A/N: Just as a form of notice, once the original storyline is played out and the usual time skip arc would happen, I will be taking some time off to go back and replace chapters that have grammatical errors with edited chapters. So, be prepared for that time off and for earlier chapters to be edited strictly for grammatical errors, not story wise! Hope you enjoy this update and the big ole twist I mentioned last week!

The Wolf and the Fox

Chapter 20 – Emerging Horizon

XXXXX

Naruto wore a dumb smile on his face as he walked back to the area outside of the village he and Menma had been training in. The smile of course was attributed to the way he had been woken up by both Mei and Mikoto, he had figured having multiple girlfriends and eventual wives would be troublesome. But, so far it was quite the opposite, aside from the fact he'd probably need to hire a contractor to install a larger walk-in shower once they began to live with him. But, thinking towards the memories his Mokubunshin training Menma had sent him by creating its own Kagebunshin, helped him push those other thoughts away.

Last night his otouto had made a breakthrough with the Kyuubi's chakra, his control over two tails of chakra reaching the point he'd managed to stay in control when a third had formed. It seemed to the clone that Kyuubi had more or less forced that situation to play out, having sensed the control Menma had reached and being impatient as Isobu had explained him to be. Naruto honestly didn't know what to do about that, it could cause several problems with Menma learning to control the second form of Bijuu Modo. But, judging by what he had seen from the boy's opponent last night, it would be necessary to push him that far.

"You could always initiate a link between the four of us, maybe you or I could explain what you've learned is to come to my eldest brother?"

"That's true, but he could be stubborn enough to rather Menma be killed by his extraction giving him the small chance of escaping," Naruto thought back with a troubled sigh.

Isobu snorted in response, "Didn't you say your father sealed half of Kyuubi's chakra within the Shinigami's belly, if he died it would just force him to reform within the reaper," the turtle reasoned, knowing only a limited amount about that specific ningen sealing technique.

"That's all theoretical thinking, though that does give me an idea of sorts, even if it could be risky; I'll have to look into the Uzumaki scrolls I returned with further," he sent back, a shadow clone popping into existence before vanishing just as quickly.

"What are you thinking?"

"The Uzumaki clan were the ones to first sign the Shinigami's contract, their fuinjutsu having transcended enough to bind a god's will to their own for a steep price. But, knowing what I do of my clan, I'm assuming they came up with a way to cheat the Shinigami; though, I'm sure it's just as costly and troublesome as the original jutsu," He sighed audibly as he finished his thought, noticing that the forest was beginning to open up.

"Dealing with a being that deals in life and death is always troublesome for you mortals."

Naruto nodded, but said nothing else, stopping just outside of the barrier that blocked any sensor from feeling the chakra expended within. A smile came to his face as he saw his brother already up, sitting in the lotus position with two tails of chakra wiping behind him, a third beginning to take shape. However, just as he was about to step-in, his own sensory ability picked up something, or rather two shinobi. Without even taking a moment's thought, he vanished from his spot and reappeared next to his brother, shocking the boy as his focus broke and the tails faded completely.

"Naruto-nii-chan!"

"Quiet Menma, there are two S-ranked criminals here, I have to send you back to the village," Naruto said, glaring ahead of him into the tree line where he had sensed his brother's onlookers. "Send me some backup when you get there, I'm going to need it," he smiled viciously before making a single unique seal and slamming his palm into his brother's chest. Menma vanished as soon as contact was made, a smirk coming to Naruto's face as the ancestral Uzumaki naginata appeared in the waiting hand. "I figured it would be longer before I had to worry about you people coming, Fugaku-teme," he glared, spinning his naginata threateningly.

In a gust of wind, two men appeared wearing black cloaks with red clouds outlined in white across them. The taller of the two had a very large sword, covered in bandages, on his back, his skin was a pale blue, and his spiky hair was a shade of darker blue; around his forehead was a head band of Kirigakure with a slash through the symbol. The shorter of the two was Uchiha Fugaku, the older man wearing a Konoha headband with a slash through it and a glare pinned on the blonde.

"So, this is the fearsome Senso no Okami my homeland celebrates as their hero," the blue-skinned man chuckled, his beady eyes sizing up the blonde with a large shark-like grin.

