"Motherf - !"

Sasuke didn't get to finish his curse, because a giant, sandy hand whipped out and slammed him against Naruto, who was extremely irked to find himself the cushion for a not at all delicate twelve-year-old boy and happily finished his swear for him.

"What do we do?" Sasuke asked him.

Naruto licked his lips, observing the raccoon's agitated motions. The Ichibi was still adjusting. They could use that. His gaze then narrowed on the sleeping genin being held against the raccoon's head by sentient sand.

"We have to wake him up," Naruto said.

"And how difficult is that gonna be?"

The tanuki let out a deafening roar; the redhead did not stir. Sasuke didn't need an answer.

"Can you hold him in place?" Naruto asked urgently asked the apprentice sealmaster.

Sasuke paused - as well as one could pause when one was dodging flying trees and sand - and considered, pulling a perfect sealing brush and ink tablet out of another pouch he'd attached to his waist. (The rest of Team Seven gleefully called it a fanny pack when Sasuke wasn't around to spit literal fire at them.) Naruto grit his teeth against the slowness of the analysis; he was six-or-so years ahead of the other ninja, and as such had three restraining designs capable of sealing a Tailed Beast on hand automatically. This battle had ended without the use of Sasuke's skill or sealing jutsu last time, though, and this time around, there was actually going to be some teamwork involved. Sasuke needed to use his newly acquired discipline in a battle - and Naruto suddenly pulling the brush out of his hand and whipping out a big-ass seal design with the help of three-or-so clones would not only insult his teammate by insinuating that he wasn't of any help, but would also lead to the question of just where in the hell did Naruto learn how to whip out a restraining seal. In addition, as important as this fight was to Gaara, Naruto, and the rest, the battle was relatively mild compared to the ones Naruto had been through before, and it would be easy to intervene using Kurama's power if the skirmish somehow grew out of hand.

"Distract him," Sasuke yelled, "And try to keep him in the same area." He sliced a kunai neatly over the flesh under his thumb and deposited the blood into his tablet, frantically stirring the ink at the same time as attempting to still the flow, and accidentally spilling a few precious droplets over the edge. Decrease in performance due to blood loss wasn't something Naruto had ever suffered from, due to how his metabolism apparently had him replenishing his blood supply several times faster than any human, but he imagined it just added another stressor to the twelve-year-old. The amount of blood his body held couldn't be enough to keep supplying him with a base for the mixture through a battle if this didn't work right away.

Naruto did as instructed, a squad of clones poofing into existence, and charged the sand monster, the Nine-Tails' chakra quickly coming to his limbs and aiding in his taking of large chunks of the Ichibi off. He reformed, but not fast enough to move from his spot under the pressure of nine-or-so Naruto Uzumaki, and to the great annoyance of anyone who'd ever challenged him to a battle of wills, Naruto's stamina meant he could keep it up into the week. Meanwhile, Sasuke moved between the still-standing trees and carefully painted down markers that Naruto knew would communicate with each other and work to keep the chakra used inside the seal - just as soon as Sasuke painted its main part into the outside. Sasuke finished with his perimeter and jumped out, just a little to the side of one of the trees and, with another slice, to his opposite hand this time, quickly had a seal for restraining someone mapped out. Regretfully, the amplifier he'd used was not going to be enough to hold back a Tailed Beast with his chakra. But here, Naruto could help.

Abandoning his clones, the jinchuuriki jumped to the side of his teammate, "What's up?"

"I don't have enough chakra." Sasuke watched the continued thrashing of the monster, pale and visibly upset at the realization that he was now short on blood and chakra, and nowhere nearer to accomplishing the set task.

Naruto snickered, drawing the heir's attention to him. A glance was exchanged between the two where Sasuke realized just what the blonde's grin meant. He stepped away, and Naruto thrust two chakra-charged hands down onto the seal, a third of his chakra disappearing in the effort to still the now very enraged chakra beast. The Ichibi struggled against the confinement, but it would hold. Jiraiya's sealing techniques were nothing to scoff at, and neither was Sasuke's mastery of anything he'd attempted to learn.

"Now what?"

"Now - " Naruto began, but froze.

Hinata. One clone was down, the other was chasing after a speedily-retreating Kabuto (...who was missing an arm…), plus drugged and unconscious Hyuuga heiress.

When...when the hell did this go downhill so fast?!

Naruto had to finish this quickly, and that meant no more time for Sasuke to participate. He shifted to all-fours, and urged Kurama to give him as much chakra as he could take - and suddenly, there wasn't a human beside Sasuke anymore. He was barely humanoid.

The conclusion was reached quickly, with a terrifying amount of chakra, perhaps overkill but he didn't care, being fired at the Ichibi and blasting Gaara away from the sand, jarring the connection between Ichibi and host enough that the boy was soon blinking sleepily - and with much alarm - at the blonde who was absolutely pouring out malicious chakra.

