Pandemonium

by redcristal

She was fated to die, so die she did. After all, she was the Prophecy Girl. Xander's attempt to save her failed. But for Buffy, death is just the beginning of her next adventure. A/N: There is a Poll on my profile, go vote, please.

12. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: Hachimitsu Clan, Medic Duelo, Nurse Nanase belong to - from her story Honey and Kunai. I am only borrowing her OC characters for couple of chapters. Honey and Kunai and its sequel Honey and Kunai II are posted on .

AN: Ah, I just noticed, but Rock Lee is actually spelled Rokku Rī. But I'll continue to use Rock Lee because I've been writing his name like this longer than I know just how it is actually written. But if it will bother readers to much, I'll try to write it that way.

Names, nicknames, family names, techniques, honorifics, countries, towns, titles are written in Japanese.

Chapter 10

***Konoha – hospital***

At the entrance of the hospital, a full-figured female dressed in a plain light cream frock, a white apron with a name tag written in red that signalled her position as Chief Nurse, 'with a white short cap. She had brown eyes and dark brown hair neatly pinned at the back of her cap, two strands of hair reached below her shoulder blades and framed her face.

Said brown eyes sharpened at the figure of Senju Tsunade, who had just arrived.

"Welcome to Konoha, Byōin Senju-sama." The nurse gave a respectful bow. "I am chief of nursing staff of Konoha Byōin. My name is Nanase."

"Call me Tsunade, Nanase-san," was the woman's short reply that brooked no argument. Nanase blinked.

"Very well, Tsunade-sama. Follow me."

"What's the structure of the hospital staff?" Tsunade asked, wondering if anything had changed, and worrying that it hadn't.

"Well," Nanase started, "since it's peacetime, there are a lot more nurses, of which there are four types: Bokenshi is a nursing specialty focused on public health. They assist Iryō-nin with operations, as well as act as medics for civilian injuries. The goals of public health nurses are monitoring the spread of diseases, keeping watch for environmental hazards, educating civilians on how to care for and treat themselves, and train for community disasters."

Tsunade smirked. "Good. Things have improved for the civilian section after the war." I guess sensei took my advice before I left Konoha to take care of civilians as much as his shinobi, Tsunade thought.

"And the other three types?"

"Josan-shi – after the war, the population soared and so did demand for skilled Obstetricians. This is also the reason that they are independent of any organization. A Josan-shi takes care of a pregnant civilian woman or kunoichi with special circumstances during labour and postpartum. They are educated to provide care not only in healthy pregnancies, but surgical and instrumental deliveries in situations which require them as well. They also educate young mothers in child care. To differentiate themselves, Josan-shi wear light green frocks, white aprons and white starched long caps, which cover much of the nurse's hair."

Tsunade nodded. She knew that sometimes pregnant kunoichi had complications – usually female ninjas suffered from uterine rupture or puerperal infections that were caused by their way of living. Not that every pregnancy had those problems. Care for pregnant female jinchūriki and civilian women should not be forgotten either. But Nanase continued with the third type, forestalling Tsunade's musings on pregnancies that she encountered in her life.

"Kankoshi, who often specialize in their field of practice, also assist Josan-shi with paediatric care and in Yamanaka's Psychiatric-mental health program, which was founded by Inoichi-san. They also help Iryō-nin when needed and do administrative work for various fields."

Pausing for breath, Nanase continued, "And lastly, Rejisutādonāsu. They provide care for patients in hospitals and private homes, and others in need of their services due to effects of old age or disability. All around, they are labelled as personal care workers in the health services."

Tsunade frowned. "And Iryō-nin? What is their structure? Or I have to check in with the head Iryō-nin?"

"No, that is unnecessary." Nanase smiled sunnily, showing her cheerful personality that Tsunade knew put her patients at ease. "I made it my business to know everything about the hospital staff structure when I started working, so when I was promoted to Chief of Nursing I didn't need to waste my time learning the ropes in hospital politics."

Tsunade smirked. Atta girl, she thought. She had no doubt that Nurses were in good hands as well as the rest of the staff. If she read Nanase right she led the entire hospital staff, even those that didn't know it. Sneaky girl. She should be a shinobi and not a civilian nurse.

As if Nanase had read Tsunade thoughts, she grinned at the woman, who returned it in equal measure. They were going to get along just fine.

"Chiryō Butai consists of mostly civilian doctors. Some use chakra and some don't – those that don't are highly trained in surgery, pharmacy, optometry, audiology, speech therapy, psychology, dentistry, podiatry, geriatric medicine, acupuncture, naturopathy or dietetics. They are stationed at the hospital full time."

Tsunade hummed. "That is new. Not unwelcome, but new. How did Butai come about?"

Nanase blushed in embarrassment. "Um." She gave Tsunade a sheepish smile.

Tsunade's hazelnut brown eyes glittered in amusement, and she give Nanase a 'go on' gesture with her hand. Sighing, the 22-year-old started to explain how the Chiryō Butai had come into being.

***Hokage's office***

To say that the Sandaime Hokage was surprised when Naruto and Sasuke showed up – or rather, snuck in – to the Sarutobi Ichizoku compound with a strange old man in tow, was an understatement.

The strange man revealed himself to be Uchiha Shisui, who was supposed to be dead by suicide. A very blind Shisui-kun then had a long conversation with his Hokage, while the two genin watched and listened without interruptions. After Shisui's tale unfolded, Hiruzen forgot that they were even there, along with the fact that he had run out of tobacco for the pipe that he was clenching with his teeth.

That his old friend Shimura Danzō had attacked Shisui, and stolen his eye on top of it – the shinobi that could have prevented the coup d'état cooked up by the disgruntled Uchiha elders and Fugaku. Meaning that if Shisui-kun had influenced the ones who were behind the plan, many innocent lives could have been spared, but Danzō had inherited his sensei Tobirama's distrust of Uchiha, just as Hiruzen had inherited Hi no Ishi from Hashirama-sansi.

What was more, Orochimaru had implanted Senju Hashirama's cells into Danzō's arm, along with the Sharingan eyes of the fallen – or more appropriately, murdered – on orders backed with manipulations and threats by Danzō himself. Itachi was just as much a victim in this.

As for payment, Danzō had enabled Orochimaru to run around unnoticed in Konoha. Orochimaru had also received updates on Konoha's security form their sleeper agents in other countries.

Now the question was what should he do? No, he took the question back. He knew what he had to do.

Danzō had crossed the line. He was aiding and abetting a known criminal in attacking Konoha, and doing so knowingly. Danzō might even be fooling himself that he was making Konoha strong by doing what he was doing, and Hiruzen might have turned a blind eye in previous years.

However, that had ended. He was done doing that. Danzō had become a threat to Konoha, his village, the village that was entrusted to Hiruzen by Senju Tobirama, the Nidaime Hokage.

One thing was obvious, however; he was way too old for this shit.

So he'd solve the problem named Danzō, and then he'd retire. Hiruzen leaned back in his chair. And now he had another possible candidate for the position.

He smiled.

***Konoha's main gates***

Kochō's team had just neared the gates of Konoha. In fact, the two eternal chūnin, Kotetsu and Izumo, were manning the reception desk.

Haku frowned when he saw that one of the chūnin was slumped over the table and the other had propped his legs up on the table.

"Don't let it bother you, Haku."

"Kochō?"

Rolling her shoulders, the purple-haired girl craned her neck a bit. "They might appear lazy, but they are not chūnin level for nothing." Then she grinned. "However, they are bored out of their minds. Perhaps I should tell Naruto, hmm?"

The last was said deliberately louder, and just as Kochō had expected, there was an instant reaction from Izumo. He appeared before her in a quick shunshin, waving his arms frantically about.

"EHHHH. No nope, no, no, no. There is no need; we are fine here, thank you, Kochō-chan!"

"Hey Izumo," interrupted Tekuno, who had turned around when he felt the familiar chakra presence appear in a shunshin. Then he turned back to the gates and greeted in a louder voice, "Hey Kotetsu!"

"Tekuno!" Kotetsu sat straighter from where he had been slumped over the table napping, while Izumo had been keeping half an eye on the entrance.

Kochō lightly bumped Haku's shoulder with hers. "Hence why he heard me and appeared so quickly," she murmured to the slightly taller boy. Haku's lips twitched in amusement while Yakumo giggled behind her hand.

"Now that was mean, Kochō-chan," grumbled Izumo crossly.

"Hey, you are usually having fun when Naruto is about," replied Kochō defensively, folding her hands.

Izumo adjusted his bandana a bit. "Why yes, but only when we are not the target."

Yakumo looked from her team mate to the chūnin like she was watching tennis match. "I do not understand. What did Naruto do?" she asked while looking at Haku.

"I don't know, Yakumo-chan," he answered with a puzzled frown between his eyebrows.

"Eh, the little brat pulled a masterful prank on some people. And a couple of chūnin were chasing him …"

"And you two rolled yourself off the roof laughing your asses off, where you were watching the whole thing," Kochō finished, smiling.

"Yep, and we hadn't even told the other chūnin. I think his name was Mizuki or something. He is in jail now anyway, just where the little blonde hellion was hiding."

While Kotetsu was telling Team Tekuno some of Naruto's exploits while he had still been in the Academy, Tekuno was chatting with Kotetsu.

"Still sleeping on the job, Kotetsu?" Takuno smiled at his former teammate. "Anyway, I haven't yet introduced my Genin teammates to my former teammates, have I?" he asked, scratching his cheek in embarrassment.

Kotetsu's eyes widened so that they covered half his face. "Eh? You have a Genin team?"

"Yes."

"Can't believe that?" He was positively bugged eyed still. Tekuno almost rolled his eyes at his friend's antics.

"Really?" Tekuno grumbled. "What's more unbelievable is that strip of bandage across the bridge of your nose."

"No dishing my rugged looks. The ladies love it."

"Right," Tekuno drawled, while Kotetsu stroke a pose that he probably thought was alluring to the ladies, as he had said.

