Disclaimer

I, Syraxes, do not own the Naruto manga, Naruto anime, Naruto Shippuden anime, the Boruto manga or anime, video games or Naruto novels. They are property of Masashi Kishimoto and Studio Pierrot. I am a fan making this for the enjoyment of other fans. Please support the official release

Sakura ran forward and grabbed Sasuke, preventing him from falling to the ground. Naruto grabbed his other side. The black marks covering his skin turned red and began to recede. Sakura followed them with her eyes, watching as the Cursed Seal on his neck spun around, still confined within Kakashi-sensei's sealing jutsu.

Did Sasuke make that happen? Did he force the curse to recede?

From the way Kakashi-sensei talked about it, Sakura didn't think that would be possible. Kakashi-sensei had wasted no time in sealing it when Sasuke woke up-

Something hard connected to the side of Sakura's face. Sakura let go of Sasuke and stumbled away, grabbing the spot where the object had hit her. When she looked back, Sakura saw Mizuki standing over Sasuke's body.

"If I didn't have to hand you over to Orochimaru-sama, I would kill you! I can't take anymore of your chakra, or you might die. If that happened… well…."

Mizuki seemed to trail off, his eyes flashing towards her. Naruto was gone; Mizuki must have attacked him as well.

"You, on the other hand, are supposed to die here. Come here; let me take your chakra!"

"Not in this life!"

Before, Mizuki had completely out classed them in that monstrous form. Now he was injured, breathing heavily. He walked with a limp, as he moved towards her. He was weakened; he wasn't at full fighting capability. She had a chance; Sakura could take him in this state.

She sprinted forward at him, raising her kunai. It was only a feint though as she lowered her blade at the last second, ducking down and sliding under his feet. She quickly wove the familiar hand seals.

"Magen: Katachi."

She extended her senses until she felt her chakra touch his. Gently she layered the illusion, piece by piece. Mizuki turned around and the fake Sakura was standing there. When he attacked, his fast slammed through the illusion's body, effectively cutting her in half. The two halves of her body wrapped around his arms and legs, pinning him.

"A Genjutsu again?"

Sakura didn't answer him; she quickly stepped forward, her kunai aiming for his eyes. Before she could get too close, she felt her Genjutsu break and he swung his arm at her, slamming Sakura in the stomach. She was thrown back through the trees. She reached out, pushing her chakra through her hand and grabbed onto one of the tree trunks. She stopped herself and leaned down, catching her breath.

"Come on out! You can't hide forever!"

He circumvented my Genjutsu quicker than I-

Something touched her shoulder and Sakura quickly turned around, her kunai pressed against the person's neck. Naruto stared back at her, a smile on his lips.


"You're quite the pest, Jiraiya," Orochimaru commented, as their kunais connected again. "Why don't you go the same way as Enma and disappear?"

When Saratobi-sensei sent the monkey after him, it wasn't long before Enma was joined by his son and Jiraiya. Though the two monkeys seemed to have abandoned him in his fight, the summoning jutsu that had brought them there broke and returned them to wherever the monkeys lived. Which left Orochimaru to conclude that Saratobi-sensei had finally bitten the big one. Orochimaru had wanted to see the results of his hard work, but the ever present fool Jiraiya seemed to delight in keeping him here.

"And miss the chance to catch up with my old friend? It's been so long since we've had time to talk."

Orochimaru dodged Jiraiya's Rasengan, kicking him in the back. Using his moment of free time, Orochimaru scanned the rooftop, spotting Minato kneeling on the ground over Saratobi-sensei's body.

Jiraiya came back with a vengeance, pushing Orochimaru temperately on the defensive. Orochimaru, jumping over his leg sweep, was able to put some distance between himself and Jiraiya. He quickly made the seal, focusing on Minato and Kushina, ordering his two puppets to kill Jiraiya. Orochimaru had been trying to summon them since Enma, Kong, and Jiraiya had gotten in between him and Saratobi-sensei. Neither had replied to his command, which he had written off as them being unable to escape Biwako and Saratobi-sensei.

Now though, there was nothing keeping Minato away from killing his sensei. Indeed, as Jiraiya was closing the distance, Minato appeared in between him and Jiraiya, appearing out of thin air over his specialized kunai.

"Truly a frightening jutsu, Minato-kun. Once we are finished here, I'll have to make you teach it to me. Now kill Jiraiya."

