To Prove His Worth Chapter 9, a naruto fanfic

I Have noticed that eventually I really, really, really need to clean up chapters 1-4 and maybe and by that I mean I need to destroy all that useless stuff that I haven't carried over into these later chapters. Some of it still sticks but yea in the two years since I started and the way Manga has gone (btw I am happy with the way its going again, however if … well yea better not happen the way I fear xD) I need to fix and tie up the many, many loose ends that start this fiction out.

Chapter 9

Aika Uzumaki

The room was filled with the stench of a sewage drain and the lights flickered on and off as though they were denied maintenance for all these long years. Although no actual plumber would be able to reach this place, after all it was a figment of his imagination, a creation to house his cellmate deep within his conscience. There would be no escape for him, not after what he did, not after what he had seen, this was his fate, this was his damnation.

"Kukuku, Naruto..."

The Kyuubi paced back and forth within his cage as though he were a predator encircling his prey. A scowl present on his face Naruto stood in front of the bars, his eyes following his prisoners' every movement, every flinch. He knew caution was the first rule in dealing with this creature, a creature who's very growl from his mouth would be poisonous in the real world, his every step deadly, so why chance it having a similar effect here.

"Naruto" He paused curiously to question him. "Where are we?" Not once losing his step or disrupting the flow of his movement's "It is unlike you to come here and visit me so soon after your last." In the shadows, that were his mind, he started laughing; a sound so sinister and piercing to the normal ear "Perhaps you are merely trying again to conquer what you have unleashed. How foolish" He paused and spoke his next words slowly. "How Naïve."

The fox stopped his pacing and stared directly into the eyes of his host. The blue orbs that looked showed neither fear nor cowardice, they showed an anger residing deep in his heart and in his mind. The grinning fox lunged, with all his strength, at the bars of the seal.

"Release me! So that I may kill all of you!"

Not even flinching at the giant paw that was now a few mere inches from his nose, he took a step forward. "Bastard..." He mumbled, his anger was clearly on display at the way his body was shaking and his fists were tightened. "This is between me and you!" The Kyuubi grinned as his eyes filled with bloodlust and excitement at the odd way his host was acting. "I am the one in charge, this is my body and you have no right to anything" He took another step forward and firmly grasped the fox's ankle. "I'll never forgive you!" Using all his strength he threw the Kyuubi back, his paw hitting the metal bars of the seal, causing a small shockwave as his massive form hit the ground. "Tch" He looked down at his hand to see the flesh of his palm had burned away.

"Kukuku..."

"Just because you've spent your entire life training some stupid family inherited skill, doesn't give you automatic leadership over your peers! You have to be accepted by us before we'll follow you!" Raidon pushed Leiko to the ground causing her tumble over and rest on her stomach. Grunting she pushed herself up off the ground and shook her head free of any confusion before finally turning around to look at her teammate with angry eyes in the shape of daggers.

"I'm the leader because I have the natural talent for it!" She emphasized herself by pointing to her chest and raising her voice. "Also I didn't see you jumping up and volunteering for it yourself, so somebody has to make the decisions!" As she finished her argument she returned the favor and pushed him back causing him to stumble, but not fall, and as he regained his footing he looked up only to see her tackle him to the ground.

"Well I personally think Hiroshi is more suited to the role of a leader than you are!" He continued to argue as he struggled against her fists.

"If he wanted to lead he would have said something you jerk!" She swung at his face only to find that she had thrown too much into her punch and was now off balance. Seeing this opportunity, Raidon grabbed her wrist and flipped her over and off of him.

"Shouldn't a leader at least know their Taijutsu?" He climbed on top of her and pinned her down.

"The qualities of a leader are not based on their skill set alone!" She struggled against his superior strength.

"You're such a hypocrite! I've been saying that the whole time!" For how small her muscles were he noticed that he was struggling to keep her from breaking free.

"You have not! All you've been saying is how much you hate me and don't want to..." She stopped and started sniffing the air.

"Don't want to what?"

The look on her face was one of worry. "Hey Raidon let me up"

"Tch, yea right, like I would do that only for you to attack me"

"Stop being an idiot! Don't you smell something burning?" He stared at her as he contemplated whether or not to believe her.

Noticing that he had inadvertently loosened his grip on her wrists, she grabbed his side and threw him off. "Why don't you use your freaking nose you idiot" She stood up and dusted herself off. Shutting her eyes she began sniffing the air.

"What are you doing?" The sarcasm in his voice didn't go unnoticed as he brushed the girl stink off of himself.

Leiko opened her eyes and glared at him. "Why don't you make yourself useful and help me figure out what's burning so we can put it out before it burns down sensei's house"

Raidon sighed, crossed his arms, and leaned back against the wall he was standing by. "I don't smell anything Leiko"

Shutting her eyes again she let her nose lead her around the room. "I'm telling you that something's burning and knowing you you're just saying that to disagree with me because it disgusts you that I may just be right about something"

"Tch whatever." He looked away and yawned as he let Leiko walk aimlessly around the room.

