Naruto : Advent of the Flash

"My Lord, times do these eyes no justice…!" spoke the man, who was, quite arguably the most influential nobleman among the entirety of Fire Nation. "How in the heavens did you manage to retain your beauty, Tsunade?" he asked, rattled by her radiant beauty.

Laughing, "You don't look that bad yourself," she bashfully commented. Her hand roaming by her waist, she kept a firm hold over a crown of golden hair that was, try as he might, attempting to meld itself behind her legs. Crouching down, the Daimyo knitted together his crinkled eyebrows in deep contemplation, trying to peek behind her and get a good look at the object of her affection, "And who do we have here…?" he questioned, curiosity evident in his voice.

His question served to do nothing more than pushing the boy even further behind his mother's legs. Tsunade, seeing his nervousness, couldn't help but blame herself for his shyness - even though she found it utterly adorable. He hadn't seen a place so grandiose in his life, nor had he ever laid eyes on such a large gathering of people - all of whom were eyeing like a piece of meat. She laid the blame partly to herself for his isolated childhood, but more so on those fools who were trying to gauge her child's worth in their minds, by contrast, effectively scaring him out of his wits. "Naruto, it isn't polite to ignore a greeting." she scolded him in a soft voice.

Nodding, "Uh, hi." Naruto greeted back equally softly.

Blinking, the Fire Daimyo had to take a moment to realize that was all he was going to get out of the boy for the time being. "It's nice to -" was all the Daimyo could before getting interrupted.

It was quite annoying to be honest.

"Yo! Naruto…!"

Blue eyes going wide, "Kakashi-Nii…!" Naruto gave a squeal of delight, momentarily forgoing his nervousness in favor of the excitement that stemmed from the depths of his heart.

Tsunade had to stumble a bit to keep her balance when he all but bolted right through her grip - and her legs. Seeing him rally up to the copy ninja in the blink of an eye, she couldn't help but envy that masked pervert a little. Her boy saw him as god's gift to earth, Kami knew why, and it didn't help her case any that Kakashi never seemed to push him away like he did for the rest of the underage population back in the Hidden Leaf.

But more importantly;

For the life of her, she didn't understand why he would willingly shout out to the child he was supposed to protect from afar - when - through the corner of her vision she saw a flash of red pass right through the doors. Golden eyes met a lone smiling one in gratitude, Kakashi gave her a knowing look before taking the bouncing boy by his hand and melting in the sea of people as if he were never there in the first place.

She mentally noted to hand him an extra roll of bills when all was said and done.

Kushina - quite arguably - the bane of her existence had arrived too. Just in the nick of time too, and she also knew she was right for there was not a single other person in this entire world had that particular shade of red hair like her clan did. Tsunade had inwardly prayed that the Uzumaki matriarch would miss this gathering through some twist of fate, like she had for the previous eight years or so, due to some urgent business coming in between her trip.

Something, a boulder perhaps, falling on her accidentally while she came here wasn't too much to ask from the heavens either - or was it?

"Hime, deep breaths…" shoulders sagging, she did just that to vent out the killing intent she had let loose without thinking. "In and out, just like that." Jiraiya told her comfortingly. While he definitely did favor the redhead a lot more than he did for Tsunade, today he had willed himself to be neutral. No point getting two powerful women with nasty tempers to match, mothers to top it off, getting in a quarrel while he had to somehow get the situation under control - Jiraiya was definitely trying to avoid that.

Let it be known people, an angry Tsunade, was a bad Tsunade.

The scar on his chest was the undisputed proof to that very claim.

His eyes too caught a look at something of note, fine ladies to be exact, and he started tugging her along with him inside to hit on them like the shameless pervert he was, "You are hopeless, you know that right…" grumbled Tsunade, knowing full well what he was up to.

Looking appalled, "What's that supposed to mean, I was just going to get something to eat. Get it, something to…" his voice drifted off with a giggle that creeped Tsunade out to no ends. "You finish that sentence, and I swear to god I'll snap the thing that makes you a man, right off." she commented testily.

