Sorry I'm late. I got really sick.

"The Seishingan?" Raidan said, "You're certain?"

"Beyond any doubt," Sythico said.

"My sensei was the last person to have that kekkei genkai," Raidan said calmly, "I would like to see it again. It was amazing to see a master of the art use it."

"I wasn't aware your sensei was of the right clan for the Seishingan," Henlo said.

"The name of the clan that kekkei genkai came from has been lost through time," Raidan said, "It branched off into two other kekkei genkai: the Sharingan and the Byakugan. The original Seishingan crops up very rarely. For one to have a chance to see it twice is..."

"I don't care about that kid's kekkei genkai," Harima said, "The eight of us are here, I want to know the mission."

Henlo looked at the man and said, "Patience, Harima. You will soon get your chance."

"I had a little talk with head of Himura clan," Raidan said, "He agreed to coordinate our attacks on the Village Hidden in the Snow. They have simply asked us to ensure that we place focus on the Leaf Shinobi."

"Won't that complicate the mission to much?" Harima asked.

"I don't think so," Raidan said, "From what Sythico has been able to gather, they would be at their strongest together. We will have to split them up."

"But that causes the problem of us having to split up," Henlo said, "There are seven of them, so only one of us will be carrying out the mission."

Deividdo snorted and said, "Three of them are Genin. They will hardly be a chalange."

"Don't count on it," Noriko said, "They are students of Naruto-sama. He's sure to be preparing them for another attack."

"The girl was the only one I hadn't been able to get anything on," Sythico said, "I think she was the weakest of the three, but that could have changed a bit."

"In a week?" Deividdo said jokingly, "Let's just get our assignments."

"Since you're so confident, Deividdo," Raidan said, "We'll let you have the girl. Think you can handle a teenaged girl?"

Deividdo only glared at that comment.

"Aiko, that kid with the Seishingan might not be able to use it to it's fullest, then again he might be able to. Your Nushichisoku Kekkei Genkai should prevent him from gaining any benefit from latent abilities."

Aiko nodded.

"Henlo, you take the other Genin. If you are able to finish him quickly, run support.

"Cynn, take the Hyuuga clan ninja. Be careful. I fought their clan head a few years back; he was able to emit chakra out of any chakra point in his body."

"You don't have to worry about me," Cynn said with a sadistic smile.

"Sythico, take Namekaze's wife. Don't waist time playing with her. I want you to finish it quickly!"

"You're no fun," Sythico said.

"Noriko, you take that other Jounin. That pale one. No games this time."

"Was I playing games before, sempai?" Noriko asked grimly.

"Wait a minute," Sythico said, "You're not thinking of–"

"Harima, you'll take Namekaze," Raidan interrupted, "I have something you should use that will help a great deal."

The smile couldn't be more apparent on Harima's face. He really wanted this. With more passion than was probably healthy.

"Thank you, Raidan-sempai," he said.

"You can thank me after we're finished," Raidan said, "As for the Himura clan's goals, I really don't care if they win. Once our mission is over, or the retreat signal is made; we get out of there. Anyone following us, I mean anyone, must die!"

The other seven nodded their heads.

[back in the Land of Spring]

"They call this the Land of Spring?" Inka said, "I didn't think there would be this much snow."

"Now aren't you glad you took winter gear?" Haruki said.

"It used to be called the Land of Snow," Sakura explained, "There was a chakra powered device used to melt a great deal of it, making much of the land perpetual Spring."

"Unfortunately, we won't be seeing that to soon," Naruto said, "We have to stop at the Village Hidden in the Snow first."

Inka just gave a grunt and tried practicing that thing Naruto showed her.

[flashback]

"What you need to work on, Inka," Naruto said, "Is chakra control."

"Er...what?"

Naruto sighed and murmured something Inka couldn't hear, then said, "Chakra is basis of all ninjutsu. To preform any ninjutsu you have to focus a precise amount of chakra to a precise point."

"Oh, I get it," Inka said, "I don't see why I need to know. Aren't I already using chakra?"

Naruto rubbed his forehead. Why did he keep doing that? It was almost as if he was trying to "rub away" an annoying memory.

"Yes, you've been using chakra," Naruto said with exasperation, "But you've only scratched the surface of the possibilities. All ninjutsu require a precise amount of chakra. If you use to much, the jutsu could be to powerful for you to control. To little, and it won't even work. Or it'll just be a joke.

"Take the Rasengan I used on Sythico. If you tried that, you'd probably pass out, because you can't regulate your chakra AT ALL."

Inka looked at the ground and asked, "So...how...do I change that?"

"There are some chakra control training exercises," Naruto said, "If you master one of them, you should be able to master any ninjutsu, in theory. But there's a problem."

"What is it?"

"Both methods require you to stay in one place for a while," Naruto said, "They aren't ideal training for travel."

Inka hung her head. She was just getting in the way again. Her sensei was giving her personal training, and because of her weakness, they couldn't do it until later.

"Don't be like that," Naruto said, "Give me some credit. I've thought of a way you can learn chakra control while walking."

"Really, Naruto-sensei?"

Naruto laughed and said, "Sure. Just remember, no one has mastered chakra control this way. They usually master chakra control first, then something like this comes naturally."

"How?" Inka asked.

"Just sit back and watch," Naruto said.

