Sinister Chakra

by williams5505

The night the Nine-Tails appeared, Madara led the attack, hoping to destroy the Leaf Village once and for all. However, the Fourth's jutsu sealed Madara and the demon into a newborn baby. Naruto, cursed with a chakra even more sinister than the Nine Tail's, will now challenge a rising Akatsuki under new leadership, and determine which path to justice he will take.

10. The Calm Before the Storm

Hey everyone! *Author quickly ducks as readers throw hundreds of shuriken at him*

…Okay, I deserve that. This was a long wait, and I hate that too. This chapter was unbelievably hard to write. When I think about this story at night, I think about the awesome parts that haven't happened yet, not chapters leading up to them, so it was hard to actually finish this.

But bear with me! The action, plot twists, and everything else comes sooner than you think! Naruto becomes a genin next chapter, and like Madara warns, let's assume that not everything will remain happy and perfect for him.

Let's not waste any more time; here's the chapter. Enjoy it and read the A/N at the end! That's right. I even bolded that part.

Sinister Chakra

Book 1: The Beginning

Chapter 10: The Calm before the Storm

---

Uchiha Compound – Early Morning

"Good morning, Naruto!" Mikoto greeted smiling as Naruto walked through the front sliding door after knocking politely. She motioned him over to the table where Sasuke, Fugaku, and surprisingly Itachi were sitting down to eat, breakfast about to be served. "You're just in time for breakfast! Sit down while I go make an extra plate for you!"

"Arigato, ka-san," Naruto said while bowing politely. He walked over to the table and took a seat next to Sasuke. It didn't take more than a second of introductions for Mikoto to return to the table, placing a plate full of delicious looking food in front of Naruto.

"Alright now," Mikoto said happily once she was seated. "Everybody say grace!"

"Itadakimasu!" everyone said in unison, clapping their hands together. Immediately after, they began eating the food, everyone enjoying it immensely.

"So, are you boys excited for the first day of the Academy?" Mikoto asked, looking over to Sasuke and Naruto. "This is your last year! After this, you get to go out into the real ninja world!"

Sasuke scoffed. "I'm more excited for the last day of school, not the first. We're gonna have a lot of homework and tests…that's nothing to look forward to. But at graduation…then we get to become real ninjas!"

Naruto couldn't help but nod and agree. "And Hinata will finally be free."

Everyone sort of was put off by the unusual wording of Naruto's sentence, but no one seemed to want to comment on why he said it like that. An awkward silence seemed to fill the air, until Itachi decided to break it.

"Enough. There are more important things to discuss," he stated calmly, as if that wasn't rude at all. "Surely the current news on the ninja world's dilemma is more important than whether or not Naruto can play 'ninja' with Hinata each day."

Mikoto gave her eldest son a scowl and a fierce glare, both of which he chose to ignore. "Don't be rude, Itachi-kun," she chided, patting her mouth clean with her napkin. "You know how important Naruto's friendship with Hinata is to him!"

Itachi continued, seemingly oblivious to her request. "The ninja world is changing as we know it," he stated, his voice once again perfectly level and void of emotion. "Perhaps when they graduate, they won't even be able to become ninja for Konoha."

This time, it was Fugaku who intervened, curious as to what Itachi meant by that. "You don't really believe that this "Akatsuki" business is really going to make that big of a deal, do you?" he asked Itachi, wanting to hear the opinion of his eldest son.

Itachi set his face into a deep frown. "I've seen the Leader of Ame with my own eyes. I've witnessed his power! If any ninja was strong enough to destroy the world, it would be that man…the man capable of defeating the legendary Hanzo when he was my age!"

No one interrupted Itachi, as he seemed intent on continuing. "He declared Akatsuki a nation! He boldly informed the entire ninja world that anyone is welcome to abandon their village to join his! Ame already by far is the largest growing ninja village, and by far the most advanced…they have skyscrapers in their village! They manufacture their own weapons by the thousands!"

"So what if Ame grows," Fugaku commented. "Their growth has nothing to do about whether or not Sasuke and Naruto become Konoha ninja."

Itachi shook his head. "I have an important mission to go on today. As Captain of the Anbu, I am personally escorting the Hokage to a meeting of all the land's Kage's…a meeting summoned by the Leader of Ame himself. The Hokage told me that he wishes to declare Ame a Great Village! That's how much he's already changing the ninja system!"

"And what's the matter with that," Mikoto questioned, still eating her meal whereas Itachi's was left forgotten. She wasn't a ninja herself, but she knew more about the ninja world than nearly any civilian, being wife of the Uchiha Clan Head. "Ame being a great village has nothing to do with us!"

Itachi shook his head again, clearly becoming agitated. "No one gets it but me and Shisui! There's a reason behind everything! Why would the Leader of Ame want to become a Great Village? What would a village which already has the ninja force of a Great Village gain from actually becoming one?"

"Money," Fugaku and Mikoto stated in unison after a moment of thought.

"Exactly!" Itachi quickly resumed. "And when Ame amasses more money to their already booming city, they'll be able to support even more ninja who want to join forces with them…there are reports that all of Oto, the majority of Kusa, Yuki, and so many other minor villages have immigrated with Ame! Ame will become a national power, with a ninja force stronger than all of the Great Villages combined and the money to support its foundation!"

Both Fugaku and Mikoto were slightly put off by this. Sasuke merely listened with slight interest while Naruto seemed to daze off into his food.

"I suppose…if Ame had the desires to take over the world," Fugaku said, somewhat jokingly.

"I don't know what the Leader of Ame desires," Itachi said, standing up from the table. "I don't know if he's some tyrant who wants to take over the world…that's not what scares me. What scares me is that if he wanted to take over the ninja villages, eventually, he'll be able to. I have to prepare to leave now."

With that, Itachi dismissed himself from breakfast, striding quickly out of the room. Mikoto gave Fugaku an over exaggerated eye role, while the man merely pinched the bridge of his nose, sighing to himself.

"Oh, don't mind him," Mikoto said to everyone, particularly Naruto and Sasuke. "Itachi's…a pacifist…yeah, that's a good way to put it. Unfortunately, he was alive to witness some of the terror of the Third Great Ninja War…and ever since then, he's tried his hardest to prepare for the next war, almost being paranoid of when it would happen."

Sasuke shrugged, indifferent. Naruto on the other hand, stared into his food, his thoughts someplace else.

"Itachi is quite clever," the voice commented in his head. "He seems to be one of the few who takes Akatsuki seriously."

Naruto shrugged his shoulders, indifferent. "Nothing's going to stop me, Sasuke and Hinata from becoming ninja here at Konoha," he thought back to the voice. "It's our dream. This 'Akatsuki' can't take that away."

"Dreams of peace can only last so long before they are replaced with dreams of hatred and revenge."

"Hn. Whatever."

"You don't believe me now, but in time, you will learn that the only voice of truth and reason in your life in the one you are listening to right now. You can only trust yourself and what is a part of you. You can only dream for yourself and what's a part of you."

"Naruto, are you okay?" Mikoto asked the boy who was strangely staring down at his food and not moving. Naruto shook his head for a moment, and then smiled up to his mother figure.

"Only alone can you truly succeed. You can't betray yourself, after all."

---

Ame

Utakata swallowed hard as sat down in a waiting room before two large wooden doors, trying to crush any anxiety that was inside of him while he waited for his cue. This was is. This would decide whether or not leaving Kiri would be a good decision. Akatsuki…this strange ninja system…required that he present his skills in front of the Captains, as well as the Leader himself.

He had been staying in Ame for about a week. He was surprised…for such a gloomy area, the people were filled with energy! Akatsuki…every person he asked about talked about it with such praise! Regardless…he learned what he needed to know in order for him to join. Apparently, there were nine Captains, who were S-ranked criminals of each major village, along with other villages. He had asked who the S-ranked criminal of Kiri was…he had been expecting someone famous like Kisame, or even Zabuza…but he didn't even know the person that they had mentioned.

He was to present his talents…and then the Captains would decide what 'squad' he would be put on, and how high of a ranking he would have. He was modest of his abilities…but not enough that he wouldn't admit that he wasn't strong. He hoped that he impressed the Captains enough to ensure a high rank of any squad…he already knew how much members of Akatsuki were loved in this village. He found himself envious; S-ranked criminals were treated like heroes! Perhaps this was where he would finally be accepted, and-

"I wish they would just hurry up this process already!" a voice sounded next to him, interrupting his thoughts. "I'm starting to get bored."

Utakata turned his head to the side to observe the seemingly annoying girl who was sitting next to him. To his general surprise, she was around his age, though obviously younger, and had strange…blue hair? If he were to guess, he would say that she probably belonged in the Academy program of Akatsuki.

"Why don't you just shut up," Utakata stated, not looking at the girl, but his voice clearly loud enough for her to hear. He was starting to get a headache and he was in no mood to be dealing with this annoyance before he was to be tested.

The girl immediately swiveled until she was facing him, and Utakata could see her fist clench and feel her chakra flare.

"You want to say that to my face?" she loudly threatened, earning her the attention of everyone else who was sitting nearby. "I don't think you have the guts!"

Utakata lazily looked up so that he made eye contact with her. "Learn you're place, kid. Some people are trying to focus here, and you have the nerves to open your mouth and talk like the arrogant brat you are."

Utakata could see a flame of anger flare in the girl's eyes, causing him to smile before he dropped his head again, looking at the floor once more.

"Well, unlike you," the girl continued, not dropping the loud conversation, "I don't need any preparation for this. I'm confident in my skills!"

"A usual trait in pathetic and incompetent ninja," Utakata calmly pointed out, not even turning his head to look at her. "If you were competent in your skills you'd still probably be in whatever ninja village you came from!"

The girl was infuriated. "You know nothing about me!"

Utakata was unmoved. "As soon as I start caring I'll let you know."

"They're ready," a voice sounded to his side, causing Utakata to turn his head to where a guard was standing there silently. "Utakata. You may enter. Do not forget to bow when the Leader presents himself."

---

Akatsuki Main Training Dojo

Raizo repositioned himself in his seat when the Leader mentioned that he had called for the next person to enter. For the past several weeks, he had been sitting with the other Captains while they tested the abilities of those who wished to enter Akatsuki. The majority of Ame, Oto, and a large amount of ninja from around the nations had already presented themselves…most Captains had chosen their second-hand-man already, their Lieutenants…but he just hadn't found someone who fit his style. Sure, he had recruited many ninja into his squad, Squad Three, but he hadn't found the right person to be his Lieutenant.

He sighed. This was certainly a long process. He was seated next to all the other Captains on a high balcony, which was above the large dojo, giving them a good view of the people below.

