Iga Naruto

by tibo

Naruto, guided by a presence from the past, discovers a personal connection to a ninja clan long since lost to history. In a world shaped by endless war and constant bloodshed, can Naruto find a way to stop the cycle of hatred and free the world from the echoes of the past? Naruto /Mystic eyes. Intelligent, strong, grey Naruto. Naruto/Multiple women.

14. Chapter 14 - Leaf Politics

Chapter 14 – Leaf Politics

Forward

Hey people, I'm back!

Firstly, sorry about the delay. Let's just say I had some trouble writing this chapter. It ended up being about twice as long as I originally estimated, and it is very dialogue heavy. I can't speak for other writers, but personally, I find dialogue to be the hardest aspect of wiring. Getting it to sound natural takes time, and there are parts of this chapter that will come across as info-dumpish. I apologize in advance.

Moving on, I'd like to thank everyone who reviewed last chapter, it was easily my most popular so far, garnering well over one hundred reviews (and beating out the previous best mark for this publication by over forty reviews). I also passed 1,000 followers and favorites.

This chapter covers the gap between Wave and the Chunin exam arc. I wanted to have some space in between the two, and I'm also using it to introduce some new elements (i.e. council) as well as work on some characterization (mainly Yūgao and Akeginu).

Now in regards to the council, they won't play a huge part in this fic, but they will be relevant to one particular plot line going forward. I think the main pitfall most writers fall into when portraying the council (whether canon or the larger fanfiction varieties), is using them as a plot device to ensure Naruto leaves Konoha (and just portraying them as mindless idiots in general). I can tell you now that Naruto won't be leaving because of the council. Any action he takes will be a result of his own agency.

Now that that's out of the way, here some responses to some reviews/question (NOTE:Since I got a considerable number of questions last chapter I've organized my responses topically rather than responding to each person individually. If I haven't answered your question keep asking, I do read the review's and will hopefully get to it next chapter):

- Iga Naruto Part 2: Yes people, I'm planning on having a second publication for Part 2. Generally speaking standard novels are less than 200,000 words with larger ones getting up around 500,000. Since my fic is already around 150,000 I planning on splitting in three and making a trilogy. I estimate that Part 1 will probably cap off somewhere between 300,000 – 400,000 words. I don't want it to be much longer since it gets unwieldy and i don't want it turning into some Robert Jordan like monstrosity.

- Uzushiogakure: Yes, Naruto will go to Whirpool and he will find interesting things there. That's all I'm going to say for now, I plan of doing an entire arc based on it in Part 2.

- Bloodmist (gardien1204's Q): He probably could cover the entire forest of death with it though it would take some time. But it's not really necessary unless of course he wants to kill everyone in the forest.

- Romance – It's on the horizon people, though the majority of it will occur in Part 2 (with the non Konoha women). Akeginu/Naruto is a slow build, and there have been some indicators, but since there are obvious obstacles to overcome there it is going to take a while before it materializes. Right now I'm working on the first one with the Konoha girl(s).

Some will have noticed I changed my summary to 'Naruto/Multiple women'. This was mainly due to me not be entirely sure on the exact pairings (i.e. I won't put them in if I can't make them work). Right now the only confirmed ones are Akeginu/Kagerou/Mei (since i worked out the mechanics of these ones).

-Yūgao? – I'm definitely considering making her a romance option long term since I've spent so much time on her character (and I like her so far) and she'll get quite a bit of development going forward. Plus out of any of the Konoha girls she'll probably have the closest connection to Naruto.

- Kubikiribōchō/ Blood mist: I went over this in the first chapter of Wave (Yes, Naruto was aware of the sword's abilities). As I understood it, Kubikiribōchō is not just the blood version of Samehada. The blade only uses blood to repair and regenerate damage to itself, it just doesn't absorb blood continuously and keep growing. Otherwise I imagine the blade would be much more dangerous, and could literally kill/incapacitate an opponents by sucking out their blood through wounds (much like Kisame uses his sword to do with chakra). In any event this is how I interpreted the blade's abilities and portrayed it in the last chapter.

Kiri/Potential alliances: I agree with Castage's point about Kiri not being that strong and the need for further alliances, but it's a start for Naruto. I envisage the Kiri alliance as being just one pillar of Naruto's future power base (along with his information network).

---

[Standard Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Basilisk]

The sunlight waned in the evening sky while Yūgao and Naruto sat across from each other enjoying their dinner — stewed rabbit. Naruto had skewered the unlucky creature a few hours earlier with a kunai. It turns out that stumbling around in the bushes next to a couple of hyper sensitive ninjas is not an advisable activity for any woodland creature.

The two leaf nin had set up camp halfway between Wave and Konoha following their abrupt departure from Wave Country. Although, they had been traveling quite quickly, they were still moving at a much more sedate pace than they used to arrive in Wave. After all, there was no need to exhaust themselves; their mission had been completed successfully.

They ate their meal in silence with only the natural ambiance of the nearby forest to accompany them. Naruto liked it, but he could tell that something was bothering Yūgao. While she wasn't exactly a talkative person, the simple fact that she still hadn't ordered him to show her Kubikiribōchō told him that something was on her mind. There was no way a sword nut like her could resist getting a close up look at one of the blades of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist. The swords were legendary. Knowing her, the problem likely had something to do with him.

No doubt she has questions about my Red Mirage, I'm a bit surprised she hasn't already given me the third degree, thought Naruto as he noted the frown marring her pretty face. She was definitely giving a lot of thought to something.

With a resigned sigh Yūgao finished her meal, put her plate down on the ground and turned to Naruto. She had a rather serious expression on her face, meaning she was all business.

Looks like it's time to face the music, thought Naruto.

"Naruto..."

Yūgao's tone was hesitant, almost as if she wasn't sure how she to proceed with her question or even if she wanted to ask it in the first place. Maybe she didn't want to hear the answer. Naruto found it odd, and a little disconcerting. Her behavior was completely incongruous with her usual decisiveness.

"Yes sensei?" Naruto asked curiously. He was giving her his complete attention.

"Um…Did you ever hear about an incident— it would have happened around two or three years ago — a kunoichi was almost raped by a group of men, but they were all killed by an unidentified person before it could happen."

Naruto didn't show it, but Yūgao had managed to surprise him with her question. He certainly hadn't expected her to bring up that incident.

"That's an odd question to ask sensei. What makes you think I know anything about it?"

Naruto asked the question with enough innuendo to imply he knew exactly what Yūgao was talking about. She had obviously linked him to the incident, he was curious to find out how.

Yūgao smirked at him like she knew exactly what he was thinking. Knowing her, she probably did.

"Well you see Naruto, my friend Yūhi Kurenai happened to be the woman involved in that incident, and she happened to get a decent look at person who helped her," said Yūgao, adopting the same tone Naruto was using.

Crap.

It seemed the woman had got a better look at him than he originally thought. At the very least, it was sufficient enough to allow Yūgao to make the connection to him.

I suppose this shouldn't be entirely unexpected, thought Naruto as he considered the situation. Yūhi Kurenaiwas a ninja, and from what he heard, a talented genjutsu practitioner. It made sense that she would be extremely observant, all competent genjutsu users were, and she also obviously took note of everything she saw. Though it sounded like Yūgao was the only one who made the connection to him, that was likely a result of her close connection to both Kurenai and himself.

"The funny thing was that despite how hard Kurenai or anyone else looked, we could never locate her mysterious savior. It was like he disappeared or – I don't know – was walking around Konoha in disguise or something," continued Yūgao confidently when Naruto did not respond. She was starting to present a reasonable case.

Naruto smiled at Yūgao's allusion to his shadow clones. "Oh?"

"Young male, blonde, dressed in black, good with a katana, hides extremely well in shadows, 'has a pair of amazing blue eyes' — Kurenai's words not mine. Remind you of anyone?"

Naruto winced at every detail Yūgao listed. Damn blue eyes, they were just as bad as his hair.

" I'm sure there's other blondes out there dressed in dark clothes with a penchant for kenjutsu and assassination," countered Naruto with what was probably the weakest argument he had ever made in his life.

"Uh huh," Yūgao replied, her tone as flat as a board. It was safe to say that she wasn't buying it.

"I…may have been involved," Naruto conceded.

"May?" Yūgao asked, questioning his choice of words.

Naruto smirked at Yūgao and replied, "Surely you don't expect me to admit to killing four people?"

"There were rapists caught in the act. Kurenai wasn't their first victim either. Not to mention that attacking a Konoha ninja like that is tantamount to treason," countered Yūgao as the verbal sparing continued.

It was a solid point.

"Still…"

Yūgao cut Naruto off. "Out with it Naruto. Tell me what happened?"

Her tone indicated that she was not going to settle for anything less than the full story.

Naruto sighed, there wasn't much point in denying her. She already knew he was responsible, and as she stated earlier — the men were criminals.

"It's not much of a story sensei. I was out and about one night when I spotted the men following the woman—"

"Kurenai," Yūgao interrupted.