Jiraiya visibly shivered at the thought, his hand covering his crotch with a wince, "Of course." seeing the fury still present in her eyes, "…I-I'll be good…" he supplied meekly. Staring at him for a moment, she nodded and made her way inside to the middle of the gathering where a lot of people - none of which she bothered to remember - were waving and calling her to have a chat with them.

Breaking their quarrel in half, "Should we go inside…?" the Daimyo apprehensively reminded them that he was present as well. Both Sannin turned sheepish, realizing they had all but ignored the wealthiest man in the lands, their host to boot, completely. "Of course." both supplied in unison. Walking inside, ice formed in Tsunade's chest as to how she would keep the claws of that red haired demon away from her son - from the memory as to how her little thing had taken to the news of his adoption - the encounter would be nothing short of a disaster.

Thoughtful finger placed on his lips, Naruto looked at the table in front of him in nothing short of a dilemma, "What should I pick…?" he mumbled. Everything served in those plates, be it the various kinds of salads, meats, seafood or the deserts looked breathtakingly tasty. Had he not been taught the strict mannerisms of eating by his mother, the blonde little thing knew he would have all but devoured this table by now. But that clearly wasn't an option, all eyes were on him, effectively on his mother - and his failures would translate into tarnishing her name.

That. Wasn't. Going. To. Happen.

Sighing, he went to pick a skewer of lobster when a hand suddenly snatched it away from his sight. Blinking, Naruto nervously smiled at the new person he hadn't noticed up until now standing by side. "Hello." he greeted politely.

"Hn."

"Well, she's rude." he inwardly surmised. Indeed, the pink eyed girl by his side, looking to be no more than a couple years older than him, wasn't at all shameful enough at hiding the fact that she hated his guts for some odd reason - her furious glare told him that much. Not looking for any trouble or unneeded attention to himself than he already had on him, Naruto went ahead to pick a slice of pork from the table - when it too vanished to the plate in the girl's hand.

His eyebrows knitted together in utter annoyance, "Dessert it is." he grumbled. Making his way to the other end of the rather large table, Naruto went ahead to pick up a cup of pudding when that fiend of a girl following him snatched that away too. Frown lopsided into a complete scowl, Naruto eyed her in utter disdain.

He furiously served a bowl of rice on his plate - since she couldn't take that large of a bowl away in an instant anyway - on his plate before lathering it up with a huge squeeze of mayonnaise on top and making his way for a dining table. Naruto all but slapped down his plate on the table, when another plate slapped itself down by his equally loudly.

Groaning, "Aw come on." he pleaded to the gods above. "Do you have some sort of problem with me…?" he finally asked the million dollar question.

The girl actually looked surprised by his outburst for a moment before retaining her obvious scowl, deepening even further now at his rebuttal, "Maybe." she retorted tightly. Sighing quietly, "Look, whatever it I've done - I'm sorry, okay?" he apologized, for Kami knew what. If it got this annoying fiend off his back, let that be that.

Picking his spoon up to eat, Naruto stopped midway when she voiced her thoughts out loud, "What's your name?" she asked coldly. Naruto hadn't expected her to initiate a conversation, as unwanted as it was, "It's rude to ask for someone's name before giving your own." he told her in a singsong voice.

The girl looked ready to breath fire from her nostrils, "Answer the damn question…!" she hissed. Naruto lifted his hands up in defense, "It's Naruto, okay. No need to make a scene, jeez." he sighed. The boy clearly had no idea as to what he had done to revoke her ire on him, maybe this was what his brother figure said was a girl's time of the month - whatever that meant.

Cheeks flushed, "Full name." she demanded with a slap of her palm. By this moment Naruto had pushed his plate away as his hunger all but subsided, "I've had enough of this." he bitterly commented before forcing his hands into his pockets and trying to walk away. The girl clearly wasn't pleased by his dismissal, as was evident when she caught his wrist in a tight grip and forced him back down, "Don't walk away from me." she replied hotly.

"Aw come on…!"

She pulled her lips into a thin line, huffing in annoyance. "…it's Kurotsuchi." she mumbled childishly.

"What?!"

She pointed the full brunt of her glare down on him, "My name, it;s Kurotsuchi alright." she told him. Eyes twinkling with mischief, "Full name." demanded Naruto.