"You'll have to choose a Lieutenant eventually," Kimimaro noted who was sitting next to him in their number-ordered seats. Raizo merely rolled his eyes behind his dark glasses.

"You're one to talk," he retorted, not turning his head, but instead keeping a still and bored expression on his face. "You haven't chose a Lieutenant either. That makes us the only two who haven't."

Kimimaro shrugged it off, not really caring. "I guess…but I feel like all the good candidates were already chosen! I mean…I really wanted that puppet guy! He was so cool, and he was around my age too! But…I mean…obviously Sasori had to choose him."

"I wouldn't want a Lieutenant like that," Raizo responded. "I want someone who seems…calm. Collected. Not some kid bent on power and revenge. This next guy might be my last hope…the Leader says that he's a Jinchuuriki, but he isn't crazy. Hopefully-"

Raizo stopped talking as the doors to the dojo opened, and the next person walked in. A teenager, around Kimimaro's age, walked in, dressed in casual blue robes. He had medium length dark hair which fell over his face.

Yahiko stood up from the middle of the group, and he went over to the rail of the upper balcony, looking down at the ninja.

Utakata dropped to his knees, placing his forehead on the ground, not forgetting to bow before the grand Leader of Akatsuki.

"Rise," Yahiko ordered, his voice booming throughout the gigantic room. When Utakata stood up, he first observed the room around him. The dojo was gigantic! Not only that, but there were multiple levels…the entire tower was a dojo, and he just happened to be on the first floor. The second floor was merely a balcony to observe the first floor…but there had to be another fifty floors above him, all training dojos!

Looking up to the second floor above him, Utakata couldn't help but feel intimidated after seeing the nine Akatsuki Captains sitting and looking down at him. Each one of those Captains were S-ranked…that just put him on edge. But what put him off the most…was the fact that the Leader of Akatsuki looked like he was no older than 25. This man was supposed to be like a god to Ame…both in power and in status! How could he be so young? How could someone so young command nine famous criminals…and an entire nation?

"Utakata of Kiri," the Leader stated, his voice low and powerful in and of itself. "You have chosen to demonstrate your skills in hope that you could become a part of Akatsuki. Today, your skills will indeed be tested, and your results will determine what squad you need to be placed on, or whether or not it would benefit us for you to first attend the Akatsuki Academy."

Utakata swallowed and nodded his head. How exactly would he be tested?

"Sasori, one of our Captains," Yahiko continued, motioning behind him toward Sasori, "will be the one testing your abilities. We will begin immediately."

Utakata resisted the urge to shout in protest. He would be tested against the power of an S-ranked ninja? Of course that would make his skills look pathetic! However, instead of voicing his opinions, he gave a quick bow, forming his fighting stance already.

However, while Utakata had expected the Captain to jump down to the dojo, a masked ninja appeared several yards in front of him out of thin air, dressed in training clothes with red clouds on them.

"First assessment. Defend yourself without attacking."

Without further warning, the ninja ran forward, clearly about to attack him. So, they were jumping right into things. Utakata didn't mind; he was ready to show the Captains just how talented he actually was.

Utakata was able to easily dodge all of the blows the ninja threw at him, without even breaking a sweat. It was almost…too easy. No, it definitely was too easy! He could see the punches coming from the ninja a mile away! He was able to duck and bend around the various attacks, occasionally blocking and parrying them. This was second nature to him, and it didn't take over a minute for the Leader to recognize this.

Suddenly, the ninja stopped attacking him, and back-flipped until he was in his original position.

"Test passed. Difficulty increased."

Utakata was about to ask what that meant when two other ninja, identical to the first, appeared in front of him, not wasting any time in attacking him. Utakata had to focus as he began to dodge the attacks of all three ninja…while it was clear that none of them had true talent, but their numbers made their attacks tricky to avoid without him attacking as well. However, just like the last time, Utakata managed to avoid all of the blows without a single one hitting him. He evaded around them like water around rocks, effortlessly weaving around the punches and kicks, flipping and jumping when needed to. And just like last time, Yahiko realized after a minute of observation that Utakata had proven himself once again.

"Test passed. Difficulty increased."

Unlike waiting like last time, Utakata immediately jumped backward, expecting two more ninja to appear. Instead, the two that had appeared last time disappeared, leaving only one masked ninja in front in him. However, unlike before, a sword suddenly appeared in the hands of the ninja, and he began to twirl it around with obvious expertise. Utakata nodded and pulled out a kunai.

The ninja charged forward, his sword held loosely at his side. His first attack was a quick thrust at Utakata's chest, boldly showing Utakata that he was aiming to kill. Utakata was able to quickly lean to the side, allowing the blade to harmlessly pass by. The ninja responded by twisting his body the other way, hoping to catch Utakata in the back with a spinning kick, though this time, Utakata dropped to a low crouch, letting the foot fly over him.

Still spinning, the ninja lowered his foot, so that the second time around, it was low enough to catch Utakata's feet. The Kiri Jinchuuriki was impressed by the strange increase in the ninja's talent, though it still wasn't strong enough to hurt him.

The ninja's spinning kick missed its target again, though this time because Utakata was no longer in front of him.

Safely behind the ninja, having used a shunshin, Utakata expected some time to pass before the ninja realized where he had gone. However, to his great surprise, without even fully turning around, the ninja threw several kunai out of his sleeve directly behind him at Utakata, who barely managed to knock them out of the air in time with his own kunai.

"Test passed. Difficulty increased. You may begin to attack the ninja."

Utakata didn't take time to look up at the Leader. Instead, he immediately threw his own kunai at the masked ninja before he had time to turn around. However, just like before, the ninja seemed to have eyes in the back of his head, and was able to dodge the attack by jumping to the side, still not having turned around.

However, by the time he did turn around, Utakata was right in front of him, another kunai in his hand, poised to strike. The ninja, however, smacked Utakata's hand away with insane speed, and proceeded to kick Utakata square in the chest, though the Kiri ninja managed to jump back just in time.

Using his momentum, Utakata continued to flip backwards, until he was a safe distance away from his opponent. Once he was far enough, Utakata put his kunai away, and instead, brought out his real weapon…

The Akatsuki Captains above him watched with interest as the Kiri Jinchuuriki seemed to pull out some sort of…pipe from his robes. Wasting no time, Utakata brought it to his mouth and blew into it, surprising causing dozens of bubbles to flow out of it at quick speeds.

The bubbles reached the masked ninja in no time, and they began to seemingly float around the confused ninja harmlessly.

However, Utakata brought up a hand-seal, and immediately, the bubbles around the ninja began to explode in flashes of bright lights, blinding everyone watching above.

Eventually, the light died down to reveal that the ninja had flown backwards, sailing into wall outside of the dojo ring, landing on the ground motionlessly.

"Test passed."

Utakata nodded, and he waited for the Leader to increase the difficulty, or have more ninja come out from somewhere. However, several moments passed, causing Utakata to look up with confusion.

"The final part of your first test…kill the ninja."

Utakata's eyes widened for a split second. This was just a sparring match so that the Captains could see his abilities! Why would the ninja have to die over this? Did an Ame ninja have to die every time someone tried to join Akatsuki?

Utakata was about to refuse, when he reminded himself how much he needed to join Akatsuki. This was just another test…to see if he would carry out the deeds of the Leader, no matter what it was. He swallowed, regaining his nerves.

He walked slowly over to where the ninja laid without moving, though Utakata could see a steady rise of his chest, symbolizing that he was still alive. For a moment, he stared into the eyes of the man he was about to kill…but all he found was emptiness.

Utakata brought his weapon up to his face once more, thought this time he only blew out a single bubble, which flew slowly over to the man's face. The bubble quickly covered the man's entire head, and it quickly began to fill with water. Within a second, the man's head was completely submerged in water, and no matter what he did, the bubble wouldn't pop, and he couldn't breathe. Utakata turned away, and within thirty seconds, the ninja fell deathly still.

"…Test passed."

Utakata turned to face the orange-haired leader, and he bowed once again.

"You completely aced the first test," the Leader continued. "You're skills are commendable, and it is clear that you will not be needing further training at the Academy. You are now going to move on to more difficult tests, and further prove your skill and-"

"That won't be necessary."

Utakata's eyes widened, as well as all of the Captains. The Leader stopped talking and turned to the side, where one of the Captains had stood out of his chair and walked up to the railing, next to the Leader. Utakata swallowed hard. Why wouldn't he be tested further? Did this man not think he was good enough? The Captain was strangely dark skinned, something Utakata knew was a trait of ninja in Kumo, had dreadlocks tied into a pony-tail, and he wore dark shades which concealed his eyes.

"Explain yourself," the Leader stated, surprisingly not angered at being interrupted.

"I've seen enough," the Captain stated in a calm voice. "I request this ninja to be in my squad…as my Lieutenant, my second-in-command."

This time, it was the Leader's eyes which widened, as well as Utakata's.

"Are you sure, Raizo?" the Leader asked. Utakata looked back and forth between the Leader and this strange Captain.

"Positive."

Yahiko nodded his head. "Very well then. Raizo, you know what to do."

Raizo nodded back at the Leader before disappearing, only to reappear in front of Utakata. He motioned over to the back door, and he turned around, preparing to walk away. However, Utakata didn't follow, and instead he turned to look at the body of the fallen ninja.

"Shouldn't we…at least bury the body somewhere?" he asked hesitantly, causing the Captain to turn around and look at him.

"If you remember correctly, the Leader stated that you would be fighting Sasori. He didn't lie."

Utakata turned around to look at the dark-skinned man, confused. "What?"

"You were fighting Sasori."

Utakata still didn't understand. He turned around to look at the body, trying to grasp a better idea of what was going on, when to his great surprise, the ninja that had died was standing on his feet again, before dispersing in a cloud of smoke.

"Sasori is a puppet master. You were merely fighting his puppets. That last test was to see whether or not you would follow the Leader's orders, especially since you thought the ninja was real. Follow me."

Utakata's eyes widened momentarily before he nodded his head. He turned again, and like instructed, he followed his new Captain out to the back of the room.

"Send in the next ninja."

---

Thirty Minutes Later

Utakata looked at himself in the mirror. He was currently wearing the Akatsuki Lieutenant outfit, which in his humble opinion looked rather good on him. It was quite different than the robes that the Akatsuki Captains were wearing; his was a loose black robe with the red clouds on it, tied together by a sash. His robe only traveled to his waste, and he wore black pants with high red socks. That was the custom outfit for all who joined Akatsuki. However, because he was of a higher rank, he wore a hori, another special light robe, on top of his.

All in all, he liked the way he looked. He still had trouble believing what had just happened; he had been accepted into Akatsuki, as the Second-in-Command to the Captain of Squad Three! He wouldn't have even imagined that he could've gotten such a high ranking! It was incredible!