"Yes, Kurenai. It didn't take a genius to figure out what they were up to. Men do stupid things around pretty women—"

"Like attacking a trained ninja," Yūgao pointed out.

"Yes. Normally I wouldn't have bothered seeing as though she was a ninja and was perfectly capable of taking care of herself, but I noticed that one of the men was a ninja as well. So I decided to observe them — you know — just in case. If I remember correctly she was pretty drunk at the time."

"She was. It was Anko's birthday," stated Yūgao.

"Anyway, you know the rest. The men attacked, I intervened—"

"Did you have to kill them? You would have been…what? Fourteen at the time," Yūgao asked curiously.

Naruto gave Yūgao a shrug before replying. "That's exactly why I killed them. They were full grown men, it's easier for me to use my weapons against them than to try and knock them out using taijutsu."

Not exactly true, but Yūgao didn't need to know about his other, less honorable intentions that night.

"Fair enough," conceded Yūgao. "But why didn't you say anything to Kurenai afterwards? Why did you leave?"

"Who knows what type of reaction I would have received. I didn't know her; I didn't know how she felt about me. Simple probability suggests that her reaction would have been hostile. You know as well as I do that most of the ninja in Konoha don't like me. Considering at that stage I had already failed academy once, what do you think they would have thought when I took down a jōnin? Even now, I bet you when we get back to Konoha some idiot will suggest that I used the Kyūbi's chakra to kill Zabuza."

Yūgao looked like she wanted to challenge Naruto's statement, but ended up reluctantly nodding her head in agreement.

Naruto doubted Yūgao liked the picture he was painting of her comrades. He stopped short of calling them a bunch of bigots, but the implication was there and Yūgao was smart enough to recognize it. It was one of the reasons he had come to respect her more than any other Konoha ninja. The woman had the rare ability to accept and move forward when confronting something that challenge her perception of reality. She looked at facts, and did not rely on assumptions and preconceptions.

Iruka was similar, though he had struggled more with reconciling the new Naruto with the old — likely a result of being exposed to Naruto's incompetent shadow clone for so long. It was one of the reasons he had saved him that night when Mizuki had stolen the scroll. Iruka had already demonstrated that he was capable of overcoming his preconceptions about Naruto. He had shown that much years ago.

Naruto had severe doubts about the rest of the shinobi corps . Hayate had been a pleasant surprise, though Naruto was sure that Yūgao had drilled him on what to expect. That, and the fact the man had an unhealthy obsession with kenjutsu. His interest in Naruto's battōjutsu would probably override any negative impressions he had of Naruto.

Still, he was well aware that the rest of them perceived him in a far more negative light. Incompetent, that was the majority view. Most thought he was the worst shinobi to ever graduate from the academy. He had let them keep their illusions thus far, it suited him. He encouraged it in fact. He was merely funneling their hate and negativity into a form that was beneficial for was better than other forms of abuse. Normally his deception would never have been so effective, but most were happy to jump at a chance to deride him. They wanted to believe they were better than him, that he, the 'demon brat', was beneath them. Their assumptions had been an effective armor, but the time for it had come to an end. He no longer required it.

The plan may have backfired a bit, he would be surprised if he ever made chūnin now. Without direct intervention from the Hokage the chances of him being promoted were slim. His competence would no doubt engender considerable anxiety with certain members of the Konoha community. It really came down to whether the Hokage was willing to put up with the inevitable political shit storm that would result from promoting him. Somehow he doubted it. The old man hadn't been willing to step in and ensure he got a proper education so why would he start now. Konoha had made an art out of not learning from their mistakes, (1) and he had long since accepted the fact that he had no future in that village.

"But, Kurenai's not like that Naruto. You couldn't find a more levelheaded woman in Konoha," said Yūgao, bringing Naruto out of his musings.

"Well, I'll have to take your word for it, but what's done is done. I made my choice," replied Naruto.

Yūgao let out a resigned sigh. "You're right…but still, you should talk to her Naruto. I think you'd like her. She's smart, serious about her job — she has a bit of an unhealthy interest in genjutsu, but at least you two would have something to talk about…"

Naruto frowned in confusion. Is she doing what I think she's doing?

"Sensei…what are you doing?"

"What?" Yūgao asked plainly.

"You sound like you're trying to set me up with your friend Kurenai."

Yūgao spluttered," What?! Of course not, that's ridiculous."

"Uh huh," Naruto deadpanned.

"Seriously, I was not trying to set you two up. A jōnin-sensei can't date a genin anyway; it's a conflict of interest. I just wanted to get you to talk to her. You don't understand how much that event affected her Naruto. She hasn't had a drink since then. She got real serious about her Taijutsu, which is a big thing for her, she used to be very one dimensional with her genjutsu. She'd love to thank you."

Naruto sighed. It seemed that Yūgao wasn't going to let this go.

"Let's just let things play out Sensei. I'm not in disguise anymore, so I'll probably run into her sooner or later. We can talk then."

"Fine," said Yūgao, though she didn't sound happy with his response.

The two lapsed into an uncomfortable silence. Yūgao broke it first, "So…when are you going to show me that sword."

---

2 days later

"So, tell me about this blood mist Naruto?" The old man asked with interest.

As soon as Yūgao and Naruto had arrived back in Konoha they headed straight for the Hokage Tower to make their report. Needless to say, the Hokage was more than a little bit interested in a technique that allowed for a genin to defeat an A rank missing nin.

"Okay…it's a jutsu derived from another technique I know called Blood Projection. Essentially, it allows me to manipulate my own blood," replied Naruto after a moment's hesitation. He didn't see the point in denying him, the old man and Yūgao had probably already deduced the nature of the technique. Telling them the name was of no consequence.

"Manipulate your blood…how?" Yūgao asked curiously. Naruto hadn't told her much about the technique, having preferred to explain it in front of the Hokage instead of having to repeat himself. All she knew came from Kakashi's observations. In other words, not much.

"Come on sensei, you don't expect me to answer that, do you?" Naruto replied cordially.

Yūgao had the decency to look embarrassed at her question. Naruto didn't hold it against her; he just put it down to a case of professional curiosity

"I've never heard of such a thing, even amongst the Uzumaki clan," said the old man, which was saying something considering his claim to fame was his complete mastery of ninjutsu.

Unfortunately for him such knowledge was not relevant here, Akeginu's Blood Projection predated modern ninjutsu by quite some bit. The Iga clan had spent many generations developing those techniques. Considering they didn't have access to an energy source such as chakra, it was an amazing achievement.

"It's the personal technique of my old teacher, she was much better at it than I am," explained Naruto. He was being sincere too; his level of control was nowhere near as good as Akeginu's.

"What else can it do?" Yūgao asked. Naruto could almost hear the gears turning in her head. No doubt she was already thinking about the various tactical applications of the technique.

"Theoretically… anything. The technique is essentially fluid control. It allows me to manipulate my blood, almost like you would with any form nature manipulation. It's only really limited by the amount of blood in my body and my control," explained Naruto.

Admittedly, it wasn't a very accurate analogy. If you went about trying nature manipulation exercises with your own blood you'd probably fail miserably. Blood projection was a secret technique for a reason, the technique involved no chakra usage.

"Kakashi-san was under the impression that you used a genjutsu as well," said Yūgao.

Naruto paused for a moment, it seemed Kakashi saw more than he originally thought. While he could lie and say no, there was little point in deceiving her. He may very well have to use his Red Mirage in Yūgao's presence sometime in the future, and getting caught out in a lie would be very…inconvenient.

"Kakashi's right, I'm capable of using a wide spread area of effect genjutsu in collaboration with the mist, and yes, I used that technique to defeat Zabuza," answered Naruto, anticipating Yūgao's next question.

"Hmm…back at the Fuzuki mansion you told me that you used scent as a medium for your genjutsu, is this the same thing?" Yūgao asked.

"In a manner of speaking," replied Naruto rather ambiguously. He was not prepared to give away all the mechanics of his Red Mirage, and was not even going to consider telling her and the old man where he got his genjutsu pheromone ability from.

Yūgao was about to ask another question, but the old man interrupted her. Naruto wondered if the man could sense his reticence.

"Very interesting Naruto, I'd like to know more, but it can wait for another time. I've heard all I need to hear from you today so you're dismissed . Come by tomorrow, and I'll have your bounty prepared for you once I get through all the damn paperwork."

I wonder why he just doesn't use Kage Bunshin to manage the load of paperwork, it would make things much easier for him, thought Naruto as he gave the old man a polite nod and turned to walk out the room.

Just before he left he turned to Yūgao, gave her a knowing smile and said, "I'll see you tomorrow then sensei."

---

Shit.

Yūgao cursed silently to herself as Naruto left the room. She was uncomfortable enough with the situation without her apprentice knowing that she was reporting on him to her boss.

What a mess. It's no wonder he's holding things back from me.

As much as disliked what she was doing, orders were orders, and she was first and foremost a Konoha ninja. If the Hokage wanted her to report and investigate Naruto then she would do it, no matter what her own personal feelings where on the matter. Her professionalism was one of the reasons the Hokage picked her to be Naruto's sensei in the first place.

