Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or anything associated with it.

A/N: Hey, y'all! After THAT crazy fiasco, welcome back to another chapter of A New World! I hope y'all had a good holiday season, and now it's time for you to kick back a lil' bit more and remember to fave, follow and REVIEW, DERN IT! …...Now, on to the story! (Or I'll Melt You)

Last Time on A New World….

"Enough," Itachi quietly said. Fortunately, it was enough to make Kisame stop in his tracks. "We must leave before Kumo reinforcements arrive."

"What? It was just getting fun," Kisame complained.

"We don't have the time today. Dealing with two Jinchuriki, including one with perfect control over his tailed beast, is not what we're here to do. Our main objective has already been completed." In response, the other man simply gave a "hmph" before putting Samehada on his back.

"You lucked out today, kid," he told me. "Next time, give me a real thrill, why don't you?" With that, the two disappeared, ending the whole event just like that.

XXXXX

"...Come on," Ganryu-sensei said after Kisame and his partner, Itachi, left. "We're gonna have one hell of a report coming our way." Nodding silently, I picked up Omoi while Bee got the other two and sensei got Chojuro. We hit the trees, only stopping for when Yugito woke up.

"What...happened?"

"We got hit bad," Bee said. "Bro is gonna be real mad." In response, Yugito started to change faces, showing she was having a conversation with her tailed beast. We resumed our path towards Kumo in silence, giving me time to think (wallow) about where everything went wrong.

'How could I have not been able to do anything? I was just….in the way….' I thought, resisting the urge to just scream in frustration and anger. I hated being so helpless, and Chojuro suffered for it. One of the few precious people I really cared about in Kiri…..Hurt be-

"Kid."

'What?' I bitterly thought to Isobu.

"Crap happens. You can't really be blaming yourself, a genin, for not being able to defeat an S-rank ninja." Everything he said was the truth, but I refused to admit it in my head.

'No, I could've came up with-'

"You had nothing short of the full transformation," the turtle shut down. "And that would've put the others in greater peril. Just count your luck everyone's alive." I huffed in frustration, but I couldn't refute Isobu's point. He was right. The only other option I had was to get over it and get stronger to prevent this situation from happening again.

"Kaiza," Ganryu-sensei called.

"Yeah?" I responded, looking over.

"This is the life of a shinobi. Unpredictable. You never know what may happen, even on the simplest of missions. Learn well; Most men only learn this through death." I gave no response, but simply sped up a bit to make sure we got to Kumo before the moon came all the way out. Fortunately, our increased pace led us back to the village gates before long.

"What's going on?" a different set of gate guards asked seeing half of us incapacitated.

"I got news bro will want to know." That's all Bee had to say, for the two nodded and let us in. The Kumo Jonin then looked at the two of us. "Two, show three the hospital for your friends to sleep." Nodding, she turned to me.

"Come on, I'll take you there." Getting an idea, I made a water clone so that I could take Chojuro with me as well. Ganryu-sensei understood what I was going to do, already taking my teammate off his back to give to the water clone. Once my clone got Chojuro all secured on its back, we went to the hospital. It wasn't too far away, and thankfully the townspeople barely paid us any mind.

"Hello, welcome to the-What happened!?" the secretary shouted in surprise seeing the three unconscious people on our backs.

"Bad mission. Do you have anywhere we can take them?" Yugito answered. The woman did a quick checkover before she grabbed a clipboard from her working station.

"Yes, we can put two of them in room 104, and another in 105. Follow me." Falling back, I went behind the nurse until we got to room 104. It was similar to the hospital rooms in Kiri; a simple pair of beds, a sink, medical machines and all that stuff.

"We should probably just put Omoi and Karui in here. No offense to your friend, but…" I nodded, agreeing with her logic. Putting either one of them with a ninja from a different village they didn't hardly know would be kinda stupid. Walking in, I put Omoi on one bed while Yugito put Karui on the other. Finished with that, my clone handed Chojuro over before it dispersed. I then went across the hall to 105 to lay Chojuro down on the single bed in the room.

Wore out, I fell into the one chair that they had there. "Hey, you can come stay at the guest room in my house if you want," the Kumo kunoichi offered. I honestly wanted to take it, but I couldn't just leave Chojuro here by myself.

"Nah, I'll be fine," I politely rejected. "Thanks for the offer, though." She didn't seem to take it bad, simply shrugging it off.