He had to force back a laugh when the girl blanched in fury, "I'm Naruto, Senju Naruto." he gave her a charming smile while putting out his hand as a gesture of friendship. The girl eyed the hand as if it were poisoned, but shook it nonetheless. "Pleasure." she supplied weakly, looking a tad bit embarrassed.

"No, the pleasure's all mine."

This time, the heir to the forests made no attempt to force back his laugh when she glared at him heatedly. It wasn't her furious gaze that choked it out of his throat, oh no, that was quite intimidating. He would dare argue every woman's stare was the same - his mother going on top of that list - it was the way her cheeks ripened up like a tomato that did the job.

Smiling tentatively, "Friends…?" Naruto asked, his head cocking aside while her eyes followed the slight flail his golden locks made with the eyes of a hawk. "Friends it is." she told him apprehensively. Poking her food absentmindedly, her pink eyes side glanced at him every now and then while he worked the rice into his mouth without a care in the world. "Here." she emptied half the contents on her plate onto his own.

Surprised, "Thanks." Naruto thanked her nonetheless.

Her face lit up like a Christmas tree when he started munching down on his plate, "I'm the granddaughter of the Tsuchikage." she stated proudly, nose high in the air.

"Good for you."

She almost fell flat on her face when he said that so carelessly, "..the Tsuchikage! As in the leader of the Hidden Stone village!" she told him, waving her hands to show him the importance of his title.

"Great."

His offhanded remark made her eye twitch, he looked way too busy with his food for her liking. Huffing, she started choking down the delicacies down her throat with a new fervor. Glaring at him sideways, "You know, I'm a chunin…" she remarked with a mouthful of salad.

"Must be great, huh?"

Slapping down her spoon and doing the same for him, she ignored his protests while snatching away the plate from his hands. "Stop eating for a second and listen to me, damn it…!" she hated being ignored. No one ever had the gall to ignore her, especially after she had told them who she really was. This damned blonde 'thing' was ignoring her in favor of slowly stuffing down on his food without a care in the world.

"Can't we do this after we've eaten…?"

Kurotsuchi gave him a look, border lining on a deadpan, "No." she told him dryly. Staring down in nervousness and giving her whole attention to the half eaten plates in her hand, "Don't you even care who I am?" she asked him, a bit on the softer side.

Naruto didn't even realize the need for thinking, "Not really, no." he stated in a matter of fact tone. Not even bothering to look up, she pushed his plate back and went back to her routine of poking her food absentmindedly.

"Idiot."

Her whisper was all but ignored by the boy, who went back to stuffing his food as soon as it was handed back to him. He was an enigma to her, even the highest of nobles from an enemy nation here had made way for her as soon as her familial ties were made known. Most, especially the ones who didn't have the courage, had pulled back from her like the plague. While those who did tried to keep her on a pedestal so as to earn an unasked favor from her side. She wasn't stupid, she knew her family was powerful and being powerful was everything back home. But a small little talk without that would be nice, more so at a place where she knew no one and no one knew her. She might even make a friend that she could forget as soon as she had left. "This airhead is too engrossed in his food to even notice me!" she raged inwardly.

Still, talking to someone who saw her as a person wasn't harming her, right, "So, are you a ninja…?" she asked, curiosity evident in her voice.

"Nope."

Her shoulders deflated considerably, "Great. Another noble civilian…" she muttered.

No wonder he was such an airhead, she mused with a quirk of her lips.

"How old are you…?" she asked, attempting to make a conversation that didn't end with him saying two or three words before ending it. "I'm eight." Naruto confessed briefly. She visibly perked up hearing that, they were only two years apart in age, that wasn't much in the ninja world, "I'm ten." she told him.

"You're old."

"I'm not old!" she rebutted, appalled by his insinuation. "If anything, you're little!" she retorted hotly. Naruto stopped eating as soon as the words had flown off her lips, "I'm not little!" he replied, anger evident in his voice. His height had always been a touchy subject, every child back in the village near their estate was taller than him too. It didn't help any that his mother always called him her 'little troublemaker' too.

He wasn't tall, that was all.