She continued sniffing as she used her senses to keep track of where she was walking. "I think I got it!"

Raidon turned his attention back to her and widened his eyes in surprise. "Uh Leiko..."

"Shut up I found it." She opened her eyes and looked down. The look on her face was one of just plain passiveness, her eyes were flat and her mouth was in a frown. "Really?" She turned to Raidon and looked at him. "Should I really have been surprised at this?" She pointed at the sleeping Naruto and growled in an irritating manner. "Why does whatever happen have to be focused around this stupid guy!"

Normally in this situation Raidon would find something funny or find some way to mock his cocky teammate. However, he noticed that her original thought of something being amiss, was actually dead on. "Hey is it just me or isn't a ninja of his caliber sleeping awfully well for all the noise we just made?"

"Why?" She sneered

"Just do it!"

She scoffed at him and carefully looked at their sensei's face. She noticed he had a scowl on his face and was grunting lightly, was it pain? He also seemed to be sweating and was clearly somewhat uncomfortable. "I think he's having some kind of nightmare." She was whispering in hopes that she wouldn't wake him up thinking he would be so angry that they'd have to do more training. She then reached over and carefully turned his arm over. She froze and stared at his hand for a minute before she started gagging and looking as though she was going throw her breakfast up.

"Hey Leiko! What's wrong?!" Still gagging from the sight and smell all she could do was point at their sensei. Raidon walked over to him slowly and turned his hand over carefully. In the two days they had known their sensei, Raidon had not liked him one bit or respect him in any way and yet...he couldn't understand what this was. "His flesh is slowly burning away as though he's holding his hand in a fireplace..." He shut his eyes and thought back to something their sensei had said earlier.

"Raidon I've been fighting for my life since the day I was born, even now I am fighting, I think I have earned myself a little shuteye."

Raidon stared at Naruto's face. "Sensei, what the hell are you?"

"You seem upset Naruto" The Kyuubi laughed snidely "You seek to blame me for everything that's happened, you want to fight me and find justification in what you've done."

Naruto growled and took another step towards the seal. "Everything is your fault! Everything I've done has been to protect my village to protect my friends and family!"

The Kyuubi paced back and forth as he grinned profusely at his host.

"Even in my weakened state you have no chance to win any fight against me and even if you did that would mean you would be destroying yourself. This is something you fear, yes I can see it, you fear running your name into the ground, bringing dishonor to your father, and giving the villagers a reason to shun your little bastard child."

"I fear nothing!"

"Is that so?"

The demon stopped and again they met, their eyes locking on to each other.

"You went through that pitiful excuse for training and learned how to channel my chakra with your own without losing control. Unfortunately for you I now know and see everything you do, here you learn how to use me like some pawn! and now seek an escape a reason for your vengeance, a justification for your means!"

"Shut up you bastard!"He covered his ears as he tried to ring all the fox's comments as hallow lies

"You learned to tap into my power and then hurt everyone and everything you loved. You come here seeking answers to your questions, you come here to prove that it wasn't you who did or does these 'aggressive' things; but you know don't you Naruto..."

"I said shut up!" He wanted to charge at him and kick his face in, but something was stopping him, something was making his head hurt and his body was writhing with pain.

"You know that this bloodlust you've felt is truly you! The minute you first unleashed our combined power in battle you hurt that girl and when you two 'conceived' your litter a part of me went with her. I am you and you are me, and you have no hope to ever separate us ever again..."

"No I will do it!" The ringing in his head was slowly getting louder, making it feel as though his head was going to burst and explode.

"Release me Naruto...give in to your bloodlust and kill them all, you cannot deny you want it...so stop struggling"

"No..."

"You know it's true...We are one!"

"Tch" He laughed through the bursts of pain coursing through his body. "I will never let you take over and I will learn to control you and I will put you back in your place"

"A challenge you cannot hope to comprehend. You lost the moment you thought you had me tamed."

"You should know me better than that fox" He struggled through the pain, it was a feeling of being stabbed over and over, and stood up on his feet taking a battle stance. "If there is one thing I'll never give up on it's fighting you"

"Amusing, though it takes more than your simple guts to force me into being subjugated. Since you have again provided me entertainment I'll let you in a small secret. My essence no matter where is connected in different ways that you could never understand and if someone has my essence and no proper network of chakra to keep it compressed it will react to its main host"

"As if I'd believe anything you say"

Grinning madly the Kyuubi entranced Naruto in his eyes once again.

"Every action you take, everything you experience involving my essence will cause 'her' pain and all she can do is cry and with her chakra network still developing she will have no way of protecting herself"

"You..I'll kill you!!" He started running head on towards the seal.

"Go ahead feed your anger, your bloodlust and seal her fate!"

"Hey Leiko..." Raidon kept his eyes focused on his sensei. He'd noticed that Naruto had begun growling and was sweating even more than before, in addition to that he was beginning to bleed out of his eye sockets. "Leiko something's wrong with him, we need help! Someone anyone!"

