Invictus

by Raging Smurf

When I died, I never thought I'd get a second chance at life, let alone another chance as the protagonist of an anime. Getting another chance in a world with Snake pedos, heart thieves, and peepers with doomsday capabilities wasn't a part of the memo. But I ain't selling my life cheap, that's for damn sure. Male OC NarutoInsert. Chapters 1-4 prologue.

36. I hate sand

A new chapter is here and I hope y'all enjoy the chapter name.

I'll be using an OC for a third member of the Genin team from Kumo, mainly because I couldn't find a third person the same age as Karui and Omoi.

This chapter involves an absolute fustercluck that occurs with Team 7. It's brought on by each of the three dealing with some personal stuff exacerbated by the others making it worse.

I reread the first few chapters of the story again and felt the overwhelming need to curl into the fetal position, especially because of chapter 6.

Anyway, let's get on with this, guys and gals.

---

I was walking through Konoha with Hinata right next to me as the sun shown in our faces, the Hyuga girl looking extremely tense and agitated.

Kakashi had taken her aside, tomorrow being when the exams would begin, and told her how Kumo was sending their own genin team to compete, something that had me sighing and resigning myself to.

Enough years had passed where events would begin to change, something I hadn't foreseen would happen in this particular manner.

Hinata ended up being more agitated about it, and Sasuke was being a little bitch about Kakashi talking to him.

Kakashi, and I don't know what the actual hell possessed him to do it, told Sasuke about Danzo's eye thief shit right after he told Hinata about Kumo showing up. Rin had wanted to spar some and Sasuke had been itching to fight, probably to try and clear his thoughts.

What happened next was explained to me by Hinata, who looked ashamed of it.

Hinata had sparred some with Rin, then did some with Sasuke. Hinata, being in a rare bad mood, had landed several painful Juken hits on Sasuke, unnecessary ones at that. She then asked him if he was feeling up to fighting today, spotting how he seemed to have gaps in his taijutsu from impulsive attacks.

He ended up almost breaking her arm and punched her in the face, causing her eye to swell up and look more pinkish coloured than the normal pale lavender.

A shouting match had started between the two, and Rin had tried to calm them down, surprisingly. Sasuke had then yelled something about none of them understanding and stormed off, not wanting to talk with anyone.

Rin had followed him and Hinata went to me, spotting where I was off training lightly, having finished all my plans that I could in preparation for the exams.

After a couple days of non-stop experiments, I'd managed to get the masking tag for explosives completed, ensuring that anybody who had that seal on them was safe from my exploding tags. I'd gone the extra mile and had the tags themselves not explode around people that had similar chakra to mine in the hopes that Karin's chakra had a similarity to mine and Rin's.

I pulled myself from my thoughts and looked at Hinata with a soft smile, the girl looking away.

"Hinata," I said softly, noticing some of the villagers walking about avoiding us, likely me, "I know you feel bad about being angry, but Sasuke was out of line with not taking it as a light-hearted spar."

Sasuke was basically two extremes of the emotional spectrum, either being completely unmoved by something, or showed ferocious anger about a subject, especially when it concerned his clan.

"But I s-still hit him with a juken s-strike when his guard was down," Her stutter came to the surface from her emotions, which I could almost feel bleeding into her chakra signature, "And I enjoyed it." She added with a shudder.

"And I enjoyed comparing him to his brother," I replied, my voice completely serious, "I enjoyed making him hurt in a way that nobody could match." I then sighed heavily and stopped our walk, gesturing for her to follow me into an alley so we weren't overheard.

After we got there, I turned towards her and dragged a hand through my hair.

"He's angry because someone was discovered to have harvested Sharingan eyes from his clan's corpses," I sighed, seeing her face turn a shade of green, "that's why he was angry."

"How do you know this?" She asked quietly, still looking horrified by what I had said.

"Kakashi told me," I mumbled, rolling my eyes, "And he decided to tell Sasuke before I was there to keep him from having a bitch attack."

"Don't say that about Sasuke," Hinata scolded me, her eyes narrowing, "You can use a better term than that, Naruto-kun."

Spazz attack, whining, moaning, acting like a chick, several inaccurate and shitty things I can call it. I thought to myself, hearing Kurama huff in the back of my mind.

Nice of you to join me. I thought to him, hearing him grumble some.

"Your sister told me to 'Fuck off' since she's talking with Uchiha-chan," He snickered at the last part, "She didn't appreciate my advice on how to soothe an emo's heart."

Did you say something about her taking her shirt off? I asked, knowing the fox was a bigger dick than what Anko was at times.

Kurama's chuckle was the only answer I needed, making me ignore him and focus on Hinata's face again.

"He hates it when I say that about him, so I do it," I defended myself, explaining my reasoning, "He's better than what he was months ago, but being a friend to him isn't going to magically fix what happened to him."

Hinata's eyes seemed to dim at the reminder, the two of us being uniquely equipped to think of what Itachi did from a different perspective.

Hinata is the clan heiress for the Hyuga and adores Hanabi, much like how I love and care for Rin, combined with me being the heir of a soon to be recognized clan. Hinata was equally as horrified as I was at hurting her little sister, making her dynamic with Sasuke much more understanding and patient.

"Why do you do that to Sasuke instead of being kind to him?" She asked, her expression shifting back to the sharper one from before.

"Believe me, I tried being kind to him after what happened." I replied, shrugging my shoulders, "But he decided to still be a teme about it."

Hinata shook her head and didn't drop her expectant look.

"Remember the bell test?" I raised a brow, noticing her eyes narrow into slits, "He's not the same as he was, thank Kami for that, but it's not like I enjoyed having to do it. He stopped being an ass after I was an even worse one to him."

Sasuke needed what amounted to tough love, not the softer and more understanding treatment Hinata had needed.

Hinata seemed resigned to the answer and switched back to Sasuke.

"What exactly did Kakashi-sensei explain to you about what happened?"

I explained most of the important stuff, obviously leaving out the things concerning ROOT and other security sensitive things, but the stuff Kakashi likely shared with Sasuke was given.

Hinata's already pale complexion paled further after I'd finished, her hand ghosting towards her eyes.

"You don't know how important our eyes are to us, Naruto," She whispered, swallowing visibly from trying to speak, "It's what sets us apart. It's what shows us that we're family."

I never thought of it that way. Even if the Hyuga had an uncommon level of shared features, even among those who weren't closely related, their eyes always stood out.

"Hanabi and I have always been warned about someone targeting us for our dojutsu," Hinata whispered, a tear sprouting from her eye, "And Sasuke just found out the worst fear of either of our clans happened."

Hinata is letting it go. I thought, tilting my head slightly in surprise.

"You're going to let it go," I said slowly, wanting to make sure I understood, "Right after he aimed a cheap shot at you, because he was having a shitty moment?"

Hinata seemed to notice what I was really asking and nodded resolutely, looking directly into my eyes.

"I'm not going to let a mistake made in anger cloud my judgement of Sasuke," She replied, "If he doesn't apologize and mean it, I can make sure he remembers not to cross me."

Even if she had more of a backbone than she would have had, I still raised a brow in a 'Really' look.

She frowned at me and lifted her right hand, pulsing chakra into the tips of her fingers, a visible blue glow coming from the digits.

"Ah, yes," I tried to inject sarcasm to help with the rather somber conversation, "Keep poking the emo with your chakra until he's nice and happy like you are."

