11 Oct at the Hospital, midnight:

Naruto was staring unseeingly at the décor of the hospital's waiting area, the only word that seemed to come to mind when he thought about it, was brown. Brown pleather seats, brown wooden tables, brown plant boxes, brown carpet, the only break in the color pattern, were the plants which were refreshingly green. Naruto went over the events of the entire night, his birthday party, going to the festival, keeping company with his two best friends, maybe more now that they kissed him. It helped to remember the whole evening in order, before getting to the bad part, when we got back to the Senju estate at fifteen till nine, Sakura's little brother was not there yet. They waited until 9:15, thirty minutes, was more than enough time to get anywhere in the village. Hiro-ojisan and Hiroko-obasan, had gone to bed already. Sakura was starting to get worried, she wanted to go home, and check on him, but told him about the orders her mother gave her as clan head. Even Naruto knew the difference between mom instructions, and clan leader orders, the Uzumaki might only be a clan of two, but we're still a clan, with our own rules. Sakura started to tear up, and Yoshi-onēchan tried comforting her. Sakura thinking something happened to her little brother, even though Sasuke was considered the best in his class, any reassurances made by Naruto, and Yoshiko, fell on deaf ears.

So, I suggested that I go check her clan estate, and bring her brother to the Senju. They protested that it could be dangerous, and I could get hurt, I knew the risks but waved them away. "I'll be careful, Sakura-chan, Yoshiko-chan, but it's all I can do to help make Sakura feel better," I said with a cheeky grin. "Sasuke probably got caught up at your clan's training grounds, he'll probably wanna spar some too." Sakura must have been really worried about her brother, because after looking at her cousin, and getting the nod, agreed to let me go.

Sakura walked over to me, and grabbed my nice clothes by the lapels, and pulled me until she was nose-to-nose with me. "You be careful," she said in a dangerous voice, "Yoshiko and I kissed you tonight, and I at least want to do more of it in the future, with you." She kissed me on the nose, I nodded stupidly at her.

Then Yoshiko was standing right next to me, and said, "Do not take stupid chances, promise us you'll go get help before trying to be a hero," she demanded, she wouldn't let me go until I promised, which I did, and since I sent my avatar for help, fulfilled my promise.

The confrontation at the Uchiha estate happened, looking at the clock, while blinking my eyes two and a half hours ago. I turned back to looking straight ahead, and remembered the events that happened after I fled the scene. My avatar made his way to Hokage Tower, rousing the ANBU, Naruto III briefed them on what I witnessed, they informed the Hokage who immediately dispatched them, but ordered him to give her more detail. When my other avatar dispersed, Naruto III received Naruto II's memories the same as me, and updated the Hokage, what he received about the confrontation, as I left with Sasuke.

By that time, I met up with the ANBU team, sent to investigate my avatar's call for help. It was a standard six ninja team; one ninja with a dog mask, and gravity defying silver hair, checked Sasuke, finding only superficial wounds, except for a huge welt on his head, and made me head for the hospital. I made an avatar and dispersed him to keep the Hokage up to date with new information. I reached the hospital, turning Sasuke over to the health professionals, who insisted on checking me out for injuries, as well. I sealed away my blades and haori. I made two more avatars, dispersed one to update the Hokage, and sent the other to inform Sakura, and the Senju estate. Finally, thirty minutes ago, my clone in the Hokage's office dispersed, the Hokage thanked me for my service to the village, and all that stuff.

Naruto's mind and awareness returned to the present, he took a big whiff of the air, and said out loud, "Man, who chose the furniture for this place?"

"I did, brat," a woman's voice replied, "earth tones are supposed to be soothing, Naruto-kun."

Naruto looked over at Tsunade, as she walked up and sat down next to him. Over the years, Tsunade and Naruto have developed a unique relationship, when she was not in the robes of the Hokage like now, they talked rather freely with each other, "O bāchan, if soothing means dull, you've achieved your goal." She was the Hokage, a mother, and grandmother, but with Naruto, she was his O bāchan, when not in her Hokage robes, right now she did not even have her ANBU bodyguards, not in the room at least.

Tsunade crosses her arms over her stupendous breasts, turning away in a huff, "You wouldn't know good decorations if they came up, and bit you in the crotch, little turd."

Naruto growled, "old fart!"

She glared and shot back, "whisker face," she got in his face!

He got in her face too, and answered right back, "ancient witch!"

