Yet again, with a little extra help

by Third Fang

Things didn't go so well this time after Danzo betrayed konoha and joined Akatsuki. As the Kyubi was being removed from Naruto however, an unexpected stranger arrived to change all for the better... maybe. NaruHina timetravel some oc please review

36. Chapter 36

Chapter 36: Oh, Crypt's pants, they are a changin'… thank sweet merciful god.

I don't own Naruto, any of its characters, or any references in this story. If I did, horrible things would happen. I do own all OCs and new jutsu in the story.

Quote of the week: King Dedede: "I'm not fat, I'm just overly sexy."

o. o. o.

First, a word from Ibiki:

"I AM EVEN HAPPIER THAN I WAS IN THE LAST CHAPTER!" The man roared as he smiled sadistically at the three Hyūga that Ghost and Crypt beat the shit out of off screen last chapter.

Thanks, Ibiki. Now back to the story.

o. o. o.

Ōgakari clan training grounds:

Chōji groaned as his headache threatened to convince the boy to knock himself unconscious. Ever since he finished brushing up on his earth elemental composition training, he had been training nonstop with Kurenai in detecting and dispelling genjutsu, and busy learning the new C-rank ninjutsu that Ghost-sensei picked out for him to use in his upcoming fight. This usually wouldn't be a problem, except for the fact that both forms of training assaulted his head in different and often painful ways. The good news was that he was getting the hang of his training, finally, and the new ninjutsu was also one that luckily meshed with his current arsenal of techniques extremely well. The result was that the original C-rank level of the move now had the power of an upper B-rank earth style technique on average, mid-A range if he pulled out all the stops.

"Kurenai-sensei, can we take a break already?" Ino whined tiredly next to him. Chōji briefly smiled as he stared at his teammate and somewhat hidden crush. Ever since Anko managed to occasionally ditch Ino onto Kurenai while the purple haired woman had… fun, the Akimichi's sessions with the illusion mistress became somewhat more manageable in his opinion. In Kurenai's opinion… not so much. "You've been putting us under illusion after illusion for the past 4 hours! Even you must be getting tired of this by now."

Kurenai sighed. She really didn't like to train Ino. The girl simply did not have the patience to become adept at detecting or dispelling illusions, even if her chakra control was quite impressive. The girl was the second lowest among the girls at healing, next to Tenten, but that still put her miles ahead of almost all the boys. It actually served her quite well, as the additional information regarding the human body aided her in creating incredibly potent poisons and concoctions. Still, conjuring up constant C- and B-rank illusions for the past few hours was starting to take a toll on the jōnin, not to mention Ino's constant moaning. She supposed a small break couldn't hurt. "Fine. You two can have an hour break before we get back to training. I am expecting you two to be able to detect and dispel at least ¾ of the illusions I will put you under before our time here is up, otherwise I can't say I will be confident in your chances winning your matches…"

Ino brushed off Kurenai's warning as she started to walk away. "Yeah, sure, whatever you say, Kurenai-sensei."

Kurenai's eyebrow twitched as she watched Ino leave. "Why, that little…" She growled.

"Ah. Ino! Wait up!" Chōji called, snapping out of his delirium and chasing after his teammate.

Ino sighed. "Hurry up, Chōji, or I'm leaving you behind." The blonde girl had mixed feelings about her beefy teammate. On the one hand, he was a nice guy. He always helped out, and rarely had anything bad to say about anyone. Plus, he was kind of cute in a pudgy sort of way. On the other hand, he was a complete pushover unless you pissed him off, and, well, he was still kind of fat for her tastes.

Chōji caught up to Ino. "You know, you shouldn't bug Kurenai-sensei like that." He advised worriedly. "She's trying to prepare us for our matches, and it's not exactly helping when you disrespect her…"

Ino groaned. "Not this again. How many times do I have to repeat myself, Chōji? I just can't get used to her. The woman is too uptight all the time, and it doesn't help that she's boring as Iruka-sensei. Besides, it's only forehead or that Oboro guy that I need to worry about using genjutsu, and those two are going to beat the living daylights out of each other before I get to them…"

Chōji looked away as he remembered his few times meeting up with Shikamaru since they started training down there. Though most people wouldn't be able to tell, the Nara was stressed out about something, and that never happens unless something important was going to happen… or his mom was coming by.

It wasn't until Chōji asked his best friend what was wrong that he got a bad feeling in his stomach, his legendary Akimichi-sized stomach.

"… Train, Chōji." Shikamaru's voice replied in the boy's head. "… Train as much as you can before the Exams get here. And whatever you do during them, keep your eyes open…"

"… it's not the Exams I'm worried about…" Chōji mumbled under his breath as he walked along the blonde.

"Huh?" Ino asked curiously as she glanced at her disturbed friend curiously. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Um… nothing!" Chōji stammered out, knowing that what Shikamaru warned him about was supposed to be secret, and hence would lose its purpose the hour Ino finds out.

"Chōji…" Ino stepped to the nervous boy with a glare in her eyes. "My gossip senses are starting to go off. You're hiding something from me… and you know what happens when someone starts hiding things from me that I want to know…" The girl reaches out behind her back for one of her poison laced senbon. The ones she was reaching for were some of the weaker paralysis concoctions; she both knew better and didn't have the heart to use some of the stronger variations on the boy. He was too nice to be subjected to such treatment. Plus, it didn't hurt that he was incredibly easy to break by her standards.

Chōji gulped as he stepped away from the girl. "S-Sorry Ino, but I can't tell you. It's supposed to be a secret… and you aren't exactly the most secretive person when it comes to this stuff…"

Ino's eyebrow twitched as she drew out her senbon. "Chōji, I WILL find out one way or another, the only choice you have right now is how painful I can make it before you actually spill…"

Chōji took in a deep breath. Under normal circumstances, he would run for the hills and scream for his life, but whatever they were going to get caught up in was big enough that even Shikamaru was on the edge. Under this situation, the best he could do is control how much Ino knew and hope things don't get out of hand. "Ino…" He said calmly, causing the girl to look at him curiously. "… Shika is scared…"

Ino paused. "That's it? I thought he had a crush on that Sand chick. I mean, he was hitting on her a lot while we were waiting in the tower and everything…"

"That's not what I meant, Ino…" Chōji interrupted. "Something about the Exams has Shika spooked. You can tell that something else is going on when you see him training or talk to him. He's actually taking his training seriously now. I mean, usually we train at our own pace, complain about it, do a little bit more, then spend the rest of the day sleeping on a hill. Now he's spending almost every waking moment training… it's starting to scare me as well…"

Ino remained silent as Chōji explained what was happening to his best friend, and to be perfectly honest, the girl was starting to get unnerved as well. Shikamaru was notorious for being lazy. Even when training with Gai, he would at most try to last long enough to get through the full workout then stop as soon as the timer went off. It was also common knowledge in the team that almost nothing fazed the boy at all. Even during their few C-ranked missions or when they were doing some of Ghost's obscure training sessions, the boy was infamous for keeping his cool regardless of the situation.

If something had the boy unnerved, then the information she was being notified of skipped gossip level instantly and fell into the category of life or death. So far, the only things that fallen under that rank of scrutiny were her clan's techniques and secrets, village secrets, her poison recopies, Anko-sensei's past which she mumbled out in her sleep one night when she was drunk, and Ghost-sensei's eyes. All of these were things that she didn't dare try to gossip about in front of the wrong people.

Ino frowned as her previous energy disappeared in the wake of a serious kunoichi. "What else can you tell me about it, Chōji? Anything that has Shika nervous can't be good. Do the sensei know about whatever it is?"

Chōji let out a mental air of relief as he saw Ino get serious. It happened as rarely as Shikamaru getting nervous, but it was also a sign of bad things about to happen. There was no way that Ino would be loose-lipped about what he would tell her now. "I think that all of them know already… Shika would have told them already if they didn't. As for what I know… it isn't much. All I know for a fact is that something bad is probably gonna happen during the Exams… and…"

Ino narrowed her eyes. "And?"

Chōji sighed. "I don't know, but when I told Shika that I was gonna be training under Kurenai-sensei to work on my genjutsu dispelling, he told me to work especially hard on it, just in case. I didn't pay much attention to it back then, but I think he was thinking of something other than my match when he said it…"

"Which is why you were so worried about me and my training with Kurenai-sensei…" Ino mused thoughtfully. "You don't want me to get hit with whatever Shika is concerned with…"

"I think he's known about it for a while…" Chōji added in nervously, worried that he might be talking too much. "I remember him telling me to train hard after we first became a team and not to tell you since well, you're not exactly known for being quiet, Ino…"

Ino's eyebrow's twitched at that statement, but she would brush it aside for the moment. "My social life aside, what do you think we should do about this? If it were up to me, I would be telling every shinobi chūnin rank and above about this…"

Chōji shook his head. "No. I think the best thing to do is to not do anything except train." He paused as he looked at Ino's face. "Whatever it is, it has Shikamaru nervous. If it has Shika nervous, he must have gone over everything thousands of times to think of what to do by now. You know how smart he is. Shika wouldn't take this information lying down."

