The Harsh Truth

by Shadenight123

There are truths and lies scattered in the shadows of the leaf. Conspiracies and secret meetings, decisions and backstabbings. The plot twists until the point where there is no ally, and no enemy. Only yourself, and your trust. Face the harsh truth: in the midst of the shinobi world, nothing is what it seems. Naruto is born five years prior to canon, and from there...!NidaimeNaruto

14. CD: Introducing

Chapter Fourteenth

Some time, life gives you hell in exchange for nothing. Other times, it gives you heaven for pretty much the same price. It's in the nature of life: ups and downs make it that. One moment you're in peace, the other you are holding the mangled corpse of your mother, who barely had enough time to push you out of the way of a falling building. Still, that wasn't what mattered at the moment, no, at the moment, what mattered that she was having a long bath with hot water.

It had taken a couple of hours, she had cleaned herself with cold water before, but right now, it didn't matter any longer. Even as she kept her arms wrapped in towels, not wanting to look at those marks, those bite marks that would probably never fade away, too much time has passed to treat them, she couldn't help but feel completely relaxed. The fact that she felt that familiar chakra aura in the next room was probably a part of it.

The man's name was Naruto, and, to her eyes at least, it was an angel in human's skin. There was no other way to describe his strength, his aura, and his kindness. The only problem was that she didn't know how much it would last. Eventually, he'd go his own way, and she'd have to go her own, right? She couldn't follow him, could she? As she moped over it, she decided to solve the problem once and for all. Blushing slightly, she moved to exit the bathroom, and reach the room in the palace Hikaru had been so kind to give her.

"The clothes are on the seat right next to you, don't come out naked," Naruto's words were enough to make her stop, catching her breath. Obviously he was a sensor, and obviously he seemed a pretty good one too…did he peak on her? Was that how he had realized…

"No, but I have an idea of what you are thinking, and it won't work…I'm avoiding you the embarrassment: just dress up and come here, dinner is going to get cold otherwise," with those simple words, Karin's face was already fully red, just like her eyes and her hair. She hurriedly put on the clothes, white shirt, light blue jacket, light white pants, male clothes, but her size, and better than the tatters she had before.

She hurriedly walked over, sitting in front of the man, where her plate, and food, was.

"I…I just…" she what? She didn't want him to leave?

"Eat…tomorrow we're leaving for Konoha, both of us that is," at those words, Karin's mouth opened in shock, her eyes showing the very same emotion, "You'd think I'd leave you here? I'm bringing you to Konoha, there's the Uzumaki clan matriarch there…and if she doesn't know what to do, or doesn't have a free room, the Senju's clan has so many empty houses and rooms it could house half of Konoha, without problems."

The next moment, the girl was hugging, in tears, Naruto.

"Hey…your dinner is going to get cold," he whispered back at her, gently patting her on the head, "now, now, no more tears," he added, gently.

"Why are you…so kind?" she whispered, trying to at least get back a semblance of recollecting herself.

"Because it's who I am," Naruto replied, before turning to his own dinner, letting Karin reach for hers.

In the next minutes, he looked at the red haired girl trying to get her fingers to work on the chopsticks, but it had been so long since the last time she had used any, that clearly she wouldn't be able to eat with them soon.

Naruto ate quietly, looking at the girl's face growing more and more distressed, until, finally, he smiled, and produced from his backpack a spoon for the rice, a knife and a fork, all in white plastic.

"Here…don't let anyone into this little secret of mine, but when you're running and eating canned food, to hell with chopsticks, spoon is the way," as he handed the utensils over with a light wink, Karin nodded, taking them before finally starting to eat.

Naruto watched the girl hesitate for a moment, after she had finished her own food, before whispering.

"You're a good guy, right?"

"I have blood on my hands, but I am not evil, if that was your question…albeit the definition of evil may vary on the circumstances applied to it," the grey haired boy pointed out, as Karin simply nodded at the *not evil*: she hadn't understood the rest.

"I…I have this thing, I can sense chakra, and I know what the person's…soul, is. And I…I can suppress this aura, making it impossible for ninjas to sense each other and…if somebody bites me he heals while I lose some blood…" at the mention, Naruto nodded, and Karin, once more, had to make sure this wasn't a dream. There was no outburst, no *prove it* or *don't believe you*, just a nod.

A simple gesture of *I get it*, nothing more, nothing less.

"Thank you for telling me, do you want me not to tell?" at the question, the sincerely asked question, Karin nodded, and Naruto simply smiled, "Then I won't tell: you have my word."

"Thank you," she whispered again, fidgeting once more, hesitantly.

"Maybe you should take some rest? Tomorrow is going to be a stressful day," at the mention of sleep, the Uzumaki girl nodded, before literally scampering to her futon. If she went to bed fast, then she'd wake up faster, and next morning, she'd be gone from that place, from that hell. On the other side, what if it was a dream of her mind? What if she woke up, once more, in Raiga's tend, her hair tightly held by his hand, the only thing clean, and yet so dirty in her mind, being yanked and pulled with strength?

No, she'd take her chances and die if that was the case, but it wasn't. She could feel the soft fabric of the futon…it was so real. She hoped, really, she truly hoped, that it was real.

Naruto waited, in his sitting position, until the breath of the red haired girl turned even, and then, slowly and silently, he stood up, moving to the window. Outside, the island was probably returning to normality, the few missing Nins that had avoided the first swipes would be hunted down and killed, without mercy, and he'd leave together with the girl.

Just how many boys and girls lived in her conditions, around the elemental countries? How many could he actually save? How many could he actually find, or know they existed?

"You can't save them all… That's the excuse for the weak."

I concur. The Kyuubi spoke softly, in a half asleep voice.

"Hikaru seems to have a good head on his shoulder, I gave him some tips and advice, and he accepted to have a Tokubetsu Jounin from Konoha come over and help with the administration part, my job is done right now," Naruto thought back, as he could see the Kyuubi sport a small smile.

Yet something doesn't satisfy you, does it?

"This was a trap for me, but when…when will a trap for someone else come? When Yumi will be a Genin, will they try and hunt her down to get to me?" the thoughts drifted to Raiga, to his eyes, to his madness…paranoia brought to the extreme, and yet…the Raijin hummed, softly, once more, as Naruto turned to the side, his eyes narrowing.

"What brings a cat to stroll this high?" he whispered, looking at Yugito Nii, who was standing to the side of the palace's wall, looking at him from her position.

"You should knock your arrogance down a step," the Nibi Jinchuuriki replied, scoffing, "I'm older than you," she added.

"Age, power, blood and family, they mean nothing to me. My respect is earned, not taken lightly," he replied with a light glare.

"What's this hostility and taunting about? You can't still be mad at me for your teammate…I mean… it's been what, five years?" as Yugito said that back, she didn't actually expect the boy to…nod.

"You never said you were sorry to her, you know?" he replied rhetorically.

"Oh come on, it's not like you were married to one another!" that made Naruto wince, but the Nibi Jinchuuriki pressed on, "Do you really love your teammates so much? What happened to serious guy by the way? The Uchiha was way stronger than you last I recall," at that, Naruto's gaze turned murderous.

"Read your Bingo Book before I force you to feast upon its pages," he snarled, the tatami mat slightly cracking under the pressure of the air around the boy, the electricity of the Raijin sending sparks across, just for the Kiba to actually reply back, sending their own sparks all around the boy's body.

"Calm down, calm down, I only came to talk," Yugito raised her hands in a sign of surrender, just what had happened? Sure, she might have her head in a bag, like Atsui said when it didn't concern training, but really, what could have happened to have him go from taunting to ballistic?

"Then talk and leave swiftly," he hissed, turning his furious gaze to the ocean laying in front his view.

"You're really the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki?" Yugito asked, serious in her tone.

The next moment, Naruto's eyes flickered with blue flames, in the night looking so eerily like those of a ghost, hands that resembled fox claws appeared to his sides, tails made of blue fur sprouted, gently floating in the air: two in number. As quickly as they appeared though, they disappeared, leaving behind no trace of their passage, except the slight trembling of Yugito, who had barely managed to grab the side of the terrace Naruto was on, her chakra abandoning her feet moments before.

She was shivering, as she stood on the terrace, right in front of the boy.

"What…Just what is…" the words never left her mouth, as Naruto whispered, cutting her off.

"I am the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki…albeit two tails is the maximum of my powers right now…is this proof enough?"

Hollow. That power was hollow. Empty of life, filled with control, the monster he is…is worse than all of us…he is our death. Do not let him antagonize us! Mate with him immediately!

"Nibi! Stop it! I was willing to take you seriously, but this is just another one of your tricks! I am not in heat!" as Yugito recomposed herself from her shivers, she nodded.

"I'm sorry…it's just that the Nibi insisted you couldn't be one…you don't have as much chakra as we Jinchuuriki normally do, and your regeneration is…" Naruto shrugged, turning to look back at the room, where Karin was sleeping.

"So, once the mission is over, are you going to try and rake in the bounty on my head?" Naruto asked carefully.

"What if we are going to try?" Yugito asked back, a light smirk on her face.

"Try as much as you like…but wound her, and I'll be sure that the fear you felt during the chuunin exams, years ago, will seem like a walk in the park by the time I'll be finished," and with those words, Naruto entered his room once more, closing the terrace's window.

Yugito stood there, for a moment, before turning to leave…so he was the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki. Yet Nibi had spoken of hollow power…she had to inform Nagato soon. Lightly touching her ring with the number Two, she bit her lip…later, maybe. Right now, she had to convince Atsui not to try anything rash then next day, because she wasn't sure she wanted to fight something even Matatabi didn't like.

*Konoha*

Minato looked at the report, neatly piled on his desk. Albeit *piled* would have been exaggeration, since there was only one page, that neatly skimmed throughout the details, to simply leave behind the notions of who had died, who hadn't, and the fact that an Uzumaki Karin was arriving in Konoha together with Naruto. The report had arrived at least a week before Naruto's return, meaning that, as of now, since seven days had passed, the man was bound to arrive in his office…eventually.

