AN: Time for Shippuden everyone! I can't believe this story has gotten so many responses and viewers since I started it. I am glad I am fulfilling everyone's expectations and hope to continue to do so in the future. As always I do not own Naruto or any of the other references I use in this story.

Btw, I do not own any of the references in this story.

Chapter 21:

Shippudden

(Unkown Location)

Purple energy swirled around a cavern, forming a storm of energy. The power was uncontrolled, only contained by a large gate, with a sealing tag holding it in.

The energies were slowly coming together in the rough shape of a man. The form was still indistinct and blurred but the figure seemed to open its eyes a bit, revealing purple slit pupils and spoke in an echoing tone "Soon."

(Outside the seal)

Shio Uzumaki smiled as she came within sights of the majestic gates of Konoha for the first time in three years. Her armored dress shifting a bit in the wind as she walked with her godfather, Jiraiya. She had been away for three years during her training trip. They had traveled the five nations training and learning new things from Jiraiya's spy network.

She had trained with the toads for a time as well, finally mastering senjutsu with the help of shadow clones.

She had also decided to change her outfit after finding this battle outfit in a shinobi store in the land of earth. She hoped the people back in Konoha liked her new look. She knew they would be impressed by her increase in ability.

(Konoha Hospital)

"So you were not trying to escape the hospital before you were released?"

The jonin tied to the bed in spider silk quickly shook his head in fear as a large spider hung from the ceiling.

The doctor made another tick mark on his clipboard "Good, because if you had tried for the 5th time this week, especially after your last accident on the previous mission. I would be very displeased. I would have to take..." he looked at the cocooned Jonin and large spider on the ceiling "drastic action to keep you contained."

The jonin paled further "Ok, ok! I swear I won't try to escape anymore!"

The doctor nodded and dispelled the spider and bindings "If I see you try to escape one more time I'm poisoning your food."

The jonin nodded rapidly and the doctor sighed and exited the patients room.

He walked down the hallway and entered Tsunade's office.

Tsunade looked up "Menma, done threatening another patient I see."

Menma nodded "Yes, Azoi-san can't seem to stay in his bed so I used some more permanent persuation tactics.

Tsunade smirked "Are you sure that's how a jonin should be acting?"

Menma sighed, Tsunade had always teased him about being promoted to Jonin and he decided to still work in the hospital with her. He had been promoted to Jonin one year after Shio left for her training trip. He had learned some advanced medical techniques from Tsunade, from performing heart surgery to resetting bones, he learned it all. After two years of studying medical ninjutsu he trained in the Forbidden forest with the spider clan, mastering their senjutsu.

In the three years he made more connections to his former parents as well. They were now close friends and met up together for dinner every Sunday.

He adjusted his lab coat and tan turtleneck shirt before turning back to Tsunade "By the way, there coming back today right?"

Tsunade looked up from her paper work "Yes the brat and the pervert are coming back. You should meet them at the gate."

Menma nodded and walked out of the hospital and made his way to the gate. He waved to a few acquaintances on his way. He had become rather well known in the village and had even earned himself a place in the Bingo book as an A-ranked nin.

Bingo Book Entry 283

Name: Menma Gorgon

Alias: The Plague Bringer

Rank: A

Threat Level: Be extremely cautious and do not engage without backup.

Known Skill: Highly advanced poison manipulation. Master Medic-nin. Master archer. Master chakra manipulation. Spider contract.

He was quite proud of his accomplishments. Not to mention his secret ability that no one besides Tsunade and Arachne have seen. He had given himself a last name as well. Arachne had suggested it, saying that one of her best friends had that last name.

It felt nice to have a last name again. If he ever decided to have a family he would have a clan name.

He continued to walk to the gate, preparing for the meeting with his sister he had not seen for three years.

(Konoha Gates)

Shio jumped onto a pole near the gates of Konoha and spread her arms wide, smiling at the feeling of the wind passing around her as she observed the city.

She heard Jiraiya from below "Shio, go and get yourself reacquainted with the city. I will go report to your father."

