Happy New Year everyone! To celebrate, I present to you the 25th chapter of Once More! A note, there will be a big twist in this chapter which will turn many things in this story away from canon! Read and find out!

Chapter 25: A Date Went Wrong

The apparitions of seven shinobi wearing the same black cloaks with red clouds on them flickered into view around a blazing torch, where two other figures were standing next to.

"Huh, we only have nine here," the apparition with the shape of Deidara, the mad bomber of Iwagakure blinked. "Where are Kakuzu and Hidan?"

"Dead," the figure which was the Deva Path of Pain answered curtly.

"Dead?" Deidara laughed. "Kakuzu, maybe, but a monster like Hidan can die too? I really want to see how he died."

"That's not the way to talk about your comrades, Deidara."

Even with an apparition, the glare of the Rinnegan was still incredibly scary.

"So who killed them?" Tobi raised his question.

"Just like before; the Nine-Tails and his gang," Zetsu answered instead of Pain.

"So it was them, eh?" Kisame whistled. "Well, considering who they're going with, no wonder they're killed. It's two of the Legendary Sannin after all."

"We were hiding in the outskirt of Konoha, waiting to ambush the jinchuriki on his way back from his mission," Itachi explained. "Unfortunately for us, when he came back, we noticed that he was flanked by not only Tsunade and Jiraiya of the Legendary Sannin, but also a girl with the same description of the Seven-Tails jinchuriki."

The other members of the Akatsuki looked at each other awkwardly.

"Well, if that's the case, even I won't be stupid enough to charge into battle," Finally, after a minute of silence, Deidara admitted grudgingly.

"Still, you don't have much more time, Itachi," Pain glared at the Uchiha. "Why didn't you just sneak into Konoha and kidnap him? You know Konoha like your own hand."

"Yes, but after our last attempt of sneaking into Konoha, they seem to have tightened their security," Itachi answered. "Now I can't find any way to get into Konoha without being caught. Still my fault though…"

"Yes, that is your fault, indeed," Pain said dryly. "So you'd better find a way to get the Nine-Tails quickly, before…"

He didn't even need finish the sentence. Everyone already knew what was going to happen if Itachi couldn't bring Naruto back in time. The apparition of Itachi nodded, and faded away in a flicker of light. The other members also disappeared one by one. After the last member, Tobi, had disappeared after throwing a glance back at them, Konan turned to Pain.

"Are you really sure that trusting Itachi that much is wise?"

"He is a considerable force the Akatsuki needs," Pain answered, not even looking at her.

"But…" Konan bit her lips. But before she could say anything else, Pain had raised a hand to stop her.

"You don't have to worry about Itachi. After all, people won't bet their own life into something if they really have no intention to complete it."

"Aaaaaah… After a day full of missions, having a bowl of ramen is always the best thing in the world…"

Naruto sighed happily when the steaming bowl of ramen landed on the counter in front of him. He inhaled sharply; the aroma of the legendary food reached his nostrils, invading all his senses, sending him to heaven.

He was a little bit miffed about Sasuke and Sakura, though. Being a chuunin, he could take solo missions if he wanted, but mostly, his missions were still with Team 7, now named Team Kakashi. But his two teammates always flatly refused when he asked them to go for ramen. Sasuke always "hn"ed and mocked him "why not asking your harem to join you", and Sakura always said that she was going to train.

Thinking of what Sakura had insisted, Naruto couldn't help but shudder. The last thing he needed was for Sakura to turn into another Gai-sensei clone.

"Just leave them for a while, Naruto-kun," Ayame said with a giggle. "They need some time alone, just like you with your girls, you know."

Naruto groaned. "I have told you many times; I'm not making a harem, nee-chan!"

Ayame giggled, rolling her eyes. "Yeah yeah, of course you don't. Now, your ramen is getting cold, remember?"

Naruto blinked. "Ah, right!"

He picked up his chopsticks, ready to dig in…

"Boss! There is trouble!"

Naruto dropped his chopsticks again thanks to Konohamaru's sudden storming into the ramen stand. "What the hell, Konohamaru?" he cried. "I was just going to eat!"

"There is something wrong with Iruka-sensei!"

Those words actually drew Naruto's attention away from the ramen bowl. "Say what?!"

"So Iruka-sensei is acting weird, huh…"

Konohamaru nodded. "Yes, boss! It seems he's unable to focus on the lessons anymore! From time to time he would pull something out of his desk's drawer and stare at it for a very long time, even forgetting that he's in the class with us! Weird, huh?"

Naruto grimaced. "Iruka-sensei couldn't focus on the lessons?! Well, that is weird. When did that start happening?"

"About a month ago, after the invasion," Konohamaru answered, and winced. "Well… I'm not sure, but… it seems it started happening after he got out of the hospital…"

Naruto scratched his head. After getting out of the hospital? Those words didn't bring him any more clues than the words before. But… come to think of it, Iruka-sensei did say something about someone saving him from the Sound shinobi…

Inside his head suddenly rose the voice of Chomei giggling.

'What's so funny?' he asked confusedly.

'Oh, nothing~,' Chomei giggled mischievously. 'You'll find out soon enough~!'

Naruto shuddered. Nothing which makes Chomei giggling mischievously might be a good thing. Ignoring the annoyed "Hey!" of the beetle inside his head, he turned back to Konohamaru.

"So did you find out what makes Iruka-sensei acting so weird?"