They got closer to each other with each dig, they even had each other by the lapels of their clothing. She held him by his kimono shirt, and was right in his face, he was holding her top by the lapels. It was at this moment the dam burst on his emotions, he was shaking trying to hold back his feelings, she quickly enfolded him in a hug. Finally, allowing himself to cry, he buried his head in her shoulder, and silently wept. He had done his duty like a grown up, now it was time to let him act like the ten-year-old, he is. He spoke quietly to her, told what he saw, what he smelt, how he felt about his role model after knowing what Itachi did. Tsunade just listened as he spoke, rubbing his back soothingly. Both knew, this would not be the last time he saw death, he would probably even deal it out from time to time, but for right now it was okay to let him, be a little boy.

After his crying storm was over, he felt a little better, and stood back. "Thank you, Sobo-san, I didn't realize I needed that."

Tsunade smiled, "Your welcome, mago-kun, anytime you need it, let me or your haha know. It's never good to keep your feelings bottled up, you should always find some way to express them."

Naruto nodded then stood at attention, "Does the Hokage need anything else," he asked his bearing crisp?

She shook her head, "No, your clone signed a written statement, which is good enough for now, the Clan Council may have questions, but they can wait until your mother returns. Because, you're a minor until your graduation, she will need to act as your advocate." Tsunade stood and hugged him again, "Now, are you ready, to receive some guests, Naruto-kun?"

"Does Sakura know about her clan, and brothers," he asked?

"Yes," she nodded, "Sasuke woke up an hour ago, Itachi only knocked him out," then smiled, "right now she and Yosh-magomusume are more worried about you, than the clan?"

Naruto laughed at that, "I can tell from here they're anxious, their heart beat is rapid."

Tsunade squinted at Naruto, "You can hear a person's heart beat from fifty feet away?"

Naruto nodded, "Everybody's heart beat differs, depending on health, and lifestyle, I can identify people based on heartbeat, pulse rate, blood flow, even blood pressure. I can also feel them by the way they displace air molecules." Naruto indicated his whisker marks and ears, that seemed to twitch in response to some invisible wind or other stimuli.

Tsunade looked impressed with what he was telling her, but asked, "How do you handle such intense input?"

Naruto smiled, "It helps that I've had them all my life, but what really helped me learn to use my senses, was the way Inuzuka Tsume-dono and her partner Kuromaru helped me when I was younger, before I started at the academy. They taught me to stop fighting my senses, and accept what they told me, to let my mind do the work of understanding." He finished his explanation, by adding, "Besides, you have the same senses I do, mine are just more acute than yours," Tsunade started to shake her head, when he continued, "let me put it another way, though you see, you do not need to look, hear, but not listen, touch, but not feel. Your senses are always active, but you don't have to pay attention," a look of understanding crossed her face, and she called in the others.

Yoshi and Sakura raced over to hug Naruto, tightly. Hiroko gave him an encouraging smile, Hiro clapped him on the back. Jiraiya-jiji acted like nothing big happened at all. They stayed for a little while longer, before Tsunade sent them all home.

Kushina and Mikoto came in a day and a half later, and after turning their reports in to the Hokage, made a bee-line to the Senju estate to be with their children. Kushina crushed Naruto to her, out of relief and concern, but Naruto hugged her just as tightly, drawing strength from her, while she was doing the same. Mikoto kept switching back and forth between her two kids, and when she heard Naruto saved her son and how he did it, she hugged him just as tightly. "Thank you, for saving my baby, Naruto-kun. The Uchiha, or what's left of us are in your debt."

Sasuke was good-natured about the whole thing, "Honestly, the only thing Itachi hurt on me was my pride, even if he is jonin I shouldn't have been knocked out so quickly. Naruto was at least able to wound him."

Mikoto counseled him on that thought, "Sasuke-kun, Naruto was lucky, and took your brother by surprise. If Itachi had been ready for Naruto, Kushina would be burying her only son right now." Sasuke looked at his mother and nodded.

Later that night at the Uzumaki-Namikaze estate...

All he could see were their faces. The eyes kept looking at him, following him waiting for him to save them. The worst part was he could smell them. The smell of the fear as they were cut down, only a few hours old by the time he had arrived. His animal senses combined with his human imagination gave his subconscious vibrant dreams.