"You ready?"

Utakata turned around and he saw that his Captain was standing behind him in the candle-lit room, leaning coolly next to the door. Utakata had had a moment of fear where he imagined his Captain could be a cold-blooded killer and a maniac, seeing how he was an S-ranked criminal, but "Raizo" seemed to be a cool and collected character…much like himself.

"Hai."

"Good," Raizo continued. "I have interesting news…surprisingly enough; the ninja who presented their skills to Akatsuki directly after you also achieved the rank of Lieutenant. You two are the last Lieutenants in Akatsuki, and it's strange that you were chosen directly after each other…perhaps Kimimaro just wanted to get it over with….

Raizo shrugged to himself and turned around, walking out the door and motioning for Utakata to follow.

"Either way, today, all of the Lieutenants have been chosen for Akatsuki, and the Leader has requested a meeting for all of the Captains and their Lieutenants. I think he wants all of you guys to take some sort of learning course for a couple months, so that he can make sure you guys have what it takes to be Akatsuki. Also, he wants this meeting to be quick. He has a very important meeting to attend to later today."

"Let's go. It's time to introduce you to all the Lieutenants."

---

Konoha

Hanabi calmly strode through the hallways of the Hyuga compound that morning, her posture and steps clearly resembling that of a confident heiress. She was the heiress of the Hyuga Clan after all; one day, she would be in charge of everything here.

…but that was a long way to come. There were still a lot of things that confused her, but perhaps that was because she was only in the second year of the Academy.

One of the things that confused her the most was her step-sister, Hinata. Father told her that she wasn't part of their Clan in any way…but she certainly looked like she did! Aside from her dark brown hair, whereas most Hyuga's like her had black hair, and her dark brown eyes, Hinata looked exactly like a Hyuga! They even looked like sisters! Was she the only one who noticed this?

But for as much as they looked alike, they certainly didn't act alike. She herself was an upstanding Hyuga, the pride and joy of her father and the elders, bound to be a powerful leader one day. Hinata, on the other hand…wasn't. She seemed to always get into trouble with her father or the Clan, and she deliberately disobeyed common Hyuga rules. She even was friends with a boy from the Uchiha Clan, for kami's sake!

Hanabi stopped walking, taking a moment to silently shudder. What didn't this girl get? Hyuga's and Uchiha's aren't supposed to mix!

Hinata was supposed to be the pride of the Hyuga. Apparently, she contained some awesome bloodline, and her blood was more important than gold to Konoha. Hanabi had watched her train before…she was fairly good at Jyuuken, for someone who didn't have a Byakugan, but she never saw anything…amazing.

Hanabi found herself walking into the Hyuga's dining hall. It was breakfast time, after all, and she would need a good breakfast for the start of Academy today. She went into the cafeteria, and she was about to choose something to eat, when none other than Hinata greeted her from behind the counters.

"Ohayo, Hanabi nee-chan!" Hinata happily called out, adorned in a cooking apron and various foods and powders which covered it. What a mess!

"I finished making breakfast for myself, but I made extra," Hinata continued. "Would you like some?"

Hanabi wanted to ask Hinata what on earth she was doing cooking, when she had Branch Members who could cook for her, but she kept that thought dormant in her mind. Hanabi wasn't a fool; she knew firsthand how good of a cook Hinata was, and she wasn't going to pass up this opportunity, strange as it was.

"Sure," she replied, handing her tray to Hinata, who happily began filling it with all sorts of food.

Hanabi ended up sitting next to her "sister" in the dining room, despite not really wanting to. It took a lot of her self control not to dig into her tasty food like an Uchiha slob…it was really good!

"You know," Hanabi broke the silence after a minute or two of eating. "If you have enough free time to be cooking, you should be training to regain your honor. Like Neji."

She noticed Hinata flinch a little bit, but Hinata smiled at her nonetheless.

"I guess I should…but I really like to cook!" she replied, hugging her strange fox doll (which she always carried around) as she talked. "And I like to spend time in the garden, too. I guess there are too many fun things to be done instead of training!"

Hanabi disagreed, but decided not to mention it. "I suppose you're right. I doubt father would like you again anyways, even if you did become a competent Hyuga."

Hinata's face fell, and Hanabi almost felt a twinge of regret for saying that, but she immediately extinguished that feeling. It was Hinata's fault after all for befriending the Uchiha and dishonoring her father! She knew the consequences, and she wouldn't even beg for forgiveness!

"Well," Hinata said after a moment of silence, clearing her throat. "Are you excited for your first day of school today, nee-chan?" she asked, trying to sound happy again.

Hanabi shrugged in indifference. "Not really. There's a boy in my class…the grandson of the Hokage-sama…he's really annoying! He doesn't act like he should!"

"What do you mean?" Hinata asked her.

"Somebody who comes from a prestigious clan should act like they do! He just goofs around all day! And he shouldn't!"

"Why should someone from a prestigious clan not have fun in class?" Hinata questioned again.

Hanabi was about to respond when she realized she had to think for a moment. "Well…because…that's the rules."

"Oh."

Hanabi tried to think of something better to say, but she couldn't. Those were the rules! Someone from an important clan should act proper!

"I'm done eating. I'm going to go check on Neji," Hanabi ended the conversation, standing up from her plate and walking away from Hinata. Hinata merely sighed, turning back to her own meal and finishing it in silence.

---

Elsewhere

Neji took a deep breath to calm his nerves and to prepare himself for his training. He sat in the middle of a private dojo on the wooden floor, his legs crossed and his eyes closed. Beside him sat two large pots filled only with water, and several yards in front of him stood a wooden dummy.

"Mizu Soujuu," he muttered quietly to himself, his hands forming a simple ram seal.

Immediately, the pots beside him began to shake for a moment, before the water that was inside them was slowly lifted into the air, forming two balls of water, hovering beside Neji's head. Neji released the seal and stood up, the spheres of water still hovering next to him. All of his senses stimulated, Neji noticed the door slide open the slightest amount, telling him that someone was observing, but that didn't stop his motions in the slightest.

Weaving his arms around the air, the balls of water turned into streams and followed along the paths of his hands, as if he were waving them around. The water moved around smoothly, and it almost seemed alive, dancing around Neji, bending to his will.

Neji's form quickly changed, and he spun in a circle, thrusting his arms toward the dummy in a perfect Jyuuken strike. However, even though his arms weren't even close to the dummy, the water he was previously controlling instantly whipped forward without hesitation, cleanly decapitating the dummy, allowing its head to roll around on the ground.

Neji spun back in a circle again, though this time, the streams of water returned to their resting places in the pots beside him. Slowly exhaling, Neji's eyes turned to look at the one intruding his training session.

"Shouldn't you be out training with your new Genin team?" Hanabi asked, now leaning against the wall of the training dojo near the sliding entrance. Having never before seen anyone train with something other than Jyuuken, Hanabi tried to maintain a calm face and act like she wasn't impressed with Neji's display of elemental talent, though she wasn't very convincing.

Neji's eyes narrowed down at the small girl several yards in front of her.

"What I should or shouldn't be doing has nothing to do with you, little girl," he coldly responded, his hatred for the Main Branch heiress clearly evident.

"You'd better watch the way you respond to me, Branch member," Hanabi responded just as coolly, hoping to demonstrate her authority in front of Neji. "Or I just might activate the Curse Seal on you! Just like Uncle!"

Hanabi could've sworn the temperature in the room dropped around thirty degrees or so, as Neji continued to stare at her with hatred.

"I'd be surprised if you could activate any jutsu," Neji retaliated, his voice low and dangerous. "Your current skills in ninjutsu are comparable to that training of a dummy. A decapitated training dummy."

Hanabi stiffened, clearly offended. She was the heiress of the Hyuga Clan! She was not to be talked to in such a way! She opened her mouth in preparation to yell at him, but to her surprise, Neji began to walk toward her.

"Get out of my way, Hyuga," he stated, walking by her. "I can only wish that I'm no longer a part of this Clan by the time you become its leader."

This time, it was Hanabi who was left behind, steaming in anger, though there was nothing she could do.

---

Hours Later, Academy

Everything seemed to be the same as usual. Naruto yawned as he gave a quick assessment of his current situation, clearly relaxed. It was the first day of their last year at the Academy, and he was sitting in the back row with his two best friends Hinata and Sasuke. Iruka, not surprisingly, had handed them out a gigantic test, to assess where everyone in the classroom was academically after the summer break. Naruto of course, had stopped filling in the correct answers after finishing exactly half of the problems. He was still sticking with the plan he had made years ago.

If he was the worst student in the class, Hinata was the smartest, and Sasuke was the overall best, then they should be paired together on the same team as Genin in order to balance out their skills.

It made sense, and the plan would work. However, things had gotten complicated along the way, and it only made Naruto wish for graduation quicker than it was supposed to come. The Hyuga Clan mistreated Hinata, and the moment she graduated, she would be able to leave them in order to begin forming her own Senju Clan. Naruto had thought of having them all take the Genin Exam early…but then they wouldn't be on the same team. Graduating early meant that each one of them would be classified as "genius", and thus they would be paired with older students who had failed the last Genin test to balance out skills. Hinata had decided that she would rather just wait another year than graduate early…but it didn't take a genius to recognize that the Hyuga's hold on her was painful.

But that was old news. On a different note, he had pretty much perfected the kawarimi jutsu, though Shisui still wouldn't teach him the shunshin just yet. Naruto was also becoming friendly with a bunch of other kids in the class…while during the first year, everyone generally avoided Naruto, but now students and teachers alike were beginning to accept him. In fact –

"Alright, times up; pencils down!" Iruka shouted out from the front of the class. "Everyone pass your tests forward to the front row here!"

Naruto was awoken from his daze by his teacher's booming voice. He passed his incomplete test forward to Shikamaru in front of him, ignoring the knowing look Shikamaru gave him when the lazy boy noticed that half of the test was left blank.

"I just might go rogue if this is how every day of class is going to be this year," Sasuke muttered next to Naruto, leaning back coolly in his chair. Naruto chuckled in agreement, and he turned to Hinata, wondering what she thought about the situation. However, he was surprised to see that she was furiously scanning over her test, making sure every answer was correct.

Hinata flipped to the back of the test and her eyes quickly scanned the rest of her problems, probably for the fifth time. Sasuke was a natural ninja genius, and so was Naruto, but she wasn't a natural academic genius. Her part of the deal was to be the smartest one in class, and that certainly wasn't as easy as it sounded! She had to make sure that she never got a single question wrong, or else she might not be on the same team as her two best friends! It didn't help that Sakura seemed to be a genius as well, or that –

"Um, Hinata, you have to pass your test forward now," Chouji, who sat in front of her said, one hand reaching forward waiting for her test, and the other deep within the contents of a potatoes chip bag.