Orochimaru met Jiraiya's eyes and saw the anger in them. How sweet it would be to watch his buffoon of a teammate die at the hand of his favorite student.

Perhaps I shall wait for Kushina. The two of them together would be-

Orochimaru watched as Minato attacked; only it was directed towards him instead of Jiraiya. Orochimaru was able to jump away, just barely, before Minato's kunai slashed the air where his throat had been only a second before.

That was impossible. Orochimaru had set Minato's seal himself; the Namikaze should only be able to follow his orders and nothing more.

"What are you doing? I've given you no orders to attack me."

"I know. But I don't follow your orders anymore."

Orochimaru could hear Kushina approaching from behind. "That's impossible. I've given you orders to kill anyone who tried to mess with the seal in your head."

Saratobi-sensei and Biwako didn't have the knowledge in seal craft to affect the seals in his puppet. Jiraiya, given enough time to study them, might be able to break his formula, but not without that time. They were the only ones caught in his trap; no one else was inside the barrier.

So how?

Orochimaru stared at Minato, who met his eyes. Those startling blue eyes regarded him coldly, the same way they had since Orochimaru had brought him back. There was something different about his eyes now. His sclera was white. No reanimated person had white sclera.

It was Kushina's killing intent that gave her away, and temporally his attention away from Minato. Orochimaru jumped over Kushina, landing behind her. A kunai in her hand; had he not moved, it would be in his back by now. When she looked at him, Orochimaru noticed her sclera had become white as well.

"What happened to you?" Orochimaru demanded. His reanimation's were disobeying his orders; the black or grey sclera that they all had returned to the white color of the living. "It should be impossible for you to free yourself from the jutsu. Or to disobey my orders!"

"You're right; when I was dead, that was impossible." Minato slowly walked forward, standing by Kushina's side, staring at him. Flanked on his other side, Jiraiya had his arms crossed.

"'When I was dead'? What do you mean by that?"

In answer, Minato raised his hand.


"Are you okay?" Sakura whispered, taking her kunai away from his neck.

"Yeah. He came out of nowhere and the next thing I know, I'm sitting under a tree. I can't believe how easily he was able to get so close to us without us hearing him."

"Yeah, for such a big guy, he moves quickly. He's quiet too. We can't let him get the jump on us. Naruto, did you get a look at him after he attacked you?"

"No. Didn't get a look before he got me either."

"He's weak. I think Sasuke really did a number on him."

Naruto looked thoughtful. "How weak?"

Sakura repeated her observations. "What do you think? Strike now, hard and heavy?"

"And keep it up until we overwhelm him? Probably our best bet. We can't let him get a hold of us; if he does and drains our chakra, that would put us in a pretty bad spot. We stay away from the move, and attack from his blind spots if we can."

"DAMN IT!"

"That was Mizuki-sensei! Come on!"

Sakura followed Naruto into the branches. It didn't take them very long to find Mizuki. Sasuke was on his feet, an electric current running over his hands. Like Mizuki, he was breathing heavily and didn't appear to have too much energy.

Of course he can't go too hard on Sasuke. If Orochimaru wants him, Mizuki would be in trouble if he damaged him. That'll play in Sasuke's favor but it doesn't look like he'll be on his feet for very much longer.

She looked over at Naruto. He nodded. She held up her hand in a wait motion and wove the hand seals again.

"Magen: Katachi."

Once again, she weaved the illusion over him. Slowly, taking care not to make anything obvious. She erased any sound they made from the point they were coming from.

She nodded back. Naruto pulled out another kunai. Sakura slipped down from the tree, landing lightly on the ground. Naruto went for the more flashy approach and jumped over towards him, sinking his kunai in Mizuki's back. Sakura took that as her cue and sprinted forward. She slashed at his stomach, cutting into it while he had his focus on Naruto. He howled again and turned towards her. Sakura bolted away as Naruto attacked again.

She stopped at Sasuke, changing her direction and went to attack Mizuki from his right, cutting a gash in his leg. Naruto took advantage of his focus on her and attacked from his left.

Sasuke seemed to work out their strategy; as Sakura jumped at him from his left, Sasuke struck him from behind him, lower to the ground. Sasuke produced a superficial cut, but the roar he gave from Sasuke's cut seemed to indicate pain.