Kotetsu's pose wilted. "Why such surprised faces?" he grumbled. Then he shot a look at his fellow chūnin, who was having an animated conversation with two of Tekuno's genin and Kochō-chan.

"Nothing. Just…" Tekuno trailed off.

"What?"

But instead of answering, Tekuno turned to his genin team and motioned them forward. His team and Izumo did just that without breaking their conversation.

"Like I said…" Tekuno started smiling. "This is my genin team." He put his palm on the only boy in said team.

"This is Yuki Haku of Yuki Ichizuku." Then he put both his hands on his female students' heads.

"And this is Kurama Yakumo and Shunran Kochō. Team, these two are my teammates from my own genin days, Hagane Kotetsu and Kamizuki Izumo."

***Shunran household***

"Mom, I'm home!" Kochō yelled from the doorway where she had just put her ninja sandals after giving them a quick clean up. Then she put her house slippers on and entered the kitchen.

"Oh, Okaerinasai Kochō. Did your mission go well?"

"Very well. And mom?"

"Yes, dear?"

"I uh, signed one of the lost Great Summoning contracts, I think?"

"What?"

"Well, one summon was the size of whole castle, so I think it's a Great Summoning Contract, not one of the minor ones. I think?"

Koyuki sat down hard, thinking, first that conversation with Tsunade-hime and now this.

"Which animal, Kochō-chan?"

"Chameleons."

"Oh, who let you sign it?"

"It was a spur of the moment kind of thing." She really did not want to say a ghost had done it. She really did not want to freak her mom more than she already had just now. On the other hand, her mother seemed distracted and she was making more food than usual.

"I found it in a castle that the previous summoner set up as a trap, and to save ourselves from being eaten by said summon I signed it and sent Shiromari, the chameleon, home. Mom, is something going on?"

"My parents and siblings are coming to dinner."

"Oh," Kochō mumbled. She loved her grandparents, she really did, but that was not something that Kura-Ojīchan and Natsu Obāchan did. "So should I tell Yakumo-chan and Haku-kun that they can't come to dinner today?"

"Ah no, that's not necessary. They are your teammates. Besides, I sent invitations to Hayate-san and Naruto-kun as well."

"This will be one of those formal things, right Hahaoya-sama?"

"Yes." She frowned at her daughter's use of the overly formal title, who just gave her a cheeky grin. Then she returned equal cheek.

"Chōjo-kun."

"Mommmmmmm."

"You started it."

"Nah, grandfather did, and I am your only daughter."

"Not for long."

"What?"

"Well, I'm pregnant. You'll be big sister. Chōnan ane."

"Oh." After a few seconds, there was another wail from Kochō, along with Koyuki's laughter.

"No but seriously, Ka-chan, I'll be a big sister. Do you know already?"

"No, and I haven't told your Otōsan yet either. Or mine. I'll tell them after dinner, along with other things."

"What other things?"

"Just something that Tsunade-hime pointed out to your grandparents, me and your Otōsan." At her daughter's worried frown, Koyuki hurried to reassure her eldest child.

"It's nothing bad or really urgent. Just something that we were hoping would never come up."

"Is this, whatever it is, something to do with how Uzuki came to Konoha?" Kochō asked, then frowned, remembering. "Because I kind of remember Ojīchan grumbling about old coots of the relatives. But he is the oldest relative that I have in Konoha, so I figured that …" She trailed off.

Koyuki sighed. So much for thinking that her daughter would fail to notice. It was kind of endearing that despite her emerging birthright power, she was very much a kunoichi at heart.

"You are not wrong, and that is all I'll say about this. Now about the contract you signed, when you summon for the first time, it is better if there is another summoner that holds one of the Great Contracts as well."

"Oh? So if Naruto is with me, because he has the Toad Contract, that's all right?"

"Yes, Kochō-chan. That will be all right."

***Ame***

Meanwhile, on the balcony of one of the tallest buildings in Amegakure, a man stood in a billowing Akatsuki cloak under heavy rain and as ominous thunder sounded.

"Losing Kakuzu was a heavy blow to our plans," he commented to his two companions who stood behind him.

"We lost our treasurer," a woman with a light blue origami flower in her short, straight blue hair, commented in an emotionless voice, her grey eyes half lidded on her pale face.

The first man looked at her from the corner of his eye, while thunder illuminated the swirly orange mask with one eye that he wore on his face, spinning tomoe on a red background pinning her in place. Not that it had any effect on Ame no Tenshi. It wasn't the first time that the supposed Madara had given her the Sharingan glare. Itachi-san was more impressive, she thought privately.

"Nevertheless, we won't change our plans," Madara stated.

"I never suggested we should. Pain-sama…" She turned to the other form, a puppet corpse of Yahiko, a sight that always sort of unnerved her. Mostly because she wasn't sure Yahiko himself would approve of what Akatsuki had become, in his name. But Nagato was so sure of their path and she had to, just had to, support him with all her being, her very soul and heart. He was all that she had left.

"A potential replacement for Orochimaru has been found, and like him, he is originally from Konoha."

"Oh?" Tendō turned to her, awaiting the rest. Konan blinked her lidded grey eyes, concealing the slight wistfulness that instead of the purple ripple pattern of the Rinnengan gaze, she met blue eyes under spiky orange hair. And heard his stupid laugh again.

"The nukenin's name is Hiruko. He is a former friend of the Konoha's Densetsu no Sannin."

"And the search for Kakuzu's replacement?" Tendō asked with Yahiko's voice, and so Konan continued to lay down the information she had gathered. She, not Zetsu, because he was currently busy with that Jashin follower, whose personality frankly repulsed her. Yet another she would have to observe quietly, just as she was observing Madara, as to how to defeat them for good if they showed to be a threat to Nagato.

Madara turned away like some sort sullen child. He was always like that, Konan thought, so unlike the other Uchiha she knew. Itachi was always hard to read, Madara not so much.

Which made her doubt Madara's identity. And most of all, Itachi-san reminded her so much of Yahiko. Not their personality, no – they could not be more different in that regard. But there was something alike in them that she could not explain.

Konan remembered her background check on Uchiha Itachi when he had joined their organization. She was always doing her own checks, independent of the ones Zetsu did. And something about Itachi bothered her, besides that 'something' not being the fact that he had apparently wiped out his entire Clan. No, there was something elusive.

"There is a kunoichi that goes by the name Fūka and is not currently affiliated with anyone; really, I'd hardly call her human, as she is more like Sasori."

"Very well," Tendō intoned. "I'll send members to recruit both shinobi. If they join, Hiruko will receive the ring of Kūdō, since Orochimaru hasn't returned the ring of Kū. And Fūka will get Kakuzu's Hoku ring."

That will make their numbers – if the two shinobi joined – nine members. Meaning they would need one more.

"Hoshigaki Kisame and Uchiha Itachi's whereabouts?" Tendō asked, turning to Madara.

Madara went to the balcony his coat flaring dramatically as the storm raged outside. "Zetsu informs me that they have confirmed the locations of the Ichibi in Suna – I'll give that assignment to Sasori – Nibi and Hachibi in Kumo, the Sanbi will be reforming for three years since we tried to seal it prematurely, the Yonbi and Gobi are somewhere in Iwa – I'll look for our last member from there – and the Rokubi and Nanabi's whereabouts are still unknown. The Kyūbi is sealed in a 12 year old boy in Konoha."

Tendō nodded. "I'll reroute Kisame and Itachi to gather information on the Kyūbi, and apprehend him if possible."

Konan give the Deva path a questioning look. "It'll be easier if we imprison the Kyūbi until we need to extract it," Tendō elaborated.

Madara gave a short nod and command.

"Do it." then Madara disappeared in a swirling distortion coming from his exposed eye. Leaving Konan and Tendō standing alone on the balcony.

***Konoha***

Naruto was slightly panicking. He and Haku had been invited to a formal dinner at the Shunran family home. The clan was far too small to have a clan head, but Masaru-jisan did have a lot of say in the workings of the clan. It helped that the clan didn't glare at him as much as it did when he came around for the first time.

One day the cold eyes were there, then they were replaced by some confused looks and some measuring, and then they started to treat Naruto like any other child.

Anyway, the formal dinner meant that he had to pull out that one outfit that unfortunately had no orange. The outfit consisted of trouser wide blue hakama, with a wide white obi with black stitching, and black montsuki kimono adorned with white Uzumaki swirls atop white nagajuban and long white Haori on top. Haku wore a slate gray Karusan-bakama with blue and white obi, and slate grey kimono, but he had forgone a Haori.

When Naruto and Haku arrived at the Shunran doorstep, Yakumo was already there, wearing a purple furisode with little white and gold butterflies and pink cherry blossoms. Her brown hair was pulled up in a side bun tied with kazeshini adorned with tiny silver butterflies and leaves, with only a thin strand of hair falling on her left shoulder, framing the side of her face.

Haku, fought the urge to laugh at Naruto's expression when Kochō opened the door, her hair in a bun held by hairpins and wearing a pretty two-toned furisode of spring green that faded to a burnished orange weave pattern at the top. On the green bottom and sleeves fluttered tiny purple and orange butterflies between falling red rose petals.

"Hey guys, glad you made it," Kochō greeted them from the doorway, motioning the two boys and the girl inside with her hands. "Oh, and you guys look great and snazzy. That is a lovely furisode, Yakumo-chan!"

Yakumo blushed and hid her smile in her kimono's long sleeve. "Thank you, Kochō-chan."

Naruto blushed, and then rubbed the back of his head. "You too, Kochō-chan."

"Huh, you're just saying that because it has orange aren't you?" She pouted.

Naruto, however, totally panicked and started to fidget and yell. "Ehhh! Dattebayo! Not that orange is not awesome -ttebayoo. Because it is -ttebyoo!" Then he forcibly calmed himself. "I meant that you look pretty, Kochō-chan, no matter if in you are in your ninja outfits or formal gear."