Slowly, he turned to look at the door that had opened without anyone knocking beforehand, meaning only it either was his daughter, Katsumi, his student, Kakashi, or his wife, Kushina. Neither of the three knocked when entering his office, albeit his ex-student used the window, so there wasn't much of a knocking to begin with. It turned out it was the latter of the three: Kushina.

"Kushina-hime?" Minato asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I looked through the rosters of the Uzumaki clan, and there *is* an Uzumaki Akio. With the description he gave it's highly probable she's not lying," Kushina replied stiffly, before adding, "I saw Yumi-chan today too, she was at the park together with Tsunade…she called her Baa-chan."

"Well…I thought you told me once you'd never let any niece of yours call you Baa-chan to begin with, right?" Minato replied, hesitantly sporting a small smile.

"This and that are different," the red haired woman replied, snappishly, "Do you know if he intends to make her a Kunoichi or not?"

"No," Minato replied with a sigh, "I suppose he wouldn't answer any way, if I were to ask."

"Like he'd answer me," Kushina replied with a scoff, "He barely resisted the urge to kick me out at his own wedding, and didn't only for Katsumi-chan…she'd probably be the only one to ask the question and come out alive," she added with a sigh.

"Kushina-hime, you know that maybe we *could* have her eventually ask the question?" obviously, Katsumi and subtlety didn't work well together, but Minato was more than sure he could solve that problem by being subtle in her own place.

"How?" his wife, obviously, asked back at him narrowing her eyes.

"I'm sure Katsumi-chan, if she manages to get the bunshin right, will graduate easily next year: I could put her in his team," the Hokage's voice was quiet, and collected, as he spoke.

"He finished all the missions' requirements? Nobody ever did that, they usually got appointed sooner than that," Kushina replied, looking with a mixture of perplexity and worry.

"He didn't want to swear an oath of loyalty to me in person…he'd rather sign a document," Minato replied with a shrug, "The new Bingo Book came out too, and guess what? They increased his bounty to twenty millions…"

*At the gates*

Anko Senju stood at the gates of Konoha, her arms crossed in front of her chest. She had taken the free day, because she knew today Naruto would be back home with his mysterious *guest*. She also knew it was a female. Obviously a part of her knew there was no way he'd be bringing a lover back home, straight into the guest room, but then again Naruto was unpredictable. Still, it shouldn't have been her position to nag about it, but at the same time it should. On one side, she was the one lying through her teeth to Naruto every moment, so she actually shouldn't have been jealous. On the other, she had to act jealous, like any wife would be. On yet again another side, she was actually being jealous, when, precisely for the first side, she shouldn't be. Yet she was.

She pushed her hands through her hair, letting out a groan of frustration, how long was he going to make her wait? She knew it was today, the report had come in a week before, and flying hawks were fast, but not *that* fast. Furthermore, she had received another scroll telling her his possible date of arrival, and when Naruto said he'd probably be there then he most certainly would be. She had thought of going there in the afternoon, so that she could easily wait while taking, every now and then, a bite at a Dango stick, but now that the afternoon's sun was slowly turning to the five o'clock mark, she was starting to get nervous.

Finally, her eyes caught the sight of a familiar mass of glinting blue at the horizon that seemed to sport a strange red freckle on his back. Swiftly, she disappeared from her bench, and decided to initiate her usual *follow the husband* routine by looking at Naruto move closer, from her position on the rooftops.

The red freckle turned to be a, in her eyes, nine year old girl with red hair, that was probably the red freckle she had seen from far away. So he had found an orphan, probably, and he just *had* to take her in. Anko groaned, now she had to act the part of the bitch: sure, the girl could stay in the guest room for a while, but she should have to find a way to fend off for herself, and eventually, move out. There was no way she'd manage that conversation with Naruto present, however…she just knew he'd clamper down and actually adopt the girl. Like he had done with half the stray dog population of Konoha once, before the Inuzukas had done her a favor and taken them.

With a sigh, she finally took her moment, when the street was relatively empty, to try her new practiced entry: the throwing of two sets of twin kunais tied by a chain, in such a way that the scroll in the middle would open to reveal words.

Karin had been carried piggyback for practically most of the trip: on one side she was still too weak to actually walk long distances, and on the other, Naruto was simply faster than her, by a really great length. All in all, she was enjoying the relative peace of being near his chakra aura, at least until they had neared the village. She had tensed: there were so many chakra signatures all around it made her dizzy. All had different hues and colors, some swirled other twirled, some sparked and some instead hummed. Many had a light coloration, but some were dark, and a couple pitch black. She shivered slightly, closing her eyes and letting her face bury in the man's neck. She felt nervous.

Then the bang came and she looked up startled, to stare at a purple haired woman, wearing a fishnet shirt and a trench coat, the shirt actually having another, black one, underneath it, and a bit of a short skirt. The light hazel eyes of the woman seemed to flicker with a mixture of excitement, worry and…her chakra was strange. It was layered, for once. There was a layer of golden and black that looked nearly vile, but that was kept surrounded by a layer of pure blue chakra, much like the one Naruto had. Then there was a light purple external aura, with bits of pink, of lime yellow, and…a tinge of red. Why was she…jealous?

Karin blushed lightly, well, she had been holding her face on the man's neck, didn't she?

Was this…Naruto's girlfriend? But she looked older than him!

"Husband dear…" Anko muttered, forcing a smile, as the banner behind her read the words "Congratulation on the Jounin Promotion!"

"Yes?" Naruto replied with a light smile, and a hesitant chuckle. His chakra aura was literally showering with light blue glitters…happiness. There was a bit of a light green aura…nervousness…wait, did the woman call him husband? Just how old was he!?

"Explain," keeping her arms crossed over her chest, Anko took a deep breath, puffing her cheeks while tapping with her right leg on the ground.

"Right here?" Naruto asked back, "And you know I technically have to reach the Hokage's office and be dismissed, before saying anything."

"I can torture you," she replied with a shrug and a monotonous voice, a small smirk on her face, "Or I can torture the poor scrawny thing on your back…well?" she actually licked her lips, only for Naruto to roll his eyes, sigh, and move closer to her, giving her a peck on the cheek before moving to the Hokage's tower.

"See you at home! Try not scaring other people next time!"

Karin was shocked, first in fright at the strangely mad kunoichi, then in surprise, because it seemed some sort of game between the two…a bit morbid, but still…

She looked back at the woman's aura, seeing it turn a less degree of red and a stronger degree of pink. Inwardly, Karin cursed herself: the good ones were always taken.

It was with a bit of embarrassment that she was brought, still in piggy back, up to the Hokage's office. On second thoughts, without her being brought like that, and thus forced to stay in the same room, she would have probably run away in fear and fright.

The aura of Naruto had started to turn colder and colder with every step he had taken near the entrance of the tower, every step up the staircase, every step near the office…it had given her the chills. That's when she had realized just why Naruto's chakra was blue: it resembled the Ocean. There was the beautiful spark and glittering of the sun over the waves crashing on the beaches, and there was the deep crushing darkness of the darkest of depths. There was the relaxing noise of seagulls, and the ferocious snarl of the thunderstorms. There was the soothing changing of the tides, and the deep gurgling of the whirlpools. Right there and then, Naruto's aura was that of a cold indifference, a silent hatred, a storm brewing.

Karin nodded when she was called, and told, with a bit of hesitation, pieces of her story to the Hokage, the man seemed kind enough, with light blue eyes and blond spikey hair. His aura, however, was a different thing. It was torn and tattered, mixtures of blue and yellow coupled with the dark shades, and dull colors were predominant. A boiling dark red stood in a corner of his aura, a deep grief, while in another stood the purple of shame and guilt. Moments later, Karin finally tuned back to the words spoken.

"She should be doing a checkup in the hospital, Senju-san," Minato pointed out.

"I'm sure my mother can check her up far better, in the Senju compound, then any medic-nin at the hospital," the grey haired man replied.

"I will have to prepare a room in the Namikaze compound then, you can send her over when Tsunade-san has finished her check-up then," as the Hokage pointed that out, Naruto shook his head.

"She will probably need to rest from the journey: I already have a room prepared for her, I'm sure my mother will agree with me not to have her moved for a while."

The Hokage's aura showed guilt, once more, seething annoyance, but at the same time…fear?

"Fine then," and with that, Karin realized once more the difference between the two. The power of the Hokage was there, enormous, but tattered, broken by something deep and unrelenting…on the other side, Naruto's power was calm, collected…and there. Entire, complete, cold or warm didn't matter, because it was both and neither at the same time. She shivered slightly, because she hadn't been seeing a normal exchange of opinions and words, no, she had seen the Kage of a village bow metaphorically to the demands of someone else: Naruto.

The reason could have been tiredness, the lingering guilt, anything…but it had happened, and she had witnessed it. The reason she felt safe near Naruto was because she knew it, deep down, subconsciously, she knew that the grey haired man was a wide berth of power, completely focused on its objectives…and as long as he decided to protect her, she would be safe.

With a little stumbling on her part, she followed Naruto outside, only to be once more scooped in his arms the moment they were out of the office, and brought into the usual piggy back ride.

Albeit flustered, she didn't say a word about it: probably it was his quirk, a lot of bandits had theirs, and this *was* harmless and even *welcomed*.

The moment they left the Hokage's tower, the chakra warmed up, it eased itself, and Karin, unknowingly holding her breath till then, finally breathed in relaxation.

"I'm sorry, I should have asked for your opinion…" Naruto muttered, "But I got carried away."

"It's…It's fine," Karin replied in a whisper, "I wouldn't have known what to choose anyway…so I'd have gone with you," she added.

"Well, hungry for a snack?" he replied with a light smile, as for once, after all those months, Ichiraku ramen actually showed up completely devoid of Kunoichis in line. Probably had to do with the hour, it was five and a half in the afternoon, tea shops and cafés were filled, not Ramen Stalls.