"Alright, then. See you tomorrow." She then left the room, leaving the two of us alone until a nurse got to check him out. Twisting and tossing in the chair, I simply tried to sleep until I came to the conclusion it wasn't going to work out. Throwing myself on the floor in the corner, I put my hands under my head and eventually fell into a deep sleep.

XXXXX

The next morning…

Yawning, I opened my eyes to see a white wall that I quickly remembered was the hospital. Looking down, I saw three shrimp-like tails curling around me, as well as a pair of sheets on top of them, also covering my feet and shoulders.

"I asked them to get you some sheets since you had to summon those tails to keep you warm," a voice said. Looking up, I saw Chojuro, shirtless but mostly uninjured, sitting up in the hospital bed. "It was adorable seeing you cuddle, though. I'm glad I got pictures for Mizukage-sama."

"Chojuro!" I yowled, jumping up. "Are you alright?" I asked. "What happened?"

"They said we got put into a genjutsu that forced us into a state of comatose. They were able to dispel it and get us back to normal. They did a check for internal damage while you were asleep, which explains why my shirt is off. With all luck, I should check out as soon as they get back."

"Where's Ganryu-sensei?"

"He came a while earlier. He said as soon as I check out, we go back to Kiri. As for where he stayed, he just rented out a hotel."

'Lazy ass…' I thought after Chojuro told me what occurred. Of course sensei had to get his beauty sleep instead of just winging it in a chair. Sighing, I sat in said chair while Chojuro began to stretch as much as he could in a bed.

"So….what happened while I was out?" he asked. "Ganryu-sensei told me that you were the only Genin unaffected by the genjutsu." Silently cursing, I closed my eyes as I recollected the series of events I wanted to forget.

"The other guy kept Bee busy….And I had to fight with Kisame." Before I finished even saying that name, Chojuro's eyes got so wide I thought they were going to burst.

"WHAT!?" he shouted, probably the loudest I've ever heard him in my life. "How…..What did…How'd he fight?"

"He was toying with me," I admitted. "He didn't even try, if that has to be said at all. We've still got a long way to go." Chojuro nodded in agreement with me at that. "So….what now?"

"We wait until they come ba-" Right before Chojuro could finish his sentence, a medic walked in with a clipboard.

"Hello Kiri-san," she greeted. "We have concluded that no other damage was sustained other than the genjutsu inflicted on you. You are officially discharged and can leave." I gave a mental sigh of relief at the information before the medic turned her gaze onto me. "You were on the mission with Bee-sama as well, correct?" I nodded in affirmation. "Are you sure you weren't affected by the genjutsu as well? Although you never officially checked-in as a patient, we can still give you a che-"

"No thanks, ma'am," I rejected, only realizing after the fact that my voice was slightly raised and my hands were shaking. "I'm fine, thank you." The doctor, slightly worried, slowly nodded before clearing her throat.

"Well, if that's what you prefer. Have a good day, you two." With that, she shut the door as Chojuro got up and put his shirt on.

"What was that, Kaiza?" the sharp-toothed boy asked me. "Why were you so unusual with the nurse lady?"

"Well…." I really didn't want to tell this story, but it might be better if Chojuro knew, considering he already heard about it. "You remember those four days I missed school without any word, right?"

"...Yeah….What does that have to do with anything?"

"Well….I'll just start from the beginning…."

XXXXX

5 years ago…

"You need to be more careful, Kaiza-kun," Kaa-chan told me after I cut myself with a kunai. It was really an accident, I simply klutzed on this one.

"I understand," I replied. We were about to go in the house to patch this up, when an ANBU appeared from the shadows.

"Mizukage-sama, the council requests your presence immediately." Cursing quietly under her breath, Kaa-chan twirled her fingers through her auburn-colored hair before turning back to the ANBU.

"Okay, but you need to take Kaiza-kun to the hospital to get this wound cleaned up while I am away. Afterwards, Kaiza-kun, you go straight to the academy, understood?" Nodding, I watched while Kaa-chan went away to deal with the council people.

"So, ANBU-sa-Woah!" I yelled as he grabbed me and started to make a mad-dash towards the hospital. Quickly walking in the building, he slowed his pace as he went to a dark room in a research wing of the building. Looking around the dark hallways, he opened the door before he shoved me in the room.

"So, you got him?" another voice asked. Looking at the source of it, I found a middle-aged medic ninja with brown hair staring at me with a glare.

"Yeah, hurry fast. The Mizukage won't be occupied for long," the ANBU said, worrying me.

"What's going on?" I asked, getting increasingly freaked out by the second.