Ino grit her teeth in irritation. Chōji was right. Shikamaru was lazy, but he never overlooked anything important, and he never left it alone. She knew that if anyone could pick out the correct path to take to make sure that whatever the hell happens doesn't get out of control, it was Shikamaru. She hated to admit it, but if he told Chōji to keep quiet about it, then her flapping her mouth would probably get them all killed when the clock hit zero. "Damn…" She growled in frustration. "I guess the best thing to do is train and be prepared for everything…" She paused for a moment. "If worst comes to worst, though…"

Chōji shifted in his feet as he saw something dangerous flash in the girl's eyes. "Ino? What did you think of?" He asked nervously.

The girl turned to Chōji and flashed him a grin that one would expect on Anko Mitarashi. "Oh, nothing, Chōji. I was just thinking of some experiments back at the flower shop that Sensei told me not to bring to the Exams for some ODD reason…"

The Akimichi gulped as he followed the grinning Yamanaka. He was really starting to relate to Shikamaru at that moment. Blonde women were troublesome…

o. o. o.

Elsewhere in that giant hole in the ground:

Kiba flopped onto his back, panting desperately alongside an equally beat Akamaru. "I can't move anymore, sis…" The boy gasped out painfully.

Hana sighed as she walked up to her brother. Despite her demeanor, she was rather impressed with her brother's progress. If the exams had taken place just a month later, she was sure that Kiba would have won against that Dosu guy… as long as he wasn't being stupid, of course. She doubted anyone else in the clan had ever learned the standard wolf techniques so quickly, although in hindsight it was probably all the conditioning involving forcing her brother to stay in beast mode for as long as possible that was part of the success. "Fine, you can take a break, pup. You've been at it all day anyways."

Akamaru whined in thanks as his tongue flopped out of the side of his mouth panting.

"You said it." Kiba agreed.

"I'm still here, you know." Hana growled playfully. Personally, she couldn't really blame her brother and Akamaru. She had pretty much run the two into the ground, evident by the huge number of craters and holes surrounding the group… and the strong scent of urine that even non Inuzuka would be able to smell clearly. To be honest, the girl was probably going to give the pair the rest of the day off, if only for the reason that she needed to make sure that she didn't accidently do some damage to the puppy's kidneys. It was a little known fact that other than torn muscle tissue and the occasional identity crisis, the most prominent injuries that happen to Inuzuka hounds during training were to their kidneys and other… urine related organs… due to the fact that the user has to frequently practice 'targeting' in order to use the wolf techniques efficiently. This issue never happened to her because she had three partners to work with, so they could take turns. For those with only one partner, though… well, the odds are more likely that breeding will become more difficult in the future.

"Hey, sis?" Kiba breathed out tiredly as he somehow managed to sit himself up.

"Yeah, runt? What's up?" Hana replied.

"Well, I was curious. Mom's been all giddy about your new techniques and everything, the elemental versions of our clan techniques. I know that your new versions of Gatsūga are supposed to be B-ranked techniques, but mom said something about you finishing your elemental versions of the wolf techniques as well and…"

"And you were curious as to how monstrous they really are?" Hana finished her brother's question with a raised eyebrow. "Let me guess, you really want to know so that you have a good idea how strong you have to be before you can finally make me beg for mercy when we beat the living crap out of each other, right?"

"… yeah…" Kiba breathed out defeated.

"Wow, you really must be tired if you can't even deny anything." Hana chuckled before calming down again. "… fine, since I might have gone overboard on you this time, I'll show you one of them… just make sure to kiss my feet later. That means you too, Akamaru."

Akamaru grumbled in reality and in dog speak, causing both Inuzuka to chuckle.

Hana whistled, calling one of her triplets to her from a few dozen yards away where they were resting in the shade. "The pups wanna see one of our bigger techniques. Let's make them jealous, okay?" Hana whispered to the hound that came over, getting a nod and what looked like a smirk in response.

Kiba looked as carefully as he could as his sister and one of her triplets got into position and raised their chakra to incredible levels, channeling their respective elements at the same time, Hana with her wind, and the triplet with her lightning. "Hidden Art: Kyūten no Ryōken (Hound of the Heavens)." Hana growled as the pair was engulfed in a large plume of smoke. Kiba blinked a few times in anticipation before the smoke quickly blew away to reveal Hana's new form. Kiba was for once speechless.

The massive two headed wolf in front of him was pure white with soft green and sharp yellow tribal designs traveling down its spine. Its tail was unnaturally thin and long compared to normal wolf technique transformations, and the fur of the beast was incredibly thick and smooth, flowing like water, yet free like the wind, but at the same time stiff and sharp enough to cut the skin if you brushed your hands against it. The two wolf style heads on the main body were respectively colored only one of the decals as the pair glared down at the unnerved boy with the cold eyes of a… two predators, each pair glowing in the colors of its respective elements. (A/N: Seriously, multi headed beings are parts of a grammar Nazi's worst nightmare. Thank god I is not one.)

The stare off didn't last long though as the two headed beast turned its attention to a large outcropping of boulders that had evaded Kiba's training at this point. "Tenga… (Heaven Fang)" Growled the beast as it shot off faster than anything Kiba had seen before and spun instantly, surrounded by lightning and a ferocious gale, towards the unfortunate stones. Kiba gaped as his sister tore through to the other side of the field faster than he could follow, leaving a perfect circular trail behind her with sparks of electricity going off and small sparkles in the air where she once was. Anywhere there were stones in her path was now a circular and smoothly cut hole, far different from the rough and chaotic mess that remained from his attacks.

Before he could muse over the attack some more, Hana barreled back towards him, giving him a front view of the attack. The drill that Hana was making was encompassed in a giant whirlwind that looked like it was shredding anything that got near the body to infinite bits, and the electricity surrounding her body seemed to increase the attack's piercing ability, and burn up anything that was shredded by the wind element of her technique, thus the sparks and sparkles.

"Wh-whoa…" Kiba gaped quietly as Hana and her triplet stopped in front of him, giving off a regal appearance with the lightning and glitter effect behind them. Hound of the Heavens was definitely a well-chosen name for the technique. Before he knew it though, the pair had returned to their normal forms.

"And that's why you will not win an argument against me for the rest of your life." Hana said sagely with a feral grin on her face.

Kiba continued to air out his mouth. "Does mom know you finished them?"

"Of course not. She knows I've been WORKING on it, but as of yet, I still can't get the damn thing down…" She sighed aridly, getting an odd look from her brother. "Once I do finally get this and my other two combination attacks down, mom will start hounding me to up my responsibilities to the clan and start teaching EVERYONE these techniques, then she'll probably start taking me to clan meetings again, and do her paperwork…"

"Ah…" Kiba replied, knowing how much being the clan head bugged his eccentric mother. "… wait, three techniques? There's you and the lightning triplet, you and the fire triplets, and…" He started to pale as Hana grinned.

"Then there's the one that is so dangerous and powerful that even Ghost-kun is scared of being on the wrong end of it…"

o. o. o.

Iwagakure:

"I heard it's nice in Konoha this time of year." Mused a red headed old man as he walked alongside a carriage that held Ōnoki. "It will be nice to see Sarutobi again. Hopefully that… enlightened student of his is in town when we get there. I have some books that I want him to sign."

"Likewise, Rōshi." Chuckled Ōnoki as he stretched his limbs. "But I highly doubt it. Jiraiya is notorious for constantly being on the move. I heard that he hasn't been seen setting foot in Konoha since the Kyūbi attacked."

"What a shame." Grumbled Rōshi. "The quality of his work has increased so much lately. I wanted to give the lad a pat on the back for his good work." He eyed his old friend. "You know, I was a bit surprised when you managed to get that letter to me. It's not every day someone sends me a message, let alone someone whose last words to me involved something about my head on a pike… and then sending two jōnin to make it so…"

Ōnoki waved his hand in a lazy manner. "Bah. You know I was joking. I would have been angrier at you if those two rookies actually did manage to kill you back then. You know as well as I do that the war was getting to everyone at the time, and I wasn't exactly a youngster then, let alone now. I needed someone to take down Namikaze, and you were practically the only person in Iwa that was capable of doing so other than me, and going myself was out of the question. I was about to ask you to go when you turned in your resignation form, actually, and the rest is history… and two cremated jōnin. Did you honestly have to go that far?"

Rōshi shrugged. "They were more scared of you at the time than me, and would probably rather die than suffer your wrath considering the fit you were having then. Honestly, I couldn't blame them…" The man looked around before leaning closer to the diminutive man and started to whisper. "Speaking of Namikaze, though…"

Ōnoki closed his eyes and sighed. "There's no definitive proof yet. Normally I would brush this rumor under the rug like all the other ones, but… I have a feeling about this one…"

Rōshi raised an eyebrow, raising his senses to make sure that their private conversation wasn't being overheard. "… a feeling?"