Shio nodded and was about to go explore before she heard from the side "Yo, Shio. You have grown taller."

She turned and exclaimed happily "Kakashi-sensei!"

Crouching on a rooftop the cyclops jonin eye smiled "It has been a long time Shio."

Shio grinned her usual wide grin "It has! I have gotten a lot stronger Kakashi! I am probably stronger than you now!"

Kakashi laughed a bit "I am sure you have a few years to go before you're at my level Shio."

Kakashi held up a hand before Shi could talk more "I have to meet up with Hokage-sama for a meeting, go and find some of your friends to talk too."

Shio nodded and Kakashi disappeared in a plume of smoke.

She jumped down from the poll and began exploring the busy streets of Konoha.

Shio wandered around until she passed through an alley and saw a familiar face. Her brother had changed a lot since she left Konoha. His hair was still in that spiky style he had three years ago, but his outfit had completely changed. He now wore a skin tight black turtleneck, dark red shinobi pants with many pockets, and a white lab coat over the attire. She smiled and ran up to him while yelling "Menma!"

(Menma's POV)

Menma turned around when he heard his name and saw his sister for the first time in three years. She had changed much in the past three years. Instead of her eyesore orange attire she now wore a red battle dress with matching armored leggings. Menma guessed that the armor was inscribed with anti-gravity seals to prevent the armor from hampering her combat.

He smiled "Hello Shio, it's been three years."

Shio nodded and grinned "It feels so much longer though! We have so much to catch up on!"

Menma nodded "Yes, but later, we have just received a summons from Hokage-sama."

Shio looked confused "How do you know?"

Suddenly an ANBU appeared and spoke "You are correct, you both are to come to the Hokage's office immediately."

Both nodded and they all flickered away.

(Hokage Office)

Minato sat in his chair and pondered the current situation. The Akatsuki had showed signs of movement these past few months. However, what truly worried him was the situation with the Kyuubi. He had received an urgent missive from Jiraiya halfway into their training trip explaining that the kyuubi's consciousness was not in the seal. The chakra was there, but the soul of the beast was not.

He did not know if being separated from his yin half killed the Kyuubi, or that it escaped somehow. But it made controlling the kyuubi's chakra both harder and easier. She now did not have to fight the consciousness of the Kyuubi for control of the chakra, but without the Kyuubi she could not make a deal to use small amounts of the energy.

However even without the kyuubi's chakra Shio was turning into a wonderful kunoichi. Her wind manipulation and sword skill was unparalleled in the village and had surpassed many foreign ninjas.

He needed to see their skill firsthand so he had prepared this demonstration of their abilities.

The fourth hokage looked up when he felt the familiar incoming chakra signatures and began speaking to the now present duo "Shio, Menma, it is good to see you both. I called you both here to demonstrate your abilities in a mock battle against an opponent of my choosing."

Menma raised an eyebrow "Who are we going to be battling against Hokage-sama?"

Minato grinned "Me."

Shio widened her eyes and Menma frowned deeply "Hokage-sama, we stand no chance against you. Will this truly be a fair fight?"

Minato nodded "I will not be going at full strength and you will not need to injure me. Meet me at training ground 7, your senseis will be there along with a few other observers."

The chunin and jonin nodded and they once again disappeared in a Shunshin.

(Training ground 7)

Menma and Shio stood across from Minato, wind slowly blowing across the field as Jiraiya, Tsunade, Anko, Kakashi, and the remaining members of team 7 and 9.

The members of team 7 and 9 had changed in the past three years. Lee still wore a dark green jumpsuit but now he included a lime green scarf that nearly covered his mouth. Yakumo had decided to slightly mimic the style of her teacher and now wore a bandanna trench coat combo. Anko had not changed her style but added two bracers to her arm with large blades attached to them, perfect for her snake style of combat.

Kiba had changed a lot since his time as a genin. He now wore a more mature outfit than his last bulky coat. He wore a grey track jacket with matching pants. He also wore a face mask similar to Kakashi's. By his side was Akamaru, now greatly increased in size.

Minato took out two bells and showed them to both genin "You both already know the rules. I have two bells and each of you must get one by sunrise.