Konohamaru scratched his head. "Uh… Actually… no… I kinda don't know where to start it, so…" he admitted sheepishly.

Naruto facepalmed. "Isn't it obvious? The first target must be Iruka-sensei's desk!"

"You think this is gonna work, boss?"

Naruto answered the boy while still focusing on the lock he was picking. "Of course it will work! I have cracked this lock many times when I was still an Academy student!"

Click!

"There you go," Naruto said smugly, pushing the door open. "Just a child's play!"

"You are actually a child too, boss," Konohamaru deadpanned.

"Oy."

The two slipped into the room. Today was Sunday; that's the reason why the doors had been locked, because no one was studying. In no time, the two reached Iruka's desk easily.

"Now, let's see…" Konohamaru reached out at the handle of his teacher's drawer, but suddenly, Naruto's hand held him back.

"Wait. Let me check something first. This is Iruka-sensei we're talking about; we can't be too careful…"

He walked around the desk, looked below and around it carefully, then pulled out a magnify glass from his pouch and checked the drawer. Then he laughed.

"See? Look here, Konohamaru. I told you there would be something! Look at this!"

He pointed at a corner of the desk near the drawer. A very tiny string connected them together; if someone doesn't pay close attention, they will definitely be caught in the trap.

"To go so far as trapping his own desk like this, even when it was locked tight… Iruka-sensei must really have something to hide," Naruto noted.

"So can you break it?" Konohamaru asked in thrill. Naruto grinned foxily.

"Of course I can! I'm Konoha's King of Pranks, believe it! There is no trap I cannot break! Now let's see…"

With very quick and professional movements, Naruto effortlessly disarmed the trap trigger on the desk and picked the lock on the drawer. He reached out for the knob with a gleeful expression.

"Now, let's see what Iruka-sensei has to hide."

He pulled the knob, and all hell broke lose.

"You suck, boss."

"Oh, shut up, Konohamaru. Help me get out of here, will you?"

Naruto grumbled in annoyance. He was now tied up in some kind of cocoon made of cloth, tar, ninja wire, and something that smelled suspiciously like a mixture of mud and water from the sewer. His eyes were puffy thanks to a very generous amount of pepper the hidden traps had just dumped on his face. On his chest now lay a board which read "ALL HAIL THE KING OF PRANKS".

After a very long twenty minutes, Konohamaru finally managed to pry Naruto out of his prison. The blond spat out a blob of gunk and grumbled.

"Oh, now this is personal. Iruka-sensei is gonna pay for this."

Konohamaru scrunched his nose. "Maybe you should go take a shower first, boss."

"Oh shut up."

"AAAAAAAAAAAAHH! RUUUUUUUN!"

"OH, EASY FOR YOU TO SAY!"

"DAMN IT BOSS! WHY DID YOU PULL US INTO THIS SITUATION?!"

"OH, SCREW YOU! HOW THE FUCK COULD I KNOW IRUKA-SENSEI COULD TURN HIS OWN HOUSE INTO A FUCKING DUNGEON?!"

'Language, Naruto-kun! There are children here!'

'Oh, so that's ALL what you care about?! There is a fucking BOULDER chasing us! How in the world did he do it, anyway?!'

'Well, it's easy; he only needs a few space expanding seals around the corridor and…'

'THAT'S A RHETORICAL QUESTION!'

"This is so humiliating."

After the disastrous attempt of sneaking into Iruka's house to find out the truth, Naruto and Konohamaru were now slumping on the ground with heavy breaths. Since when had Iruka-sensei learnt to be such a sadist?

"Ugh! I give up, boss!" Konohamaru cried out. "Iruka-sensei is such a jerk! I'm going home!"

"Hey! You're going to desert like that?!" Naruto yelled at the boy's retreating back. "What about Iruka-sensei's secret? Where is your ninja honor?"

"Screw it!" Konohamaru yelled back. "I want to be a ninja; I don't want to die in a useless prank!"

"That's where you're wrong, Konohamaru!"

Konohamaru turned back to see Naruto pointing at him dramatically, the air around him glowing as if there was a weird holy aura covering his head. Looking at Naruto right now, anyone who was familiar with Konoha would disturbingly think of a certain self-proclaimed Green Beast of Konoha.

"What the hell are you doing, boss?" Konohamaru asked, weirded out.

"There is nothing useless in this world, Konohamaru!" Naruto claimed proudly. "How dare you underestimate the power of pranking, brat? I have defeated many powerful people with it!"

"Like the perverted old man?" Konohamaru chimed in with a snort.

"Yeah, like-" Naruto stopped midway. "Wait a second. What's with that tone, brat?"

"Yeah," Konohamaru drawled. "You still suck, boss. I'm going home!"

Then he jumped away, leaving Naruto behind with a long face.

"Well, screw you!" Naruto yelled at his back. "Who needs an ungrateful brat like you?! I'll find Iruka-sensei's secret on my own, believe it!"

'You keep saying that,' Isobu snorted inside Naruto's head. 'Do you even have a plan to do it?'

'Of course I do,' Naruto growled. 'If I cannot get the information out of his house and his work, then the best way to do it is to get it from himself.'

'So basically, your way to do it is stalking him day and night.'

'What's wrong with that?! Hinata-chan did that all the time, and it worked!'

'Yeah, because it only works on you.'

'Oy.'

Naruto was now sitting in a bush, looking into the classroom where Iruka was sitting in, preparing for any reaction.