Hinata tried to keep frowning at me, but she wasn't like Hiashi, Neji, or hell even Hanabi in being able to hide any amusement. She cracked a smile, then began giggling, dropping her hand back to her waist.

"You're incorrigible." She managed to get out between her soft laughter, looking much lighter than just a few minutes ago.

"You love me for it." I said in a excited tone, meaning nothing by it.

Hinata ended up flinching almost imperceptibly, which caused me to almost kick myself in aggravation.

"I think she likes what she's seen," Kurama snickered, having listened to the conversation, "That Yamanaka girl also seems to like you."

Will you stop being a dick about that? I growled in my mind, I don't need you giving me that crap right now.

"I think the Hyuga girl would be preferable," Kurama hummed, ignoring me completely, "She's flexible and those eyes are a sight to die for."

Shut up, perverted fox.I growled in my mind, cutting off the connection and feeling the mortification catch up to me.

Hinata looked at me strangely when I scowled for no apparent reason.

"It's nothing," I shook my head, giving her a reassuring smile, "Just thinking of something."

I hope Kurama got cut off by Rin and is stewing in silence after the little comment he made. I thought Kakashi and especially Anko was bad about screwing with me, but I can at least avoid them if I get overdramatic about it.

Jinchuriki can't run from their Bijuu.

I leaned to the left to check and see if anyone was looking down the alley because we'd been here for a little while. I didn't need Hiashi hearing dumbass rumours about his daughter and me disappearing down an alleyway.

Spotting nobody, I still decided the conversation was about as cleared up as it could be. I gave Hinata a reassuring look.

"If you can get past it, I'll try too." I finally said, starting to walk out of the alley, Hinata following me.

"Since tomorrow is the exams, do you want to relax? Get something to eat?" I asked, wanting to get my mind off of how Kakashi unintentionally dropped a mess in my lap that I was going to have to fix tonight.

"Hmnn," Hinata mumbled, thinking to herself, "That sounds lovely, Naruto-kun."

"I'm thinking of a different place than ramen," I said aloud, walking through the street with a slight spring in my step, "Any recommendations?" I raised a brow at her in question.

Before Hinata could answer me, I heard a rustle behind me, a rather familiar one at that.

"I sense something," I gasped with as much seriousness as I could muster, keeping my face hardened to mess with Hinata, "A presence I've not felt since..."

I kept character and drew my sword from the sheath I managed to fix to my shoulder, spinning around and seeing a square rock.

"Stand and unfold yourself, fell beast!" I shouted, my blade at the ready, "Stand behind me, Hinata, I'll protect you." I moved my other arm in a protective position in front of Hinata, who was trying to understand what was going on.

Konohamaru flipped the box and looked at me with a defeated look.

"How do you keep knowing we're here, boss?" He asked, voicing what Udon and Moegi thought, based on their identical looks of defeatism.

"How does Hanabi-chan know where you are?" I asked rhetorically, grinning when a tick mark formed at his temple.

"You don't have eyes like her though," He pointed at Hinata, who seemed to finally gather herself from the theatrics I pulled out of left field, "And don't call her Hanabi-chan." He added with a grumble.

"Jealous?" I asked sweetly, relishing the glare the little gaki sent me, "You don't want someone else calling your girlfriend 'chan'?"

"She's not my girlfriend!" He shouted, stomping his foot.

"What would your grandfather say about you stomping like a little toddler?" I asked, Henging as Hiruzen in a time honoured tradition of aggravating the three male Sarutobi's I was around often, "Now, my grandson, I will show you how to woo the ladies, just as I wooed your grandmother." I felt my face muscles ache from keeping my face straight at the look of disgust on Konohamaru's face.

Konohamaru let out a war cry and charged me, the other two gakis joining along a moment later.

I dropped the Henge, let out a laugh, and started running, ignoring the shouts of surprise by the villagers when they saw one of the village's Jinchuriki running from the Sandaime's grandson.

I realized Hinata wouldn't exactly be happy with the detour, but she'd understand after a little bit.

"Run, run. Fast as you can. You can't stop me, I'm the ginger man!" I shouted, turning around and running backwards, blowing a raspberry at Konohamaru.

I then made a clone as I was running, making a hand seal to switch with a trashcan, managing to get behind the three chasing me.

After a few minutes of them chasing my clone, it turned around and blew a raspberry, popping right after.

The three skidded to a halt and looked around, Udon spotting me behind them first.

"You have fallen into my trap, my apprentice!" I shouted with elation, making a couple hand seals.

Pulling back on my chakra hard, I sent a weak water jutsu at them, one of the ones Kakashi taught as an easy one.

The small wave of water went towards them, Konohamaru shouting in surprise and running away in a dead sprint. What happened seconds later was something I wouldn't forget.

I pushed out my sensing to feel for him and almost staggered at the nauseating level of Killing Intent in the air. I could almost taste it, it was that strong.

Konohamaru smashed into someone that was a little bit older than me, someone that a recognized in the split second I paused and stared.

Dressed in all black, purple paint on his face. To his left was a girl that was a couple years older than me, with sandy blonde hair done up in four pigtails and a large war fan strapped to her back.

I saw Konohamaru get picked up by his scarf and heard Kankuro threaten him for not looking where he was going.

Pulsing chakra into my legs, I shot forward and drew my sword, seeing everyone moving in slow motion.

Temari seemed to catch a glimpse of me right as a flipped over Kankuro and tapped his shoulder with the flat of my blade, giving him a feral grin.

Kankuro's head jerked to me, his whole body going rigid in shock at not even seeing me move.

"I'd drop the kid," I leaned forward, resting the sword against the arm that was holding Konohamaru, "Before I drop the pointy end."

I felt Hinata's chakra close in and she stopped just a couple yards away, looking ready for a fight.

Kankuro slowly set Konohamaru down, letting him go.

"I was just playing." He said, eying the sword that was still resting on his arm.

I pulled the sword back and sheathed it, not taking my eyes off him.

"It would serve you well to not manhandle the Hokage's grandson inside of Konoha." I remarked nonchalantly, my lips twitching at the sound of Temari's intake of breath at her brother's possible screw up.

"He's-" Kankuro managed to stutter out, looking at the shortstack Sarutobi.

Konohamaru tried his best intimidation pose, which looked absolutely adorable.

"I'm Sarutobi Konohamaru," He planted his hands on his hips, wind swishing his scarf like a cape, "And my Ni-chan is gonna kick your butt."

"Brother?" Kankuro looked back at me slowly, looking at where my sword was in worry.

"Not by blood," I admitted, "But the kid has grown on me." I then turned to look at Temari, who was trying and failing to discreetly mold her chakra in preparation of needing to use a jutsu to help her brother out, "Don't do that, it won't look good if you attack a Konoha Shinobi, with a clan heiress right here," I jerked my thumb at Hinata, who had her eyes activated and was glaring at Temari with her hands up in a juken guard, "And after threatening a kid."

I went on talking though.

"And who is releasing such a delicious flavour of Killing Intent?" I asked with false wonder, smacking my lips like I tasted something sweet, "Something so delectable could only ever come from a fellow redhead. Hmnn," I put a hand on my chin, wetting my index with my tongue and lifted it up like I was testing the wind, "I spy, with my little eye, something...RED!" I pointed at where I could sense a unique chakra signature that was hanging from a tree.

The show did no justice in describing Gaara, whether it be physical or his chakra.