When Mizuki chose Sakura as a target and he reached out for her, Naruto came from behind, kicking his legs out from under him. Mizuki fell on his back with a thunk and groaned. Sakura kicked off from the branch of a tree, smashing against his stomach with her knees. The blood he coughed up hit her face. Sakura pulled out a kunai and drove it downward, right at his eye, for the killing blow.

"Wait."

A new voice spoke, as an old man walked out of the brush, two masked Anbu behind him.


Minato watched Orochimaru's face. The confusion turned to disbelief.

"You're bleeding? That's not... That's impossible. The reanimated don't bleed."

"You're right, they don't," Minato answered back pleasantly. He knew Jiraiya-sensei was confused, but right now, all of Minato's focus was on Orochimaru.

"Are you saying that you have somehow returned to life?"

Minato reached out and gently took Kushina's hand in his own. Her hand was warm.

"Yes. That's exactly what happened."

"How?" Orochimaru snarled.

"Hiruzen-sama, and his life transfer jutsu."

"Yes, Lady Biwako as well," Kushina chimed in.

"Life Transfer? So they gave you their own life?"

Minato gave him his most brilliant smile. "It would appear so. I can't feel your influence anymore. It sure feels like I'm alive again."

Unexpectedly, Orochimaru laughed; a deep, booming laugh. "I see. I would have never believed that was possible. To use the reanimation jutsu as a template to circumvent death. I should thank Saratobi-sensei for bringing this new possibility to my sights. Life transfer, huh? I suppose that does mean Saratobi-sensei is dead?"

Minato couldn't stop the peg of guilt that shot through him at that moment; it was his fault Hiruzen-sama was dead. It had cost him his life to restore Minato and that wasn't likely to be anything he would ever forget. He had paid the ultimate price. "He died with a smile on his face."

"A smile? A shame I couldn't have finished him myself, but I will have to settle for this. A whole new field of possibilities."

"Settle? You make it sound like you're walking out of here alive."

"I am."

"Not if I have anything to say about it."

Minato wasn't the kind of person to hold a grudge. He was more inclined to forgive and forget; allow bygones to be bygones. But Orochimaru was different; he had summoned Minato and his wife Kushina from the dead to use as puppets. Him and Kushina played a part in Hiruzen's and Biwako's deaths. They were partially responsible. He would never forgive Orochimaru for what he had done. Minato had no intention of allowing him to leave here alive.

"You die today Orochimaru."

Only a foot behind him, Minato could feel the seal on one of his kunai. It would only take him a second to appear over it; he could strike Orochimaru in that moment.

"I disagree."

Minato watched as he raised his hand, creating a one handed seal. Minato reached his senses out to the sealing formula on the kunai. The world around him was replaced by darkness, as his body was pulled through space-time. Only a second later, Minato was behind Orochimaru and he thrust his kunai forward into Orochimaru's back.

Minato felt the kunai connect to flesh, just for a moment, before Orochimaru vanished.

That wasn't Shunshin. He just disappeared. A space-time Ninjutsu?

However he did it, Orochimaru had escaped. Damn it!

"Minato!" He looked up in time to see Kushina throw herself at him. He reached out, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her in close. The last thing Minato could remember before waking up in Orochimaru's base was throwing himself in between the Nine-Tails and his son Naruto. His son Naruto...

Jiraiya-sensei walked slowly up behind Kushina, his lips curved up into a smile. Like always, Jiraiya-sensei's smile could light up the whole world. Warm and safe as it had always been.

"Minato, welcome back."

His voice was hoarse, quiet. Like he couldn't believe what was happening. Minato understood how he felt; when he threw himself in between Naruto and the Nine-Tails, he knew that was the end of it. He would die for his son and he did it gladly. But now, Minato had been given a second chance at life. He could live with Kushina, the love of his life. He couldn't wait to see all his old friends again; how much have they changed since he died? And more than them, Minato wanted to see his son.

"Jiraiya, how is Naruto?"

Their son's name seemed to pull Kushina out of her thoughts. She quickly turned around and focused that intense stare at Jiraiya-sensei.

"He's good. He made Genin. He was put on Hatake Kakashi's team."

"Kakashi?" Minato pictured a young shinobi that had served under him in the war. The boy who he had inducted into the Anbu black ops. Imagining him with his own team of young shinobi, and one of them was his son.

"Can you tell us more?" Kushina asked.