'That Iruka guy knows all of your tricks, Naruto,' Gyuuki noted. 'You're gonna get caught for sure.'

'Pfft,' Naruto snorted. 'You think I'm going to be caught that easily? You have underestimated me too much, Gyuuki!'

'You have just been caught in those traps,' Goku quipped in.

'Well… yeah… but have you forgotten who my master is? I might not be able to be as strong as him, but at least I have learnt a few tricks.'

"Transparency Jutsu!"

Naruto's eyes bulged out when Jiraiya suddenly disappeared from the view. "Holy crap! This is so cool! You literally disappeared!"

The perverted sage flickered into view again, and bragged. "Of course! With this jutsu, no one could see me or even smell me! And if I'm careful, no one could even hear me too! Complete invisibility! This is why I'm the best spy in the world!"

"Yeah, and the creepiest stalker in the world too," Naruto drawled.

'Wow, that jutsu is kinda nifty,' Matatabi noted. 'Why didn't I see you use it before, Naruto-kun?'

'Nah,' Naruto waved her off. 'It's just a jutsu designed for mischief; all it does is just hiding my presence… completely… without a trace…'

A beat.

'Shit, why didn't I think of that before?'

Everyone facepalmed.

'No matter how strong Naruto could be, he's always a moron,' Kurama muttered.

But as it turned out, Naruto couldn't find anything from stalking Iruka all week, either. Everything the man did was what he always did in a normal day: teaching, buying groceries, going home as usual…

When Iruka slammed the door of his house shut behind him, Naruto let out a disappointed breath.

'Ugh! What a useless day! I wasted all week following him everywhere, and he didn't even show any suspicious action! What the hell?!'

'Yeah, "what the hell" indeed,' Goku said dryly. 'You could have used the time to train or do missions; and yet you went and stalked your sensei.'

'Oy! It's just because I care about him!' Naruto retorted.

'But,' the voice of Kokuoh cut in, 'if you wanted to find something, you should have waited until tomorrow.'

'Why?'

The horse nodded. 'Because tomorrow is Sunday.'

Sunday. The day of resting for everyone. The day for people like Shikamaru to laze around without having to do anything. The day for friends to hang out at each other's house for DVD.

And also the day for couples to go on dates.

'So Iruka-sensei is going on a date with someone?'

'Considering his actions, that might be the best answer.'

'So why didn't you guys tell me about that before?'

The beasts shrugged.

'Hey, he's out.'

Naruto lifted his eyes, and saw Iruka walking out from his door.

But he was taken aback when he saw the outfit his teacher was wearing right now. Instead of the normal chuunin uniform of Konoha he tended to wear, he was now wearing a very formal suit which looked very expensive for the salary of a teacher. On his chest lay a red rose, the same kind as what he was holding on his hand right now. His usual ponytail was now straightened up with something which looked suspiciously like a combination of water and hairspray. Obviously, the outfit of someone who was going on his first date.

'Yup, he's definitely going on a date,' Matatabi commented.

'But with whom?' asked Naruto confusedly.

'Well, if you want to know, follow him!' Goku urged. 'He's getting away!'

'Ah, right!'

Iruka didn't realize that there was a blonde student of him following behind him. He just continued walking with a goofy, happy face, almost forgetting about everything else around him, sometimes even bumping at other people.

Yup, definitely a guy in love who was going on his first date.

But what annoyed Naruto so much was where he was going to.

'Where the hell is Iruka-sensei going to?' Naruto thought in annoyance. 'He's just going around and around!'

Indeed. Naruto had followed him for nearly half an hour already, but his teacher didn't even have a clear understanding about where he was going to… or it seemed to be. Somehow Naruto had a disturbing feeling that his teacher was leading him around deliberately without him even knowing it. Soon, Naruto saw himself in the far corner of Konoha, on the trail leading to the Forest of Death.

What the hell is he doing here?! Is he going to the Forest of Death for a date?

But Naruto's worry was just for naught. The teacher finally stopped in front of a house at the outskirt of the village.

'So this is the destination,' Kurama noted.

'Yeah, it seems so,' Naruto agreed. 'But whose house is this?'

'We'll see soon enough, won't we?'

Right on cue, Iruka knocked on the door. From inside of the house, a cheerful "Coming!" echoed out.

Wait a sec… This voice…

The door burst open, and Naruto had to try his best not to let out a loud "WTF?!"

The one who had just opened the door, and was running out with a very happy smile on her face was none other than Anko Mitarashi.

'What… what the fuck?! Crazy snake lady?! What the fucking fuck?!'

Although, that doesn't mean he couldn't let it out in his head.

Because that Anko Mitarashi didn't look a little bit like the Anko Mitarashi he knew. Instead of the usual trenchcoat with the provocative fishnet bodysuit, now she was wearing a modest, simple green sundress which couldn't be mistaken from a normal young girl. Her tomboyish spiky, messy ponytail was now let down on her shoulders like a small, purple stream. And that happy, blushing in love face was definitely not something anyone could ever expect from the person named Anko Mitarashi at all.

'Wow,' Goku whistled. 'She looks really nice with a change of clothes huh.'

'Wha… wha…?!'

'Look, they're departing!' Chomei exclaimed when Iruka reached out a hand, and Anko grabbed it with a giggle. 'Hurry up! They're getting away!'

'Wha… wha…?!'

'I think they broke him,' Shukaku, as blunt as usual, noted dryly.