Well, at least she hopes it was.

Rationally, she knew Naruto was a security risk, there were just too many unknown surrounding him at the moment.

Security risk. She hated thinking about him like that. Was this how the Hokage felt when he started suspecting Orochimaru?

She stopped that thought in its tracks. What was she thinking? Comparing Naruto to that monster. Naruto just had an unknown past, he was not suspected of conducting inhumane experiments on children.

Fortunately, the Hokage saved Yūgao from chiding herself any further.

"Report Yūgao-san, what are you observations so far?"

Yūgao took a moment to collect herself before quickly going over everything she had observed the last two months. She left out her most recent conversation with Naruto. Without testimony from Naruto or a positive identification from Kurenai it was just be considered unverified suspicions on her part.

The entire debrief took about half an hour.

"And what conclusions have you arrived at?" The Hokage asked after her debriefing had finished.

"At the moment there is insufficient evidence to make a conclusion Hokage-sama," replied Yūgao.

The Hokage gave her a knowing look. "And off the record, what is your personal view?"

"It's likely that he's not loyal to Konoha Hokage-sama. To put it simply, he's loyal to himself. It's common sense really, why would he be loyal to the village after all he's been through here."

It didn't take someone as observant as Yūgao to notice the pained look in the Hokage eyes.

Quickly moving on she made sure to point out that Naruto was not an enemy.

"That's not to say he is hostile to us Hokage-sama, there's no evidence to suggest that he has connections with other villages."

The Hokage let out a resigned sigh, "What action you recommend Yūgao? You probably know him better than I do now."

The Hokage didn't try to hide his disappointment with that last remark. He truly was upset with the way things had turned out. Naruto had literally disappeared for an entire decade, and everyone had been none the wiser.

"Continued close observation. As I said Hokage-sama, I don't believe he's working for another village. We just need to give him a reason to protect Konoha beyond that of a pay check. I have no doubt that Naruto can make connections here, but it's a two party process. The village needs to give him that opportunity first, otherwise it's likely he will never open up or at worst will eventually just leave."

"I agree completely," said the Hokage after a moments thought. "Anything further on this Akeginu person?"

"Nothing Hokage-sama. Naruto references her infrequently. I can only conclude that she is…was… extremely competent and that Naruto respected her greatly," replied Yūgao.

If Yūgao was being honest with herself she was a little jealous at the dead woman.

"Anything else?" The Hokage asked.

"Just that…"

"What?: The Hokage asked seriously.

"On more than one occasion I found myself in the company of one of his shadow clones instead of the real him. Naruto mustn't know it, but his clones act quite a bit differently."

"What did you mean they 'act differently'?"

"They're...um…they're idiots Hokage-sama. I picked up on it a few weeks ago."

"Idiots?"

"Yes, they have his skills, but their personalities are more child like and far more simple minded," replied Yūgao

"Interesting. I've never heard of such a phenomenon, unless it's intentional," posited the Hokage.

"Um…I have no idea. I could broach the subject with him."

"Yes, please do so at your own leisure," instructed the Hokage.

"Yes Hokage-sama. Is there anything else?"

"What level would you rate Naruto?"

"Before Wave I would have said low jōnin, or tokubetsu jōnin. But, after seeing him take down Zabuza without even getting a scratch, well, I could only guess at his strength. It's become increasingly clear that I only have a limited idea of his skill set. At worst he's as good as me, but considering that he seems to be pulling out new techniques whenever he needs them, I think we can conclude that he's got a lot more to show. He just hasn't been put in a situation where he has been required to use them."

"The Council will start asking questions about this," said the Hokage.

"The Kyūbi?"

"Yes and no. More than a few will think his jump in strength is a result of the Kyūbi's interference —"

"But, there's no evidence to support such a claim! He uses Genjutsu for Kami's sake, everything he does is about control not large displays of power."

"I know…I know, that's why it unlikely that any will raise it formally, at least not without any actual evidence. However the reality of the situation is that the more influential members of the council will likely put forward the notion in private as well as certain other circles just to manipulate things towards their own end."

"So they'll use Naruto for the own purposes?"

"Not if I have anything to say about it," said the Hokage firmly."But, I've been dealing with such things my entire tenure. Some members of the Council aren't above startling rumors for the own purposes. Since Naruto is disliked by the civilian population they will likely use his strength or rather fear of his strength to garner support."

Yugao clutched her hand in anger, as if Naruto didn't have enough problems. It seemed Naruto wasn't far off when he told her his doubts about the people of Konoha.

She also had serious doubts about the Hokage's ability to protect Naruto from three particular members. She had sat in on a number of Council meetings as a guard during her ANBU days, and from what she could recall the council elders and Shimura Danzo had little problem maneuvering the Hokage to get what they wanted. It didn't help that the Hokage seemed reluctant to exercise his full power.

"I take it you will be recommending him for promotion?" The Hokage asked, suddenly changing topic.

"Yes, even though there are still a lot of unknowns about his past, his skill and more importantly his temperament are that of a jōnin. It would be a waste to keep him as a genin and it would only reinforce the fact that he's discriminated against here if he sees people far less skilled than him being promoted ahead of him."

She didn't add that she hoped by exposing his skills to more of the shinobi population he would able to garner some of the respect he deserved. Though she could help but think back to Naruto's belief that it wouldn't matter, they would still think of him as the Kyūbi holder and nothing more. This conversation with the Hokage only reinforced that.

The Hokage opened his draw and removed a sheet of paper. "I agree. Here's the form for the chūnin exams. I'm looking forward to seeing his skills in person."

"I'm not sure you'll get to see much Hokage-sama. It took a high A rank missing nin for him to show us that blood mist. I doubt we'll see anymore than his kenjutsu and genjutsu combinations. "

"You never know, perhaps we'll be surprised. There may be someone present this year who can match Naruto."

---

Hiruzen let out a tired breath as Uzuki Yūgao left the room. He had made the right choice in putting Naruto in her care. The woman was one of his brightest and most talented ANBU operatives, but more importantly, she had no personal bias against Naruto — a rare quality in Konoha.

Truthfully, if he were dealing with anyone else other than Naruto he would have called in Inoichi by now. Not because of Naruto's supposed lack of loyalty. Hiruzen wasn't naive enough to believe that all nin under his command possessed the will of fire. One only had to look at the current crop of graduates. If asked why they wanted to become ninja several amongst that group would cite Uchiha Sasuke as their reason.

Naruto had made his intentions clear, he joined the leaf shinobi corps to become a stronger ninja and gain experience. What more could he really ask?

No, the main concern was the time Naruto was unaccounted for, and the identity of his teacher. Due diligence dictated that he get to the bottom of that mystery one way or the other.

The problem was, Naruto was not just anybody. He was the host of the Kyūbi. He had no idea what he would be exposing Inoichi to if he allowed him to use the Yamanaka mind transfer jutsu on Naruto. Furthermore, such action would destroy what little trust was left between Naruto and him.

Where the hell is Jiraiya? I sent for him months ago when Naruto dealt with Mizuki. If anyone can get to the bottom of this issue, it's him.

Fortunately, right now the situation was manageable. Naruto was completely missions for the villages at an exemplary level. Provided there were no unwanted interferences the situation could only improve.

Speaking of unwanted interferences, I'm going to have to watch Danzo like a hawk.

---

Akeginu threw her arm across her body in anger, forcing a thin sliver of blood out from her wrist. The blood hardened, taking on the shape of a thick rope before Akeginu took hold of it and cracked it like a whip across Naruto's training dummy.

It severed the training device in two.

Akeginu let out a frustrated breath and looked at the carnage she had wrought. The courtyard was a mess; the majority of Naruto training dummies lay in pieces across the floor.

It seems I've made a bit of a mess here. Naruto-kun might be a bit upset with me.

She ran her hands through of her midnight black hair as calmed down; she was feeling a little better now. The last time she lost control like that she got herself killed.

You'd think I would have learned my lesson by now, Akeginu thought herself.

She had been in a bad mood ever since she'd left Naruto's presence in Wave Country, and it had reached boiling point once she had returned to the ruins.

You knew this was going to happen eventually, get a grip woman, Akeginu chided herself.

Seeing Naruto and the mute woman —she refused to call her by her name— had been confronting for her to say the least. It shouldn't have been, but somehow it was and that had surprised her. She knew he would take lover eventually, she understood it logically — Naruto was a boy, no, he was a man now, he would be having sex with other women. It was natural. Even from a practical standpoint such action was necessary from the rebuilding of his clans.

But knowing all that and being slapped in the face with that are two different things. Walking in on him having sex with that woman had brought up a rush of unwelcome emotions. She had let such emotions interfere with her work before and it had cost her dearly. (2)

How did this happen?

At first she had taken care of Naruto because he had inexplicably reminded her of Oboro. It was the eyes. They may have been different colours, but they had that same brightness to them, like they could chase away the darkness of her world . It made her want to correct her past mistakes, and it had all made sense when she discovered that he had the mystic eyes. Following that, their relationship could be described in many ways: student and teacher, veteran and novice, family…

When did it change? She wondered.