Leiko, hearing the desperation in his voice, nodded and took off running. "We need help, we need it quick somebody" She ran out the door and looked around hoping to see an adult, someone somewhere. "Damnit where the hell are they when you actually need them!" She took off running down the street. "Where" she started speaking between breathes "is everybody?" She looked up to see a figure sitting on a rooftop, who was it?

She stopped and narrowed her eyes to focus on the silhouette. "Wait I've seen him before!" Great what was his name again? "Uh...uhm Ka...ka.." She turned her head to see a vegetable vendor selling his goods to passerby's. "Kakarot!!"

Kakashi turned his head, a questionable look on his face, and spotted a girl pointing at him in an animated fashion. "Did....did she just call me a carrot?"

Leiko was clearly getting frustrated by his lack of acknowledgment, or so that's what all the villagers assumed by her ridiculous yelling. "Great I don't think he realizes I'm talking to him! Grrr....Hey!" She pointed at him and screamed at the top of her lungs. "Stupid Pervy Grey-Haired Sensei! I need your help!"

Kakashi jumped down as quick as his natural speed could take him and landed behind her, quickly covering her mouth as he looked around nervously at the looks he was receiving by the various women of the marketplace. "My name is Kakashi-sensei, please remember that" He laughed nervously as he released her.

"Leiko what are you doing?" Forgetting about Kakashi, she turned to see another old classmate, Makato, along with Kozo and Ikki. Makato is a girl with short dark brown hair and brown eyes, Kozo was a little chubby and bald but that did nothing to affect his speed in which he finished atop of their class, while Ikki had blue hair and green eyes and was often considered Hiroshi's equal when it came it all around skills.

"It's not like you to make a complete fool of yourself idiot" The girl sneered at her classmate as another of what Leiko considered her many rivals.

"Makato I don't have time for this!" She looked up to see Kozo holding onto a struggling cat and his face all cut up and scratched. "Wait...what are you guys doing to that cat?"

"This was our first mission and we completed it successfully!" Makato did a pose of victory while Ikki and Kozo rolled their eyes.

"You may have completed your objective" Leiko looked up to see a man with giant, soulless like pupils and long brown hair, that was tied back in a ponytail, that fell to his waist. "But on a simple mission such as this five hours is far too long"

Makato scowled while Leiko smirked in a bemused manner at her. "Yes Neji-sensei"

Leiko turned her attention back to Neji and breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness you're an adult!" Neji raised a brow at her in question.

Kakashi sighed and tapped her on the shoulder. "You forget about your surroundings pretty quickly don't you kid?"

"Uh right sorry Kakashi-sensei"

Looking at her closer he realized just who she was. "Wait a minute, I know you, your Naruto's student aren't you? You're supposed to be on a mission right now"

"Oh right! Please we need your help!" She began pulling at his sleeve. "There's something wrong with sensei!"

Kakashi narrowed his eyes and looked to Neji, who met his gaze, while he continued questioning Leiko. "What do you mean?"

"He set us about our mission and said he was going to take a nap and before we knew it something was really, really wrong with him!" The two men noticed she was clearly disturbed and somewhat frightened at what was happening.

"That fool!" Kakashi put a hand on her shoulder and looked her straight in the eyes. "Where exactly is he?"

"Sakura-sensei's place"

Kakashi saw the look in Neji's eyes "Neji, I'll take care of it, you have an obligation to your students" The Hyuuga nodded reluctantly and started walking with his student's towards the Hokage mansion.

"Neji-sensei" Makato inquired. "Do you know what Leiko was talking about?"

Keeping his look straight forward he answered her question in a precise and quick manner. "I do and understand when I say this, repeat to no one what you heard today, I trust you as my students" The three looked at each and shrugged their shoulders before acknowledging their sensei's request, it was no skin off their shoulders whether or not they knew.

Kakashi nodded and pulled Leiko closer to his body. "Hold on tight kid, this'll be quick" Using his right hand he held up two fingers and shut his eyes. Leiko then noticed that the leaves on the ground and the dirt was starting to kick up in some whirlwind like dance.

"Why do I get the feeling I'm always going to get these stupid dirty jobs." Hiroshi plugged his nose as he threw the dirty diaper into the trash. "Damnit that's disgusting!" He sighed as he found the clean diapers and remembered when he first learned how to change a diaper.

"Hiroshi I need you to learn how to do this so please pay attention"

"But mom! This is woman's work, that's what dad said!"

She chuckled as she unbuckled the clasps. "Then you should tell your father when he gets back from his mission that he and I should pop out a girl instead of more boys"

"Pop...out?"

"Nothing you'll know what I mean someday, now hand that bottle over there"

He jumped off the chair and grabbed the baby powder from the table. "This one?"

She looked over her shoulder and nodded. "yea that's the one" He ran over and set the bottle next to her. "Now remember when you're old enough and have a kid of your own, you can impress your wife with your knowledge of this process!"