"Yes!" the reply came cheerfully, extremely so. It was the obvious reply of people who had starved most of their life: when food came by there was no *no*, only happy acceptances. Even if most of the time it could turn out to be poisoned.

"Then we shall have you taste ramen for the first time," and with those words, he gently plopped her down on the stall's seat, before turning to smile and wave at the old man behind the counter, while the girl in question, a pretty light brown haired girl, looked at him with her eyes narrowed.

Ayame Ichiraku was wearing an apron with the words *Cooking-nin* embroiled on it, and her stare seemed slightly murderous. At the same time, it turned into a kind one with a smiling face when it looked over to Karin. The red-haired girl couldn't help but look at how that chakra was…boiling with anger? Jealousy? Rage? Scorn? Feelings of betrayal? A veritable whirlpool of dark emotions…and at the same time there was regret, sadness, and acceptance. She gulped hesitantly…maybe she didn't want to eat ramen after all.

"Oh poor thing!" she said, looking at Karin's face: clearly, years of malnutrition wouldn't leave her after mere months of travelling with someone who actually gave her food, but she didn't think it would be that bad.

"Teuchi-san, three pork ramen, with extra pork," Naruto replied, "And a Beef ramen to get Karin-chan accustomed to the wonders of ramen," he added, carefully.

For a moment, Karin thought it was strange that Naruto had been speaking to the old man, and not to the girl, but it seemed so…normal, to both of them, that it was probably a regular occurrence.

That's when her female sense kicked in, and she realized that something, probably, had been going on between the two, and, while not having ever in her life read a trashy novel, she was more than sure that it involved the purple haired woman.

"I'll get the beef ramen done," Ayame said, winking at Karin, "I'll make sure it's going to be extra-delicious, just for you!"

The ramen was good, truly, it was warm, and she loved warm food, but mostly it was filling, and a bit salty. The fact that the man next to her seemed to adore it, and had already gone through three bowls of it, only consolidated her opinion of it. She bit her lip, as she actually kind of wanted another one, but she couldn't stretch her…

"Another one for Karin, Beef again or you prefer trying something different?" just how did he manage that? Just how could he so easily read her like an open book? Did he have some sort of special power, some sort of secret jutsu to read into other's minds?

"No, I don't," Naruto replied with a chuckle, only making Karin look at him shocked.

"Answering my thoughts says you can," she retorted, looking at him with her red eyes, trying to find how he could do that without hand signs…it had to be a secret skill?

"I can't read thoughts…but I know what you're thinking: I went through it too, so I know about it," he replied, softly, as Teuchi sported a smile.

"You should listen to him," the ramen stall vendor said, gently lowering the second beef ramen in front of her, "He was in a situation even worse than yours years ago, and now he's one of the most respected Jounins in Konoha, they call him the Nidaime no Sairai, the second coming of the Second Hokage, and that's not an easy to achieve title."

"I think they simply looked at my awesome grey hair and wonderful blue armor and said: let's not be too original with the nicknames," Naruto replied with a light grin, as Karin looked with a bit of a puzzled look at both men, before turning to Ayame.

"What are they talking about?" she asked, perplexed, as Ayame bit her lip, before looking at Naruto, for once, actually, waiting for him to say something.

"Well, when the Kyuubi attacked Konoha, years ago…Naruto was used as its jailor, however, instead of being treated like a hero, he was treated like if he was the Kyuubi himself, and people took their revenge on him, or treated him with scorn, calling him monster, or demon…" Ayame gave the girl the watered down version, but still, Karin's eyes opened for a moment in disbelief.

"But he's kind! He's got all this…kindness! He can't be a monster!" Ayame smiled lightly at that, before continuing her tale.

"But then he showed them all that he wasn't either a monster or a demon, but an extremely strong willed and good shinobi, and little by little the people of the village realized their mistakes, and came to their senses."

"Oh…so you were hungry too?" at the innocent question, asked to Naruto's face, the grey haired man nodded lightly.

"Starving actually, the reason there are no rabbits in Konoha's park any longer might be my fault," at those words, Ayame let out a startled gasp.

"You killed Mr Fluffy!" pointing her metal ladle at him, Naruto raised his hands.

"In my defense, he tasted horrible, had I known I wouldn't have," with those words, Karin took a moment to look again at the auras around her. Teuchi's was gentle and kind, a soothing beige color, Ayame's was now more light in color, albeit the regret was still there, and Naruto's…it was happy, once more. Like he had just gotten something again, something he had longed for, and unknown to Karin, that was precisely the thing. Ayame had finally talked to him again, even if it was petty bickering over a wild rabbit.

It was then, that something came crashing down behind them.

Naruto spun around quickly, and there, there Karin saw that aura shift like the entire mass of the ocean had decided to transform into a storm of epic proportions, only to become quiet moments later. The sight before her eyes was…something incredible, and…funny.

Two boys, one with raven hair and the other with long brown one, were entangled in what seemed like ninja wire, and both were being silently dragged away by a Chinese dressed girl with two hair buns on her head.

"Sensei! Please! Help me!" Neji nearly wailed.

"What the Hyuga said! Please!" Even Sasuke was on pleading terms…and that meant something was really bad.

"Now, now, you all should go and do your training with Gai-sensei," Tenten pointed out with a smile and a strangely diabolical laughter.

"He's mad I tell you! Mad! Sensei please! Get me out of here!" not being able to resist the laments of his most prized pupil, Naruto sighed, rolling his eyes as stood up, paying for the bill, and then smiling at Karin to follow him.

"Let's go see what this *Maito Gai* has to be so…scary," he replied with a snicker. He was a Jounin after all: it was due time he met everyone, since next year he'd probably be fighting shoulder to shoulder to get his pick for his students.

By the time they reached the training ground, Naruto knew Maito Gai. Now, he knew who Maito Gai was by the words Kakashi said to him in the arc of the years, he knew him because of his bingo book entry, he knew his face because of the Bingo Book picture…but he didn't actually Know Him, when he did, or at least, when he began hearing him, it was more than enough.

"YOSH! The fire of youth burns brightly in us all! A pleasure to meet my fellow Jounin! We should have a spar soon!" as the green clad man with enormous bushy brows exclaimed that, sporting his white smile that seemed to blind everyone in range, Tenten sported a slightly wicked smile.

"So sensei, when do I get to try live ammo on running people?" Oh, so *that* was the reason she had been so willingly to bring her teammates back to training, or at least, one of them. Naruto had no idea why Sasuke had ended up being captured too.

"Hey! Release me now! The Uchiha is too close for my personal tastes!" Neji retorted, only to have Tenten sigh and unbundle the two.

"Listen who's talking…You are too close for MY personal tastes," Sasuke retorted, getting back on his feet once he had been freed.

"Gai-sensei! Yosh! Who are you my pretty lady?" a mini-clone of Maito Gai suddenly sprouted from behind them, covered in sweat...and immediately went to ogling Karin.

Karin…Karin was taken aback by all of these auras…some were kind, other were happy, some determined, there was a hint of things being hidden and little bouts of jealousy but all in all these auras…she had never seen so many bright ones, for all her staying with the brigands. Just what was this place?

"I should be doing the presentations," Naruto replied, "This here is Karin Uzumaki. Karin, meet Sasuke and Neji, two really close friends," as he said that, he actually dared to raise his pinky finger, with a wide smirk and a chuckle.

"That's not true!" Neji yelled, before looking murderously at Lee, preventing him from saying anything, anything at all.

"Bullshit!" Sasuke replied, scowling and, if looks could kill, then Naruto would be dead already. Actually an Uchiha's look could kill, but only once the sharingan activated, and the Senju knew it all too well.

Still, in the midst of small talk, of being in the middle of smiles, of friendly talks, of speaking with people who didn't spit, yell, were drunk, or carried bloody weapons around, Karin felt at ease. She decided it then and there…it wouldn't matter what that man asked of her, she'd do it. He had saved her life, and given her a life, so even if such a debt could never be repaid, that didn't matter in the slightest: she'd repay it.

*Later, that night*

Karin was sleeping peacefully in the guestroom of Naruto's house, her light breathing being perfectly rhythmic, as the girl was sleeping in a bed for the first time in a while. Downstairs, in the kitchen, Naruto was feeling a light bout of tension going up in the air, but after all, it was to be expected.

On one side, there was a really pissed wife, as Anko Senju was in the process of sharpening, just so casually, a kunai.

On another, there was a frowning mother, namely Tsunade Senju, who was, even more casually, flipping through the pages of the medical chart she had been penning for a while, concerning Karin's health situation.

On the third side of the table stood Kushina Namikaze, who was silently sipping tea, tea that she had been offered during the time Karin was still awake, and that she was doing her best to sip as quietly as possible, and as long as possible, to delay the inevitable.

On the fourth side was obviously Naruto himself, who was simply trying his best to act as relaxed as possible, because it wouldn't do for him to go on a bout of anger and yelling while Yumi and Karin were both sleeping.

Not after it had taken hours to convince Yumi to let go of Karin's hair, especially with the red haired girl actually going on a panic streak, and falling on the ground shivering from that. Grabbing her hair seemed to have a recalling function of most of her past, and it wasn't a good recollection of memories, if her tears were any indication.

It had taken most of the remaining hours of daylight, and now that there was no longer a need for a checkup, and being it late, Karin had been gently asked to sleep, just like Naruto had foretold, in the guestroom, with Tsunade claiming she needed rest…and certainly not been carried around to meet Gai, of all people.

"So," Tsunade was the one to break the silence, "What do we do?"

"As an Uzumaki, it would be my pleasure to take care of her: the Namikaze mansion has a lot of free rooms," Kushina replied, just as Anko rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, a pity the girl's going to be shocked for a while, and an empty house filled with strangers is not going to help her," the purple haired Kunoichi pointed out. Truthfully, she just wanted to one-up the red haired whor…ehm, woman, sure, it was petty, but if she couldn't one-up the Hokage, nobody said anything on the wife. In the beginning, she had been reluctant, but had still welcomed the girl inside, at least for a night and a bath, the dinner was included because she looked scrawny, and probably, she blamed her motherly instincts, a breakfast too. Then she would have send her on her way, no second guessing, no second thoughts, a bit of worry maybe, but still that would be the motherly instincts.