"Chibi~" she teased him with a giggle, poking playfully poking his whiskers.

"Don't call me that!"

"Chibi~ Chibi~ Chibi~"

Naruto couldn't help but puff his cheeks up in annoyance, being the child that he was, "Bob cut." he said the first thing that came to his mind. Though he smiled in triumph when her annoying jingle ended prematurely, "What did you just call me?" she asked dangerously.

Not being one to shy away from a challenge, "Bob cut." Naruto egged her on.

"Why you-"

A third voice cut their banter in half, "Would you be kind enough to offer a seat to this old man, oh my back!" the new voice shrieked. Naruto winced when he heard the audible noise of spine clacks coming from the old man. Getting up and being the medical apprentice he was, "Here, let me help you sir." he offered kindly.

"No that isn't, ufff-"

Placing his palm on the small of his back, Naruto had to thank this weird old man's really small height that made this all the more easier, "Sir, I'll count to three before pulling you up. So bear with me, alright?" he asked the old man who was on the verge of rolling on his knees.

Huffing, "Whatever." the old man grumbled. Naruto smiled, he had seen far too many senior citizens as his patients, most of them being grumpy at first before they warmed up to him. The same ones that his mother kept throwing at him in exchange for all the young female patients back home. Now that he thought about it, he had yet to ask her the reason as to why she did that, he reminded himself to ask her that soon, "One," Naruto started the count.

"I don't need any help getting up…"

"Two,"

Taking a deep breath, the old man waited for the last number to arrive when Naruto's palm forced a burst of warmth in his back. "KAMI…!" the man shrieked, clearly not expecting this new development.

"GRANDPA…!"

Naruto blinked at the weird girl he had met moments ago, before his mind clicked and he realized that they were related, "He's your grandfather…?" Naruto asked, oblivious to all the horrified stares being pointed his way.

"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO MY-"

"Hey…"Ohnoki whispered, moving his waist in circles with a new found ardor. "It doesn't hurt anymore." he whispered in amazement, bouncing up and down like a beach ball.

"Say what?" Kurotsuchi shrieked in shock, reclining at Naruto with all her nefariousness. "Did you mess with his mind too-"

"Who are you, kid?"

Sighing, Naruto had to choke down on the fact that everyone here was awfully rude. No one ever bothered to do greetings nicely, they more or less always demanded his name, "Naruto. He's Naruto old man, what was your last name again?" Kurotsuchi answered on his behalf.

Sighing again, "Senju." Naruto muttered offhandedly and started dusting off his clothes. The man he had treated had a lot of dirt on him for some odd reason, "…what name did you just say?" Ohnoki whispered, his face white as a ghost.

"Hey, old man?" Kurotsuchi asked in a worried tone. Ohnoki had turned ghastly white for some odd reason, "What's wrong, does it hurt?" she softly consoled him, rubbing soothing circles on his back.

"So you are the Senju kid, eh?"

Shrugging off his granddaughter, Ohnoki stood eye level with him and only now paid full attention to this intriguing child. "You certainly have her hair and looks, I'll give you that.." he contemplated, rubbing his chin pensively. Naruto fiddled when he saw all the stares being leveled over him, as soon as that man had spoken his name out loud everyone had turned their eyes on him. So much for trying to stay under the radar, he thought tiredly.

Naruto had to squirm a bit when the weird man he had treated started walking circles around him, looking to be deep in thought, "Mom…" the words flew off his mouth involuntarily. His throat sounded hoarse and for some odd reason, his vision was misty. Feeling some wetness trailing down his cheeks, "Am I, crying?" he mumbled to himself, swiping off the tears with the back of his hands.

His heart was screaming danger at him.

Forcing his way through the crowd, Kakashi came to the scene of his charge standing at the center of all the commotion with the last person he should have been face to face with, standing right by his side. To top things off with a cherry on top, his little brother in all but blood was trembling like a dry leaf.

"Mom…?!"

Warm arms embracing him from behind, Naruto let himself be collected in the familiar softness he had become accustomed to as a child. Almost every woman in the crowd, save for one, squealed in delight at the scene unfolding before their eyes.

