"Report."

"Hiten's team has been surprisingly quiet, Hokage-sama. They have stayed in their apartments, not drawing one bit of attention to themselves. The girl, Nigano Hisaku, displays exemplary Genjutsu and Taijutsu skills. The raven-haired boy, Takahashi Genji, is exemplary across the board. He is an amateur kenjutsu user, and is probably on par with Uchiha Sasuke. The orange-haired boy, Miyazaki Kengo… there is nothing known about him. We have no idea what his skills are, or what, if any, kekkai genkai he possesses. That is all." reported Naruto, whose face was run over with worry. It had been a week since the conclusion of the 2nd test and Naruto has been running ragged trying to keep tabs on his team's progress. "Tou-san… I don't know if my team will be ready to help in this fight. Yes, they are strong. Yes, they have talent, but they cannot fathom the horror that is Hiten. We can only assume that his students are just as evil as he is, psychologically speaking."

Minato raised his hand to stop Naruto. "I can understand your worry, son, but I don't think that it is needed. Your students have been trained by teachers with amazing talents. Haruno Sakura has been trained by one of the Sannin, just like you. Her skill, from what I hear, is a sight to behold. Uchiha Sasuke possesses a large amount of natural talent, and has the Sharingan. He has unlocked the level of Sharingan that only one in every ten generations has the ability to acquire, the Sage's Sharingan. Finally, Sarutobi Konohamaru has been trained by Agostino Adriano, a master Assassin. So, I have no worry over this, and neither should you."

Naruto bowed his head, knowing his father was right. "Thank you for that, tou-san. If you will excuse me, I have to go train."

Minato nodded and Naruto disappeared in a burst of flames.

"Show-off…" He muttered.

XXXXX

CLING!

"Come, Konohamaru, once more!"

Konohamaru drew his dagger and rushed towards his teacher. He attacked with the dagger in his right hand while attempting to attack with the hidden blade that resided on his left wrist. The blades glinted in the sunlight. Konohamaru pumped more power into his attack and pumped chakra into his feet. He smirked at his master. "Getting tired, Adriano-sama?"

"In your dreams kid."

Konohamaru jumped back and dashed into the tree line to collect his thoughts. 'Now, how do I win this? If I summon some clones, I can attack from three different positions…' "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu." Two clones appeared next to Konohamaru. "O.K. I want one of you to hide in the trees by Adriano-sama. The other one comes with me." The clones nodded and one rushed off to the two trees behind Adriano. Konohamaru looked at his clone. "Ready?" The clone grinned. "Then let's do this!"

Adriano scanned the tree line. His eyes were like that of an eagle, searching for their prey. 'You are progressing, my student. But, is your skill enough?' A flicker of movement caught Adriano's eye. 'Hmm? What are you planning?' Two black figures came rushing out of the tree line at high speeds. They brandished kunai and threw them directly at Adriano. They sped closer and closer until they were in the kill zone and then Adrian caught both of them with his fingers. A gasp escaped his lips as a weight pressed down on his back. "I think that this is match… sensei." Konohamaru whispered into Adriano's ear as he pressed his hidden blade into his neck.

"Yes, Konohamaru, I think it is."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Come on Sasuke, you need to be able to concentrate!"

"Gah, I'm trying! This new Sharingan takes a lot of energy to maintain!"

"I know that, but we have to tear you down and build you back up. It is the only way you can get stronger now. You can bet that Sakura and Konohamaru did it. Now, let's run it again!"

Sasuke grunted and applied chakra towards his eyes. His eyes changed to white tomoe with black surrounding it. His nostrils flared as he drew his katana. Sasuke ran towards Kakashi, sword raised high. CLING! CLANG!

Sasuke struggled against Kakashi's power. 'Damn, this isn't enough!'

He jumped back and ran towards Kakashi with a new vigor. He smiled as he ran through one-handed signs. "Katon: Goukakyū no Jutsu!" A giant fireball ran through Kakashi, burning him. Kakashi, lying on his back, looked up at the day sky. It was blood red.

"Welcome to the Sage Sharingan's version of the Tsukiyomi, Kuchiyomi."

"Oh? How does it differ?"

"It does everything the Tsukiyomi does, but it slowly siphons off your chakra, giving it to me. This match is over, Kakashi."

"Hm. So it seems."

The blood red sky slowly disappeared. Sasuke was standing over Kakashi, sword pressed to his neck. He removed it and helped Kakashi up.

"Let's go to lunch, my treat. We can even pick up your team and sensei, if you'd like." said Kakashi.

"Hm, thanks. Let's go."