'Wha… wha…?!'

'A movie?! Seriously?!'

'What else? Come on, Naru-kun! Follow them!'

Naruto groaned. Of all the places, why did the first place the couple go to have to be a movie theater?

"Good morning, sir. What do you want to see?" the clerk greeted Naruto with a smile.

"I… uh… just give me whatever that couple earlier got!" Naruto said, rather hastily. The clerk gave him an odd look, then pushed a button on the machine, getting out a ticket and giving it to Naruto. He looked at the title of the movie, then groaned again.

"'Love Under the Moon?' Seriously?!"

'Ugh, my mouth suddenly tastes like diabetes.'

'You tasted diabetes before? Wow, didn't know you're that disgusting.'

'That's just a way to talk!'

After half a day walking around, the stalking mission had led Naruto to the entertainment district of Konoha.

True to the words, what the couple was doing right now could only be described as what a couple of "sickeningly sweethearts" would do. Walking next to each other, hand in hand, sometimes letting her head rest on his shoulder… The only thing they hadn't done in their date was kissing.

Actually, there is nothing surprising about a couple acting lovey dovey together. But Iruka Umino, the serious schoolteacher, and Anko Mitarashi, the Snake Mistress, the horror of genin all over Konoha, acting lovey dovey together… well, that's a completely different idea.

Looking at the couple, Naruto couldn't help but shudder. The scene in front of him… it was just… wrong. No matter how much he thought, he still couldn't figure out the reason how it could have happened.

"What the hell did he see in her anyway…?"

"What the hell did she see in him anyway…?"

The voice suddenly appearing next to him nearly made him jump. He jerked his head to the left, and immediately saw the source.

"KA… mmmph!"

"You idiot!" Karin, the owner of the voice, gritted out. "Do you want both of us to be caught?"

"What the hell are you doing here?!" Naruto whispered at his sister, whose hands had now let go of his mouth. The redhead shrugged.

"The same reason as you, I guess. Anko-sensei had been acting strangely these days. So I guessed I would go and figure it out, ya know?"

"So you have stalked me since I left home?" Naruto looked at the girl warily.

To answer him, the girl just smiled mischievously.

"So what if I did?"

"But… but if that's the case, how couldn't I…" His mind flashed. 'Wait a second! Kurama, you blocked my sensing on her, did you?'

'So what if I did?' Kurama echoed on Karin's words, to Naruto's annoyance.

'Ugh, you girls…'

'I told you girls are annoying,' Goku drawled, and the five nasty "cracks" inside Naruto's head made it obvious what had just happened to him.

Naruto made a face of an odd combination of a wince and a smirk.

"Hey, wait a second, where did they go?"

Karin's voice snapped Naruto back to his sense. He turned his head back, and realized Iruka and Anko had disappeared since god knows when.

"What the?!" Naruto shouted, jumping out of the bush he was hiding. "Where the hell did they go? They're just here a second ago! Karin-chan, why didn't you pay attention to them?"

"Oh, like you have the right to talk!" the Uzumaki girl retorted immediately. "You're the one who zoned out in the first place!"

"Okay, okay," Naruto took a deep breath to calm himself down. "They couldn't have gone too far, we can still find them! Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

A battalion of Naruto clones appeared.

"Go find Iruka-sensei and the crazy snake lady! Don't let them notice you!" Naruto barked out the order, and the army of clones scattered to every direction. Soon, there were only Naruto and Karin left on the street.

"Why do you call her that?" Karin raised an eyebrow at Naruto. The blond just shuddered.

"You still haven't known anything Karin-chan… You still haven't known yet…"

"There they are!"

Finally, after running around Konoha searching (with the help of clones), the pair finally found Anko and Iruka, sitting on top of the Hokage Monument, looking at the sun setting at the horizon.

"Wait, how did they get here so fast? This is, like, half a mile from the entertainment district!"

Naruto just shrugged. "Don't even ask for 'sense' in a world of ninja, Karin-chan. Come on, let's go up there!"

Walking from the street to the top of the mountain was not a short trip, but Naruto and Karin made it there in just a few minutes. When they arrived, they heard Iruka speak.

"Don't worry Anko-chan. From the moment I saw you after the invasion, I already knew."

Naruto and Karin froze.

"Somehow I don't think this is something we should stick our noses in," the Uzumaki girl muttered.

"Oh, you think?" Naruto gritted his teeth.

Outside, Anko was stuttering. She was stuttering. "What… what did you know?"

"That you were the one who saved me in the invasion, when I was nearly killed," the teacher smiled. "Don't worry, no one told me your name. But the voice I heard before I lost consciousness… it was definitely your voice, not anyone else; and the fact that people said that the girl who brought me to the hospital crying was weird… well, it's not hard to connect them together."

Anko blushed. "Can't believe I was found out that easily…"

"Why didn't you tell me about that?" Iruka suddenly asked.

Anko looked away. "Because… well…"

"Because of your past?"

Anko definitely didn't expect such a straight question. "Wha… how did you…?"

Iruka smiled. "Because you're just like someone I know, Anko-chan. That boy… I must say, he is also cursed with the greatest burden. And I, once before, had also doubted him, looking at him with hostility… Surely you understand who I was talking about, right Anko-chan?"

"So I'm nothing better than that brat huh," Anko muttered unhappily with a pout. Iruka chuckled, and suddenly pulled her into an embrace by her shoulder, making her nearly jumped.