"Hush, I'm here."

Soft coos doing their tricks, Tsunade rocked her baby back and forth to try and calm him down. He was nigh on the verge of hyperventilating, she knew she shouldn't have brought him here in the first place. "Mom…" he cried. Those voices were everywhere, those vile and ugly;

"Let's go home."

People here were funny for some reason, Naruto could feel the animosity rolling off of them in waves, vividly clear. They were all pointed at him too, unlike back home, these people weren't nice at all. His gut was telling him that, "Take me home, mom." he all but begged her. Placing a comforting peck on the side of his head, "Okay." she agreed instantly. She could surmise what had happened, it was what she had been afraid of off. Her boy's senses were too damn sharp, these bastards weren't hiding their intentions any to help her case.

"My lady!"

Turning around, Tsunade acknowledged her apprentice with a simple nod of her head. "We are leaving, Shizune." she told her.

"W-What?!" Shizune sputtered, "NOW?!" she shrilled.

Eyes turning into slits, "Now." Tsunade told her, voice cold and firm. Her heels clicked audibly while she made her way out, the nobles and shinobi alike giving the ferocious looking woman all the space she needed. On her way out, she did have the luck of running into just the person she wanted to see.

"Tsunade-chan?" Hiruzen entered with his envoy in tow, "You're leaving already…!" he recoiled when he saw the hatred with which he was glared at.

"I told you." she poked his chest with her finger, her lip trembling. Each poke felt like a dagger when combined with her legendary strength, "What has happened?" he demanded. To make her nigh on the verge of crying, the Fire shadow wasn't in any mood for mercy to whoever it was who had made her this way. Be it Kushina or otherwise, it was his word that his lone female student had trusted and placed her faith in to come here. Had the culprit been anyone, especially someone he had no connection to, he gave the signal to his own envoy to take up their arms.

Heads would roll today.

Rubbing the sleeping boy's head calmly and looking on sadly when Tsunade pulled him away as if his touch itself was poisonous for her child, "Who was it?" he asked, voice as kind and wise as it always was.

"Everyone." she whispered. His eyes widened in realization, "Did he read their…"

"Intentions." she completed his sentence for him, "Yes, he did." she told him.

"I'm sorry."

Tsunade said nothing more, brushing past him as if he wasn't even important to her anymore - which he actually wasn't. A voice called out from behind her, a voice that made steps quicken their pace even more considerably than before. For, there was no other person that possessed that irritating way of talking apart from one woman;

"Tsunade, wait -ttebane!"

Said woman had half a mind to just snap her neck in half and be done with it.

"Get the fuck out of my way, damn it!" snarled the redhead, her hair splitting up into nine equal parts behind her back. "Kushina, please understand…" reasoned Jiraiya.

Huffing, "Understand what?" she snapped. Rubbing his aching temples, "I can't let you meet Tsunade, don't you get that?!" she eyed him as if he was the one who was being ridiculous here.

"Why the hell not?!"

"Because she doesn't want to see you." deadpanned Jiraiya. "I'm not here to see her either!" she retorted right back. Raising an eyebrow in utter amusement, "Oh." sang Jiraiya, crossing his arms tightly.

"Then who might you be here to see?" he innocently inquired.

"You know damn well who, now get out of my way!"

As soon as she went to push him aside, "What's with all the commotion here?" asked a new voice.

Jiraiya's eyes went wide, "Tsunade…?!" he muttered, shocked to the core. In all the years he had seen her, she had never once left her son's side when he was sick or in some way troubled, this was clearly not expected.

His hopes on seeing Kushina off without an argument were looking bleak at best. "How's Naruto?" he asked, worry etched clearly on his face. "He's asleep." Tsunade answered tightly, eyeing Kushina the whole time.

"What happened to him?" asked the redhead in question. Tsunade eyes would have shamed a lioness, "That's none of your concern." she said dismissively. Seeing her getting riled up, "He's my son, I can take care of him thank you very much." she nailed the final nail in the coffin. The look of utter despair on Kushina's heart made Jiraiya look away, but he didn't say a word, it just wasn't his place.

This meeting had been a long time coming.