Akeginu was lying to herself. She knew exactly when it changed. It changed the moment she started viewing him as an equal. The moment she stepped back from being his sensei, and let him take the lead.

She resolved not to burden Naruto with her issues. He didn't need a dead women pining after him. He shouldn't have to worry about hurting her, it was a distraction he didn't need. She was there to assist him in any many he required, and in this instance what was needed was for her to take a step back and let Naruto move forward with his life. She knew all that, she knew what action she needed to take, but it didn't stop it from hurting.

She could actually feel some tears running down her cheek.

Look at me, I'm a mess, Akeginu thought to herself as she brushed the tears off her face.

I can't even remember the last time I cried.

As if on cue, the source of her concern appeared in front of her using that high speed movement trick of his.

She brushed the last tear out of her eye, Naruto didn't need to see that. She needed to present herself as if nothing was wrong.

"What's wrong?" Naruto asked as soon as he saw her.

She failed miserably.

He sees straight through me.

"N-nothing Naruto," replied Akeginu. She almost winced when she stuttered. Such behavior was unacceptable.

"Really?"

I need to control this before it gets any worse.

She gave Naruto what he had come to call her 'scary smile'. The one she used when she would punish him when he was younger.

Naruto took a step back as soon as he saw it.

Fufu, I trained him well.

"Nothing is wrong Naruto," Akeginu said in an even tone. Her 'smile' becoming even more pronounced.

Naruto looked at her uncomfortably before looking away, "Whatever you say."

"As always you have good timing Naruto, let's spar," said Akeginu.

"Ah…okay," said Naruto, obviously a bit taken aback by her abrupt change in mood.

She decided that she would 'burden' him a little, if only to relieve some pent up frustration.

---

"Owe," moaned Naruto as he pulled himself up of the ground. He was sporting several large gashes on his chest, and his arm was out of place.

"What the hell was that?" Naruto asked Akeginu who was standing across from him looking no worse for wear. She didn't have so much as a hair out of place.

I've got to find out how she does that, thought Naruto as he observed his sensei's flawless appearance. It looked like beating the crap out of him had calmed her down. He didn't know what was wrong with her earlier. She had been very angry, and he was pretty sure that her anger had been directed at him. The laundry list of injuries he now had was strong evidence of that.

"What do you mean?" Akeginu asked. She had a smile on her face. Not the evil, sadistic one she was wearing earlier, this one was the one she wore when she was teasing him — She new exactly what he meant.

"Don't you play innocent with me. What was that technique?" Naruto asked again. A little bit of frustration edged it way into his tone.

"Oh, you'll have to be a bit more specific Naruto?" Akeginu asked as she looked down at him with amusement. She had her delicate hands over her mouth as if to stifle a giggle.

Naruto twitched; she knew damn well what technique he was talking about.

"I'm talking about the one with the blood and the cutting —and I'm pretty sure your kimono stabbed me," said an exasperated Naruto.

"My, what are you suggesting Naruto?"

Akeginu's eyes were now literally glowing with mirth. All traces of her earlier frustration had vanished.

"You've been holding out on me," Naruto stated in a flat tone.

"I don't what you're talking about."

"Uh huh," Naruto deadpanned. She knew exactly what he was talking about.

Akeginu gave him a suggestive smile that he couldn't decipher. .

"There's always something more to learn Naruto."

Naruto translated that as, 'You've still got a long way to go.'

"I don't suppose I'll be learning that anytime soon?" Naruto asked.

"Mm… I don't think so. You've still got plenty of other stuff to work on."

Naruto let out a sigh and conceded the point. It wasn't exactly surprising that Akeginu's blood projection was vastly more advanced than his —she certainly had enough time to work on it.

"If you say so. Do mind putting my shoulder back in place? You kind of dislocated it when you threw me face first into the concrete."

"Oh, and why isn't your kitsune friend fixing it? I mean, that is her job right? To keep you healthy."

'Grrrrrrrrrr'

"No," said Naruto, ignoring Kurama's growling. "While she can re-nit broken bones or even grow new ones, she can't manipulate my arm so the bones goes back in the socket….So are you going to help me or not?"

Akeginu rolled her eyes, and grabbed his arm, "Hold still."

"Argh!"

"Quit being a baby. I think we need to work on your taijutsu if you're still getting caught by those kind of throws."

"I suppose I should brush up on it. There's always the off chance I would need it if my katana broke and all my ebon ropes suddenly disappeared," said Naruto with more than a little sarcasm.

Akeginu raised one perfectly sculptured eyebrow in amusement. "Taijutsu's important Naruto, if for nothing more than knowing a few non lethal takedowns."

"I'm way ahead of you sensei. I'm working on channeling lightning chakra into my ebon ropes so I can shock people into unconsciousness."

"Naruto…I've seen those overcharged lighting ropes of yours. I hate to tell you, but if you use that on someone you won't get a shock, you'll get fried human."

"That's a completely different technique!"

Naruto defended his overcharged lighting ropes, they were still a work in progress.

"Uh huh, I still don't know why you're doing that."

"More offensive power," answered Naruto.

"Because cutting armies to pieces and buildings in half with a mere wave of your hand wasn't enough for you?"

"Exactly."

Akeginu just sighed, "Don't you have other things to be working on rather than trying to redefine the word overkill?

"Says the women whose blood can decapitate people."

"When did you start talking back to me?" Akeginu asked.

"You're not my sensei anymore, you're my…partner."

"Partner?"

"Yep, partner."

"I like the sound of that," said Akeginu with what Naruto suspected was …glee?

Weird, thought Naruto.

Akeginu had been acting awfully strange lately, but rather than wasting important brain power by thinking any further on it, Naruto decided to let the emotionally unstable psycho be and get some rest. Her mood swings were starting to give him a headache.

---

"Damn it, where is he?" Yūgao complained as she entered the Jōnin Standby Station. She dropped down on the lounge with a loud huff. She was exhausted, not physically of course, but mentally. She had just spent the last two hours looking for her wayward apprentice, but had seen no sign of him. It was like he had just disappeared.

How does he do that? She wondered. It wasn't the first time she had trouble locating him. In fact, unless they had a prearranged appointment he was next to impossible to find.

Earlier, she had gone looking for her wayward apprentice to see if he wanted to have dinner with her. A celebration of sorts, after all, it wasn't everyday you simultaneously completed two A rank missions.

However, her apprentice had vanished like a ghost. She had tried his apartment, if you wanted to call it that. 'Death trap' was the more apt term in her opinion. Her student lived in literally the worst district in Konoha, but that wasn't what concerned her…at least not right at this moment. No the reason she called the place a death trap was the numerous lethal booby-trap littered around the apartment. It turned out that Naruto didn't bother locking doors, she soon found out why. Anyone entering that place would quickly die in agony. Seriously, where did he even find that much acid? And how the hell did he get that giant boulder through the doorway?

Naruto was an enigma. Everything her apprentice did confounded her. It was frustrating too, for every new thing she discovered about him another unknown would appear. He was a mystery, one that she had every intention of solving.

"Is it true?" A voice to her left asked.

Yūgao was brought out of her musing by the question and looked up to find the scared visage of Ibiki standing before her.

"Is what true?" Yūgao asked as she turned her attention to the head of interrogation.

"Did Uzumaki kill Rokushō Aoi?"

Can't anybody keep a secret around here, thought Yugao to herself, completely ignoring the fact that it was she who blabbed in the first place.

"Yes," Yūgao replied.

Ibiki grunted. "Impressive. First Mizuki and then Aoi."

You can add Momoichi Zabuza to that list, Yūgao thought. It was an impressive list, especially for a genin who was only a couple of months graduated from the academy.

"Where'd the kid get those kind of skills?"

Yūgao read between the lines— 'they don't teach that at the academy.'

She gave her colleague a shrug, "Don't know, all he's told me is that he learned them from an old family member."

Ibiki's eyes narrowed in suspicion, "Dangerous, who knows what kind of things he was taught.

"It's certainly a concern," replied Yūgao. She would have to be wary about what she said regarding Naruto around Ibiki. The man was suspicious of everything, but it sort of came with the territory so she didn't hold it against him. The man was all right once you got to know him, if a little stand offish.

"Why hadn't the Hokage sent him to me?"

Yūgao gave the interrogator a serious look before replying coldly, "I doubt the Hokage wants to add to the already impressive list of missing nin from Konoha."

Ibiki gave her a level stare before grunting in agreement.

"Hey ya Yūgao, you back already?" Greeted Anko as she sauntered up to them.

"Yes Anko, we just got back," replied Yūgao.

"Oh. Did you and your mysterious apprentice enjoy yourselves?"

"We did pretty well," replied Yūgao.

"Ha. So you did enjoy yourselves. What would poor Hayate think if he heard that?"

Don't go there Anko," replied Yūgao. The jibe had hit a little to close to home for comfort. She realized she hadn't thought of her boyfriend once while away for the last two weeks. Even worse, she had just spent her first few hours back in Konoha looking to have dinner with Naruto rather than her boyfriend.