He chuckled as he finished changing the little girl's diaper. "I still don't completely understand the whole popping out thing...but thanks mom" A small tear rolled down his face as he remembered his mom's loving hugs and caring personality, it was when she died that his dad had changed.

Aika laughed as Hiroshi picked her up and looked at her facial features. "You know you look...familiar somehow..."

"Nato! Nato"

"Nah-to? What the heck is that?" The girl clapped her hands as he walked over to her crib. "You know I must look like the biggest pansy right now..." He set her down in her crib and tucked her in. "Seriously I'm twelve years old and I have more knowledge of taking care of this kind of stuff than my dad, I mean come on!" He watched as she laughed at the frustrated look on his face. "Oh you think it's funny do you? Huh yea do you?" He put his hands next to his mouth and pulled his lips apart making a goofy looking face. Aika started laughing loudly at the silly face the boy was putting on. "Tch, you babies are all the same"

The laughter he had heard though had slowly started to turn into small muffled cries. He watched her closely as she started squirming uncomfortably and her face was slowly getting red. Hiroshi reached his hand in her crib and pressed the back of his hand to her forehead. "No way...there is no way you should get that hot in a few minutes."

He ran to the bathroom that was one room over and started running the cold water at full blast, grabbing a towel, that was sitting near the sink, he threw it in and started soaking it. After a few seconds he turned off the nozzle and wrung the towel dry of its excess water, then as quick as he could, he ran back into the room and folded the damp towel neatly in his hands. "Girl if you die or something" He focused his gaze on her and snapped his voice in his frustration "I am not gunna be happy with you!" pressing the cool towel lightly against her forehead, he took deep breaths and prayed that things didn't get worse."This is so unreal...I need help...I need help...Raidon!" He yelled. Hearing no answer he tried again "Leiko!...Gina!..." With a feeling of abandonment and a sensation as though he was trapped in a cage with no way out he struggled to keep his emotions in check and began to cry conflicting tears...he wasn't ready for this kind of stuff... "Sensei...."

Realizing he had no time to panic, he wiped the tears from his eyes and the sweat from his brow. Biting his hand as hard as he could, hard enough to draw blood, he spoke aloud to reassure himself.. "I don't have time for weakness" Turning his attention back to Aika he felt the towel quickly loosing the cool feeling of the water as it warmed up against her skin. With no time to think he reacted according to his senses and quickly ran back to the bathroom to wet another towel. "Damnit...somebody answer me!"

"Damnit Leiko where are you?" Raidon paced back and forth as he kept a watchful eye on their sensei. He noticed that his face had started losing color and his skin was not only getting clammy but somehow was heating up to a ridiculous level that he when he got close he could almost feel the heat resonating from his skin.

"Damnit somebody answer me!" Raidon turned around and looked up the stairs.

"Hiroshi?" he yelled back.

"About damn time!" Hiroshi stopped at the top of the stairs and yelled down to his friend. "There's something wrong with Sakura-sensei's daughter!"

Raidon looked at Naruto and then at the stairwell and then back to Naruto again. "..Like what is happening?"

"She's burning up and sweating ridiculously, we need medicine or something! And I need a bag of ice to keep her cool or something!

"Dude something's happening to Naruto-sensei too! I can't just leave him like this, he's bleeding out of his freaking' eye sockets!"

"Well send up Leiko or Gina or something!"

Raidon swore under his breath as he scanned the room for any sign of Gina. "Gina! Where are you? Gina!"

Dear Little Aika,

You were born today and your mom is so proud to hold you in her arms! I've never seen her look so happy and yet...she's so sad your dad isn't here to see you, he's acting so pigheaded again and refuses to-

"Gina!!" Hearing her name Gina lifted her head and looked towards the door. "Gina where are you?!?"

"Raidon?..he sounds...upset?" She immediately jumped out of the chair and ran out of the study, just what was so wrong that he sounded like he was in trouble? She turned the corner and ran up to him. "What is it?"

He turned around and without thinking pulled her into a hug. "Thank you so much for being within hearing distance!" Gina was frozen as she blushed from the contact. Unsure of what he was talking about she pushed back into a more 'comfortable' position of non touching...

"Wha-what's the matter?"

"Look I have no idea what's going on here, but Leiko ran to get help because Naruto-sensei...there's something wrong with him and Hiroshi just yelled down saying that the baby..."

"You mean Aika?"

"Yea Aika.." He paused and looked at her "What do you mean Aika?"

"That's her name" She smiled.

"How do you, never mind look there's something wrong with her too, she's like burning up like he is!"

"What do you want me to do?"

"Go fill a bag with ice or something and get it up to him!"

She nodded and ran towards the kitchen. Raidon shook his head in frustration, he was so confused and unsure of what to do... "Leiko where the hell are you!"

"Right here" He turned around to see Leiko had found that Silver-haired sensei...what was his name again...Kenshin?