I heard Hinata gasp from behind me, likely from seeing how screwed up his chakra was.

I couldn't see it, but I could feel how much of a shit job the seal was doing in keeping his and Shukaku's chakra separate. I couldn't imagine what the hell it looked like from a Hyuga's point of view.

He dropped from the tree and walked straight to us, looking straight at Kankuro.

"G-gaara." Kankuro said, before being interrupted.

"You're an embarrassment. Stop before I kill you." Gaara said with almost no emotion, but his chakra kept frothing like something toxic.

I felt the hair on my neck stand up at the sensation, causing me to decide to rein in my sensing.

Gaara then turned to me, his green eyes looking at mine, the colour standing out even more from the shadows under his eyes.

"My apologies for my brother, he is foolish."

"I'll just chalk it up to you guys being nervous about being in a new village, away from home and all that." I offered an olive branch to keep everything running smoothly.

I signaled for Konohamaru to get the hell away from here, which he thankfully clued in and turned to leave with his friends.

Gaara remained silent for a few moments, before asking me a question.

"What is your name?"

"Uzumaki Naruto." I replied, not breaking eye contact, and loosening the grip I had on my chakra some.

Gaara gave me a predatory look when my chakra spiked and turned to Hinata.

"And your friend's name?"

I wasn't letting Hinata get in his sights, not when he was an unhinged lunatic.

"Her name doesn't matter." I whispered, letting my chakra out even more in challenge, stepping a little closer to Gaara.

The three onlookers were glancing at us two redheads sizing each other up, Temari and Kankuro looking in fear.

Gaara looked like Christmas came early and had a near manic grin on his face.

"Mother wants your blood. Your death will prove my existence."

I just laughed at that, seeing him look puzzled for a moment.

"Be dramatic about it then," I then turned to Temari, since she was the eldest, "Does it get tiring dealing with brothers that like wearing your make up and another that is such a drama queen?"

"It's not make up, it's war paint!" Kankuro shouted, probably hearing it before.

"You sure you didn't get it from your sister's room?" I snickered, enjoying the ease in which I was aggravating him.

Temari stifled a laugh at her brother getting worked up over the joke and looked at me differently.

"I assume you're here for the Chunin exams?" I changed the subject to a more serious one, ignoring Gaara's spiking chakra from me not paying attention to him.

"Yes," Temari was the one that answered, "Didn't this give it away?" She pointed at her Hitai-ate with her brow raised.

"No," I responded sarcastically, "I assumed you were just playing dress up because no Suna nin would try and start a fight in an allied village." I gave a pointed look at Kankuro.

"Sorry about that," Temari tried to smooth things over, "Like you said, it's been a long day and we just got here a couple days ago."

"Well," I put my hands in my pocket, whistling for a moment, "I don't want to be a terrible emissary for you guys, so I'll treat you to an unmatched delicacy that isn't often seen in Suna."

"And what is that?" Temari asked, looking curious.

"Ice cream." I said simply, still being surprised by Temari and Kankuro looking at me with confused looks.

"What is ice cream?" Gaara asked quietly behind me, causing me to turn around.

"My red haired compatriot doesn't know what ice cream is?" I asked dramatically, gasping in mock despair, "Well I know where we're all going."

I made a quick shadow clone, who began talking with the three, Temari blinking and shaking her head to probably digest what just happened.

I backed up and signaled for Hinata to come closer to me, which she did.

"Why are you doing this?" Hinata asked quietly, "The boy our age doesn't look right, you feel it, don't you?"

"He's absolutely crazy, but I need to gauge how much of a threat he is," I whispered back, "You need to avoid him in the exams."

Gaara wasn't going to shape up until he got a swift ass kicking, and I wasn't putting any of my friends in the cross fire.

"You wanting to get ice cream?" I asked her, "I know it's a bit of a change, but I'm wanting to do recon on these guys. They look fairly skilled."

Hinata's face shifted in realization, before nodding her acceptance.

"Good," I smiled, turning back towards the three, "Follow me, I'll walk you to there." I popped the clone and walked towards the chosen destination, formulating a plan.

---

"Sasuke," He heard Rin shout his name, "Stop brooding and just talk to me!" She stormed over to where he was sitting.

"I don't want to talk." He said simply, his anger already just under the surface.

Kakashi had just told him earlier today of how a man named Shimura Danzo had died days ago and had several Sharingan in his possession. Kakashi looked uncomfortable as he was explaining it, almost like he was leaving out a detail.

"I'm tired of you acting like an idiot every time you're having a bad day. You're my teammate and friend." She sat down next to him, leaning towards him and glaring.

"It's none of your business." He looked away from her, hearing her growl under her breath.

"It is my business when I have to deal with your bitching." She spat the last word out.

Sasuke turned and got directly into her face, his Sharingan activating from his anger.

"I get enough of that from Naruto," He snapped, "I don't need it from you too."

"Tell me what happened that got you all pissy, and I'll drop it."

Sasuke made a conscious effort to deactivate his Sharingan and took a couple deep breaths.

"Someone stole the eyes of my clan." He muttered, expecting to hear Rin react with surprise.

She didn't.

"You knew?" He demanded, his anger getting stoked again, "How?!"

"Kakashi-sensei told me," She said irritably, "And stop yelling at me."

Sasuke couldn't believe Kakashi would let Rin know something that was that private concerning his clan.

"Why did he tell you?" He gritted his teeth to stop from raising his voice.

"Because he knew you'd react this way," She gestured towards him, "He knows me and Naruto can talk with you about this, even Hinata could have if she wasn't having a bad day too."

"She wouldn't know what a bad day was if it snuck up and grabbed her." Sasuke said darkly, scoffing at the thought.

He didn't expect the slap from Rin.

He felt his head jerk to the right from the impact, Rin then grabbing ahold of his shirt.

"Don't you ever say that again," She growled, her hair shifting slightly as her chakra flared, "Kakashi-sensei just told her how Kumo sent their own genin team here, the same damn village that kidnapped her from her bed." He flinched when he saw her eyes flash to a darker shade.

Sasuke tried to pry her grip off his shirt, but she wasn't letting go.

"She was reminded of when she was kidnapped and you just had to be a dick about it."

"She started it," Sasuke said, pointing at the bruises on his forearms, "She still hasn't opened my tenketsu back up in my arms and it hurts."

Hinata wasn't supposed to use the Juken in spars right before a mission, the exams being tommorow counted.

But he also shouldn't have been hitting to hurt her, even if he had the reasoning of visualizing a shadowy, cloaked figure walking from body to body, removing eyes.

"I didn't know about Kumo sending anyone," Sasuke admitted, honestly not knowing that, "I shouldn't have upped the fight."

Rin's chakra stopped flaring and she let him go, backing up some.

"You ready to talk now?" Rin asked with a kinder tone, "Or do you want to talk with Naruto?"

Sasuke didn't want to talk with Naruto, especially after the last few days. Not only was he taking the exams on his own, just like Itachi, he had made an off hand comment about joining the ANBU for some more action. He didn't know if it was a joke or not, but it was something he couldn't get out of his head.

Skilled, thirteen, older brother, taking the Chunin exams alone, and far stronger than him.

"I'd rather talk with you." He eventually said, sitting down and sighing.

Rin sat down next to him put her hand on his shoulder reassuringly.

"Take your time."

Sasuke managed to force himself to open up some about the feeling of hatred towards Danzo for what he did, but also anger at himself for not being able to kill the man.