Kochō blinked. "Wow …" She paused; she hadn't expected that quick turn from panic to suave. "Thank you, Naruto."

Naruto smiled.

"Well well, Kochō-chan, won't you introduce us to your special friend and teammates?" came a male voice from behind the teens, who turned to face an older couple from the Third Hokage's generation.

The man wasn't wearing a kimono, Naruto observed, but some other kind of formal wear. He wore a crimson full length shimmering robe with side slits below the waist revealing black pants. It had wide sleeves trimmed with dark blue embroidery, rendering dragons in gold thread. He also wore his salt-and-pepper hair long, like a Hyūga.

The old woman, who had less silver in her dark maroon hair, wore a blue hōmongi, decorated by sakura branches in a full bloom pattern that flowed over the shoulders, seams and sleeves.

Kochō nodded. "Of course, Sofu-sama." Then she pointed in turn. "This is Yuki Haku, Kurama Yakumo and Uzumaki Naruto. Everyone, these are my grandparents, Uzuki Natsunoyo and Gāoguì Kuragarimaru."

***Konoha's hospital***

A clicking of high heels was heard on the sterile grey-colored hallways with rows of white doors of Konoha's hospital.

"And here are recovery rooms where heavily injured nin recover after surgeries or chakra exhaustion," a head Iryō joshu named Nanase said, her otherwise cheerful disposition schooled in a mien of professionalism.

Tsunade was inspecting the General, and only, hospital of Konoha, seeing if they could spare a medic that could permanently teach Iryō-ninjutsu in the Academy. She had finally convinced her sensei to get her old program started.

That was good.

What wasn't good was that there were far too many Iryō-nin only by name, namely civilians that used chakra to heal and who could rattle off laws she had set up years ago, during war time. And none of them had even the capability to allow them to affect the third clause.

'Only those medic ninja who have mastered the Ninpō Sōzō Saisei — Byakugō no Jutsu and Sōzō Saisei are permitted to discard the above-mentioned laws.'

But perhaps Sasuke, who had already asked to be trained by her as her apprentice, would be able to. And if not, he would at least know the technique just as Shizune did, even if she was unable to use it. Then she would teach the technique to the rest of Sasuke's friends – after all, Naruto and Kochō could use it as well. There was also potential in those Haku and Haruno kids, but Haruno was already slated to be Mitarashi Anko's apprentice.

Thinking about the brats, her thoughts went to the fight with Kakuzu that she had participated in, and her sequent discovery that one of Kakashi's brats had unknowingly used Seishinryoku. As a result of that, Tsunade had had a long talk with Kochō's parents and grandparents. And after a long debate, they had agreed with her plan of action.

So she had written a message to Oni no Kuni Takai nisō of the emergence of a Seishin user in the ranks of Konoha shinobi who needed instruction. It had taken a lot of assurances on Tsunade's part that she personally knew Miroku well. And Tsunade's knowledge of that great old emotional wound that Miroku's great grandmother had inflicted by banishing her grandson because he had fallen in love with and, worse in the eyes of Oni court, married a kunoichi from Hoshigakure no Sato. Not that Hasuhime, the previous Oni no Kuni court Huánghòu, had wanted one of her twin sons banished from the country. No, it was all politics.

During old Huánghòu Hasuhime's time, when she ruled, if the current ruler didn't have a daughter to inherit the power and the title, the son, or twin sons as the case was, had to marry miko of highest ability. Chakra wielders or kunoichi were out of the question.

However, now that Miroku, the daughter of the twin brother, ruled Oni no Kuni, things were a bit different. Besides, the courtiers of the country didn't need to know that Shunran Kochō and Miroku's daughter, Shion, were second cousins.

The Senju medic also warned Shunran Ichizoku that if steps were not taken to help their daughter control Seishin-ryoku, which would only grow stronger, that very rare power would end up harming her. This was confirmed by the girl's maternal grandfather, and so a messenger hawk was sent to Head priestess Huang-Yuèguāng Miroku.

***Sky above Konoha – training grounds***

As Tsunade tuned back to the Head Nurse, the scroll was being carried by Jinsoku, a messenger hawk. He was one of the few messenger hawks that could use wind chakra, and thus was a very fast flyer. It was beautiful day for the young raptor bird.

Songbirds were chirping and the sun was shining through the leaves. Maito Gai and his student, the greatest fan of youth that Gai had the pleasure to teach – Rock Lee.

"Yosh, Lee. I have decided to grant my youthful student a youthful opportunity."

"Gai sensei!"

"Lee!"

"Gai sensei!"

And with quick beats of his wings, Jinsoku left that madness behind.

"Did you see that youthful hawk? Such speed!"

"Yes Gai-sensei! Let us run so that we may be as youthfully fast as that youthful hawk." Then Gai paused.

"Lee, before we do that, I think it's time, my youthful student."

Lee fell to his knees and pulled out writing pad and a pen, patiently awaiting his sensei's wisdom.

"As you know," Gai started, "my hip and eternal rival Kakashi has a summoning contract."

"Hai, Gai-sensei!" Lee nodded, while furiously scribbling Gai's words on his pad.

"Originally I wanted to wait …" Gai trailed off, and then gave his student thumbs up and a blinding smile.

"But you, Lee, are at the peak of your YOUTHHHHH!" Here he teared up a little, along with Lee.

"Gai-sensei!"

"And so, sign this, Lee."

Lee's already big round eyes went positively bug-eyed. "This is..."

Gai rubbed his eyes. "Yes, Lee. It is a Ningame summoning contract."

Lee started to bawl happy tears, but he did sign the contract and pressed the bloody palmprint on the scroll.

"Right, now the hand signs are Boar → Dog → Bird → Monkey → Ram." As he talked, Gai went through the hand signs, bit his thumb and slapped his hand to the ground. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"

But before Lee could try it, Idate ran into the clearing, "Gai-sensei, Lee, our team has a mission. C-rank escort from Mitsu no Kuni to Konaha. We need to get to the Assignment desk to receive our mission scroll."

"Yosh, I'll go grab Neji at the Hyūga compound. You two go to the Hokage's tower, and we'll do this mission quickly because I want to nominate my team for the Chūnin Exam."

"Right, if we don't get there before you I'll do two thousand push-ups!" Lee exclaimed, while Idate sighed.

"You two do that." Gai sensei nodded, and Idate wilted.

***Shunran household***

Meanwhile the family dinner at the Shunran household was nearing its end. At least, as far as eating was concerned.

"Kochō." Kuragarimaru interrupted his granddaughter's explanation to her friends about her summoning contract and how she would need the Uzumaki's help with it, but he really needed to tell the kids, even if the three additional ones were not related, since this did impact them as well. When he saw that all the teens had their attention on him, he continued.

"And other assorted gakis at the table. Now is the time for a history lesson."

Cue the groaning and whining from the Uzumaki brat. Really, personality-wise even the slowest person should be able to figure out just to whom he was related to before even hearing the boy's verbal tic or family name. He still chuckled at the stupefied look his son-in-law had worn when he came out of the Hokage tower all that time ago.

After that, Naruto was around more often, much to the Shunran civilian populace's irritation. To have some fun time, Kuragarimaru took it into his own hands to correct that. Since his son in law, Masaru, was too stupefied to shut the idiots down, he got the Yondaime Hokage's picture and started to yell 'Dattebanee!". When asked why he was doing that, he answered, 'I am impersonating Uzumaki Naruto.' The silence that followed was deafening. Also, the people present had those entertaining expressions when they figured it out.

Fun times.

"Now, I am from Oni no Kuni, my wife is from Hoshigakure no Sato, and by Oni court law we are not even married."

Taking in the round eyes on the small faces, he resisted the urge to cackle. Oh yeah, this would be fun.

***Tori no Kuni***

At the border of Tori no Kuni, a man stood overlooking a tranquil settlement where the daimyō Ōwashi ruled his lands.

He was here, under the pretext of trade he had travelled to this land with his servants, guards and his only daughter. They all were being entertained by the Tori damiyō and his twin children Saki and Toki, who were the same age as Karen, his daughter. But in reality his reason was information her received from his contacts: a clan of wandering Watari shinobi were hiding here.

Alamond shaped dark yellow eyes narrowed, "Hello, Hōki," he intoned when he sensed a presence behind him. Turning around slightly to behold the shinobi behind him made his messy layered black hair, pulled in a messy bun, sway with his movement.

Hōki was, if you took the facial paint away, a pretty plain-looking man compared to his companion. He had an oval face with a bit of brown beard, short brown hair, and plain looking features. Even his ninja outfit was plain and forgettable.

"It doesn't matter who you are, stranger," Hōki said, "but you discovered something that doesn't concern you. Die! Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!"

With that, he expelled a massive orb of roaring fire from his mouth that barreled toward the black clad, black haired man. Yellow eyes narrowed at the fireball with masked contempt.

"Futile," muttered the man, then drew his sword and repelled the fire technique with a swing of the blade. "I didn't come here to waste time fighting." He then sheathed his sword, his narrowed yellow eyes never leaving the now-surprised shinobi before him.

"My name is Hachimitsu Akuzetsu." He introduced himself, and then the corner of his lips twitched at the irony of his words. "And I am in need of the skills of you and your two companions, Hokushin and Nagare."

Hōki straightened. "Hachimitsu?" He muttered. Then his eyes widened, trailing over the black outfit. Sure enough, the man was wearing a black hanbok and not a kimono, but what drew the leader of Watari ninja was a hair stick in the man's hair, a Rose Gold Bee Binyeo secured in the messy bun.

How could he have missed that, when it shined in contrast to the man's dark hair? This bineyo, everyone in the outer countries knew what it meant; it proclaimed the man as a son of the current Hachimitsu Matriarch. What was more surprising, though, was that the man lacked the typical gold and silver stitch patterns on his black hanbok. In fact, he was sure the hanbok consisted of dark sleeves. This man just wore a long open black vest – a jokki is what they called them – and nothing underneath.

