Chapter 7

"Huh. It's still hard to imagine Itachi the fratricidal, genocidal S-ranked criminal as the caring big brother."

"Don't be fooled. Itachi is a puzzle that leads to nothing at all should you put the pieces together. He's someone you just can't generalize. And there's a lot more to the Uchiha Massacre than that, that's all I can say."- Naruto replied, receiving an interrogating look from the redhead as they walked. She wanted to know more, but decided to drop the subject after nearly one whole hour of its discussion.

"On another topic, we're here."- he announced. Karin eyed the rusty, old metal door that had numerous offensive graffiti drawn on it with an unimpressed look on her face.

"Naruto-kun, why did you bring me here? What is in there anyway?"- she asked. The blond had asked her to follow him a while ago, but hadn't really given her anything else to go on but that. He turned to her and put his index finger to his lips before opening and dragging her in by her arm before closing the door immediately.

"Naruto-sama, the Kekkei Genkai studies are complete, here's the report. What will you have us do next?"- a voice came for them as the sudden, unexpected light blinded Karin.

As the flash died out, she let a gasp of surprise escape from her mouth. The whole place was white, clean and a lot more than what she had expected.

The first floor, the one they were in, was a small laboratory slash lounge that had no other divisions. The owner had probably removed any and all walls. It had a few optical microscopes, many samples of blood, or so it seemed, and coffee machines for the ones inside. All of it seemed organized, with the coffee machines close to the door and the three couches that surrounded an LCD TV, while the microscopes, blood samples, agar plates with bacteria colonies in them and even a hotte-station.

She turned her head to face the only other human being in the first floor, who was currently handing a brown file over to Naruto who eagerly accepted it before turning to the side and gesturing to Karin, as if inviting her further.

"Karin, here's someone I want you to meet."- he said, tilting his head towards the girl that stood by his side.- "This beautiful lady is Yamanaka Ino."

They traded handshakes and polite smiles as Karin eyed the blond girl. Yamanaka Ino was a fair-skinned girl of average height with blue eyes. Her most noticeable trait was the long, blond hair that she wore in a high ponytail, with bangs covering the right side of her face.

Instead of the revealing purple outfit with bandages that she normally wore, she was wearing a tight, black, sleeveless hoodie, bandages around her arms, a pair of tight, black jeans with "Poison" written in yellow on her left leg and white sneakers.

"Ino, thanks for the report. I want you and the team to focus specifically on doujutsu, now. I want you to take the Uchiha and Hyuuga samples and see if you can detect the gene in their blood that allows them to have those eyes. Report back to me when you're done, alright?"- Naruto ordered her while going through the pages of the file she had handed him.

"Yes, Naruto-sama."

"And stop calling me that, please. I hate that name. Naruto. Just sounds bad."

"What should I call you then?"

"I don't know. You and the team make up some name. I'll see if I like it. Now go."- with that, Ino quickly hurried up the stairs while Naruto focused on the report file again, letting out a content smile. With her back to them, the Kusagakure kunoichi detected the words "Healer Angel" on the back of the girl's hoodie

"Alright, come on, Karin. There are more people you need to meet."- he broke the silence, before having the redhead follow him upstairs.

The second floor was something different. This one was obviously meant for work only, and was separated in two divisions.

The first one, the one they walked into, was a different kind of laboratory. Two people, a man and a woman were laying on a table each, and two nin with the same black hoodies were reading the data from the many machines attached, registering it down on notepads.

The one that was analyzing the dark brown-haired woman closer to them, was an also dark-brown, spiky haired boy with dark, round glasses on.

"Shino, meet Uzumaki Karin. She's trustworthy."- Naruto spoke to the Genin who rose his head in curiosity and quickly shook the redhead's hand. Shino was wearing the same black hoodie as Ino and Naruto, but for pants he chose a pair of dark combat pants with "Parasite" written in white on the left leg. He also wore black sneakers.

"Aburame Shino, it's a pleasure."- he introduced himself as Karin smiled. He quickly noticed how she was eyeing the woman with curiosity.- "This is our most recent project. A woman from the Hyuuga clan. She not only helped us in our Kekkei Genkai studies, but she will now aid in the doujutsu research."

"That other body over there is a man from the Uchiha clan. We figured that having two possessors of the most famous doujutsu in the world would aid immensely. It did."- Naruto finished the explanation, but Karin still wasn't fully satisfied.

"And how did you get those? The Uchiha have been dead for so long! And the Hyuuga's Secondary Branch members lose the Byakugan after death!"- she asked. But the two boys didnt have time to explain as the remaining person in the room came close.