"Would killing him have brought your clan back?" Rin asked him, her tone of voice matching Naruto's.

Sasuke averted his eyes from hers, hating that he couldn't answer with an immediate yes.

She kept reminding him of how Naruto caused him to have doubts about killing Itachi, on whether him being the one to kill him was that important.

The mission in Nami, and how Naruto directly disobeyed orders to save innocent people, was something that he didn't think would have him questioning his motives for killing Itachi. He'd seen it as justice to kill him, but after talking with Naruto, he started to realize that he was just wanting to kill him because he took from him.

"What is going to be done about the eyes?" Rin asked him, causing him to shudder.

The eyes were being preserved until he came to the decision on what to do with them. He had almost instinctively told Kakashi to have them destroyed, but the thought of those eyes being all that was left of his clan refused to be driven from his mind.

"I don't know." He said quietly, eyes downcast.

"No one will judge you on what you decide," Rin leaned forward to look at his eyes, "Don't feel pressured by anyone on what to do."

Sasuke smiled softly at her, thankful she was trying to help him.

"What a team we are," He mumbled to himself, "Hinata almost got kidnapped, you and Naruto are all that's left of your clan, and I'm the last Uchiha here."

That didn't even count the latest shouting match between him and Hinata. He was almost impressed that he managed to anger the kind-hearted girl enough to get her to hurt him and raise her voice.

"It would've been worse if Naruto was on team 7 instead of me or Hinata." Rin admitted, giggling at the visual.

Sasuke couldn't help but chuckle lightly at the thought. "I would have probably become a missing nin just to escape him."

"And he would have chased after you." Rin kept snickering, "Just to haunt you."

Sasuke could see it playing out just like that.

"Sasuke, you can't run away from your problems, and especially me." He'd say, and he'd add on "your best friend." as a whisper.

"We are going to look back on this memory fondly."And I'd probably say something like, "I regret knowing you every day of my life."

Sasuke cracked a smile at visualizing that, knowing it wasn't far off.

"He'd be harassing me all the way."

"Then you'll know how I feel all the time." Rin said flatly, "I have to live with him."

"I'm not taking him in." Sasuke grinned, "I don't allow wild animals in my house."

"You make it sound like he's a stray cat." Rin laughed, grabbing at her stomach as she kept laughing.

"More like a fox." Sasuke snickered, Rin abruptly getting quiet.

Sasuke tilted his head in confusion.

"What was that?" Sasuke asked inquisitively, noticing what Rin did.

"Hmnn?"

"Why did you stop laughing?" He asked, looking at Rin speculatively, "What is it with foxes that has you and Naruto quiet about it?"

Rin seemed to shrink into herself and looked away from him.

"It's private." She mumbled.

"I shared things with you about me, can't you do the same?" He asked, genuinely curious on why Rin and Naruto were different.

"Sasuke," She said quietly, swallowing and standing up, "I-I just can't." She then began to walk away.

"Rin," He reached for her arm, feeling her jerk at the contact, "Please. Why do the villagers hate you two?"

He needed to know why they were hated. They were his friends. If he could find a way to use the pity the village had for him to get them to lay off the two, he'd do it. But he needed to know the details.

"Sasuke, I can't." Rin's face was paler than he'd ever seen, "I can't tell you."

"Can't or won't?" He asked, not accepting no for an answer.

"Sasuke." She warned, but he didn't care. He wanted to help.

"Naruto kept hounding me to open up, so I'm returning the favour." He said firmly, "Let me help."

Rin looked down at the grip he had on her sleeve, her head slowly tilted back upward.

"Let. Me. Go." She said softly, but he could hear the steeliness underneath.

"Rin." He gazed into her violet eyes, refusing to let go, "I'm tired of screwing up, ok? I hate that I couldn't stop from getting angry at Hinata, that I hesitated during the bell test," His breath caught as he thought of what he was going to say next, "That I didn't see what Itachi was going to do."

Every mistake he made in training, everytime he lost to Naruto in a spar, every time that little voice in his head told him to give in, it reminded him of what Itachi said that night.

"Run, run and cling to your pitiful life."

He wasn't going to run, even if Rin threatened to break his arm.

"You are my friend, and I know I'm able to help, even if you don't want it."

Rin stared at him for several seconds, not saying a word.

She broke the silence with words that were nearly as cold as ice.

"I will talk with Naruto. He will give detail if he wants to. Now, let go." She pulled her arm away as a reminder.

Sasuke let his grip loosen and let his hand drop to his side, feeling cold at having forced an uncomfortable situation.

"Rin." He tried to say, wanting to clear up why he felt the need to put her on the spot.

"We'll talk later." Was her terse reply, the blonde girl turning on her heel and leaving, heading towards the village.

"Where are you going?" He sped up his stride to try and catch up.

"I'm getting something to eat," She scrunched her shoulders and didn't look back, "You can go on a date with Sakura-chan for all I care."

She's pissed if she mentions that. Sasuke thought, knowing how much Rin hated Sakura's behavior, even after she'd taken her training seriously.

"What do you want me to say," He demanded, the two of them reaching the village, "That I'm sorry for asking you about that? Well sorry, but I'm not sorry."

He was a couple feet behind her and she flipped him off, ignoring him.

He heard muttering from some of the villagers and shot them a hateful look, more than one shocked by the anger visible.

"I'm tired of not knowing what's bothering my friends." He lunged forward and pulled her arm to turn her around.

He realized it wasn't the best of ideas when he saw her eyes seemingly flash to a red colour and felt a fist smash into his face.

He almost fell over and threw his arm out to steady himself, shocked by the reaction.

"Ugh," He groaned under his breath, almost yelping when he felt two hands grab his shirt and pull him up.

Rin pulled his face to just inches away from her own, her eyes definitely being a deep reddish purple.

"Stop digging for shit, Sasuke," She growled, their faces almost touching, "I hate it when Naruto does it, so don't think you can act like him."

Even if he wasn't a sensor, he could feel her chakra against his skin from how close they were, and it wasn't a pleasant feeling.

"I'm going to have to talk with Hinata after all this. Just give me space before I break your fucking legs." She shoved him to the ground, his backside hitting the street.

Sasuke was about to give up and turn and leave with what dignity he had left after getting manhandled by a girl in the middle of the street, but he heard a voice behind him that made him feel like he was at death's door for some reason.

"You heard what the lady said, get out or you'll wish you're dead." A deep voice sounded out behind him.

He saw Rin's eyes shoot to whoever was behind him, looking at the man with a surprised look.

Sasuke slowly turned around as he fought the unknown fear that seemed to creep up on him. Getting a view of the man, he realized he wasn't some trash talking civilian that didn't recognize him as the Uchiha heir.

The guy was as tall as Asuma, had dark skin, pale blonde hair, several swords strapped to him, sunglasses, and a Hitai-ate with the the symbol for Kumogakure on it.

This guy is a monster. He thought, trying to fight the slight shaking of his frame at the sight of the man.

Sasuke found out the guy's name when a blonde woman with an identical Hitai-ate ran towards them, almost shouting.

"B, what did I say about wondering off?" She nearly skidded to a stop.

"Hmph," The now named B huffed petulantly, almost exactly how Naruto did when he wanted to screw with people, "You don't see, you can't contain the will of Killer B!" He rapped, busting out a few dance moves.

Oh, Kami, please kill me. Sasuke prayed, not wanting to have to deal with someone more insane than Naruto.