Then Naruto had explained, and once he had, she had decided that no, she wasn't going to let the bitc…ehm, the Hokage's wife, get something from her husband ever. If Naruto wanted to protect the girl, for his always righteous principle of being kind, and in the meantime get one up on the red haired woman…she was game.

"The house is not empty, Katsumi-chan is nearly always around with Ebisu, who is a Tokubetsu Jounin, during her free time, and both the Hokage and I are in the village," Kushina replied, "while Senju-san's duties as a Jounin-sensei will eventually bring him to leave the village for long term missions, like the last one."

"When that happens, there would be Me, Shizune or Tsunade in the house, and Yumi-chan could use another babysitter too," Anko retorted.

"And you would trust someone you barely met for less than a couple of hours, most of which spent crying on the ground, with your daughter?" Kushina's voice was shocked, but the reply was so abrupt Naruto too stood startled.

"Better than trusting your own son to the villagers' concept of Hero," and with those words, both Kushina and Anko stared at each other with their eyes narrowed, both seething in rage.

Tsunade finished clipping together the medical charts, before looking to Naruto, and replying, in the most calm and collected voice she could.

"Well, Naru-chan, it's your call: technically, since she has no family, you can adopt her, if she wants to, that is, as a clan member. You could adopt her as a daughter too, but you can also simply adopt her as a clan, being you the clan head," at those words, Kushina replied immediately.

"I am her family: I can refuse your claims any moment, and you know it, Tsunade!"

"Actually no," Tsunade retorted, "We are not speaking about there being a clan or not, but the fact remains that Uzumaki is the mother side of the clan of Senju…meaning that a Senju can adopt any Uzumaki within its ranks, basically…you're the branch family."

"And since when?" Kushina muttered, her eyes showing disbelief.

"Since Hashirama married Mito Uzumaki," Naruto replied, nodding, "and since it was clear that the Uzumaki bloodline could hold Bijuus easier than any other Jinchuuriki, meaning any chosen to become Jinchuuriki would be adopted into the Hokage's clan, to keep them loyal to Konoha."

"You should know that, after adopting Naruto, I would have gone through every file possible to find more things to make it claim-proof," Tsunade replied with a light grin, "And this was one of these things."

"So…Will you adopt her or not?" Kushina muttered, looking at Naruto who, however, took a deep breath before looking at Anko in turn.

"Oh no, you don't," the purple haired Kunoichi recoiled, moving away from the table and standing up, crossing her arms around her chest, "don't you dare think about it."

"Pretty please?" he whispered, looking at her with pleading eyes, as what seemed like a silent dialogue of sort was going on between Anko's hazel eyes and Naruto's blue ones for a couple of extremely long minutes.

"Fine!" Anko sighed, raising her hands in defeat, "But you adopt her yourself!"

"So we've got another addition to the clan, I knew the Senjus would be returning strong by naming you clan head," Tsunade replied with a grin.

"You just wanted to get rid of the paperwork," Naruto retorted, before adding, "And the Senju clan reaches six members as of now, good, I'm on a roll," he added with a light chuckle.

"Six? You mean five, right?" Tsunade replied, as Anko, actually, whistled innocently.

"You are pregnant? Again?" the slug sannin looked at the purple haired kunoichi with shock, again!?

"No!" Anko replied vehemently, "But I did manage to convince Shizu-chan to join the Senju bandwagon…really, she just wanted you to do it, but since you never came around to…"

"Oh…that's why she was angry at me recently!" smacking her forehead, Tsunade shook her head in disbelief, while Kushina, instead, slowly rose to her feet.

"I'll be leaving then, did she…mention any bloodline?" at the question, Naruto shook his head.

"Nothing that I know of," he replied. He wasn't lying, just because the girl was an innate sensor, and her blood healed, it didn't mean it was a Kekkai Genkei, and he wasn't going to sell out her qualities, especially to the woman in question, who would probably find a way to force her into her clan once more, in some way, even by making a law pass about it.

He was sure, however, that by next week the laws concerning adoption between main clan and branch clan would be changed in such a way to be outlawed. It suited him just fine too.

With the Uzumaki Matriarch out of his kitchen, Naruto could finally relax, and start removing his armor. He had kept it on till then because, obviously, one never knows.

"Well, I'll be leaving for the night then…I'll probably apologize to Shizune in the morning about not adopting her sooner," with those words, Tsunade left the couple's house, and with that, the two remaining shinobi looked at each other.

Anko pouted, waiting for Naruto to remove his armor, before moving closer to him and grabbing his right arm, pulling him alongside her to the bedroom.

"I missed you," she whispered, as they both got in her room, "no more S-ranks for a while?" she asked, in a kind of pleading tone.

"No more S-rank for a while," Naruto replied, falling on the bed with a loud sigh, and closing his eyes. By the time Anko actually joined him in bed, the man was already asleep, probably tired from the journey and the day. The purple haired Kunoichi, without saying a word, laid her head on his chest, within his arms, and slept. Once more, she felt that safety all around her.

*One Year Later*

Katsumi Namikaze woke up, dashed out of her bed in a blur of speed, and made her way straight to the bathroom, where she brushed her teeth, freshened up, applied a light perfume, and then finished dressing up, before leaving for academy by jumping out of the window.

That day, she had a meeting with destiny. She was going to pass the exam, become a Genin, enter a team with a kickass sensei, become a Chuunin, marry Sasuke, help him revive his clan, avenge it and kill his brother and finally soothe his heart. At least, that was her project of life. Her mother disapproved of her dieting, but Sasuke liked clearly skinny girls, and she had to remove the baby fat from her face! It wouldn't do to look just like her mother on the first day of school, she got nicknamed the Tomato for it…luckily Katsumi didn't get any nicknames.

Hinata Hyuga opened her eyes with a light groan, stretched her limbs, and dressed up in her fishnet shirt, white jacket kept open and short beige skirt, before yawning once more, and moving out of her room. As she walked alongside the corridor, she grinned, waving happily at any branch family member that passed her way, while flipping off at the same time every main family one. At least the branch family was less stogy and stoic…they were lesser asses, to be cruder about it.

She didn't even go to the dining hall, instead aiming directly for the kitchen, where the cooks knew her and obviously didn't mind her passing by and picking up her plate straight from their hands. She didn't care about that etiquette, or dieting. She rolled her pancakes in a single one, wrapping it around a piece of paper, before chewing it along her way to academy. She was twelve years old, she was a clear badass girl, and she was going to ace this test because yes, she was going to be in Naruto Senju's team, and force him to spend time with her.

Sakura Haruno woke up, letting the scroll fall down from her chest and into the ground. She groaned as she rubbed her eyelids, her green eyes darting around the room in search for her clothes. She had dropped them somewhere near, right? She sighed, standing up and aiming for at least a quick shower, before getting her dress up and ready, a one piece red dress, with an added extra of a pair of light beige shorts. She was going to pass the exam without a problem, but she just so hoped she'd end up with Kakashi's team: he was the one thousand technique ninja! He certainly would teach all of his jutsus, if she asked nicely.

Ino Yamanaka looked nervously at the posters in front of her, both plastered on the walls. Her two living gods looked back at her, one with a candid smile and the other with a less scowling scowl than normal, which was a miracle by itself. Obviously, she was staring at both Sasuke's and Naruto's posters, and she just couldn't decide which one of the two she'd dress in color that represented them to impress. What if she ended up as one of Senju-san's Genins? Would they bask in forbidden pleasures and relationships? What if instead she got with Sasuke and Senju-san? Would it be a forbidden three way triangle, that would then degenerate into…as blood came down her nostrils, she sported a really wide giggle that sounded even a bit perverted. Then, without much of a worry, she flipped a coin and smiling, picked the dark black of the Uchiha's hair as a setting color, and once dressed, ran out of the house. She didn't even take breakfast: it wouldn't do to eat and get fat, Sasuke didn't like fat girls!

Shino Aburame looked at his bugs, and his bugs looked back at him. Then, the Aburame heir looked at his father, who looked back at him. Then he looked at his father's bugs, who looked back at him, as he looked at them, knowing full well that they were looking at his own bugs who were looking at…in this contest of stares, of silent stares, a voice finally broke the silence.

"Ohi, Shino! Let's get going or Aniki is going to flail us alive if we flunk!" moments later, Kiba Inuzuka was already there. He had already been ruffled enough, his mother being extremely more violent than usual that morning, with him going to become a Genin, and thus had taken his way earlier, having thus enough time to go grab the Aburame.

After that chat about a Kikkaichu life span, and comparing it to dogs, the two had become actually good friends, at least, Shino was an okay guy, and while mostly silent, he at least understood of why Kiba smelled like a wet dog most of the time, and didn't complain about it.

"Father," Shino bowed his head slightly, and Shibi replied in the same way.

"Son," and with those words, the two Aburame parted, while Kiba looked a bit quizzical at the scene happening in the street, before shaking his head and commenting.

"For all I know you, you always manage to get weirder by the day, Shino," he said.

"And you always manage to smell like a wet dog, even in dry days," the Aburame replied, as the Inuzuka chuckled, before they both began walking towards the academy.

Shikamaru was flung down from his bed by a strong pull, dressed even when in his sleep, and suddenly found himself on Chouji's shoulders, being brought by the far bigger and stronger boy to the academy.

"Troublesome…" the Nara muttered, before going back to a low snore level.

"Ohi Shikamaru, who do you think we're going to end up with?" the Akimichi heir asked, with a light smile, as the Nara heir instead yawned, before muttering.

"Fine, I can walk…troublesome," being let down, to walk, he added then, "I think we are going to be in the same team as Ino…troublesome woman," he muttered.

