking the two elements apart and dispersing them.

After that threat was gone, he pulled back his white blade to its regular size and charged the two wide eyed SSUs. He only got a couple of feet however before he was forced to dodge out the way of a kick from the last SSU, and using his white chakra to incase his fist, punched the sand ninja in the stomach. He became wary when the ninja turned into sand.

He didn't have time to find the ninja that had conjured up the sand clone because of the massive iron scorpion that came up from the ground right behind him. He jumped to the side to get some distance away from the scorpion, but he wasn't fast enough. With surprising speed, the scorpion lashed out with his tail and stabbed Sakumo through his shoulder before he was slammed into the dome he created earlier to stop the iron boars. Before he could do any hand seals to get himself out of the situation, the scorpion used its pincers to grab each of his wrists.

Sakumo grunted as he felt both his arms pressed against the rock. He was surprised that with the amount of pressure he felt on his wrists and the amount of blood pouring out that his hands were not severed off. Trying to use some of his last remaining strength he kicked the scorpion's head, but he might as well have kicked a mountain for all the damage it did.

Sakumo heard the Kazekage laughing at him. Turning his had to face him, he saw the three remaining SSU jump to the Kazekage's side. "Look at the great White Fang, said to be one of the strongest ninja you leaf huggers have ever produced," the Kazekage said as he stopped a couple of yards away. "Looks like you won't regain your honor."

The White Fangs eyes went wide when he heard that. "What," the Kazekage asked. "You think I do not have spies inside Konoha? I know all about your status there. Everyone hates you in that village, despise you. It's your fault that this war has started, they say. If only you had been a real ninja, instead of an emotional coward, you would have completed that mission at all cost. Instead, you ran away, just to save your teammates lives only for one of them to die from her wounds anyway."

The Kazekage paused and looked at him with deep loathing and contempt. "I will not disgrace myself by killing you, you do not deserve to die by a Kage's hand," he said, turning his head to the three SSU. "Kill him," the Kazekage ordered. Not even hesitating they ran forward, all three of them with a kunai in their hands.

Sakumo took a deep breath and waited. He had failed despite how hard he had tried. At least he got to die on the battlefield, and his name would be put on the memorial in Konoha. That held some honor and respect, and at least his son had that to remember him by.

But as soon as the three ninjas were five yards away from him, they all abruptly stopped. Surprised, Sakumo and the Kazekage looked around them. To his shock, Sakumo noticed a shadow extend from the three SSU's feet all the way to a line of trees, where he saw Nara Shikaku with his deer vest and facial scars standing with a smile on his face.

"Kage Shibari no Jutsu, successful," the Nara clan head said with a smile.

Sakumo was not sure if he should of felt relieved or disappointed. If he died on the battle field, he was certain to leave one good impression on his son. Now though, that wasn't possible. He had lost, had failed, just like he did on that mission. What was he supposed to do now? He lost his will to fight, his 'Will of Fire'. He no longer deserved to be a shinobi of Konoha.

"I see," the Kazekage stated as he faced the shadow user. "You only delayed his death and assured your own," the Kage said before going into hand seals. He never got the chance to finish as a hand enclosed around his fingers.

Eyes opening wide, Asori stared into the eyes of the Sandaime Hokage, who was fully dressed in his Samurai gear and obviously ready for battle. Hard eyes stared into the Kazekage's face, and for the first time since mastering his skill over iron sand, he felt fear. He had not felt, saw, or sense the Hokage in any way. He seemed to just appear out of nowhere.

"Shikaku," the Sandaime said. "You and your team finish off those fake ANBU. The Kazekage and I need to have a chat." With that said, the Kazekage felt a punch hit him in the stomach and he flew backwards into a tree.

Naruto heard the girl whisper his last name and gave her his full attention. She looked vaguely familiar to him, and he tilted his head to the side trying to remember where he had seen her. Red long hair, bright green eyes, long sexy legs, and pale skin that reminded him of...

His eyes widened in shock and he could feel his face burning red from embarrassment as he quickly looked away.

He did not just think that about his mom!

Taking a deep breath to calm himself, he turned back to the girls and smiled. "Yo!" he spoke his enthusiastic. He could see that his future mom was confused. He wondered if it was because he just appeared out of nowhere or if it was because she had never seen him before yet he had her last name on the back of his coat. It was probably both. His greeting did not seem to go over well with his mom if her guarded face was anything to go by.

"Hello to you too," the girl with her head sticking out of the ground said sarcastically. "Now can you get me out of here?"

Looking back at the girl in the ground, he caught a glimpse at the body he had just cut in half. His eyes widened for a moment before closing his eyes. He did not have much time. How could he be so stupid! The body he had cut in half had lost its genjutsu, and he realized that the body was just a rock clone, the blood just a subtle genjutsu.