"From the Hachimisu Ichizuku of Mitsu no Kuni?" Hōki asked to confirm his thoughts.

"Obviously," confirmed Akuzetsu. "In exchange, and compensation, because you'll have to disengage from the scam that you are running here, I offer the position of Mitsukage to you as well as ten million ryo as payment."

"I see," muttered Hōki. This was tempting since he and his two partners were getting tired of wandering. Besides, Hachimitsu were all very rich, and with the money they could set themselves as damiyōs far richer than Ōwashi, damiyō of Tori no Kuni.

"I'll have to meet with my two companions to discuss this development," Hōki said, though he could feel Nadare's chakra in the ground. They still needed to meet and discuss it.

Akuzetsu nodded. "That is fine. I'll be at the Tori palace, you can contact me there." And with that, he disappeared in a black smoke shunshin.

"Nagare," Said Hōki, and suddenly a shape separated from the rock formation, its texture no different than the stone from which that human shape emerged. As marbled chunks started to fall, it revealed the tan skin of a large broad man. Everything about his shape was square and broad. He had a broad and square face under the black hair, tiny black eyes, a square and wide nose under a very weird square hat that was tied under his chin. Even his clothes only enhanced his broadness.

"You heard?" he asked the newly-revealed man, Nagare.

Nagare give a short nod. "Yes." His voice was gravelly, like pebbles rubbing on each other.

Hōki cupped his chin, thinking. On the one hand, they hadn't yet put their third plan of getting close to Damiyō of this land in action, to poison him and his son Saki so they could take over the land.

"Well then, I suppose it could not hurt. We can always return later, richer."

"Yes," Nagare agreed. "I'll inform Hokushin."

"There is no need," a voice said. The men turned around to see the third member in charge of wandering ninja Hokushin. As much as his companion Nagare and leader Hōki were plain and unremarkable looking, Hokushin's shoulder length, pale sky blue hair framing a delicately handsome face with black eyes, made for a striking appearance.

"So…" Hokushin shot a sly look at his leader "What was the third-born son of the Hachimitsu matriarch doing here?"

"You know something we don't?" Nagare asked, looking at his partner. He was always like this, so dramatic.

"Now that you mention it, yes I do."

While the Watari ninja were discussing their possible client, Akuzetsu arrived back at the palace gardens, where his daughter was having tea with Toki and Saki in the pavilion.

In Akuzetsu's opinion, the Hanbok that his daughter Karen wore was far more practical and appealing than the jūnihitoe that Toki-hime was wearing. Karen was always pretentious when it came to her looks. She made sure her hair was neatly braided and that the hair extensions augmented into her hair looked natural so that they could neatly hold her gold honeycomb binyeo with the pink, green and yellow gems.

He had an idea that the tomboyish woman, Toki, regularly switched with her twin brother when it came to martial arts. He wasn't blind to it, but sometimes he wished Karen was more into training like Toki, and less into her looks. Sometimes he really wished his wife would give him a son, someone to follow in his footsteps and perhaps set up with Toki-hime.

This Toki-hime, he would have liked to welcome her into the family, as a daughter of course. Now if he had a son, she'd make a perfect daughter-in-law. He just knew it, something about Toki-hime when she was angry reminded him a little of Mi-hi.

***Konoha's training grounds***

Four days after the dinner and history of Kochō-chan's jiji's revelation, Naruto was sitting with his former teammate, showing her how to summon.

"See, bite your thumb like this, do hand signs…" With that, he ran through the seals, naming each and every one of them, while Kochō mirrored his actions. "Boar → Dog → Bird → Monkey → Ram!" And then both teens slammed their bloody palms to the ground, kanji spreading outward in web like patterns.

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"

Two puffs of smoke appeared, and when they cleared, there was a horse-sized green toad with black spots, wearing the necklace with kanji for 'Ryōji'.

"Oh, hello Naruto."

"Hi Amachan –ttebayoo!"

While the toad and her summoner were greeting each other, the chameleon summon was observing Kochō, as much as she was observing the lizard, which was of typical chameleon shape but the size of a cat.

"So you are our new summoner," the chameleon said. "I must say, you are not formidable."

Kochō snorted. She couldn't help herself. She…he…whatever sex the lizard was, sounded so, so prissy, like that golden robot from that Star Wars movie, with the name she forgot.

The chameleon cocked its head, its eyes observing the girl who was holding back laughter for whatever reason, but there was no malice coming from the girl and it appeared that their new summoner was on friendly terms with summoner of the Toads.

Interesting, perhaps, but no, she still needed to be observed to see if she was worthy of their loyalty.

"So, ehm, what's your name?" Kochō asked when she had managed to control herself.

"Seihai."

"Pleased to meet you, Seihai." Kochō's lips twitched, then she frowned. After all, Kubisaki had wanted his personal summon to get home. Now what was its name …

"Is," she started, hoping she'd remembered the name correctly, "Shiromari all right?"

Seihai's mouth dropped open in surprise. How did she know that name? In her surprise she asked that question out loud, and only realized that when Kochō answered.

"From Kubisaki Kōza-kyou." She purposely added a very archaic honorific to the name, since Kubisaki was some sort of Lord, or was he a warrior type of damiyō?

"It was he who led me to the summoning contract. He said his last wish before his spirit, his soul moved on, was to send Shiromari home."

"Eh! Soul–ttebayoo!" squeaked Naruto, wide eyed.

"Well, yes. Kubisaki-kyou was dead for decades." Then she sighed. "Seriously Naruto, what is your problem with lost souls?"

Naruto tilted his head curiously. "Lost souls?"

"Ghosts," deadpanned Kochō. "Don't be scared."

"Who is scared dattabayoo." Naruto jumped to his feet. "Er, he is gone now, right?"

"Yes, Naruto." Then she turned to the amphibians and a lizard. "Ah, anyway Naruto, this is Seihai. Seihai-san, this is Uzumaki Naruto and..." She trailed off, not knowing the toad's name, but Naruto seamlessly continued.

"Amachan."

Seihai blinked. Now that was surprising. It appeared that their contract scroll was not signed because it had somehow been stolen. Well, that changed things.

"Kochō-sama." She called Kochō's attention to her, but the girl showed no reaction to her using the honorific. Curious, in a good way.

"I need to report my findings to Tokageroiyaru-heika. Please summon me again in an hour."

Kochō checked the position of the sun and then nodded, and Seihai disappeared in chakra smoke.

"Well, that went well," said Naruto, and then thanked Amachan, who smiled and puffed back to Mount Myōboku.

"Now I need to figure out to whom I should give the Butterfly summoning Contract," muttered Kochō, rubbing her hand tiredly across her eyes. "My first thought was Shino, but I am unsure since I wanted to give the Snow Leopard Contract to Hinata."

"You could give it to Ino," suggested Naruto.

"Not that I'd mind, but why not Choji? After all, there is some sort of connection between the Akimichi clan and butterflies."

***Yamakaka's flower shop – 'Yamanaka Hana'***

Ino was watching over 'Yamanaka Hana' the shop her clan ran in the village. Now, while this was not the only flower shop in Konoha, it was by far the biggest with the largest pick of flowers and plants. But today was slow day, and she was absentmindedly flipping through a magazine when the doorbell chimed, signaling that a customer had entered the shop.

"Welcome, Kokyaku-sama!" she greeted with a smile. "Ah, it's you. Hi!" she said, slumping back to normal.

"Hi, Ino," greeted Kochō. Then she pulled a scroll from somewhere and gave it to her.

"What is this?" asked Ino, looking over the scroll.

"A scroll." Kochō smiled, earning an annoyed look from the platinum blonde.

"I can see that," She griped, and then started to unroll it.

Kochō giggled when Ino's one visible eye widened and her mouth dropped open.

"Careful, Ino-chan, you'll catch flies."

"This is…" Ino stared at the now-open scroll, opening and closing her mouth and making some squeaky noises.

"Well," drawled the purple haired girl, her eyes darkening to amber color in mirth at her usually outspoken friend. "This is the first time something's rendered you completely speechless."

"A summoning contract?" squawked Ino, like some of those squeak toys that Inuzuka puppies were so fond of chewing.

Kochō giggled. "She talks!" she snarked.

"Why?"

"Why I am giving it to you?" Ino nodded, still staring at the scroll.

"Yamanaka Ino," she said sharply, and sure enough the pupil-ess green eyes snapped up to her golden ones. Then she grinned.

"Meet Hisui."

And with that a bright green little lizard with big red eyes, no bigger than Ino's earlobe, blinked into existence on Kochō's shoulder. Its mouth stretched in a smile that somehow managed to look cute, and it waved with its front foot.

"He is my Kyōhan." She smiled. Who would have thought that Chameleons operated differently from Toads, Slugs and Snake Summons? Kyōhan was sort of a familiar, a companion or as she put it to Hisui, partner in crime. That had made the little lizard laugh so hard that he had fallen over, and that was about the only sound he made. But his expressions and gestures spoke volumes. He could also summon others if she was unable to for whatever reason.

"I signed the Chameleon Summoning contract a while ago, but I also found two others, and butterflies fit you."

"Okay, okay, geez, Kochō-chan, don't you need to breathe?" Ino smiled. "But thank you."

"You're welcome."

"I am signing it now," Ino said, determined, drawing blood with a kunai and signing the contract. "Now what?"

"Now you do the following signs …" Kochō instructed, showing and naming them, while Ino ran through them and then …

Ino slapped her palm on the table and, "-no Jutsu!"

There was a puff of smoke and a dark, vivacious brown butterfly the size of a plate appeared.

"Yo!" it waved with its antennae.

"Hi," Ino replied. "I'm Yamanaka Ino."

"I'm Bara! Looking forward with working with ya! Give us a call when needed! Need to tell the swarms that we have a summoner! Bye!" And with that the insect disappeared.

"Well, that went well."

And after that successful summoning, both girls went in search of Hinata.