"I can't babysit you and your students, B, you know what your brother's orders are." The blonde woman said, before her head perked up and she turned to him and Rin.

"Sorry about that, kids," She laughed a little, rubbing the back of her head sheepishly, "My companion here is a little exuberant when he's in new areas."

Rin was the first to recover and walked towards Sasuke and helped pick him up.

"It's alright," Rin said, Sasuke flinching when he felt her nails dig into his arms, "Isn't it, Sasuke?" She whispered in his ear, her breath warm against the side of his face.

He couldn't hide his body shivering at the pain promised in her voice, cursing himself for pushing her.

"Yeah," He managed to say, looking at the two Kumo Jonin, "We were just having a bit of an argument, nothing else."

Sasuke saw the blonde nod her understanding, but the look B was giving them had him on guard.

He could tell when someone was on guard, and this Kumo nin had his posture screaming it as he looked at Rin.

Sasuke felt Rin tense against him, the sound of her sniffing the air catching him by surprise, before she backed away, whispering something under her breath that he couldn't understand.

"I guess you're here for the exams?" Sasuke asked, trying to ignore whatever it was Rin just did.

The female Jonin seemed to give B a look of warning, almost like an owner scolding a puppy for misbehaving.

"Yes," She turned back to him, "We're the escorts for a genin team to take part in the exams, as we were invited by the Hokage, Uchiha-san." She added the last part dismissively.

Sasuke felt his eye twitch at the tone used, not liking it.

Naruto would fit in with the two of them. He thought irritably, the insanity of B and the woman's dismissive tone almost the same as Naruto.

"How did you know I was an Uchiha, Ms.?" He asked, the undertone of demand lurking under the surface.

He had to fight turning around to check on Rin, as he thought he kept hearing her talk to herself.

"Nii Yugito, kid," She said simply, turning to Bee, "How would you explain us knowing he's an Uchiha brat, B?" The woman asked the man Sasuke was tempted to start calling 'Kumo Naruto'.

"Black hair, smell of shit permeates the air." B started rapping again, making Sasuke want to stab himself in the head repeatedly, "No doubt, you are the heir!" B then grabbed a notebook and a pencil, scribbling down notes.

"I said explain, not antagonize." Yugito rolled her eyes at the man.

Kami, again, if you're listening, kill me. Sasuke prayed, wanting the day to end already, even if it wasn't even late afternoon.

Rin finally seemed to snap out of whatever the hell she was doing and grabbed Sasuke's arm with a tight grip, pulling him along.

"Nice to meet you guys," She gave a smile that Sasuke could tell was forced, "But we need to get going. Preparation for tommorow and all. Later!" He eventually stopped fighting her and followed her double pace to wherever.

---

It wasn't enough that the Kyuubi kept being a dick to her constantly about anything that would rile her up, nor was it Sasuke being a complete dick about pressing her about private things, she had to deal with hearing her brother's voice shouting in her head with the help of the connection with the Kyuubi.

"WHAT DOES THE FOX SAY?! Ring-ding-ding-ding-dingeringeding!"

"Shut up!" She shouted in her head, hearing the Kyuubi grumble it's displeasure.

"Will you two monkeys stop screeching? You're annoying enough."

"Dumbass, you weren't opening up a connection, and I'm already having trouble using your fucking chakra without breaking a table, so give me a break." Naruto's disembodied voice sounded out.

"What do you want?" She demanded from her brother, "I hate talking like this."

Naruto was the one that convinced her to try and talk telepathically, where it couldn't be traced. It would have been fine, if only it wasn't for the fox being a pervert and constantly acting out the night she and Naruto were conceived through voice acting their tousan and kaasan.

"You got a minute?" Naruto asked, his worry bleeding into her mind.

She shivered at the feeling, hating when she felt his emotions.

"I'm dealing with Sasuke digging for personal things, and I'm watching him get humiliated by some people." She giggled at Sasuke being put down by the Kumo nin.

"Sounds fun, but I need to say something, it's bad." Naruto said seriously, giving her a spike of worry.

"What is it?"

"I'm going to out and say it." Her brother took a deep breath, "Suna's Jinchuriki is here, and he's a homicidal lunatic."

Rin managed to keep from audibly reacting, but she knew she probably looked weird in the middle of a street, looking like she was listening to voices in her head.

"How do you know?" She asked weakly, trying to wrap her mind around it.

"His chakra feels worse than mine ever was. I can almost taste the bloodlust. He's killed, and not in a combat situation."

A murderer was what Naruto was saying, and one who enjoyed it.

"What are we going to do?" She asked, being at a complete loss.

"I'm letting all the other rookies know." Naruto said without hesitation, his resolve felt.

"You're not going to say he's a Jinchuriki, are you?" She asked frantically, astounded by Naruto's proclamation, her emotions then shifting to a more vicious kind, "You're going to tell them about us, aren't you!?" She shouted.

"I'm not leaving our friends to get killed by a fucking lunatic because they weren't prepared, Rin!" He actually growled at her, his ange- no, fury practically burning her.

"I'll give them some song and dance crap about me being a sensor and skilled at seals, even Shikamaru will probably buy it."

"Ah, seals," The Kyuubi huffed, "The bane of my existence, and the only reason you're hated by everyone."

"Bite me." Naruto said sharply, going back to what he was saying.

"If I had to proclaim that we're both Jinchuriki to all our friends to save them, I'd do it. But I don't need to, I'll just send a bunshin to all of them and explain what a Jinchuriki is and how their chakra feels. Like I said, it's believable for a sensor with sealing knowledge to know this."

Rin didn't miss what Naruto had said at the beginning, about telling everyone their secret. He never even asked her about it, he just said he would do it.

"I'm with his team at an ice cream shop. Hinata's right next to me. Tell Sasuke to not beat himself up over what happened, Hinata feels guilty about it too."

That was at least a relief, knowing she wasn't going to have to play peacemaker between the two in a weird turn of events.

"And also, who's humiliating Sasuke?" Naruto asked mirthfully.

"Some rapping Kumo Jonin with a genin team." Rin shrugged, expecting Naruto to say something witty.

But he didn't.

Everything was quiet, she couldn't even feel his emotions, meaning he cut the connection temporarily.

"Describe him." She finally heard him, his voice sounding brittle.

She hesitated for a moment at the weak tone of her otherwise fire and brimstone brother, not understanding why.

"Please." He begged her, "I need to know."

"He's tall, dark skin, blonde hair, sunglasses, and he has several swords on him." She rattled off, before remembering the woman Jonin saying his name, "I think his name was B."

She felt the flood of emotion before she heard him scream.

"Fucking leave!" He shouted, "You have to get out of there. He's the Jinchuriki of the Hachibi. He might sense you're a Jinchuriki. CUT THE CONNECTION!" The last words were the end of their conversation as Naruto cut it, the backlash making her head ache.

---

I left a clone to guide the sand siblings around the village once they were done with the obscene level of ice cream they all ate. To think it only took the sugary treat to calm some of Gaara's more bloodthirsty urges was a pleasant surprise, but it was overshadowed by the giant pile of shit that got flung into my lap.

Fuck me. Fuck me. Fuck me. I kept chanting in my mind, rushing towards the general area where Rin's chakra was at.

"Stop repeating what your mother kept saying to your father and calm down!"Kurama snarled at me, probably annoyed at my constant loud thinking.

