Another chapter for my story is here. I am so sorry that it got out later than I had hoped to get it out. I guess that I just got lost on the road of life… lol. Sorry for stealing that from you, Kakashi-sama.

If you really want the details, it went down like this. I had about a two month long brain-fart where I had no inspiration. In fact, I still don't, but I need to do this one to further it.

Then, and here's the fun part, I got hospitalized for a biking accident. Not only did my face look hideous for a few weeks, I broke my hand as well. I have had it in a sling for quite a while. I'm not even supposed to have it off yet, but it's finals at my school, and I can't really live without typing. So, here I am, about 4 months from my last update, apologetic and humbled for my failures.

Well, I am sorry for not getting this together soon enough. I want to try and get this through, so I can get through to the most important part of the early arcs… the Land of the Waves arc. I know that you guys want to see that out of me, do I'll try to move up more quickly with the updates.

Wandering Violets: Thank you for reviewing on my fic. Also, your advice is very helpful. From now on I will try to look at showing rather than telling when I am writing.

Kakashi just stood there, mouth agape. Not only was there a third true Uchiha alive, it was none other than Uchiha Kaida, the legendary Inferno General. She had led a massive portion of the Konoha shinobi war force during the Great Ninja War. She probably would have been made the Godaime Hokage after Arashi had died, if she hadn't left Konoha. The Copy ninja had no idea why she was here, but if she had returned, it was probably very important.

"Naruto," Kana turned to the boy "Kaida was your father's old teammate. I brought her here to help train you."

Naruto stood there, grinning. His father, considered one of the best ninja of all time, had asked his equally great ex-teammates to make him the greatest ninja possible. There was no doubt that he was going to be the Hokage someday soon.

"Sorry it took us so long, Naruto." Kaida told her teammate's son. "We were held back by an obstacle."

"What kind of trouble could stop someone like the Inferno General and Kana?" Kakashi asked puzzled.

"Her cousin, Itachi" Kana told the Copy Ninja "and his teammate, that Kisame."

Kakashi shook where he stood. That name still struck fear within most of the Konoha ninja privy to the information about him. "Itachi? You mean you fought the traitor…"

Naruto looked up at the three adults, puzzled with what they were saying. "Could someone tell me what you're talking about?"

"You have heard about the Uchiha massacre, right?" Kana asked Naruto.

"Yeah." Naruto replied "But no one ever tells me about it."

Kana opened his mouth, the look on his face indicating that he really didn't want to tell Naruto. But Kaida thought differently. "I'll tell him, Kana." She told him, sighing.

"Well, the Uchiha used to be the most powerful clan in all of Konoha. Ever since the Uzumaki faded into obscurity over fifty years ago, they ruled supreme. Out of that clan came the best ninja in the whole village.

But even among them, there came one who surpassed even their high standards. His name was Uchiha Itachi. He was the greatest genius Konoha had ever seen. He graduated the Konoha academy system at age 7, and fully mastered the Sharingan at eight. He was honored universally by the Uchiha as the epitome of their bloodline. They called him this for good reason. He had achieved Chuunin rank at age 10, three years before most students even graduate academy. By 13, the graduating age for the average shinobi, he was invited into ANBU. Everyone thought that he was going to become the next Hokage.

But what they didn't know was that he was insane. All the pressure that people had put on him for him to succeed had cracked his young mind. It failed to show during his early years, as the pressure was weak.

However, about a half of a year into him being accepted into ANBU, he began to act strangely. They sent his best friend, Uchiha Shisui to watch him and see what was wrong with him. Itachi promptly killed him.

Not long afterwards, he killed all of the Uchiha clan except for me, because I was too well hidden for him to find me."

"But what about Sasuke?" Naruto asked confused "He's still alive, and he's an Uchiha."

Kaida turned towards Naruto, an anxious look on her face. "Who did you say?"

"Uchiha Sasuke" Naruto replied, raising his eyebrows in confusion.

"That's Itachi's little brother…" Kaida said softly. "Poor kid…"

Naruto's grin faded, along with his daydreams of grandeur. And even though he was angry with Sasuke for trying to steal his bell, he felt sorry for him. Naruto had never really known his father personally. The closest thing to family he had nowadays was Kana. To lose Kana would be a hideous blow to him. Without his teacher, mentor, and surrogate uncle, his life would feel like an empty shell. Naruto could not even begin to comprehend how horrible it must have been for Sasuke.