Let's not read too much into that, though Yugao a little uneasily.

---

The following morning Akeginu found Naruto sitting in the courtyard staring at the zanbatō he took from that man with no eyebrows in Wave Country.

She paused as she remembered the way she had acted yesterday when she had rather unceremoniously taken her frustrations out on Naruto. Despite her resolve not to burden Naruto with her feelings she had still let her anger at seeing him with another women influence her.

Definitely not my finest moment.

She looked over to Naruto who now had one vibrant blue eye focused on her. He was probably wondering why the hell she was just standing there in silence.

Right, that wasn't awkward at all, she told herself sarcastically before walking over to her former student.

"You're not planning on using that thing are you?" Akeginu asked, hoping to distract Naruto from her recent odd behavior.

"Uh…no. I couldn't even begin to think about how to go about using the thing," replied Naruto as he turned his attention back to the sword.

Distraction successful.

"Then what are you going to do with it?" Akeginu wondered.

Unwieldy thought it was she could see that the blade was a fine piece of craftsmanship. It would be a shame for it to go to waste.

Naruto didn't answer her question directly, instead he said, "Look at this."

Naruto pulled out a kunai and channeled some of his wind power into it. He then ran it along the Zanbatō putting a deep scratch into it.

Akeginu looked on in awe. The sight was still novel to her despite the fact that she had seen the technique dozens of times over the course of Naruto's training.

I would have loved to have this technique back when I was a ninja, perhaps things would have gone differently...

Blood started seeping from Naruto's palm as he activated blood projection. To Akeginu's amazement the zanbatō started absorbing the blood straight from the air.

"What…"

"Wait for it," said Naruto.

She turned her attention back to the sword and was shocked to see the large gash in the steel being repaired.

"It's repairing itself," Akeginu said in disbelief.

"Yep. From what I can gather it's using the iron in the blood to repair itself," explained Naruto.

The sword continued to absorb the blood until it was in perfect condition, like it had never been used or had come straight from the forge.

"How is it doing that?" Akeginu asked.

"That's important question isn't it? One I plan on finding an answer to," said Naruto as he examined the blade intently.

"Why a Zanbatō?" Akeginu asked.

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked.

"Why a Zanbatō, and not a kodachi or katana? What makes it reform in that shape?"

"Good question. My first thought would be a seal, but I've examined the blade and there's not one on it, unless…"

"Unless what?"

"It's possible that a seal was used in the forging process, but I have little knowledge of how one would go about doing that."

"That's a shame."

"Yes, but I'll keep working at it. Perhaps in time I'll be able to re-engineer it in the form of a more practical weapon."

It would be great if he could make a kodachi or a katana with the same properties. Too bad I know next to nothing about swordsmithing.

"So, what's next?"

"I want to start investigating Danzo — due diligence and all that— but that may have to wait. The chūnin exams are coming up and there's a good chance that I'll be participating."

"So what…more training?" Akeginu asked.

"Improving my sensor abilities is my priority at the moment. We'll work for there. Do you have any suggestions?"

"Ah…I was impressed with what you did with my blood mist, so I think I can start you on the next level of the technique."

"Wait, there's levels? Since when?" Naruto asked incredulously.

"There's always been levels, now shush. Let me explain," said Akeginu in a matter of fact tone, completely ignoring disbelief. "You were correct yesterday when you pointed out that my Kimono stabbed you. You see Naruto, my kimono is actually made out of my own blood." (3)

"…"

Naruto just stared at her in disbelief before taking a closer look at her kimono.

"Oh my! Where are you looking Naruto-kun," teased Akeginu in mock embarrassment as she covered herself with her arms.

Akeginu was amused to see Naruto actually blushing. It had been a while since she managed that.

"I always thought that kimono looked a little tight on you," said Naruto after his blush had died down.

Akeginu smirked. This was new. Naruto never used to flirt back.

"Oh? I had no idea you were paying such close attention to my body Naruto-kun," replied Akeginu. She wasn't the master for nothing.

"So…do you actually have any underwear on under there?"

Now that was bold, thought Akeginu. Little Naruto-kun had definitely grown up. Though she had already concluded that much when she found him buried to the hilt inside that mute woman.

"Don't tell me…Are you asking to have a look under my kimono Naruto-kun?"

"Tempting, but I'll pass…for now," replied Naruto. He was gazing at Akeginu with a look that she couldn't quite place. Was it interest or something else?

Admittedly, she was a bit disappointed when he didn't take her up on the offer.

Can I even have sex in this form? Wondered Akeginu, she had never really considered it before. I can touch him, I know that much from our sparing. Sex wouldn't be that different, would it?

"Um…does this mean I'll be dressing in red from now on?" Naruto asked, interrupting Akeginu's perverted thoughts.

Did I just consider having sex with my student…I'm pretty sure I'm breaking some sort of taboo there, thought Akeginu. Her resolve from the previous night had crumbled pretty quickly when faced with Naruto's flirting. And he's only a novice...

"You don't have to. The technique is just about having blood on hand, already materialized. It means that you don't have to secrete blood mid fight which can save you valuable seconds. You don't have to make all your clothes out of blood either, just enough to get a usable amount. You could also wear your regular clothes over the top, like I wear my golden sash around my kimono," explained Akeginu while pointing at her sash. "It's very handy and can get you out of a bind if you're ever caught walking around naked."

"Pff, like that's likely to happen…Do you make a habit of running around naked sensei?" (4)

---

1 week later

Deep beneath Konoha, within an underground network of tunnels were two figures deep in conversation. One was seated in an elevated platform overlooking a hall while the other kneeled before him.

"So, Uzumaki managed to finish off Momoichi Zabuza single handily. It seems we have greatly underestimated the boy," said Danzo after he had finished listening to Sai's report.

"Yes Danzo-sama. I tried tailing him afterwards, but he spotted me easily and confronted me. He…he moved faster than my eyes could follow and managed to get the jump on me. He also was able to spot the seal on my tongue."

That was interesting. Sai was one of his better operatives, much better than any of the genin currently running around Konoha, with the obvious exception of Uzumaki. Though it was logical that Uzumaki would be able to best Sai if he could dispose of Zabuza without sustaining injury.

It hadn't come as a total surprise. He had been aware of Uzumaki's skill since the boy had ruthlessly beaten and tortured Mizuki. The traitor had been scheduled for termination and Hyō, one of his Root operatives, had been present when Uzumaki caught him.

Danzo had known of Mizuki's allegiance to Orochimaru for years. Mizuki was there to spy on Uzumaki and the Uchiha, but once they graduated he had outlived his usefulness to the Snake Sannin. Orochimaru didn't really care about the scroll, the man already knew most of the kinjutsu from Konoha anyway. The Snake Sannin had set it up so that he would either end up with the scroll or one of his loose ends would be disposed of. Unfortunately for Orochimaru neither outcome had eventuated.

If the incident hadn't shown exactly how poor Konoha's security was Danzo would have found it amusing. Orochimaru always did have a preference for needlessly complicated machinations. Instead, Konoha had to rely on a genin to catch Mizuki, and Orochimaru's loose end was now stuck in prison, alive. Not that the fool knew anything of value.

He had been gathering information of Uzumaki from that moment onwards. To date he had been extremely displeased with what or rather what he hadn't discovered. There was literally no information on the boy. All his operatives had been able to discover was that the majority of the population despised the boy and that his grades were horrible. The latter was obviously a ruse; the standard at the academy was so low even the most incompetent of persons could pass. Given the change in appearance it was clear that Uzumaki spent absolutely no time there what so ever. In Danzo's view, that alone put him ahead of every other genin in Konoha, at least in terms of ability. His true loyalties still needed to be ascertained.

The boy's alienation from the rest of society had worked against them here. No one knew the boy intimately, even those considered close like Ichiraku Teuchi and his daughter knew nothing of consequence about the boy. If he didn't know better he would say the boy was a spy, he even reminded him a little of Kabuto.

At the very least, Hiruzen's idiotic decision to leave the boy victim to the uneducated masses hadn't backfired completely. He had been furious at the time, all that potential wasted. At least the boy had received training somewhere, he just needed to find out where. If the boy had been turned into a spy he would need to be mind wiped, he couldn't afford to terminate the boy and lose the Kyubi. Maybe then he could force Hiruzen to let him rebuild the boy.

The boy had the potential to be a valuable asset for the village, but also could be a huge threat. He would hold off from taking action until he confirmed which was more likely.

Caution. He would proceed with caution for now, an opportunity would present itself eventually and then he could make his move.

"Torune!"

A shadow detached from the wall and landed next to Sai. He had a plain white mask and was wearing a dark charcoal colored trench coat.

"Yes Danzo-sama?" Torune asked.

"I have a new assignment for you."

---

"So the Council wants to see little old me?" Naruto asked the ANBU operative.

He had been waiting for Yūgao at their standard training ground, but it looks like he wouldn't be getting any training this morning.