The Uzumaki heiress sputtered, flustered beyond belief, "You don't have to be so mean, Tsunade!" she rambled on. Cocking an eyebrow, "Mean?!" she sounded incredulous, "What are we, five?"

"You know damn well what I mean!"

"Ladies," Jiraiya interrupted; though the reaction had been anything but friendly.

"What?!" both women snapped equally angrily. Raising his hands up as a sign of peace, "It seems you haven't noticed, but we are making a scene…" he pointed to the stares being leveled at them by the other residents in the hotel. "Let's take this somewhere more private, shall we?" he suggested kindly.

"No need, " Tsunade ended that equally kindly, "I was just going to see my son…" she all but hissed the last part. Kushina's flinch was reciprocated by the Toad Sage, "Make yourself home…" Tsunade said, pointing to the door exiting the lobby.

Kushina was anything but pleased, she was seeing red, "Listen here you, I've had enough of your attitude. I came here to negotiate, but all you've been doing-"

"Negotiate?" Tsunade interrupted, sounding interested all of a sudden. Kushina calmed down considerably seeing her listen to reason, "Uh, yeah." she mumbled.

"Alright, let go down to the restaurant."

Jiraiya blinked, even Kushina had to pinch her arm to believe the sudden change of demeanor the blonde woman had gone through. "Come on, let's make haste." Tsunade clapped chirpily. Not being one to look up a gift in a horse's mouth, Kushina obliged happily.

Jiraiya though, had a feeling of foreboding. "Stay nearby, will you." he said to no one in particular. "Of course," came Kakashi's instant reply from behind, the man giving his classic one fingered salute.

"So," Tsunade started the conversation, plopping her elbow on the table and her cheek in her palm, "You were willing to negotiate, weren't you?" she asked. "Uh, yeah." Kushina replied apprehensively, still not used to the soft and kind tone she was being offered out of the blue.

"What is it you want?" Tsunade asked, "Money, jewels. Property perhaps?" she offered, taking a small sip of water from her glass.

"W-What?!"

"For negotiations, of course." Tsunade sang in a matter of fact tone. Kushina couldn't utter a word, so baffled was she with her confusing words, "Is it my family's techniques then?" Tsunade pressed on, "Listen, just name the price." she stated.

"Price,?" Kushina mumbled, tucking a stray lock behind her ear. She was confused beyond belief as was evident by her lost face. Jiraiya, who was sitting on the sidelines, wasn't liking where this was heading one bit. He had an inkling of suspicion as to what Tsunade was 'negotiating', more or less. "Tsunade, what are you saying?" and yet, he dared to ask in place of Kushina who's words weren't forming a coherent sentence.

Tsunade eyed him as if he was stupid, "To leave Naruto alone, what else?" she flatly said. "I'm willing to negotiate whatever-" taking her collar in her hand.

"Why you!" Kushina snarled as soon as her words made sense, "Who the hell do you take me for? Don't let all that money and influence get to your head, Tsunade! I'm not willing to negotiate my son!" she hissed.

"Your son,?!" slapping her hand aside, "I thought all you had were two daughters!"

Looking as if struck by acid, tears trickled the corner of Kushina's eyes. "H-He's my son. I carried him for ten months, give him back to me, you wench!" she hiccuped.

Tsunade's eyes narrowed, "Carried for ten months, and abandoned in ten minutes!" she retorted icily. "He is my son now, in heart and soul Don't you dare assume otherwise, you bitch! " she bit right back.

"I've had enough of this charade…!" Kushina shouted, leaking the full brunt of her killing intent that made Jiraiya's hair perk up. "Uzumaki Sealing Style-"

"KUSHINA DON'T YOU DO IT!" shouted Jiraiya.

"ADAMANTINE CHAINS!" glowing chains of pure chakra construct flew out the sleeves of her blouse, going straight ahead to pierce Tsunade and be done with it. Tsunade slammed her heel on the edge of the table and bounced back with a burst of chakra at the last possible minute.