Hinata nodded nervously and finally passed a shaking test over to Chouji, before leaning back in her chair and taking a deep breath to calm her nerves. If the question seemed too easy, which many did, that meant that she had to recheck them because it could've been a trick question. If the question had more than one good answer, than she had to make sure that the one she choose was the absolute –

"Hinata-chan!" Naruto said for the third time, this time jabbing his female friend in the side. Hinata yelped and turned to her madly grinning companion, whose smile was contagious. "You can relax now, Hinata! I'm sure you did your best!"

Hinata sighed again, this time a smile growing on her face. Oh Naruto. She didn't know what she would do without him and his encouragement. Most of her life was full of her failures. Within the Hyuga, she was never good enough for anything, and for a certain period of time, she trained each day and gave it her all just so that she could be accepted by someone, anyone!

Acceptance is what she needed, and in a cold place such as the Hyuga Compound, where acceptance was just shy of impossible, Naruto provided her with the warm embrace of friendship, where he accepted him no matter what she did. Now, she found herself striving each day to continue to gain the acceptance and friendship of both Naruto and Sasuke, who both accepted her. They were the most important things to her in the entire world, and she had to make sure that they could be together as long as they could!

"So, class, how do you think that test went?" Iruka spoke out loud to the class as he was collecting the last tests from the front row. A unified response of moaning earned the class a chuckle from the tough teacher. "Haha…well, this is your final year before you guys will be sent out into the real ninja world, so you're gonna have to be prepared! And if that means going back to review topics we learned last year, you'd better do it!"

After he nearly placed the papers on his desk, he waved the class away. "Alright now, you guys can start your lunch break! Be back in you seats in an hour!"

The class immediately broke into cheer and chatter as the students began file out of the classroom. Iruka sighed as he watched the last student leave. Even though it was lunch time for them, it didn't mean that it was his lunch time. He wanted to get an early start on grading the tests, so that he wouldn't have to do them later that night.

_Later

Lunch break was nearly over, but Iruka was making record time grading these tests. As he suspected, the summer break had done a number on his students, and so far the average grade for the class was a low B, taking into account slackers like Kiba who averaged a C and geniuses like Hinata, who had just aced the test.

Iruka smiled, happily writing 'A+' on the top of Hinata's paper, before circling it and putting a smiley face beside it for good measure. Hinata was generally a shy girl in his class, and as a teacher, he wanted the best for his students. He was really proud that Hinata continuously did well in class.

His smile disappeared when his eyes came into contact with the name of the next student's test. Naruto Uchiha.

Iruka really didn't understand this kid. From what he heard from rumors and from fellow Chunin, this boy was more talented than he let on, seeing how he gave most of his colleagues quite a chase whenever he used to steal things in Konoha. While most ninja would be immediately arrested on sight after stealing multiple times, the Hokage insisted that Naruto be left uncharged unless he was directly caught right after the act, as the boy at those times didn't have a home and he needed everything he could get.

Not only that, but the Hokage insisted that by stealing Naruto was actually training himself to be a ninja, increasing his stealth. Iruka didn't really believe that a boy stealing food and running away was training for stealth until he had actually been tricked by the boy himself.

Well, whatever opinion Iruka had held of the Uchiha before the Academy was immediately destroyed when Naruto came into his class. The boy was a first class idiot! If he had any knowledge in ninjutsu, he had never shown anyone, and every test Naruto took averaged a little over 50%, which meant that he was just barely passing the class! No doubt, Naruto had the worst overall grades of his entire class; ninjutsu, genjutsu, academics, taijutsu, everything.

Iruka didn't expect much when he began grading this test. His answer key beside Naruto's, his eyes scanned Naruto's first page, and then his. Back and forth, Iruka checked for errors, but to his general surprise, Naruto had completely aced the first page. That was…strange.

Iruka flipped the page, and began grading the next page. However, while expecting many errors, it was also 100% correct, just like the first page! Amazing! Could it be? Could Naruto have actually studied over the summer break to catch up on his poor academics?

Iruka flipped to the next page, almost excited to grade Naruto. This test wasn't the easiest test, and if Naruto had managed to ace the entire test, then that meant that he had caught up from all of last year and…

Iruka's face fell when he saw the third page of Naruto's test. Everything was…blank. Naruto hadn't answered a single question! Iruka quickly turned to the last page, and similar to the third, it was blank!

The confused teacher shook his head as he turned to the front of the test and wrote down the usual 'F' on Naruto's test. The boy had scored a 50%, which is what he usually got on all of his tests. What a shame.

Iruka was about to flip to the next test when he realized something…strange. He could understand why Naruto would generally score around a 50, but why would Naruto have answered the entire first part of the test correct and not even go on to the second? Iruka assumed that the boy had time management problems and that he spent too much time on each question and didn't have time to finish, but now that he thought back, he remembered seeing Naruto stare up at the ceiling for the majority of the test, lost in thought.

That meant one of two things. Either Naruto had failed to realize that the test was 4 pages long, or he deliberately decided to skip the second half of the test. He ruled out the first option. Naruto may not be his brightest student, but he wasn't that much of an idiot. The first half of the test proved that, where he even got the tricky questions right.

So that meant…but why would Naruto deliberately want to fail a test?

Iruka stood up and went over to a cabinet where he pulled out a drawer with many folders in it. Eventually, his fingers pulled out a single folder, titled with Naruto's name. He brought the folder back to his test, and he opened it, placing Naruto's newest test on top. In this folder was every test Naruto had ever taken for him. Iruka skimmed through it.

He hadn't really noticed it before, but Naruto didn't just average around 50%. Naruto, for the most part, got nearly exactly 50% on every test he had taken, without fail. Iruka pulled out a random test from Naruto's second year of the Academy, and scanned through it.

Naruto had answered every other question right. After close inspection, Iruka realized that Naruto had answered some extremely tricky and difficult questions correct, while another question, he answered that Orochimaru was the fourth Hokage.

That didn't add up. It only led to one conclusion: Naruto was purposely scoring around 50% on every test he took. He actually wasn't as stupid as Iruka had thought he was. As dumbfounded as he was, Iruka chuckled, finding the situation funny. He had always wondered why someone as smart as Hinata, who had never gotten a single question wrong last year on any test, would be friends with the most stupid student in class.

Now, he was left with a simple but difficult question. Why?

Generally, the worst student in the class never got along well with the smartest students. He remembered last year where a fight had broken out with Rock Lee, the worst student in class, who had been paired with Neji, the overall best in the class. He laughed again. That wouldn't be the case with Naruto. If Naruto would be paired with the best overall in class, he would probably be paired with Sasuke, and the two of them were best friends!

Iruka immediately stopped chuckling. Wait a second…he was right! It was tradition for the worst student to be paired with the overall best in class and the academic best in class. Normally, that team had an extremely difficult time bonding, as the rookie of the year always looked down on the dead last, and grudges were formed. But in this year's case…

Naruto would be paired with Hinata, the academic best, and Sasuke, the overall best. The three best friends.

Iruka leaned back in his chair with a hand on his head. There's no way…could they know…how would they…how could they even know about that tradition, something which only teachers or Jonin knew about! Could they have thought that far ahead?

He laughed. After all this time…everything was a façade. A joke. Naruto was actually a genius for being able to think that far ahead, and he sacrificed his pride so that he would be paired with his two best friends.

---

Land of Iron: Kage Meeting

Itachi's crimson eyes continuously darted around the room, unable to remain calm for even the slightest second. He was currently sitting among some of the most powerful men and women of the ninja world, and if something were to suddenly go wrong, he needed to be able to insure the safety of Konoha's Hokage, and even lay down his life is need be.

Of course, this meeting wasn't intended for battle. He was currently sitting in one of the seats, next to Hiruzen, of the legendary round table where the five great nations were originally declared. Among him were the Kage's of each of the five nations, and a secondhand ninja of the Kage's choice. At the head of the table sat the leader of the Samurai, of the Land of Iron, in which this meeting was taking place. However, at the other side of the table, two chairs remained empty. The meeting had yet to begin; everyone was currently waiting for the Leader of Ame to enter and commence what he had summoned the Villages for. Tensions were high; not a public word had been spoken, aside from the occasional whispering between the seated individuals.

"Lighten up, Itachi," Hiruzen Sarutobi whispered next to the young man, breaking him out of his focus. Itachi was surprised to see that the Hokage was happily smiling, something that shocked him. "You are lucky enough to be seated at a table of great history! Many years ago, in these very two seats, Hashirama and his brother Tobirama declared Konoha a great ninja village, along with the four other Kage!"

"Not only that," Hiruzen continued, since Itachi hadn't responded after a moment, "but you are about to be witness to a new change of history! One that will remain in the history books of our ninja world for all time, a lesson that will be taught throughout the ninja academies!"

Itachi was going to respond, when suddenly, all side chattering had immediately ceased. The doors leading to the room had opened, drawing all the attention to the new arrivals. Yahiko, Leader of Ame, strode into the meeting room, adorned in an Akatsuki robe, and a ninja headband with the strange Akatsuki cloud symbol on the front, alongside a blue haired woman who wore a matching outfit. Without any words, they sat down at their designated seats. However, it wasn't either of the two newcomers to break the uncomfortable silence; Itachi's head immediately turned the other direction when a loud and booming voice spoke out in the room.

"First impressions are important, and my first impression is that this kid is a brat!" Onoki, the Tsuchikage, boldly proclaimed. "You're not even a Kage yet and you act like you run the place! Hmph! You youngsters need to learn some respect!"

Itachi's eyes now darted back and forth between the Leader of Ame and the Tsuchikage. Of all the possibilities, Itachi had not expected a meeting and monumental as this one to begin with a direct insult to the man who singlehandedly defeated Hanzo.

However, the Leader of Ame's reaction was just as surprising. He closed his eyes for a moment, and when he opened them, a strange ripple pattern seemed to emerge in his eyes as he stared at the Tsuchikage with an emotionless face.

After a moment, the man finally opened his mouth to speak.

"My apologies, Onoki. I hope your time waiting wasn't unpleasant."

Previous accusation completely forgotten, the Tsuchikage's eyes widened when he recognized the undeniable pattern in Yahiko's eyes. "The Rinnegan! Hah! I can finally understand why a punk like you stood a chance against Hanzo!"

Yahiko ignored the comment and turned his focus to the rest of the group, his powerful eyes connecting with each and every single person at the table. When the spiral of the Rinnegan connected with the crimson Sharingan, the Leader of Ame paused.

Itachi blinked twice as the Leader stared into his eyes for a second. He felt…strange. He couldn't place a word on the feeling.

