The co-author for this chapter was twice the trouble. He had help with a co-author of his when he was helping me write this chapter. I may get my own book published soon...my first book. People say it's good but I can't be sure with the standards of books. Please read and review.

OOO

"Haro! You're awake!" Koki exclaimed, making Haro wince at the sound.

"My head's killing me," he said quietly. He tried to sit up, but with his arms shaking under his own weight he ended up getting help from one of his teammates. "What happened?"

"You three came across the missing genin and, well, it didn't end very well for you," Misuteri explained, quieter than his student. "That was three days ago."

"Oh yeah," Haro said. He scratched his head as he glanced around at his suroundings in confusion. "This doesn't look like the hospital."

"We ran into a bit of trouble there. We figured it was safer to camp here for a while."

"Um, I don't understand."

"It's...complicated."

"No it's not," Rei said. "Two guys snuck into the hospital, trying to either grab or kill you."

"Just me?"

"Just you."

"But why?"

"How are we supposed to know? It's not we had time to have a full out conversation with the jerks."

Haro was scared he ruined his friends life. This was his fault but he didn't know why. He didn't know if it was something to do with his childhood or something he did recently. Haro wasn't bad, he was only in combat against real people three times.

He glanced at his team, noting the injuries that he didn't remember them getting in the genin fight. Misuteri especially. His sensei looked more exhausted than Haro ever saw him, leaning against the rock wall almost on the verge of sleep. And it was his fault.

"Sorry," Haro muttered, his eyes dropping to the floor to avoid looking at his team.

"For what?" Rei asked. "Being unconscious?"

"They were after me."

"Your point?" Before Haro could answer Rei had already continued. "Is it something along the lines of the fact we got hurt protecting you? Because if it is, that's bad."

"I have to agree with my student on this one," Misuteri said, making Haro look up at him. "We chose to fight those men. It was our decision."

"But-"

"But nothing. We couldn't just sit there and let those men hurt you. There's an old saying floating around this village. I believe it goes along the lines of 'Those that break the rules are trash. But those who abandon their comrades are even worse." His sensei gave him a tired smile. "So we kinda had to help you. None of us want to be worse than trash."

Haro felt like he was going to cry. What they were saying was deeper than anything his parents told them. This would be the perfect moment if he didn't hear voices in his head. They were quiet, no more than whispers. He's had them on and off for most of his life but it didn't mean he liked them.

"Hope he's alright."

"Can't believe Almaru left."

"Just need some sleep."

Haro rubbed his temples, trying to get them to go away. When it was clear that neither they nor the headache were leaving anytime soon, he looked back at his team.
"Thanks," he muttered, giving them a faint smile. "I think I get it."

"Bout time."

"Is there any food around here?"

"I hope they don't find us."

"You're welcome," Misuteri said back. "Glad we could help."

"Uh, I think I'm going to rest now." His team nodded as he lay back down on the dirt ground.

"That sounds like a good idea. Don't mind if I copy you," Misuteri said. Haro shook his head against the dirt, his eyes already shutting.

"Rei and Koki, you're on watch. Alternate as necessary."

"Why don't you get watch?" Rei asked.

"Because I'll be sleeping."

"How'd we get stuck with him?"

"Lazy."

"So tired."

Haro had to agree with the last voice as he dozed off almost immediately.

" It's good to see Haro fast asleep," Misuteri sensei said. " I believe I have figured out why Haro is wanted by assassins."

"Wait? I thought you were going to sleep?" Koki asked in confusion.

"I am, but I needed to tell you this before I do so," he said. The pair gave him a confused look. "It's important."

"Ok, then why is he their target?"

"It's possible that he's telepathic." All Misuteri got was blank stares. "As in reading thoughts?"

"We know what telepathic means," Rei said. "We just don't get were you getting this all from."

"The Yamanaka clan has always had a special affinity for the human mind. They have jutsus that can access memories, gain control of your body, and even enter your mindscape."

"What's a mindscape?" Koki asked, her head cocked to the side.

"Tell you later." Misuteri waive the question away with his hand as he spoke. "Anyways, each one of those is done with a jutsu. Now there are some old legends which say that Yamanaka's created these jutsu to make up for the powerful telepathy they lost."

"How can they loose telepathy?" Rei crossed his arms in a disbelieving manor.