He held his right head out, palm up; and grabbed his wrist with his left hand. For a while, nothing happened. But, just as Inka was about to ask what she was watching for, yellow chakra started coming out of Naruto's hand. She saw it glow brighter and brighter. Naruto stopped the chakra. Inka still had no idea how he did it.

"Give me your hand," Naruto asked.

She did, and Naruto took a brush and drew something on Inka's hand. She looked at her palm and saw the symbol of the Leaf Village.

"What's this for?"

"When you look at a blank page," Naruto said, "You have nothing to focus on, so your eye wanders randomly around the page. But, if you have something to focus on, like the spiral in that leaf; then your eyes lock on to it."

"But," Inka said, "What does that have to do with chakra control?"

"Think about it," Naruto said, "What do you think?"

Inka tried. It didn't make sense. She was told that the symbol of the Leaf Village was to represent focus, but what did that have to do with chakra control. Did she miss something? Chakra control was regulating a certain amount of chakra to a certain point in the body.

"I get it," Inka said, "I focus my chakra into this mark you made and that's chakra control."

"Exactly," Naruto said, looking proud, "Focus on that one point. Try to put a little chakra in it and gradually increase it. You'll start to compress the chakra until you get that glow I showed you."

"Thanks, Naruto-sensei," Inka said, "I'll get this done in no time."

Naruto laughed and said, "I hope you do."

[end flashback]

She'd been at it for almost a week now, and she still hadn't gotten it. Once the chakra became visible, it kept getting out of her control. She could no longer stay focused. There had to be something that could help her. She thought about asking Naruto for more help, but decided to try it herself for a while. Her hand was starting to hurt.

"I think that's enough for today," Naruto said, "You haven't mastered it yet, but you're doing good. Trust me, learning chakra control is just hard."

"It isn't for Haruki," Inka said, "Or Nei-kun."

Naruto sighed and said, "It just seems to come naturally to some. I had trouble with chakra control when I became a ninja."

Inka wasn't sure she could imagine anything being hard for her sensei to accomplish.

"I'm just dead weight," Inka said, "I haven't done anything of note on any of our missions. And there I was, always nagging for a more challenging mission."

Naruto placed a hand on her head and said, "I don't care what anyone else says, I think you'll make a great shinobi someday."

"Why? I can't do anything."

"Wrong," Naruto said, "You've got spirit. You haven't given up on chakra control yet."

"What's so great about that?"

"It doesn't matter if a shinobi knows only one jutsu or a thousand, the will to keep trying is more helpful in the long run," Naruto said, "Five years, no more, and you'll be at the level I'm at right now. For now, you'll have to stay in the background and watch your friends excel. But, in a few years, they'll be watching you from the background."

He must have been joking. Inka looked at him for the proof. But he had a serious look on his face. He meant every word he said. Did he really have that kind of faith in her?

"You really think so?" Inka asked.

"I know so," Naruto said.

"Well," Inka said, taking it in, "If that's the case, then–AHHHH!"

Someone had just jumped right out of the snow in front of Inka. As she screamed, she jumped behind her sensei, who looked at the man with irritation. The others turned around to see what happened. Neisan instinctively threw three shurikin at the man, who caught them without much effort.

"She's almost as fun to scare as you, Naruto-kun," the man said.

"It was kind of funny when you were younger, Yuuta," Naruto said, irritation still there, "But now it getting creepy."

"Who is this?" Sakura asked.

Yuuta seemed to finally notice the others, particularly the two women.

"Ladies," he said, approaching them regally, "I am Yukimara Yuuta of the Village Hidden in the Snow. And I welcome you to our land. I was assigned to look out for your group and lead you to our head shinobi. May I ask your names."

"Hyuuga...Hinata," Hinata said, seeming a bit surprised by the slight ridiculousness of this man.

Sakura, who didn't seem phased at all, simply said, "Please let go my hand."

When he didn't, she tightened her grip until he couldn't take it any more. The others had a good laugh while Yuuta looked at his injured hand. Even Hinata let out a little giggle. Although, Sai didn't laugh, there was something that seemed more natural about his smile after that.

"Yuuta," Naruto said, standing behind him, "This is my wife, Sakura. That's Sai. And these are my students: Neisan, Haruki, and Inka."

He nodded to each as they were introduced. He kept shaking his hand, as if that would dull the pain.

"Haven't seen you since you came here with Jiraiya-sama," Yuuta said, "That was, what? Six years ago?"

"Seven actually," Naruto said, "How have you been?"

"Things have been going better since we appointed our new head shinobi," Yuuta said, "Took the job only a few months ago."

"Really," Naruto said, "So who is it?"

"Why, haven't you guessed?" Yuuta said.

"Look," Sakura said, "We could stand here in the cold while you play games, or you can tell us. Or I just break you hand again, if that's what you prefer."

Yuuta sighed and said, "You had to ruin my fun didn't you. I feel sorry for–"

"Yuuta," Naruto interrupted, "You don't want to finish that sentence. Now tell me who the new head shinobi is."

Yuuta smiled and said, "Why, my dear little sister."

Judging by the look of surprise on Naruto's face, that was not something that the Village Hidden in the Snow would have normally done.

Okay, that's it for chapter 10.

I need some help from you guys. After I finish this arc, I'm going to get into a Chuunin Exams arc. It's going to be at the Village Hidden in the Sand, so I need new tests. I've got a great second test, but I can't come up with anything for the first one. If any of you have any ideas, let me know in a review.

Next chapter should be on schedule: Monday.