"Secret. Not easy, though. I'll tell you that much."- the woman's voice made itself heard as she smiled, a dango stick coming out from her mouth. Karin blinked her eyes in surprise. The purple-haired woman was wearing the team's signature black, hooded jacket, but hers was buttoned, even though only two buttons were tied, which was just enough for her breasts not to be completely seen. She also wore really tight, black leather pants with "Toxin" written in vibrant red on the right leg, and black sneakers, like most members of the "team" enjoyed wearing.

"Aren't you..."

"The proctor? Yeah, Naruto-babe wants every single one of us involved in the Exams to make sure nothing ends up wrong and we can all leave this crappy excuse for a village."- Anko explained herself, making the blond jinchuuriki facepalm.

"Stop calling me that name and why the hell do you keep calling me babe?"- he complained. She gave him a sympathetic smile.

"Hey, you can't expect me to call you sugar, sweetie or love. We haven't even gone on a date."- Naruto sighed at her response and simply gestured for the two hoodie wearing "Angels" to go upstairs while he pulled Karin over to the next division.

This next division looked a lot like a blacksmith's workshop. Heavy metal music that couldn't be heard before because of the sound-proof doors was playing loudly as sounds of metal striking against metal rang.

They turned to see a girl wearing a sleeveless, black, hooded jacket that was open, revealing the bandages that went over her chest, but left her lower belly uncovered. She was wearing black cargo shorts with "Weapon" written in glowing white on her right thigh. Her lower legs were covered by bandages, and she wore black sneakers.

Her dark-brown hair was restrained in two buns, her steel-grey eyes shone as she focused them on the white-hot iron that she was hammering, and her fair-skin glistered with sweat drops.

"Hey, Tenten! Stop that for a second and come here."- he shouted. The girl immediately stopped her work and left the iron resting inside the forge, getting up and nearing them.

"Hey, Boss. What's up?"- she asked with a big smile on her face as if she was really pleased to see him. Karin noticed how she had completely flexed all of her body and pushed her chest outward, albeit not too obviously. No way. Is every girl in here crazy for him? Karin thought to herself. She did not like competition.

That's when Tenten noticed Naruto wasn't there alone.

"Who's she?"- the girl asked, giving the last word a bit of an annoyed emphasis. The two females quickly engaged in a glare fight, struggling to find weaknesses in the other.

Naruto was not as oblivious as both thought, though he still wasn't that aware of what was exactly happened, so he deemed it as "dislike-at-first-sight".

"You'll find out soon enough. What are you forging, hun?"- he responded. He found that if he called her or any of the other two girls in the Angels "hun", they'd calm down rather quickly.

With effect, Tenten regained her cute smile and almost purred for the blond's approval as she went to pick up an already finished version of what she was building.

It was a small, fingerless, black leather glove that didn't look very special aside from the white seals on each knuckle.

As she put it on and made chakra run through it, white, iron claws came out of the seals and onto each finger, as she pushed them on.

Tenten proved they could hurt as she took a swing at the floor, leaving four marks with little to no effort.

"As you can see, they can be easily disguised as just a normal pair of gloves, and become a capable weapon in a matter of seconds. Surely more effective than the hidden blades I forged for you a month ago."- she presented with a confident smile, but it was obvious she was still waiting for her leader's approval. He smiled.

"Now that, is great. Very good job, hun. I'll make sure to use them in the Second Phase. Thanks."- Naruto complimented, making her face light up in mere seconds.- "But, can you go upstairs now? I need everyone there right now for something."

For just a moment, she frowned, but quickly regained her composure, nodding and heading to the last floor of the building.

"Oh, and I need to discuss an armor idea I had later. To see if it can work, alright?"

That sprung her up again, and she quickly nodded affirmatively before leaving the two alone. Minutes went past silently until Karin decided to break the newly formed ice.

"This place is impressive. A complete laboratory and forge inside what could easily be dismissed as a crappy abandoned building."- she commented. Naruto nodded with a faint smile.

"Yeah, it took work, but we did it. Glad to see you like it. But the tour's not over yet. There's one final place to see and one final person to meet. Come on."

The two walked up the wooden stairs to see exactly six queen size beds spread across the entire floor. Each corner was like a whole new division, even though it wasn't separated by walls.

Each of the territories that surrounded the beds were defined by the decoration and colour that defined a person.

Anko sat by her white bed, yet purple wall, playing with one of the many knives that were hung above her resting spot and that layed on her desk and nightstand.

Ino was reading a book, sitting on the chair by her own wooden desk, occasionally stopping to look at the paintings that were hung above her pink bed and on her light yellow wall.

Shino was by one of the only three windows in the room, which just happened to be by his bed. He was leaning out, and a mass of bugs were hovering around him. His wall was painted dark blue.

Tenten was still sweaty from working on the forge, and since she couldn't use one of the two bathrooms in the floor to take a shower because of Naruto's orders, she was training against a wooden dummy that she had placed in her own section, right by her red bed and light pink wall.