"They crossed the Sage of Six Paths in some way, making him take it from them. It's not all that clear why anymore."

"And you think Haro has somehow rediscovered this lost talent?"

"It's possible," Misuteri said in his defense. "His mother head of the clan and has always been able to wield their family jutsus with ease. His father, Sai, is rumored to be an ex-root agent, and it's fairly well known that Danzo let Orochimaru experiment on some of the agents. I believe Sai might have been one of them."

"And you think that whatever he did to Haro's father could be passed down to Haro?"

"Sort of," he explained, scratching his head in thought. "I think those altered genes he got from Sai might have awakened the dormant genes he got from his mother."

"That's all well and good." Rei gave his sensei a flat look. "But you never said why you think he's telepathic in the first place."

Misuteri stood still in confusion. It was hard for him to remember all the actions he's made. But Misuteri could tell them now why he thinks Haro was a telepathic. " I can do more than use earth jutsu. I can feel when something is on people's minds. Haro is having trouble because he hears voices in his head."

"So you're telepathic too?"

"No, but close enough," he answered. "There's a reason he was placed on my team. His parents suspected this for a while now and had shared their worries with the hokage who explained the situation to me, hoping I'd train him."

"Does he know?" Koki asked after a moment.

"I doubt it. From what I've been told it would have been on and off for most of his life. He probably doesn't even see anything strange about it."

"Ok, if your not telepathic, then what are you?" Rei wondered, not really ready to let the previous conversation go.

"The technical term is empathetic. I can feel other's emotions," Misuteri explained with a sigh "Why do you think I like to mess with my opponent's head? I can tell exactly how unnerved they are and attack when he's most distracted."

"That explains a lot actually."

"Can I go to sleep now? I still have drugs in my system that I need to sleep off."

Misuteri fell asleep before he heard an answer. He wasn't a very reliable sensei but he was helpful. But if it wasn't for him Rei and Koki would never understand things about the clan with the thunder clan, would be dead from Almaru, and never know Haro was telepathic.

OOO

It was already past noon by the time Misuteri opened his eyes again. The man rubbed his forehead, trying to expel the hangover type headache left over by the drugs. With a groan he sat up and looked for his team, finding all three of them a few feet away playing a card game. Judging by the familiar design on the back of them, they probably snatched them from his pouch while he was out cold.

"About time," Rei said without looking up from the cards in his hand. "My bet was that we wouldn't see you conscious till tomorrow afternoon."

"Thanks, that's so reassuring," he muttered back, grabbing a water bottle next to him and taking a swig.

"Don't worry sensei," Koki said happily. "I bet that you'd wake up tonight."

"You have to love how much faith my students have in me," he said, turning to Haro. "What about you? Did you lay any money down on me?"

"No," he said simply as he looked to his sensei.

"Why's that?"

"I figured you'd be up soon." Koki and Rei gave Haro a strange look as the boy looked back to his cards. Rei opened his mouth to say something but was cut off by Misuteri gesturing for him to stop. He made several hand signs indicating that what was talked about last night, should not be mentioned yet. Haro layed down his hand face up. "Full house, I win."

Misuteri knew there was a part of Haro that liked to play games.

He smiled as the other two discarded their cards angrily.

"This is getting ridiculous!" Rei exclaimed. "We've played ten rounds already and you've won every time!"

"I warned you," Haro said with a small smirk. "I'm good at poker."

"No, you said you don't play it much. You're a card shark, that's what you are."

"No I'm not."

"Yes, yes you are."

Misuteri put the water bottle aside and climbed to his feet, getting his student's attention once more.

"Where are you going?" Koki asked.

"To speak with the Hokage," he said as he collected his supplies. "Someone has to tell him what went on yesterday. Plus everyone's probably worried sick about you three."

He watched as that realization dinged with all of his students. Koki and Haro had nervous auras wafting off them, probably worried about their parents. But Rei had a feeling more akin to sadness surrounding his person. It took Misuteri a moment to realize that the boy had no parents waiting at home, not really anyone to worry about him. After all, not many people made much of a fuss about missing orphans.

"I said three Rei," Misuteri said just as he was about to head out. "That means you too."

Rei gave him a confused look before nodding.

