This is shorter then I'd like but I am still figuring out where I want to go with this...

"This is kind of painful." Naruto's clone said, walking down the streets of Wave. "It's like the most painful flashback." Everything was beautiful where tragedy once lay, shops named after him and Sasuke and Sakura and even Kakashi. The people filled the streets, their heads held high and with a sense of purpose they just lacked before. There was peace and prosperity in the air, it was an almost tangible feeling. "I cannot believe that I'm back."

Sighing long and slow, he turned his focus to the Hill above the village. He could see it from his position, feel the lingering chakra that Zabuza and Haku's corpses had infused into the soil around them. He could see the large spike of Zabuza's sword. He knew it would be free from rust, unique seals keeping it free from corrosion of any variety. He could feel a flow of chakra in it, subtle but present, keeping it's structure in tact.

Slowly he walked towards the hill, keeping his head down, his disguise perfectly in place. It was an homage to Haku and Zabuza themselves really, the people who first opened his mind to the real world of the Shinobi. Tall with brown hair, a soft feminine face and slender body and normal looking teeth. Naruto felt strange in this form, clone or not, almost as if he was being disrespectful towards the people who had changed him so deeply. Still he maintained the form as he approached the hill, for it hid him deeply and with enough entirety that he could go unrecognized in a place that all but worshiped him.

'This place really likes you Naruto, are you sure you don't want to just settle here instead of the Leaf?' His mother's presence drifted in his mind, subtle and warm.

He snorted, but nodded. 'If I could, I would but the village would never give up it's jinchuuriki... I'm stuck as the village's bitch until I am too powerful and skilled to be captured or caught.'

'More or less, it is sad but true.'

'At least it gives me a potential goal for if I choose to leave the Leaf.'

'I suppose it does. Now, lets go get that blade. I admit, I am beyond curious to see what was done to that blade to make it capable of regenerating from the iron in blood. The seals for it must be incredible.'

Naruto laughed a little, low and slow. 'I am more curious to see what Haku's blood will tell us. I am sooo wanting to see if I can mimic Ice release or maybe reverse engineer Scorch from his blood by using fire instead of Water for the base.'

'Very good idea, that would be fun to play with an give you a severe advantage. I never told you this but Ice is a natural weakness to my Chakra chains.'

'Really? Who would have guessed.'

'Oh it was a real problem when my home village fought against Mist.'

"""

"Where are we going Hinata?" Said girl turned to her little sister and their guard Neji and smiled at them both.

Each one looked at her curiously, as if they were just dying for answers. That made her smile more, she just loved them so much it hurt to just look at them. Hanabi was a bundle of warmth, though she hid it well beneath a veneer of Hyuuga calm. Neji, though he used to be a prick, had become her most arduous supporter and one of her closest friends. He worked with her during her family training, complimented her successes and genuinely seemed to have a lot of faith in her.

She trusted them and that meant that she needed to come clean about a few things, not everything as she had promised Naruto and had her knowledge sealed anyway...but there were things she could tell them safely that they might even be able to help her with. So, since it was a week after her victory against Hanabi and placement as the Clan Heiress, she had decided to come clean. She had realized, through studying the laws of the clan along side her father, that she would need their help to make her goals come true.

"To a training field, I have some things I want to discuss with you. Neji keep an eye out at all times, we cannot be discovered. What I am about to tell you must never be overheard."

Her request seemed to throw both of her siblings, but Neji obeyed her activating his Byakuygan and keeping his eyes focused. "No one is near, Lady Hinata."

"Just Hinata when we are away from our clan... and be patient, all will be revealed. Trust me."

And so they did, following her for miles, until they were on the literal other side of the village from the Hyuuga clan compound. They ended up in a training field, the one closest to where Hinata had her clones training in secret. It was smaller then most training fields, mostly made for Low powered Ninjas or those training in Tai or ken jutsu, where they would not need a lot of space. Once they were comfortably set, Hinata turned back to her siblings.