Then, she noticed the silver segment of the floor. By the bed and in front of his desk, typing away at the computer sat a silver-haired boy, who, aside from the dark hoodie, wore ninja pants with "Ghost" written on the left leg. As he turned to face them, they could see he wore glasses.

"Hello, boss. I've just come back from my trip. I have a report ready for you when you want it."- he said as Naruto nodded and smiled at him.

"Ok, good job. Karin, this guy here is Kabuto. Kabuto, this is Karin. You both love computers, so I guess you'll get along."- he introduced them as Kabuto kissed the redhead's hand, making her blush.

"Now, everyone, pay attention."- Naruto asked.- "Karin, as you can see, each of them has a different concept written on their pants or shorts. Each of them specializes in something."

"Anko over there specializes in venoms, toxins and other animal hazards. She also is a great smuggler and interrogator. If we need something, she gets it."- he explained, receiving a seductive smile from the purple-haired woman before turning again.

"Ino specializes in poisons, antidotes and anything that involves herbs. She's also a great researcher when it comes to the mind of someone that's already dead for example."- Ino rose her eyes from her book and gave off a slight nod towards Karin before looking down again.

"Shino is one of our top information gatherers and trackers. You give him a body, he'll tell you what the owner ate for breakfast five months ago. He was invaluable for the Kekkei Genkai studies, as he had his bugs check the chakra circulation system for any special traits."- the bug boy had finally turned around and let a polite smile shape his face.

"But, even the most intelectual and peaceful of organizations needs defense and funds. That's where Tenten comes in. She forges all of our weapons with mastery, makes our armor, sells the designs we don't need anymore and takes on assassination missions for missing-nin to get our money. She's the base of our whole operation."- Tenten was now looking at Karin fiercely, juggling two battle knives similar to the ones Asuma had, in one hand. Her look was one of a cat who had spotted another cat invading its territory.

"And last, but not least, there's Kabuto. He's our best spy, no doubt, gets me whatever information I need and is also invaluable when it comes to research, since he can cure the bodies rather efficiently if something goes wrong."- the silver-haired shinobi lowered his face a bit in recognition, before simply fading to the shadows.

"Then, there's me. I don't like to brag, but I'm great over all of these abilities. I'm the leader of the Healer Angels, and they respond only to me. I brought you here today to tell you that if I go to Kusagakure, they're coming too. If you can't promise me they'll find a safe haven there, then no deal."- he finished his explanation with solid determination on his face.

Karin sighed. Showing up in the Grass with five additional people that no one had ever heard of would be hard to explain, but she nodded reluctantly.

"Sure, but you guys have to be prepared to show your strengths. Kusagakure is elitist, and if they don't find you worthy, you're dead weight."

All of the "Angels" except Kabuto laughed out loud at what she considered a problem. One long minute went by until their leader finally managed to calm down, wiping a tear off of his right eye while still chuckling to himself.

"That's the least of our worries, believe me."- Naruto told her, when a sudden beep came out of Karin's pocket.

She rummaged through it before taking out a small black box with a light that blinked. She sighed deeply.

"Crap. They need me, since we only have tomorrow to prepare ourselves before the exam."- Karin announced, looking up at Naruto.- "I'm sorry, we'll have to talk more later. And it would help a lot if you had your answer by tomorrow. Pretty please?"

"I'll consider it."- he responded. She sighed again with a smile on her face before disappearing in a Body Flicker technique. Naruto braced himself.

"Are you sure about this, boss?"- Shino questioned. He sighed. I knew it.- "She seems weak. My insects tell me her chakra reserves aren't larger than Sakura's."

"Don't worry, I've checked her out by myself. Besides, she's family. She can be trusted."- the blond jinchuuriki answered, turning around. Ino rose her eyes from her book.

"It is never wise to judge someone by their looks, age or descendance. That's one of the sacred shinobi rules."- she spoke. Naruto gained a tick mark on his left forehead.

"Well, that's a pretty nice textbook quote, Ino, but unfortunately for all of you, it backfires."- he shot back, silencing them for several seconds.- "You all seem to be forgetting how you were before I recruited you. You were helpless. No one could see a drop of potential on the creepy bug user or the fangirl."

"Not even on the snake slut or the weapons bitch. Remember? I was the only one who ignored all of that and brought you up into the top of the food chain. Karin is the same. Sure, she doesn't look much, but I can guarantee she's smarter than all of us. I'll have her specialize as a medic-nin. I don't want to hear another word about this, now. Understand?"

"Yes, boss."- they all responded in unison. All but Kabuto, who simply pushed away from the wall and smirked.

"So, Naruto-sama..."- he started, but quickly corrected himself after receiving Naruto's glare.- "I mean, nameless-sama, I'll get right back to my mission."

He disappeared with a flash of silver, and Anko tensed.