Ōnoki nodded. "The brat is 12 years old… more specifically, born on the day HE died…" The Tsuchikage slipped Rōshi a picture of the blonde haired boy.

Rōshi took the photo and looked at it for a few seconds before frowning. "I see." He stated, not willing to say any more before giving Ōnoki the photo back. "… It would make sense… but what will you do about it?"

Ōnoki sighed. Despite his tough nature, he hated to think of killing kids, even if they were shinobi and were supposed to be prepared for that kind of life. It just wasn't right. "We're just doing reconnaissance right now." Ōnoki replied. "Pay attention to him, see how dangerous he is, how well he is… adapting to his condition. You know more about these kinds of things than I do. Plus, it helps that kids actually like you for some reason, while in my case…"

"I said it once, I'll say it constantly 'til you die, it's because you have a shitty sense of humor, Ōnoki." Rōshi sighed.

Ōnoki's eyebrows twitched. "… anyway, just keep an eye on the brat. And Kurotsuchi too while you're at it…"

"You don't trust her?" Rōshi asked.

"Not with this, no. There are… connections between her and the blondes. Kurotsuchi has a personal vendetta against anything even remotely close to Namikaze. I wouldn't bet against her doing something foolish while we're there. It's your job to make sure she doesn't do anything stupid while I'm busy talking to nobles for hours on end."

"I'm having trouble deciding who got the worse end of the stick here…" Rōshi mused thoughtfully.

"Regardless, I'll make sure that we get proper smashed with Hiruzen while we're there. Apparently Konoha's import of good drinks has been on the rise ever since they got rid of Gatō and established a strong trading deal with Wave, so there won't be any shortage of ale while we're there." Ōnoki grinned. "Take a wild guess who was on that mission…"

"You're joking." Rōshi replied with a raised eyebrow. "The brat? How do you know? It's not like successful large missions are displayed for everyone to see and boast about…"

Ōnoki sighed as he took out a bottle of beer and opened it. "In their home country, no, but in Wave the kid is practically a celebrity according to my spies. I initially paid no mind to the rumors before, but when the brat finally got my attention, I remembered his name showing up all over the place in the Wave reports. His team was tasked with protecting some bridge builder from some thugs. Ends up being that said builder was working on a bridge to connect Wave to the mainland because Gatō was controlling all the trade in and out of the country via sea trade routes. The old man needed protection, but classified his guards at a C-rank price because Wave was so poor. Then comes the brat's team…"

"I see…" Rōshi mused. Misclassified missions weren't unheard of, but something told him that the story was going to be more interesting than he originally thought. "So how screwed were the kids?"

Ōnoki shook his head. "First, you have to remember that Copy-nin Kakashi is the sensei, so they weren't as helpless as you would expect. As for what they were up against…" Ōnoki took out a scroll that reported what happened according to a semi-drunk Tazuna several weeks after Wave got back on its feet. "First, apparently the team was ambushed by two missing-nin from Kiri on their way there, a pair known as the Demon Twins, C-ranked chūnin nobodies. According to the bridge builder, the pair was taken down incredibly easily by the genin. Kakashi had nothing to do with the fighting at all aside from faking his death in the initial ambush."

"That sounds like Kakashi, if the rumors about him are correct." Rōshi mused, taking the beer from Ōnoki and taking a swig. "So what happened next… wait, Kiri-nin? Didn't that Seven Swordsman guy…uh, Zabuza join Konoha recently? The one that tried to off that brat Yagura a few years back? I heard that before he joined the Leaf, he was running around with a fake hunter-nin and a set of twins from Kiri who went rogue."

Ōnoki smirked. "Funny you should say that. It turns out that Zabuza was the next one to fight the group. According to the drunk, Zabuza was on the ropes the entire time, and not because of Kakashi. Apparently the brat knew some kind of special wind technique I've never heard of. He could see where everything was and control the air around him, so even when they were stuck in the middle of the thick mist, he knew where the guy was. Two seconds later, the man is fighting back Kakashi with his cover and his mist blown away. Kakashi gets trapped in a Water Prison Technique by Zabuza a bit later, but the kid breaks him out with a ton of clones while his teammates protect the old man and take out the water clones that Zabuza made. From his description, we're guessing the brat made shadow clones."

"It's understandable, if what we are guessing is true…" Rōshi nodded taking another swig of the beer and handing it to the Tsuchikage. "It sounds as if the genin team he's on is pretty skilled from the way the story's going."

Ōnoki nodded as he drank some booze from the bottle. "They are. All of them are in the finals of the Exams. One of them is that Uchiha kid that got left behind when Itachi went AWOL, and the other is surprisingly a girl from some civilian family that's on the council. Apparently, she is quite the illusionist and healer."

"Not bad… but back to the story…" Rōshi mused.

"Right." Ōnoki grunted as he looked at the report scroll again. "So apparently the fake hunter-nin bailed Zabuza out at the last second after Kakashi got released and thus beat the living daylights out of Zabuza, then faked being a real hunter-nin and took the body away. From how he described it, it looked like he sent Zabuza into a false death state with some senbon. Not bad, if I do say so myself, though I'm ashamed that a jōnin of Kakashi's caliber would miss something like that so easily. The group apparently realized this too a few minutes later, but didn't go after the pair due to Kakashi overusing his eye."

"I heard that transplanted bloodlines pose a greater strain on the user than if they were in the original's body. I guess it's true, then." Rōshi shrugged.

Ōnoki nodded. "Let's see here. They talk about Zabuza coming back, brats train in water walking for a week… two of them start blowing themselves up for a few days…" The man grumbled as he rushed through the story. "Huh. According to the old man the reason why the brat is so well liked is because he managed to snap his grandson out of his depression that started when Gatō murdered his dad in front of the village. Anyways, they train some more, blonde shows he has healing powers, no doubt because of… that. It might be something to remember later. Ah, here we go. A week later, the group go back to the bridge to find that Zabuza scared all the workers away and he's with his student, the fake hunter-nin. The Uchiha takes on the fake hunter and Kakashi takes on Zabuza. Uchiha unlocks his bloodline and scrapes out a lucky win after he's trapped in…" He looks closely at what was written. "… a giant frozen igloo made of mirrors?"

Rōshi groaned as he thought about the shinobi that were elementally his polar opposites. "Ugh. I know what he's talking about. The fake-nin has the Hyōton bloodline. Ice users. Brr. I can't STAND fighting those guys. I thought that they were wiped out in the last bloodline purging in Kiri."

"Apparently not." Ōnoki answered. "Thanks for filling in some of the gaps for me, though. So the Uchiha manages to capture the Hyōton user, but was, and I quote, 'Skewered with so many needles that he looked like a piece of modern art'." The two old men chuckled at the analogy. "Moving on. Gatō shows up soon afterwards with several hundred mercenaries and intends to betray Zabuza, but then the blonde and the Uchiha step up and use a fire wind collaboration technique that created a huge flaming twister that killed off all the mercenaries. He claims they called it Firestorm. Not bad for a couple of genin. I'd like to see that technique for myself, to be honest. Gatō gets rescued by three special jōnin from Kusa, who he hired to protect him from assassins, no doubt in response to those rumors of that assassin killing slavers all over the place. Huh… get this, one of those three ninja is that massive runt Kuma from the Third War."

Rōshi raised an eyebrow. "Sleeper Kuma? That kid that made a name for himself taking out those assassins we sent to off those Kusa government officials? Often seen with Kakashi and Namikaze during the war? Damn. The brat was as big as me the last time I saw him, and he was only what, 14, 15 at the time? I hate to see how big he is now…"

"That goes double for me…" Ōnoki growled, remembering that he was not exactly well endowed in the vertical department. Anything that reminded him that he was short was often dealt with via… excessive means. "The Uchiha passes out due to exhaustion and the girl on the team is tasked with healing him, keeping an eye on the Hyōton user, and guarding the bridge builder. Kakashi, the blonde, and Zabuza on the other hand decide to get at Gatō and both sides go at it. Kakashi vs. Kuma, Zabuza vs. some sword user that Tazuna can't remember the name of, and the blonde vs. some blue haired kunoichi with nice breasts that apparently used poison attacks. Apparently the fights weren't even a contest and the Kusa-nin all got beaten badly. Even the brat completely shot down the woman."

"The kid took down a special jōnin by himself? Not bad." Whistled Rōshi. "What happens after that?"

Ōnoki shook his head. "Unfortunately the bridge builder's recollection of what happens next is too hazy to decipher. He must have been really drunk when interviewed or under a genjutsu when the rest happened, because he tried to remain quiet afterwards. When we did manage to get him to talk, he went on about some giant tiki head named toot-toot or something showing up on the bridge before falling off the edge." Both old men sweat dropped.

"That sounds like a memory scrambling genjutsu to me." Rōshi said out loud.

"That's what everyone else thinks, too." Ōnoki agreed. "The rest is how you would guess. Gatō died somehow. The bridge is completed. Wave parties like never before, and Zabuza and the fake hunter, who is apparently his adopted daughter and apprentice Haku, travel with the Konoha-nin and join their ranks. Funny side note, though. It seems that after the group left, the people from Wave named the bridge after the kid."