XXXXXXXXXXX

Naruto was humming a tune as he walked the streets of Konoha. He saw children playing in the streets and people purchasing goods. 'Why? Why would anyone want to destroy this? It just doesn't make any sense…' He walked passed a group, and to his surprise found Miyazaki Kengo staring at him. 'What is he even doing out of his room? They've been here for over a month and this is the first any of them have been outside of their rooms with the exception of the exams...' Naruto continued his walk and as he expected, Kengo was following him. 'So he wants a chase, eh?' Naruto tore off into a sprint and jumped onto a rooftop. His feet carried him as fast as possible and much to his surprise, Kengo was keeping up. 'Well maybe this will throw him off!' "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Three carbon copies of Naruto appeared, running alongside him. The original Naruto threw a smoke bomb and in the confusion, the clones and Naruto switched places rapidly. They all jumped off in different directions, leaving a confused and cursing Kengo behind. He tore off in the direction of one of them. 'Soon, Namikaze. Soon, you and your whole family will die.'

XXXXXXXXXXX

"MINATO! MY BABY BOY HAS NOT BEEN HOME IN FIVE MONTHS! WHERE THE HELL IS HE?!"

"W-well, you see, sweetie, dearest, love of my life, Naruto has been busy watching over his team, so he just hasn't had the time to come home."

"BULLSHIT! BRING HIM HOME NOW!"

Minato gulped and nodded nervously. He flashed out of the house, leaving a fuming Kushina behind. 'Where are you son?'

XXXXXXXXX

Naruto had successfully managed to fool Kengo and started to make his way to his original destination. 'Ah, I can't wait to train!' Soon, he was on the familiar Training Field 7. He noticed a large scorch mark on the ground. "Looks like Sasuke-chan was here. I wonder how he has been doing anyway, along with Konohamaru and Sakura." As he finished that sentence, Konohamaru's body came flying by. "Huh, there's one of them, now what about the other two…"

"KONOHAMARU, I SWEAR TO GOD I WILL KILL YOU!" Sakura came storming past, covered from head to toe in paint. She locked eyes with Naruto. A small blush creeped on her face. "O-oh N-naruto-ssensei! I didn't see you there! How are you?"

"Couldn't be better. You look like you've had a rough day."

Sakura narrowed her eyes. "It was the damn Konohamaru. He blended so well into the crowd that I didn't even notice him until he threw a bucket of paint at me!"

"Hm, well you've thoroughly hurt him, why don't we head back to your house, you can change, and we can go get some ramen?"

"Well, that w-would b-be great, sensei! Thanks!"

"No problem, let's go the ramen is getting cold!" Naruto grabbed Sakura by the waist and disappeared in a ball of flames.

Konohamaru slowly walked back to where Naruto and Sakura were. "Guys? Where did you go?"

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Naruto and Sakura appeared on front of her house. Rin Haruno was outside watering plants. She turned around at the new arrival. Naruto quickly fumbled to put his mask on. "Hi Mom! I'm just here to pick up a new change of clothes, Konohamaru ruined mine. Fox-sensei here was nice enough to bring me home!"

Is that right? Well, thank you Fox-sensei!" said Rin. "Why don't you come inside for a drink? You can wait in there until Sakura is ready."

Naruto nodded slowly. He followed Sakura and Rin inside. Sakura had a house that was small, yet pleasing to the eye. From what Naruto could tell, hardwood floors were the floor of choice throughout the house. The living room had a loveseat and two chairs with a coffee table separating them. A staircase to the left lead to, Naruto presumed, bedrooms. Sakura made her way to the staircase. "Be right back Fox-sensei!"

Naruto made his way over to a bookcase, which had several pictures on it. One was of Sakura, her mother and her father.

"Yes, that was Kane. It is such a shame that the Namikaze brat killed him."

"What do you mean? Are you trying to tell me that Minato Namikaze's son is responsible for your husband's death?"

"Yes, I am… and yes YOU are. So take off your mask, Kyuubi. I know who you are."

Naruto reached up and whipped off his mask. "So, you are blaming me for your husbands death?

"You know damn well I am! You are a monster and you know it!"

"Shut up! Just shut up!" a feminine voice yelled. It was Sakura. "Mother, if you ever disrespect Naruto-sensei like that again, I will leave this house for good. He is not the Kyuubi! I have met the Kyuubi and he isn't the monster that you portray him as!"

Rin's face paled. "You've met the Kyuubi?"

Sakura nodded and then looked to Naruto. "Do it."

Naruto ran through handsigns, bit his palm and slammed it on the ground. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu: Level 6!" Smoke filled the room and as it cleared, Kurama stood there six of his tails flailing in the wind.

"Yo."

A/N: Well, I'm back. Not mjuch to say except I was kinda let down in the number of reviews I had gotten in the last chapter… last month even. I have received a total of four reviews in the month of July. I hate to sound like some sort of petulant child, but c'mon now. So please review… there's ice cream in it for you… oh and thanks to the following readers for reviewing in July:

Deinaita

Jose19

Br2nd66

Nanai

Thank you so much for reviewing my story. You guys rock!

~ BlackCatx13