"You sure?" Chouji asked back, wincing slightly.

"Pretty sure," Shikamaru replied, before adding, "Don't worry, if she acts mean, I'll stop her."

Sasuke Uchiha woke up to the humming sound of his mother, Mikoto, who was preparing breakfast for him. His mother had finally started smiling again and, much to his shock, seemed to have been having a flirt for some time with someone. Now he just needed to find out who he was, and then he could decide whether he was worthy of her or not. In the meantime, he washed up and dressed with the blue jacket sporting the Uchiha fan on the back, the white cargo pants, and looked at his eyes one last time.

"Sharingan! Sharingan!" he whispered, at the same moment widening his eyes, but getting nothing, they still were black, without the tomoes or the red sclera…well, he was already twelve years old, and no sharingan…Itachi was four years with it by his age, and already taking missions.

"Do not compare! Never compare yourself to others, become your own legend, carve your own path!" the words ringed into his ears, the fact they came from Neji, of all people, made him recall them vividly. Albeit his talk was more on the fact that fate was bullshit, it still helped.

Five minutes later, he sat down eating his scrambled eggs, while looking at his mother humming a happy tune.

"Is he a Jounin at least?" Sasuke asked, hoping to get an answer. Hell, it could be anyone, even the fish vendor, and he wouldn't have left a fish vendor swoon his mother over…it was fish!

"Who is?" Mikoto Uchiha knew how to keep a secret…and he needed to avoid Sasuke flipping it out. Especially because it might not become anything more than a bit of a flirt, that much she knew too.

"The guy you are seeing," Sasuke replied broodily.

"I am not seeing anyone," Mikoto replied, "Now eat up and move, or you'll be late."

"One day…One day I will find out who he is, and if I'll deem him unworthy, that day I'll show him the Thousand Years of Pain technique!" as Sasuke swore vengeance in his mind, through the use of the most dastardly invented technique ever, he found himself grabbing a last piece of toast before moving to the academy. He liked to eat his mother's cooking, and he kind of wondered why there were some idiotic girls who kept dieting: they were kunoichis for Kami's sake, not models!

Slowly, the academy's class filled, as Iruka took his place at the desk, looking with a smile at his charges, who would, the day after tomorrow, be either fully fledged genins or be right back behind the desks, taking remedial courses.

"Well, if everyone is here…" in a moment, the door clanked open, as a startled girl with bright red hair, and red eyes, panted heavily.

"I'm not late, right?" she asked, pushing her glasses back up the rim of her nose, looking hopefully at Iruka who nodded.

"Hai Karin-chan, just in time," with a nod, the red haired girl moved to her spot, right next to Sakura. When she had arrived midterm, in the last year of school, Iruka had thought Naruto had turned mad, the girl had never had any kunoichi training at all, she would have needed more time, certainly. Instead he had been surprised by the sheer amount of effort and willpower the girl had put through.

Karin Senju was just as gifted, if not more, than Naruto had been in his time, and that had shown time and time again. More importantly, however, she had also trained herself to the brink of exhaustion, as Naruto always spoke of her with pride, like she actually was a daughter of his, albeit the five years only of difference.

As much as Karin would have liked to point out that Anko Senju was no pushover when it came to training like hell, she never spoke a word. Especially because she knew all too well the reasons she had been trained that much. The day she had decided she wanted to become a kunoichi, to pay back Naruto for everything he had given her, Anko had taken her apart quietly, and had told her a simple yet effective sentence.

"If you die, he will cry, and if he cries, I will be sad, and he will cry even more, so I will bring you back from the dead and kill you myself if that happens…therefore we have training to do, understood?"

Half a year before, she wouldn't even know who the Nidaime was, or what was his favorite mark of sweet, that day, the day of the exam, she was perfectly able to mention all nine types of pastries ever eaten by the Second Hokage…probably because Naruto had actually found an excerpt on what Tobirama didn't stomach to eat.

Iruka called them one at the time, and brought them to another empty classroom, where they would perform the three basic jutsus to graduate from the academy. The written part was merely the average of all the previous tests done, idem for the Taijutsu part. Only those who would graduate earlier had to do everything on the same day.

Slowly, the class began to trickle down, until fewer and fewer persons remained, and more and more filled the courtyard of the academy, Konoha's forehead protectors on their head. Out there, waiting for their graduating children, were their own parents. Obviously it was a really important event, and it was meant for people to be there…but the majority seemed to dart their attention to a single couple, more specifically Minato Namikaze, the Yondaime Hokage of Konoha, and Kushina Namikaze, the wife of the Yellow Flash.

Those two were eagerly waiting, with the rest of the crow of parents, for their daughter to come out. Kushina was also holding a bento box within her hands, and a furious look on her face: Katsumi had left without even eating breakfast! Stupid dieting ideas from stupid fashion magazines…never mind she had done the same at her age.

Not too far, his back leaning against a tree, the Nidaime no Sairai stood in wait, his blue eyes piercing through the stream of students that were exiting, all with a Konoha Forehead protector in their hands, all with smiles on her face.

The exam was a formality. It was the Jounin's sensei test that mattered, that decided who passed and who didn't. It was obvious that the majority of the students would pass, only a complete idiot would fail it…yet he was nervous. He wasn't sure how Karin would take flunking her exam. She was a frail child, no matter how her *tough* acts had sprouted up: she still remained a cringing girl most of the time.

With a sigh of relief, he saw her coming out, the Konoha's forehead protector proudly displayed on her head. He smiled, waving at her, as she narrowed her red eyes around to look for him, maybe the glasses needed to be adjusted once more.

In a moment, she was already hurrying over, before looking around hesitantly for a second, fidgeting, bringing both of her hands behind her back, grasping them together. At the same time, she lowered her head sideways, biting her lower lip, while her left leg stood slightly behind her right one…waiting for praise, probably.

Naruto smiled at her, nodding, and the next moment the red haired girl was hugging him with a smile on her face.

"I did it! I'm a Kunoichi now!" she exclaimed, "And it was…so easy! They just asked us to do a Henge, a Kawarimi and a Bunshin!" she chattered vividly, before turning her gaze to the top of the tree.

"Aw…she found me out!" the voice made Karin shiver slightly, as Anko descended from her hiding position, a smile on her face, a wicked one at that, before giving her a wink with her right eye, "Good job Apple-chan."

With a flustered expression, Karin removed herself from hugging Naruto, who simply looked as dense as ever at the scene.

"Aw…she's so cute when she's flustered," Anko cooed, before looking with a more evil glint in her eyes, "What is it? Oh, I get it! Want to know about your graduation gift?" at the question, Karin's eyes lit up with interest.

"Anko…no corrupting the young, again," Naruto felt the need to stress the last part, especially when a Hinata, of all people, came marching by, stopping near them while bursting a bubble gum, and ignoring the shocked look in the branch family member who had to be her escort…who was kind of glad he hadn't yet been seen by the heiress in the crowd.

"Hi Anko-san, Naruto-san...Karin-chan," the last name came out slightly…stressed, but it was more healthy jealousy, at least, Karin knew that the girl's aura was a mixture of jealousy and resentment, but it was also vastly bright, like the Yamanaka's one: jealous, but not bullying, nor scorning.

She could live with having her *chan* stressed out.

"Hinata-chan," Naruto replied with a smile, "Good to see you passed too. If you end up with my daughter in your team, please keep an eye out on her, would you?"

"I will Naruto-san, you can count on it," Hinata replied, before smiling at Karin, "And if I end up with you as my sensei, can I come over to receive more help in training?"

"Don't you have something like, I dunno, an entire clan who'd be willing to help you?" Karin retorted, her eyes narrowing on the Hyuga heir, who simply smiled back at her.

"Neji-Niisan is stronger than most clan members because he trained away from the clan, and with Naruto-san of all people," Hinata replied.

"You know," Anko started with a smile, "You could go join Neji and Sasuke in their schemes of revenge on my husband dear," with that, she actually leaned closer to Naruto, giving him a quick peck on the cheek. Obtaining the natural result of two flustered Kunoichis who looked away…with her chuckling at the scene.

"I could actually," Hinata mused, "Maybe I could try going through the seduction part of the mission," with those words she actually sent her hands to her chest that, while small, was well more developed than that of the other girls her age…barring Ino who was a bit behind, but not by much.

For a moment, however, Karin saw the aura of Anko suddenly flare a dark red, a dark purple, and an extremely wrong black and golden color, only for the blue one to jump in on the fray, and subdue them all, calming the otherwise tumultuous aura of the Kunoichi.

"I see, well…I'm sure you'd need bigger assets, he's used to mine after all," Anko replied with a wicked grin, grabbing Naruto's arm and hugging it, to let her soft breasts press against his armor.

"You know I have armor on…meaning I don't feel a thing for now, no matter how much your assets are, and I did ask you to stop corrupting minors," Naruto replied in a low tone, as Anko teasingly smiled at the man.

"You're no fun! Thank Kami I'm here to help," she replied with another smile.

"Fine," Naruto rolled his eyes, "Hinata-chan, don't worry: even if you are not placed in my Genin team, it doesn't mean you can't come to train together with Neji and Sasuke, understood?"

"Understood, I'll ask Neji-Niisan to know the hours of training, and I'll be there next time," she replied with a smile, "See you soon, Anko-san, Karin-chan," and with that, she left, quickly.

Karin was halfway through muttering foul curses, when Naruto coughed slightly, making her turn around, since he probably was looking to get her attention back for her *gift*.

"As a graduation gift, since I'm sure you're going to pass the Genin's examination, I picked something up for you…" the Senju's clan's head dropped a small package in the girl's hands, who slowly proceeded to open the wrapping paper of the gift, to reveal a slip of paper, with a summoning circle on it, written in red ink.

"It's a summoning jutsu for a chameleon, if you ever find yourself in trouble, just pour chakra into it, and tell the Summon your plight: he should be able to track me down relatively easy, and I'll be there as fast as possible."