Rōshi snorted. "Damn. I wonder if the kid knows how lucky he is to have his name engraved on something other than his eventual grave. Anyways, what else do you have on him?"

Ōnoki sighed as he took out the blonde's public profile and the data his spies have given him. "Nothing much. He acts like any other brat his age should, just a bit more energetic. He loves training, ramen and his friends. Hates the time it takes to cook ramen, perverts, and ignorant jerks. Apparently he's a chronic prankster… he made his own pranking technique…?" Ōnoki paused as he took out a picture of said technique, only to have blood gushing from his nose moments later and pass out hanging out of his carriage.

"Ōnoki!" Rōshi yelled out, getting the attention of everyone in the caravan and causing everyone to stop. Rōshi grabbed his friend and examined him carefully, almost to face fault immediately afterwards when he saw a perverted grin and blush on the man's face. Knowing full well what could happen, the jinchūriki took the picture that was still in Ōnoki's hand and looked at it.

The last thing Rōshi saw before he passed out was the picture of a beautiful whiskered pigtailed blonde bombshell completely naked and posing for the camera.

On that day, Naruto inadvertently and unknowingly claimed his third victory over a Kage, the first two being Gaara and Sarutobi.

o. o. o.

In a hotel room in Konoha:

Gaara blinked as Baki explained the plans for the invasion. 'Why do I feel as if I should be patting someone sympathetically on the back right now?'

"It is all Kazekage-sama's will…" Baki stated in front of his charges, all of whom were unsettled in their own way… well, Baki believed he could tell that Gaara was unsettled, at least. "Suna will join Oto and invade Konoha. This is an upper A-class, potentially S-class mission. Understand the importance…"

Temari was taking the news worst out of the three, despite her seniority, and was gritting her teeth. "But why a war now!? It took so much time and sacrifice to create the alliance agreement! If we break it now, the death toll will be enormous!"

Baki sighed. "Temari, we are shinobi. In the end, shinobi are nothing but tools of war. The alliance itself was an object that threatened our existence. You genin don't know about it that well, but the wind country's foolish Daimyō used the alliance as a reason to forcibly weaken the military strength of Suna. Because of the alliance agreement, the Daimyō, putting his entire faith in Konoha, sent our clients to them and began to drastically cut back our funding… all because it was cheaper." Baki grew depressed. "When the head is stupid, we the hands and legs suffer. For our village to keep up, we had to raise the ability of each individual shinobi." He looked at Gaara. "It's why shinobi like you were created, Gaara." Gaara said nothing. Baki continued. "Right now, the existence of the Land of Wind itself is in danger. Kazekage-sama, fearing the weakening of Suna, has decided to join forces with Oto and teach our foolish Daimyō the danger the country is in. To do that, we will measure our strength by taking down Konoha. If any more time passes, Suna will lose all ability to fight Konoha." He turned to Gaara. "We're counting on your work, Gaara…"

Gaara didn't say anything.

Several hours later, Gaara was sitting on the roof of the hotel, looking at the moon silently. "… are you concerned with something, Temari?"

Said blonde moved out of the shadows and approached her brother. For some reason, Gaara seemed older than she was these days. "… I… want to know what you think about this…" Temari hesitated. "You… seem to know more than we give you credit for these days…"

Gaara closed his eyes for a moment. "You are scared…" He mused, catching his sister off guard. "… and concerned for those that live here as well as for those from Suna…" He turned to his sister, who was shocked at his observation. "… it's not hard to figure out. You have been on edge ever since Baki told us of the entire plan."

Temari blinked before sighing and approaching Gaara slowly, somehow being more comfortable now than she was seconds before. "Hehe. I'm that easy to read, huh?"

"Yes." Gaara replied bluntly, causing the girl to twitch her eyebrow irritably before taking a deep breath to calm her nerves.

"I guess so. I mean, it's war that we're talking about. I know we've all killed before, but never on this scale. Baki-sensei told us that in the end, we're tools, but…"

"We aren't tools… don't ever think that you are one." Gaara interrupted, much to his sister's surprise. "We always have a choice in the matter, despite what our jobs entail. After all, we are human before we become shinobi…"

"G-Gaara?" Temari stammered, never hearing her brother speak like that before.

Gaara's eyes narrowed. "It's too convenient…" He mused.

"Wh-what?" Temari asked in a daze.

"The invasion…" The redhead explained. "Suna has been steadily decaying for several years and has been looking for a way out of its slump, but when all hope seems lost, a new village appears out of nowhere and offers us a way out. It's too convenient… and stupid at the same time. Should we go through with the plan, we risk setting off another great shinobi war. In our condition, even if the invasion is a success, we would not be able to hold off any of the other shinobi nations should they decide to invade Suna in the aftermath. This entire plan is a mistake…"

Temari stared at Gaara with wide eyes. Everything Gaara had said had made perfect sense now that she thought about it. Even with a best case scenario, Suna would still be sufficiently weakened for an extended period of time. If their goals were to strengthen Suna, and if its current condition was as bad as Baki said, then going to war in their current condition was one of the worst possible choices to make, period. Especially if the one they were going to war against was their village's largest supporter and ally. At this point, Temari was drawing a blank. So much had been exposed to her in the past few hours that she could not handle any form of intense thinking.

"Temari…" Gaara said as he continued to gaze at the moon, snapping his sister out of her delirium. "Sit…"

Before she even realized it, Temari was on the roof, willingly sitting closer to Gaara than she had ever done so before. "What… happened to you?" Temari asked curiously. "You're never this…"

"Peaceful?" Gaara finished in a monotone voice. "I… have changed since coming here… You could say I have become more aware of the world… how things should be…"

"O…kay…" Temari said slowly, not understanding her youngest brother at all.

Gaara was quiet for a few more minutes as he contemplated something deeply. "… Father should not have been made Kazekage…" He said dryly.

"Wh-what?" Temari stammered out in a surprised tone.

"He does not have the necessary qualities to become one." Gaara continued. "He was put into office during the Third War because the Third went missing and we stretched our forces thin searching for him. Father was put into office near the end due to his prowess in battle and his skills as a tactician, but outside of war, he has little to offer Suna. If I remember correctly now, I believe I walked past his office while the Daimyō was visiting and heard them arguing over the financial support and deals regarding Suna several years ago. I do not remember everything, but I do recall the Daimyō claiming that father's proposals were completely ludicrous, and called him a fool for believing that he would agree to such a proposition. He demanded that father make a more reasonable agreement soon between Suna and the government. Otherwise, he would start cutting our funds and outsourcing our missions to Konoha." Gaara paused. "… I believe it was around the time that father stopped using his advisors, claiming that they impeded his work." Temari's eyes widened even further.

To be honest, Gaara was not lying, nor was he telling the truth. He did in fact remember occasionally walking past his father's office and hearing him argue with the Daimyō when he was younger, but that was as far as he got concerning his distorted childhood memories. The Fourth was never one to use seals of any kind, so overhearing his conversations was not terribly difficult. He DID, however, come across his father's notes when he took office. Apparently, his 'parent' desired an incredibly large raise when it came to jobs coming from the Land of Wind's government, while still paying the shinobi performing them the same wages. Obviously, the Daimyō refused and countered with his own alternative, which landed Suna where it was today.

Somehow, the Kazekage had managed to twist the truth in order to gain more support. Judging from his predecessor's private notes, it was clear that the man was trying to arm Suna to the teeth before starting his campaign on some of the nearby countries. With his initial plan failing and Suna crumbling, the Fourth Kazekage became desperate as more questions begun to be asked about the financial situation… that was when Orochimaru appeared. His father was indeed a talented individual when it came to managing soldiers and organizing battle, but that was where the line was drawn for the man.

"Wh-what should we do then…?" Temari asked, scared out of her mind. "There's no way anyone would believe us, and even if they did, we would be executed for treason…"

"We will do nothing…" Gaara mused. "The wheels have already begun to turn. The best thing to do is wait and see what happens…"

"But…" Temari countered.

"Temari…" Gaara interrupted. "The best thing we can do for everyone… is to wait and see what happens."

Temari's breathing slowed as she realized that Gaara knew something she didn't.

Gaara noted his sister's distress before sighing and getting up. "… I heard that the Konoha genin are coming back from their training three days before the exam starts…" He droned before walking to the edge of the roof, seemingly ignoring Temari's reaction. "… I believe that it would be something you would be interested in knowing…"

o. o. o.

The next day, at a nearby park:

The two words that best described Hanabi Hyūga that day were confused and frustrated, and in no small amounts either.

The previous week, after her family started to become more confusing than it already was, Waltz had introduced the girl to the grandson of the Third Hokage, Konohamaru Sarutobi, and his two friends Moegi and Udon. To say that their behavior was immature was like saying her father was only mildly intimidating. The three yelled all the time and argued with each other constantly, only to forget what they were talking about a few minutes later and start talking about something else, only to repeat the process.