"Since when had I said that it was a bad thing? Naruto is still the student I'm proudest of. What I'm saying here is everyone has a chance to, and deserves to, be themselves, not the burden they're cursed to bear. To me, you're always Anko Mitarashi, the foul-mouthed kunoichi of Konohagakure… and a very nice and beautiful woman."

'Aaaaand she's down,' Chomei quipped.

'Yeah,' Goku agreed. 'I didn't expect that guy to know how to flirt that well.'

The two pairs of eyes met each other. For a moment, there was no other sound, except the heartbeats of the two people. Then, Anko's hands reached out, cupping Iruka's cheeks. Their eyes closed, their lips drew to each other, and…

A kiss. A very deep, very passionate, very full of love, and very adult kiss was delivered to Iruka by Anko. The teacher also returned the kiss with the same enthusiasm, and loud, wet noises suddenly filled the air.

Naruto's face reddened uncontrollably.

"Ugh, goddamnit. I really don't need to see this."

Although… even from here, I could still feel that it was completely different from the time Haku-chan kissed me… Argh! Goddamnit! What the hell am I thinking?

'What else? You miss that kiss, that's why.'

'Oh shut up! Not helping!'

Karin let out a whistle.

"What?" she raised an eyebrow when Naruto stared at her. "It's so cute and romantic!"

"I swear understanding girls is way harder than fighting Madara," Naruto muttered in his breath. Karin glared at him, annoyed.

The couple separated, and Iruka looked at the sky. It was already dark.

"Oh, it's kinda late already. Maybe I should take you home before…"

His words were halted when Anko suddenly grabbed his sleeve.

"Can I... can I crash at your house tonight?"

Naruto and Karin froze again.

"Did she just say what I think she said?" Karin muttered in shock.

Even Iruka seemed appalled by the sudden request of his (now) girlfriend, but the shock passed almost immediately, and with a grin, he swept down and lifted her up in a bridal carry, and disappeared in a Body Flicker.

The Hokage Monument was now left with only the two Uzumaki.

"…Wow," after a while, Naruto finally managed to express his feeling.

"Wow, indeed," Karin also nodded in awe. "First date, and somehow he managed to make her ask him to bed."

Naruto glared at her.

Then a loud grumbling noise came out from the two children's stomachs.

"So… wanna go to Ichiraku's?"

Iruka's apartment was bathed in moonlight. The light danced on the air, showing Anko Mitarashi in all her glory to the eyes of one Iruka Umino.

"You're so beautiful, Anko-chan," Iruka mouthed, his eyes traced across the curves on his girlfriend's body.

"I know," Anko mouthed back, a naughty light gleamed in her eyes. "And I love you."

The straps of her sundress slipped down her shoulders. It dropped to the ground, revealing her white, smooth and flawless skin under it.

"Tonight, I'm all yours," she murmured sultrily, pulling Iruka in for another kiss. However, the man gently pushed her away and held her shoulders back.

"Anko-chan… Anko-chan, are you really sure about this? I mean, after this, there is no going back for us anymore."

"I am sure," Anko looked at him with serious eyes. "You are the first man, and the only man I really love, and will love in this world. And I will never regret what I'm going to do today. Unless…" she suddenly looked down, "unless you don't want me…"

Then she felt her man pulled her into a deep embrace.

"Never say that, please, Anko-chan. How can I do that to you, a girl who loves me with all her heart and saved me from death like that?"

"So…"

Iruka answered her with a smile. "Yes, I love you too."

Anko's heart melted with each word coming from Iruka's mouth. Tears streaming down her cheeks, she pushed the man onto the bed, and plugged his mouth shut with a deep kiss. Iruka closed his eyes in bliss, ready to accept what was going to happen to him…

"Aaaaaaah!"

The sudden agony scream of Anko made Iruka jumped.

"What's wrong Anko-chan?!" Iruka snapped his eyes open, panicked when the woman let go of his face abruptly and collapsed on the ground, screaming when clutching the back of her neck. From there, red glowing strings of curves and lines were spreading out, gradually covering half of her body. The woman thrashed around on the ground, definitely in excruciating pain.

This… must be Orochimaru's cursed seal…!

"Anko-chan!" he repeated, jumping towards her, but Anko's limbs had started jerking around uncontrollably, unintentionally backhanding him on the face.

"Iruka-kun… run…!" Anko gasped and yelped in agony, writhing on the ground while clutching the place where the seal lay. It seemed to halt its way from spreading across all her body, but it was only temporary; looking at the red mark wriggling around on her body was too painful for Iruka to handle.

The fact that her body was in the nude only carved the pain deeper into his heart, looking at the seal spreading.

Then the worst scream yet filled the air. It seemed Anko couldn't control her body anymore. The seal still couldn't spread further, but now, her limbs seemed to be pulled up like being hanged by a puppeteer's strings. Dark, purple chakra was blazing around her, and tears filled her eyes, rolling down her cheeks.

Iruka grimaced. If it came to this…

"Just wait, Anko-chan," he said. "You have saved my life; now it's time for me to do the same for you, even if I have to beat you up a bit."

Naruto let out a loud burp.

"You're disgusting," Karin wrinkled her nose. The blonde just rolled his eyes.

The Uzumaki pair had just left Ichiraku Ramen after a very satisfied dinner of all kinds of ramen. No matter where he went, ramen of Ichiraku was still the best food in the world.