"Kushina-san, look out!" he heard a young girls voice scream. Feeling that he had enough natural energy, he put his hands into his favorite seal and created five clones, all with the same golden colored eyes with horizontal pupils.

"You know what to do," he said as the clones. They all dispersed into the sparse trees except for one, who grumbled about his life not being fair before it began to dig the girl in the ground out.

Looking at where his mother was, he saw that she was in a deadlock with the tall Iwa ninja he had thought he had cut in half. Both of them had blades, his mom her sword and the tall Iwa ninja with a short sword of his own. He could tell that this was the real one thanks to his Senjutsu. Behind the Iwa nin a girl around fourteen years old with shoulder length brown hair and light brown eyes was already weaving through a set of hand seals.

Naruto could not tell what she said but he figured it was some type of jutsu. He watched as the Iwa nin suddenly jumped back from his mom, whose left arm was bleeding from a nasty puncture. The tall Iwa nin then proceeded to turn to the nearest tree and began to attack it with all his might.

"Kushina-san," the brown haired girl spoke to his mother. He didn't like her labored breathing or the fact he did not feel much more chakra left in the girl. If the battle did not end soon, there was a good chance she would pass out or even die from chakra exhaustion.

"Hai," his mom answered through gritted teeth as she fought through the pain in her arm. Sheathing her blade, she pulled out a kunai and threw it at the tall Iwa nin's head. Her aim was true and he fell dead.

The brown haired girl collapsed to her knees and began to breathe very deeply. "Yakumo!" his mother said running to the girl and helping her to her feet. "Come on," his mom continued gently as she began to half carry the girl back to Naruto. "We have to stay together. I don't know where sensei is or how many Iwa nin are left, and there's this weird guy who showed up out of nowhere."

'Did she just call me weird,' Naruto thought in disbelief.

Smiling, the girl nodded. "I took on two by myself, Kushina-san," she said to his mom. "Do you think I'll get promoted to Jonin now?"

His mom laughed softly. "I don't see why not. But now's not a good time to worry about that."

"Hey!" a screech came from below him. Looking down, he saw the dark haired girl still stuck in the ground. Blinking in confusion he looked around for the clone that he had told to get her out. Looking up toward a nearby tree, he saw his clone lying down on a branch, his hands behind his head starring into the sky. He shook his head in astonishment.

"Hellooo," the dark haired girl tried to get his attention again. "Are you going to get me the heck out of here?"

"Hehe," Naruto laughed sheepishly. "Sorry about that," he said as he bent down and put his hand on the ground. The ground around the girl suddenly turned to mud. Able to get one arm out, he grasped it and pulled her up and out.

Shaking her arms and legs she tried to get the mud off of her. She went to say thank you but her eyes widened. Before she could give him a warning, he spun around and slapped the invisible earth spear coming at him.

The spear seemed to explode on impact. Closing the space between the invisible Iwa nin and himself, he swung his left knee up and kneed the man's ribs. He felt them basically shatter from the force. The Meisai Gakure no Jutsu dissolving as the man flew away until he hit a tree.

"I know you're there," he said out loud looking at seemingly no one off to the side. Hearing a curse, the Iwa nin dropped the concealment technique to concentrate solely on another jutsu. She never got the chance as one of his clones, carrying a teenager with dark brown eyes appeared behind her and chopped her in the back of the neck.

"Sup boss!" his clone waved as he stepped over the unconscious kunoichi he just knocked out. Coming to stand in front of him, he dropped the teenager unceremoniously on his butt. "Cya!" his clone said before disappearing.

"Uzumaki-san!" the boy yelled as he jumped to his feet. "What is the meaning of this! You can't just come and go as you please! You are supposed to be with your squad. And why the hell did you come back and get me? And how the hell do you run so fast!"

"Eh, Akufumi-san, I need you to heal these guys," Naruto said as he eyed the huge bear in the distance that was fighting with an equally sized toad.

"Uzumaki-san, you say," Naruto heard his mother say challengingly as she helped Yakumo sit down on a fallen branch.

The girl called Yakumo voiced her puzzlement. "Uzumaki?" she asked. "But you have the same hair and eyes of most of the other Namikazes."

"You don't say? That is interesting, and you're right. But I'm a fully fledged Uzumaki too," he said with one of his wide smiles.

Kushina looked skeptical for a moment before she came up with a way to find the truth out for sure. "Give me your sword," she demanded.

Naruto stopped smiling for a moment and stared at his future mom for a a second. It wasn't like he didn't trust her or anything like that, but this was his sword, his blade, and he had always been protective of it since the day he found it.