"Hoshigaki Kisame," Naruto smiled wolfishly, having spotted a sword he had always wanted to add to his collection. "I've wanted to fight you for quite some time, too bad you ran away from the rebellion like a coward," his smile became face splitting as the blue skinned man leveled him with a glare.

"Don't let him piss you off, it's what the gaki wants," Fugaku spoke finally, his sharingan glaring hatefully still.

"Maa, Maa…. Still got that stick up your ass I see, Fugaku-teme," Naruto said in a bored expression as his Mangekyo activated while he stared at the man. Fugaku's glare only hardened, but Kisame actually barked with laughter, tears threatening to spill from his eyes. "So, what are you limp dick old farts doing here anyway?" and just like that Kisame was once more annoyed with him.

"I'm surprised you don't know given your position," Naruto felt his eyes narrow as he saw the slight smirk come to Fugaku's face.

"Only a fool would reveal their hand limp dick, I know what you're after and I knew you specifically would be coming, why do you think Amegakure hasn't been wiped off the map yet?" The blonde smiled dangerously as the signs of his sage mode began to manifest, Fugaku's glare hardening; the blonde shouldn't have known that bit. "I'm going to warn you both now, I won't be holding back and neither should either of you!"

Kisame began to snort, wondering if this boy really understood who it was he was facing, but before he could even react a foot connect with his jaw; the attack rocketing him away from his partner. But, Naruto didn't stop there, using the momentum from his kick to spin his body and lash out at Fugaku with his long weapon. The blade slashed through the man's chest, spraying blood only for the liquid to disappear and the illusion of his presence to fade into a murder of crows. A smirk came to the blonde's face as he watched Kisame pick himself up and Fugaku reappeared to his left. "I thought the Karasu wiped you from their contract after you defected, limp dick," he once more poked fun at Fugaku, knowing it was annoying the man.

"Those worthless birds can do what they wish, it doesn't stop me from knowing how to do the techniques worthless gaki," Fugaku frowned at the reminder of the loss of his summoning contract.

"Your ex-wife didn't think I was worthless last night," Naruto immediately shot back, that wolfish grin of his slightly crazed, Fugaku's glare almost carrying Amaterasu with it.

"The treacherous whore would lay with such a weak excuse of a shinobi," He could barely finish as Naruto pegged him with a glare and the largest amount of killing intent the Uchiha had ever felt.

"You're already going to die today, but now you'll suffer far more than I originally planned," with that promise leaving his lips, Fugaku and Kisame immediately found themselves on the back foot.

XXXXX

In a clearing not more than six or seven miles away from the Uzumaki brother's training grounds, was the Uchiha brother's own training field, Itachi using the many trees to attack his brother from every angle with clones. They had already worked on taijutsu for the day, the elder Uchiha actually using steps from the Juken he had copied with his sharingan to further prepare Sasuke for his fight. But, now he was working on his otouto's reactiveness, attacking him from all over at the same time. The Hyuuga style was fast, making it paramount that anyone hoping to fight them in a taijutsu bout has extremely high instincts. Knowing his troublesome little brother, he had no doubt that, that would be exactly what he intended to do, especially after learning what the Hyuuga had done to that Hinata girl.

Itachi wasn't quite sure where the infatuation for the girl had come from for Sasuke, but he also hadn't really been interested in any woman since Izumi, definitely not that tiresome woman from Haru no Kuni; he refused. So, relationships, either his own or those of others wasn't something he thought much about. But, if it meant a lot to his brother, so he would help him. It's the thing an older brother would do for a younger brother, especially one like Itachi who only wanted the best for Sasuke.

Pushing the thoughts aside for the moment, he focused on his brother, watching as he slid his head out of the way to avoid a kunai from behind before snapping his hand out to grab it and throw it at another to change its trajectory. Itachi wasn't surprised to see his brother's sharingan had allowed him to throw it in a way that deflected two more thrown knives, Sasuke's sharingan had the type of predictive nature that hadn't been seen since their grandfather's. It was why his little brother had been excelling well in this portion of their training, getting better and better with each passing moment.