That doesn't mean Karin and Saikyo's food wasn't good, though.

"But I have to admit, their ramen is really good," Karin noted. "Maybe someday I should take a lesson from them…"

Then she felt Naruto suddenly stopped. She glanced at the boy, and saw him drooling.

She muttered in disgust. "Ugh, I shouldn't have said that…"

"Hey, who is that?" Naruto suddenly said, and pointed towards the end of the road.

Indeed, there was someone rushing on the street towards them. And it seemed he was carrying a bundle of something on his shoulder.

Naruto's stomach twisted. He remembered the time when Hinata had been kidnapped by Cloud shinobi. Could it be…?

'No, wait, that's Iruka.'

Naruto squinted his eyes to see clearer. Indeed, the one who was rampaging on the street was Iruka. His clothes was torn in many places, and he was panting heavily, as if he had just went through a very fierce battle.

"Wow, Iruka-sensei," Naruto said when the teacher charged across their faces. "I heard from people, but I didn't know she was that rough in bed. You two must have gone all out, I bet."

Then he saw the bundle on his shoulder. It was Anko, tied up with a bunch of ninja wire and a gag, and was squirming around like mad, trying to escape from the bound.

"Holy shit, S&M in the first night? I didn't know you're into this, Iruka-sensei."

"This is not the time for a joke, Naruto!" Iruka snapped. "Her cursed seal has just forced activated on its own… and it looks bad! I have to bring her to Lord Hokage… before it's too late!"

"Say what?!"

"This is bad…" Hiruzen looked down the body of the woman in front of him and grimaced.

"What's wrong with my sensei, Hokage-sama?" Karin asked worriedly.

"Anko was given the Cursed Seal by Orochimaru when she was still training under him," the Hokage answered. "It had lain dormant for a long time and had only activated rarely before, but it has never forced activation this violently. I have restrained it by the Evil Sealing Method, but I doubt it can hold for long."

"Is there any way to remove it completely?" Iruka asked. Naruto grimaced; Sasuke in his timeline had been given that disgusting seal, but he could have never learnt how to remove it. He cursed himself not studying enough in fuinjutsu at his time.

"None, for now," Hiruzen shook his head. "I have done research on it for quite some time, but I could only figure out two of the seals. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't get a grasp on the third one. If I do anything recklessly, it might even cause more harm than good."

Then he grimaced. "Orochimaru, the bastard… What we need right now is a master of sealing, who is better than anyone in the world… but where can we find someone like that?"

The two Uzumaki blinked, then looked at each other. On their faces bloomed the same smile.

"You know what jiji? I think we know where to find that man."

After ensuring Iruka that his girlfriend would be all right and sending him home, the Hokage sealed the room up, and Naruto crossed his finger, sending Gyuuki out.

"You must be the great Eight-Tails," Sarutobi bowed. "It's an honor to meet you."

"Nah, those flattering words are unneeded," the ox-man waved him off. "Now, let's have a look at that seal, shall we? Naruto, lend me your magnifying glass."

The Tailed Beast in human form took the glass from Naruto's hand and checked out the seal. Then, he grimaced.

"I see… Orochimaru, that bastard… A genius, but still a bastard… I didn't think even he would resort to this…"

"What's wrong?" Naruto asked, alarmed.

Gyuuki didn't give a straight answer. Instead, he turned to Sarutobi.

"You said that you had managed to decode two seals in this, didn't you?"

"Indeed," the Hokage nodded. "One of them is a simple storage seal designed to store something, which I bet is Juugo-kun's enzyme which allows him to draw in nature chakra passively. That's what gives the user a massive boost in strength and chakra, because nature chakra is much, much more powerful than normal human chakra. But it also comes with a great drawback: alien enzyme injected into one's body might cause severe rejection if the body doesn't have the necessary compatibility. That's why Anko's body was in so much pain: her body obviously isn't compatible with that kind of enzyme."

"Right," Gyuuki nodded. "And the second?"

"The second seal was way more advanced than the first one," Hiruzen answered. "It is a seal designed to store a series of mind-controlling genjutsu which affect the brain, ensuring loyalty of the host to Orochimaru, suppressing higher-level thoughts and sabotaging the ability of the host to reason and think logically. Basically, if a person with weak will is marked with this curse seal, gradually his own self will be erased and he will become a good puppet whom Orochimaru is the only thing in the world which matters to him. But of course, that will not always work with someone who has a strong mind to counter the effect of genjutsu, or someone with anti-genjutsu kekkei genkai, for example."

"That bastard," Naruto growled out. "So that's why the Sasuke in my timeline was so messed up in the head. His mind was sabotaged by Orochimaru from the beginning!"

"And what's with the third seal?" Karin asked. Gyuuki shook his head as if he couldn't believe it.

"You will have to brace yourself before hearing this. This third seal, and the most complex one," he stopped for a few seconds for the three people to prepare themselves, "contains a part of Orochimaru's soul. As long as that fragment of soul remains attached to, and protected unknowingly by Anko, Orochimaru can never die for good."

Following these words was the longest, densest silence the Hokage's room had ever gone through. Then, Karin croaked out in disbelief.

"His… soul?"