"Yes Uzumaki-san. Come with me."

The ANBU operative used shunshin to move them both to the hall outside the Council chambers.

"Wait here until summoned," instructed the ANBU.

While he was waiting Naruto went over what he knew about Konoha's government. Konoha was a military village, which meant that all power was situated in the seat of the Hokage, or at least on paper it was. Times had changed since the original founding constitution had been drafted. Although technically all decision making power began and ended with the Hokage, in reality that was no longer the case.

It was difficult to pinpoint when things changed. It was likely after the First Shinobi War during the Nidaime Hokage's reign. The fact was that Konoha was no longer just a military village, and although the village's primary income still came from payment rendered for ninja services, a significant portion of the population was now civilian.

No. The days of Konoha being a military dictatorship had long since past. Konoha was not like Kumo. There were now too many competing interests and agendas at play for the Hokage to possible address them all. So, the Hokage delegated. There was now a separate body set up solely to deal with civic and civilian matters. The civilians like to call it the civilian council; Naruto didn't think the shinobi cared what it was called. Whatever it's name, it only had a small amount of power, but it was a voice that the Hokage was forced to consider. Maybe not technically, but Naruto was sure the old man couldn't really afford to lose the support of the citizens.

On the other side of the fence there was the ninja equivalent. It dated back to the founding of the village where numerous significant clans who were allied to either the Senju or the Uchiha settled down in Konoha. Each clan obviously had their own priorities and wanted their own voice in Konha's government. Therefore the noble clans were allowed to sit in on the council meetings. In addition to that, space was provided for the current head of the Jōnin forces and the Intelligence division. In this case those positions were situated with the heads of the Nara clan and Yamanaka clan respectively. (5)

In saying all that, only three people really mattered – four if he counted Danzo. It was becoming increasingly apparent that the figure was a big player in leaf's political arena. The old man, and his two advisors were the ones who made all the decisions in Konoha. The others voices while relevant, were not as important.

Of course offending any of the clan heads would not be prudent. They had their own power, prestige and he was sure more than a few favours were owed to them by other members of the council. He wasn't sure exactly how they felt about them. Certainly none of them would be stupid enough to believe him to be Kurama, but they also likely viewed him as either a weapon or a as a bomb waiting to explode. Traditionally that was how all jinchūriki were perceived and he wouldn't get his hopes up thinking they would be any different.

In short, he needed to tread carefully. He didn't want to make enemies, but at the same time couldn't allow himself to be perceived as a pushover. It was a fine line to tread.

"Uzumaki, you may go in. They are ready for you," said the ANBU as he reappeared.

"Let's get this over with."

As he entered the large room Naruto eyes immediately made out Yūgao standing at the back. No doubt she had been questioned before him. They made eye contact and she gave him a strained smile.

The room was huge. Easily capable of fitting in several hundred people. As he made his way to the center he picked out the people present. Front and center was the Hokage with the two advisors: Utatane Koharu, and Mitokado Homura.

To the left were the various heads of the Konoha shinobi clans. The Hyuga, Yamanaka, Nara, Aburame, Akimichi, and Inuzuka. There were also a few empty seats, likely for the absent Senju and Uchiha clan heads.

To the right were the civilians, or at least where they would have been if any had been present. At the moment, it was occupied by one individual. He had a bandage over his right eyes, and his right arm was also heavily bandaged.

That must be Danzo.

He would be the only civilian with the necessary connection to know this meeting was on. Normally, the Council met once a month on a pre-scheduled day. That meeting was usually attended by both the 'civilian council' and the shinobi. However since was an unscheduled meeting — likely someone informed one of the elders about the results of the Wave mission — and a strictly shinobi matter, they hadn't been called, though they could attend if they wished.

"Hokage-sama, what is the meaning of this? This is not Uzumaki?" Asked the old hag sitting to the left of the old man.

"I think I know my own identity, obviously better than you do at least," said Naruto, clearly amused by her reaction. It seemed no one had informed Utatane Koharu of his 'change' in appearance.

"Boy, you will remain silent until spoken to," replied the old hag. Her tone revealed exactly what she thought of him.

Naruto refrained from rolling his eyes at her attempt at putting him in his place. From what Naruto could gather, she was from the old school of thought and obviously believed that he should have been raised as an obedient weapon.

"Hokage-sama," said Naruto using a respectful tone. It wasn't the right context to use his usual moniker for the old man. "Surely, you did not call me here discuss whether or not I am actually Uzumaki Naruto when a simple DNA test or glimpse at my stomach would suffice. I was that unaware people with my chakra levels were so common in Konoha."

The old man looked visibly amused by his remark and the Inuzuka head let out an abrupt laugh at his remark.

"You're correct Naruto," said the Hokage.

"But—"

"Enough Koharu. You wanted to discuss Naruto's abilities so get on with it before a call an end to this farce."

Naruto could tell there was not much love loss between the two.

The old hag collected herself, "Very well. Boy, we have concerns regarding your newly discovered abilities."

"Oh? They're hardly new. I've been practicing kenjutsu for around a decade now."

Naruto let an amuse smile grace his face as he watched the old hag twitch. He knew he was straying awfully close to the line here, but he was not going to let them walk all over him. Those days were long gone. He trusted the old man to pull him up if he became too disrespectful.

"Troublesome. Speak plainly woman. Uzumaki, we wish to know exactly where you learnt your techniques so as to ascertain whether or not you have been trained by hostile forces or a spy. The report provided to us stated you were trained by a woman named Akeginu," said the head of the Nara clan.

Naruto turned his attention to the man. He would have to tread carefully here. The head of the Nara clan was well known for his remarkable intelligence and would likely identify any inconsistencies in his story. The man to his left was also a concern. Yamanaka Inoichi was considered one of the best interrogators and sensors Konoha had ever produced. No doubt he would be able to tell if Naruto was lying.

"Correct. I met her ten years ago, and she trained me up until shortly before my graduation at the academy."

"What did your training entail?" Homura asked, speaking for the first time.

"Various fundamentals, kenjutsu obviously, and several more...unique techniques," answered Naruto.

"Unique technique? Such as?" Homura asked.

Naruto smiled at the attempt. It seemed that this guy was to play the more subtle role, as opposed to the old hag's bluntness.

"I have no intention of revealing my techniques to the public. No self-respecting ninja would," replied Naruto.

"Boy, this is the Konoha Council. If one of us asked you a question you answer it," said Koharu.

She was trying to intimidate him, that much was clear. She was failing. Naruto noticed the old man was looking at him with interest, no doubt observing how he reacted. He wondered if the whole display was an act to try and pressure him into releasing a few more details about his past.

"In that case, all my techniques fall under the category of secret techniques and are property of the Uzumaki clan. Unless you wish to set a precedent by which the Council will force clans to hand over their secret techniques? I doubt the members to my left would be terribly impressed with that."

Naruto also doubted the Hokage would have let be forced to reveal his techniques anyway but he lost little by standing up for himself.

"Damn right we wouldn't, the pup's right about that" said the Inuzuka clan head while flashing Naruto a grin. To Naruto's surprise it actually looked sincere.

"They are protected by that rule, your clan is not," said Koharu.

"Oh, and why is that?"

"One person does not make a clan."

"Interesting, are you stating that the Uchiha and Senju clans are no longer to be considered clans? I'm not sure Senju Tsuande and Uchiha Sasuke will agree," replied Naruto.

He was sure by now that this was just a set up. No council in a ninja village would force a ninja to reveal a technique, secret or otherwise. It would set too dangerous a precedent, and that last statement by the old hag had been completely unbelievable. The woman was trained by the Nidaime Hokage, she was not incompetent.

Ah, they just wanted to see me answer the questions in person. No doubt Inoichi has been watching me very closely.

"If you really want me to, I could just claim them as originals. I'm pretty sure I'm the only one using them," continued Naruto, no longer really concerned. he doubted the Hokage would let it get much further.

"No that's fine Naruto," said the old man. It seemed he had seen enough. "Are there any further questions for Naruto?"

"Uzumaki, what village was your sensei associated with?" Asked Homura

"Unknown. If she had any allegiance to any hidden village she never informed me, nor did she wear nay headband or visible symbol, which would indicate where her loyalties lay. She is dead now anyway so I'll likely never know."

"And how did she die?" Homura asked.

"She was very old," said Naruto. He was thanking kami that Akeginu was not in the room.

"I have no further questions," announced Homura as he relaxed back into his chair.

"Anyone else?" The old man asked. No one made any movements.

"Very well then, Naruto, Yugao-san. You are both dismissed."

---

Danzo narrowed his eyes as Uzumaki retreated from the room. He had remained silent for the entirety of the meeting; there was no need for him to speak. He had already instructed Koharu and Homura on what to say, he just wanted to observe.

Interestingly, Uzumaki had no reacted with anger at Koharu's blatant goading. Rather he seemed more amused than anything, like he could see straight through what she was attempting.

"Inoichi?" Hiruzen was asking the Yamanaka head for his views on Uzumaki.