Deciding that was enough for the time, Itachi dispelled all of his clones, jumping down to where his brother stood. "Let's head back to camp and eat breakfast Sasuke, we'll continue afterwards," he instructed, earning a nod from the younger Uchiha.

They talked as they walked, mainly Sasuke bouncing ideas for taijutsu and ninjutsu combos off the far more experienced brother. But, just as they had stepped into their camp, a larger hill in a vast clearing, both brother's stopped as they felt the ground beneath their feet quake. Itachi immediately looked into the distance as he saw the forest itself moving, expanding and growing wildly; there was only one technique he knew of that could do this. And, the only person that could pull it off would not be throwing it around to such an extent carelessly.

"Otouto, prepare yourself your meal and stay here, I need to check on this," he ordered, Sasuke nodding obediently.

"Is it Naruto-Aniki?" the younger Uchiha asked, Itachi only nodding before quickly running off, intent on reaching the blonde quickly.

XXXXX

Sakura grunted as she was pushed several feet back, panting heavily as she felt her forearms almost entirely bruising, Tsunade boasting a proud smirk as she eyed her. The pinkette released a growl and surrounded her forearms in healing chakra before speeding towards the blonde. However, just as she was about to reach the Sannin, both of them with fists already poised to strike, Menma appeared from thin air and landed on top of her; taking her right to her back.

She blushed as she noticed their position, the boy's tanned lips only mere inches from her own as violet and green met. "M-Menma-kun, what are you doing here?!" she sputtered, pushing him back so she could sit up and end the embarrassing situation.

The crimson haired boy looked around quickly, anxiously even, "Nii-chan needs help, he said there were to S-ranked shinobi there before he sent me off!" He quickly said, Tsunade becoming very serious quickly as her amusement washed away entirely.

"Jiraiya!" she hollered, and like she had trained him or something, the pervert appeared beside her looking very apologetic.

"I swear Tsu-hime, I wasn't peaking at the onsen, I was just napping," he quickly spoke, though the notepad being stuffed into his vest suggested otherwise.

"That doesn't matter, we need to get to Naruto now, Menma says two S-ranked shinobi have showed up!" As if to emphasis the fact, they were forced to check their footing as the ground violently rumbled, and they watched as the forest itself was bent to a certain someone's will. Needing nothing more, Tsunade and Jiraiya were off in a burst of speed, a quick order for their grandson and student to stay put coming from the blonde.

The quake from Naruto's technique had been felt all throughout Konoha, earning the attention of many, most shinobi knowing exactly what it meant; who exactly it was that was in a serious battle. The likes of Kakashi, Anko, Gai and other top ranking shinobi within the village quickly making their way towards the disturbance.

XXXXX

"Senpo: Mokuton Hijutsu: Jukai Kotan!" Naruto roared, his hands clapped together before roots began to explode from the ground all around, a second taller forest being formed.

Kisame and Fugaku had managed to put him on the back foot for only a moment using their teamwork before Naruto created enough of an opening to use his technique. Just like when the battle had started, the two Akatsuki members were overwhelmed by the terrain changing jutsu, both barely able to prevent themselves from being wrapped in the roots. Fugaku grunted as he dodged one vein of roots only for another to slam into his back and immediately start wrapping him up. They would've made to crush his body if it wasn't for Kisame appearing, swiping Samehada through them with little effort, though the fearsome swordsman wore a grimace on his face.

"This kids seriously no joke, no wonder he killed that midget," he growled, swiping his sword in a circular motion to destroy three more root systems attack them.

"That's not the worst part either, we're now in his playground, the advantage is entirely his," Fugaku frowned, the expression would only deepen when Naruto's next jutsu would reach his ears.

"Suiton: Suishoha!" the two heard ring out from where the blonde had been standing, before a massive wave of water began to wash through the newly made forest. Both managed to dodge the follow up ninjutsu quickly, but Fugaku quickly deduced the trouble they were in, in the newly formed swampland Naruto had created.

"And, they call me a chakra beast," Kisame lamented, though he wore a manic grin, he'd never been so excited to fight someone as he was right now.