"Thank you… Otou-san!" and with those words, she once more wrapped Naruto in a hug, only to get a visible pout from Anko, who crossed her arms over her chest.

"And nothing for me, huh? I was the one who suggested it, you know?"

"…I suppose…" she muttered, "Thank you for being concerned on my wellbeing, Anko-san," she added politely, before jumping backwards to avoid a joking lounge from Anko's hand.

"You little…" the purple haired Kunoichi muttered with a grin on her face, "Come here you!" as both females started running around the tree, like little kids, Naruto sighed, scratching the back of his head…he had the nagging feeling that something *Was* a bit wrong…

A moment later, Kiba Inuzuka arrived running, Akamaru on his head.

"Aniki! I knew I would find you here!" at that, Naruto took the cue to grab Kiba by the shoulder, and move away from the tree while the two females were still on a hunt and a run.

"You passed too, huh? Congratulations," the grey haired man smiled, before turning his gaze to the crowd, "Nobody came to pick you up?" as he asked that Kiba simply stiffened for a moment, before nodding.

"Kaa-san was a bit busy with the dogs in the kennels, and Hana-Oneesan had to help her," he whispered, "So they told me to go back alone: I was just hanging around, waiting to see how the rest of our class went."

"Actually he was looking like a lost puppy, searching frantically for his Aniki, to show off his earned forehead protector," Shino replied as a matter of fact, earning a glare from Kiba.

"Shino!" the Inuzuka hissed, trying his best murderous glare.

"Well done to you too," Naruto added with a chuckle, "Your parents aren't here either?"

"No, they are present, yet I felt the need to help the lost puppy find his Aniki," the fact that the sentence had been said in a slightly monotonous and devoid of emotion way didn't mean that there wasn't kindness behind it. It was just that the Aburames tended to speak by portraying little emotions, to avoid sending their Kikkaichus into frenzy, or into acting erratically.

"And to answer your questions, no, I do not know who my Genin team will be: the assignments are to be made this afternoon," he pointed out, even before the two could actually speak.

"Got it Aniki! I hope we end up in the same team!" with that, Kiba turned to leave, waving at Naruto before disappearing through the crowd.

"Is something bothering you, Shino?" Naruto queried, looking at the Aburame who was standing there.

"Inuzuka train fiercely, correct?" the boy spoke quietly, his gaze, hidden behind his shades, looking at the grey haired man with identical set of sun glasses.

"Yes, I suppose they do, being a clan based on recon and ambushes, I suppose they need to train a lot in Taijutsu…why the question?"

"Nothing much, just a question: I thank you for your time…and I hope I will have you as my sensei," with those words, Shino bowed slightly, before returning to his parents.

Naruto turned back to stare at Anko and Karin…both still running around. A sigh and a light shaking of the head later, and he grabbed his wife by the shoulder, stopping her.

"Anko…stop harassing our daughter and let's get going," he added, with a chuckle, "Come on Karin, it's lunch time: we're going home, your grandmother has probably burned down the kitchen by now, but at least Shizune should be able to put down the fire…" at least, he hoped.

Karin swiftly moved in the middle of the couple, and without further pressuring, albeit Anko *did* pinch her cheek finally once she was in her grasp, they set off for home.

Little by little the crowd started reducing itself in numbers, until the only couple remaining turned out to be the Hokage and his wife.

They stood there, in wait, for at least another hour, before looking at each other with perplexed and slightly worried gazes.

"She should already be out, do you think she failed?" Minato queried, worriedly, his wife.

"It's not possible: she knew all the basic jutsus for the academy," Kushina replied, before starting to march in, soon followed by Minato. Both reached the hallway of the academy just as Iruka came out of there.

"Hokage-sama, Namikaze-san," the chuunin sensei bowed his head slightly at the two, "Is there something you need?"

"Well…how did Katsumi-chan go?" Minato asked.

"She didn't come…I thought you were here to tell me she was still sick," Iruka replied, before looking at both shocked faces of the Hokage and of his wife, and realizing the blunder, "Wait, she isn't sick?"

"No! We thought she was in school!" at the exclamation from Kushina, the Chuunin replied.

"But she did come to school," he pointed out, "Only, she got sick before her turn, stress maybe, and Mizuki brought her to the infirmary," he added.

"But that's not possible, Katsumi has never been sick once in all her life!" Minato retorted, narrowing his gaze, "Where is Mizuki now, Iruka-kun?"

"He…he already left, he had some business to attend to…why?" after a brief moment, Iruka's eyes opened wide, "You think he…with Iwa?"

"I'm not sure of it: I know we need to find her! Kushina, go give the general alarm and warn the Anbus, I'll Hiraishin around the village, Iruka, you go look for Mizuki," with that, the Yellow Flash of Konoha disappeared from there, a three pronged Kunai in his hand.

*Katsumi*

She had been told that the examination would be different, in her case, because she could easily skip Genin and already make Chuunin: her grades granted her that possibility. When Mizuki had proposed it to her, she had easily accepted the chance. As a Chuunin, she was sure she would be able to interest Sasuke, and maybe they would train together, become intimate together, and…a light blush crept on her face, as she looked once more at the forbidden sealing scroll, in which all hidden and dangerous Jutsus stood. She just couldn't wait! Her parents would be so proud of her! She'd make Chuunin at twelve! So there she was, in the clearing, waiting for Mizuki-sensei to arrive, to give her automatic passage, when she got bored.

She knew the scroll had to be a fake one, after all, it hadn't even been all *that* safely guarded, only a couple of Anbus who hadn't even tried to look for her! Probably Chuunins camouflaged as Anbus.

Since she was bored, she decided to open the scroll, just to have a look at what they had written on it, to know if there was something like another message, another trial, or another test.

"Kage Bunshin? Wait, this *is* one of the forbidden Jutsus…but wouldn't that mean?" With a startled gasp, she closed the scroll. This was the real deal! This was really the forbidden sealing scroll!

"Oh Kami…" she whispered, she stood up, and, just then, a hail of shurikens flew through the air, hitting her on the chest and the side, and throwing her on the ground. Caught by surprise, Katsumi simply screamed in pain, before a couple of Kunais soon followed the shurikens, only to be parried, this time, by the girl's flaying around of the scroll, that still was thick and wide enough to be used as a sort of impromptu staff.

She slowly got up, panting, blood slowly flowing down her body that soon enough closed itself. Somebody was attacking her, but who was…and why?

"Who are you!?" she exclaimed, looking around, as the shurikens slowly dropped on the ground, her flesh mending and knitting together, removing the damage suffered.

Was the test actually this? Maybe she was to survive against an unknown enemy for a while? Or maybe it was punishment for looking into the scroll to begin with?

Another pair of kunais flew in the air, these ones, however, had explosive tags attached to them. In a moment, they touched the ground and the tags went off, the explosion rocking Katsumi against a tree, before a giant shuriken flew straight to her spot, probably a killing blow. Luckily, a wooden trunk was all the shuriken hit, as Katsumi had use a Kawarimi to get out of there.

Panting, and wincing from the pain in her ribs, Katsumi looked around worriedly, the forbidden scroll clutched tightly in her arms, as she tried to make her way back to Konoha. This was a bit of a test, if it was real.

Mizuki gritted his teeth, he was a chuunin, yet he couldn't kill the brat? The Yondaime's daughter had to die, those were the orders Orochimaru-sama had given him, and for that, he was more than willing to go to great lengths.

He removed some ninja wire from his pocket, and silently wrapped it around both of his arms, before jumping from tree branch to tree branch, until he was directly above her. Within a couple of moments, he jumped down, straight behind the girl.

Katsumi barely saw a blur behind her; Her hands clutched her throats immediately, something stopping her breath, as wire constricted her airways, blood seeping out from the broken skin. Her eyes began rolling to the back of her head, from the lack of Oxygen, and with that sight Mizuki smiled: forbidden scroll and death of the Yondaime's daughter, Orochimaru would be pleased.

*Mindscape*

As Katsumi lost consciousness, she found herself drifting into a sewer, a sewer that had water till her waist, and who seemed to have bars, iron bars, in front of her. The bars were corroded, some outright menacing to be destroyed in a second, while others sported deep gashes. Before the bars, stood chains, shackles, and talismans with the Kanjis for *seal*, hundreds of them adorned the iron poles and the walls of the sewer, and she couldn't help but feel intimidated, by the sight of what stood behind all of these…protections.

Two giant pair of eyes stared at her with hatred and disgust.

WEAK the voice boomed, without saying anything else, without even needing to say anything else, as fear and fright took over all the sense that Katsumi should have been able to know, and yet seemed so distant now.

WEAKLING it roared again, WEAKNESS IS ERADICATED it yelled again, his cruel eyes looking at her, deeply, as blazing and furious red chakra twirled straight through the seals, reaching her and making her gag under its foulness and bitterness.

KILL OR BE KILLED and with those words, Katsumi's eyes opened in a snap.

*Outside of the Mindscape*

Katsumi's eyes opened to reveal red ferocious slits, like those of a fierce animal. The next moment, vile red chakra poured out of her pores, snapping the wire and forcing Mizuki to let go of it.

Within seconds, the girl's hand, extending claws, turned to slash at the chuunin's sensei's chest, tearing wide chunks of flesh and liters of blood gushed out, spraying on the ground. Her sharp fang-like teeth set themselves on Mizuki's throat, tearing it apart with cruelty, and without remorse. Then her hands dug deeper into the already dead Chuunin's chest, and when they got to his heart, she bit onto it like it was normal, like it was something she should do, something that felt so right.

Eat their hearts. Eat their bodies. The weak die as you feast on them. Their death is your strength.

And then, in minutes, the red chakra disappeared, like a soundproof wall had just been pushed around a concert hall. It pressured down and dismissed itself, suppressed. Naruto Senju stood there, in front of her, his Raijin no Ken in hand, his cold blue eyes set on the sight of the girl covered in blood.

Seconds later, Minato Namikaze was already there, three pronged kunai in hand, followed by nearly an entire platoon of Anbu shinobis.