I cut the connection to him completely and raced to find Rin, Hinata trying to catch up to me and calling my name.

I was almost to where I felt an area where her chakra signature wasn't buried under others, when I smashed straight into someone, a female, judging by the high pitched gasp as she hit the ground.

"Move out of the way, shitfuck!" I snarled, continuing onward.

I heard the girl shout something and heard the slight clink of metal. I turned around and saw at first glance that she was a kunoichi with red hair, who flung a kunai at me.

I caught it without issue and threw it at her slow enough so she'd catch it.

"Don't waste my time." I snapped, turning to start moving to meet up with Rin.

"You Konoha Shinobi are dicks," She shouted, "Some gentleman you are."

"I don't give a damn about what you think about Konoh-" I turned to shout at her, but my eyes widened from looking closer at her.

She had a Kumo headband, red hair, and darker skin.

She's one of B's. I thought, recognizing her, but her name eluded me.

I was kind of surprised that Kumo would send a thirteen year old and not someone older, unless she and...what was his name, Omoi? were better trained by B than I thought.

I felt two chakra signatures that definitely weren't civilians close around me.

"What's up, Karui?" The white haired boy asked, "He giving you trouble?" He turned to me and had his hand on the hilt of his sword.

I matched his movement and gripped my own, ready to beat some sense into them if they got in my way.

"This asshole ran into me, Omoi." Karui said irritably, at least letting me remember his name.

"I'm a redhead, not an asshole," I glared at her, "You should know the difference."

She growled at the insult and raised the kunai she had already held in her hand, but stopped when Hinata finally jumped in.

"Stay back." Hinata demanded, her hands up and ready to fight them.

Omoi evidently wasn't any different two or three years younger, walking forward and trying to sound charming.

"We don't mean anything," He said with a grin, "He just walked into my friend here. It would be a terrible shame if we upset such a pretty girl, like you."

Hinata, based on her reaction, took the compliment in the worst way possible, probably from the fact that it was a Kumo Shinobi saying it.

Hinata's Byakugan activated and I felt a swirl of chakra in her hand, something I didn't recognize.

I realized what it was when Hinata thrust her hand out and sent a wave of chakra at Omoi, knocking him several feet back onto his ass.

8 Trigrams: Vacuum Palm.

It wasn't as powerful as it should have been, based on how the scrolls I copied from the Hyuga clan library depicted it, but it was still enough to get the message across.

Hinata's chakra coated her hands and she glared at the other two in challenge.

All the civilians that saw what was going down kept their distance, several straight up leaving when they saw me there.

Omoi was coughing profusely and clutching his chest as he pulled himself up, glaring at Hinata.

"What the hell was that for?" He demanded, his eyes widening when he looked closer at Hinata's.

"I need to get somewhere, and you muppets are delaying me," I pulled my sword out and pointed it at the unfamiliar genin that looked a little older than the others, a guy with white hair and his hands wrapped, "So kindly let us through." My tone adopted a sinister edge at the end.

Omoi pulled his sword out and stalked towards me, the older genin turning sharply to him.

"Don't start anything," He barked, glancing towards me, "We were told not to cause an incident."

"This idiot started it when he knocked down Karui, and she," He pointed his sword towards Hinata, "Hit me with a jutsu."

I have to get to Rin. I can't let her be seen up close by B. I can't let her suspect anything, not when it could break her composure right before Orochimaru comes.

"Screw it." I muttered, pulsing lightning chakra into my blade, a blue crackling light forming along the metal, "Move, or be moved."

Omoi did the same thing, coating his sword with chakra, but to a lesser degree than mine. His looked like it had some gaps in it's density.

I won't use any jutsu, I'll just kick his ass with Kenjutsu. I thought, dropping my left hand from the grip to signal Hinata of what I was going to do.

Omoi waited for me to make a move, but I decided on another route.

I stepped forward and spiked my Killing Intent as high as I could. I kept it up for only a second or two, just enough for them to feel it.

Omoi staggered back and more civilians took off. And unsurprisingly, I caught the flash of an ANBU on the rooftop of an apartment, probably being tipped off on one of the Jinchuriki causing shit.

"Afraid?" I challenged him, beating my chest, "Your Kage fled from the Yondaime. You gonna run like the pussies you are?!"

Omoi's face shifted to an angry one and charged at me, yelling a battle cry.

I grinned and raised my sword, planning on blitzing him and getting behind them. I'll let the ANBU deal with them if they pursue me and Hinata.

Right as Omoi got within 10 feet of me, I felt the largest chakra signature I'd felt in my life come barreling down the road straight towards us.

Omoi swung down towards my head and I leaned in and drove my sword upward to stab towards his ribs.

I caught a flash of blue and heard and felt my blade hit something that wasn't flesh. I got an up close view of Killer B, Jinchuriki of the Hachibi, block my sword with one of his own and grabbed Omoi's with his barehand.

His damn chakra was making my head hurt, it was so bright. He pushed Omoi back and stepped away from me, disengaging our blades.

"Omoi," He shook his head, not taking his eyes off of me, "Why you acting like a boy, yo? It's no ploy he'll treat you like a toy."

Holy shit, the show doesn't do this guy justice. B was about Asuma's height, but Asuma didn't have the edge to him that I got from B. Asuma was dangerous, but B felt like a predator, something that would rip you apart even when you knew it was coming.

"Who the hell are you?" I managed to say, backing away from the man some, sword in a relaxed low guard.

Before B could say something, I heard a female voice ring out.

"B, don't!" A blonde Kumo Jonin shouted, my mind short-circuiting when the wind blew her scent towards me.

She smelled like a cat.

God, why do you do this? I asked, Gaara, Yugito, B, Rin, and me. Over half the damn Jinchuriki in the world are here in one village.

The last time this many Jinchuriki were in a village was Uzu.

Hinata was right next to me, her eyes active. I could see her visibly shaking, probably from the fact that the taller of the two people in front of us had larger chakra reserves than I had currently. Being Jinchuriki and years older than me helped with that.

Yugito looked like she was about to say something to B, but her eyes stopped and looked at me, a gasp of surprise from her.

To say her chakra spiked in what was similar to fear would be an understatement. She almost felt terrified at looking at me.

"Genin," She managed to gather herself, a glare being shot towards Omoi, "Explain yourself." Her tone was clipped and brokered no nonsense.

"He knocked down Karui," He recoiled from Yugito's glare, trying to defend himself from the gaze of both of Kumo's Jinchuriki, "And she attacked me." He pointed at Hinata.

B gave one glance towards Hinata, probably noticing her eyes, but I couldn't tell because of the shades, and yanked Omoi's sword from his grip and smacked the top of his head with the hilt.

Omoi yelped and clutched at his head from the impact, looking up at be in shock.

"Idiot." Was the short reason B gave to Omoi for hitting him, returning the sword to its owner by shoving the blade into the back sheath himself.

"I'm terribly sorry for anything done by our underlings," Yugito gestured between herself and B, "They can sometimes take after their Sensei."

"I'm their Sensei," B shot a look to the blonde female, "Which is A okay." He made a horn sign with his fingers and fist pumped.

Deciding to hopefully get the Jinchuriki juggernaut on somewhat positive terms, I cleared my throat and let loose.

"Work on your rhymes. You think they're sublime. But really, they're just a waste of time."

I felt the damn ANBU spying on us let slip their chakra suppression in shock.