The moment passed, after two seconds, and the Leader turned his attention to the group as a whole.

"I have summoned you all here today for an important reason," he began, standing up from his chair. "While the rest of the ninja world has been focused within their own business, Ame has been the battleground of the continuous war of the great nations, smaller villages, and gangs. Hanzo has ruled our village with a cold iron fist, caring nothing about even the orphaned children, starving on our streets; about the families destroyed, or the ninja murdered! But Hanzo's tyranny has come to an end! With my very two hands, I have destroyed Hanzo, and with the same hands, I have built a city out of the bloodied grounds of Ame!

"The time has come for the acknowledgement of our now great village! Ame in size is just as big as any other great village, and our competence in ninja is equal as well! Allow Ame to become the sixth great nation of the ninja world! Give us the right that many of us have died to achieve!"

Yahiko sat down and leaned back coolly in his chair, allowing his opening statement to rest with the room of Kage's.

Mumbling began to commence with the representatives of the great villages, until Hiruzen, the Hokage of the Leaf, cleared his throat and spoke up. The respected legend was immediately granted the silence he deserved, as everyone quietly listened to what he said.

"I understand that Ame has grown as a village, and recovered from war," he began, looking at Yahiko. "And I'm proud of you for accomplishing that! I personally didn't like the way that Hanzo ran Ame, and I'm glad that you rose up to challenge him. But is Ame truly ready to become a great ninja village? No one here doubts your power, but it is undeniable that ninja from Ame have always been weaker than the great villages, and not a single genin from your village has made it to the final round of a Chunin Exam in many years! If people go to your village and request serious missions, will you be able to provide talented ninja?"

Yahiko nodded, expecting this question. "Not only have I rebuilt Ame as a city, but I have rebuilt the ninja system. Akatsuki, as you may know, is the ninja system within my village. I have created an academy from nothing, and I have been training ninja with expertise. Hundreds of orphaned children have come into the protection of Ame, and are being trained as what you would call Genin, along with teenagers and men who also wish to become ninja but never had the chance under Ame. Aside from that, we already have numerous competent ninja who have come from many other smaller villages who wish to seek a new beginning with us. They find Akatsuki…forgiving."

"Hold on for a minute," A, the dark skinned muscular Raikage of Kumo intervened. "You said that ninja are being trained as "what we would call Genin". How exactly does your ninja system work? If you plan on becoming a ninja village, we have a right to know just exactly how your system works!"

Yahiko nodded again. "Very well. I have created a more…custom style of ninja systems. While you have academy students, Ame has Akatsuki Students, where those who wish to become ninja can be taught and trained what it takes to be a ninja, as well as what it takes to be a squad member."

The phrase squad member raised a few eyebrows, but Yahiko continued before anyone interrupted him.

"After the Akatsuki Student has been educated and trained enough, he or she will become an Akatsuki Apprentice, or a "genin", where they are paired in groups of three and privately trained under a high ranking squad member. Whether or not they pass the Chunin Exams means little to us, as Akatsuki has no ranking of Chunin. When the apprentices seem talented enough, their sensei will test them to decide whether or not they can become an official part of Akatsuki."

"Akatsuki consists of nine squads. When an apprentice graduates, their sensei will assign them to a certain squad. Within that squad, the top then ninja are ranked. The squad is run by a Lieutenant, the second in command of the squad, as well as the Captain, the strongest ninja in the squad. And I am in charge of the Captains."

"Well how many ninja are in each squad?" Mei Terumi, the Mizukage, questioned.

"As of now…around 100 and growing."

Gasps were sounding throughout the meeting. "You're telling us that Ame, or "Akatsuki", already has 900 ninja?" Onoki shouted out, surprised. "That's nearly greater than our village!"

Yahiko smirked. "Yes. Right now, the main focus of the ninja is to continue to rebuild and create our city which has always been war torn, but I believe that we are more than ready to begin accepting missions on the scale of a great village."

Chattering began to commence once more between the powerful ninja. Yahiko closed his eyes in patience, waiting for the decision to be made.

"Well, you've shown us plenty of incentive your Ame to become a great nation," Onoki pointed out loudly. "But why would any of us want Ame to become a great nation?"

A valid question. But Yahiko was prepared.

"I'm not exactly certain what reasons you all could come up with for why Ame should become a great nation," Yahiko said. "But I can tell you this. As ninja, we can expect there to be another – perhaps multiple – Great Shinobi war in the future. The outcome of these wars are always uncertain, but I'm sure with an alliance with a nation that can provide nearly 1000 ninja can only be beneficial. Not only can our ninja force be useful, but our industrialization would prove quite useful in both everyday life and a Shinobi War as well."

Silence. Clearly not a single Great Nation had thought of how useful an alliance with Ame could be. Yahiko smirked. Checkmate.

---

Weeks Later, Konoha Training Grounds, Afternoon

"I'm ready to learn the shunshin."

"Hmm…no."

Naruto groaned and fell on his back, landing on the forest floor with a loud thump, his hands behind his head. The afternoon sun was hot above them, but the tall forest trees created a cooling shade that made the area ideal for training. Still, sweat covered Naruto's face as he recovered from yet another grueling training session with his older brother.

"Why are you waiting to teach me?" Naruto complained, an ever common argument he had with Shisui. "I'm ready to learn it!"

Shisui, who was leaning on a nearby tree, wiped some sweat off of his own forehead as well.

"There's tons of other jutsu that you haven't mastered yet," Shisui pointed out. "You haven't learned more than the most basic wind jutsu, you don't know how to control wind chakra, and for kami's sake, you haven't even mastered the kawarimi! And how can I forget? I've been teaching you how to use an A-ranked kinjutsu that you still have a long way to go before mastering it! And yet you're ready to learn a new jutsu!"

Naruto immediately jumped up to his feet, previous exhaustion forgotten. "You take that back!" he shouted, pointing an accusing finger at his brother. "If there's any jutsu that I've mastered, it's the kawarimi!"

To prove his point, Naruto, without any hand-seals, immediately exploded into a cloud of smoke. In his place as bird, that after a moment of chirping flew into the air.

"There's nothing more I can learn from this jutsu." Shisui turned around and looked up to find Naruto lying down on a tree branch. Shisui nodded, impressed, but he wasn't convinced.

"Well, in my opinion, the most obvious way that I can you haven't mastered the technique is the giant cloud of obnoxious smoke that comes up during the jutsu. That shows that you didn't know how much chakra to use for the technique," Shisui pointed out.

Naruto dropped down from the tree, confused. "Why would that even matter? Doesn't the smoke distract the enemy?"

"That depends," Shisui responded. "Over the next week or so, I want you to be able to use the kawarimi without that cloud of smoke afterwards, which means that you'll have to work on your chakra control. In the mean time, let's get back to that boring old kinjutsu that you feel you have already mastered!"

Naruto rolled his eyes but prepared for the training. He formed the special seal, and instantly, two shadow clones appeared next to him in a cloud of smoke.

"There's that cloud of smoke again," Shisui said, after shaking his finger at Naruto. With a flick of his wrist, both of the clones dispersed, kunai flying into their chests. "Before we even begin this training, try to focus on exactly how much chakra you need to create for your clones. That way, you'll avoid that noisy and obnoxious smoke!"

"I'm still not sure why that even matters," Naruto muttered again, but he listened nonetheless. Forming the same seal, he focused harder on forming the right amount of chakra into his hands. When he first used this technique, both he and Shisui were surprised when around a hundred clones appeared in the forest around them. Naruto had gone crazy with how awesome that technique was, but since then, Shisui had told him that he could no longer summon more than twenty clones at a time. Naruto was disappointed at the idea of not having an army of his solid clones, but he became even more disappointed when he realized that creating a fewer number of clones was actually more difficult for him.

Just like when he tried to create regular clones, Naruto had to deal with his massive amount of chakra. When he formed the seal, it was easy to let the opened chakra gates pour charka into the hand seal, but it was harder to limit the amount of chakra that got into it. While this was nearly impossible to do for a regular bunshin, it was still rather difficult to do for a single kage bunshin, though very much possible.

Over the past many weeks, Naruto had been training on being able to summon an exact amount of clones. Shisui would call out a number, and Naruto would have to evenly distribute his chakra into that number of clones, whether it is three or fifteen. He had gotten that part down, but now he had to focus his chakra even more to eliminate the smoke!

"Okay, here it goes!"

Naruto activated the jutsu after trying to find the right amount of chakra, and instantly, two clones appeared next to him in a cloud of smoke…though Shisui had to admit it was a much smaller cloud.

"Alright, you're getting there," Shisui praised, nodding his head. "Now, starting now, you're going to have to work on using your chakra to create the exact number of clones, how much chakra to limit the smoke, and now you have you also begin working on the location of where your clones appear!"

Naruto was confused. He had never really thought about location. Usually, he just activated the jutsu and the clones would appear beside him.

Shisui jumped backwards and a kunai into the ground between himself and Naruto. "There you go!" he called out to Naruto. "Try and create a clone exactly on the kunai!"

Naruto nodded, excited to test himself out. He formed the seal, focused his chakra on the kunai, made sure he had just barely enough chakra for one clone, and he activated the jutsu.

Instantly, a cloud of smoke appeared about five feet in front of the kunai, revealing a clone who looked at his feet, disappointed that he wasn't directly above the kunai.

"Haha, good!" Shisui called out again, smiling at Naruto. "You were pretty close for your first time! Now you just have to work on the smoke, a more accurate location…"

Shisui then threw three more kunai out randomly in between him and Naruto.

"…and numbers."

Naruto groaned, already knowing that this was going to consume weeks of practice, further postponing his learning of the shunshin.

---

Late in the Evening

Shisui sat down at the familiar stools of the finest eating establishment of all of Konoha, which at the current time was actually empty, to his pleasure. That meant he got to spend time with his friend!

"Ayame-chan!" Shisui playfully called out to the curtain behind the bar. It didn't take more than a couple of seconds for the curtain to be pushed aside to reveal a beautiful young woman wearing a cooking apron, equipped with a large spoon, walking out with a smile on her face.

"We have the service bell for a reason you know!" she responded, giggling when Shisui took her hand and kissed it.

Shisui feigned offense and he gasped, his eyes widening. "Is this how you treat your most valuable customer?" he responded, smiling himself and on the verge of laughter. Ayame rolled her eyes, placing her hands on her hips.

"Did you come here to order something or just to annoy me?" she asked trying to give him a stern look.

"Do I have to be hungry to have an excuse to see one of my best friends?" he asked, sitting back down at the stool and spinning around so his back was facing her. "But I guess if you don't want me to come here all the time…"

Ayame giggled with a faint blush on her cheek and shook her head at his goofy antics. She walked around the counter to the front and sat on a stool next to Shisui and spun his stool around so that he was facing her.