***Mitsu no Kuni***

Team Gai arrived in Mitsu no Kuni and were currently sitting before the Hachimitsu matriarch, who was decked out in a very formal Hanbok. Her dark red dangui jeogori shirt had white embroidered sleeves decorated in gold leaves. Her chima skirt was a dark black with the same gold leaves embroidered on the hems. Her golden brown hair, shot with silver strands, was held back in a large intricate bun with Gold Amber Honey Dipper Binyeo keeping the hair styled together. On top of her head she wore a gold flower pronouncing her closeness to the previous Matriarch.

Beside Kisaki-mama sat a petite girl dressed in silk navy blue chima with gold flowers lining the hems. Her jeogori shirt was silk, soft light pink with gold on the sleeve cuffs. Her curious round honey-colored eyes on her fair oval shaped face searched the faces of Konoha's ninja, stopping over and over again at Morino Idate, like she could not believe he was there. Her name was Hachimitsu Hachiko, with hair of similar color to the matriarch, only hers was braided and tied off with a navy ribbon with gold designs. Atop her head she wore a headband tiara with gold flowers, honeycomb pieces with glittering amber gems and pearls, proclaiming her an heiress to Hachimitsu Ichizuku.

"So it is agreed upon," Kisaki mama said, watching the shinobi before her.

"Yes, we'll do our utmost best to escort the Hachimitsu clan to their Konoha compound."

"Yes." They stood up. "Preparations for travel are complete. We can leave at once." Kisaki mama and her heiress turned and left the room.

"Yosh, we'll arrive in Konoha in three days," Gai-sensei exclaimed.

Idate agreed with that assessment. After all, while they, ninja, could travel from Konoha to here in a couple of hours, civilians needed from two to three days to travel the path from Mitsu no kuni to Konoha.

***Oni no Kuni – Central palace***

Pale pupils in lavender eyes were observing the palace guard doing drills in the courtyard. It was funny how she was a ruler, a priestess, but she was watching men and women warriors with various long and short swords, polearms, various chains and beaded weapons, projectile weapons from bow and arrow to Huǒchòng to various types of crossbows.

"Takai nisō," came a voice from behind. "Nǚshì Suisei is here."

"Let her in." Dark purple silk rustled, and the woman turned away from the court and warriors at practice, walking to her room. A servant girl went to let Traveling Miko in, then left them alone.

As soon as the door quietly closed, Nǚshì Suisei formally addressed the High Priestess and Empress of Oni no Kuni.

"Huang-Yuèguāng Miroku," she intoned, giving a formal bow, kneeling on one knee, right hand on top of the left so her clasped hands reaching forward, eyes lowered and head bowed.

Miroku just inclined her head. "Did your travels go well, Nǚshì?"

"Yes, I resided in Mitsu no Kuni with my Xuétú Hachimitsu Hachiko."

"Good, good." She sat down on an ornate chair made of Purplewood, while Suisei stood up and took a seat across Miroku, and finally the two women could regard one another.

Miroku was wearing a full-length hanfu made from dark purple silk that appeared black, a cross collar tied to the right so that her snow white under garment was visible, the hems and wide long sleeves with wide cuffs that were decorated with flying dragons and bellflowers in golden thread. Her hanfu was tied with a white and gold sash. She wore her light brown hair loose.

In contrast, Lady Suisei wore her traditional dress of Traveling Miko, a white hitoe with wide red sode-kukuri through the sleeves and open shoulders were attached to each lapel and tied in front to keep the garment closed, along with a bright crimson nagabakama with slits on the side. Her dark sapphire eyes were striking under her long, snow white hair, which was tied back in a low ponytail with a red ribbon.

"It's been years since we last saw each other, Suisei, ever since we were both novices at the Tàiyáng yuèliàng shéndiàn."

"Yes, well, I've been traveling. I live on borrowed time. That is one of the reasons why I came to see you."

Miroku was startled. Suisei, as a Miko, even not born with Seishinryoku like Miroku was, had a longer lifespan than normal women would have.

Granted, she'd had a run in with the rogue Sanin years ago and had been run through with his sword, Kusanagi no Tsurugi. The only thing that had saved Lady Suisei then was the quick thinking of Kuroyama Duelo. In fact, Suisei taking on his daughter as an apprentice was partly her way of thanking him for saving her life. That, and together they took Kaguya no Hana, or Mūnfurawā, away from him. What happened to that rare, or rather nearly extinct, flower Miroku did not know.

For Suisei to live on borrowed time, however, that meant that her summons were helping their mistress extend her life by collecting their remaining chakra in her dying body. There were couple of reasons for this to happen, sealing with one's life force. The same type of sealing that Miroku herself had used only a month ago on Mōryō and his Yūreigun.

"The being I sealed," Suisei interrupted her friend and High Priestess, "will stay sealed for four years, and then it will have to be defeated." She heaved a heavy sigh, regretting her inability to seal Genryū completely. "Because it will be impossible to reseal it."

Not that she had tried, but running and hiding before Otogakure no Shinobi Yonin Shū, plus the lone survivor of Kaguya Ichizuku, was not an easy task.

Miroku nodded, and then Suisei sharpened to attention when she glimpsed the familiar starlight kaleidoscope pattern swirling in her now wide-open amethyst eyes.

"It will happen in Konoha at the end of Chūnin Senbatsu Shiken, perhaps days after."

"I figured as much. Thank you for confirming it," Lady Suisei said, her eyes glinting like diamonds.

"You do know it's not written in stone."

"I am aware, but … Yǒudú mányú," she spat the insult about the man who had sent those shinobi after her. "He has discovered me and I cannot escape him alive, but I will make sure that my summons will be ready one final time. All my spiritual power, chakra and all my knowledge and experience will be planted in Hachiko."

Miroku shook her head, aware that there was some force after Seishinryoku and Seishinjutsu users, but they were not aware that there were and how to attain other users. It was unfortunate that they had found what they were searching for in her closest friend.

"As for Genryū," Miroku continued calmly, "he will be defeated. Or should I say all its power tamed in Kono Yo no Kyūseishu hands."

Traveling Miko hmmed in thought. "That means that the Great Conflict between Transmigrates of Ōtsutsuki is fast approaching."

"That and I received a letter from Senju Tsunade." Miroku smiled. "It appears my niece was born with the power of Seishinryoku. I'll hire shinobi from Hoshigakure no Sato to escort you and Nǚshì Shinjuko to Konohagakure and participate in the Chūnin Exams."

"I am assuming that Nǚshì Shinjuko will collect your niece?"

"That is correct." Miroku smiled again at the thought. "I am glad that my daughter Shion will have a cousin her age studying with her, even if Kochō will return once her study is complete."

***Two days later - Konoha***

To Chūnin Exam – 4 days

They had finally arrived in Konoha. They arrived along with Kusa, Ame, Taki, Tsuki, Tanigakure, Getsu and couple of other smaller villages. Like Tsuchigumo village.

Long ebony straight hair that almost was moving in a gentle breeze,the tall form of the girl stood still as stone. Large doe eyes were watching Kabuto, her round face devoid of emotion. She knew what she was supposed to do, as well as how lucky she had been till now.

But then again, snakes did not notice ants, as her father used to say.

He was dead now; he had died when Jūgo went on one of his rampages. Unfortunately, Kimimaro was in an artificial coma and he had not been able to stop their friend. She did have suspicions that Kabuto had made his illness worse than it was on purpose.

She flittered her eyes around. Yeah, Zaku and Dosu were her teammates, but they were definitely not her friends. But they were loyal to Orochimaru-sama.

Just as she was loyal to the Sanin she respected, despite his rather disgusting tendencies and girly giggling.

But she had decided to carry on her father's work, and so she was here.

Watching and waiting.

For a chance.

And now that chance had come.

Her team was in Konoha. The sanin had given her instructions, and she would follow it.

And for good or for ill, she would succeed. After all, this would be her last mission as an Oto nin.

**To Chūnin Exam – 3 day**

They were holed up in Uzumaki Ichizoku no Nōmendō, their latest meeting place. The meeting was mostly to discuss the upcoming Chūnin Exams, since all the Rookie Konoha Genin were going to participate; their sensei had given them application forms to sign after all.

Currently the girls were discussing how Sakura should wear her hair, since she did not want to cut it and wearing her Hitai-ate as a hairband was becoming impractical, as her hair tended to get caught by her opponents. In fact, Kiba and Akamaru usually went directly for Sakura's pink hair whenever they sparred. She did beat the boy to a paste every time, but it was still annoying. In the end it was decided that she would braid her hair in a fishtail braid, and tie her forehead protector as an armband, similar to Shikamaru.

While the boys were teasing Sasuke for being almost mobbed by his fan girls, who had followed him like lost little harpies.

Ino smiled and then slanted a look at Kochō, who at the moment had her hair twisted up in a chignon that was secured with Kushi with a blue and red rose motif.

"How about you, Kochō-chan? Will you ever decide on a hairstyle or clothes?"

"Nope, why do you think I wear my Hitai-ate on my right hip tied to a sash or obi or belt?" mused Kochō, and then she smirked. "And when will you stop wearing your hair in that boring ponytail?"

"Hey, I'll have you know," Ino retorted, flipping her aforementioned hair, "I look fabulous."

"Fabulously boring, you mean."

The look that Ino gave Kochō made Hinata giggle and then blush scarlet when she noticed that Naruto was leaning over her …

"Gah! Hinata!"

"Oh boy," groaned Kiba, face palming. "Here we go again." Then he started to laugh when Naruto panicked about his team mate's health.

"Stop spazzing, Usuratonkachi," Sasuke hissed, and bopped Naruto's crown.

"That hurt, Teme!" Naruto pouted while rubbing his aching head. "And I only wanted to say that Kochō-chan has pretty hair. Dattebayo." He grumbled under his breath, only to receive another bop to the head from the irritable Uchiha.

The boys of team seven were having their usual bonding moment, much to Kochō's amusement.