"Move aside" Kakashi walked over to Naruto and ripped off his vest. "Don't worry kids he'll be fine" He then pulled up his short and exposed his stomach. It was here that Leiko noticed a strange drawing on his stomach, perhaps a seal? that was now visibly and boldly showing itself on his skin.

"Kenichi-sensei what is that on his stomach?"

"It's Kakashi and that is something he will tell you about when he is ready" Reaching into one of his pockets he pulled out a seal and placed it between his hands, he made the hand signs for boar, ram, and snake several times over before finally channeling his chakra into the scrap of paper in his hand. He then pressed it down on Naruto's seal releasing his chakra and sending a small shock wave through his body. Raidon began to slowly approach them before Kakashi held up his hand. "No! Stay back for a second"

Just as he said that Naruto opened his eyes violently and put his hand around Kakashi's neck, using his chakra and quickly pinned up against the wall and looked straight into his eyes. "I'll kill you for this you bastard!"

Leiko and Raidon were shocked and scared at the viciously look in their sensei's eyes, not only did they have a murderous intent to them, they were also blood red. "Sensei!"

Naruto shook his head and looked over his shoulder to see Leiko visibly worried and looking at him in a frightened manner, slowly the rage left his eyes and they returned to their traditional deep ocean blue color. He then turned to see Kakashi had uncovered his sharingan ready to fight him if he needed to. "Damnit.." he whispered. "Sensei"

"You're alright now Naruto, but I thought you would have the smarts to take my warnings to heart"

Naruto released his grip from around Kakashi's neck and slowly slid back to sitting on the couch as he caught his breath. He then put his hands to his face only to feel a warm liquid feeling, pulling his hands away he saw they were covered in blood, he then looked at the faces of his students to see the same look of fear and horror in their eyes that he had seen many different times. "Damnit" he cursed softly under his breath.

It was here that Gina ran around the corner and was about to ascend the stairs when she stopped and looked at the scene in front of her. "Naruto-sensei?" He turned and looked at her, blood smear and everything, and they locked eyes. One thing he noticed however was that she didn't harbor a look of fear or horror, instead it was one of concern. "Are you alright?" She noticed that, if only for a moment, he had a look of loneliness and sadness. He nodded in answer to her question, she then looked to see who it was that sitting next to him. "Oh hey! You're Kurama-sensei right?"

Kakashi groaned. "It's Kakashi Hatake"

"Right sorry about that"

Naruto looked at the bag of ice in her hands and quickly inquired about it. "Is that for me?"

She looked down at the bag of ice before realizing. "No it's for Aika" She turned and started running up the stairs. "Hiroshi said that she needed help!"

The look on Naruto's face was of fear and anger as he realized.

"No..." He quickly ascended the stairs following the girl.

"Kurosaki-sensei?"

Kakashi sighed and turned towards Leiko. "That's the third name you've given me today..."

"Huh?"

"It's Kakashi...please remember Kakashi, I'm a famous ninja, they call me copy cat and all I want you to do is call me Kakashi...okay?"

"Uh right...can you tell us what's wrong with Naruto-sensei?"

He looked at both children carefully and examined them with his eye. He then looked up the stairs as he contemplated the situation. "It is not within my right to tell you. I am sorry" He stood up, put a hand in his pouch, and started walking towards the door. "Don't worry about your sensei, he'll be fine now and know that someday you will all see the good side in him" He pulled out his book and started reading as he walked out the door.

Raidon and Leiko looked at each other silently for a good five minutes before Raidon finally spoke up. "I guess we should see how everyone else is doing huh?" They didn't look at each other on the way up the stairs, both were still trying to understand everything that had taken place. As they reached the top of the stairs they made the slow walk to the room, unsure of what they would find or see they both kept their guard up and as they approached the room they heard something that was very foreign to their ears.

"Listen up my little one,

I have a tale to tell you,

About 'The Gallant Jiraiya'

and all he fought and slew"

Raidon and Leiko looked at each other with dumbfounded looks. "Is someone singing?" They both poked their heads around the corner to see Hiroshi and Gina sitting on the bed watching Naruto-sensei sing and rock the girl back and forth.

"He was a frog, who fought a snake,

and in the end beat the stakes,

it's because of him we know the truth,

of 'The Great and Gallant Jiraiya'"

They both walked into the room slowly and were immediately spotted by their sensei who looked at them for only a second or two before turning his gaze back to the little girl sleeping in his arms. Raidon walked up and sat down next to Hiroshi while Leiko sat in between Gina and Hiroshi. "So" Raidon began. "What's going on?"

"For some reason when Naruto-sensei came in her fever dropped and she began to calm down, then he picked her up and just started rocking her and singing to her...I don't know whether to be in shock, awe, or just plain scared."

Gina chuckled and smiled in a very cute manner at her teammates. "I know why he's doing it!" She was singing it in a cheerful manner.

They all turned and stared at her curiously, giving her looks that she fed off of as she rarely had the kind of attention she was now receiving. "That little girl's name is Aika Kushina Uzumaki" She smiled proudly. Her teammates stood their with stupid looks on their faces as they tried to piece together what she just said, noticing this she sighed and frowned as she explained further. "That's Naruto-sensei and Sakura-sensei's daughter..."