Fugaku was stopped from saying anything in response as volts of electricity filled their vision and hearing, illuminating the darkness of the forest where the blonde stood. Just as the two were preparing themselves, falling into their stances, their eyes widened as wooden Naruto's wielding the Kiba blades began to grow from the trees.

"Welcome to my personal forest of death," several of the wooden clones spoke, lightning beginning to spark off of their copied blades.

"I've had enough of this," Fugaku growled, his Mangekyo spinning to life before black flames shot out of them. "Amaterasu!" he intoned, launching several volleys of the never ending flames at the clones and igniting them.

Before he could the same to the original, the blonde was on him, swinging the Kiba blades at him in a twin slash. Kisame reacted first, witnessing the blonde's charge, as he swung the Samehada down right where the Konoha-nin appeared. Naruto noticed it and quickly diverted his slashes, bringing them up to block the unique blade of Kisame, but Fugaku did not go forgotten. As the blonde lashed out with a spinning kick while still blocking the Samehada, he forced Kisame to lose his footing at the unpredicted and sudden movement. Fugaku was launched into a tree, and it was only a moment before Kisame himself was slammed into the Uchiha, also kicked away.

Kisame recovered quick and forced himself up, already forming hand seals. "Looks like I'm not going to be able to take this kid lightly anymore, and that bastard should catch on," he thought, before intoning, "Suiton: Dai Bakusui Shoha!" The release of the attack was immediate, even dwarfing the massive mass of water Naruto had released from thin air, but it seemed the shark-like man wasn't done there. "Dai Suiro no Jutsu!" he roared as the mass of water immediately moved to swallow both he and Naruto in a massive prison of water.

However, as the third and final step of his combination attack was beginning, Samehada beginning to try to fuse with him, he felt his eyes widen when he looked to the blonde. He had seen many Raiton jutsu used in his life, but he had never seen the green lightning that was now surrounding the blonde and the legendary Kibas. His eyes only widened further when the blonde made two unique hand seals and it seemed even Samehada reacted to the release of chakra; beginning to stop their fusion and moving towards the blonde, hungrily. "Raiton: Raijin no Toboe (Lightning Release: Howl of the Lightning God)!" Naruto's disembodied voice chanted, his mouth actually full of the green lightning before it compressed and was launched in a straight beam at Kisame; it was Naruto's strongest lightning attack, only accessible to him in Sennin Modo.

Kisame could only watch the attack nearing him by the second in pure amazement, his trained eyes picking up that it wasn't electrically charging the water, actually evaporating as it tore through his attack. But, it seemed Fugaku had caught on that they wouldn't be able to hold back any longer, a crimson astral shield blocking the impressive attack, the astral figure wielding it actually pulling Kisame from the water prison. "I can't believe he's gotten this much stronger in two years, we were on equal footing when last we fought," Fugaku growled, hating that he was once more forced to summon his Susanoo to fight Naruto.

The Uchiha, having freed his partner, wasted no time in swiping the astral blade of the Susanoo several times at Naruto; destroying a very large chunk of the newly made forest. But, he knew the troublesome blonde wouldn't be that easy, jumping back as the blonde willed several wooden dragons into life without the use of single hand seal. The wooden beasts attempted to ensnare his Susanoo, but Fugaku wouldn't have it as the human construct became armored and completely destroyed the dragons.

Naruto grimaced as he saw that astral body presented by combining the power of the left and right Mangekyo, the technique he had learned to completely devastate the Susanoo was far too destructive to be used near the village. After all, Hashirama had used it and blamed its use for the creation of the Valley of the End. But, he was beginning to see no other option as he stared down the astral samurai.

"Susanoo," he heard from behind him, a smirk coming to his face as another, scarlet, construct came into existence behind him. "I see I made it just in time," he heard Itachi's monotone drawl, knowing without a doubt a glare was pinned on Fugaku. "Uchiha Fugaku," the heir of the Uchiha coldly greeted his father, the man frowning deeply.

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" Two voices rang out, and when Naruto looked back to see both Gamabunta and Katsuyu, that wolfish grin once more found him.

"We need to leave, now," Fugaku grunted, glaring at his son and the Sannin.