"You're getting checked-out…Demon," the medic said, taking out a kunai. Before I could do anything to defend myself, the ANBU tied me up with ninja wire, preventing me from moving. I simply struggled as the lady ran the kunai through my side, making me scream loudly. In response, the ANBU punched me in the face, throwing me to the wall a crying mess.

"Hurry up and finish the job!" the ANBU growled. "We can't play with him for too long or we'll get found out." Nodding, the woman began to walk towards me.

"Please stop!" I yowled. A footstep followed. "STOP! PLEASE!" Another footstep. I could feel another presence taking over me, but I was too scared to even care about it as the medic came right in front of me, kunai in hand. "GET AWAY FROM ME!" I howled, a giant burst of chakra blasting out of my body.

XXXXX

"What….happened then?" Chojuro asked, absolutely shell-shocked at what I told him.

"I lost it. I came to a few days later, but by the time I lost consciousness, the whole wing of the hospital was destroyed and a lot of people died." Looking down, I quietly blamed myself for the innocent people that got caught in the crossfire. It was after that event I remember asking Isobu to help control his chakra.

"That explains why Shoru-sensei shut down any talk of the hospital in class…." Chojuro realized. Just then, the door behind us opened. In the opening stood Yugito, Bee and Ganryu-sensei.

"It was a sad day in our history," sensei started, which told us that it was more than likely they all heard my retelling of the story. "Twenty Jonin, 7 ANBU, 14 Chunin, 3 Genin, 35 civilians. All perished that day. It was the worst loss we had since the conclusion of the Civil War. Kaiza was in a complete rampage, and all available ninja were called to prevent further damage and evacuate the closest civilian populations. Thankfully, we were able to keep collateral damage to a minimum and the rebuilding process went smoothly." I simply stared at the wall while sensei talked, not wanting to hear a single thing that flew into my ears. I didn't help considering I heard it anyways.

"I never knew…." Chojuro muttered, a lost look on his face. Looking over to the Kumo jinchuriki, I saw an expression on their face that I never thought I'd see.

Understanding. Looking in their eyes, a wordless conversation convinced me that there were others who understood how I felt about everything….like family. Trying not to cry, I nodded before letting a small smile show at the two Jinchuriki.

"Well….that time is gone and done. Nothing I can do about it but keep going," I resolved, getting an approving glance from Ganryu-sensei. "So, when do we leave?"

"Right now, our boat leaves in three hours." Giving him a crazy look, I scoffed in disbelief at the bomb he just dropped on us.

"Are you serious!?"

"Yes. I received word that Mizukage-sama has another mission for us, which is why we're leaving so early," he explained. Understanding better now, I made an "oh" face trying not to feel too embarrassed. "Don't worry, you can still say your goodbyes. Meet me at the gate entrance in twenty." With that, he exited the hospital room and walked down the hallway to presumably the front gates, leaving the four of us alone.

"So….it's time for you to go," Yugito restated, a twinge of sadness in her eyes. "It would've been exciting to spend a little more time together before you left."

"I agree," I said, smiling at her. "I would've been happy to whoop your tail again." In response, she gave a small grin and narrowed her eyes slightly.

"I would've been delighted to show you who's boss," she returned, sparks forming between our eyes.

"It's whack you gotta go, three," Bee jumped in. "But it won't be long before you see Bee, fool, ya fool!"

"Gotcha!" I promised, actually understanding what he meant for once. After then, I looked back at Chojuro. "Welp….time to go."

"We'll see you off," Yugito offered. The two of us nodding in agreement, we went with the two Kumo ninja to the gate to start our journey back home.

XXXXX

The next morning…

Getting off the boat after barely waking up, I stretched rather dramatically as we returned to the Land of Water. "Come on, we'll likely have to have to go directly back out," Ganryu-sensei directed. Taking in that information, we came along through the lush terrain and misty forestland until we saw the familiar buildings of Kiri. Instead of stopping, we came directly to the Kage building, walking in to the secretary.

"How may I help you?" the lady asked.

"Team Ganryu reporting back from a mission as well as a meeting with the Mizu-Hey, brat!" he said, shouting at me while I walked to Kaa-chan's office.

"She's not busy…." I replied, knowing what time it was. "It'll be better if she doesn't know we're coming." Chojuro and Ganryu-sensei shared a look with each other before they both shook their heads. Snickering, I quietly walked to the room before opening the door without a knock to exactly what I thought I'd see.