Animals don't really 'smell' fear or aggression. They smell the body's transition into fight or flight mode, the increase of the blood sugar, release of cortisol and adrenaline into the blood, and the release of fatty acids to promote energy release. It is why animals attack, when you're afraid of them, to them aggression and fear, smell the same. When animals die violent deaths, the fight or flight chemicals linger for a time. and the human animal is no different. The people killed at the Uchiha estate, died either in fear or while fighting, and Naruto unconsciously through simple respiration, inhaled all of that. All their fear, and all their pain before they died.

Naruto tossed and turned trying to get away from the memory, not just of what he saw, but what he smelt. "AAAH!"

Kushina was in his room before the sound finished travelling. "Naruto-kun, Naruto-kun," she shouted coming to his bedside, "musuko, wake up, wake up!"

Naruto opened his eyes, saw his okasan sitting next to him, he launched himself into her arms, clutching at her. He was breathing rapidly, practically hyperventilating, "The smell, the smell, make it go away, please make it go away," he begged, practically screaming!

His mother rubbed his back and hugged him to her chest, rocking him back and forth, like when he was an infant. "Shshsh, it'll be alright, my baby, shhh, its okay, its okay, okasan is here, I'm here. You're safe now, because mommy loves you." His breathing was beginning to calm down, he realize where he was, and hugged his mom even tighter.

Eventually, he calmed down, his breathing returned to normal. Naruto leaned away from his mother, "I'm sorry, okasan, I am feeling better, sorry I woke you up."

Kushina shook her head, "Nonsense," she said stroking his back some more, "I'm always here for you, Naruto-kun."

Naruto covered his eyes with his hands, "I can still remember the odor of the bodies, they had just been killed, and still smelled like they were in panic mode." He looked up at her intently, "There were worse smells, just as powerful," he shuddered, and smiles faintly,"I won't say exactly what they were, but I will say sphincter and bowel."

Kushina wrinkled her nose in disgust, but nodded in understanding, having been the cause of some deaths herself, she has seen that particular circumstance occur occasionally. Then, she looked at her son, studying him, and came to a conclusion, "Naruto, I believe it's time for your first blade evolution ritual."

Naruto looked surprised, "I... thought that was only used when you make your first kill."

Shaking her head, Kushina replied, "no, it was to be used upon seeing death for the first time." She went on, "as you know, our blades are more than instruments for doling out death, they become a testimony to how we live our lives, a diary of sorts. Every time we receive a new blade, whether as a gift or we take it off our enemies upon defeat, we may if we choose, perform the blade evolution ritual."

Naruto nods, as he remembers the lessons in clan customs his mother taught him. Using a crucible that reacts only to chi, the blades merge, the atoms get redistributed into new patterns. The blades forged together, record the experiences of the rite caster, from the last ritual until the current, in thought wave patterns unique to each caster, which is how the atoms of the blades are redistributed. Any special properties if not redundant, are harmonized within the forging.

Kushina takes Naruto's hand, "Come, musuko-san, let's get to the dojo," she pulls him behind her. They stop by the front door to retrieve their current blades. They enter the dojo, a huge space where Kushina trains her son. Directly ahead of them is the Uzumaki spiral, to the right a shrine dedicated to Namikaze Minato. They bow to the spiral representing Uzushiogahkure, they give their loyalty to Konoha at the moment, but in their hearts, all Uzumaki belong to Uzu. They knelt and prayed at Minato's alter.

They separated walking over to separate wall panels. Kushina picked up Mika's O-katana, and walked to the center, knelt in seiza and waited. Naruto returned with the twin wakizashi, knelt as well, then unsealed the twin tsurugi, from his right arm. Tonight was the first night, he had been home since his birthday. He looked up and watched as his mother removed the bandage hilt, from Mika's blade, then using a set of Allen wrenches removed the foot long hilt and tsuba on her own weapon. On the floor in front of them, was the seal (此路不通) for The Way is Shut. Channeling chi and chakra into the seal it changed to (路是開放的) meaning The Way is Now Open. A panel slid open, revealing a rectangular coffin-like structure, made entirely of clay, the Crucible of Evolution.

Naruto's mother placed the two O-katana, into a couple of notches, of which there were several, and closed the lid. "Now, just watch, Naruto-san," she said in her clan leader voice. He nodded. She closed her eyes and Naruto felt her chi reach out, entering the crucible. He suddenly felt it get really warm, the heat radiating from the crucible was not unpleasant, it felt more like the sun blessing the face on a beautiful summer day. The heat went on for just a few minutes, then it began to ebb, it cut off completely, and the lid opened again.