"What happened here!? Katsumi! Are you alright!?" the red haired girl didn't speak, trembling, tears in her eyes, as she looked at the half eaten heart within her hands. Blood was still coming out of her mouth, and there was little she could do, except stay there, in shock.

"It appears, she's in shock, Hokage-sama," an Anbu spoke quietly, probably a medic-nin, "we should remove her quickly from the scene, to avoid any lasting psychological trauma," with those words, Minato nodded, before turning to look at Naruto, fury in his eyes.

"What happened here?" at the question, Naruto was tempted to shrug, to yawn even, but then again, even he would have troubles against an Anbu platoon.

"I do not know, Hokage-sama: when I came here, this sight is what greeted me. I arrived just a couple of seconds earlier, and only because the Senju compound was near enough for me to sense the chakra coming from this spot in the forest…I assumed hostiles, due to the foulness."

What Naruto didn't say was that it had been Karin, to sense it. She had outright hugged to near death Anko, in fright, and that had been enough to force even the purple haired kunoichi to send him on his way.

Furthermore, another thing he didn't say was that he knew all too well what had happened: the Kyuubi half within Katsumi had come out for a bite, and he had to leech it away from her before the Hokage, or his Anbus, stumbled upon the scene. It wouldn't have done him good to be without a bargaining hand in the future, especially on mission assignments.

"Well…I won't keep you away from your family…it seems my daughter must have mastered some sort of forbidden Jutsu from the scroll, to kill so easily Mizuki…and I'll need to speak to her, to know more," with those hesitant words, Minato realized he knew perfectly well *what* had happened. He just didn't want to admit it. He didn't want to admit that his precious little girl was starting to have her seal leaking. He'd have to repair it, again.

Maybe he could manage to pull her off the shinobi program…but that wouldn't work. Keeping her down with the mission's risks would be better.

Naruto waved goodbye to the Anbus, and a couple actually nodded back to him, before being dismissed. The gesture didn't go unnoticed to the Hokage, but he kind of wondered *how* he knew who was behind the masks…and why the Anbus didn't see the need to feign *not* recognizing him. Seconds later, the clearing was now empty, devoid of life, except for two Anbus left behind to look at the damage, one whispering at the other.

"Kakashi…that chakra was just like…"

"Rin: Not. A. Word." The reply was swift, and then what remained was silent tension.

*Senju compound*

The *Lunch* had turned into an *afternoon* Lunch, since by the time they got back, Tsunade had actually managed to burn down *half* the edible food in the compound, forcing Anko to go and buy the lunch ingredients. Then, after Naruto had come back from the team assignments, Karin had decided she wanted to learn how to cook, for survival purposes, clearly…and not to pry who she had ended up with. So the afternoon had turned into night, and by the time dinner was already prepared, a feast, to make it up for the missed lunch, there had been that emanation that had sent Karin to hug like a boa constrictor Anko.

Thus, when Naruto entered the kitchen, that also was the dining room, and found that there was little more than scraps, he sported a nervous tick on his forehead... especially since there weren't even leftovers…but the dirty dishes had yet to be washed.

"One day, I'm going to go on a vacation for a couple of days, without saying anything…and then they will see what it's like to be without me," he mumbled, as it took him two hand signs to have the dishes cleaned…suiton affinity had more than one practical purpose, after all.

"Only because I can use a bit of water," he muttered again, looking for something to eat, in the fridge…and finding it empty.

"Oh for Kami's sake…" with a light whine, he decided to stumble into the library, walking straight to where the hidden seal was, and whisper, in the barely lit library, the words to activate it.

"I am second to no-one."

The next moment, Naruto Senju was in the secret laboratory, thinking room, and training room of Tobirama Senju, and from there, he moved to the Fuinjutsu scrolls scattered around, to the left side of the giant cavern.

"Now…" he muttered, grabbing an ink brush, while opening yet another book on the table, "where was I?"

Hours later, when he finally emerged from the room, he carefully removed his armor, putting it on the mannequin in the library, before heading to the upper floor, and to his room.

As soon as he entered it, and slowly crawled into his side of the bed, he realized there was one more head than expected: A red haired one.

Anko, from her side, gave him a narrowed and annoyed look, before rolling her eyes and finally going to sleep, after receiving a sheepish, and only mouthed, *sorry* from his lips. In the middle, Karin didn't stir in the slightest, not letting go of Anko's arm, like her very life depended on it.

*Next morning*

The classroom was once more filled with people. All of them sported the Konoha's headband, and all of them were happily chatting among themselves, hoping they'd end up with kind or nice senseis. It took a while, but when Iruka came in, Katsumi, her face completely washed of all colors, moved in too, the Konoha forehead protector tied to her right arm. She took a seat in silence, and Karin didn't need much to realize that she was feeling fear, worry and shock. Her aura was incredibly static, a sign of stiffness, apathy, of thoughts most deep.

The fact she didn't even bother to look at Sasuke made most of the class worried too. Usually the red haired girl would jump on the Uchiha heir without a second of thought, and yet she went without qualms to sit at the back of the class. Something was definitively wrong.

"Team Six will be composed of Karin Senju, Sai and Yakumo Kurama," Iruka spoke, "Their sensei will be Yuhi Kurenai," he added.

Karin winced, she knew who Yuhi Kurenai was…and she had a feeling she was going to be deeply, and regretfully, involved in her managing of her father's fan club. Still, she had a nice aura to her, so it wouldn't be that bad, but of the other two, she had no idea, neither seemed to be in the classroom, so maybe they were special students?

"Team seven, under Asuma Sarutobi, will be composed of Chouji Akimichi, Shikamaru Nara and Shino Aburame," at that notion, the class winced, but Shikamaru was the one who sat back up straight, perplexed. That didn't…that wasn't possible. It wasn't the Ino-Shika-Cho formation, and it wasn't the normal two Shinobi and one Kunoichi formation, something *was* wrong in both fronts.

"Team Eight, under Hatake Kakashi, will be of Sasuke Uchiha, Ino Yamanaka and Sakura Haruno," at the mention, everyone turned to look at Sasuke, who had an absolutely terrorized face on him, while Ino was simply squealing in delight.

"Team Nine, under Naruto Senju, will be of Katsumi Namikaze, Hinata Hyuga, and Kiba Inuzuka," a loud set of groans echoed through the class. Obviously the daughter of the Hokage and the heir of the Hyuga clan took the better senseis, while Kiba was looking slightly leering at the thought of having two girls in his team…he wasn't the heir, as Inuzuka Hana was the oldest, and thus the clan would be hers to rule once their mother stepped down. What surprised the class was Hinata's loud:

"HELL YEAH!" yelled as she raised her fist into the air, before making a victory sign, "In your faces bitches! In your face!"

"Hinata-chan!" Iruka yelled, extremely shocked, "Sit back down!"

"Sorry Iruka-sensei…I lost it for a moment," the Hyuga heir replied in a low murmur, before sitting back down.

As Iruka went on to announce the other teams, trying to forget that moment of crudeness, nobody paid much attention. The Chuunin-sensei then looked at the class with a warm smile, before saying.

"From today forward, you are proud shinobi and kunoichi of the Leaf: remember to treasure your bonds, and to help each other forward. I hope to see you all soon reaching my rank, and passing me by, there is nothing a teacher takes prides more than in seeing his students surpass them."

The door of the classroom slowly slid open, as Naruto Senju rolled in, first of the Jounin senseis to have arrived, his blue plated armor was still there, but the fur to the sides of his neck had been removed, to make place for the usual green collar of the Jounin's flak jacket. The collar was however made with reinforced plated mails, since there was no way Naruto would renounce the safety of his armor.

"Team Nine! Come with me!" as he said that with a light grin, he waved in the general direction of the classroom, before turning to leave it. He did, however, stop for a moment, to wink at Karin, before adding.

"And Karin-chan, don't be late for dinner!"

Swiftly, Kiba was already running down behind him, while Hinata, trying to maintain a little bit of decorum, stopped for a second, to look at Katsumi.

"You coming, Katsumi-chan?" she asked, waving a hand in front of the Namikaze, before finally snapping her fingers, bringing the girl out of her shock with a startled breath.

"Huh? What? Hinata-chan?"

"Katsumi-chan, we have to go follow our sensei, it's Naruto-san, you know? Come on! We're going to lose him if you stay here day-dreaming!" with that, the Hyuga grabbed Katsumi by the arm, and forcefully pulled her up, to follow her outside the classroom.

Once outside, however, the Hyuga heir realized that their sensei was nowhere to be seen, and neither was Kiba. Biting her lower lip, the dark haired girl whispered.

"Byakugan."

The world turned black and white, as flames of blue chakra wisped around to Hinata's eyes. For a moment, however, the Hyuga stopped, air leaving her lungs in shock. Katsumi's chakra seemed so…tenuous, to say the least, it looked like she was about to roll over and die. At least, those chakra levels shouldn't be something to grant movement to begin with! Yet there she was…maybe the reason she was so pale and out of her normal self was because of that? Still, she had to find their sensei. He'd know what to do.

He was moving outside of her range of view, and was currently in the schoolyard, already set for the village, in the general direction of…

"I know where he's going! Let's go Katsumi-chan!" with those words, Hinata once more grabbed Katsumi by her hand, and started to run, the red-haired Namikaze in tow.

The two Kunoichis soon reached Naruto, who was merely walking, and Kiba, who was trying to tell their sensei to stop and wait for them.

"Sensei! Come on! We have to…Oh," Kiba turned around to see the two Kunoichis reaching them, Katsumi sporting a light lack of breathing, while Hinata, instead, seemed at ease.

"Naruto-sensei!" Hinata exclaimed, with worry, immediately making Naruto turn around with a raised eye brow.

"Yes Hinata-chan?"

"Katsumi-chan's chakra is extremely low! We should bring her to…" but she was stopped by Naruto raising a hand, and dismissing the issue.

"I know: most of her chakra has been sealed away, as a precaution…for what, I'm afraid I can't tell you."