"Ooooooooh" they all three said in unison before turning back and staring at their sensei.

"He called himself the Sage of Toads,

he fought and wrote books for mainly the old,

but none was better than the one he told,

called "The Tale of the Gallant Jiraiya"

"Aren't any of you surprised? Or excited or something?" She questioned.

Raidon spoke up for the group. "Yea I am, in fact I'm going to probably be shouting in shock in a few minutes, but after everything that's happened in the last hour, I can honestly say this news hasn't hit me yet" He smiled for a moment before correcting his statement. "Never mind it's hitting me now....No fucking way!!"

"For he was the Gallant Jiraiya"

"He what?!?" The charts Sakura had been holding were quickly dropped on the ground creating a mess of paper scattered across the hall of the hospital. "That...imbecile!" Kakashi flinched and put up his guard as he watched his student's face slowly turning a shade of red that made her pink hair not stand out so much. "What the hell is he doing being that irresponsible! What if he..." She clenched her fists and started marching down the hall, her footsteps heavy with anger, towards the stairs.

"Sakura" The call of her sensei, at this moment, was no match for the call of a protective mama going to check on her baby. "Sakura listen to me" She hesitated for a second before acknowledging the seriousness in his face. Turning around, she gave him her full attention.

"What is it?" the tone of her voice signaled more irritation than question, but Kakashi knew that it wasn't a misplaced tone. Casually walking up to her, never taking his eyes away from hers, he put his hand on her shoulder and lightly gripped it.

"For the past two years you have been trying your best to keep Naruto in your life" Feeling her reaction through the grip on her shoulder he continued. "No one knows better than you that even though he can be the biggest idiot, he also has one of the smartest minds, biggest hearts, and most important a caring soul." Feeling that she had calmed down, he released his grip and walked towards the window, looking out towards the village he continued talking. "If there is one thing we have always been able to do, it's being able to trust him." Looking over his shoulder he smiled at her back. "If it makes you feel better I'm pretty sure I heard him singing as I left" Turning herself around, she looked at him inquisitively. "The words weren't exactly the same, but it is a melody and song I haven't heard in twenty years. The last time I heard it was the night I watched my sensei sing something like it to his new born son."

The look on her face was full of sadness as she stared at the cold hard floor, clutching at her heart she tried her best to speak. "Sensei I..."

"Sakura, whether it comes naturally to you, a little progress was made in this mad situation, but don't give up" She stared at him passively. "One little thing won't change his way of thinking. You, of all people, are most familiar with this." She clutched at her chest reliving the pain that had scarred her once smooth skin. "Why don't you head home Sakura, I'll let the Hokage know what's going on."

"Sensei I have too much work to finish"

"Sakura" He smiled one of his many lighthearted works of art. "Forget your sense of duty for just one day"

The second she shut her eyes he had disappeared out the window and left her standing there as she quietly contemplated over what he had told her. "Is he finally coming back to us? Can we really be a happy family?" Smiling at her thoughts, she descended the stairs.

A young medic, going through her training at the hospital, came around the corner and gasped at the sight she saw. "Oh no!" She fell on her knees and started gather the charts that had been scattered across the floor. "Lady Sakura lost her temper again!"

"I see" Tsunade leaned back in her chair. "You think she's there?"

Hitoku nodded. "I believe it could be her, but the only lead I've found to be solid is that there is a powerful lieutenant there, she calls herself Akira. The man I interrogated mentioned that no one actually knows what she looks like as she dons a cowl and cloak."

Tsunade chuckled as she took a sip of sake. "Hmm I can't imagine who else we know that does that?"

Hitoku scoffed. "Your sarcasm is unnecessary and uncalled for my lady." Taking a closer look he examined her eyes and coming to the conclusion that this wasn't the first glass she'd had today. "How much have you had today Lady Tsunade?"

"Tch" She grinned and finished what she had in her cup. "This is my, sixteenth bottle" Reaching for the bottle she filled her cup again.

Hitoku sighed. "Don't you think you've had enough?"

He could clearly see the smile that was now on her face was most definitely being forced. "It's amazing how much one learns to drink when they try to forget the death of their best friend"

"Of course, please forgive me, I didn't mean to insult Master Jiraiya's memory"

Tsunade frowned as she stared at Hitoku. "You know better than I do what it's like to lose your 'best friend'" Reaching down she opened one of her drawers and pulled out a cup. "Here" Tossing the cup to Hitoku she offered up some of the sake she was drinking. "Join me"

Setting the cup on the desk he refused the offer. "I'm sorry I can't"

"Hana...drop the damn persona and take off that stupid cloak and have a drink, that's an order" Hesitantly Hitoku pulled back his hood revealing the mask of a dog and a long head of blonde hair that sat tied back in a ponytail. He then reached up and unclasped the mask on his face and pulled it off, revealing her blue eyes and smooth face. Tsunade chuckled as she filled Hana's glass. "Are you sure you're not using a jutsu like me? Your skin seems to be remarkably well taken care off, you still look like your twenty!"