"I sure missed this entertainment," she muttered to Sakura, who covered her mouth to stifle her giggles. Ino was rolling her eyes while pulling the Hyūga heiress away and applying a wet handkerchief to her forehead. Akamaru yipped with concern by Hinata's legs.

"Hinata?" Ino asked when Hinata woke up, still blushing.

"I-I'm f-fine Ino-chan."

"Can you re-join the meeting?"

Hinata tapped her fingers together and nodded shyly.

Naruto exchanged a short look with Sasuke, communication zipping between the two boys like lightning.

"Anyway, fashion aside," Sasuke started, while giving a sidelong glance to Kochō, who just smirked at him and winked.

"Does anybody know anything about exams –ttebayo? And what of the competition?" he looked around.

"While playing with Konohamaru corps, we met with some Suna nin. Well, Kono ran in to them. They are apparently the Kazekage's kids."

Haku nodded, noting it down on the pad of paper. "So this is the fifth team from Suna, two from Kusa, oh and Kochō says that the redhead girl there, Karin, is an Uzumaki, so perhaps you should check that out?"

Naruto nodded. "Right. Ah, there was also a team spying on us in the trees."

Sasuke smirked. "Yeah, they had headbands with a music note symbol."

"T- there were also two teams from Taki," Hinata said timidly. Ino nodded while Haku wrote it down.

"My father and I," intoned Shino, "ran into an Ame team, as well as Tsuki."

"So, what do we know about the exams themselves?" Yakumo asked.

"Iruka-sensei took two times to pass," Naruto said. "Kakashi sensei had a field promotion."

"That was when he became a jōnin." Sasuke shot into the discussion. "Besides, when sensei was a genin, it was war time, so things were different." Then he grunted when Kiba elbowed him in the ribs.

"Hana-nee mentioned multiple rounds," Kiba said, grinning at the Uchiha death glare.

"I think we should focus on those who got promoted in Konoha. Hinata?"

"First exam is to test the mind, second is body and third is tournament," Hinata replied.

Kochō looked at Sasuke then. "Maybe we should tell them the rest now."

Sasuke nodded. "There is something you all should know. Orochimaru wants to get the Sharingan."

"But you haven't awakened it yet, right?" asked Ino, recognizing the name.

Sasuke shoulders lifted in careless shrug. "No, but I don't think that'll matter."

Shino adjusted his glasses. "Does the Hokage know?"

"Yes, but he can't cancel the exams, and there is another party just as interested in what I'm up to, and that probably goes double for Naruto," said Sasuke, glancing at Naruto and then at Kochō. After all, she knew just who he was referring to, probably better than he and Naruto would. After all, she was the one who had managed to rescue his cousin Uchiha Shisui, even if that had been an accident.

Shino, Shikamaru, Kochō and Ino gave short nods, while Sakura looked confused at the conversation. Hinata was quite as usual, what was unusual was how Kiba kept his mouth shut, not commenting a thing ever since they had stepped foot into the Uzumaki shrine. But it was Shino's one word that made the boy pause.

"Danzō," said the bug-user flatly. Now as logical as the Aburames were and a polite boy at that, there was a slight undercurrent of disrespect and quiet fury in that one word. In addition to that, Shikamaru looked more alert and even Ino was looking like she had just stepped on something particularly vile.

"You know?" Kochō asked, surprised. And then there was a memory, vague as it were, of a bug user with purple skin, but that didn't explain Shikamaru or Ino's reactions.

Shikamaru shrugged his slow, agonizingly slow lift of his shoulders, but his gaze was sharp.

"It was a guess. Oya-jii kept dropping cryptic hints about one of the elders being troublesome and that I should stay away from him and not catch his attention."

Ino nodded. "Tou-san is the same. He believes an older cousin's disappearance, one who was becoming known as prodigious in his use of Shintenshin no Jutsu, is that man's fault."

Shino nodded. "He tried to recruit me. Why? Because I have a capacity, but my father was against it." Shino adjusted his glasses, and then continued. "Why? That is because the heir of the Aburame clan was not to be recruited in any of the ANBU divisions. But then Danzō decided on my cousin, Tourune, since his uncontrolled ability prevented him from living normally in the Aburame compound."

"Hn, there is more to that bastard," Sasuke spat. "Those are just abductions, but there is another atrocity on the long list of them, and not really what we are here for."

"Besides, Danzō is long gone for the time being," stated Kochō. "His view of things is so outdated that it's extinct."

Naruto nodded. "That's right ttebayo, this village was founded by m – Hashirama – for the purpose of making the lives of its ninja better, to make a safe place for kids, the entire point ttebayoo. How Danzo – teme, could possibly go from there to the idea that ninjas exist for the sake of the village. Dattebayoo! "The last was shouted in frustration as Naruto ran out of words to express exactly what he felt about this.

"Back to your question, Sasuke," Shikamaru interrupted. "You want us to help Naruto with the academic angle of shinobi life. Why?"

"Not that we don't want to help," Ino stated, "but how come you do not know this?" She turned to Naruto. The boy in question looked away, frowning. Sakura wanted to ask the same. While she hadn't liked the blond and her parents had warned her that he was a dangerous delinquent, he was a good teammate, surprisingly.

Sasuke gave them a sharp look. "You should know the reason for that by now. You've all seen how many civilians in the village treat Naruto."

Sakura nodded. She knew that Naruto had played many a prank on the village, and as result at being so poorly behaved and a hooligan he had been thrown out of respected shops. But Sasuke added the solemn atmosphere that had settled on the group of Konoha Rookie Genin.

"Like an outcast, criminal. They still call him names…monster, fox brat and demon."

Kochō was looking at her teammates – Haku looked sad and Yakumo looked horrified. No doubt her teammates were drawing parallels with their life experiences, and then her gaze landed on Shikamaru, who was massaging his temples. Deciding to add fuel to Sasuke's fire, her quiet voice carried over to the group.

"When is Naruto's birthday?"

"Goodness," Ino whispered, horrified, her hand covering her mouth. "Naruto is the holder of the Kyūbi, like Gaara is the holder of the Ichibi."

"Jinchūriki-power of the human sacrifice," Kochō stated, her voice flat. "In the olden days, ninjas were regarded as tools, weapons for their village and Jinchūriki were supposed to be the ace in the hole, human weapons meant to be used." She clenched her hands into fists hard enough to draw blood.

"But thinking like that is flawed. Ninjas are human, Jinchūriki are human. They have hopes and dreams of their own. These so called sacrifices should be heroes, not pariahs."

"Kochō-chan." Naruto voice was soft and slightly reproachful when he grabbed her still-clenched hands, a soft blue glow coating his hand, and she started at the cold of healing chakra closing eight crescent wounds on her palms.

Shikamaru was frowning. "It is much worse than that, isn't it?" he said flatly. Hinata was openly crying, while Kiba was growling threat after threat under his breath and Shino, Shino was quiet.

Ino and Yakumo looked horrified, while Sakura was looking on with wide-eyed horror, torn between sympathy and the slight betrayal she felt. Haku laid a hand on Naruto's shoulder, offering his silent support, while Chōji, good old Chōji offered Naruto a whole bag of chips.

"How can it be worse, Shikamaru," Ino demanded, "than our entire village treating a guy who was nothing but good friend to us and didn't hurt anyone, except bullies, and keeping the Kyūbi from harming the village again, like trash?"

"Ino, guys, who was the only other person in Konoha that had Naruto's golden blond hair and cobalt eyes?"

Ino's eyes widened. "And gravity-defying spikes. Gaara is the son of the Kazekage…" she said. But Shikamaru continued grimly, like a force of nature that could not be stopped.

Sasuke was smirking as he observed the expressions of his classmates when realization started to dawn. Even before Shikamaru finished speaking, delivering the truth to them.

"Naruto is the son of the Yondaime Hokage. Our village has been treating the son of a man they worship as an unparalleled shinobi, the greatest hero of Konoha as a criminal, an outcast."

Shikamaru bolted to his feet, pacing. "This is troublesome; the village sees the Yondaime's face every day, but refuse to see the resemblance."

Sakura frowned, remembering something. The first year in preschool, Naruto had been there but he had been sent out suddenly. She had wanted to talk to him, but mummy had said he was a bad, bad boy, that he would hurt her and that the teachers would protect her and keep the monster away when they were learning…oh kami, she paled… "They are trying to kill him," she blurted out, cutting through Shikamaru's frantic pacing, and she hadn't even realized that she had said that out loud.

She lowered her suddenly heavy eyes to her feet, drawing into herself, pulling out memories that she had thought she'd forgotten, linking events, forming conclusions.

***Hokage's office***

Meanwhile, a meeting of assorted Jōnin sensei, Jōnin Commander Nara Shikaku the Head of T&I Morino Ibiki, along with Mitarashi Anko and the Hokage, was taking place in the Hokage Tower.

Kurenai, who had just returned from another C-Rank mission, was standing between Asuma to her right and Kakashi to her left. Beside Kakashi, who was, amazingly enough, not late, stood Gai. That came as a surprise to her since the kunoichi of the group had been killed in action a month ago. Had they replaced her that quickly with success? The way Gai was beaming, she guessed that he would nominate his team for the Chunin Exam.

Beside Gai was Kanden Tekuno, whom she hadn't known had a team of Genin.

The Hokage himself was seated behind his desk, lazily puffing away on his pipe. Surveying the room, Sarutobi put his pipe down.

"Let's begin, shall we?" The Hokage turned to Chūnin Umino Iruka, the Academy Instructor who also served as an aid to the Hokage from time to time. "Let the record show that this meeting has been called to announce which Konoha Genin teams will be nominated for this year's Chūnin Exams."

He looked at 30 of his Jōnin standing in the hall. "Since most of the old hats have already signed up, I'll go down the list of last year graduates and rookie Genin teams. Jōnin in charge of those teams, step forward."

Eight people stepped forward – three kunoichi, Kurenai among them.