Every single one of the Genin and Yugito looked at me with horror, glancing at B. I swore I heard Yugito mumble, "Not another one."

B's eyes bored into mine, crossing his arms at what I just did.

"I like you, kid. You got balls for what you did. But here's a warning to you, you won't win two."

"B," Yugito growled, "You can play with your new toy later. We have somewhere to go, remember?"

"Who the hell you calling a toy?" I asked, affronted by that statement.

"You, boy." She turned to leave.

"Boy?" I shouted, "I may be shorter than you, but I'm long where it matters." I cupped my crouch with my left hand and did a little shimmy, blowing a raspberry at her.

I heard Hinata make a soft 'eep' sound and she shut off her Byakugan, blushing red.

Yugito stalked towards me in a fashion eerily similar to how Tora would prowl around, actually hissing at me.

"Care to repeat that, pervert?"

"Why must all you kunoichi confuse me with something as debased as a pervert," I said the word with revulsion. I then sheathed my sword and planted my hands on my hips and puffed my chest out. "I am a Super Pervert! A fine connoisseur of the most delectable of females."

I didn't stop there.

"I gaze upon the world, searching for the most tantalizing beauties," My tone then lowered to one of despair, "And I find you lacking."

Yugito took a second to decipher the guided nonsense I just said, but her Killing Intent at point blank clued me in to her understanding.

"B," she hissed, "I'm going to break your new toy."

"Don't threaten me with a good time," I laughed, a Cheshire grin on my face from her eyes flashing in anger, "But at least take a bath first, you smell like you set a cat on fire." I wasn't lying about that. She smelled like a mix of cat and fire, a bad combination.

Yugito blinked and reined in her Killing Intent, backing away from me. She then turned to B and seemed to have a silent conversation with him, the dark skinned man tilting his head to the right.

"We're leaving." Yugito said to the Genin, "We'll get to the hotel. No complaining."

They turned to leave, but Yugito glanced over her shoulder at Hinata and me.

"Good luck in the exams, Hyuga-san, and Uzumaki-san."

"Uzumaki?" I tried to give a convincing look of confusion, but Yugito saw through it.

"Red hair and a sword. You bastards were never subtle." She said sharply, her eyes seeming to adopt a more feline look.

As she turned to leave, I gave a final parting shot.

"Later, kitten." I called out, not getting a reaction aside from a tightening of her shoulders.

After I couldn't see them anymore, I rushed to an alley and started vomiting, shaken from what just happened.

Hinata rushed towards me to help but I waved her off.

"I'm okay," I coughed, molding a small amount of water chakra in my hand, drinking it to swish out my mouth and spitting it out, "Nerves."

"What was that, Naruto-kun?" She asked softly, putting her hand on my shoulder while I was still on my knees from puking up what I'd just eaten, "Why are acting like this?"

That whole ordeal terrified me, even if I covered it up with bravado and sarcasm. What the hell would possess the Raikage to send both of his village's Jinchuriki, one being his brother, to Konoha? Would Yugito have been enough if Darui came along? Why B?

"Naruto." Hinata's voice broke me from my thoughts. I looked at her pale eyes, which was difficult to gauge her emotions by looking at them, but I knew her better than most people. She was worried.

"I'll tell you somewhere else," I promised her, "It's bad."

Hinata placed her other hand on my cheek, causing me to shiver when she touched my birthmarks, being more sensitive.

"How bad?" She asked quietly, not looking away from my own eyes.

"Possible S-rank secret." I replied, not elaborating.

Hinata seemed to understand my silence and stood up, activating her Byakugan.

"Do you want to head to my home, or yours?" She asked, looking for something.

I was about to answer her, but I felt a spike of Kurama's chakra feel like it stabbed ne in the head.

I stifled a growl of pain and opened a connection to Kurama.

WHAT? I demanded, hearing shouting echo around in my mindscape.

"Get your ass to your apartment before you have to scrape the Uchiha off the wall! I think she's going to actually kill him this time!" Kurama shouted, Rin's shouting echoing faintly.

"Hinata," I asked, "Can you see my apartment with your eyes? I think I can feel Rin's chakra faintly."

Hinata nodded and squinted her eyes more, hissing softly from the strain.

"Oh no," She gasped, turning to me and deactivating her eyes, a look of shock on her face, "Rin is punching Sasuke."

I planted my hands and feet on the wall of the alley and began climbing up by sticking to it with chakra. I propelled myself up to the roof and began sprinting and jumping across buildings to get there as fast as possible, Hinata following behind.

---

"Stop butting in on things that are none of your business!" I heard Rin scream, the sound of something breaking echoing in the hallway.

I'd finally gotten to the apartment and was met with loud noises and the sound of fighting being heard from outside.

I tossed all care aside and kicked the door off its hinges and stomped into the wrecked living room.

The couch was broken in half, the old television I'd gotten for a bargain was cleanly sliced in half, and worst of all, the desk that had Tobirama's notes on the Hiraishin was knocked over, with the notes in disarray.

Sasuke was breathing heavily and had blood covering his face, a split lip and black eye visible.

Rin was busy driving several punches into his forearms, her own shirt torn at the sleeve and she also had what looked to be a partially healed cut lip.

"WHAT IS GOING ON!" I roared, grabbing ahold of Kurama's chakra and magnifying my chakra presence.

Sasuke gasped and almost fell to the ground, while Rin backed away from me with a look of terror on her face that I hated.

I was breathing heavily, my anger building up from what I was seeing. All the progress I made on organizing the damn notes was all for nothing. That set me back by weeks of sleepless nights in piecing it together.

"I don't care who started it," I growled, looking between the two, "I don't even care that you trashed our apartment, Rin," I glared at my sister, who was shaking, "Hell, I don't care that all the shit I went through the effort of buying got trashed," I tried as best as I could to not yell, but I did, "You trashed the Nidaime's notes!"

I walked over to the pile of scattered papers and lifted several up to show to her face.

"We are alive because of this!" I said in English, mere feet from her, "You think the Fourth would have saved us without this?"

Rin did not talk at all, her expression flat. I couldn't even feel her in my mind.

"The old man trusted me with these! I told him I'd be careful, and you go and act like what everyone says we are."

Rin's eyes flashed in anger and she tried to punch me.

I caught her fist with a little difficulty and leaned closer, our noses almost touching.

"Why?" I asked quietly, looking directly into the eyes that she shared with our mother.

"He keeps asking me about the damn fox!" She shouted, making me scowl from how close I was, "I told him to stop, and he wouldn't."

I turned to Sasuke, letting go of Rin's hand and walked towards the bruised Uchiha.

"Have you been harassing Rin about things I've told you are off limits?" I asked simply, not jumping to conclusions.

"I'm trying to help you two," Sasuke said defensively, "I'm tired of hearing civilians mutter about you two being dangerous and not knowing."

"You'd be seen as dangerous too if you didn't get skull fucked by your brother." I said sharply, not in the mood for this all over again.

This day was a nightmare and the sun wasn't even setting yet.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Sasuke demanded, his Sharingan back on after deactivating it after I interrupted the spat between him and Rin.

"The phrase, 'The apple doesn't fall far from the tree' applies in more than one case," I said, ignoring his scowl, "The only reason the civilians don't see you as the next Itachi is because they heard rumours of what happened to you, and don't tell me your personality and demeanor didn't change after that." I used a challenging tone at the end.

"That's rich of you talking about Itachi, Naruto." Sasuke's face tightened.