Hana blushed at her comments. "Please my lady, I deserve no such compliments"

"Now there's a face I've not seen in years" Hana quickly reached for her sword and took a step back before realizing who the intruder that popped in through the window was. "You look good by the way"

Realizing who it was she sheathed her sword and sat back down. "Captain Kakashi...please forgive me I didn't know it was you"

"After everything you've given up Hana, you have no reason to apologize for caution" Setting himself on the window sill he turned to look at her. "Did I hear you right before? You think you found your sister?"

"Yes I think she's in charge of a small force occupying a small town in the northern part of the Fire Country"

"How did they establish themselves without us knowing it?"

"I only know what my contacts have told me, but this village wouldn't appear on most maps. It is very well hidden and they only discovered it by pure coincidence"

Twirling her finger along the lines of her cup Tsunade couldn't shake a bad feeling she had in her gut. "Sarutobi often mentioned about coming across small villages that he felt would be best if no one ever knew where they were located as this gave them a better a chance of having a peaceful way of life. He also mentioned he would use them as trading stops or a place to rest while on a mission"

Hana furrowed her brow as she took a sip of her sake. "What are you getting at?"

"I sent his grandson Konohamaru on a mission in the Rice Country and he was due back yesterday. I have no doubt that Sarutobi may have shown him these 'shortcuts' or villages whenever he traveled with him." She bit down on her thumb as she spoke her thoughts aloud. "Normally I wouldn't be troubled by this...but say he did take one of these shortcuts back. Hana when you go to that village see if you can find any trace of him, just in case"

"I can do that"

She turned her attention to Kakashi. "Alright so what brings you here?"

"Ah yes I bring you some more of your daily dose of Naruto news"

She held up her hand "Hold on I need to prepare for this" She reached into her jacket pocket and pulled out three flasks of sake. "Ok I'm ready, lets hear it"

"Tick tock tick tock there is no clock so I can't knock!" The old man continued tapping on the cell bars. "Tick tock tick tock will I ever again go for a walk?"

His head was hurting, hurting as if someone sideswiped him with a piece of medal. Reaching for the back of his head, Konohamaru, rubbed furiously as he tried to dull the sharp pain that was vibrating through his skull. Shaking his head free of the butterflies that floated around his brain, he observed his surroundings. "Damn..." Letting his words roll off his tongue he sighed aloud. "It really wasn't a dream..."

"Nope! Nope! Nope! You're a stuck a down here, a just like a me! Hee heee!!" Groaning he turned around to see an old grey-haired man smiling a ridiculous grin through the bars of the cell next to him. "Helllllloooooo there young man!"

"Uhm..." Looking down at his lap it was the first time he noticed the chakra cuffs sitting securely around his wrists. He furrowed his brow in frustration. "So that's why I don't feel my chakra" He turned back to the old man who seemed to be sitting there, that stupid grin glued on his face, like a dog waiting to be given a command. "So how long have I been down here?"

"That is a good question my young friend! If I tell you how long you've been down here, will you come over here so I can tell you a big, Big, BIG secret?" Looking over the old man's demeanor, Konohamaru determined he was either clinically insane or one hell of an actor. Figuring he had nothing better to do, the young Sarutobi, crawled over to the bars that connected the two cells.

"Damnit I have no strength" he mumbled.

The old man's eyes became serious as he scouted the room looking for something or anything that might cause him problems. As Konohamaru reached the old man he felt a hand grip his shoulder and help him sit up against the cold iron bars. "Here" Reaching into his sleeve the old man pulled out a small pill and offered it to the drained ninja. "Take this, it will give you a small boost of energy to at least help you feel better, but it's only a small bit so that when they come in to drug you they don't spot it"

"Drug me?"

The old man leaned in closer and started whispering so as not to be heard. "To answer your first question you've been in here since yesterday and so they come in at hour intervals and inject you with some kind of medicine or maybe poison." He put the back of his hand on the young ninja's cheeks. "It's probably to keep you from gaining enough chakra back to break out and probably explains why you look like you could die any minute."

Groaning as he struggled to keep his balance, Konohamaru grasped onto the bars and looked the old man in the eyes. "So who are you and why are you helping me?"

Sighing the old man answered his questions. "You probably can't tell with this matted up beard and ridiculously ugly hairstyle, but my name is Kenjin Hayato and I was once the elder of this village...and a good friend of your grandfather"

Feeling his strength slowly solidifying, Konohamaru cleared his throat. "Whoever trapped me down here said he was the Elder and that he killed his brother."

