Saemon sat, legs stretched out before him, with his back against a large tree. His sister was currently laid out to his right with her head resting on one of his legs; she was dead to the world. The Kouga-nin smiled briefly as he carded his fingers through her hair.

"Bleeech!" The man who was currently wearing Uchiha Sasuke's face frowned slightly in exasperation. The Uzumaki had been kneeling at the stream nearby furiously rubbing his hands with soap and, every so often, vomiting.

'It would seem that Uzumaki was lied to.' He 'said'. One of his hands, which rested on his sister's right shoulder, made a slow and particular pattern of beats against Okoi.

A few seconds later he got a reply. 'I'm not surprised. Gennosuke-sama said that Danzo-san was a man to be very careful around. His words are like a serpent's tongue; forked.'

Saemon made a humming noise as he waited patiently for his sister's long reply to end. When using the morse code they had developed, it could sometimes take quite a while to finish a single sentence. Shaking his head, the Uchiha look-a-like prodded Okoi off him and then rose to his feet.

"Perhaps, we can just speak plainly. We need to gather Uzumaki anyhow and get moving." Okoi chuckled sheepishly and quickly followed her brother.

"What the hell!?" Naruto angrily muttered under his breath as he wiped his mouth with the sleeve of his shirt. He had just thrown up; again! He didn't really understand why except that it had something to do with the sickening feeling in his gut that was forcing his stomach to do somersaults.

"I resent that remark." A voice echoed in his mind which caused Naruto to straighten.

"Kyuubi! Did you do something to me!?" It hadn't crossed his mind before but with the fox suddenly speaking up, it seemed just a good a reason as any for his current sickness.

"As if I should be blamed because you're weak.' The fox scoffed 'Honestly; not being able to handle the act of killing. I thought you were becoming a better container? Tch, I was wrong."

Naruto blinked stupidly before his ire began to rise.

"What the hell are you talking about!? I've killed plenty of times before! That team earlier can't be the reason!"

"Naruto-san." A voice spoke from behind him causing Naruto to whirl around on the spot which in turn had the effect of him losing his balance and falling into the stream much to Okoi's entertainment.

Naruto sputtered in surprise before looking up to where the two Kouga-nin stood. Saemon was staring back at him blankly while Okoi smiled.

"It seems,' Saemon started. 'that you were deceived in some way that lead you to believe that you had killed before. The vomiting and attempts to clean your hands of blood that only you can see now is proof of that. I know, I've seen it many times before." Okoi giggled a bit behind a hand and moved forward to give Naruto a hand up out of the water.

"What he means is, that was his reaction to his first kill." She said once Naruto was on his feet, not even having the decency to lower her voice. Saemon looked away for a minute and Naruto found himself smiling at finally seeing some emotion from the older teen. After a few moments however, the smile left his face and a frown replaced it.

"I...I did kill before though. It was like, at least two dozen bandits. I mean, they aren't ninja and none of them were anywhere close to our ages but still! They were people too and I killed them!"

"The three from earlier are your first kills Naruto. Get over it. You were put under an illusion to give you the memory of killing. I suppose it was done to avoid this situation, or to at least make sure you wouldn't hesitate."

"What?!" Naruto shouted causing the two older teens to jump back in surprise. Seeing their faces Naruto shook his head and groaned.

"Kyuubi says that I was under an illusion when I made those other kills. He thinks that it was so I wouldn't freeze up in here...or maybe that it wouldn't affect me." By the end of his statement Naruto's fists were clenched at his side and he was very nearly growling.

Saemon who had thought up a few scenarios similar to Naruto's nodded his head. "It's understandable. From your profile, you seemed to be the type of person who wouldn't instantly go for the kill when facing an enemy.' Seeing Naruto begin to grow angrier, Saemon decided to nip it in the bud. 'Think of this, Uzumaki. We have been given a mission to eliminate someone in this forest before the end of the second exam. How were you planning on doing so if not by killing them?"

All of Naruto's anger instantly left him at the cold hard truth, no matter how much he didn't like it, and he slumped. Looking up at the two he pouted.

"Can't you just let me be angry for even a little while?" He said, his lower lip sticking out and trembling. Okoi didn't stand a chance and launched herself at the blonde, tackling him back into the stream. When the two came up for air Okoi began playfully hitting him over the head.

"I told you to stop doing cute things!" Naruto latched onto the distraction fiercely and began splashing Okoi with water which she, in turn, did as well. All the while Saemon had moved back to the tree he had been previously sitting at and leaned back to enjoy a bit more of the forest with a slight smile on his face. His peace ended abruptly when he was hit by two splashes of water and as the liquid dripped off his now soaked body, he glared back at the two teens who were sticking their tongues out at him while using a finger to pull down an eyelid.

Hokage's Office.

The viewing orb that Hiruzen was quite fond off fizzled out and went dark. Slowly, Hiruzen brought up his pipe to his mouth and lit it. Taking a few puffs to get the embers going, his eyes moved towards the man sitting across from him.

"So. An illusion?" Danzo grit his teeth and refused to answer.

"I must say Danzo, that when you told us that you forced Naruto to kill in exchange, basically, for Shin and Sai's lives as well as the others I had been appalled. To think, that you would use an illusion instead."

"There was no time to take the boy out of the village simply to kill of a couple of bandits. Seeing as how his cooperation is sorely needed in order to make something of him as well as fixing the mistakes of the past, I followed the simplest route to gain the required results. You cannot sit there and say that it wouldn't have been preferable for him to have actually made a kill before now."

Hiruzen let his smirk drop and sighed. "Yes. Seeing his reaction to his first kills and for him to not even know why he was reacting that way..." He trailed off as he returned his attention to his pipe.