But the grin spread over his face once more, as he had an idea. No, not just any old idea; this one was brilliant beyond comparison. If it worked out, he wouldn't feel so lonely anymore, and he would be able to help out Sasuke at the same time. Naruto mentally patted himself on the back for his brilliant idea.

After last night, Kaida settled into the Uzumaki manor, and Naruto quickly decided that he needed to rest as much as he could, if he wanted to go to team practice the next day. As soon a he entered his bed, the young genin dropped like a stone.

But as always, he rose early in the morning to prepare for the coming day. Without even changing out of the clothes he had worn the day before to the bell training, he half-stumbled into the kitchen. Nodding at one of the cooks in the kitchen, they began to make a bowl of breakfast-style ramen. Naruto rubbed his forehead, trying to remember exactly what happened last night after he got home. So much had happened that he felt like his head was spinning.

And within an instant, it all clicked. The new guest Kaida, who was one of the only Uchiha left, who happened to be Sasuke's cousin. Click. His mind jumped again. Itachi, who had slaughtered Sasuke's family. Why he was all alone in this world. The person who had forced Sasuke to become a cold hearted person who cared only for results. How sorry he felt for his teammate. Click. Naruto remembered his genius plan for fixing it all.

Grinning, Naruto ran out of the kitchen, and returned to his room. Quickly donning a new suit from his closet, he checked his supply pouch to make sure that it was fully stocked. He quickly grabbed a few extra kunai and some trip wire from his supply closet. Turning, Naruto bounded down the stairs, back to the ramen that was waiting for him on the kitchen counter. Naruto looked down at his delicious meal, nodding thanks to the cook who had made his breakfast before digging in.

After slurping up his ramen, Naruto made his final preparations for his day of training before saying goodbye to Kana and Kaida. Before he knew it, he was jumping from rooftop to rooftop towards his team, and Kakashi sensei.

Upon arriving at the training area for the day, Naruto met what he guessed was going to be the usual morning reception. Shino nodded politely in Naruto's direction, while Sasuke just stared at the Uzumaki rather uninterestedly. Naruto took this in stride, trying to hide his smile in anticipation.

The blonde Genin approached Shino, reaching back into his pack, calling out "Hey, Shino, I've got something for you."

The quiet Aburame genius turned to Naruto, giving him an inquisitive look. "Why, Naruto-san?" He asked, inquisitively.

"Well, you know," Naruto replied, smiling. "Since we both graduated from the Academy, and we're both on the same genin team, I just thought it would be right to give everybody a congratulatory present." The Uzumaki's face brightened as his hand brushed the object he was looking for. The boy pulled out a ornate scroll and handed it to Shino.

Puzzled, Shino opened up the scroll, trying to figure out what it was, but after a sentence or two, the quiet boy froze up, standing as still as a rock. Naruto could instantly tell that Shino was acting a little weird, but he still knew very little about the Aburame, and thought that it might just be some weird family thing.

But this continued for a little while, and Naruto started to be worried about his teammate. "Shino, are you okay?" He asked, the worry creeping into his voice.

"Naruto-san…" Shino said, in an, if possible, even quieter voice "Do you know what this scroll is?"

"Sorry, Shino" The Uzumaki said, looking sheepish "It was the most advanced etymology book I could find in the library. It was the only thing that I could think of to give you. Sorry for insulting you."

"What do you mean, Naruto-san?" The Aburame replied ecstatically, at least for the quiet Aburame, "This is the Aburame book of Origin! They made only two copies, a long time ago when the clan was formed. Our copy of the book was destroyed many years ago."

"Really?" Naruto asked, sighing in relief "I was hoping the book wasn't too basic. Thank Kami!"

"This is worth a fortune, Naruto-san" Shino told the young genin "Are you sure you want to give this to me?"

"Of course!" The blond boy replied immediately "I don't have any use for it. It was just sitting in the Uzumaki archive. I'm just glad that you're happy with the scroll."