The Hokage took another puff, then his eyes looked from shinobi to shinobi, settling on…

"Midori, team one?"

The kunoichi stepped forward, bowed to the Hokage and straightened.

"Hai Hokage-sama, team one doesn't qualify for this year's exams."

"Raidou!"

The scarred man stepped forward and snapped to attention. "Team three does not qualify."

Sarutobi turned his eyes to the green-clad Konoha no Kedakaki Aoi Mōjū Maito Gai."Gai, your team?"

Gai give a blinding smile and a thumbs up. "HAI! Hokage-sama, my YOUTHFUL Genins are ready and full of YOUTH! They are ready for the youthful challenge ahead."

"Very well." The Hokage nodded, then turned to a kunoichi with long curly hair. "Yamanaka Nori."

At that, the blond stepped forward. "Team five consisting of Nohara Tomoe, Iburi Kogaro and Inuzuka Mimi is not ready for this year exams."

"Kakashi, Team seven?" Hiruzen had been waiting for this. He had been almost positive that Kakashi, along with Gai, despite the loss of TenTen, and Tekuno would nominate their teams.

"Team seven…hmm….yes, I nominate Uzumaki Naruto, Uchiha Sasuke and Haruno Sakura."

Iruka's pen paused above the paper as he hesitantly ticked off Team Seven. Was Naruto ready, truly ready? Worry twisted inside him, coiling deeply in the pit of his stomach.

But the Hokage went forward without pausing. "Kurenai, what about team eight?"

The red-eyed woman smiled gently. "I nominate team eight."

Iruka ticked off another Rookie Genin team. They are much too young for this, he thought, worry gnawing at him.

Hokage turned to his son next.

"Asuma?"

His son smiled and slumped forward. Hiruzen smiled inwardly. The Nara's iconic laziness was rubbing off on his son.

"Those three are the new Ino-Shika-Cho. Of course they are nominated."

Mutterings were going around. Three rookie genin teams were nominated?

"Kohaku."

The bandana-wearing, plain looking brown-haired Jonin stepped forward, giving the Hokage blank look.

"No."

"No?" the Hokage repeated, amused at the short answer.

"It's more like hell no, they are not fit for this," Kohaku reaffirmed. "I do not nominate team eleven."

"Tekuno."

A Jōnin with a robust build, wearing his flak jacket unzipped, stepped forward and gave the Hokage a short bow.

"I nominate team fifteen, consisting of Shunran Kochō, Yuki Haku and Kurama Yakumo for the Exams."

Iruka had been standing with his clipboard quietly so far, but his mounting worry for his students was slowly taking over.

"Hokage-sama! You can't let four rookie genin teams enter; they….people die in this exam! They are not ready. Please reconsider, Hokage-sama."

The Hokage smiled softly at the fretting man. "Iruka-kun, I know how much you care about your students, and Naruto in particular. But they are not your students anymore. Besides, if their senseis think they are ready, they are. But if it will ease your worry, Iruka-kun, then test them yourself."

*** 2 days to exams- Konoha***

Next day it was a day before the first part of the exams, Kochō took a deep breath, running nervous fingers through her messy ponytail, today was the day that the supposed emissaries of her aunt of sorts, who is apparently some sort of empress of Oni no Kuni should come to talk to her parents and grandparents. But apparently they decided to see her first. So here she was … waiting.

She tried meditating to calm herself but it hadn't work so she contented herself in staring at their garden.

She stared so hard that she completely missed when the door opened, what she did not miss however was when Hisui, patted her on the face, so she wasn't startled when a voice sounded behind her.

"Greetings Nǚshì Shunran Kochō."

Huh, ok, whatever Kochō thought. But she bowed and returned the greeting then started to scrutinize the two women that entered the room.

The one, who spoke introducing herself as Nǚshì Haruko Shinjuko, was bespectacled young woman with red-violet hair that extended past her shoulders and down the upper part of her back partly held from her face with a golden yellow hair clip on the back of her head and dark purple eyes in heart shaped face. She wore a light blue hakama, a white shirt with swinging sleeves and a light blue jacket over it.

Other introduced herself as Nǚshì Suisei. Had snow white hair, pulled in together at nape of her neck with a crimson ribbon that matched with her hakama, like Shimjuko-san she wore white shirt with swinging slews, but no jacket.

They sat on zaisu cushioned by zabuton seats behind a low chabudai.

Quietly observing each other, or rather Kochō was being observed by the two Miko. Not that Kochō and covertly Hisui, the little chameleon blended in to Kochō's purple strands of hair she left to fall on and past her shoulders to her chest, were not equally observing them in return.

"What does Nǚshì mean, Shimjuko-sama, Suisei-sama?" Kochō breaks the silence, figuring that she should get this show on the road; she didn't contrary to popular belief have time to measure up the two women before her all day long.

"It means lady, in the language that is used in Oni no Kuni." Suisei answered the question, and then she smiled.

"You are a curious one."

Kochō cocked her head to the side, "How so?"

"You have some measure of control on your very vast Reiryoku. And you asked what Nǚshì means."

Kochō shrugged, and then narrowed her golden eyes, now she had inkling what Karate kid felt when Myoga, no Mawgly … whatever that Chinese guy name was being all vague and mysterious, what in the blue hell her asking what Nǚshì meant revealed to those two.

"Not going to ask what you possessing Reiryoku means for you, Nǚshì Kochō?" asked Shimjuko, she opened her mouth for the first time since introducing herself.

"That I'll have to leave to Oni no Kuni?" was the answer posed as a question at the same time. Perhaps Takai nisō Miroku worries in her niece not being able to navigate through the politics of Oni court were unfounded, thought Suisei, but then again Miroku was having premonitions of her possible demise by Mōryō in a year's time. She already took her daughter Shion out of the shrine and forbidden anyone to teach her any Seishinryoku or Seishinjutsu and she hadn't given a reason for that. Just what did Mironu see that spooked her so?

Shinjuko nodded. "True enough."

More observing from the two miko, but Kochō had slightly enough, that and she had a meeting again with a certain ANBU. Who decided to take her on as an apprentice. All she did is point out some things that made the woman think and suddenly she liked her enough to teach her. How weird is that. But honestly Otter sensei had even more revealing outfit taste than Anko ever did.

Otter sensei wore a tiny mini skirt with slits down to the waist, what prevented her from flashing people were white bandages that she also used as a bra, because the tiny, tiny bolero like jacket could not cover her chest aka boobs if it tried. Anko at least wore a mesh shirt. The fact that the material looked like leather didn't help.

Heh, Otter sensei … she'll totally call her that … payback for sensei calling her Kochō-chama.

But first Kochō needed to get out of this weird staring contest. "Is that all?"

"Children are in such a hurry." Shinjuko sighed, while Suisei smiled.

"We did come unannounced, and interrupted her, Shinjuko."

"Well, yes. You know training with a sensei that Yūgao Obasan set up since Tekuno-sensei will focus more on one of my team mates. So we will be ready for Chūnin exams. The first part is tomorrow."

"We won't keep you then, besides I am more here to talk with your parents and Sandaime Hokage about relocation of one of their shinobi for at least three years time." Shinjuko nodded to her companions and they stood up.

Kochō bowed "I am pleased to meet you both, Nǚshì Shinjuko, Nǚshì Suisei."

Before exiting the room Suisei turned back toward Kochō. "I have a student that is staying in Konoha during the Chūnin exams. I'd like for you two to meet. You are about the same age as Hachimitsu Hachiko."

Kochō nodded. "I am looking forward in meeting your apprentice Nǚshì Suisei." She replied following them out of the room to where her parents were located.

"I'll send a note when we'll be expecting you."

"Otōsan, Kaasan." Kochō started to announce, only for her mother to interrupt.

"Its all right, we'll do introductions," Koyuki quickly pushed a weapons pouch in to her daughter's' hand. "You'll be late, you must hurry."

"Right." Kochō turned and bowed to the two visitors, "sorry for the rushed manner of my departure." Kochō apologized then left in a hurry.

Suisei smiled to her hosts. "You raised a wonderful girl."

"Thank you, Miko-sama."

"I'm Suisei. My friend name is Shinjuko." Then she sobered, putting Shunran Masaru and Koyuki on edge. "Things with Kochō are far more complicated than we thought, she has the largest build up of raw reiryaku, I've ever seen and I can tell that her powers were bound at one point in time, but now they are free of those bonds."

There she stopped, hoping that the girl's parents could shed light on this mystery, but she was greeted by stunned and surprised expressions on both parents' faces. Apparently they didn't know that. Perhaps she should talk with the grandparents. After all Kochō's own grandfather was from Oni no kuni, and son of previous the Shèng huánghòu Takai nisō - Hasuhime, Miroku's grandmother and Kochō's great grandmother.

Decision made she continued with what she observed. "Normally, she'd would simply leak wild spiritual power all over the place all of the time, causing chaos, but your daughter is subconsciously containing it. And I have no idea how."

Truly she didn't know another mystery and one of the reasons why she wanted Kochō and Hachiko to meet. She was hoping that the two girls will form a senpai and kōhai bond.

But Shinjuko was already continuing where she left and adding her observations as well. "Seishin energy swirls and clings to her everywhere. Interloping with her chakra flow, separate yet not, it's like looking at the sun and the moon at the same time. She has dual nature type chakra and opposing as that Suiton and Katon " Miko shook her head making her reddish violet hair swish at her wake.

"I watched tendrils of power lash out and then she pulls them back. It's a constant push and pull of the energies. The sooner she begins her training in the art the better."

Suisei looked up idea forming. "Masaru-sama, Koyuki-sama I am right to guess that Shunran Ichizoku head already met up with Matriarch of Hachimitsu Ichizoku as well as receiving an invite for the gala event?" after receiving affirming nods, she continued.

"Is your family to accompany your clan head?"

"Yes," answered Masaru exchanging glances with his wife. "That is Kochō is only clan child that is of Hachimisu heiress generation. Others are either toddlers or in their late teens."