"KUSHINA, STOP THIS ALREADY!" Jiraiya all but begged, pumping up his chakra and readying himself to restrain her if necessary. Kakashi raised the cloth to his hidden Sharingan just in time to see Tsunade's foot lodge itself in the foot of a table that made her go off balance for a moment and caused her to trip on her floor. Kushina's relentless chains destroyed all furniture in their path and made their way for the fallen Senju matriarch. "Damn it! I've gone soft over the years!" Tsunade mentally raged. Honestly, it was almost shameful to trip over something of all things for shinobi, but her years as a mother and doctor hadn't been kind to her fighting senses at all. The only combat she had seen was the little spars she and Naruto had every now and then. Speaking of which, wide baby blue eyes watched Kushina's relentless assault make it's way towards his mother in pure horror.

On instincts alone, he pushed chakra to the soles of his feet and launched himself right in between the chains and his defenseless mother. Tsunade readied herself to take the full brunt of Kushina's attack head on, and return to the fight after healing herself - knowing full well she was built like a tank that way. What she hadn't expected was a golden blur to blind her momentarily and take a protective guard in front of her. Naruto spread his legs apart and clasped his hands in a bird seal, erecting a water wall out of thin air to stop those chains. Kushina's chains all but annihilated his still imperfect defense and resumed on their path with an added fervor. Naruto stumbled back seeing he hadn't so much as slowed down that attack.

"NARUTO, WHAT ARE YOU DOING? GET OUT OF THE WAY!" Tsunade shouted.

Clenching his eyes shut, the boy cursed himself for not even being able to help his mother a little in her time of need. Naruto could feel his blood pumping, as much as he wanted to run and hide, some words rang clear as a bell in his mind.

"...only use it's power to protect someone yourself from danger or someone you hold precious!"

He knew he hadn't perfected it, it could very well blow up and backfire instead. But, "If I can't do it now, when the hell will I do it!

Holding out his left hand, a swirling noise, one that hadn't been heard in more than eight years filled the momentarily silent halls completely. Blue energy came to life and started closing in on itself within the palm of it's hand. Tsunade, Jiraiya, Kakashi - even Kushina's eyes went wide seeing the familiar blue ball of death slowly forming in the boy's palm. Kushina tried to stop her assault, but her realizations came too late, she knew she would hit him head on. The chains circled together and formed a spear, Naruto's calm and calculating eyes held naught but a hint of fear and were the same ones they had all seen countless times before.

Pumping his arm back, Naruto readied his attack and pushed it straight ahead at the last possible moment; "RASENGAN!" he howled in agony as the imperfect technique pushed and fought back with Kushina's chain in a battle of strengths. Just as it looked as if Naruto was winning and pushing her attack back, the blue ball of chakra closed in on itself and exploded, throwing Naruto back, crashing into a wall. The whole restaurant, and it's four residents stood still, unbelieving of the twist of unexpected events that had rolled out in mere moments; right before their eyes.

The silence itself was deafening, and just as the dust settled, Naruto's bloodied and torn form came into view from the crater he had created in the wall. Golden eyes leaking silent tears, only one shout broke the unnerving silence with a scream of agony;

"NARUTO!"

Author's Notes : This story had been thrown on the back burner for while, but I decided to return it to life. This is really how I had planned this chapter out from the beginning, so I hope it's execution was on point because I am not disappointed in anyway with it after reading it again. Forgive me for the slow updates, but life's how it is. If you didn't like it or find the writing style different from before, well time does that to writers, but the plot itself is relatively the same.

Many readers, I noted, were complaining about the realism of this story. This isn't supposed to be real, this is a story set in a fantasy styled universe so please do not find realism in it. Try to enjoy the story for what it is, and if it warms your heart a little then think the author has done a fine job. Please do not post offensive reviews or tell me to update which story next, it is demeaning to an author who tries to write as much as he could when he gets the time and the feel for it. Post your comments on how you liked that particular chapter in the reviews, that is what each author strives to read and I am not ashamed to admit I all but ignore those requesting updates on some other stories while posting it on another story of mine. Gives the impression that my other fics aren't worth anything, you know?

Hope you all liked it anyhow, see you again so tell me in those reviews how you thought it was executed. Until next time, keep reading and reviewing.

NSE signing out…!

Ja Ne! ;)