Kaa-chan, with three clones doing paperwork, was busy biting on a piece of burnt bacon and messing with similarly charcoal-colored eggs with her fork. Without any reservations whatsoever, I burst out laughing on the spot. Kaa-chan's head snapped up, quickly throwing the burnt food under her desk so fast I thought her hand would fly off.

"Kaiza!" she yowled in surprise, before trying to compose herself. "You're here earlier than I thought you'd be."

"Yup! Had to see how you've been holding up without me!" I responded. "Judging by that horrible breakfast, I'd say not too well." Chojuro and Ganryu-sensei silently snickered beside me as Kaa-chan gave me a look that promised revenge in some way within the foreseeable future.

"Anyways….As much as I would like to give you all time to rest, I have a mission for Kaiza and Chojuro to join on," she informed, making us scratch our heads for a second.

"Mizukage-sama….W-What about Ganryu-sensei?" Chojuro asked.

"Ganryu won't be joining you on this mission, as it is different than what you normally do." No sooner than when she said that, said Jonin sensei saw himself out the door, presumably to go get food or a nap. Sweatdropping, Chojuro and I both turned back to a smiling Mizukage. "Ao!"

"Hai!" Ao said, appearing next to the two of us.

"Ao will be your leader for this mission. This will be an A-ranked mission with two objectives. The first will be to investigate the actions of Gato the shipping magnate in the Land of Waves. If found guilty of anything, I'm trusting your judgement to kill him and salvage his possessions for Kiri. The second….We have received word from spies that Zabuza Momochi is connected with Gato. Thus, your other task will be convincing Zabuza to return to the Hidden Mist as a ninja with all his crimes against the village pardoned." Both of us widened our eyes at the mission task given to us; that was crazy!

"We leave at the gate in 15 minutes. Make sure you're prepared." With that, Ao disappeared in a shunshin, leaving Chojuro and me with Kaa-chan alone. Preparing to walk out the door, I was about to walk out after Chojuro before Kaa-chan called me.

"Kaiza-kun, I'd like to speak to you," she said. Curious, I gave Chojuro a look before he left, closing the door behind him. "I received word from Ganryu about what happened in the Land of Lightning….How are you?"

"I'm….fine," I answered.

"I had planned on keeping this under wraps for now, but I suppose I have no choice since you've already had a run-in with them," Kaa-chan sighed, making me worried and confounded. "Sources have told us of an underground group of ninja that go around doing various tasks. Not only that, they are all apparently S-rank missing ninja, like Kisame. No one knows what their purpose is, but if you ever run into one of them again, do anything you can to get home, understand?" By the end of her sentence, her hands were shaking in what I guess was anxiety and worry.

"I promise, Kaa-chan." Giving her a small smile, I walked over and embraced her in a quick hug. "I'll be back soon!" I told her before going to get my supplies and making my way over to the village gates.

XXXXX

After the relatively short three hour boat ride, we landed in the Land of Waves. "What now?" I asked.

"Now, we go….Hold on…" Ao paused, putting us on edge. Just a few seconds later, we felt a strong presence of chakra a little ways inward. Putting two fingers on his covered Byakugan eye, he activated it. "Come on, there's a battle occuring!" Taking to the trees, we rushed to the scene of the fight.

Hiding in the trees, I stood by to assess the situation, which shocked me. Looking down, I saw four ninja, all with the symbol of Konohagakure, the village hidden in the Leaves. The Jonin, a man with a mask and silver hair, stood over what I made out to be Zabuza himself.

"Can you...see the future?" I heard Zabuza say.

"Yes," the Konoha nin answered. "And your future….is death," he continued, pulling out a kunai. Before he could finish the deed; however, a set of senbon needles came from nowhere, piercing Zabuza in the neck. To all of our shock, someone with a Kiri Hunter-nin mask appeared.

"You were correct that his future was death," the ninja said in a feminine voice. "I have been searching for Zabuza a long time."

"By whose orders?" Ao interrogated, coming out of our hiding spot. Looking to Chojuro, I shrugged before we went out behind the man. Without answering a single thing, the fake Kiri-nin took Zabuza's body before disappearing in a shunshin.

"Well….This mission has taken an interesting turn of events," the Konoha Jonin said before collapsing to the ground.

XXXXX

A/N: Yes, indeed, things have became very interesting, Konoha ninja who should be EXTREMELY obvious but I won't name yet because of trying to keep some form of anonymity to avoid spoilers about a part of the show everyone who watched it should know…..but whatever.

Anyways…..I hope y'all done enjoyed this chapter. Remember to review, fave and follow, and I'll see y'all later!

Blizzard, out!