Menma and Shio nodded and took their respective stances.

A small time passed and Minato called out "Begin!"

Shio exploded into action, summoning her nodochi and appeared behind Minato, already swinging her sword to bisect him. However when the blade was inches from Minato he disappeared in a yellow flash and reappeared on a tree "Did I forget to mention that I pre prepared this field before the test? I have placed hirashin seals in five locations within the forest, you have to beat me before I teleport to the next mark."

He would have continued but he had to dodge out of the way from Menma who appeared behind him with a palm thrust, completely obliterating it.

As Minato jumped away from the palm thrust he had to avoid a large gust of cutting wind sent from Shio's Katana by throwing a Hirashin kunai into the air, effectively avoiding both attacks.

Menma ran through some handsigns and spat poison in fast small balls "Poison scatter shot!"

Minato weaved through through the bullets and deflected a thrust from Shio's katana with his kunai. He spun in the air and kicked his daughter away from him in time to block a palm thrust by intercepting it with his arm. The Hokage was pushed back a bit by the large blast that was released from the palm.

Minato observed the damage from the palm thrust 'What insane chakra control. Instead of using Tsunade's super strength for brute force, he pushes the chakra out as a sort of cannon, destroying anything that he presses his hand against.

He spun around and cut deeply into Menma's arm before he could dodge, scattering blood on the ground. . He was confused when instead of the normal red liquid, the blood appeared black.

Menma looked at the blood on the ground before smirking at Minato "Hey Hokage-sama, did you know my blood is black?"

Minato looked confused but his eyes widened as spikes of blood erupted from the liquid on the ground, which would of impaled Minato if it he had not replaced himself with a clone.

Menma smirked and manipulated the black blood on the ground to cover his hands in the protective layer. He remembered when he had discovered this ability of his.

(Flashback)

Menma was sorting out his medical supplies before he cursed when he cut himself on a sharp scalpel. He sighed and wiped his hand on a napkin and placed it next to him.

Tsunade entered the room and stared at the dark liquid in confusion "Menma. Why is your blood black?"

Menma looked over and explained "I ingested too much poison when training to become immune to it. My blood turned black as a result. Anko-sensei said this is a common situation among poison specialists."

Tsunade shook her head and observed the blood more closely "No, this isn't a case of blood poisoning. If you had the disease it would make your blood a darker color but not this dark. Your blood is completely black, which should be impossible because of the white cells in your blood."

Menma blinked "Then what do I have?"

Tsunade looked puzzled "I am not sure, I have not seen this before."

Menma frowned and looked at the small drop of blood on his finger. He observed it a bit and then decided to channel chakra into it. What no one in the room expected was for the drop to extend in a sharp point in front of him.

They both stared at the spike of blood as it slowly retracted as Menma removed the chakra in it. Tsunade broke out of her stupor and remarked "We have a lot of training to cover."

Menma just nodded, too stunned to say anything.

(End Flashback)

They had extensively tested his blood and found that it may be a new bloodline emerging. It seems that the combination of ingesting too many poisons and his bond with the spiders had altered his DNA more than anticipated. He no longer had any DNA from his parents and was almost an entirely new being. His body could contain much more blood, and he could control it with his chakra. He theorized this may be similar to how other clans gained their bloodlines, by constantly doing an exercise that altered their DNA.

Back to the battle Menma was using his bloody needles to constantly keep Minato on guard as he relentlessly attacked with palm thrusts. Despite his disadvantages Minato was still able to effectively dodge all of the attacks, including some attacks by Shio.

Menma had do dodge out of the way of a hirashin rasengan combo and jumped away as Shio came in with her sword glowing brightly.

Shio reappeared around Minato three times while calling out "Flying Swallow!"

Minato was forced to hirashin away as the three simultaneous attacks would have cut him deeply.

She had learned this move after being bugged by a swallow on their training trip. She had spent all day trying to kill it with her sword until she mastered this technique, the flying swallow. Hey, don't judge, the damn bird stole her last bite of ramen.