"You're...like me…" Gaara said, puzzlement coloring his expression. Naruto knew that Gaara had seen him around his friends and likely assumed he was like every other ninja. But now…

"Your philosophy is screwed up," Naruto said, knowing time was ticking away, but his clone wasn't gone yet and he needed to say this, otherwise some messed up shit could occur. Sasuke was getting better at the whole 'needing others' thing, but leaving two emotionally stunted teens together had never resulted in anything good. "Loving only yourself, working towards a goal that benefits only you? Don't make me laugh. That's not worth a thing. That's less than nothing." He watched Sasuke run towards them, and made quick work of powering down the Kyuubi's chakra. "You work for your friends, your family."

Temari and Kankuro in the distance, hurrying towards them with alarm on their faces. Their dangerous, murderous little brother was under an enemy shinobi's kunai. Sasuke's appearance meant another few movements of the brush had Gaara unable to move, and Naruto left a clone with the quad so he could get the hell out of there.

[-M-]

Orochimaru's hideaway was more than a little far from Konoha. Naruto's muscles burned not only from the fox's chakra, but from running so hard for such a long distance. And then he'd have to fight when he got there.

His clone had successfully avoided being popped in his pursuit of Kabuto in order to see where the spy was going, though the gray-haired traitor wasn't trying very hard. Naruto needed to know where Orochimaru was, after all. Once they'd arrived at the waiting spot, though, the copy was quickly disposed of, and Naruto moved that much faster - he didn't trust Kabuto near anyone with fewer weapons than a butter knife; him near Hinata with his full supply of all his favorite drugs, jutsu and his goddamned scalpels wasn't even a little okay.

Soon enough, he arrived at their location, wind chakra gathering for a Rasengan. He hadn't used one yet since he'd traveled back in time, but the bastard was asking for it. Kabuto didn't get two words out before he had to lift the unconscious Hinata by the jacket and hold her in front of him like a target.

A puff of smoke and a clone appeared. "Put her down and get away from her."

"So you can attack me without worries?" Kabuto wasn't as pleasant as usual, maybe because he was missing an arm, "Come now, don't disappoint us. Orochimaru-sama has high hopes for a second prodigy in Konoha. I hear your abilities were even better-hidden than mine." A scalpel came out from between the fingers holding the scruff of Hinata's jacket.

"Fuck off. Give me Hinata."

"All you care about is her, hmm? I must say, I'm impressed. How did you manage to fool the village? Or, are you actually…?" Kabuto's eyes lowered to rest on Naruto's stomach, where the seal was getting hotter. Kurama was restless.

"I'm not the Kyuubi. We just work towards a common goal." Why was he telling this to the snake sannin's underling?

"What goal is that?"

Naruto scowled, "Well, part of it is keeping Hinata safe." Another puff of smoke; Naruto's clone replaced himself with Hinata, and punched the bespectacled ninja in the face.

Kabuto took two steps back, then ended the clone's life with a carefree swing of his knife. His jaw was tight and his face pale - even if he'd stopped the blood flow of his arm, he was in a lot of pain, and probably more pissed than was comprehensible that he had to try and convince the little shit who'd ripped his arm off to join him. Naruto imagined Kabuto was looking forward to getting a definite no and returning the favor.

"And the rest?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Naruto said, barely paying attention, arms full of Hinata. Another clone appeared, and this one was passed the girl. The double immediately ran off to some out-of-the-way part of the forest.

"You won't be able to keep her safe in Konoha," Kabuto said.

"Orochimaru invaded Konoha for the Sharingan. And, sorry, that's not gonna happen, but I'm thinking it'll be a while before you make another attempt. However," Naruto blinked as a thought appeared, "He shouldn't be so worried about Sasuke right now."

Kabuto's expression was unreadable, "Why is that?"

"Sasuke's Sharingan won't be where Orochimaru needs it for transplantation for some time now. In that time, a mutual enemy of ours will be on the move."

Kabuto remained silent.

"Akatsuki." Naruto waited for a response, but was disappointed. "I don't have a problem with Orochimaru as long as he stays away from Konoha and Sasuke; he won't need him for a while, anyway. But Akatsuki's real leader wants something I know Orochimaru wouldn't be behind."

Naruto made another clone, "I'm willing to work together with him on this, but Konoha and Hinata have to both stay safe."

Kabuto didn't put away his scalpel, "You think we'd give you information on us while you're still a part of Konoha?" He laughed, "You're not as smart as I thought you were."

Huh. Kabuto knew one-hand seals. Neat.