"I don't think so," Naruto growled, his sage mode only faltering for a moment before it was completely rejuvenated. Just as the blonde was about to lead the battle anew, a swirl appeared within Fugaku's Susanoo. His eyes widened seeing the same thing that had saved Fugaku at the Valley of the End, and exactly what his mother had described to him thirteen years ago before she passed away. His teeth instantly gritted when he saw the same swirling orange mask worn by yet another robed figure, a single sharingan peering out of the eye-hole, solely focused on him. His senses flared, and then his eyes widened once more as he truly felt the man's chakra.

"Good boy Tobi has arrived!" The mysterious man made several even weirder gestures, sounding the part of a fool. But, the blonde paid him no mind as his Mangekyo spun back into life, and he vanished appearing with his hand around Kisame's throat. Surprisingly, the masked man only watched with a tilted head in confusion as he casted Tsukuyomi on the shark man. Naruto noticed it when a moment later their eyes locked as Kisame fell to his knees and then passed out, before anyone could move Naruto re-summoned one of his Kibas, blocking the black rod that had been aimed at his eye.

"Tobi doesn't like it when you hurt Kisame-senpai, that's not what good boys do, Naruto-kun," the blonde's suspicions about who this really was were mostly confirmed by the familiar way the fool addressed him. But, that still left Naruto with the question as to why this man was putting up a façade in the first place.

Naruto didn't deem the man worth a verbal response as the Kiba was once more coated with his green lightning before he slashed at the man. Even more of his suspicions of crimes this man had committed in the past became more and more plausible when the blade passed harmlessly through him. But, Naruto didn't relent swiping once more at him with the man actually grabbing his wrist after passing through him, a rasengan formed in his other hand in the same moment. He attempted to gut the man with it, unsurprised when it once more passed harmlessly through him. But, Naruto smirked when the Kiba vanished from his hand and he broke the man's grip on his wrist to hit him with a palm strike. It was simply to put his marker on the man, but his smirk quickly faded when the man struck back.

The man struck his hand out at the blonde, a black rod extending from the palm of his right hand aimed to cut the Mangekyo from Naruto's eye socket. In a split moment, Naruto's eyes widened when he realized what was about to happen, and with only second to spare he moved his head; saving the gift left to him. But, he wasn't quick enough to completely dodge the effect as he cried out in pain and fury as he clenched a hand over his last remaining blue eye. Before the opening he left could be exploited however, Naruto vanished from in front of the man to appear right next to Itachi.

The heir of the Uchiha looked at his friend in worry as he saw blood leaking down from where his palm held the eye, feeling as his rage began to build. But, Naruto held out his hand to stop him before he could begin his attack, his Mangekyo glaring murder at the masked man, who only seemed to chuckle.

"Very good, Uzumaki Naruto, I'm glad to see you live up to the stories I've heard about you," Naruto wasn't surprised when the masked spoke in a much colder and serious voice, his façade forgotten for the moment.

"You should already know how I really am, you witnessed what I did in Kirigakure after all, ne?" the man chuckled, but Naruto could feel his annoyance at being found out.

"I suppose you are right," he admitted, forgetting about the injured blonde and picking Kisame up and throwing him over his shoulder before grabbing Samehada and taking his position next to Fugaku once more. "We'll be coming for what you possess in time, please do make it interesting for us," he chuckled, space beginning to distort around the three members before they were all gone, Fugaku's Susanoo fading into the wind.

As soon as they were gone, the signs of Sennin Modo vanished from Naruto's face and he was falling to his knees before Itachi easily caught him, his own Susanoo disappearing. Jiraiya and Tsunade quickly joined them as Bunta and Katsuyu left, none of the four actually having to do much, or even Itachi for that matter.

"Naruto, are you okay?!" Tsunade cried out, quickly channeling chakra to her palm to attempt to save the eye. But, she was surprised when the blonde grabbed her wrist, effectively stopping her.

"Just bandage it to stop the bleeding, it's been well overdue for me to replace it," He gritted out, his teeth clenched tightly. His eyes seemed to be the one thing that couldn't heal very well even with the combined efforts of Isobu and his own healing ability. However, Itachi seemed to be the only one other than Tsunade to catch on to what he meant by his words.