"Not really. I haven't been able to spend too much time with the runt. I've been out on my mission... But I can say I saw him in person last week. He kicked me."

Kushina laughed.


Naruto recognized the old man at once; though what Elder Danzo was doing all the way out here, Naruto couldn't say. Nor could he say why the Elder wanted to keep Sakura from killing Mizuki.

Kakashi, during the training for the Chunin Exams, had made sure each one of them knew the command structure of the village by heart and what people occupied which position within the hierarchy. Elder Danzo was Jiji's right hand man, Kakashi had said. It came to matters that were far above his pay grade.

The now familiar sound of Mizuki's monstrous roar filled the air; Naruto quickly turned around and saw Mizuki back in his feet, his hands around Sakura's head, taking her chakra. Naruto cursed Elder Danzo and made the seal for his Shadow Clones, when the elder spoke up again: "Restrain him."

Naruto blinked as the two Anbu flashed past him, easily removing Sakura from his grasp. The two Anbu had Mizuki on the ground in a second, unconscious. What-

"The three of you did well here," Danzo said, slowly walking past Naruto. His eyes were focused on Mizuki.

"Did you watch us?"

"Yes. Since the beginning, I would say." Danzo stopped in front of Mizuki, looking down at him. Naruto could see his eyes weave over his body, examining him.

"Since the beginning?" Naruto asked. He could feel the anger rising; Sasuke was on the ground, exhausted from whatever the Curse Seal had done to him. Sakura wasn't in much better shape, with the way Mizuki had used her like a punching bag. And Naruto could feel the cuts, bruises, and other wounds littering his body; the fox would heal him, of course, but that wasn't the point. They had been fighting for their lives and Danzo just sat back and did nothing.

Danzo turned and caught the look on his face. "You think I should have intervened and saved you? And had I not been here, just what would you have done? You would have fought to stay alive for your comrades. The shinobi world isn't a forgiving one, Uzumaki Naruto. In order to survive, you must not be weak. I stood back today in order to observe you; if at any point I believed you would lose, the Anbu with me would have stepped in. As it turned out, you didn't require assistance. All three of you displayed a remarkable aptitude for the work of a shinobi. The willingness to kill is not so easily found in shinobi your age, even after the final exam."

The Anbu agent on the right rolled out a scroll. Weaving his hand seals, he slammed his hand down on the paper. Mizuki's body turned blue and he was pulled into the seal. The Anbu quickly rolled up the scroll, bounding it with a seal.

"In light of what I witnessed today, I'm giving all three of you a field promotion to Chunin."

Danzo's announcement temporarily caused Naruto to forget his anger. "A field promotion? You can do that?"

"Yes. As your commanding officer, it is within my power to do so. I will speak with Hiruzen about it once we return to the stadium."

From the corner of his eye, Naruto saw Sakura help Sasuke to his feet. "The stadium? Isn't it under attack?"

"It was, yes. But the enemy only had a small force; they have been dealt with. We believe it was a diversion."

"For what?"

"That isn't your concern at the moment. Right now we should return to the stadium and make contact with our forces there."

Danzo started to walk away, flanked by the Anbu. Naruto turned to look at Sakura and Sasuke. Sasuke seemed to be on his feet and stable at least. Naruto gave them a nod when they caught his eye.

He turned to follow Danzo back towards the stadium as Sasuke and Sakura ran to his side.

Author's Note:

I hope you enjoyed the final chapter of Team Seven Chronicles: Genin. We have only an epilogue left. It will be the end of this story but don't you worry. If you're a fan of this alternative world I have created, you'll be pleased to know, not only do I have a sequel within the works, but more stories focusing on other characters in this world.

I was originally going to take this story past this point, but have since decided against it. As you can see, Team Seven aren't Genin anymore, so I think this is the best point to end TSC: Genin.

What will happen to Minato and Kushina now that they're alive? How will this effect Naruto, Kakashi and by extension the rest of team seven. If you want to find out, I hope you'll stick around for the next installment when it eventually is released. When the next installment does come out, I will post a note here, but for now, next weeks epilogue is it!

So we have 91 reviews on this fic at the time this chapter was released! We have this chapter and an epilogue. How about we see if we can get to one hundred reviews once this story is completed!

Lastly, thanks to my awesome Beta, Bluepincils and all her hard work. This is Syraxes, signing off.