"Neji, tell me if anyone gets within hearing distance. What I tell you will change everything and needs to be kept quiet." He nodded to her. "Perfect... now, to why I brought you here... the truth is, I took the position of Head Heir so I could get rid of the Caged Bird Seal." Silence, both Hanabi and Neji looked at her with nothing but stunned shock. Pain began to bleed into Neji's eyes but it was Hanabi's disbelieving worry that got to Hinata. She kneeled to her sister, smiling. "Hanabi, don't buy into what Grandfather says about the seal, it's slavery plain and simple. It isn't just used in times of war to protect the clan, but on a daily basis to excuse abuse, mistreatment and violence towards our own blood. You've seen it, your smart enough to know it's wrong. Look how bitter it made Neji, how is makes Ko afraid to even talk to us at times. How to branch families often time cringe away from us when we walk by."

Hanabi cringed herself, clearly thinking of this. "But... why? How would you get rid of it, the council would never let you."

"It's a good thing I plan on doing it in private, forcing their hands like a coup."

More silence, more shock. "Hinata..." That was Neji. "Please tell me you are not risking your life for-"

"Everyone Neji. I have hated the seal for my entire life, it is nothing but true evil and it needs to be extinguished. Simple and I am willing to risk my life to do it. I have been studying seals, I am making great progress. I will need to study your seal and I may need you two to help me. Make the Branch family trust me, so that when it comes time I can remove the seal safely and quietly. I know there are some in the Branch families that support the seal, brain washed and conditioned to trust in it. We need to single them out so we can avoid detection. This cannot get out. I am trusting you both with this."

"You can trust me, Hinata." Neji said, his tone strong and hard.

Hanabi's answer was softer, but just as powerful. "And me sister, I never liked the seal but...even though Grandfather tried to get me to admire it, I never quite... I never saw the value in it. I am with you."

'''

Hiashi wasn't dumb, he knew Hinata was up to something. Contrary to what everyone thought, though he had doubted her skills he had never doubted her intelligence. She was always advanced in that way. Hitting milestones earlier and earlier, showing a bright mind hindered by her crippling shyness and lack of security. A great deal he knew was his own fault. He had demanded too much, never reassured her or helped her when she needed it... hence why he was so worried. No one suffered that kind of abuse and didn't come out some what resentful.

When she effortlessly defeated her sister, claiming to be able to defeat him in a year... he knew his time would be coming close. He would suffer for his part in the abuse towards her. How, he wasn't sure, but he would have little choice but accept his punishment. She was too smart to not find a way to make him suffer for it. It wasn't a surprise to him when she drew her sister and Neji away from the clan, he knew then that she was plotting something with them. Weither they knew it or not, they would play a part in her scheming.

So he let them go, knowing they would mostly likely help her in whatever she was scheming... and he would allow them to do it. He deserved nothing less...

''''

"Sorry about this Haku." Naruto's clone shot away from the village of Wave, Haku's body and Zabuza's sword and Head in scrolls sealed onto his body. "Please forgive me, but if I am to accomplish all I aim too, you are needed. I promise to at least honor Zabuza by turning his head in for profit. You were hunters, I am sure you at least understand that much."

There was no answer, obviously, but he hoped that if there was an afterlife, Haku and Zabuza forgave him for what he did. They were the reasonable types, so he imagined they would get it... who was he kidding, they would be pissed, rightfully so since he desecrated their grave but who cares. They were dead and he needed their corpses for something. He had no time to worry about them whining in the afterlife. He had things to do damn it!

All that was left was to steal the Rajin from the river in the Land of Tea... and maybe some of the hero's water from Waterfall. Yeah... and then he would be finished for a while with his outside projects. He could work on making the perfect sword, one that allowed him to amplify his powers and give him the edge he would need to take on the man who ruined his life... the Uchiha who controlled Kurama and killed his parents.

He was so close now... so close he could taste it. He was almost a A ranked Ninja, he was only lacking in experience and that would come soon... he just needed time... and there was only so much of that.

Chapter end, tell me what you think in the reviews.

This was short but fun and it really helps.

Love, your Ninja Overlord,

Mika.