"He was…difficult to read Hokage-sama. It's obvious that, he has been trained to control his emotions very well, but I believe he was telling the truth, though likely not the whole truth, which is further evidence that he has been trained in how to respond to interogations."

Danzo had arrived at the same conclusion. He would have to rectify that one way or another.

It seemed that Hiruzen agreed as well.

"Hiruzen, why do we not simply have him interrogated?" Koharu asked.

"Doing so would only alienate Naruto further. He already has little love for this village; I doubt a session in Ibiki would improve his opinion. "

Danzo agreed with that, though there were others, less crude methods to finding out what the boy knew, though Hiruzen would never resort to them. As per usually his old friend was taking a hands off approach to things. It hadn't really helped so far, and it likely wouldn't do anything to get them the answers they needed.

"Naruto will be participating in the chūnin exams, we'll get a better look at him there, for now we will watch closely."

They certainly would. The boy would complete a standard chūnin exam with ease, but fortunately this year was different. He would definitely get to see what the boy was capable of.

For now though, he needed to find some way to bring the boy under his control.

---

"You did well in there Naruto," said Yūgao as they exited the Hokage tower.

"Meh. It looks like they were just trying to pressure some information out of me.

"Yes, that's exactly what was going on, though it seems they shouldn't have bothered since it's obvious you've read the law books back to front," said a frowning Yūgao. Clearly she didn't like the Council's attempts to strongarm information out of him.

"Don't worry about it sensei," said Naruto.

"If you say so. Why don't you get some lunch Naruto. I'll meet you at the usual place in an hour, I've got something to discuss with you."

---

1 hour later

Naruto sat at the base of a tree waiting for Yūgao to show up. He let his senses spread out like a ripple in a body of still water.

Naruto paused as he sensed the two people approaching . One was Yūgao; he could pick her out of a crowd easily now. The other one was likely Hayate, though he couldn't say for sure. His ability to read chakra signatures still needed a lot of work.

Naruto had spent a great deal of time over the last week trying to improve his sensor abilities. While he was now adept at sensing people's chakra levels, the next step in the process was learning to read and recognise people's chakra signatures. It was slow work.

The best sensors could gleam much about an opponent using just their senses. Naruto, at the very least wanted to be able to identify a person's chakra signature, and if he could, their affinities as well. Any further progress would be a bonus. He was aware the best sensors could tell when a person was lying just by the fluctuations in their chakra.

The difficulty lay in learning those abilities. The problem was that in Konoha there was simply not a lot of material available for would be sensor. The reality was that most of the village's sensors came from clan's with bloodlines or ones that utilised secret techniques. There was a reason why the majority of the villages sensors were from the Hyuga, Inuzuka, Yamanaka and Abruame clans. Outside of those clans there were very few sensors in the village, or at least ones that he knew of.

I'll have to ask Yūgao if there's anyone who can help me out.

Naruto's senses focused in on Yūgao as she made her way across the training ground. Her chakra levels were quite high by this village's standards. Nothing compared to his own or the old man's, but considerably more than Hayate and Kakashi whose reserves were distinctly average. Yūgao's chakra had an earthy tone to it. That's not to say that he could see it, his dojutsu was not designed to heighten perception to such a degree that it could perceive chakra. No, his sensors fed back information to him and his mind interpreted the information in a way that he could comprehend it. In this case his mind registered her chakra as brown, likely reflecting Yūgao's affinity for earth and fire.

It had taken him a good month before his sensors were able to perceive her chakra in that way. He had concluded that prolonged proximity to a ninja allowed him to recognise their affinity, he needed to shorten that process to seconds.

He still hadn't been able to recognise Hayate's chakra signature, but that was because he hadn't been using his sensor abilities around the man. He had better luck within Kakashi back in Wave. He had registered that man's chakra signature unusually quickly. For some reason his mind just interpreted his chakra signature as 'white'.

My sensor abilities seem to be progressing usually fast, thought Naruto. From what he had read sensory ninjutsu was one of the most difficult and hardest skills of ninjutsu, right up there with medical ninjutsu and genjutsu. It had taken him years to see this sort of progress with his genjutsu so why was he progressing so much faster?

"It's due to my presence," said Kurama.

I haven't heard from you in a while.

"I dislike speaking unnecessarily as you humans are custom to do."

Right…what did you mean, 'it's due to your presence'?

"I thought I spoke plainly enough, my presence inside you is the reason why you are so adept at sensory ninjutsu."

I meant, why does your presence make me a better sensor?

"It's due to my nature. Yōkai are spiritual creatures, our senses extend far beyond the range of a regular human. Since I'm the most powerful of Yōkai, my senses are by far the sharpest. I'm capable of sensing any ill intent directed towards me from across the continent."

Wow…will I be able do that?

"No, you won't ever be that good," said Kurama, cutting him down just as he was getting his hopes up. She could be a real bitch some times.

"You know, I can hear those thoughts when you inner monologue like that."

She was a bit of a voyeur too, who didn't know the meaning of the word privacy, apparently.

"You're being rude."

He didn't want to think about what she was doing while he was having sex with Kiriko, probably mastur—

"Enough! You will not treat me like some pervert."

"…"

"…It gets boring in here."

I knew it.

"...Anyway, while you will never be as good as I, you will have no problem mastering those inferior human sensor skills."

Naruto rolled his eyes at her casual display of arrogance, and turned his attention to Yūgao and Hayate who were now directly in front of him.

"Naruto," greeted Yūgao. She was looking at him oddly, probably wondering why he didn't acknowledge her presence until she was right in front of him.

"Kid (cough)," greeted Hayate.

"Yūgao-sensei," said Naruto as he pushed himself off the tree and face Yūgao.

"…"

"Hey! (cough) What about me?" asked an indignant Hayate.

"What about you?" Naruto replied, amused that he was able to get a reaction out of the tokubetsu jōnin.

"Little—"

"Be quiet Hayate," said Yūgao, interrupting her boyfriend. "Naruto, take this," said Yūgao as she handed him apiece of paper.

Naruto gave it a cursory glance, "The Chūnin exams, huh."

"Yes, you're more than ready for them," replied Yūgao.

"I'll be one of the (cough) proctors for the exam," said Hayate.

"Really?" Naruto asked sceptically.

Yūgao giggled at him while Hayate just gave him a glare.

"The majority of the other participants will be in standard teams of three, so you'll be at a disadvantage there," explained Yūgao.

"That's one way of looking at it," said Naruto. He figured not having his chances of success dependant upon two others who may or may not have the resolve or skills to pass was a good thing.

"True," replied Yūgao. "The first two parts of the test are designed to test teamwork. Since you are a one-man cell, you will be tested on your ability to survive on your own in a hostile environment." (6)

"Sounds reasonable."

"Good. The exams start next week."

"So (cough) kid, I think I'm (cough) good enough to move on to the next stage with Iaido (cough)," said Hayate.

Naruto was annoyed, "Battōjutsu, not Iaido."

"Whatever (cough)."

"I suppose we could start more advanced training. Do you want in on this sensei?"

Yūgao looked surprised, "You're going to show me your battōjutsu?"

Naruto shrugged, "Why not? See Hayate, sensei remembered the name, it can't be that hard to remember."

"Screw (cough) you."

"I show sensei the basics and then we can work on the art of countering with the draw," explained Naruto.

"Countering?"

"Yep. Technically, it comes from Iaijutsu, but my school of kenjutsu incorporates that as well. It's fundamentally the same technique; the difference lies in how you use it. Iaijutsu is all about countering. So, what we'll do is this: I'll attack you with a strike, and you counter it using your draw. Try and break through my attack by knocking my blade out of the way. If you do it right, you'll end up leaving me open for a follow up attack, and if your good enough , you can completely counter my attack by drawing faster than I can strike. It's all about timing."

"Isn't that like (cough) super dangerous?" Hayate asked.

"Na, it's perfectly safe."

---

"Owe!"

"Quit being a baby," scolded Yūgao as her boyfriend continued to complain while the medical nin healed the numerous sword cuts over his body. They were in the hospital having finished training early when Naruto cut open her boyfriend's chest, from hip to shoulder.

"The kid hates me," said Hayate between winces. The nurse was prodding one of the smaller gashes on his arm.

"He doesn't hate you. Naruto told me he considers you comic relief," replied Yugao.

"I (cough) think I'd rather him hate me (cough). You know (cough) I seriously think Naruto was trying to kill me today," said Hayate.

Yūgao shook her head; her boyfriend had no idea. "If Naruto wanted you dead, you would be dead. "

"Wait, (cough) you made that sound like you think he's (cough) better than me."

"He is better than you," Yūgao deadpanned. Naruto wasn't the one in hospital.

"Since (cough) when?"

"Um…I think that's always been the case," answered Yūgao completely ignoring the damage she was doing to her boyfriend's confidence. She wasn't even sure if she was better than Naruto. Could she have taken out Zabuza so easily? Likely not.

"That's (cough) depressing. Out done by a (cough) genin."

