Author's Notes: I have given some information at the end of this chapter that might help. A little spoiler thing I guess you could call it. evil grin I hope you enjoy this chappy, I know its not as long as it should be but important things happen and the plot thickens.

Chapter 10

"Where is she now?"

"Yugao took her to get some new clothes as a distraction. She was pretty shaken up."

Tsunade continued to stare out the window, in considerably deep thought over the mysterious girl. Shizune crouched next to the desk and watched the slug in the container, fascinated by it. Kakashi, well Kakashi did what he did best, looked bored. But anyone who knew him well enough would realize he was also analyzing the situation.

"I can imagine so. It's not everyday that someone can make a slug appear out of no where by simply thinking about it." Shizune commented still gazing at the thick yellow creature, "Where do you think it came from?"

Tsunade and Kakashi both glanced over at Shizune who must have felt their gaze, because she stood up facing them, "It has to come from somewhere. Its not like she created it out of her own imagination. Right?"

"Kakashi-sensei left with Hana in a hurry. Do you think she's ok?" Naruto tossed a kunai into the dirt and plucked it out.

"I think something happened. Did you see the look on Hana's face?" Sasuke commented thoughtfully, the image of Kakashi grabbing Hana's arm, jerking her close and disappearing still fresh in his mind. He could tell his sensei was...concerned seemed to be the only word to describe what he saw. But Hana looked terrified.

Sakura and Naruto both looked at Sasuke as if they hadn't seen him before. Was he worried about the new member of their team? Sakura frowned. Naruto grinned triumphantly, jabbing a finger in Sasuke's direction.

"You like her don't you Sasuke!?"

Sasuke's head whipped around, eyes glaring. But Naruto had been on the receiving end of Sasuke's attempts to intimidate him too many times to react. He merely fell over laughing.

An hour later Sakura was still watching the two destroy the training grounds. They had both gotten so much stronger since the chunin exams. Sasuke had managed to get the cursed seal under control, but she could tell it still bothered him from time to time. She was more worried about his stubborn Uchiha pride and the Avenger he claimed to be.

Maybe Hana was a good thing if he was more interested in her than gaining power with Orochimaru. Sakura wouldn't believe Sasuke would actually leave Konoha for the snake traitor. Kakashi-sensei had been kind enough not to send her away when she had asked about the man she had met in the forest. But knowing more about him just made the pale faced freak more frightening in her opinion.

Miranda tucked the last of the clothes into the drawer then turned to find Yugao watching her from the doorway. She somehow knew the time had come for the woman to ask about what happened with Kakashi-sensei. But what could she tell her when she didn't understand it herself.

"Are you hungry?" Yugao smiled at the surprised look on Miranda's face.

"Don't you want to know..."

"When your ready, you'll tell me. Right?"

Miranda nodded and followed her out to the kitchen. Yugao had already set out food and the water on the stove whistled loudly as she set grabbed two cups.

"Who's the man in the painting?"

Yugao froze, water spilling over the edge of the cup, "Damn." Grabbing a towel, she quickly cleaned it up and finished pouring, ignoring Miranda's question for the time being.

Taking the hint, Miranda sat at the table and ate quietly. She wondered if what had happened really happened. Did the slug appear because of her? Because she was thinking about it, concentrating on it? Or was it coincidence that it appeared at that moment. Maybe neither Kakashi-sensei or herself had noticed it crawling up her arm.

"Hana?"

Maybe it was a very rare slug and that's why no one had ever seen one before.

"Hana?"

Yugao's voice seemed so far away.

"Ha...anda...na...Mira..."

'That voice...no Yugao's voice...but it's not...someone else...'

Miranda slowly opened her eyes to see a blurry face hovering over her, a hand on her cheek. If she would have to guess, she would say the blurry face was a reflection of an older version of herself. But as her eyes started to focus, the dark hair turned purple and the face changed.

"Yugao?"

"Don't move. Just lay there for a moment."

Miranda looked around and realized she was laying on the kitchen floor. The next thing to become clear was that her head pounded and she felt sick to her stomach. Ignoring the woman's advice, she pushed up into a sitting position, "Im ok. I must have done too much today." She gave Yugao a small smile.

But the ANBU wasn't convinced. What she had seen wasn't the result of using too much chakra or exhaustion from training.

'Her eyes...' Yugao grabbed Miranda's chin and tilted her head up to look directly into her dark eyes, 'It's gone.'

Miranda frowned, but didn't move. It wasn't as if the woman was hurting her. But the way she was staring into her eyes and the look on her face made her slightly afraid. Yugao finally released her and smiled softly before standing up and offering Miranda her hand.

"Next time...don't train so hard."

Hiashi's grip on the post finally relaxed, blood rushing into the white knuckles, turning his hand pink again.

Sakura rushed out into the clearing as Sasuke hit his knees, kunai slipping from his pale fingers. Kneeling down in front of him, she gently wiped the sweat from his forehead, "Sasuke-kun? Are you ok?"

Sasuke closed his eyes and nodded, "Hn...Im fine Sakura." But he obviously didn't look fine. And he certainly didn't feel fine. After a moment his eyes snapped open and he jerked his head up, looking past Sakura, "Naruto..."

Both genin were on their feet staring wide eyed at their blonde friend. Naruto's head hung, shoulders hunched, hair spikier than usual, nails longer. But even the sight of him didn't compare to the terrifying chakra that seemed to grow like a wild fire around him.

Sasuke activated his sharingan and stepped back instinctively. He remembered what had happened to his friend during the battle with Gaara of the Sand. But what he was seeing and feeling now was on a completely different level.

Sakura stumbled back into Sasuke as Naruto's head lifted, red eyes ablaze, teeth bared, even the lines on his face seem to grow. The red aura formed to his body and started to take shape, a long red tail swishing behind him.