"So where's Naruto," she asked, wondering where the boy was. "Usually you two come here all beaten up after training!"

Shisui sighed, turning to look at the streets. "Realistically, he's probably passed out on the ground somewhere unconscious," he responded. A normal person might gasp at this, but Ayame knew Naruto long enough to where this response didn't surprise her.

"He didn't come with you after training?" she asked.

"Nope. He really wants to get this new technique down, and he didn't leave even after I told him I was going here!" Shisui explained, a little surprised himself.

Ayame sighed, looking back in her memories. "I remember when you two used to come here all those years ago, when he was barely tall enough to see over the counter," she giggled at the end, finding that image funny. "He's grown so much!"

"I remember when you were small enough that you couldn't see over the counter," Shisui replied, turning to look at her with a smile. "Now that seemed so long ago! But I can still remember the taste of the first bowl of ramen you ever made for me…I had thought that you were the greatest chef in the whole world! And I still do!"

Ayame smiled at the compliment. "And that's why you've been coming here ever since."

Shisui smiled as well, but shook his head. "Well, that's not the only reason that I come here," he said in a softer voice. Ayame's face turned red and she quickly turned away so that he couldn't see her face.

"You know, with me being a Jonin and all, I haven't had as much free time anymore," Shisui stated, smiling at her shyness. "How about I treat you out to dinner tonight. I can come back and pick you up in an hour or so when the shop closes…what do you think, Ayame-chan?"

Ayame took a deep breath to calm her nerves, and she mustered enough strength to look Shisui in the eyes. "I-I'd really like that, Shisui-kun!"

Shisui stood up off of his stool and pumped his fist into the air, sending Ayame into a fit of laughter. "Great! It's a date then!"

---

Weeks Later, Uchiha Compound, Night

Itachi slowly walked through the front gate of the Uchiha compound, adorned in a full Anbu outfit aside from his mask. Dirty, tired, and bloody, all he could do was nod at the two guards who bowed to him as he made his way to his house. Obviously, being the head Captain of the Anbu, Itachi wasn't required to partake on all of these missions...but Itachi found that it was a good way to pass time and refresh his skills. Regardless, the result was he had significantly less free time to himself, his family, and to his clan.

When he entered his house, he was surprised to find the kitchen lights on. After a moment of confusion, Itachi remembered that it was Saturday, which meant that Sasuke was staying over at Naruto's house, so that that Fugaku could conduct a meeting with the Clan's Elders in private at their house.

"Welcome home, son!" Fugaku greeted as Itachi silently entered the room, causing all heads to turn to him. All of the elders politely bowed to his presence; not only was Itachi son of Fugaku and heir to the Uchiha Clan, but he was a prodigy, most likely the strongest ninja of the Clan, certain to bring the Uchiha to greatness one day.

"I know you are tired and wish to freshen up," Fugaku knowingly stated, "but you need to sit down with us here to discuss some important matters."

Itachi nodded, and he strode over to the table where an open seat and a cup of tea, no doubt courtesy of his mother, were waiting for him. For the past few years, Fugaku had been inviting him to attend the Clan meetings, as one day he would be conducting the meetings, and Fugaku wanted him to have early experience. These meetings weren't the same as the larger and more important meetings, which were located in a different building, but they were more private, with Fugaku's most trusted Elders.

"I'll continue where I started, so that Itachi can catch up with us," Fugaku started again, once Itachi had sat down. "Today, I discussed with Village Council about several matters which the Uchiha Clan wished to settle. Unfortunately, the Council denied our Clan again of what we wished."

Itachi's curiosity arouse, wondering where this would lead.

"The Council denied the moving of our Clan compound closer to the center of the Village, which we have been requesting for years. We have always questioned why the Uchiha Compound had to be far away, secluded from the Village, which hurts us economically as well as politically, and the Council has refused the construction of a new compound as well as our moving into it.

"Furthermore, the Council has also denied the Uchiha Clan the right to have total and complete control over the Military Police. The income tax over us is still large and goes to the village, as opposed to the Uchiha reserves, and the Council still has a large amount of power over how our police force operates. When I confronted the council, and stated that this was merely a way to limit and control our Clans power, they refused to change their decision, and they continued limiting us."

All of the Uchiha elders present at the table shook their heads in disappointment, causing Itachi's curiosity to increase even further. How would his father deal with these problems?

"Our fears of the Konoha Council can only be further confirmed. The Council is doing everything it can to limit the growth of Uchiha Clan, in power, size, and influence. Though why they are doing this, we have yet to find the reason. We can reason that there is only so much time before the Uchiha Clan will have to…intervene."

"What do you mean by 'intervene'?" Itachi questioned, turning Fugaku's attention to the boy, who asked the question in a dangerous tone.

Fugaku sighed, and another elder of the Uchiha Clan answered his question. "You needn't worry about Uchiha intervention just yet, Itachi. First, we need to acquire more information about the Council's intentions. And for that…we need you."

Itachi's eyebrows rose up on his forehead. "How so?"

"With your status as the Head of the Anbu," yet another elder responded. "You've already gained the trust of the Council, which means that you'll be able to act as a spy for our Clan, and gain information on what the Council is planning. Figure out why they're limiting the Uchiha Clan the way they are!"

Itachi leaned back in his chair, his facial expression unreadable.

"You need to do this, Itachi. For the Uchiha!"

---

Hyuga Compound, Night

"Hiashi-sama, please, come and sit down."

Hiashi frowned as he walked into the Hyuga meeting room, where around a large table the Clan Elders sat, who were motioning for him to sit at the head of the table. He strode across the room, sat down in his seat, and leaned back with his arms crossed across his chest.

"Why have you summoned me here?" he asked, his pale eyes, passing over the Elders. After a moment, one Elder cleared his throat, earning him the attention of Hiashi.

"Hiashi-sama," he muttered in a deep and gravelly voice. "It is time we decide on the fate of young Hinata."

Hiashi lifted an eyebrow. "Explain."

The Elder shifted in his seat. "As you know, Hinata is soon to graduate the Academy, and when she does, she will surely make it to genin rank. And then…she'll be assigned the task to begin the Senju Clan once again."

"Do not play with me," Hiashi stated, his voice cold and powerful. "I know all of this. Tell me now, why have you summoned me here tonight?"

This time, it was another Elder who spoke up, after an uncomfortable silence. "Hiashi-sama," he began, "We fear that when Hinata graduates, she will stray far away from the grasps of the Hyuga Clan…or even work against us."

"Therefore," another Elder stepped in, "we believe that it would be very beneficial to the Hyuga Clan to…stop this from happening."

Hiashi chuckled. "Oh? And how to you suppose we do that?"

Yet another Elder answered for the group. "Well, we figured that if Hinata were never to become a genin…or a ninja for Konoha…then she would remain in the Hyuga Clan, and we would be able to mix her bloodline with ours, making the Hyuga far greater than even the Uchiha!"

"Yes," the first Elder continued, "if we were to…ensure that Hinata is no longer fit to be a ninja…then all of this would be possible. We wouldn't have to worry about future politics…the Senju would become the Hyuga!"

All of the Elders nodded in agreement. Hiashi chuckled again and dropped his head.

"I…see," he finally murmured out, causing there to be silence in the room. "When Hinata was first adopted into our Clan, we created a plan to destroy all of her self-confidence. We would train her hard, and make sure that she could never live up to our standards…after all, how can one master Jyuuken without the Byakugan?"

The Elders nodded, not knowing where he was going with this.

"And that we did," Hiashi continued, his voice still dark. "We destroyed her from the inside. Just a child, she was forced to continually fail to meet our expectations and instead watch Hanabi succeed in everything she didn't. She was desperate for acceptance…desperate for love…and she felt like the only way she could be accepted into our family was if she trained harder. And for a time…that worked.

"If our plan continued, she would continue to want acceptance into the Hyuga Clan, and she would have no self confidence. When she would become a genin, she would basically give us the Senju Clan, as an act of good faith, hoping to finally be accepted. Instead of us having a good relationship with the Senju, we would practically run the Senju, as she would have no confidence in herself.

"But then a wildcard entered our plan. She met Naruto Uchiha, a past friend of hers, who offered her the acceptance that she fought so hard to earn here. She gradually found herself wanting his acceptance more than ours, realizing that he actually cared about her. And now, when she graduates, she'll abandon our Clan, realizing that we were nothing but cruel to her, and she'll go straight into the arms of Naruto and the Uchiha, who she has found acceptance with."

Hiashi chuckled, and the Elders of the Clan became extremely nervous. "I can't help feel like we set up the Uchiha for success, no? Had we treated Hinata with care and, god-forbid, love, then perhaps she would be friends with the Uchiha, but much of her loyalty would lie with us. But instead of that, we decided to go for it all and try to control her.

"And we almost did. But now, she's nearly out of our grasps. We've practically destroyed her childhood, physically and mentally abused her, and taken away most of her confidence. And, now that we realize how much that failed, you're asking me if we secretly break her leg or poison her or something, so that she can't even become a ninja. You're asking me to take away everything else that she has…all of her hope. Her dreams."

The Elders remained silent. Hiashi shook his head and looked down into the palm of his hands.

"The Hyuga Clan knows no boundaries. I know no boundaries…what have I done to my proud Clan? And to think that I originally agreed to our plan because I thought it would bring honor to the Hyuga! What would Hizashi say if he were alive? What would my wife say?"

"Hiashi-sama," one of the Elders tried to cut in, "you're thinking about this too hard. Prohibiting her from becoming a ninja will provide –"

"Enough!" Hiashi shouted out, standing up from his chair and slamming his fists on the table. "Enough already! I've destroyed myself trying to uphold the honor of the Hyuga Clan, my family! What honor? What family? I've killed my own brother!"

Silence. No one dared interrupt again. Finally Hiashi began to walk around the table, heading toward the door. Before he left, he turned to face the Elders, a single tear in his right eye.

"Do absolutely nothing to harm that child," he muttered. "I've destroyed the life of an innocent girl. I'd rather die than do anything more to her. Or have we died already…? The only way I can possibly begin to make up for my sins is by letting her leave this Clan as soon as she becomes a genin."

And with that, he strode out of the room.

---

Ame, Akatsuki District

Utakata strode through the halls of the Academy building, within the Akatsuki district, proudly adorned in his Lieutenant robes, which, opposed to humble like nature, caused the people around him to bow their heads as he walked by. He sighed, running his hand through his loose hair as he turned the corner of the hallway. He wasn't used to this type of celebrity; nothing in Kiri prepared him for this. There, he was isolated with his one and only sensei, and he worked for Kiri outside of the general public. Here…well, he was about to learn what his role was now.