Naruto dodged like crazy, but it didn't prevent two bad bites from what he was sure were poisonous - well, of course; would Orochimaru use anything else? - snakes. Kyuubi couldn't help much with that, except to burn away all traces of the poison, which meant Naruto was using his own chakra to damage himself, and that was never a good sign. He didn't land any more hits on Kabuto, who'd learned to keep his distance. Then again, this wasn't an issue - if you knew how to handle it.

More clones, charging - dodging, razing the landscape with sharp wind chakra, brawling with the snakes, and in the meantime, Naruto pulled out his own ink tablet (much less fancy than Sasuke's, unfortunately) and went about making the battleground into a minefield. The sannin's accomplice was too busy with the clones to notice.

The fight was possibly one of the most effortless (if you didn't count the getting there, the clones, the chakra depletion from Gaara, the poisonings, and the panic when he realized he had to charge the seal then get the hell away before he became barbequed) he'd been in since he came back, but he was exhausted. Worse, when he finally found his clone, Hinata was still too gone to respond, and the doppelganger looked about ready to burst. It wouldn't surprise him if the copy was sustained only on sheer will by now.

But it was over. Gaara was stopped, Kabuto was stopped (he hoped permanently, but you could never be sure with the traitor), and all that was left was to take Hinata and get back to the village. Except…he was so tired.

Kyuubi withdrew the energy racing through his veins into a warm ball in his stomach that, too, was fading. 'Sleep,' it purred, 'I can be alert.' But he still didn't quite trust the fox, and it wasn't a good idea to fall asleep by a battlefield almost-certainly-dead opponent or not, so he picked up Hinata (she was usually fairly simple to lift, but his arms were like jelly), slung her over his shoulder and began trekking back.

Half a mile in, he forgot how to say his name. Three-fourths, and he was out.

[-M-]

When he woke up, Jiraiya was standing over him looking grim. Naruto sent a loopy smile his way, "How's Hinata?"

"Fine," the sannin replied, "But whether you see her depends on your answers to a few important questions."

Naruto sighed, "What's up?"

"How long have you known about the Kyuubi?"

"Since I was little," Naruto responded crossly, "I don't remember when; I just remember blacking out one time and waking up in a sewer."

"A sewer?"

"It's the seal - where the fox is sealed. Behind this big cage."

"And how long have you kept in contact with it?"

Naruto scowled, "I haven't. It just gave me power during the fight today. Didn't wanna get captured any more than I did."

"That's interesting," Jiraiya said, "Because just a few weeks ago, you called the fox by a name. Really cute. Kurama, was it?"

Naruto blinked. Had he? He couldn't remember. This could be a problem. His scowl didn't let up, "Why does it matter?"

"It matters because you seem to know what you're doing, and I need to make sure that you do, before anything else happens," Jiraiya said.

Naruto blanked, "What's gonna happen?" The Hokage's battle couldn't have ended any differently. The clones hadn't reported any change, despite their attempt to interfere. Hinata had been his primary concern.

"The Hokage's dead."

Naruto felt the lump in his throat expand to stop his breathing. Sure, he was here for Hinata. To help her, to keep her safe. But he was also here to change things. He thought he'd been on the right track, with Sasuke's change and Sakura's improvements, and surely his added experience could've turned the tide of the battle - but no. That was too easy, apparently. He could beat a weaker, younger Kabuto, could convince a bitter demon-fox to enter an agreement with him and a revenge-obsessed pre-teen to remain loyal to a village he (unknowingly) has good reason to detest, but Orochimaru's barrier ninjutsu was still impossible for him to overcome. He was still no-where near the level of the sannin. Not anywhere close to Hokage.

"I saw," he said, voice hollow, "The clones - I can see what they see. It's part of the technique."

Jiraiya continued, "You left the village."

Naruto let his face change to rage; it wasn't hard. "Kabuto was a traitor - he kidnapped Hinata, trying to convince me to join up with the snake-bastard."

"But you got her back and managed to eradicate a threat to Konoha to boot," the white-haired man stroked his chin thoughtfully, "Using the Kyuubi's power."

Naruto sighed, "Kurama doesn't hate Konoha. Well - he hates the Uchiha, but there's only one of them in Konoha, and he's twelve."

"What did you agree to, to gain access to its power?"

Naruto paused. Weighed the consequences. Then spoke, "I'm going to kill the leader of Akatsuki."

[-M-]

"Explain to me again why there are four people out looking for one person, when one of them's a sannin and certainly able to handle this sort of mission on his own?" Sasuke asked, absentmindedly finishing a storage seal on his arm and depositing two kunai into it, then moving a wrist guard to cover the ink.

"You're Jiraiya's apprentice, so you're definitely coming with him," Naruto listed, "And Hinata's too injured to help repair the village but not so much that she can't come with us, and the Hyuuga need some time to come to terms with Hinata's badassery, and I want her to come."