Inside, where there was once two blades, now lay only one. It had retained the overall shape and length of the two blades, but the dimensions elsewhere were doubled. The thickness and width of both blades was added together, and it was now made of blued steel. Kushina lifted them out of the crucible, reattaching the handle and tsuba, which changed shape to keep the blade perfectly balanced. She inspected the blade critically, and grunted in approval, "I'm going to have to re-practice my iaijutsu and battojutsu, to get the hang of this blade. You will be Yoruimōto."

Kushina placed Yoruimōto into its sheathe, which also changed to fit the enormous blade. Then she added a clay wall, to prevent Naruto's blades from forging together. "Remove the accessories, and place the three blades in whatever group you wish to forge together, keep in mind this is not an art project, they must perform the function of defending your life."

Naruto followed his clan leaders orders as she gave them, he places his new kamaha in the outboard slots, his twin wakizashi on the inboard slots, and the twin tsurugi between them. "Begin channeling your chi outward, from 'Zìwǒ dìfāng' the creative chi node," she waited for him to comply, "good, now guide it into the crucible, it'll do the rest, which will allow it to go through your life, even things you do not consciously remember." The crucible was doing exactly as she said it would, Naruto remembered the night of his birth, what was said in his presence as a new born, he did not notice. Everything from his life, was brought to his conscious mind, and with his enhanced senses, it was brought to him with a vibrancy and clarity, only he could understand.

Finally, came the memory of the Uchiha Massacre, not just his memories, but every thought, and feeling, before, during, and after that tragedy. The crucible did not erase any of these memories, because it was not just the blades that were reforged into something new, Naruto felt himself being reforged from all the experiences, thus far in his young life. What seemed like hours, but was in reality only a few minutes, the crucible was finished. It slid open and where before, there were six blades, now only two were in their place. He picked them up one at a time, attaching the tsuba given by his aunt Mikoto, and a hilt which twisted to follow the shape of the blade, and adding a foot in length, totaling four feet long from pommel to tip, a foot and an inch, shorter than Naruto was tall, at that age.

The blades were three-foot long, serpentine, sine-curved, multi-edged blades, as wide as his hand. Weighted for hacking, and tapered enough for stabbing, there were three-foot slicing edges on one side that was a gentle-curve, the last twelve-inches led to a serrated section, with four serrations in a shallow-pattern. The second-edges followed the first curves, but were unbroken to the tsuba, meant for decapitation. The most striking feature was not the shape, but the hue. The blade looked like a rainbow exploded all over it, from different angles light reflected a multitude of colors into the eyes. "They're beautiful, musuko-kun," Kushina broke in, staring in awe, "your blades are no longer just hunks of metal, they are now, a part of you, they will be extensions of your will, therefore as I have done you must give them a name."

He thought for a moment, then grinned gently, "Kaminokaze, their name is Kaminokaze."

One month later…

Tanzaku Town resides in the Land of Fire and is a fair distance from Konoha. It is a lively town that attracts many adults, due to its gambling opportunities, and beautifully, loose women. Through the streets four goddesses, sauntered out in exotic clothing, striding provocatively, even a tiny-bit invitingly. They wandered from booth to booth, flaunting their bountiful bodies to the eyes, but not the hands of the passing male populace. As a few found out, when their hands were returned to them with broken bones,

The tallest of them, was also the most endowed, has brown eyes and straight, shoulder-length, blonde hair flowing loosely down her back, and over her shoulders covering the tops of her breasts. She wears a grass-green, cocktail dress, reaching to her mid-thigh, with a heavy bustier top, that covered, yet cradled her more than generous bust, her mile-long legs were sheathed in thigh-high black stockings, ending with stilettos the same shade as the dress.

Next to the blonde, while not as blessed up top as her blonde counterpart, walked a curvaceous, perfectly proportioned red-head. All her hair, was collected into a single, thick long braid. Covering her perfectly proportioned breasts, was a green-sequined, V-neck short-sleeved, button-down top, so tight, it strained the top two buttons, she is sporting a forest green, and crimson, plaid, miniskirt, with a pair of white knee-high socks, and black slippers.

The third vixen vision, had white, pupil less eyes, with violet-hair, styled in a curtainly wave. She wore a stylized black, short sleeved, nurse's uniform that hugged her slender form, ending just below her ass, the shapely legs were covered by a pair of pantyhose the same shade as her hair, and black orthopedic shoes to complete the fantasy, with a golden cross, in lieu of red. The last lady of the party, was the epitome of the ebon-headed beauty, with black eyes and red accents, she donned a red and black halter corset dress, going to her knees, black thigh-high fishnet stockings, ending with black, leather, steel-tipped, cowgirl boots.