"What's happening to him?"

Another tail.

Naruto was gone.

Even Sasuke hadn't been able to track his movement as he continued to stand frozen in shock. Then suddenly, Sasuke was gone.

"Go talk to Yugao. Find out if she's learned anything new." Tsunade started to sit in the chair behind her desk as a commotion broke out in the hall, Kakashi and Shizune's heads turned to gaze at the door just as it burst open.

Sasuke stumbled, clutching his shoulder. Kakashi was by his side instantly, pulling his hand away to inspect the curse seal as it glowed red, "What did you do?" he asked sounding almost angry.

"It's not me. Naruto...something happened...he's lost control..." Sasuke winced at the pain. Using his sharingan always triggered the curse, but he had to see what was happening to his friend. A part of him wished he hadn't.

Forming hand seals and pressing his palm to the floor, Kakashi stared down at the small pug that appeared, "We need to find Naruto immediately."

Miranda slowly rinsed off the plate and set it in the drainer as Yugao handed her another one, "I thought you didn't cook much." she smiled.

Yugao nudged her with her elbow and shook her head, "Call it...a fluke. It wont happen again." Turning away she flicked water into the girls face and grabbed a towel.

"So, I heard you learned about chakra today."

Miranda flinched and set the plate in the drainer, "Im not very good at it. I understand what they were trying to tell me, but feeling it and doing are different." She turned to look at the woman leaning against the table.

"Well then. We'll just have to find a way to help you with that." Yugao held out her hand and waited for Miranda to hold out hers. Reluctantly, the girl finally let her take her hand and watched as the woman held it up and placed her finger tips in her palm.

It tickled at first, then she felt it. A strange tingling sensation, but not like pins and needles, it was cooler. Miranda looked at Yugao in surprise, "Is that..."

"My chakra. Im pumping my own chakra into your body so you can see what it might feel like. Everyone's chakra signature is different. Like fingerprints. So yours will feel differently than mine. Now close your eyes and imagine an energy that flows throughout your body. Try to feel for it. Look for something that feels similar to mine."

Miranda closed her eyes and slowly Yugao pulled her chakra back, watching the girls face, letting her own chakra feel for any changes. She could already feel Miranda's chakra reaching out to her own, but it wasn't like she could point it out to her. The child had to find it on her own. Her own chakra only working as a guide. Yugao's eyes opened wider as she continued to stare into Miranda's face.

'Her chakra is amazing. It developed so quickly. And its getting stronger right before my very eyes.'

"I think I found it!" Miranda exclaimed and opened her eyes. Her smile faded at the look on Yugao's face, "What is it?"

Yugao had seen it twice now, but even as she watched it fade away from the girls eyes, she couldn't believe what she was seeing. She didn't have time to believe.

Grabbing Miranda she jumped back and slid across the floor as the kitchen wall exploded into the apartment, sending debris everywhere, the blast slamming them against the opposite wall. Yugao reached for the door but a hand grabbed her wrist and jerked her up, over their attackers head and out the hole in the wall before she could react.

Miranda screamed, pressing herself against the wall as Naruto's insane gaze turned back towards her. She couldn't see the boy she knew in the thing in front of her. He looked out of his mind, out of control, as if something else was controlling him. Three tails swished violently behind him as he charged.

Kakashi and Pakkun appeared on the street, rushing towards Yugao's unconscious form. Turning at the last moment, Kakashi barely had time to catch Naruto as his limb body slammed against him and sent them both flying into the wall of another building. Pakkun climbed over the rubble and up to Kakashi's face, licking it once and sniffing Naruto.

"Kakashi..."

"Hn..." Kakashi lifted his aching head and looked down at the boy in his arms. His chakra had returned to normal and other than the cuts on his cheeks and the dusty torn clothes, he looked like Naruto. Slowly Kakashi's gaze moved up to the massive hole in the side of the building, "Hana!"

Kyuubi growled in frustration, laying his head on the floor of his prison, 'Next time, I will kill you Taijitu!'

Wikipedia:

Yin and yang are the generalization of antithesis of mutual correlation certainobject or phenomenon in natural world. They have meaning of unity of opposites.

Liang Yi, also known as Yin and Yang or heaven and earth, has similar meaning.

The dual concepts of yin and yang – or the single concept Yin-Yang – originate in ancient Chinese philosophy and metaphysics, which describe two primal opposing but complementary principles or cosmic forces said to be found in all non-static objects and processes in the universe. The concept is the cornerstone for Taoism and traditional Chinese medicine.

Yin ("shady place, north slope, south bank (river); cloudy, overcast"; Japanese: in or on) is the dark element: it is passive, dark, feminine, downward-seeking, and corresponds to the night. Yang ("sunny place, south slope, north bank (river), sunshine"; Japanese: yōo) is the bright element: it is active, light, masculine, upward-seeking and corresponds to the daytime.

Yin is often symbolized by water and earth, while yang is symbolized by fire and wind.

Yin (the receptive, feminine, dark, passive force) and yang (the creative, masculine, bright, active force) are descriptions of complementary opposites rather than absolutes. Any yin/yang dichotomy can be viewed from another perspective. All forces in nature can be seen as having yin and yang states, and the two are in movement rather than held in absolute stasis.

The taijitu represents an ancient Chinese understanding of how things work. The outer circle represents the entirety of perceivable phenomena, while the black and white shapes within the circle represent the interaction of two principles or aspects, called "yin" (black) and "yang" (white), which cause the phenomena to appear in their peculiar way. Each of them contains an element or seed of the other, and they cannot exist without each other. There are other ways that Chinese schools of thought graphically represented the principles of yin and yang, an older example being the solid and divided lines of the I Ching.