Today was the first day of his classes which were supposed to train him to know what it meant to be a Lieutenant. The Leader of Akatsuki had briefly talked about this the last time he had summoned them, but he merely told him the date of when the classes would start. The past few weeks for him consisted of people treating him like royalty; he was given a large and lavish apartment in a separate building with the rest of the Captains and Lieutenants, he was shown where he could eat, he was given tours of Ame, he was given a weekly paycheck, to his surprise, which made his eyes grow wide every time he looked at it, and, best of all, he was given private dojos to train and nearly infinite resources to help him train.

Saying that he scored big by joining Akatsuki would be an understatement.

But apparently all good things had to come to an end. He'd never had to go to school before in his life; he had always been privately trained by his master. That was one of the few things he enjoyed about his past. But now, he was apparently going to experience what it felt like to become a student, as opposed to an apprentice.

When he neared the door he saw a guy his age with a white pony tail leaning against the opposite wall. Utakata didn't know much about what it meant to have a social life, and it was easy to say that he wasn't exactly good with people, but he might as well start here. He knew practically no one here, aside from his Captain Raizo who he had occasionally been meeting with, so he needed to get to know some people.

"Hey," he nonchalantly said to the guy, causing him to turn and look his way. He wasn't wearing the same Lieutenant robes as Utakata was…but it wasn't absolutely necessary to wear them. "Are you here for the first class for Lieutenants?"

The guy kicked off the wall and shrugged with a smile on his face. "Yeah, sure."

Utakata was a little put off by the strange answer, but he shrugged as well. "Let's go then."

Together, the two guys entered the room, Utakata not having any idea what to expect when he walked through the door. When they entered, the first thing Utakata noticed was the large size of the room. In front of the room was a large area and a desk in front of a chalk board, and the rest of the room was full of inclined rows of long tables. It was a regular classroom, but Utakata had never seen one before, so he was the only one who saw it as new.

"Let's sit in the back," the boy from before said, a hint of humor always present with his voice. Utakata nodded, not really paying attention. The second thing he noticed about the room was the ten or so ninja who were in it, which gave Utakata an obvious revelation, which he had apparently failed to notice before. He, and the guy with a white pony tail, were probably the only guys his age in the room. Everyone else was at least twenty or above, which slightly intimidated him. Even though everyone was wearing the same Akatsuki headband, he already knew that everyone present was a powerful ninja from a variety of countries.

"Ahh," the guy next to him yawned as he leaned back in his seat in the back row, placing his feet up on the desk. Utakata sat next to him, and couldn't help but feel more relaxed. If this guy next to him was relaxed, then he might as well be to.

"So what's your name?" the guy asked Utakata after a moment or two passed by. "Where are you from?"

Utakata turned his head to look at strange kid. "My name is Utakata, and I come from Kiri." He decided to leave out the fact that he was a Jinchuuriki, and that he ran away after he had killed his master. His past was behind him; Akatsuki was a new beginning.

"Really?" the guy asked backed. "That's cool; I'm from Kiri too! My name's Kimimaro."

Utakata nodded, and he thought for a moment about that name. He could've sworn he'd heard it somewhere before…and now that he thought about it, Kimimaro did look somewhat familiar…

"You!"

Utakata was snapped out of his trance when another familiar voice sounded from his left. He turned his head and immediately frowned when his eyes came in contact with one person who he wished he would've never met again.

"How did you get to be a Lieutenant too?" Utakata groaned, looking at the blue-haired girl who he had met weeks ago just before he had been tested. She had been the annoying and arrogant one who had interrupted his peaceful meditation…kind of what she did just now.

The girl crossed her arms across her identical Lieutenant outfit, the only difference being that she wore a skirt instead of pants. That could only mean that she had made the Lieutenant rank as well. Kuso! That also meant that he would be stuck in the same class as this annoying girl for the next several weeks.

"I got to be a Lieutenant because of my obvious skills," she responded, he hands on her hips. Whether or not she wanted to start a fight was beyond Utakata. But would he provoke her? Absolutely.

"Hm. I'm assuming that you must know of an awesome genjutsu that fooled everyone into thinking you have talent," Utakata coolly responded. "That, or the Captain that chose you is both blind and deaf."

"Guren!"

Both Utakata and the girl, Guren, turned to look at Kimimaro, the one who had shouted out her name. Utakata held a confused look on his face.

"You know this girl?" he asked, wondering if she was the type of person to annoy everyone she met. Kimimaro nodded, a smile on his face. Guren, on the other hand, gasped and fell down into the seat behind her.

"W-Why are you here?" she whispered in surprise, causing Utakata's growing confusion to climax. Kimimaro, on the other hand, merely winked at her and held his hand up to his face, motioning for her to be quiet.

"This is Raizo's homeroom," he stated, as if that explained everything. "I was going to meet him outside to talk with him for a bit, but going to his class seemed like a fun idea!"

Before Utakata could further inquire, the front door of the classroom opened again, and all of the chatter in the classroom immediately stopped. Raizo, adorned in his Akatsuki Captain robe, wearing his dark shades, strode into the classroom and up to his desk, where he sat on top of his desk and stared at the silent class in front of him.

Finally, after a good five seconds of pure silence, he sighed and dropped his head, shaking it back and forth. He had thought this would be a noisy classroom, but it was the exact opposite. Whatever. The silence would probably wear off over time as people got to know each other.

"Welcome to homeroom," he exclaimed in a voice loud enough for everyone to hear. "My name is Raizo, Captain of the Third Squad of Akatsuki."

Several gasps went out through the surprised class. An Akatsuki Captain was going to be their homeroom teacher?

"I know you're surprised now," Raizo stated, causing the class to fall silent again, "but let me explain how this is going to work first. This is your homeroom class, and you're going to report here five days a week, at the same time. This class only lasts about 20 minutes, and it's to mark attendance, give you guys news about what's going on, and basically to relax before your real classes begin.

"Classes. Right. So, the Leader decided that instead of cramming all the information into a single class, he's going to split everything up into multiple periods. All of you are going to have to review basic materials, academic as well as ninja related stuff, so you'll have a bunch of classes where the teachers make sure you have a basic knowledge of those fields. Homeroom's first, as I said before, but then you guys move to history with Kakuzu I think, and then he'll tell you where to go next."

Raizo stared at the blank faces of everyone in the class. "Oh yeah, I forgot to mention. The Leader hired the Akatsuki Captains, or most of them, to be your teachers. I got the easy end by being homeroom teacher, I guess. Anyways, you guys are a small class of…ten, so this should be a great opportunity to get to know some of the Captains…why are there ten of you here? We only have nine Captains…"

Raizo quickly scanned the ninja scattered throughout the room. Some of them were as young as Kimimaro, and others seemed older than he was…and one of them actually was Kimimaro. Ah.

"Kimimaro, what the hell are you doing in this class?" Raizo asked his troublemaking friend, who was snickering in the back. The entire class then turned to the back to look at the three kids who were sitting back there, one of whom was a Captain. "Don't you have your own class to teach?"

Kimimaro shook his head and smiled as he leaned back in his chair. "Nope! The Leader didn't trust me to teach a class…obviously…so I decided that I'm gonna be a student instead!"

Raizo, instead of forcefully kicking the boy out of class, merely sighed and lowered his head.

"You know what? Go for it," he eventually said, with a nonchalant shrug. "I'd love to see how Deidara or Orochimaru deal with you. Have fun. For the rest of you guys…this is basically gonna be like going back to the Academy, if you ever went, but this time, you're getting professionals to teach you important stuff. Everyone else who made Akatsuki are doing similar things…and this shouldn't last more than several weeks. But when you guys graduate and become official Akatsuki…well, that's gonna be the true start of Ame, the Sixth Great Nation. Good luck."

---

Konoha – Afternoon

Shisui stood in the middle of a forest clearing, surrounding by tall trees which provided a satisfying shade. He leaned against a single wooden post, beaten up by years of training, but standing nonetheless. Shisui yawned. It was a Saturday, and Naruto and his friends didn't have school, yet the kids still wanted to train with Shisui. That was beyond him. Now that he thought about it, if he had a second chance, he would rather spend his childhood playing around with other friends instead of training, but then again, if he-

Shisui quickly leaned his head to the right, allowing a blunt kunai to fly right where his head used to be.

"I'm alarmed," Shisui shouted out to no one in particular. "My senses have heightened, as I presume that at least one ninja is trying to kill me."

Suddenly, Sasuke jumped out of the trees and twenty yards in front of Shisui, his hands forming a seal. Without another moment passing, he breathed a large fireball which sped toward the smiling Shisui.

"I'm surprised!" Shisui shouted out loud, even while the fireball was speeding toward him. "I'm assuming there's only one ninja attacking!"

Shisui avoided the fireball by jumping high into the air above it, only to be greeted with a dozen shuriken speeding at him. However, before the shuriken could connect, Shisui disappeared from sight.

A second later, he reappeared five feet in front of Sasuke, a smirk on his face. "I reveal myself to be a skilled opponent."

However, to his surprise, Sasuke back-flipped high into the air, and in his place came a glowing palm, flying toward Shisui's chest. Shisui jumped backward to avoid the palm attack, but Hinata was right with him, and she began to strike at his pressure points with deadly accuracy and speed.

Shisui's smile grew wider as he made it an effort to avoid all of Hinata's blows. "I'm surprised and caught off guard that there are multiple attackers," he commented to the brown haired Hyuga, who relentlessly drove him back.

Suddenly, two hands broke out of the ground and grabbed onto Shisui's shins. At the same time, Hinata struck him with both her palms, and, no longer able to dodge, Shisui was forced to grab both of her hands.

Suddenly completely immobile, Shisui swore. Looking down, a katana had cleanly pierced through his chest. He turned his head around, only to see a smirking Naruto, holding the katana.

The shadow clone of Shisui exploded into a cloud of smoke, as did Naruto's shadow clone that was holding him from underground. Meanwhile, the real Shisui appeared in the clearing, his hand on his chin, holding a thoughtful position.

"Hmm…let's see. That took you about thirty seconds! Wow! That's a new record!"

Shisui smiled and ruffled Sasuke's hair as well as Hinata's, much to both of their protests. "Well, considering that this was the tenth time in a row doing the same exercise, that is," he pointed out. "Why don't we call it quits for the day and everyone head home? I have to go and prepare for some silly Jonin meeting anyway. Sasuke, you should come with me…I think your brother wanted to talk to you about something."

Sasuke shrugged and followed Shisui as he began to walk away, and Naruto gave a quick glance to Hinata. Her face was crestfallen…he had an idea why. "Are you guys coming?" Sasuke asked to his two other friends who were staying behind.