He found it in the ruins of Uzu no Kuni when the future Mizukage had taken him there after the Battle of Konoha. He had found other swords and weapons in a shop that was sunk underground, but none did what this one did. He and the Mizukage had come across it by accident, after falling from the top of a cave in. He had read some of the old parchments that were there as he looked around and found out that some of his clan had a special gift.

"No," he answered his mom smiling again. "You should already know that no one else can touch an Uzumaki blade without consequences, Kushina-chan," he said with a smile.

Kushina smiled knowingly before nodding. "Then why don't you explain why I've never seen you before, and how you already know my name?"

Naruto was about to answer when they all looked to the direction they felt large chakra spikes come from. The black bear was still fighting Gamabunta.

"Well, look at that," he said. "Looks like I don't have time to stay and chat, I have a mission to complete. If you have any questions, ask the clone over there," he said pointing to the clone lying down on a tree branch while looking up at the sky, unperturbed with anything going on around him.

Naruto sighed. "Sorry about that, it seems he's channeling his inner Nara, so he might not be so forth coming," he said to the girls, who were eyeing the clone, and he could tell that they forgot he had even made that clone. "I guess I'll see you guys later. Make sure you heal them up good, Akufumi-san," he finished before racing toward the direction the summoned black bear was.

The three girls looked around at each other and to the teenager who was yelling for Uzumaki to come back, shocked at the abrupt departure. Mikoto decided to break the silence. "You know, he's kinda cute, isn't he Kushina."

Kushina shook her head to clear the confusion and cobwebs that clouded her mind. "No," she answered. "He's not that cute."

Yakumo giggled. "If you say so," she said while allowing a fuming Akufumi to check on her. "But we all already know you have eyes for only one blond, no matter who comes along and looks so like him."

Kushina stuck her tongue out at Yakumo. "I don't know what you're talking about. I do not like Minato like that."

"Like I said," Yakumo retorted back. "If you say so."

Kushina's come back was cut off by Mikoto's voice. "Hey!" Mikoto yelled at the Uzumaki still on the tree. "Get down here. I still haven't even introduced myself to you yet." The Uzumaki clone's only response was to mumble something that they could not hear. Mikoto, not used to being ignored, picked up a small rock and threw it at the clones head.

"Ouch!" the clone yelled rubbing his noggin. "What the hell is wrong with you woman. You don't just throw rocks at people."

Mikoto stood still for a moment in surprise. She looked back at the other two girls and noticed that they were equally confused. The shadow clone was unlike any Mikoto had ever seen. Its personality was completely different from the Uzumaki that just left, and seemed to be able to carry its own form of cognitive thinking. Not to mention it did not dispel.

Getting over her shock, she glowered up at the clone, matching glare for glare. "You were ignoring me, so I thought I'd encourage you to stop. Now get the heck down here and answer our questions like your...original said you were supposed to do."

The clone grunted before pointing at Kushina. "Shouldn't you heal her first? She might pass out from blood loss if you don't, and I know that the boss wouldn't like that," he retorted. "Just wake me up when you're done," he said as he lay back down on the branch.

Mikoto's eyebrow twitched before picking up another rock and throwing it with the same accuracy.

"What the hell!" the clone yelled swinging his arms outrageously. "Now what's your excuse for doing that, you nut!"

"WHAT!" Mikoto screamed before disappearing in a burst of speed. She appeared next to the clone, which only had a slight second to watch apprehensively before Mikoto's fist hit the same spot her two rocks had and he face planted against the tree branch. "You don't speak to a woman like that! Especially me! Who do you think you are?"

The clone rolled onto his back and looked at the seething woman who seemed to enjoy hitting him.

"Tck, troublesome."

"So it seems that you are nearing your limit, aren't you?" a short old man spoke to a tall young ninja, whose calm face and demeanor belied how much he was incensed inside. The short old man, who called himself Onoki, had somehow been able to see Minato's new jutsu weakness. Minato didn't know how the old man knew how to avoid the Hiraishin no Jutsu, but it was incredibly annoying.

The old man, whose huge nose looked like it had a tumor on it, smirked at him from across the clearing. "I bet you're wondering how I know how to avoid your move?" he asked and Minato was instantly paying close attention to the words. "Your jutsu is mighty impressive, but from what my spies tell me and from what the survivors have told me from when you and your Leaf friends retook Kasaki village, you only used a total of five of those special kunai of yours. In addition, every time you threw them you made sure to be at the most twenty yards away before you teleported. Also, anytime that you teleported, your swings were slightly off target and you appeared a little disoriented. And lastly, after you used your teleport trick eight times, you stopped using it and settled for fighting in Taijutsu and C-rank jutsu."

The short man paused and was happy to note the surprise that flickered across the eyes of the seemingly emotionless young ninja in front of him before continuing. "This leads me to believe that your jutsu, whatever you call it, is not complete. And as you have used it eleven times now, as well as the fact that the last time you used it against my Tsu clone you missed your strike by a foot, means you have reached that jutsu's limit."