"Yes," Gyuuki nodded gravely. "And it also has another purpose. You already knew what the Mind Transfer Jutsu of the Yamanaka clan can do. This fragment of soul, in a way, is even more dangerous. Unlike the Mind Transfer Jutsu, which has a limit of time in which a soul can enter one's body depending on the user's chakra, this fragment resides fully in one's body, and because of that, it can dwell into the deepest secrets and emotions within the host's mind and manipulate them. This, together with those genjutsu in the second seal, is the best instrument for Orochimaru to prepare a body for him to take over when his old body degenerates and dies. After the body dies, the piece of soul inside her body will activate and take over the body. This is his own twisted way to become immortal."

"So if the soul is split into many parts and stuffed into something else, you will not be able to die huh," Naruto muttered. "But that doesn't make sense! I have used Shadow Clone Jutsu many times before; it doesn't have anything like that! The Shadow Clone Jutsu needs me to split my soul too right?"

The Hokage blinked. "Who told you that the Shadow Clone needs you to split your soul, Naruto?"

Naruto was confused. "Uh… isn't it?"

"Of course not!" Hiruzen shook his head. "If it's that dangerous, no one would ever use it! The fact is, when you use the Shadow Clone, a copy of your own soul is made and put into the clone to act as its 'soul'. When the clone is dispelled, that copy of your soul returns to your own body, and overlays with the original soul, making your soul, well, how to say… thicker than before. That's how you receive the knowledge and experience the clone received."

'So the being of knowledge is still wrong about something huh,' Naruto chuckled in his head. Kokuoh shrugged.

'No one in the world can be right all time, Naruto. I might have inherited my father's mind and knowledge, but after all, the Sage of Six Paths is only a human. There is no such thing as a human who is never wrong… in fact, because the Sage was a very smart and powerful person, his mistakes tend to be much, much greater than that of a normal human. Every wise person is like that… and I'm not an exception, you know.'

"But if that really is the case, then we're facing a very big problem," Hiruzen raised his voice in concern. "There is no way we can know how many fragments Orochimaru had spread his soul into. It means we're in the danger of having ten, fifty, who knows how many more, Orochimarus running around after he died! And worse, we have no way to know who, or even what, contains the pieces inside them!"

"Actually, I don't think we have to worry about it," Gyuuki shook his head. "Splitting your soul might sound easy, but as you have just said, it's incredibly dangerous. The more mutilated the soul is, the less human the owner will be, in mind… and even in the outer body. The last time someone tried to do this, he couldn't split his soul into more than seven parts. And that one… he couldn't even be considered a human anymore. I don't think even Orochimaru wants to be like that… so, we can safely assume that his soul wasn't split into more than seven parts."

"Speak about that later!" Karin cut in. "Gyuuki-san, can you break this seal and save Anko-sensei? She's clearly in pain here!"

"I can," Gyuuki nodded. "However, I can only completely destroy the part which contains the genjutsu. The part holding the enzyme, if I break it, it will release the enzyme into her body, and the sudden surge will destroy her body. And the part containing the soul fragment, I can break it and release the soul, but the fragment cannot be destroyed unless it stays inside something. We will need to destroy its container with a technique capable of utterly erasing it completely from existence. Naruto, can I count on you on this?"

"I… uh…" Naruto's eyes widened. "Ah, yeah, I will do it! Just count on me!"

"Good," Gyuuki nodded, satisfied. "Then we will need a big space for this, because this might get messy."

Fifteen minutes later, the four people arrived at a training field far away from the rest of the village.

"Alright, this is it," Gyuuki muttered. "Naruto, do you know what you have to do?"

"Damn right I know!" Naruto answered, a little bit too enthusiastically. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

'You're enjoying this, huh,' Kurama inside Naruto commented dryly. Naruto grinned.

'Of course! It's not like I have the chance to do something like this, right? Destroying an evil man's source of power and immortality!'

'I think you're only eager to show off your new powerful jutsu to your jiji,' Goku quipped.

'Well… yeah, that too… but…' Naruto admitted grudgingly.

"Good. Then are you ready?" Gyuuki looked at Hiruzen. The Hokage also nodded.

"Very well. Now…" the Tailed Beast in human form turned back to Anko, now sitting in lotus position on the ground, her back bared. In his face, a bead of sweat rolled down his cheek.

"Evil Sealing Method: Unseal!" he yelled, and slapped his hand on the restrained Cursed Seal on Anko's neck.

Right when Gyuuki's hand touched her neck, Anko let out a blood-curling howl. Not being restrained anymore, the Cursed Seal started spreading out in a dangerous speed. But it couldn't escape Gyuuki's hand, and in a very quick movement, he stabbed his index and middle finger at one of the prongs in the seal.

"Release!"

The part of the seal which held the genjutsu shattered upon Gyuuki's finger touching it into a rain of glittering light. Not allowing the seal a second to continue spreading further, Gyuuki's fingers flipped and stabbed into the second part, the part containing Orochimaru's soul fragment.

A long, high-pitched scream tore through the air. Out of the seal, there suddenly bloomed a grotesque bubble with the shape of a distorted human… snake… head. It writhed in the air, and Karin had to take a step back in fear and disgust. It flew towards the girl in the last attempt to take over her body, but Gyuuki was faster. He jumped into the way the soul was flying and whipped out a blank scroll.

"Seal!" he bellowed, and the soul fragment of Orochimaru was immediately sucked into the sealing formula drawn in the scroll. It struggled to escape, but everything was in vain; with a loud "poof", it was completely drained into the scroll, and a black kanji of "SEAL" appeared on the white sheet inside the sealing formula, showing that the soul fragment was completely sealed in the room. Gyuuki immediately closed it and tied it up with a "snap" of the rope.