She was also frustrated every time they decided to play ninja. It was ridiculous! The only one of the three that had any idea of what a shinobi should be doing was Konohamaru, and even then he was nowhere close to her level! She had expressed her opinion on the game more than once, but the three replied simply that they knew that, they were just making the best of what they knew already to prepare themselves for later on and have some fun in the meantime.

That being said, it should be noted that whenever teams were formed, there were often fights to see which side got Hanabi seeing as her team almost always won. The only times she lost was when she was up against everyone else, or when she was against Konohamaru. For some reason, the boy would come up with the oddest and most random plans she had ever seen... unfortunately, many of them involved one or more of the three using the Transformation Technique to turn into well-endowed women in an attempt to trick or surprise the girl. The only real thing that surprised her was that all three of them could use the technique so efficiently. Even she had trouble transforming into people that didn't look misshapen or deformed in some way. Most of the plans more often than not backfired, though, but even she would admit that a good number of them would have worked had Konohamaru and whoever he was working with at the time kept quiet and not done something stupid in the process. Oddly enough, they were quickly getting better, and they all listened to her carefully whenever she lectured to them about whatever stupid mistake they had done at the time. Still, even though she pretended it was annoying, she felt somewhat good whenever the three argued about who had her on their team. All three of them openly admitted that Hanabi knew more about being a ninja then they did and was clearly better than them at it, too… though Konohamaru made a habit to not use those exact words when he said it…

Then there was Konohamaru's instructor Ebisu. Honestly, the man just annoyed her. He constantly acted as if he knew everything, and when they (mostly her and Konohamaru) point out something that made him wrong, he would simply brush it under the rug and pretend like it never happened. It was awfully similar to the way some of her clan members acted, and she was starting to see why people didn't think much of her clan when it came to personality.

"Hey Hanabi! Earth to Hanabi!" Konohamaru yelled as he waved his hand in front of the girl's face. "Are you even awake?"

"Hm?" Hanabi replied as she snapped out of her delirium. The four had been resting in the park after they had just played a rather hectic and wild game of play ninja where Konohamaru strayed from his standard tactics and transformed into a stone instead of a potential porn star. Hanabi made it a habit to not use her Byakugan when she was playing so she wouldn't have an unfair advantage, so she was shocked when Konohamaru appeared out of nowhere from behind and ambushed her. "What? Sorry, I wasn't paying attention."

"Just like earlier…" Giggled Moegi, who had made it a habit to make small jabs at Hanabi in order to get her used to it… and because she was a bit jealous of another girl hanging around Konohamaru.

"No, I was just really awesome today." Konohamaru smirked. "But I was asking you about who you think is going to win the Chūnin Exams. I for one know that Naruto-nii is going to win. No one can beat him if he tries hard enough… other than Ero-nii, but he's crazy and super strong, so he doesn't count."

Hanabi snorted. "I highly doubt that. My sister is going to win the tournament. She's a Hyūga and she beat Neji-nii-san, who is a genius, easily. There's no way she can lose."

Konohamaru smirked. "Like how there was no way that you could have lost today's game?" He savored Hanabi's frustrated glare before continuing. "Naruto-nii is Ero-nii's personal punching bag! There's no way he didn't survive all that training without learning at least a million cool tricks from the guy! I even spied on them once during their training!"

That had Hanabi's attention. It was well known what Ghost was capable of doing, but almost no one knew what the hell his - or any of the other Ōgakari clan member's, for that matter - fighting style was. Sure, there were speculation and guesses… and whatever Gai yelled when asked, but to be honest, no one takes him seriously unless he's on a mission or talking about Lee's future. "Oh? And how strong are they?"

Konohamaru grinned confidently. "Heheheh. Hanabi-chan, I would bet that those two could even beat grandpa. They moved so fast that I couldn't even follow their movements, and they slashed at each other with the coolest weapons I have ever seen! Even the ones at the shops or the ones Grandpa showed me in the hidden confiscated storage area looked weak compared to them! The only sword or kunai I've ever seen that compares to them is the Old Giant's sword!"

The Old Giant Konohamaru was talking about was Waltz Ōgakari. Not long after he had started coming to the park, the children started to take notice of him and his odd appearance. It wasn't long before they started to wonder what to call the kind old man, and soon afterwards the Old Giant became Waltz's latest nickname among the youth.

"Humph." Hanabi pouted, trying to maintain the higher ground in the conversation. "So what? Nee-san received special training from Ghost-san too, you know. He has even said that she is better than that blonde in taijutsu. There is nothing that is stronger than our clan's Jūken…"

"Forgive me if I am wrong, Hanabi-sama, but didn't the Ōgakari clan defeat an entire room of Jūken users without even raising a finger?" Ebisu asked as he walked towards the children. Ever since the man came in contact with Naruto and saw the change in Konohamaru's personality, he had been more lenient on the boy and often acted as a supervisor as he and his friends played in the park. The Hyūga clan was confident in his ability to protect their second heiress since he was already tasked with guarding the Hokage's grandson. The special jōnin had also in his spare time been brushing up on his physical conditioning due to his less than adequate ability to keep up with 4 children at once. "It is not always the strongest, the fastest, or the deadliest who win in a fight between shinobi. By nature, we are quiet, efficient, and tricky. All it would take is one good plan to assure victory."

Hanabi glared at the tutor, instinctively activating her dōjutsu in her anger. "Are you saying that you think that my sister is going to lose in her fights?"

Ebisu frowned. "Hyūga-sama, it is unbecoming for one such as you to activate your bloodline for such petty reasons." Hanabi faltered as her eyes deactivated instantly. It was extremely disrespectful and dishonorable for a Hyūga clan member to activate their eyes in public, especially if it was out of personal anger. This was one of the few Hyūga clan rules that was publicly known throughout the Elemental Nations, and as such was easily pointed out when a Hyūga did in fact break it. "… but to answer your question, no, I do not think your sister will win her fights, but I do not think she will lose them either. You can claim who has an advantage over who all you want, but the matches will decide the outcome regardless of what people think. That is why fights between shinobi are so interesting. Despite what you know about who is fighting, the winner isn't always who you would expect it to be."

"Yeah, yeah. Shinobi are unpredictable and all that stuff." Konohamaru brushed aside the man's lecture like pretty much every other speech he has ever given the boy. "More importantly, who do YOU think is going to win sensei?" The sudden question prompted all four children to stare at the unfortunate man intently.

Ebisu paused and started to sweat profusely. To be perfectly honest, Ebisu had put down a small sum of money on Naruto to win the entire thing earlier that day simply because he knew that the boy had become a true force to be reckoned with on the battlefield from what he had hear from Kakashi and the other teachers in that group. Plus, it didn't help that the boy could pull off elaborate pranks on all the clan compounds astonishingly easily, showing everyone his ability to plan accordingly to various situations. He had also put a small sum on Sasuke's name, too… just in case.

Obviously, he couldn't say that in front of Konohamaru and his friends. That would be irresponsible of him to do, and he was above that (… but apparently not above betting on potential fights to the death between teens and preteens). "Ah…" The man stalled as he desperately tried to think of what to say to get himself out of this mess without having one or more of the children trying to kill him or each other. "Who I think would win the Exams… doesn't matter." He said carefully, confusing the children. "That's because even if the one I am thinking of did happen to have the best chance of winning, that does not necessarily mean that he… or she would win. If the tournament was run ten more times with the same odds, the only bet I would confidently put my money on would be that the winner would be a different person winning the entire thing almost every time. If you cannot understand this, then you are not yet ready to be a ninja."

"What?!" Konohamaru roared angrily. "How dare you say that I'm not ready to be a ninja yet! Just you wait! I'll have you groveling under my strength and begging Konohamaru-sama for forgiveness before you know it!"

"You still didn't answer our question…" Growled Hanabi, who was well acquainted with tactics to divert conversation from her family. Ebisu started to sweat even more now.

Time for plan B.

"If I remember correctly, Naruto-san and Hinata-sama are fighting each other first in the Exams… why don't you simply wait and see who wins that match to find out the results?"

"Stop avoiding the question, you poor excuse for a…" Hanabi started to threaten when she was cut off by Konohamaru.

"Really!? That's awesome!" Konohamaru yelled before turning his attention to Hanabi again. "We don't even have to wait to see who's right! Besides, I changed my mind Ebisu-sensei. I don't want to know who you think is going to win. You're wrong most of the time when it comes to these things anyways. You probably chose someone stupid like Sasuke anyways, just like everyone else."

Ebisu gaped at Konohamaru while Hanabi just stared at him incredulously and Moegi and Udon giggled at their leader's statement. Once again, Konohamaru's short attention span had just saved everyone a massive headache by giving them a big one instead.

Ebisu somehow regained his composure first and cleared his throat. "Ahem, while I do not appreciate that comment, Konohamaru, there are other things to do today. I am afraid I must take all of you back to your families now due to events that we must attend later today."