Naruto shook his head. "Nah, I'm gonna relax out here for a while. Hinata, do you want to stay with me?"

To Naruto's relief, Hinata's face lit up again, revealing to him that he had solved her silent but obvious problem. While family and fun awaited Naruto at the Uchiha Clan, Hinata going home to the Hyuga Clan wasn't even close to that. So instead, he had decided to do anything possible to prolong Hinata's return to her own compound.

Sasuke nodded after a second and turned around, jogging to catch up with Shisui.

"Oh boy. I'd get away from this girl if you can. I don't see anything but trouble when it comes to this."

Naruto mentally shook his head. "I can't do that. She's my best friend, and you know that."

"Then you'd better be prepared for the many consequences of attachments."

"I don't like the way you said that," Naruto thought back.

"Never mind me for now then. Just assume that life is perfect and that you, Hinata and Sasuke will grow old together in Konoha. Just don't come crying to me when everything comes crashing down."

"Um, Naruto-kun?"

Naruto shook his head to clear his thoughts. Sometimes, engaging in a conversation with his "dark side" caused him to space out in the real world. He immediately smiled at Hinata while he dropped down to the ground, lying down on the cool forest floor, motioning for Hinata to follow suit.

"I love moments like these," he said, looking up to the streaks of sunlight that broke through the treetops. "Carefree, not having a worry in the world. And it doesn't hurt that we get to be together."

Hinata laid down next to Naruto, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, a small smile growing on her face. Something about being outside in nature felt…right. Like a bird being let out of its cage! She could almost feel replenished, as if the forest was filling her up with energy. That, and the fact that she was lying next to her best friend Naruto, which made her feel secure, and free.

"Moments like these are probably going to be the only thing I miss when we become Genin," Naruto said. "We'll have a lot of missions to complete, and most of them will be boring…but I'm sure that we'll have free time to spend to, somehow. And can you believe that you get to start your own Clan?"

Hinata smiled and opened her eyes, turning to look at Naruto. "It'll be great! They'll give me my own house somewhere nice! Hopefully I'll have a garden too…and a nice kitchen…and –"

Hinata was cut off by Naruto's laughter at her daydreaming, causing her to lightly punch him in the side. "Will I at least be invited to your house every now and then?" Naruto asked after he lightly punched her back. "Or will you ban me from your house like Hiashi-baka?"

Hinata's smile disappeared and a look of seriousness appeared on her face. "Of course!" she said, sitting up and looking Naruto in the eyes. "That'll be my first law of the new Senju Clan! That Naruto Uchiha is welcome whenever he wants to come and anyone who doesn't like him isn't!"

Naruto smiled and sat up with her. "I like that law! Have a law that bans Hiashi and Neji too!"

At this, Hinata's face fell, and Naruto mentally cursed for forgetting about the sensitivity about the subject.

"I-It's not Neji's fault that he's mad at me," she quietly said, looking down at her own hands. "I…I…"

"And it's not your fault either," Naruto said, putting an arm around her for comfort. "Hinata-hime, if anyone's to blame, it's me. But we talked about this already! Let's just be happy that we're friends now and that you won't have to worry about the Hyuga Clan as soon as we graduate!"

Hinata took a deep breath to release her stress, and allowed a faint blush to cover her cheeks as he purposely leaned into Naruto.

"I don't care about the Hyuga Clan, or if I have to stay in that Clan forever," she quietly told him. "As long as you don't leave me, I'll be happy."

Naruto sighed, shaking his head. "I'm not leaving you Hinata. I never will."

"That's touchy. Do you really mean that?"

Naruto, despite the voice's constant negative outtake on life, managed to keep a smile on his face. "Of course I do."

"I see you're persistent. Well, such is youth, I suppose. Hopefully your views will change as times grow harder."

"Times aren't changing," Naruto responded, not truly focusing on that conversation. For a moment, he could swear he could hear the voice sigh.

"For now, I suppose. But I can't help feel a coming war, so brutal that it will change the face of the ninja world. Right now is nothing but the calm before the storm, and you can do only so much to prepare for the oncoming war. Akatsuki. Ha. Not the way I would run the organization, but that Rinnegan boy seems to know a thing or two about what he's doing."

Naruto completely tuned out the voice and instead chose to focus on the present moment with his best friend. While he didn't believe in any sort of oncoming war, graduation was nearing sooner than he had imagined, and his years as a ninja would finally begin.

---

End

Hey you! Chapter's not over yet: read the A/N!

A/N: Wait what? Hiashi's not some sick demon bastard like I wrote him to be? Apparently he has his limit too…if he didn't, let's just say that Hinata wouldn't find graduation as great as she thought it would be.

Before I comment any more, I'd like to point out that shinonigga, the awesome guy who drew art for me before, has also drawn some pictures for what the Akatsuki outfits look like. Head over to my profile where I have the links up…it will really help you picture the story and outfits better! And while you're doing that, you might as well read and review all of his stories too!

Also, I'd like to thank Kyuubi123 for being my studly Beta and editing this chapter! Check out his profile, and read/review his stories!

So, Ame is a Great Nation now! That means that Yahiko will have the money to support all of the ninja who come to Ame! And pretty soon, Akatsuki's true plans will begin! Also, if for some reason you didn't catch it, Guren is about a year younger than Naruto in this story, and back a chapter or two ago, Itachi had killed her family.

About Hinata's reaction to last chapters vision, a main point of the vision was when Naruto said "close your eyes and when you open them I'll be gone". Well, she opened them in her bed, and, she's never had such a realistic dream, so she had to make sure.

Not much else to comment on. This chapter was a painful filler, because I couldn't skip automatically to graduation, and hopefully you know why. Also…I feel like I should say this too: this stories about to hit the main plot line, and that means side sections like about Shisui and Ayame or Hanabi are about to disappear. So, if you'd like to see something that I haven't wrote about, write a review like "Could you add a part about Kimimaro's daily life in Akatsuki and the type of trouble he always gets into?" and I'll see if I can add it to the next chapter.

Well, here's the list of pure awesome people who motivated this painful chapter to get out. If these people hadn't reviewed, well, you probably wouldn't be reading this right now.

---

(*** means that your review was chosen for FAQ)

Hanzo of the Salamander

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No- I'm not on facebook.***

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Masterking***

The Darkest wizard

Crypton89

Shinobi of life

narutogokufan

SilentSinger948

KaOn KaI

Dan

greywizard-dumblemort

The real leghendary supersayji

Darkside8548

Mayhem296

fanficreader71

Yondaime72

twilightfan0101

Jerex

FF-loverHP1

Sword2010

ice-phoenix-94

Brady

beloveddaughteroftheking

1412 karasu

Andreasfr

AzureNemesis

Obsessive Child

Kur0Kishi

mauralucky7

hiNAru Aburame

Crowfether

Makito Namikaze***

Deadzepplin

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FAQ

Before I start, I'd just like to mention how painful it is to read amazing questions…that can't be answered now. Example being: Will Itachi slaughter his Clan, or will Naruto receive the hypnotizing eye? Amazing questions…but if I answered them they would spoil the plot. So…if you want your question answered, try to broaden it I guess. But just know that even if I don't respond to your question, I read each and every review at least twice, once when you first write them, and once again when I go back to make an FAQ.

Also, because the wait was longer, and for holiday spirits, I'm answering a lot more reviews than usual.

Q: Just how powerful can we expect the different squads to be? By that I mean, are there going to be vice captains that are key players like the main captains and everyone else will be little better than cannon fodder?

A: You got to see a little of that this chapter. Vice Captains will be key players like the Captains, and several of them will be really important to the story. As for everyone else…well, they'll be like the many Chunin and Jonin of Konoha.

Q: What is Madara doing to Naruto?

A: Madara's few interactions shown with Madara are used to show us that he is continuously allowing Naruto to trust him. He is telling Naruto of terrible things that are going to happen, and, should he be correct, Naruto would immediately trust everything he says.

Q: Can Hinata see possible futures?

A: Yes. She has had both dreams of the future as well as the past. 100%. Not entirely. Will I explain why now? Unfortunately no..

Q: (Akatsuki) definitely seems less villainous than the canon organization... but even so, the more insane, murderous, and psychotic members of the group are still there. Is Akatsuki here the 'designated villain' of the story?

A: Nice wording and great question. Who's the real villain of the story? The corrupt society, or the force trying to change it? Either way, Akatsuki is just the first 'designated villain'. They won't always be…plot twists will occur and suddenly the true villain will appear just when we thought everything was going good. Damnit I wish I could tell you more.

Q: Orochimaru was a twisted man. If the wielder of the Rinnegan, the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki, and Jiraiya of the Sannin couldn't reach him... how could Yahiko?

A: Yahiko didn't necessarily reach him. I changed that part up a while ago…but Sasori was the one who found Orochimaru. You'll find out a lot about this later, but Sasori and Orochimaru used to work together before Akatsuki was formed. Sasori knew just where Orochimaru would be, and he could also track him through Kabuto.

Q: Will Naruto and Hinata be together in the end of the story?

A: Very important question. There's gonna be a lot of tough stuff that goes on in this story, and a lot of Naru-Hina fans will definitely want to kill me later on in the story, but I give you this: Naruto and Hinata will be together at the end of the story. Btw I laughed when I read your review. WTF-o-meter lol.

Q: Hmmm... I wonder who destroyed the senju clan.

A: I'm glad you're wondering that, and I want all the readers to be wondering that as well. THAT is going to be a big "holy crap" later on in the story!

Q: (Was Hinata's dream) a prophecy of certainty, or a glimpse of a possible future?

A: A glimpse of the possible future. You'll find out that she'll have a lot more of those later, which are very important.

Q: Because Madara is not involved, will Akatsuki still be collecting Jinchuuriki?

A: No, that idea was only Madara's, as he wanted to use them to recreate the Juubi. But…perhaps in the future the Jinchuuriki will have to watch their backs for Akatsuki.

Q: Will naruto try to help itachi and will it change the massacare in any way?

A: Naruto will always remain loyal to the Uchiha. But you're close.

Q: Will the Kyuubi have any form of communication with Naruto in the future while keeping Madara unaware of it?

A: Yes, the Kyuubi will. Communications between Kyuubi in Naruto will be extremely important later on in the story.

Q: Why do Itachi and Shisui have water for their second element?

A: Eh, there's no real reason for this. You have a good point by saying that water is opposite of their primary elements…but…eh, they rarely use it anyway.

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That's all for now. Happy/Merry Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years…Alright, well, I still have a couple of days left of break, so I'll make sure to get a good start on the next chapter so the wait won't be as long. We have finals soon though, so that will be tough. Damn.

Cya,

-williams5505