"Now stay here. I'll be back in an hour. If I'm not back by then pull up camp and get as far from here as you can."

"But, you're always late."

"This time, I won't be." Masuteri gave them a small wave before disappearing in a swirl of leaves.

OOO

Misuteri-sensei wished his pupils could come with him but the place he was going to they wouldn't fit in.

It was safer to leave them in the cave. They were only genin after all, there would be no way the three of them would be able to sneak into the hokage's office without at least one person seeing them. But he could. Not to mention, the conversation he was about to have was best done without three extra sets of ears.

He kept his head low as he weaved through the crowd. He was hedged as a perfectly generic man, with no distinguishing features to speak of. This made in as close to invisible as he could possibly be. No one looked twice at him as he made his way towards the hokage tower. Once there, he snuck around back and jumped up the side of the wall until he was at the office window.

Misuteri peeked in to see a figure in the hokage robe and hat sitting at the desk doing paperwork. He frowned, thinking it was a bit strange, his secretary usually had to hunt the man down in order to get any of that work done. Regardless of his apprehension, he climbed into the room and approached him.

But before he had gotten two steps into the room, he felt the cold edge of a kunai against his throat, making me freeze.

"You have exactly five words to explain why your climbing in that window," a familiar voice said from behind him.

"Sensei?" he asked after a moment. The knife lessened a bit before a moment in surprise.

"...what?"

"Kai," he said, dropping his hedge. "It's me. Misuteri."

The blade disappeared from his neck, allowing him to turn around to see a blond man scratching the back of his head as he put away the kunai.

"Sorry Misuteri-kun," he said with a smile. "But you shouldn't climb through my office window in a hedge."

"Yeah, I'll remember that for next time, Naruto-sensei."

The hero of the Hidden Leaf, the single greatest ninja of the Shadow Clone and Rasengan, he was Naruto Uzumaki. Naruto could have been the Hokage but he failed at it.

Misuteri glanced at the figure in the robes, trying to figure out who it could be. It wasn't a clone, their emotions didn't regester with him and, whoever this was had a very strong annoyed vibe coming off him. As far as he knew, his sensei was hokage, but that didn't explain why he was dressed in anbu attire.

"Um, sensei? Who's that?" he asked, pointing towards the desk.

"Hm? Oh that's just my replacement," Naruto stated as he sad on the window sill.

"Replacement? You're not retiring yet are you?"

"Not by choice," Naruto stated darkly, looking out the window. "Let's just say the down scaling in the ninja forces isn't restricted to the academy. They tossed me out of office soon after I graduated all those genin before they had a chance to close the place."

"Why hasn't anyone heard about this?"

"They're keeping it quiet to avoid an uproar. I'm not allowed to say a word about it to anyone about it." Naruto sighed, turning back to his student in time to see him send a worried glace at the man at the desk. "Don't worry, he didn't hear a thing. I have this place rigged with privacy seals. As far as he knows, you're not even here."

Misuteri nodded before bringing his attention back to his senesi.

"So, what did you need me for? And why did you and your team disappear yesterday evening?"

Misuteri-sensei remembered that before they left Haro was the last one to recover after the attack with Almaru. It would take too long for Misuteri to explain all of that to Naruto.

"I can't tell you everything," he explained with a sigh. "There's not enough time. I have to be back to them in a half hour and it takes almost that to get there without being followed."

"Ok, then give me the short version. Something to tell their families so they won't worry. Ino's been bugging the heck out of me all night."

"We were attacked in the hospital by a pair of men disguised as doctors. They were after Haro, probably because of his gift."

"Are you sure he has it?"

"Resonably."

Naruto frowned, crossing his arms as he thought.

"What did they look like?"

"Not sure," Misuteri replied. "They gave me a drug that knocked me for a loop. My memories are a bit fuzzy. But I know one of them had purple hair."

Naruto's eyes widened in surprise, and possibly recognition.

"Were they ninjas?"

"Yes, no doubt. They talked like they were mercenaries. If so, they could be working for anyone."

"They're working for the Damyo" Naruto was quiet as he stared as the back of his replacement's head.

"The Damyo? How do you know?"

"Because, our Damyo is in town. I met with him yesterday to talk about the demilitarization process. His body guards were a pair of mercenaries, one of which had purple hair and a cocky attitude."