"Awwww." Moaned Konohamaru's group. Hanabi only looked a little depressed at the news. Her family training prevented her from showing the full scope of her emotions that often, but she was preoccupied with what Ebisu had just told her.

Who would win between a fight between Naruto and her sister?

o. o. o.

In the training grounds again:

"Are you kidding me?!" Anko asked Shadow incredulously.

"Nope. Dead serious… Ghost can turn into a cat. It's probably the main reason why the Inuzuka dogs don't like him that much. It's probably because of that that he hasn't told you or Hana about it yet, either." Shadow giggled. "He got the power when Scab was in the middle of one of his mad scientist phases a long time ago. He owed Scab a couple hundred favors, so he ended up as a guinea pig for the experiments. Actually, he gave everyone else in the family aside from me an animal form after Ghost finally started to survive the conversions consistently. Scab can turn into a wolf, Waltz can turn into a hawk, and Crypt… well, originally he could turn into a crow, but sometime afterwards it was changed to a chicken…"

Anko blinked. "… is that why you're not allowed to say De… umph!"

Shadow was on top of Anko's shoulders with both arms over her mouth. "We speak not of the DCD when Crypt could be nearby. It is too dangerous…" She hissed with wide eyes.

"Duly noted…" Spat out Anko as she removed Shadow from her face. "… so back to Ghost turning into a cat…" She mused, slowly developing an evil grin.

"Wait, hold on…" Shadow ordered gleefully as she took out a pad and pen. "Okay, now go…"

Anko paused as she looked at Shadow before taking out a notebook and a pen herself slowly. "… you have a 'horrible things to do to Ghost' notebook too?"

Shadow looked at Anko with stars in her eyes. "Where have you been all my life?"

o. o. o.

Elsewhere:

Ghost paused as he walked on top of the small lake. "I feel a disturbance. It's as if an infinite number of people are laughing and pitying me to the best of their abilities at once… and that many more are screaming at me to run very… VERY far away. As time passes the voices become louder and louder and more urgent… and apparently more vulgar as well… HEY I HEARD THAT YOU ASSHOLE!"

"Ummm Ghost-san? Are you all right?" Haku asked as she paused in the middle of her seals.

"Hm? Oh yeah, I'm fine Haku. I'm just sensing my imminent doom… most likely because Shadow and Anko probably just found out that they both are capable of making a sport out of torturing and/or maiming me." Ghost shrugged as he walked to the middle of the lake near where she was.

"… right…" Haku sighed as she finished the sequence of seals, causing a dome of ice mirrors to surround Ghost. "I must thank you again for aiding me in my training to perfect my ice mirror technique. Zabuza-sama is not fast enough to deal with it, yet we are both aware that I am still not as good with it as I should be…" Haku stepped into one of the mirrors, causing her reflection to be shown on all of them moments later.

Ghost shrugged. "No problem, Haku. To be honest, I've been getting a bit rusty myself when it comes to dodging large amounts of small attacks from all sides. Besides, your progress is nothing to scoff at. I have to be at 50% in order to follow all your attacks in here these days, and that is not an easy thing to do…." He relaxed his body as Haku readied herself. "Speaking of your speed, though, have you ever thought of trying to create a longer lasting mirror? One that stays behind after you leave?" The man swiftly started to move as if in a dance as Haku's senbon hailed from all directions, dodging them all seemingly effortlessly.

"The thought has crossed my mind before, but I discarded the idea due to the fact that they would prove to be inefficient when in battle, as my normal mirrors consume less chakra and do the job done just fine…"

Ghost shook his head as he cartwheeled in a random direction to dodge another flurry of needles. "I'm not talking about fighting purposes. I'm talking about fast traveling purposes, like if you need a quick escape or something. Make a hidden mirror as a permanent fixture… kinda like how earth user's techniques are there after the jutsu has ended. Then if you get into a bind, you make a mirror near you and instantly pop up 20 km away. It's not like these things are easy to break, after all… now that I think of it, though, can you take other people with you in your mirrors?"

Haku shook her head before throwing some more needles. "Unfortunately, no. I have attempted many times before we crossed paths in Wave with the occasional bandit that was foolish enough to try to mug Zabuza-sama and me. To keep things short, I believe that only those with the Hyōton bloodline are able to travel between mirrors. As for your proposition for a modified mirror… I believe it does have some merit now… I don't believe it will take me that long to complete, now that I think about it seriously…"

"It shouldn't be that hard, since you managed to create that other technique in two months. What was it called again?" Ghost asked as he flipped and wove himself in midair dodging more needles within a hair's breadth of his body. "Hyōton: Hoppōryūno Biyoku (Ice style: Tail of the Northern Dragon), right?"

Haku nodded before putting on a smile that unnerved the man before doing some one handed seals and sticking her other arm out to her side. Said arm was slowly accumulating ice along its entire length. "Yes, you are correct, Ghost-san. In fact, just recently I have even managed to perform it while maintaining my ice mirrors…" Ghost paled dramatically as the final product was pointed directly at him from every mirror, and slowly emerged from each membrane.

"… this is revenge for when I replaced Zabuza's wrappings with toilet paper in public and all those times I made jokes about your sexuality, isn't it?" He whimpered. Looking down to his dismay, he discovered that Haku had managed to freeze the lake's surface while he wasn't paying attention, preventing him from escaping below. "… I suddenly remember why I hate fighting ice manipulators."

"Yes, however, I was also asked to by a fair number of your… students as well, when they heard about what I was planning…" Haku smiled innocently. "Besides, you are the best person to test this combination on anyways. If I can hit you with this technique, then I am able to hit anyone…"

Ghost wept as his shoulders slumped in defeat. "Then by all means, take my impending screams of mercy and pain as a sign of flattery and a job well done."

o. o. o.

In a private meeting room in the Hokage's tower:

"Thank you for meeting me here on such short notice." Scabbard bowed politely to the various people in front of him.

"I am curious as to what is so important that you have us all meet here so quickly." Shibi Aburame mused out loud while sitting in the back of the room and trying to calm down his insects due to Scabbard's presence.

"Whatever it is, I'm already not liking it." Grumbled Tsume.

"Hell, I'm just surprised that I'm actually here. I'm not exactly a large member of the village's political scene." Nervously commented Shiki Higurashi, Tenten's father.

"I believe that Ōgakari-san would not have gathered us here unless it was of the utmost concern." Hiashi mused sternly. "Their clan is a bit… rough around the edges, but they are not ones to do something like this unless they had a motive to do so."

Scabbard nodded as he looked around. The clan leaders of the Hyūga, Inuzuka, Aburame, Nara, Yamanaka, Akimichi, and Higurashi clans were situated in front of him. These clans would be a major factor in the fights to come. "… Thank you Hyūga-san." Scabbard bowed before straightening himself again. "The reason I have gathered you all here on such short notice is that we, and by that I mean my clan and Hokage-sama, believe it is time to inform you all of what is likely to occur during the Chūnin Exams in several weeks' time…" He paused as he looked at the reactions. Many were confused, some put on faces of concern, Shibi… well, even Scab has trouble trying to tell what's going on in the man's head at times, but none of the reactions were ones that he didn't expect. "… It seems as if you are aware of the current situation, Nara-san…" Scabbard mused, reading the facial expressions of the normally lazy man.

Shikaku raised an eyebrow while the other people in the room eyed him skeptically. "Shikamaru told you that I figured things out?"

Scabbard smiled lightly and shook his head. "No, I just knew better than to think you wouldn't figure it out by now, especially since Shikamaru was involved in the first place…"

Shikaku's eyebrow gave a halfhearted twitch as he glared into the Ōgakari's half opened lightning green eyes for several seconds. "… Tch… I really shouldn't be surprised by now…"

"What's going to happen during the exams?" Chōza asked curiously. "Does it have to do with Orochimaru?"

Scabbard nodded. "Yes. To be frank, during the Chūnin Exams, Orochimaru, who is the current leader of Otogakure, will invoke an invasion of Konoha, aided by forces from Suna."

"WHAT?!" Was the collective response from everyone in the room. They did not have to worry about spies, since Scab had sealed and checked the room beforehand.

Scabbard closed his eyes as he was bombarded with the obvious questions that would follow. "Before you get ahead of yourselves, please let me explain our current situation before we do anything." He said calmly as the voices died down.

"Explain my ass!" Tsume roared, in an almost too frantic way. Scabbard momentarily raised an eyebrow as he noted that the woman was more than likely hiding the fact that she knew most of what he had just said already. He would have to investigate this later. "We are being betrayed by our own ally, for fuck's sake! We should hit them first before…"

"Inuzuka-san… I said let me explain the current situation first…" Scabbard repeated dryly, causing some loud sparks of electricity to go off on his person to make sure his point was made clear. The woman stalled in mid-sentence before she sat back down again growling.