Danzo looked down at the folder in his lap and used his good hand to flip through the pages the folder contained.

"An Uzumaki; and so close to Konoha. I wonder what relation she had to Kushina." He mused aloud. Hiruzen shook his head then let out a stream of smoke.

"None that we can find from the tests that were conducted. Then again, Kushina had only even been to the hospital a handful of times in her youth so most of her bloodwork is from when she was a child. Who knows if simply having the Kyuubi within her altered her DNA in any way. I say that because there is absolutely no blood-match between Karin-san and Naruto-kun. None of the Uzumaki markers match."

"Well, at least the in-breeding factor wont matter." Danzo offered gruffly as he continued looking over the girl's file.

"I have not yet decided how to go about intoducing the two. Karin is already aware that her life is all-but forfeit and that she belongs to Naruto-kun. However, she doesn't know Naruto's personality. Naruto-kun, of course, doesn't even know there is another Uzumaki in the village and I highly doubt he will take well to being told that he now, essentially, owns a slave."

Danzo snorted, he didn't think he had ever heard an understatement worse than the one Hiruzen just said.

"Leave it to me. I'll ensure that Naruto understands that, while they are from the same clan, they are in no way related and I'll endeavour to impress upon him the significance of repopulating the Uzumaki clan."

Hiruzen frowned. "I do not wish to force them into a relationship if that is not what they want. Karin-san might be compliant now but that could easily change and she may grow to hate Naruto-kun. That is the last thing in this world that he needs; someone of his clan hating him."

Danzo closed the folder and tossed it on the Hokage's desk as he rose to his feet.

"Hiruzen; I do not know when your attitude changed from fixing the mistakes in the boy to giving him any and everything he wants. This is life. He is going to have to get used to the downsides as much as he has gotten used to the upsides. He already knows the pain of loss and he has lived with the fact that he is alone since he was a toddler. Now, he needs to realize that his life is what he makes of it. Karin-san will become his property that he will do with as he wishes.'

Danzo moved towards the window and looked out at the village he loved so dearly that nothing was beyond him when it came to defending her.

'One day he will be a clan-head. He wishes to be Hokage still. He must learn the game of politics sooner rather than later. He will need to learn that sometimes tough decisions must be made and if such a decision is his absolute control over Karin-san's life then that is a lesson he will be forced to take to heart. He will have to one get become accustomed to the feeling of sending out his subordinates on missions that they will most likely not return from. He will one day have to order a young kunoichi to seduce and sleep with an enemy in order to gain much-needed information that can make or break the village. You set him on a certain path when you gave him to me, Hiruzen. The time for coddling is over."

The Sandaime sagged back into his seat and looked blankly across the room. It was true and he had known it before Naruto had even become a genin. The boy was a tool of the village, just like every other shinobi. The way Naruto used to be; it was horrifying. That Naruto wouldn't have survived Wave had it not been for Kyuubi, and even still he wouldn't survive unless he grew up. It was a horrible truth that Hiruzen was not ready to accept. To knowingly ensure that the young boy who ran through the village with a wide-innocent smile; that declared to the world how he would take the Hokage's hat; how the boy's optimism could brighten even the darkest of hearts.

Hiruzen eyed Danzo after his last thought.

That time was over. Naruto was needed by his village and he was not yet ready.

"There is much to do, Danzo." The elder turned to look at his old rival and nodded once.

Forest of Death

Saemon stood in the center of his teammates looking down at the scroll that Hatake Kakashi had given them. After the impromptu water-fight, the trio had dried off and made their way back into the canopy and far from the stream in order to cover their tracks.

"So this is our target huh?" Okoi questioned as she looked at the profile picture.

"He was the one with the cards back during the first exam; you know, the guy who was talking about me and Team 7?" Naruto recalled. Saemon nodded at this, the white-haired teen had seemed off and now, due to the information they had just read, he knew why.

"A former member of your master's group. A 'loose-end'." Naruto grumbled at the 'master' part but nodded his head.

"Yeah, I remember a little bit about how he came to join ROOT. It's not really a happy story but that seems par for the course when you live in Konoha."

At the two semi-surprised looks he was now receiving Naruto pouted and pulled out his dictionary.

"I've been reading; okay!? Jeez, try to up your vocab and all of sudden you get the third-degree." His muttering was put to an end when two arms snaked around his shoulders and he was hugged into a body that he was instantly able to recognize as Okoi's. Why he was able to instantly recognize how her body felt...he tried not to dwell on that too much.

"Awww! Naru-kun! You're so cute sometimes! And don't worry bout it, it's okay to be smart even if people think you're otherwise." With that, and a chaste kiss to his cheek that had him blushing, Okoi pulled away and moved back to join her brother. She smiled when it only took Naruto thirty seconds to respond.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN 'IF PEOPLE THINK OTHERWISE'!?"

"Calm down Uzumaki.' Saemon commanded sternly. 'We have a mission to accomplish. Our target?

Yakushi Kabuto."

Okay everyone! I told you this story wasn't abandoned!

Now! Firstly, I'd like to apologize for taking so long. I don't really have a reason besides laziness but I felt the urge to write again and jumped at it.

I know this is a short chapter but, with how I like to keep the focus on Naruto, and anything that directly relates to him (such as Hiruzen and Danzo and what they have planned) I don't have much to write about outside of dialogue.

I will be slowly revealing certain sub-plots for what they truly are soon; such as the two voices; the killer of Otoha's sister (though it should be obvious); why a certain someone appeared in Naruto's dream; Karin; and also getting into how Jiraiya will be fitting into Naruto's life.

Now, I will be working on the next chapter of my HP story, so it's going to be a while before this one is updated again.

Thank you to all those who have reviewed so far and I'll try to get back to this as soon as possible

C.D. the XPG!~