"That would be my treacherous brother Kensei. He didn't agree with my plan to go to Konoha and have our village fall under their protection. I thought him foolish and brushed off his anger as idle threats and stupidity...I was wrong." He sighed and looked up at the ceiling of the dark prison. "He had enough dissenters following him that the day I set off he trapped me and captured me. Feeling that my death would be the final spark to keep the villagers from siding with the Leaf, he had me stabbed and then secretly brought to this prison. He told the villagers...and my granddaughter...that Konoha had set me up and killed me in cold blood just as they had eighty years ago"

"What do you mean?"

"Eighty years ago our clan ruled the Northern Forests and were often feared for our array of jutsu and our Kekkai Genkai. We were then approached by Hashirama of the Senju and were told of his and the Uchiha's alliance and plan to create a village where all ninja's would gather and work to end this continuing conflict. Our elders agreed that this was a sound plan and worthy of consideration. Everything seemed perfect...until that day" Crossing his arms, he turned his gaze forward and stared out into the darkness of the room. "An envoy of the Uchiha showed up and gave our leaders a message that we were to meet Hashirama and Madara Uchiha at the specified location and finalize our involvement of Konohagakure. The twelve elders showed up and were immediately ambushed and killed by the Uchiha and my grandfather, a bodyguard for the Elder Akinaro, escaped the fighting and came to warn the village of the Senju and Uchiha treachery. We were able to evacuate only a small part of our clan before the Uchiha rained down upon us, they killed every man woman and child." Kenjin clenched his fist in anger. "My father watched my grandparent's die defending the clan, the people in this village are what remains of our once proud clan, and the hatred my brother has is a product of revenge that my father drilled into him from day one."

Konohamaru hesitantly slid himself away from Kenjin. "What's you're opinion"

"My opinion?" He put his hand on his chin and slowly scratched at the beard. "I didn't know much about the Uchiha myself, but I knew your grandfather was a good man and his constant love of his sensei's made me believe that perhaps the Uchiha acted alone...why? I don't know but Hashirama didn't sound like someone who would destroy a clan."

"If your clan was so powerful why didn't I see any ninja's here, besides your brother?"

"Our clan hid deep within the forest and cut all ties to our chakra, those born with the clans' Kekkai Genkai and large amounts of chakra were given the task of constructing a barrier to hide and protect our village while others were trained to use their powers to hunt and provide us with food. This plan was in place for a long time and worked well until my brother betrayed me and let the Sound ninja setup camp in the village"

"When I was captured your brother used some ninjutsu on me"

"My brother and I however were taught ninjutsu in private by our father and felt it necessary we knew of our heritage, our family had become the new elders and it was up to us to keep passing down these teachings from generation to generation in case we would ever see our numbers rise to become strong enough once more." Kenji looked over at Konohamaru. "My granddaughter was born nineteen years ago and with her came the strongest source of chakra since the days of Akinaro himself. My brother took this as a sign that it was time to start building up our forces and retraining our people in the arts of the ninja. I however, saw my cute little granddaughter and wanted her to grow up and have a peaceful life. As she grew I taught her what my father had taught me and during one training session I found out that she was strong with the clans blood and the Kekkai Genkai. I just wanted her to grow up like any girl, learn to like boys, learn to love and be happy and live comfortably. My brother would have none of it, the minute he found out she had the ability, it was nothing but training, training, training."

"So where is she now?"

Kenjin turned his face away as though he were about to cry. "She thinks I'm dead and is constantly training under my brother's tutelage, while cooking and serving those Sound bastards. I listen to their conversations every time they're down here and I hear how they look at her, and grope her, and try to hit on her...it disgusts me and makes my blood boil!"

"Kenjin...I am sorry about everything you have endured"

"Tch don't worry about it, after all you and I are going to get the hell out of this joint, grab my granddaughter and make a run for Konoha the first chance we get"

"And how do you plan to do that?"

He smiled wickedly and pointed at boy's wrists. "Those chakra cuffs may keep your chakra in check, but they aren't perfect. It's probably going to take a month or two, but you can store up enough chakra to break out of them and the two of us combined can get out of here if we're careful"

"Forgive me if I don't find your plan amazing, but how do I do that when they inject me with crap every hour"

"Lot's and lot's of meditation kid, you're going to only be able to store a thimble worth of chakra every few hours. It's going to take a lot of willpower to keep it from being drained by that poison...are you willing to do it?"

He looked around the prison. "Yea, I'll give it my best shot"

"Good" Kenjin crawled away from the bars and perched himself up against the cold stone wall as he mumbled to himself. "Mitsuki...I hope you're safe, grandpa's coming for you soon"

Surprise! Please read and review, I appreciate those of you who reviewed the last chapter and somehow the inspiration came to me, there is certain parts in this chapter I am most proud of and hopefully I can have the focus and patience to keep smoothing everything out and keep the words flowing together (My example is the first part of the conversation between Naruto and Kyuubi)

This chapter is shorter than the others only because the last line made me very pleased. I lost my Grandpa four years ago now and I was closer to him than anybody so it gave me this small feeling of pride and joy that I am installing a relationship between Kenjin and Mitsuki that will represent a strong grandparent/grandchild relationship.

Well there ya go!