Scabbard sighed as he sat down in his chair and looked at each of the people in the room. "Because of the severity of the situation, several pieces of information will not be given to you in order to make sure that things go smoothly." He paused before continuing. "For now, I can tell you what the enemy is currently planning in order to give you a good idea of what is going to happen. During some point in the Chūnin Exams, Orochimaru will set off a signal to begin the invasion, and at the same time attempt to kill the Third. He will use four guards and a special sealing technique to prevent his fight from being interrupted. Do not worry about this, as my clan has already come up with a countermeasure for when this happens. I am informing you of this so that you are not distracted during the invasion." Scabbard frowned as he glared at his listeners to make them stayed quiet until the end of the summary.

"While this is happening, the enemy plans to place the entirety of the exam stadium's populace to sleep with a large scale genjutsu, and use Suna's jinchūriki, Gaara, who is in the finals, to unleash his bijū upon the village. This too has been planned for, and what the enemy does not know is that said jinchūriki is actually on our side. In fact, Orochimaru will betray Suna without them even knowing it before the invasion begins. We plan on informing them of this the morning of the third exam, pending on if we manage to obtain the right information from our other spy in Suna in time, and join forces against Oto. We have also sent hidden messages to Kusa and Taki to send some more forces under the guise of invitations for the Exams. It should be noted, however, that even if Suna joins us in the battle, we have received word that not only will the enemy be conjuring a boss-ranked snake summoning outside the village in order to take down the wall, but that it seems as if Orochimaru will be unleashing several of his… experiments upon the village as well."

Scabbard continued on to explain several more things about the invasion and about the experiments for several minutes as the people in front of him hardened their looks. "So this is what you were warning the elders about several weeks ago…" Hiashi mused.

"Why the HELL didn't you tell us about his earlier!?" Tsume growled. "We only have a couple of weeks to prepare for this correctly now!"

"It's because we have spies amongst us, Tsume." Shikaku replied. "Our precautions wouldn't mean jack shit if they knew that we know their current plan and decide to change it. Odds are, we're still are being watched by a good few right now…"

"But then what do we do?" Inoichi asked. "It's not like we can just tell our men what to do a couple of days before the invasion…"

"Actually, that exactly what I am planning on doing." Scabbard interrupted, getting odd looks from everyone in the room as he reached into one of his pockets and taking out a familiar device. "Do you remember these?"

Shibi nodded. "Yes, those are the radios that you have made for our shinobi, but I do not understand what you intend to do with them."

Scabbard put the device down. "Allow me to explain. Ever since Orochimaru appeared in the second exam, Hokage-sama has been organizing his ANBU to the best of his abilities around the village in order to obtain information. Unfortunately, due to the 'lack' of information, said troops have more or less been moving in random directions the entire time." He placed his hands around the radio set, and almost instantly the piece of equipment started to deconstruct itself in front of everyone's eyes. "You are also aware that I am very talented in the technological department. What you do not know is that I have outfitted all the radios to link together into one large channel that is linked to a main terminal inside a special room hidden inside this building, accessible only to me, my clan, and the Hokage. The radios also register who it is that they are linked to, their current health status, and where they are if they are in range of my signal. Please note that this information is labeled an S-ranked secret by the Hokage himself, allowing only himself and members of my clan to divulge this information. I have yet to use this function, as I have had no need or desire to do so; however, the case will be different when the invasion happens…"

"You plan to organize our shinobi and get live feedback from them at the same time…" Shikaku whispered. "That way, everyone will know what is happening near them and know where to go much faster than we originally could. That alone could turn the tides incredibly in our favor…"

Scabbard nodded. "I also have a… special map of Konoha set up in that room that will determine the danger levels of various portions of the village based on said feedback, also in real time." He turned to Shikaku. "Before the third exam, I will turn on this special function and point the various teams in the correct directions and manage the initial ambushes. The enemy will not expect our forces to change tactics so suddenly. No one is more surprised than those who were planning to surprise others in the first place. However, due to the fact that my clan will be targeted during the invasion for… disclosed reasons, I am placing Shikamaru in charge of managing the forces after a certain point. Hopefully before the actual invasion starts, as we have a good idea of which match it will start after, but there is a chance we could be wrong. I have already trained him how to use the equipment properly and have gone over multiple scenarios with him."

"Oi, isn't that a bit much?" Chōza asked in a concerned tone. "I mean, sure the kid is smart and all, but leaving our forces in the hands of a 12 year old is pushing it bit much…"

"I concur." Shibi buzzed. "It is too much responsibility to place on a chūnin hopeful…"

Shikaku remained quiet with his eyes closed for a few minutes before he opened them again. "… fine." He stated bluntly.

"What?" Shiki asked surprised. "Are you kidding me? We're talking about war here! There's no way your kid would be ready or be experienced enough to command where our forces go!"

"If these guys have already planned this far ahead for the invasion, then they must have good reason for picking Shikamaru, troublesome as it is. Plus, I have a feeling that my son is still hiding his true worth from everyone…"

"And then some, especially if he passes my sister's training." Scabbard finished for the man. "But we still have much to discuss, so if you have any more questions, ask them now."

Shiki hesitantly raised his large arm. "Yeah, um, what am I doing here? I mean, sure, my daughter is training with your kids, but I don't think it would be enough to warrant me being here…"

Scabbard shook his head. "On the contrary, Higurashi-san, you also play a large role in the upcoming battle. After all, who else will be able to sell an incredible volume of my and other clan wares to the shinobi populace other than my leading hardware sales partner?"

"Huh?" The man asked in a daze, much like everyone else in the room. Even the clan heads were not foolish enough to deny that the Scabbard's weapons were beyond exceptional in quality, durability, and practicality. However, only a couple of them figured out what Scabbard was talking about yet.

Scabbard smirked. "From now until three days before the exam, your store will be having a sale on all clan produced shinobi equipment. This includes weapons, armor and radios from my clan, sealed kunai and shuriken from your store, and medicinal equipment, soldier pills, and poisonous solutions from the Aburame, Yamanaka, Akimichi, and Nara clans. Say that there is a major discount for all Konoha shinobi of special jōnin rank and above in celebration of the upcoming exams. We can't start over producing our goods or give them out for free in case we start attracting attention from spies, but we can lure our shinobi into being better prepared under the guise of an amazing deal. You can use the fact that your daughter is in the Exams as an excuse for the lower prices as well if you want. If the action harms your accounts, I will personally reimburse you after the invasion."

"Impressive…" Hiashi mused. "And since we know of this, we can… suggest our clan members take advantage of such a bargain, regardless of our current stocks… and many of the other shinobi and clans in Konoha will take notice of our actions soon afterwards and follow suit…"

"Do our children know of the coming conflict?" Shibi asked sternly.

"Some do, others know that something big is going to happen during the exam, the rest just know that something is up but can't put their finger on it." Scabbard answered. "We plan on warning them to stay on guard during the Exams once they have finished their training. We have also long since assigned unofficial leaders for the entire group, ones that the others will listen to when they give out orders…"

"Hinata, Naruto, and Shikamaru." Hiashi answered without any hesitation, getting odd looks from his colleagues. "Ghost hinted as much when he ate at the clan compound before the exams. He claimed that all three of them were already special jōnin candidates in skill alone, if not in decision making."

Scabbard nodded. "True, however we have also decided that should those three be absent, that Sakura, Shino, Neji and Sasuke be the next in line to give orders. Are there any objections to this decision?" The listeners shook their heads. "Good, now there is one more thing that I must inform you all of. I am not going to explain my reasoning, however there are several individuals that are going to be present during the third exam, and thus the invasion, that deserve certain… notice." He took out several photographs and spread them around. "Rōshi, one of the personal guards of the Tsuchikage; Fū, one of the supporting jōnin from Takigakure; Gaara of the Desert, one of the Suna genin in the finals; Yugito Nii, a jōnin from Kumogakure." He paused as he noted the strained look on Hiashi's face. "These individuals are secret high priority shinobi. Should you see any one of them in danger of dying or being kidnapped at ANY time, even after the invasion, you are to rescue them if it is within your capabilities. I must note that if the ones fighting these people are wearing a black cloak with red clouds, you are to exercise EXTREME caution, as the mentioned opponents are all registered as S-class missing-nin."

The clan leaders froze as Scabbard released the information. "Wh… what?" Tsume asked incredulously. "There's… no way that can be right. I mean, why would they wear something as identifiable as that if they are S-ranked missing-nin? They should know better than that…"

"… it should be noted that up until 5 years ago, Orochimaru was part of said group…" Scabbard continued. "… and its current members include but are not limited to Kisame Hoshigaki, Sasori of the Red Sands, and Itachi Uchiha…"

One could hear a pin drop in the room without even trying at that point. "I…Itachi?" Breathed out Inoichi. Even 5 years after the incident, everyone knew and remembered what Itachi had done at the young age of 13. It was both impressive and horrifying at the same time, and the elder shinobi of Konoha knew that in the time since, he had most likely become even more powerful.

"That is most… unsettling…" Shibi commented nervously.

"I've heard of the other two as well." Frowned Shikaku. "If even half of what I know of them is true, then this group is more troublesome than originally thought."