They were of course, Senju Tsunade, Uzumaki Kushina, Hyūga Hitomi and Uchiha Mikoto. Tsunade was here to operate on Itachi and Shisui to exchange one of their eyes, Dr. Hyūga was here to assist in the operation. Mikoto was here to say good-bye to her son, and Kushina was here because she was one of the few ninja, who could kill Itachi outright. Tsunade and Mikoto assured her, that it would not be necessary, but she wanted to be there in case he changed his mind, "to make sure my son's attack, didn't scramble his egg."

In the last thirty days, many events have taken place in the village. After the massacre, Itachi was tried in absentia, after testimony given by Sasuke with Mikoto representing him, followed by Naruto and Kushina. Itachi was found guilty, but could not be placed in the Bingo book without the daimyo's ratification. All the paperwork was sent to Flame, but at the time he decided that with his daughter out of the house, he and his wife would take a second honeymoon, and go on a vacation. Naturally, they took the twelve guardians, for protection and headed for Tanzaku Castle.

Tsunade thought that was a good idea, so she decided to go, it was one of her old stomping grounds, and to make it more fun she decided to have a few close friends come with her. They made it a mostly ladies only weekend, to see if they still had it when it came to sexiness, for two of them would have their husbands join them later in the evening. For many kunoichi, sexiness and seduction are as much a weapon, as the kunai in their belt, some even choose to go on seduction missions, more than one kunoichi has decided to go on a few such missions before they get married.

These women have opted for a different kind of stealth, hiding in plain-sight. They head toward their destination, the Castle's kitchen which has been converted into a make shift operating room. It has metal surfaces and sinks, and lots of light. Shisui was already there. The Fire Lord and his wife were somewhere above. The ladies, henged into their work clothes, Tsunade and Hitomi into scrubs, and the other two in their ninja-fuku (ninja clothes).

Mikoto and Shisui hug in greeting. Someone entered via shunshin, as they were hugging. He had star-shaped ⁑ scars all over his face, onyx eyes, no hair and sallow, white skin. Yoruimōto was out and ready, "identify yourself, state your business," the clan leader of the Uzumaki commanded?!

He was wearing a long-sleeved brown tunic, with a hood attached, with a black leather belt carrying kunai and shuriken, blue jeans, cowboy boots and a chokuto strapped to his back. "I am here to be rewarded for murdering my clan, Kushina-obasan," he said in a careful, voice.

Tsunade stepped forward, "and I told you, you are not being rewarded for murdering your family, but for service to the village."

Mikoto walked over, and Itachi enveloped her in a hug, she kissed his cheek, then stepped back to look at his face. "What happened to you honey?"

Itachi smiled at Kushina, "Naruto happened, seems he had been perfecting his invention, anyway when it got all over me, I jumped into the lake killing the powder. I ran away after that, didn't stop till I was next to a stream, and fell unconscious, I woke up the next morning looking like you see me now."

Kushina winced, "I am sorry, he didn't know about your clan's coup, he was doing his duty," she apologized.

He held up his hand in forgiveness, "I would have done, the same thing if I had the same knowledge as he. That he could injure me, and surprise me shows he has great potential. Keep up his training, he could be the best one day."

Tsunade broke in, "Shall we get started people, I actually have plans with my husband this weekend?"

As do I, with my husband," The Lady of Hyūga admitted.

The exchange of an eye took less time than they figured. Apparently, a side-effect of the dojutsu, allows for painless extraction, and for it to heal within hours of surgery. Whatever pattern the eyes of the original were, changes to mimic the recipient's other eye. Shisui who had his longer, noticed the difference right away, and expressed his thoughts. "This is a relief, I may have used them sparingly, but I had already noticed lights dimming. Now, if anything my vision is better than before."

In all, the operation took only two hours, which was fast in terms of surgery and medical procedures. Since, Itachi was unrecognizable, he did not need to leave right away. Shisui returned to his duty with the Lord of Fire. Mikoto and Itachi got to spend one last night together, as mother and son. Before she left, Tsunade gave him contact information for Jiraiya's spy network, then Tsunade and Hitomi henged into their original outfits and left to be with their respective husbands. Kushina, also left looking for certain entertainment, she had needs too damn it.