The battle went on for hours, Minato evading and dodging all of their attacks with his hirashin kunai.

Near dawn Menma and Shio panted in the shade of a tree, exhausted from their long battle. Both were using their sensory techniques to keep track of Minato and knew he was only a half mile away from their location.

Shio took a long drink of water and spoke "Hagh…we need to find his weakness. He is nearly invincible with his Hirashin because there is nothing we can do to cage him in. During my seal training I could not find a good counter for the Hirashin besides what Orochimaru did at the Chunin exams. However, it would not work here because we do not have four people."

Menma nodded and then thought of something "Hey…you grew up with him for 13 years, surely you know something he is weak against."

Shio thought heavily "Hrm, besides his slight allergy to peanuts, I cant…think of…" She trailed off as she grew a truly evil smile of a prankster at him.

Menma sweatdropped at the face and asked warily "What."

Shio's grin grew as she spoke "Menma-chaaaan, how good are you at the Henge?"

Menma frowned harder at her calling him brother and then sweatdropped harder at her question "Good enough to fool anyone without chakra sensing I suppose."

Shio giggled a bit "Here is the plan."

Menma really wished she would stop grinning when she began to explain the plan.

(Forest Clearing)

Minato stood in the middle of the clearing waiting for an Ambush. He was really proud of his two children, even if Menma technically wasn't his child anymore. He read the medical report that the DNA of his parents had been eradicated by his new bloodline limit. He had not known the black blood could be controlled though. He was told it just allowed him to produce more blood than normal.

Well he couldn't blame a ninja for keeping secrets.

He kept looking around for an ambush when he heard his wife's thunderous voice "MINATO NAMIKAZE!"

He spun around and spluttered when he saw his wife stalking up to him with her hair flying in its signature nine tailed state "Ku-kushina..haha…why are you here?"

Kushina glowered "Why didn't you tell me that my daughter had come back to the village! I would have met her at the gates the minute she walked through! And you just decide to wander off without telling me about this training exercise!"

Minato tried to explain but Kushina got right up to his face "No excuses, you are going to stop this exercise or you are sleeping on the couch for a month!"

The whipped Fourth Hokage was about to try and console his wife when "Kushina" smirked and held up the two bells, before disappearing in a plume of smoke revealing Menma "We win Hokage-sama."

Minato blinked a bit before bursting out laughing as Shio came out of hiding, also smirking at their victory.

The rest of the audience appeared and began to congratulate the two on their victory.

Shio smirked at her father "I knew you are weak against kaa-san, tou-san. You are really whipped."

Minato tried to defend his pride but Menma remarked "Your reactions were a bit too real though, you did tell Kushina about this exercise, right?"

Minato seemed to freeze a bit before starting to sweat.

Shio looked at him and sighed "Guess it will be sleeping on the couch for you dad."

Everyone laughed as Minato seemed to despair at his wife's rage of not being informed her daughter had returned.

(Later that Day)

Shio looked curiously at Menma while they were walking together after the match "You know Menma, you did not summon any spiders against Minato, I'm kind of surprised."

Menma explained "I cannot summon any spiders right now I'm afraid. Arachne is preparing the ritual that will allow me the full benefits of the Spider senjutsu. All the spiders are participating in this event. I'm told it's a time of great celebration when a new spider senjutsu wielder is about to be initiated.

Shio nodded "Yes, when I mastered senjutsu the frogs held a grand celebration as well. I did not use it against Minato because he would have stopped me from meditating to gather nature energy."

Menma smiled a bit "Well, besides our unorthodox win I am happy that you are back in the village Shio-san."

Shio smiled her classic wide grin closed eyed smile "Yep! I'm glad to be back too Menma!"

Unkown to the two laughing and smiling teenagers however, a messenger hawk was already on its way from Suna, holding a message that would change their lives over the next year. The games had finally begun.

AN2: And done. I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter. I finally gave Menma the black blood and gave Shio the flying swallow technique. I gave them much more as well but I did not get a chance to fully demonstrate it in this battle. Anyway next up, the retrieve Gaara arc :D.