"Boss, Master or whatever the hell you want me to call you, I tell you that that guy isn't right. I can feel it. It's like being right at the edge of remembering something but never quite getting it."- she warned, the rest of the "Angels" quickly agreeing with her, using nods. Naruto let a grin come up to his face before adjusting his glasses.

"I know."

All of them were dumbstruck.

"You know? Then why haven't you done something about it?"- Tenten quickly struck, even though she held Naruto in the highest of regards. The blond chuckled slightly.

"We still have use for him, that's why. He's acting as a double agent, I've figured that since day one. But the fact is, all the information that he brings to us is of top quality and reliable. We'll use him for a bit more, but worry no further, any of you. I'm going to deal with this problem soon, and personally."

Grins came up to the faces of each of them. Even Ino's. Rarely did their leader decide he would deal with a problem so directly, but when he did, they knew it wouldn't be pretty. This only motivated them further. Naruto wasn't fucking around, and therefore, so weren't they.

"Now, you've got yourselves a small break, but I want you all working on the doujutsu research. Anko and Tenten will provide bodies or eyes, Ino and Shino will analyze them. Depending on your success, I'll award each of you an unique gift."

With that, he walked up to the stairs, before turning around and nodding for Tenten to follow him. Which she did with a big smile on her face, forcing her tongue out towards Anko who had an obvious look of jealousy on hers.

…...

He lead her back to her own forge, Heavy Metal still playing, and the division still as hot as all hell from the furnace's activity.

"Alright, here's what I had-"- he started, but she quickly put her index finger to his lips, a smile on her face.

"Wait, Boss. I have something to show you. Something I didn't want to show you when she was here."- the bun-haired girl turned around and quickly took another pair of gloves, though these had seals all across the palm, instead of the knuckles.

She had Naruto wear the right pair while giving him an iron ingot, telling him to hold it with the gloved hand.

"Now, I want you to power chakra to the seals. That's all you have to do, Boss."

The boy, curious as he was, obeyed. Immediately after he did, he felt the glove act against his will and clamp down on the ingot with such strength that it actually bent as easily as a spoon.

"W-Wow..."- he muttered. She had a content smile on her face, pleased that she had surpassed her Master's expectations.

"Now if it can do that to a solid iron ingot, imagine what it can do to someone's head."- with that statement, Tenten had sold her new invention. Naruto gave off a smirk.

"Even though I think you meant Karin when you mentioned "someone", I can't deny that this is powerfull. Give Shino and Ino a pair, and make a pair of the clawed ones for both me and Anko. You choose whichever you want for yourself."- he ordered, making her nod immediately.

"But tell me, why do you hate her so much? And why do you and Anko seem to always compete as to who gets to spend most time with me? I seriously don't get this."

This seemed to trouble her. Her face was one of struggle towards making a decision. It went like this for a couple of seconds before she took a deep breath.

"You see, Boss, it's that I... the thing is... I like you. A lot. Anko does too."- she spat out, seemingly relieved for having the guts to say it.

But Naruto was, as Anko used to say, "denser than concrete". What the hell does she mean by that? Everyone in this organization likes me. The fact that they sleep in the same room as I do proves it! Wait, could she mean? No, that's not it. No way. No one would ever like me like that. But...

He was in a mental dilemma. The fact that he had never liked Tenten more than in a sister-like way didn't help. But now that he was thinking about it, he did notice she was rather attractive with her well-built body, sweaty, yet shiny skin and innocent face. The couple of buns only added towards that factor.

He considered saying something, but her sigh eliminated any possibility of that happening.

"Nevermind, Boss. Forget about it. Anyway, didn't you mention something about a new kind of armor?"

"Oh, right! I had this idea. It's crazy, but it just might work. You see-"

From that point, he went on and on in an explanation of his invention, going as far as to show Tenten a couple of drawings he had made of the concept. She seemed to like his suggestion, and had almost forgotten about what had happened just minutes ago.

But Naruto couldn't shrug off the fact that he knew someone was watching them.

The forge room had a chimney, of course, but it also had a single, large skylight on the ceiling, something that Tenten insisted had to be there. He knew someone was looking at them from there, and had been listening in for a long time. Ever since he started his walk with Karin that day, in fact.

But he didn't really mind. He knew exactly who it was, and the knowledge they were getting wasn't going to harm him or his team in the least.

He smiled, deep inside. Whoever it is, I hope you're enjoying the show. Because you probably won't live long enough to get another as good as this one.

(And there you go, Chapter 7. This one wasn't one of the biggest, or maybe it was, I don't know, I'm rather tired. But it's here none-the-less. Hope you guys enjoy it. Now, I need your help. As Naruto referred, he wants a new name (I'm tired of calling him just Naruto.) But I suck at names, and would much prefer fan suggestions. So, any suggestion of a name that you might have, you can PM it to me or write it in a review. Thanks! See you next time!)