"Ah…but she…" at Hinata's insistence, Katsumi finally managed to speak.

"Hinata-chan…really, I'm fine," the red haired girl made a small smile, "I'm just going to tire a bit more often, but now I've got the same amount of chakra as everyone else…really."

"But yours is lower than normal!" Hinata retorted.

"No, it's on par…her chakra coils are larger than normal, Hinata-chan," Naruto replied, "Thus it seems she's on the verge of chakra exhaustion, but it isn't true."

Hinata nodded, albeit she didn't look quite convinced.

"Anyway, good job in finding me, following me, or understanding where I'm going," the Senju said, before whistling a happy tune and starting to move once more, soon the three Genins were behind him, following him like baby ducklings.

"Aniki as a sensei is great!" Kiba whispered, excited, "I mean, really, he's S-class! S-class shinobi!"

"Hai, Naruto-sensei is certainly a really good teacher: Neji-Niisan speaks highly of him every time," Hinata added.

"He…" Katsumi's words died in her mouth. "He's my brother." Those words would never be pronounced by her mouth. She no longer was the nine years old of before. She was Twelve now. She knew all the anger, the hatred, that Naruto had gone through…and last night…last night she had been told the truth.

She was the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki. She was and she hadn't been told. She was and nobody had told the village. She was the weapon of Konoha and her father had kept her hidden and safe…and he had sacrificed Naruto for her. Every time Naruto had taken a stone, a knife, an insult, would that have been the same, had she been the one to be sacrificed? Would she have grown up alone, in an orphanage, in an apartment? She couldn't forgive her mother. She couldn't forgive her father. Yet she had to understand them. Did she? Did she really have to understand what they did, how they did it? That was their version, what if it wasn't the truth? Taking all the blame, all the hate, the anger, transforming it into praise and glory and fame, Naruto wasn't just her brother, her half of Jinchuuriki, no…he was her guardian...Her hero.

He knew, and yet he had never been angry at her. Angry at her perfect life while he lived in misery, angry for crimes he hadn't committed and that yet were pushed against him…angry at her being guilty, and yet never punished.

She was probably the only one who knew what the team was, in truth: a trap. It was a golden jail, for her. For the Kyuubi that she harbored, to make sure the beast would never leave...to make sure she would be kept safe.

Hinata would warn Naruto every time her chakra was meant to go in disarray. Kiba would track her down every time it was needed…and the grey haired Jounin would be able to calm her down, suck away her chakra with his own powers, and let her live an apparently normal life…she was surrounded by jailors…

Naruto was the Hero that Jailed the Kyuubi…how ironic was it that, right then, he was actually the Jailor of yet another one?

The training ground three came into view, and with it, the three wooden poles, the river, the light forested area around it, the dirt clearing and, most importantly, three persons tied to the poles.

Mitarashi Anko and Ibiki Morino were both there, looking at each other without showing any emotion at all.

In front of each of the three persons tied to the pole, stood a kunai embedded on the ground.

Naruto stopped straight in front of the three tied individuals, before turning around to face his students.

"Well, this is the Jounin test to decide wherever you are fit to become a shinobi or not…grab the Kunai and kill those men: each of you gets one, so no need to be excited about it," and with those words, the three twelve years old gulped down.

Hinata was the first to look at the three, activating her Byakugan to try and understand if it was a fluke, a joke, something…instead no, each of them had different chakra pathways, meaning they weren't clones, and each of them seemed vaguely non-descriptive, albeit they were all knocked out. All three of them were males, and while two had dark brown hair, the third had raven one. All three had a light build, probably famished for a while, or not fed.

She slowly moved forward, looking nervously at the kunai and then at Naruto.

"W…What are their crimes?" at the question, Naruto shrugged.

"They disobeyed orders: they were tasked with bringing important information back to Konoha, but instead exchanged it for one of their teammates that had been captured by the enemy previously. Their treachery costs us twenty-seven good men and women of the Anbu corps, a really steep price to pay. The families want their blood, and you will be tasked to give it to them."

"That's the…test?" Kiba, not wanting to be taken for less, grabbed one of the remaining free kunais, albeit he too held it in his hand without much of a conviction: this was cold blood killing. He always thought his first kill would have been in the heat of battle, with adrenaline and…life risking situation. Not in cold blood.

Hinata was having pretty much the same thought, albeit she would be giving it with Juken strikes, and not with the use of a Kunai: a really well treated kunai that had really sharp edges and a really piercing tip.

"Yup Doggie boy," Anko said with a little chuckle, "These three suckers are going to get what they deserve, wherever you like it or not: if you can't stomach it, then it will be mine and Scarface's pleasure to kill them."

With those words, Katsumi gulped, before grabbing the remaining Kunai. What was it? She just had to kill them. Right? She just had to kill the man in front of her…she…the memory of Mizuki, of his chest being split open, entered her mind like a sledgehammer. She wobbled, for a moment, before taking a deep breath, and whispering.

"I can't do it…" she said, "I can't…"

"This is a team exercise," Naruto pointed out, "You either all pass or fail: there is no single *pass*…" with those words, both Hinata and Kiba turned their gaze to Katsumi.

"Katsumi! Come on! We have to do this together! I know you can do it! What happened to becoming a strong Kunoichi?" Hinata said, her eyes looking straight at Katsumi.

"I can't! Why don't you go first then!?" Katsumi retorted, dropping the Kunai on the ground, "You go first and I'll follow!" she added.

"I…fine! Kiba?" as the Hyuga heir turned to the Inuzuka, Kiba nodded.

"Well, I can't go back to my mother telling her I chickened out…right?" with a small, nervous smile, Kiba closed his eyes and dashed forward: if he did it with enough speed, then maybe the man wouldn't suffer and he wouldn't remember much of it: as long as he kept his eyes closed.

The Kunai came down on the man's face, and a loud yell tore the otherwise silent training ground. Kiba's eyes opened in disbelief and shock, as the man had awoken and was trashing around in pain, blood seeping out from his chest…keeping his eyes closed, the twelve years old had missed a lethal spot, meaning the criminal would die of blood loss, surely, but with time.

"Give him the killing blow, kid," Ibiki pointed out, "Quick hit to the neck, move it or you fail anyway."

Without a second of hesitation, Kiba gritted his teeth, while his kunai came back up, and then slashed to the side, blood gushing out of the wound and all over his clothes, his face, his nose and even on his trousers. He was covered in the crimson liquid…and Hinata took that moment to do the same, albeit she did keep her eyes open during the deal…and it wasn't anything as messy as Kiba's.

"Katsumi-chan," Hinata spoke, bile menacing to come out of her throat, "Your turn," the Hyuga added, before bringing both her hands in front of her mouth.

"NO retching on the corpses," Anko pointed out, grabbing the Hyuga and making her spin, to vomit away from the scene.

Katsumi's face was pale, her hands trembling, her breath ragged. Killers. Murderers. Assassins. Shinobis.

She was a Kunoichi? Was she? She killed. They killed too.

She was going to kill.

She just didn't want it to be this way.

Yet…

She had to.

She couldn't let her friends down.

Would a murderer be entitled friends?

They were murderers. Would she be their friend?

Was Naruto Senju a murderer too now?

Innocence was lost the precise moment her kunai split in half the skull of the last remaining man. The one she was tasked to kill.

Without a word, she dropped her kunai on the ground, covered in blood…and she began to cry.

Her cries echoed through the training ground, as Ibiki and Anko grabbed the three corpses, and carried them away, leaving only the puddles of blood, that was now drying, on the ground.

Naruto coughed lightly, to get their attentions.

"First off: You pass. Not with merit, but you pass. This test was three fold: You could have passed without killing anyone," at that, Kiba gasped, suddenly starting to turn green, "that is, if you had refused on the principle that the shinobis couldn't be faulted for helping their comrade escape, because *Those who abandon their teammates, are worse than trash*, would have made me accept it. You could have passed if you all simply would have refused it, on the ground that you didn't hear of said incident, and you could have called my bluff: in truth, the three that you killed weren't shinobis to begin with." Hinata took the moment to puke again. Her hands trembling: did they kill innocents? No, it wasn't possible that…

"Or if all three of you showed the guts and the support of one another to kill them: there is no need to worry…those three *were* criminals, murderers to be more precise, and with an execution sentence pending on them."

Hinata sighed slightly in relief, as Katsumi's stomach instead twirled.

"But aren't we murderers too now?" the red haired voice was cracked by the pressure, and Naruto couldn't help but smile, slightly, as he replied.

"Yes, a shinobi is a tool for murder…but that is true only if you decide to be one. No matter what one may say, each of us decides our own path: you can be a tool, or you can become a person who simply kills for money, or you can become a guardian, or anything you wish to become…each of you must carve your own path, but death will always accompany you, because you are shinobis."

"Aniki…how could we fail then? Was it a sure pass thing?" Kiba whispered, not understanding.

"You could have asked Anko to kill them for you, or Ibiki, or me. You could have run away, or any of you could have killed without convincing the others. This was an all or nothing: if you and Hinata hadn't convinced Katsumi, then it wouldn't have worked, and you would all have failed."

"So…what now?" Kiba asked again, still shivering slightly.

"Now? You go home, you take a shower, you go to bed…you survive the nightmares of the first kill, and tomorrow morning, at Seven A.M sharp, you show yourself in front of the Hokage's tower for the first mission of the day. Team Nine…DISMISSED!"

Author's notes

Chapter done!

I'm on a roll, canon days are starting, the terrain for angst is being plowed, and darkness looms.

Did you see where Danzo made an appearance? No? Remember the team arrangements!

Evil lurks…*chuckles* But there was no Hiruzen time…well, next time! Maybe.

Oh and yes, Hinata and Sakura are a bit of OC, but it's because I'd rather see them like that, then like their usual self (admit it, fidgety Hinata is a bit boring after a while)

For the team assignments reasoning, it's next chapter with a light flashback! Don't worry!