After solemnly thanking Naruto for giving him the scroll, the Aburame turned away, peering at the archaic writings of the original Aburame clan members. Grinning at the good he had done for Shino, the Uzumaki turned towards Sasuke. The boy was still leaning against the tree. However he was no longer uninterested. The Uchiha's eyes followed Naruto, wondering what the blonde genin had gotten for him.

"Well, Sasuke, your gift is in two parts," Naruto told his teammate "So I'm going to give you the first part now." Sasuke nodded, tensely anticipating the gift he was about to receive.

Naruto once more fished around in his bag until he came across the particular item. Once more, the blond Uzumaki pulled out a scroll, seemingly identical to the one that he had given to Shino. He tossed it to Sasuke, who immediately broke the seal and opened it.

"Advanced Fire jutsu…" Sasuke read aloud.

"Yeah…" Naruto replied "You Uchiha were pretty famous for your fire jutsu, you know. So I thought that this would be useful."

Sasuke was silent as he stared at the scroll, his hands trembling. "What do you know about the Uchiha?" he asked Naruto, anger tainting his voice.

"I know a relative of yours…" Naruto replied, slightly surprised at Sasuke's words "I-"

But before he could say anything, Sasuke's fist was racing towards his face. Completely not expecting the attack, Naruto awkwardly dodged out of the way. Before he could even open his mouth, Sasuke was in the air, dropping like a stone to drive a kick through Naruto's chest. The blonde genin quickly rolled out of the way again, and jumped back to put as much difference as he could between his furious teammate and himself. Almost immediately, Shino moved to intercept the enraged Uchiha, pinning him.

"Sasuke, what was that for?" Naruto breathed, leaning heavily forward, almost collapsing to the ground. "What did I do?"

"Where… is… Uchiha… Itachi…" Sasuke growled sub-humanly.

"I don't know!" Naruto exclaimed, exasperated "I didn't mean him!"

"Then who could it be, when you mentioned a relative of mine?" The avenger replied, "He killed my whole clan… except for me… Now we're the only Uchihas left alive…"

"Your cousin, Uchiha Kaida!" Naruto told his furious teammate "You know, the Inferno General!"

Sasuke froze immediately. "She's… alive?" He asked, visibly relaxing against Shino's arms.

"Yeah she is!" Naruto replied, "Kaida left long before your brother… did what he did. She showed up at my house last night. That news was actually supposed to be your second present."

"Ah…" Sasuke replied, calming down even more. "Thank you. It's good to know that I'm not alone …"

"Would someone care to tell me what you are talking about, Naruto-san, Sasuke-san?" Shino injected into the conversation.

"Want to fill him in, Naruto?" Sasuke asked, "You seem to be pretty familiar with my family history"

"You sure?" Naruto asked, the concern bleeding through his voice.

Sasuke nodded, grinning slightly. "I want to know how much you know about it."

"Fine." The blonde genin grinned slightly. But as he turned to address Shino, his grin quickly faded.

"Well, the Uchiha clan used to be big, right?" Shino nodded quietly, trying to take in what his teammate was telling him. "Well, Sasuke's brother, Itachi was the golden boy of the Uchiha clan. There was never anyone who could really mach him. Graduated the academy at, like, six. Then he got his sharingan at age seven. By age 13, he was in ANBU." Shino rose his eyebrows above his glasses, surprised at the extent of Sasuke's brother's abilities.

"Well, he was really good, right? Better than anyone else in the clan. But, he snapped, and went and killed everyone in the clan, except for Sasuke. Don't know why he spared Sasuke, but he did. Sasuke's cousin, Kaida, left a very long time ago, and wasn't here for the massacre. That's why she's still alive." Shino's eyes rose even further. The story just seemed so incredible that his usually stoic demeanor was broken, even if just for a moment.

"Sasuke-san…" Shino spoke from behind his collar. "I am sorry for your loss. No one should have to go through something that traumatic."

"It's okay…" Sasuke replied "I'm going to kill him, and that will be the end of it for him. I'll kill him, even if it's the last thing I ever do."

"Okay…" Naruto broke in, worrying that this conversation would set the tone for the entire day. "Well, these gifts weren't just to be a congratulatory thing… I also have a proposition for you guys."

"And what would that be?" Shino asked, intrigued.

"Well, as you know, the Uchiha and Uzumaki clans are all but gone. Sasuke may want to invest his career in getting revenge on his brother for slaughtering his family, but I want to make some progress in undoing this…" Naruto said, pausing.