"Hachimitsu Hachiko is my apprentice," Suisei revealed to them, "so a meeting between the girls will be recommended by me to matriarch herself on the event." Not to mention the feeling of urgency that the two should meet, now foresight was not her specialty but, as she pointed out to Hachiko, 'Chaos follows the miko with the mystical eye through her life if there is loss of balance.'

The saying applied to the situation for the both girls. Suisei saw those symptoms Hachiko displayed in certain seasons before. She knew what caused it. But imbalance in powers that Kochō suffered of should muted out the effect of what ails Hachiko and Hachiko could siphon some of Kochō's build up.

Narrow ice blue eyes were watching out over the village.

The village of Konoha.

Her home, place of her birth. Her parents', who died in third shinobi war, birthplace.

Place where her dreams to be Tsunade-hime apprentice were crushed by the woman herself.

A bitter smile twisted her vivid pink painted lips. She was so furious then. She was still angry but it had lessened, all because of that pipsqueak of Yūgao niece.

She really had to suppress a laugh then, granted it would probably have slightly insane flavor, but she was an ANBU for a long time from a really tender age. All thanks to her Kinjutsu Soulbane. In fact she had made a narrow escape from one of the village elders pet ANBU recruiters when she was a child, to save her, her own grandfather gave her to regular ANBU troops for training.

That developed quirk in her way of dress, she hated monotone life of ANBU, so to rebel she still wore a revealing red outfit, showing her midriff, arms, and legs. With multiple tattoos that resemble flower petals on the left side of her face and midriff as well as her left leg. Along with red high heeled sandals.

She was aware that the same village elder looked at her in disdain, but then again he considered kunoichi week in general, unable to kill their emotions. But he still found uses in them, uses that usually saw the woman dead in the end, sacrificed for the betterment of his elite shinobi.

Same happened to the last kunoichi he used. She knew the woman well; after all she was the one who originally inspired her to strive to be Tsunade-hime apprentice.

She remembered that she cared for her when grandfather left her in the care of the Konoha Minashigo-and when he wasn't in the village.

She still remembered that long square building with its light brown walls and blue roof. She forgot the names to match the faces of an old man and a woman that ran the orphanage alongside of Yakushi Nonō.

She however remembered the kind and compassionate young woman. Her care practically radiated off her as sun rays. She was very much loved by other children as well, they even called her Mazā.

She could picture her walking through hallways talking to the orphaned children and children who had nowhere else to go equally. Her shoulder length light brown hair covered by white coif, her long, black, loose fitting gown with white apron lightly smelling of cookies and medicinal herbs. Her eyes, behind circular glasses and later square ones, were always pools of warm green looking at her charges.

Her death was the turning point, that and that was the first time she use her kinjutsu to hide her presence. So she was present when the dark-shaggy haired man wrapped in bandages, cross shaped scar on his chin wearing a white shirt, with a black or dark grey robe over the top of it covering from his feet, to just over his right shoulder, accompanied by two very weird and creepy men.

Revelation that those three were there when Mazā and the other two caretakers of the orphanage left the room was revealing but unfortunately as a child of seven years of age, she didn't recognize the significance. Unfortunately she had eidetic memory, so she recalled everything in perfect clarity later in life and understood what she hadn't then.

Sensing a presence approaching, a strange mix of hot and cold, raging water and blazing fire, she smiled, her deshi-chama was coming.

She smiled at how the girl puffed up her cheeks when she called her that. She shook her head making her multi - colored rope sway with her white hair and the two golden bells tied in to the rope chime.

"You are late Kochō deshi-chama," she stated without turning. Good, the girl learned to calm her breath so that her breathing, despite the relentless run from her home, was even and lighten her steps so that no rustling of leaves and grass marked her passing. She is learning quickly.

And she could just feel, even with her back turned, those cheeks get all puffed up. Adorable. Like a little chipmunk.

"It couldn't be helped; we got visitors from Oni no Kuni. Shishō Kawauso." Her student answered, she nodded…wait what did she call me. She turned to behold her grinning student.

"That is really cute, brat." She reached over and mussed her hair. "Now what is it that about Oni no Kuni?"

Then she took her ANBU porcelain otter mask with pink markings. Kawauso indeed.

"Well apparently I have a lot of …" Kochō trailed of, like she tried to remember something. "Ah, reiryouku and its making me go all wonky. So I'll have to leave to learn control over it."

"Ah, ah, you won't rid of me so easily Kochō." She said, after the girl did unknowingly help her realize that she didn't need to be Tsunade's apprentice to avenge Mazā's death. That also prompted her to march to Tsunade-hime and ask her why she did not take her on.

The answer to that was not exactly flattering, but when she explained why she wanted to learn, well Tsunade decided that she could learn a technique called Iryō Mōdo, so she did learn it, though she hardly mastered the technique. But she will learn of it enough to pass it on before they go.

"When you go, I will go with you."

Kochō's eyes grew big in surprise. "Really Kagura-sensei?" She asked. That was a surprise she didn't think that ANBU would be allowed to just leave the village when they felt like it.

Kagura nodded, "I'll speak with Shizune-san and Tsunade-hime about it."

"Oh," Kochō was still looking a bit shocked. "Well what about learning Iryō Mōdo from Shizune san?"

"Already done. And guess who will be learning it too?"

"Er, me?" squeaked Kagura's student.

"Yep, but first … a spar, to warm up." Standing up she jumped away to gain some space.

Then she smirked, and put her otter ANBU mask on. "Dance for me Kochō-chan."

"Heh, just watch your toes Kagura-san."

To be continued …

Next: 1st and 2nd stage of exam, among other things …

What is what?

Characters owned by from her fic Honey and Kunai, along with Korean stuff she uses in her fanfic

Mitsu no Kuni – Land of Honey, from Honey and Kunai, their culture is based on Korean culture. Most noted in the story was Hanbok attire.

Nanase – name means 'Seventh Current or rapids' is OC character from Honey and Kunai.

Hachimitsu – means 'honey', it is 's name for a clan from Honey and Kunai.

Mimori - Beautiful Forest, OC character from Honey and Kunai.

Akuzetsu - meaning to be open and kind.

Karen (Akuzetsu's daughter)- can be either "sweet" or "pitiful"

Hanbok- is the traditional Korean dress.

Binyeo - is a Korean traditional hairpin for fixing ladies' chignons.

Kuroyama Duelo - surname: Blackhill; first name has no japanese translation.

Hachiko - Bee Child also main protagonist of Honey and Kunai.

JAPANESE

Konoha Byōin – Konoha hospital

Bokenshi – Public health nurse

Josan-shi – means 'Midwife' and in Pendamonium also obstetrician

Kankoshi - a nurse who has graduated nursing program or from a school of nursing and has passed the exam.

Rejisutādonāsu - Unlicensed assistive personnel

Chiryō Butai – Doctor Corps

Iryō Butai - Medic Corps

Ninpō Sōzō Saisei — Byakugō no Jutsu – Strength of a Hundred Technique.
Sōzō Saisei - Creation Rebirth, The absolute pinnacle of medical ninjutsu, created by the greatest of medical ninja, Tsunade, it is the ultimate regeneration technique.

Chōjo- eldest daughter

Konan – her description is more from the manga where she has grey eyes not amber. Same as Yahiko, he has blue eyes in manga and brown in anime.

Ame no Tenshi – Angel of the Rain, the title Konan is known.

Densetsu no Sannin - Legendary Three Ninja

Kūdō – void - Kū- sky - Hoku – north - Akatsuki rings.

Sofu – formal term for Grandfather.

Seishin-ryoku – spirit power

Hoshigakure no Sato – village hidden Among Stars, located in Land of Bears. In Pandemonium it's a birth village to Genin level kunoichi and grandmother of Buffy.

Oni-no Kuni – Demon country, unlike the rest of the element nations (Fire, Stone, Lightning, etc) where their culture is based on Japanese, Demon country is more based on Chinese couture. At lest in Pandemonium there'll be mixtures of Japanese and Chinese couture flaying about. Along with Naruto trivia. It is also birthplace of Buffy's grandfather.

Hasuhime – means secret lotus princess.

Ningame - Literally meaning "Ninja Tortoise"

Tori no Kuni - Bird country

Kikaichū - Parasitic Insects, Kikai, when written as 奇怪, means "strange", or "mysterious", which basically describes the Aburame clan.

Kuma no Kuni – Land of Bears, is a heavily forested country which is exclusive in the anime.

Ichizoku-clan

Jinsoku – name meaning "swift"

Nagajuban - A kimono-shaped robe worn by both men and women beneath the main outer garment.

Haori - A hip- or thigh-length kimono-like jacket, which adds formality to an outfit. They are now worn by both men and women. Men's haori are typically shorter than women's.

Karusan-bakama-some hakama during the Sengoku period had the hems made narrower than the body in imitation of the ballooning trousers worn by the Portuguese. Men's hakama - The most formal type of men's hakama are made of stiff, striped silk, usually black and white, or black and navy blue.

Seihai – name meaning Chalice

Jūnihitoe - Literally translated, it means "twelve-layer robe".

Miroku – means Maitreya Buddahai, is character from Naruto Shippūden movie.

Kono Yo no Kyūseishu – saviour of this world

Shinjuko – means 'pearl child'

Kushi are rounded or rectangular combs made of tortoiseshell or lacquered wood that are often inlaid with mother of pearl or gilding and placed into bun-style hairdo.

Bara – means 'Rose'.

CHINESE

Gāoguì – means 'noble'.

Huang – means "bright"

Yuèguāng – means 'moonlight'

Takai nisō – High Priestess a female high priest, in Demon Country court she is also called Shèng huánghòu meaning Holy Empress, since her office the same rank as combined of damiyō and Kage of the village. Other priestesses (miko) call her nisō-sama.

Yǒudú mányú –'poisunos eal' it's a nick name Lady Suisei give to Orochimaru.