The short old man was somehow able to scowl and smile at the same time. "I commend you though," the old man continued. "You have gained the great Ryotenbin no Onoki's attention, but I'm afraid that I cannot let you live and complete that jutsu. As such, make your laments now and pray to your gods, for it is time to meet your end." With that said, he got into a fighting stance and floated himself a couple of feet into the air.

Minato, doing a very good job at hiding his surprise at the fact that this Iwa ninja was so well informed and knew so much about his Hiraishin no Jutsu, also got into a stance. The old man was right of course. The first time he had used the Hiraishin in battle was during the retaking of Kasaki, and as such was unprepared for the backlash of using such a high chakra depleting jutsu at the same time as fighting with Taijutsu and using other Ninjutsu. He had miscalculated. He had become tired and disoriented after using the Hiraishin after eight times and didn't want to take chances with his mental health, so stopped using it in that battle.

However, in the three weeks they held Kasaki, he had been working hard on correcting that weakness. He was now able to use Hiraishin at around sixteen times a day and was also able to move longer distances depending on how much chakra he spent. But because he was too cocky and thought that his weaknesses were only known to him, he had went and used the Hiraishin to get to Kushina's group, about a mile from where he was at the time, thus cutting down on the amount of times he was able to use it now, against a very informed and strong Iwa shinobi.

Keeping track of all his three pronged kunai was also a noticeable challenge he has been trying to overcome. Because of the seal mechanics, he was able to feel each of his kunai whenever they were thrown and could see the kunai's surrounding area while he was moving from one kunai to another.

This gave him the ability to know where his enemy was located so he could go in for a quick kill. However, he had found that keeping track of so many different environments and surroundings gave major headaches and required enormous amount of concentration. Five was his limit during the retaking of Kasaki, seven was his limit now.

"I don't think I need to pray to anything," Minato said to the old man, his face remaining emotionless, just like his father had taught him before he died. "I won't be the one dying."

The old man scowled. "Very well," he said getting ready to use one of his strongest jutsu. Before he went through the seal sequence for it, he saw the blond man's eyes widen a fraction in surprise and felt wind at his back. Using a quick replacement, he switched positions with an overturned piece of earth.

Looking back, his face contorted with anger. Another blond haired man, this one with what appeared to be birthmarks on his cheeks, swung his fist down and punched right through the pile of earth. The old man noticed as the new comer swung, he had gathered what looked like wind around his fist. In no time at all the new guy landed on his feet and stared right into the eyes of Onoki, and the old man couldn't help the feeling of slight fear that rippled down his spine.

The little old man couldn't remember the last time he felt such killing intent directed at him. Looking back and forth from the blond he knew as Minato and the new blond he didn't know anything about, he was sure they were related. But physical appearance seemed to be all they shared.

Whereas Minato's eyes held calmness and control, his face showing nothing, the other blonds' eyes and face showed more emotion that should have been natural, especially for a ninja. And right now they showed so much hate, loathing, revulsion, and dare he say it, pain directed at him, he couldn't help but think he had wronged the new man somehow.

Deciding to get introductions out the way and perhaps figure out how the young man knew him, he started talking to him. "And who are you? By the way you are looking at me, I can only assume you know who I am," the little old man said to the blond standing twenty yards away from him.

The blond stared at him with barely suppressed rage. "Oh," the blond said in a voice that promised Ryotenbin no Onoki his death. "You don't know who I am, but I know you, Onoki. The only thing you need to know about me is that I'm Uzumaki Naruto;

"AND I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!"

A/N:

Peace, Love, and Chicken grease,

DrHokage

Jutsu List:

Futon: Kamaitachi: Cut Caused By Whirlwind

Suiton: Mizurappa: Violent Water Wave

Kaze Tate: Wind Shield

Mizu no Muchi: Water Whip (Whip of Water)

Mizu no Hebi: Water Snake (Snake of Water)

Domu: Earth spear literal translation, but Kakuzu used it as a way to harden his skin

Kaze Senkouken: Wind Flash Sword

Satetsu Kesshuu: Iron Sand Joint Attacks, Using Iron sand, the Sandaime Kazekage can turn his iron sand into different shapes

Douton: Dorou Doumu: Earth Dome Prison, also sucks chakra out of the people (or boars) trapped inside

Kaze no Yari: Wind Spear

Katon: Endan: Fireball

White element: Twirling Leafs: A move that twirls white chakra around Hatake Sakumo's blade at high speeds

Kage Shibari no Jutsu: Shadow Bind Technique

Meisai Gakure no Jutsu :Camouflage Concealment Technique

Hiraishin no Jutsu: Flying Thunder God Technique