"So am I supposed to presume that you have a plan for this?" Sasuke asked immediately slightly annoyed at Naruto's jab at his ambition.

"Actually yes." Naruto replied. "Clans are usually based on blood relations. However, there is no law stating that you must be of blood relation to be a member of the clan. Technically, anyone can become an honorary member of the clan."

"Are you actually saying…" Shino said quietly, before Naruto cut him off

"Yes! I want to ask you guys to join the Uzumaki clan as honorary members!" The energetic Uzumaki exclaimed.

"Yeah right!" Sasuke snorted in derision. "Why should we join you?"

"Well, I have the resource of the Uzumaki library at my disposal." Naruto replied "As well as the old Archive"

"The Archive?" Shino asked.

"Yes, the Archive" Naruto said "It's a collection of old Chakra Artifacts, and some very rare scrolls, most even more rare than the one I got you. But I can't open it until I turn eighteen, and I have to remain clan head to actually be able to open it."

"So, you have to stay head of the Uzumaki Clan to open the Archive?" Sasuke asked, doubtful, "That sounds pretty convenient for this little plan of yours."

"Well, I wouldn't have any real power over you." Naruto replied, "It's like a partnership. If you join the clan, you get to have unrestricted access to the Uzumaki library, which value has been proven by my gifts. Do you thing I would give you guys those scrolls if I thought they weakened the library's collection? It has countless jutsu, historical records, recipes, you name it! All that knowledge would be a very valuable asset to anyone, not just your average ninja."

"Is there anything beyond slapping Uzumaki onto our names and access to the library?" Sasuke asked, the disbelief still evident in his voice.

"Well, free lodging in the Uzumaki manor, complete with the service of the Clan workers" Naruto said, "I pay them well. They're all pretty nice and loyal."

"Well Naruto-san…" Shino murmured, "I think that I am going to have to turn down your offer, at least for now. This is a pretty important decision, and I know that I can't say yes at this time. However, many thanks for the offer. I will continue considering it, and will let you know if my situation changes."

Naruto nodded. "I understand. I didn't really expect an immediate response from you two. Thank you for not discarding my idea out of hand."

"Well, I have decided" Sasuke stated. Naruto turned, slightly shocked.

"You really have come to a decision?" Naruto asked, almost disbelieving.

"Well, it's more of a counter proposition." Sasuke replied. "I say we have a contest. We both train for one week, then fight. If you win, I join you as part of the Uzumaki clan."

"And if I win?" Naruto really didn't like where this was going.

"You join the Uchiha clan, and give up on the potential of the archive, and help me hunt down Itachi" Sasuke replied.

"No matter what, I'll help you fight Itachi. You have my word on that." Naruto replied.

"But are you still okay with my proposition?" Sasuke asked.

"You're on!" Naruto replied, grinning widely. "And may the best man win!"

"I will." Sasuke replied grinning.

And, at that very moment, the instructor of Team Seven, Hatake Kakashi, appeared in the middle of the group in a cloud of smoke, smiling with his eye.

"Sorry I'm late." He said apologetically "So what'd I miss?"

A.N.: Well, I'm sorry for the bad writing, but what I'm setting up is hard to write. However, I did all this in one session, and that's when I do my best. So, even though I had no strong Inspiration, I just pushed through it, and tried to do the best job I could do with the tools I had at the time.

Wow. What do you guys think of the twist? Inviting classmates to join the Uzumaki Clan as honorary members. Maybe you guys see where I'm going with this, maybe you don't. Or maybe even you guys have formulated your own ideas about what this means in changing the course of Naruto forever (or at least in this fic).

Sorry for this chapter being so short. I wanted it to be around 4000+, but I only got it around 3000. Well, I guess that I'm just going to have to settle for what I make.

For Pairing, I was thinking NaruTema, but not completely sure. Also, completely blank on Sasuke, and maybe even Shino. Just so you know, no Yaoi, and I'm planning for a ShikaHina in the background, that may or may not be noticed.

Remember, Please read and review I never really get many reviews, so I don't feel the pressure of so many rabid fans begging for my next work. I might not just do it for the fans, but the love is sure a heck of a motivator.