"Now, Naruto!" he yelled, and tossed the scroll into the sky with all the strength he had when Naruto, upon his command, released the Scorch Style: Rasenshuriken aiming at the scroll.

"Down, you two!" Naruto screamed, but Hiruzen and Karin didn't even need him to ask. When they'd seen the potentially dangerous technique forming on Naruto's hands, they had already known what was going to happen and had been on the ground holding their heads when the atomic Rasenshuriken left Naruto's hand and hit the scroll flying on the sky.

With an earthshaking explosion and a blinding flash, the scroll was erased from existence.

"That should do it," Gyuuki said while standing up from where he had ducked down to. "The soul fragment and the genjutsu were completely destroyed; they won't be able to affect her anymore. The seal containing the enzyme is still there, but if she doesn't want to use it, it won't activate, so it won't cause any harm."

"Is there any easier way to destroy those soul fragments?" Karin asked. "It's not like Naruto can be there to nuke them down every time you know."

"Oh, there are, indeed," the Eight-Tails answered curtly. "What Naruto did was actually the very simple way of destroying something like that. Just blast it in the face with something incredibly powerful to damage the container and the soul fragment inside to the point they cannot be repaired by any means. With a living host, the easiest way is to kill it."

A suffocating silence followed the beast's words. Then, Hiruzen asked.

"But isn't that very risky? I mean, a living creature has a soul and a mind of its own, right? If it manages to usurp control of the body, all the effort of splitting his soul and making the seal will be useless! Not to mention the risk of the host being killed anytime!"

"Indeed," Gyuuki nodded. "But actually, the host being a creature has its advantage. When Orochimaru needs to have a spare body, he can just trigger the soul fragment and take over the body, then if he really feel needed, he can transfer the rest of the soul from his original body and other containers into that body without much difficulty. And about the host being killed or usurping control, if the host is strong enough… or… loyal… enough…"

He trailed off, and Karin suddenly paled.

"What's wrong Karin-chan?" Naruto asked when he saw his sister's body starting to shake violently. Karin looked at him and muttered in fear.

"I… I think I already knew who hold the other parts of Orochimaru's soul."

"A direct assault to Otogakure?!"

The Hokage's meeting room was now filled with shinobi. Kakashi, Asuma, Gai, Kurenai, the old Ino-Shika-Cho team were here, together with Naruto, Sasuke, Shikamaru, Hayate Gekko, Genma Shiranui.

Hiruzen nodded. "More exactly, a large scale assassination mission. Your targets will be Orochimaru's personal bodyguards, the five elite shinobi of Otogakure, the Sound Five. The order of action will be…" here, the voice of the Hokage lowered into a deep, cold commanding tone, "…terminate on sight."

What the Hokage had just said sent chill into the spines of everyone in the room.

Then, after a while, Inoichi Yamanaka raised his question.

"We have just won a war against them. Why don't we just send a messenger over and demand them to hand over those Sound Five? After all, they did play a very considerable role in the war, you know."

"Indeed we can," Hiruzen nodded. "However, even if they accept, it will need some time before we can get them. And we don't have time to wait. We must kill them as soon as possible… before Orochimaru's soul inside of them takes over their bodies and revives him."

Silence filled the room for five seconds. And at the sixth, outrage and disbelief broke lose.

"What?! I thought Jiraiya-sama killed Orochimaru during the war?! How can he revive?" Kurenai asked, horrified.

"He will revive, soon, in fact, if we cannot kill the containers of his soul fragments," the Hokage answered calmly. "That's why I call you here today; all of my elite shinobi of the village to assassinate them. We will need to do it quickly and without drawing unneeded attention."

"But why us?" Shikamaru raised his hand. "The jonin here, we can understand, but why me, Naruto and Sasuke? We have just made chuunin for about a month; our skill and experience can't even compare to these veterans."

The Hokage's eyes narrowed. "So you still doubt yourself, Shikamaru?"

"No, sir, but…"

Hiruzen chuckled. "Don't worry. You are all chosen with a reason, Shikamaru. Remember what I promoted you to chuunin for."

"My intelligence, Naruto's power, and Sasuke's skill and kekkei genkai," the Nara repeated.

"Exactly," the Hokage nodded. "That's why I chose you three for this mission. Otogakure, according to Jiraiya's intel, has a lot of bases in different areas. Therefore, the force here will have to split into different squads; each squad will go to each base and kill the Sound Five member hiding there. Your sharp mind, Naruto's great raw power, and Sasuke's skill will all be necessary, and I have chosen you all especially for this mission. Here are the maps of where you will go to."

Each shinobi went to the desk to pick up their map in silence. However, there was someone else who still had a question.

"Hokage-sama, a normal team for a mission usually consists of four people," Shikaku Nara said. "But here, we only have twelve people. Even if we make three-man squads, we can only cover four bases at most. And this is the Sound Five. And I'm pretty sure we cannot afford any more shinobi of jonin level."

"Ah, you don't have to worry about that, Shikaku," Hiruzen smiled. "Come in, please."

The door opened, and three people walked in. Naruto gasped.

"Ah! You…"

Gaara of the Sand let out a slight smile and raised his hand for a handshake.

"It's good to see you again, Naruto."

In five hidden rooms within the separated bases of Otogakure, five people suddenly jerked up at the same time.

"It's time," they all said simultaneously with the same nasty grin.