"I suppose you will need it after what you told me when I returned from my mission," the Uchiha sighed, knowing that what was coming would be daunting.

"What does he mean," Jiraiya questioned with a frown, his eyes shining with worry as he looked to his grandson expectantly.

"I'll tell you later, there are others coming from the village," Naruto frowned, casting an unnoticeable glare towards Itachi for the small slip. To be fair, his friend had no clue that he didn't what Jiraiya to know just what Orochimaru had planned.

Just as he said, a large group of shinobi landed behind them, led by Hiruzen, Mei, Mikoto, Kakashi, Gai and many Anbu. "Naruto-kun, report," the aged Hokage said seriously, a frown marring his older features.

"Not until I get him to a hospital, he can report after, sensei," Tsunade challenged, glaring at the Hokage as if daring him to question her.

"Forgive me, Tsunade, but I need to know what happened so I can distribute teams out to search for whoever it was that attacked him," he answered sternly, understanding that he was against the protectiveness of a grandmother, essentially a mother since she had raised the blonde since the age of six.

"There's no point in taking the man power from the village, Sandaime-sama, the jutsu he used to be like my Hiraishin; all three of them are long gone by now," Naruto answered him as he unsealed a scroll containing medical supplies, earning a sigh from the aged Hokage.

"You heard him, return to the village, but remain on high alert just in case," the professor ordered, all the Anbu that had come taking off without a moment's hesitation, aside from his personal guard. However, he didn't even react as a brunette female Anbu moved towards the blonde, removing the Inu mask she had been given after Kakashi's retirement.

"You never stop finding yourself in hairy situation, baka," she joked with a smile on her face, the red fang tattoos on each of her cheeks creasing with the motion.

Naruto chuckled as Tsunade worked, expertly bandaging his eye to stop any continued blood flow. "Wouldn't that be considered the pot calling the kettle black, if we take into account the latest of your mission reports to land on my desk, Hana," he countered, earning a smile from his remaining former Gennin teammate.

"I guess all those years of working with you rubbed off, ne?"

The two shared a laugh, until Naruto paled when he felt two sets of eyes burning a hole into the back of his head. When he turned back, Tsunade having quickly finished, he was not surprised to find both Mei and Mikoto glaring at him. Itachi, not being one to have any desire of seeing his mother's ire abruptly stood and began walking off as the Naruto-made forest seemed to recede.

"You're on your own," he called back in that monotone of his, ignoring the glare from the blonde he felt on his back.

"That's twice you've fought my ex-husband on your own without using that damn seal you put on me to get me here in the blink of an eye," Mikoto ground out first, having no problem sensing the trace amounts of the traitor's chakra in the area. She had also seen the familiar sight of his Susanoo, so there was no doubt in her mind that's who it had been.

"It's also the second time you've had an eye damaged in a fight you could've and just simply refused to have back-up in, you stubborn man!" Mei added, quite a few decibels higher than the Uchiha matriarch. In response, the blonde quickly stood and faced them fully, shakily which made both women want to run to him and support him. But, he recovered quickly and a moment later bowed his head slightly towards them.

"I'm sorry Mizu-hime, Mikoto-sensei, but I had it handled until the third member showed up and even then things happened too quick for the others here to intervene or stop it," he had learned long ago it was best to just hedge your bets and apologize, especially when dealing with hot tempered women such as these two.

It seemed to have the desired effect as the two deflated, releasing a sigh of their own each as they moved to support him on either side. "Just promise you'll be more careful next time," Mei said, knowing that he assuredly would land himself in another situation just like this.

"Or, at least use that fancy jutsu of yours to get one of us there to help you," Mikoto quickly added, making him smile as he pulled them both tighter to his sides.

"It's a promise," he smiled and with that the trio began their trek towards Konoha proper.

"Is," Jiraiya paused, blinking owlishly as he seemed to narrow his eyes in mild examination. "Is that Mikoto's hand grabbing my grandson's butt?"

The trio were out of earshot for that one, and probably wouldn't have cared regardless, but Hana barked with laughter as she returned her mask to cover her face. "You would be the one to notice that, Jiraiya-sama," she said in a way that didn't hold the respect that honorific usually carried.