Scabbard nodded. "The reason why they are dressed as such is because they are not aware of the amount of information we have on them. However, I am getting ahead of myself. Their organization will not make any large moves for several years still. I am merely informing you in case it happens in the near future. As of right now though, this information is also to be considered an S-ranked secret."

"Hold on." Inoichi interrupted as he looked at Rōshi's picture. "This guy is a guard for the Tsuchikage? Does that mean that Ōnoki is actually coming HERE to see the exams?"

Tsume started to growl. "That short fuck is coming? I still remember some of the things that bastard ordered during the war. He has a lot of nerve, bringing himself over here. Maybe this invasion could give us a good chance to…"

"You will do nothing to the Tsuchikage while he is within the borders of the Fire country, Tsume." Frowned Scabbard. "Nor will the rest of you. Unless you want to drag Iwa into this mess, you will NOT take any hostile actions against any Iwa-nin during their stay here unless they themselves have instigated such responses. Do I make myself clear? To be perfectly honest, I expected you to be more mature than this Tsume."

"Tch… fine." The woman growled.

"As long as they don't do anything suspicious I have no qualms about them being here." Chōza sighed.

"Why is Ōnoki coming here in the first place?" Inoichi asked curiously. "I mean, he's about as old as Hokage-sama if I remember correctly, and he is normally not one to go out on trips, let alone to the country that defeated his in the last war."

Scabbard sighed. "The Tsuchikage is coming because he has heard rumors regarding the latest batch of genin and their prowess on the battlefield. Normally, this would not warrant much concern, but with the son and daughter of the Kazekage participating, as well as seven prominent clan members, many of whom are heirs to the clans they belong to, it would take little to see that these Exams in particular will be very tempting to watch…"

"… I wonder if those are the only reasons…" Shikaku muttered under his breath.

"…I for one am more concerned as to why there are Kumo shinobi entering the village…" Hiashi commented a bit darkly. "They are normally not ones to go out and visit other villages on a whim…"

"It is because I asked for her to come myself, Hiashi-san." Scabbard replied. He glared at the man dead in the eyes to prove his point. "The reason why she must be protected is the same reason why I have asked her here for the Exams. I have little doubt that she will survive the invasion, and this is the best opportunity for her to come here and speak with… others that are involved in the situation she is in. I trust you and your clan will not do anything foolish should any of its members cross paths with her or anyone she came here with. Should she herself be the instigator, I will take responsibility for anything that would happen. You should remember that your entire clan is sealed now, so your bloodline is not in danger of being stolen anytime soon."

"I will keep that in mind…" Hiashi replied sternly.

"Can we get back to the invasion, though? You know, the one that will hit our home in a matter of weeks?" Tsume growled irritably.

"Of course." Scabbard nodded. "Allow me to go into detail into the various situations that will present themselves, as well as the most likely scenarios that will occur…"

o. o. o.

Back at the compound:

Shino breathed heavily as he completed his final lap around the grounds. It was bad enough that he had to do this with Gai and Lee, but being under the constant threat of being punished if he didn't complete the exercise in a certain amount of time by Shadow was almost too much for the boy. His only salvation was that he had somehow managed to figure out how to store sugars and other energy providing chemicals in his body via his insects, so technically speaking, he had the most stamina in his age group next to Lee and Naruto. The running itself was just a very sadistic way of teaching how to manage his reserves properly and increasing his natural stamina.

Still attempting to catch his breath, Shino walked over to a group of rocks where Shikamaru was busy meditating quietly in the shade. He would have passed for sleeping had his face not have a hard expression on.

"THE FLOOR DEMANDS A SACRIFICE! BRING FORTH THE VIRGIN HOT POCKETS!"

"THAT'S IT CRYPT! YOU ARE GOING BACK IN THE CAGE!"

"At least it never gets dull here…" Sighed Shikamaru.

"Indeed." Shino agreed as he sat near the Nara.

"How's your training been so far?" Shikamaru asked.

"I believe I have made sufficient progress." Shino breathed out heavily. "And you?"

Shikamaru yawned. "It's been troublesome, but I think I've finally gotten the hang of what I'm supposed to be doing…"

Shino raised an eyebrow. "And what would that be?"

Shikamaru smirked. "Sorry. I'm keeping it a secret for now, otherwise that troublesome woman would be down both our throats with her claws out."

Shino shivered at the thought of invoking Shadow's wrath. "I… do not doubt that would be an option in her mind. She is rather… creative."

The two were silent for several minutes as they gathered their thoughts.

"… I heard that you've been sneaking around a lot lately." Shikamaru sighed, startling Shino. "… you suspect something is going on, but you don't know what." He looked at the Aburame. "Ghost told me." He stated bluntly, answering a good number of Shino's questions right off the bat.

"I assume this means that you know what is happening?" Shino asked inquisitively, somehow hiding his anticipation.

"Yeah…" The Nara replied in a somber tone. "Actually, I think it's about time that I tell you some things, anyways. You are, after all, one of the most logical among us…"

o. o. o.

Somewhere in the Ōgakari clan home:

"Do you think it is wise to not inform them of what Orochimaru would most likely do during the invasion? I have left the question alone long enough. Orochimaru has more than likely heard that the Hyūga's seal has been cracked by us. The odds of someone dying if we leave things be are…" Scabbard frowned as he sat in front of several piles of raw material.

"That's exactly why we're not telling them, Scab." Ghost frowned as he yanked several more ice needles out of his body. It had been several hours since Haku had made him a living frostbitten hedgehog and only recently had his body temperature risen enough that he wouldn't get any permanent damage from removing the needles. "Arg! Damn it, Haku! I can understand stabbing me to kingdom come, but did you have to make all of them sink in so deep?"

Scabbard sighed as another dozen swords slowly materialized in front of him. "Considering how you treat your… students, yes, I believe the punishment fit the cause." He paused as his face hardened again. "What are you planning? You do not normally take such a risk without some secret backup to make sure things don't end up in a worst case scenario."

Ghost smirked darkly as he reached for another cluster of ice. "The brats don't know what war is like, Scab. The ones that remember have faced up against obscenely tough opponents, and had their home reduced to a crater, but they were knocked out or out in the woods when the invasion hit last time." The air grew cold around the men, and it wasn't because of the ice on Ghost. "They have yet to see what horrors can come from large groups of mildly powerful individuals. They have yet to see their homes fall apart all around them from not one or two strong opponents, but swarms of men and women who would like nothing more than to see them dead. They have not yet seen something go horrendously wrong in an already extremely bad situation. Is this the safest decision? Fuck, no. Is this the only way they will realize what the world can become? Yes." He yanked out another dozen needles without flinching. "If that brat wants to be a Hokage, or any kind of leader in a shinobi driven world, he has to see it at its worst in order to understand and deal what he is truly asking for. Otherwise, he will not last long at all…" Ghost's stern expression softened a bit. "Otherwise, he'll just get betrayed by his dream, like Archer…"

Scabbard didn't say anything as he faced his weapons and raw materials. Both men didn't have to say anything more on the subject in order to convey what they thought about the situation or their good friend. "… you still have yet to tell me what your precautions are…" The man finally stated after a good 5 minutes of nothing but the sound of electricity sparking around them.

Ghost sighed, yanking out some more needles. "Oh, Scabbard. I'm surprised you haven't figured it out yet. I mean, really." He shrugged. "What better way to surprise your opponents than to use a piece that they thought was taken already?" He paused as he looked at his body. "Uh… Scab? On a completely unrelated topic, could you get Waltz down here? I think some of my skin didn't thaw yet before I took out some of the needles. … Please hurry, I can see some damaged muscles… and the veins aren't bleeding, either... black isn't a good color for tissue, is it?"

o. o. o.

Omake:

Shadow's (And recently Anko's) How to torture Ghost journal entry:

How to get Ghost to do anything you want:

Required items:

1 Gas mask

N boxes of Chinese food.

X Rolls of toilet paper

(X and N are variables for desired effects. To see the proper ratio of each, please consult the table found in earlier entries)

Step1. Remove toilet paper from stalls and bathrooms in building Ghost is currently inside.

Step 2. Sneak up on Ghost and shove N boxes of Chinese food down his throat.

Step 3: Stay away from Ghost as he makes a beeline for the nearest (toilet paperless) bathroom. Please note that Ghost's reaction to step 2 is near instant, so it would be advisable to hold your breath immediately afterwards.

Step 4: Wait a minimum of half an hour to two hours in order for Ghost to move all his bowels.

Step 5: Put on gas mask.

Step 6: Hold current stash of toilet paper hostage in return for said task.

Step 7: Laugh and enjoy.

Please note that subjected bathroom will be in need of fumigation immediately afterwards, so it is best to do this at someone else's house.

o. o. o.

A/N:

Ugh. School.

I gotta study so I'll make this quick.

Manga: Sucking, but could get better if Kishi gets his head out of his ass. Anime: Still too early to tell. Could be interesting even if it is Filler.

The 3rd rounds will be in a couple more chapters. I'm trying to add in more plot so that I can think of more stuff.

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