"Okay," Sasuke ceded, "But that still leaves you."

Naruto shrugged, "Jiraiya asked me to."

"I think it's exciting," Hinata said, "Tsunade-sama is a big deal for kunoichi."

Naruto grimaced, "I wouldn't expect too much. She hasn't stepped foot in the village for, what, ten years? I'm thinking she's not gonna be too enthused about coming back, even for the Hokage position."

Sasuke gasped, "What? Even for the Hokage position?"

Naruto snickered, "Shut up."

Hinata giggled, "But it is strange that we have such a large group; enough to make a genin team."

"The important thing is," Naruto began seriously, then slung his arms over both of them and pulled them in close, "We're safe, we're together, and we're on a glorified vacation from cleaning duty!"

"Eh, don't get so comfortable, brat," Jiraiya said, leaning over the three of them (but not helping Sasuke in his attempt to get away). "This is a training trip for you, too. Even the lady's gonna be putting her tracking skills to use." Hinata puffed her bangs out of her eyes, but seemed fine with it, like she was expecting some sort of a catch.

"Alright, then," Naruto said, "Let's get training!"

"Not yet," Jiraiya said, "We should probably at least start on what we're being paid to do, first." Taking advantage of the fact that no-one had yet noticed they'd crested the hill, Jiraiya gave a dramatic sweep of his arm over the view.

Even Sasuke was able to appreciate the sight of the festival. Below them, the town bustled. Stalls were selling sweet-swelling barbeque, small toys and masks, and beautiful cloth that everyone was careful to give a wide berth, lest they spill something or kick up dust onto the expensive fabric. Children lined up at games of all sorts - and adults could be seen stumbling down the street with spots of color on their cheeks, even at this hour of the day. It was the only festival Naruto had ever been to (he'd never really been a fan of Konoha's commemoration for the Kyuubi attack), and he had some pretty good memories about this place.

"You boys can take a walk," Jiraiya said, "Hinata, you're coming with me."

"Huh?!" Naruto gaped. Last time he was here, Jiraiya had ended up in something he'd been sure was a brothel. "Hold on - what are you - ?"

"Relax, kid," Jiraiya grinned, "Information-gathering. Your girlfriend's a tracker, this'll be right up her alley."

Naruto scowled, "I'd better not find her in some alley! Hinata! Don't let him do anything perverted!" he shouted.

"People are staring, idiot," Sasuke muttered, grabbing him by the back of his jacket, "Let's go."

No response from the others, apart from a small wave from Hinata. "Oi! You hear me?!" Whack! "Ow...Sasuke, what was that for?"

"For being a moron."

Four hours in, however, and the Uchiha's attitude was changing, too. Naruto's constant whining might've had something to do with it.

"Look," the black-haired boy stopped to pick a rock out of his sandal, "It's about time to go looking for them. You can keep bitching, or you can come with me."

"I'm not bitching!" the blonde protested, "You wait 'till you and Sakura start dating! I'm gonna take her out to ramen all the time - you'll see what it's like!"

Sasuke snorted, then took off in the direction of most of the bars. Getting the idea, Naruto followed. Soon enough, a loud laugh had them narrowing their focus on a particular stall, and upon entrance they discovered a babbling and blushing seal master under the care of two busty young women. No Hinata.

The Uzumaki watched as a vein on Sasuke's neck grew three sizes. "What was that about them gathering information?" he asked sweetly.

The two girls barely had time to jump out of the way before a table flew at the 'drunk', and what must've been several score bills' worth of alcohol spilled everywhere. "Annoying, irresponsible old drunk, I stand up for you and this is what I get?" Sasuke muttered under his breath, "Get up! We're leaving!" Naruto had difficulty keeping his giggles down.

"N-Naruto?"

At this point, some skeezy guy in a boring suit began making a fuss about a stain, but Naruto didn't care because Hinata - twelve-year-old Hinata, he reminded himself, still-a-genin Hinata - was in front of him wearing something he wouldn't ever have seen her in. He had underestimated her bust size. Or maybe it was padding, he didn't care, whatever the means, her boobs were pushed up to almost eye-level, and he had no willpower whatsoever to restrain his gaze. In addition, her dress was of the same cut as the ones the other girls were wearing, and he swore he'd never seen such that much leg in his life.

Boobs. Boobs. Aw, damn, he'd been staring for a while - holy fuck, no blood flow there! Stop at all costs!

He almost ripped his jacket in his attempt to get it around her shoulders, but it happened, and then he was away from her and with Sasuke and Jiraiya, standing over a bruised businessman who kept insisting his greasy suit was worth a hundred-thousand.

"D'you catch that, kid?" Jiraiya asked him with a grin, "Or were you too busy starin' at your girlfriend's rack?"

Naruto was dangerously close to Rasengan-ing his own face.