"Otouto is a true man, a legend," Kakashi mumbled, waterfall tears flowing freely and proudly from his revealed eye.

Gai however seemed horrified, "Kakashi has taught him the ways of hipness, how very unyouthful!"

"Lucky damn brat," Hiruzen grumbled, beginning to leave the others in the clearing, his Anbu squad matching his slow pace.

"Don't act like you're not proud," Tsunade shook her head, leaving to follow her grandson to the hospital; she had the other eye Shisui had left the blonde hidden away in her office. Jiraiya for his part just stood there, blinking several more times before a light perverse giggle started and then turned into an uproarious perverse manic laughter. He couldn't have been more proud of the blonde, and if he played his cards right his future books would be hits!

XXXXX

Several days later, training had resumed for Naruto and Menma, the blonde watching his brother continue his work on mastering the second tail of chakra. He wore fresh bandages over his left eye, concealing the now black orb that had been transplanted into the socket. It had gone much smoother than the first or second time he had an eye swapped, Tsunade now essentially having the process completely mastered. However, she had explained to him that it would be sometime before she would allow him to replace Shisui's second eye with Izumi's second eye that had been recovered when Naruto and Itachi had cleaned out their friend's apartment. He could understand that given they didn't even know at this point if the new eye had completely healed or not, though they both had no doubt that it did. Naruto's healing factor combined with her medical expertise and Isobu's healing could've honestly healed his original eye. But, the blonde quickly forced that from his mind as he focused back onto his brother.

"Dial it back, focus otouto," he calmly instructed the crimson haired boy after noticing the formation of the third tail beginning. Menma growled and a moment later the tail was forced to recede, bringing a smile to both of their faces. "Good, now why don't we amp this up a bit?"

The question was more than enough for Menma to open his eyes and look at him questioningly, almost losing control and allowing the third tail of chakra to form again. "What do you mean, Nii-chan?"

Naruto smiled, pushing himself up to stand from the lotus position, "Training to hold a certain number of tails while just sitting around won't do you any good against Gaara, otouto. We need to get you used to not only controlling it while not having to focus on it, but also used to fighting on the instincts the cloak provides you with." His statement earned yet another confused look from his little brother, making Naruto chuckle. "You can't tell me you haven't noticed your heightened senses, increased speed and strength or the more animalistic appearance you have."

"I didn't know my appearance changed actually, aside from the claws and teeth of course," Menma chuckled, standing when Naruto instructed him to, managing to keep his control over the chakra.

"Well, while I don't want you to forget that you do actually have a taijutsu style, you'll notice that there are certain ways your body wants to move that you usually wouldn't without the transformation; follow those instincts and combine them with Hachidori Ken while maintaining two tails," He instructed, falling into the first stance of their taijutsu style. He had already learned that Menma could easily control one tail of chakra even without focus, but his brother would need two, maybe even three tails to fight a Jinchuuriki like Gaara with full access to his Bijuu's chakra. His hopes, while severely doubting them to come to fruition, was to get Menma to four tails, which is when he guessed the second form of the Bijuu cloak would take over. But, that the thoughts were wiped from his mind and he smiled when Menma fell to all fours, doing just as he had been told.

The blonde felt his one revealed orb widen is surprise when the direct charge of his brother had nearly caught him off guard. But, he still managed to catch the punch, he wasn't the Hokage's right hand without reason after all. "Good, but you'll have to be quicker than that, Menma!" He declared, shocking his brother when he lashed out with a spin kick to the boy's ribs. He was once more surprised Menma actually managed to catch and stop the kick, which still wasn't at full force but above what he believed Menma to be able to stop. With a quick motion from his younger brother, Naruto was forced to block a kick aimed for his head and then parry a swipe of Menma's claw-like nails. The smile he wore when Menma flipped away radiated pride as he smiled wolfishly, the crimson haired boy responding with a foxy grin of his own. "You're coming at me with the intent to kill, good, you'll need that when I decide to kick things up!"

With that declaration, the two boisterous brothers were once more at it, and this would be pretty much the exact way their training for the rest of the month continued.

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