"Oh, you're just afraid I'll leave you for a younger, more skilled and better looking swordsmen," joked Yūgao. Or at least she thought it was a joke. Her boyfriend wouldn't be jealous of the talented youngster… right?

"Was (cough) that last part really necessary?"

Yūgao shrugged. It was the truth, Naruto was pretty good looking despite his pale complexion. Hayate…hmm, not as much.

"You and that (cough) gaki better not try any funny while your away on missions."

"…Well lets not rule anything out,"teased Yūgao, repeating Naruto's words from back in Wave Country.

---

Naruto made his way down one of the main streets of Konoha; Yūgao had given him the rest of the afternoon off for some reason. After leaving her to take Hayate to the hospital, Naruto was on his way to the shinobi library. He wanted to see if there was any material or records of past chūnin exams.

However, halfway to his destination his senses registered something unusual. It felt familiar, yet he couldn't place where or when he had ever experienced the sensation before.

What is that? Naruto wondered to himself as he quickly turned to pursue the sensation.

As he drew closer to the odd presence he got a better idea of what he was dealing with. Whatever it was it was erratic, fluctuating between extreme bloodlust and eerie calm in a matter of seconds.

There!

He had pinpointed the presence.

Stopping on a nearby roof Naruto looked down to see three unusual figures making their way along the street. He used the term 'unusual' because firstly, they were foreign nin. Their headbands indicated that they were from Suna. And secondly, the three stood out like a sore thumb amongst the civilians.

The first person was an attractive blonde woman carrying a fan so large Naruto wondered how it could be used practically in battle. Maybe… wind manipulation?

She looked to be a little older than him, perhaps eighteen or nineteen.

The second person was a young man dressed in black pyjamas, wearing maroon coloured makeup and carrying a large package on his back. It didn't take a genius to figure out what it was. Suna was famous for three things: Being in the middle of a giant desert, futon manipulation, and puppetry. This weirdo was obviously a practitioner of Kugutsu.

The third person was by far the most interesting. He was short boy with spiky, auburn coloured hair. Oddly, he wore a giant gourd of all things on his back, and had the kanji for love tattooed on his forehead above his right eye. He also had black rings under his eyes. Naruto couldn't tell if they were makeup — a likely conclusion given his travelling companion — or if the boy suffered from a severe lack of sleep. Either way it made him look like a racoon. (7)

Any further observations were interrupted when Kurama suddenly roared in his head.

"How dare he! What does that that desert rat think he's doing in my territory!?"
(8)

The Kitsune sounded offended. Admittedly, not an uncommon occurrence, but this time she sounded really pissed.

"Desert rat?" Naruto asked inquisitively while trying not to wince at the echo that followed her yelling. He could definitely feel a migraine coming.

"Yes, desert rat," replied Kurama in an annoyed tone. "That idiot tanuki Shukaku – the Ichibi."

The disdain in her voice was obvious. There was defiantly no love lost between these two.

"Naruto, I demand you kill that jinchūriki."

That surprised him. She must have felt more strongly about this than he initially thought. He was less surpised by the presence of another jinchuriki. He knew they existed, and that he was bound to run into one eventually.

Are you using up your favour Kurama?

"…."

I thought not.

Naruto turned his attention from the enraged yōkai back to the red headed boy with the gourd.

So he's Suna's jinchūriki. That must have been what I was feeling earlier.

"Of course it was. You don't think I would notice when my territory is being invaded?"

So what's your problem with the Ichibi?

"The fool once sought to challenge me as the strongest of Biju, if you can believe that. I know I certainly didn't. Really, one tail, he challenged me with one tail's worth of power. He might as well as had none at all for all the difference it would make. After I completely destroyed him I warned him that if he ever set foot in my presence again I would rip off that little tail of his."

All right… Anything else?

"Not really. He's a hack, for lack of a better word. Just look at what he's doing to that boy down there. You can practically see the bloodlust coming off him."

What can he do?

"Well, like most yōkai he has some shape-shifting abilities. Nothing too impressive, he lacks the necessary mental capacity to excel in the field. Like illusions, shape-shifting is all about finesse."

Um…did you just call the Ichibi dumb?

"He's never been the brightest of us. Far too aggressive and impatient to be a real threat to me."

One day, you and me are going to have a long talk about all this Yokai stuff.

"Feel free to stop by whenever you want, you're always welcome."

Naruto rolled his eyes at her. Apparently Kurama now considered his mindscape her property.

You said he had some shape-shifting abilities; will the jinchūriki be able to use them?

"Unlikely, unless Shukaku takes full control of the human."

And if he did, what could I expect? You never went over what your shape-shifting abilities entail.

" Urgh. Let's get this out of the way first. My shape-shifting abilities are vastly superior to that rat's. Shape-shifting is an art, and the Ichibi is by no definition a good artist. It is one thing to simply change your form, even you humans are capable of that."

I gathered it was different from a basic henge.

"Yes. Your henge is only a superficial transformation. You change form, but you don't truly become what you change into."

Naruto understood. Henge was a relatively simple transformation, one that allowed a ninja to take a different shape. It did not change a person's composition. One could not change into a piece of granite just before being stabbed. (9)

So the Ichibi's shadpe-shifitng is like a henge?

"Not quite. He's certainly more limited than I am, but for you to truly understand I need to explain the art of shape-shifting in more detail.

Okay.

"If you try to change into a form that is completely alien to you, than you will fail. It requires familiarity to properly change form, and even then, if you do not truly understand what you a shifting into then the transformation won't work. You'll end up losing your form, which I can tell you from experience it is not pleasant. Even then, most transformations are only superficial… much like your henge, just an imitation. If you want to truly become something else you need to understand it every way, down to a cellular level."

Sounds hard.

"Extremely. It takes centuries for a yōkai to learn true shape-shifting, and even then few master it. It can take years to learn a new form. Few have the patience, certainly not someone as aggressive and simple minded as Shukaku."

I take it that you are a master?

"I'm THE master. Most shape-shifters are only capable of transforming into a few forms. I'm limitless. I've even achieved the very pinnacle of shape-shifting —transforming into creatures that exist only in the realm of imagination."

Impressive, but what can I expect from the Ichibi?

"Sand."

Sand?"

"Yes. He only knows a few forms and rarely relies on shape shifting for combat. Once upon a time Shukaku favoured powerful wind attacks, but after I almost ended his existence he grew paranoid about this own protection and learnt how to use his very environment to protect himself. He lives in a desert, so yes …expect sand. What do you think is contained within that gourd."

Sand huh. At least their presence will make these exams interesting, thought Naruto as he disappeared just as the red haired boy turned to look at where he just been.

---

Foot Notes

(1) Seriously, it's like their specialty.

(2) For those who haven't read Basilisk (I recommend you do), Akeginu had feelings for a fellow Iga ninja. Let's just say those feelings were used against her to lethal effect by a certain someone we will be seeing later on in the fic.

(3) This is an ability of Akeginu's in the novels, but if memory serves it was never showcased in the manga or anime.

(4) Those who have read Basilisk will probably realize that I'm lamp-shading a certain technique that Naruto will be learning in the future.

(5) I'm not sure if Ibiki or Inoichi is actually head of intelligence in canon, but in my fic Ibiki is head of torture and interrogation a subdivision of Intelligence.

(6) Despite what Kakashi says, there is no evidence to suggest all three team members must participate. There would be many occasions where there would be two person cells participating because one team member had already been promoted (eg. Shikimaru, Kakashi) or where one had been killed.

(7) Naruto has not met Konohamaru in this fic (at least not yet), so that incident with Sakura never happens.

(8) I took some inspiration from the traditional Kitsune/Tanuki rivalry found in Japanese mythology.

(9) I think this is right. Henge…is not explain well (let's leave it at that) . There's enough evidence to show that it is not a genjutsu, and is indeed physical, but it can't be actual shapeshifting. You don't see anyone transforming into diamond and breaking swords with their fists in canon.

---

Author's Notes

So there we have it.

May main intent there was too introduce Danzo and the Council, they will be relevant for an arc post chunin exams. I also wanted to work on characterization. You can get away with a lot if you have likeable characters, so I'm more than willing to spend many words giving them more depth and less one dimensional.

I had a lot of trouble writing Akeginu's passages for this chapter. The difficulty when writing from more than one perspective is to make each view seem unique. It is very difficult to do, and it's still very much a work in progress. As the fic progresses and I understand the characters better I'll likely be able to improve on this aspect but for now it''s a bit hit and miss.

Part of the difficulty with Akeginu's passages was that her perspective has changed. before she was Naruto's teacher. It was relatively simple to write from her view, but now I'm trying to change it to show her increasing attraction to Naruto. It's not easy (i'm trying not to be too heavy handed with it).

I also want to have a go rewriting the initial council meeting. I think it was also a bit hit and miss, but it was serviceable for now. I want to move on with the story (rather than just stare at a computer screen for hours on end. I'm sure writers out there no what I'm talking about).

Anyway, tune in next chapter for the exams. I plan on writing up to the end of the preliminaries. Be aware that I also start session for uni so my writing time will be severely decreased (i.e. there may be a wait).