At my raised brow, he chuckled mirthlessly.

"You're taking the exams alone, you have a younger sibli-" I pulled my sword out and readied it, causing Rin and Hinata to gasp in shock.

"Naruto." Hinata tried to calm me, mistaking what I was going to do.

"So that's why you didn't come to me about the crap with Elder Danzo?" I asked, "You think I'm like Itachi?" I stepped forward and shoved my swords flat end into Sasuke's arms, patting his shoulder forcefully in a mocking way.

I backed up and threw my arms out to expose my chest.

"If you think I'm going to be like your brother, do us all a favour and drive that through my damn heart. But be sure to twist it so it severs my spine, I'll probably heal from getting my heart split."

Rin cried out and went to rush towards me, but I held up my hand to stop her, giving her a look that gave no room for talking.

"Well?" I looked back at Sasuke, "Go on. Be a hero to Konoha. Save the village from the nasty madman like Hashirama had to do. Come on, kill me!" I hit my chest.

Sasuke threw the sword aside the moment I finished talking.

"I'm not him," He spat, "I won't kill a friend."

"But you'll keep being an asshole to your friends?" I asked, "You've managed to be a dick to everyone in this room."

Sasuke opened his mouth to speak, but he seemed to deflate as he looked at Hinata, who had went over to Rin and was watching the two of us arguing.

"Both of you will tell me everything that happened," I said slowly, looking at Rin and Sasuke, "Calmly." I stressed the word.

I stepped back and grabbed my sword off the floor, re-sheathing it and making a hand seal to make several clones.

"Clean up this damn mess." I grabbed a couple storage scrolls from my pocket for them to stuff the broken furniture and other fragments in. The clones got started on it, being promptly ignored by me.

I didn't say a word as I walked to the kitchen and grabbed 3 chairs, setting them down and gesturing for Team 7 to sit down.

"Since I'm not in the mood to bother Kakashi with you two acting like a couple of jilted lovers," I said that more to get my point across to Rin that she was being foolish, "I'm going to be acting Sensei right now." I remained standing to be slightly above them for effect.

"Sasuke," I turned to the raven haired boy, "You first."

Sasuke explained everything, including what Kakashi told him about the supposed cause of death Danzo experienced.

Hiruzen probably cooked up a cover story. You can't exactly say a man who's served Konoha for decades was executed without a military trial, nor witnesses that weren't directly under the Hokage.

Sasuke finished his view on what happened, turning to Hinata.

"Hinata," He said quietly, looking like he was struggling to look her in the eye, "I'm sorry about hurting you. I wasn't thinking straight and I took it out on you. We're a team, and I was a bad teammate today."

Hinata seemed relieved at Sasuke accepting his part of the blame.

"I shouldn't have hit you with the Juken," She replied to his apology with her own, "Kakashi-sensei informed me of Kumo nin being part of the exams." She wiped a tear from her eye, "And it reminded me of that night."

Sasuke's hand clenched at the last two words.

"We both messed up." Sasuke said, turning to Rin, "And I did it again." He groaned to himself.

"Okay," I ran a hand through my hair, taking the tie off and letting it hang down some as I combed my fingers through the crimson locks, "Rin, your turn."

Rin had seemed to calm down from the rage I could feel radiating from her just a few minutes ago, Sasuke's admittance of error likely helping.

She pretty much said the same thing as Sasuke on what happened, particularly the part about the Kumo Shinobi.

"I met them too," I said, glad that Rin had calmed down, because what I was going to say next was going to have her freaking out for a few seconds, "Sasuke, Hinata. Do you know what a Jinchuriki is?"

Rin's whole body froze and I saw tears sprout from her eyes, shaking her head profusely.

She was terrified of rejection, not knowing if Hinata and Sasuke would see her as who she was, and not what she held.

Please, trust me. I tried to convey through a look, hoping she would understand.

Both Hinata and Sasuke shook their heads, not noticing Rin's reaction.

"A Jinchuriki is someone who has a Bijuu sealed into them, the fact that they are pure chakra means they can be sealed into someone's chakra network."

"How do you know this?" Sasuke asked curiously, leaning forward.

Rin was shaking like a leaf as she gave me a begging look.

"There were notes about the sealing techniques for Bijuu in our clan's journals " I lied easily, knowing full well Sasuke wasn't going to learn about something this personal in this way.

Rin sagged in relief and wiped her eyes, trying to steady her breathing.

"Why is this important, Naruto?" Hinata asked, tilting her head in confusion.

"The red haired Suna nin, and both Kumo Jonin are Jinchuriki." Was my answer, Hinata gasping in shock.

"Is that why he was insane?" Hinata asked, looking contemplative.

"No," I said with a biting tone, noticing Hinata's quick intake of air and her fiddling with the hem of her jacket, "Jinchuriki are not insane. The two Jonin weren't like the Gaara kid. He's an outlier caused by something not related to being a container for a Bijuu."

I was not letting it get into Hinata's head that Jinchuriki might be unstable.

"How do you know they are?" Sasuke asked skeptically.

"I sensed the way the chakra swirled on the seals they had on them," I lied again, grinning internally at the BS excuse of being an excellent sensor helping me once again to explain away things, "You probably noticed the way the seal was on B's shoulder, right Rin?" I hoped that she got the hint to lie.

Rin thankfully caught it and nodded. "Yeah, that's why I dragged you here, Sasuke." She looked at the boy apologetically, "I kind of freaked out."

Sasuke sighed and took his Hitai-ate off, massaging his temples.

"This day just keeps getting better and better," He groaned, voicing a similar opinion I had, "Anything else you want to add, Naruto? Are we long lost cousins or something?"

I snorted at his sarcastic question, knowing something none of them knew.

All four of us are descended from two twin brothers. I thought, making sure my connection to Kurama was locked down completely.

"Not that I know of," I said simply, "But I'll tell you some of why the villagers seem to hate us."

Sasuke's attention was piqued again, while Rin sent me a look of trepidation on what I was going to say.

"The Inuzuka have some physical changes because of them having been bonded with their ninken for generations," I explained, "I don't need to explain to either of you on how the chakra of previous generations influences their descendants." I looked at Hinata and Sasuke, both nodding.

Both came from clans with kekkai genkai, and both would have been educated on how the Bloodline was prevented from becoming recessive through occasional intermarriage between distant cousins. I think Hinata's parents were cousins from something like four generations back. Or maybe it was five or six back, I couldn't remember.

Any child I had would have a lower chance of having the Bloodline ability I had, unless I married an Uzumaki girl. But since Rin was the only one in Konoha, there was a non-existent chance of that ever happening.

"Well," I continued, "Rin and I are kind off like that, but instead of doglike features, it's like a fox."

Rin's fists were clenched as I was dancing on dangerous territory, but she kept herself from saying anything.

"It's probably from our dad, because our mom was a full Uzumaki." I couldn't hide the derision in my tone at the word 'full' in this context.

Rin and I didn't have a lower stamina or vitality level compared to someone with two Uzumaki parents. You either had the enhanced physical ability, or you didn't. And it was very uncommon for it to not manifest in said children.

"But how does that translate into the villagers hating the two of you?" Sasuke asked, "The fox part makes sense, I've heard them say things like you being a fox demon that steals faces, or whatever the hell that drunk said last week." Sasuke added the last part with an annoyed tone.

"We had the misfortune of being born on the night of the Kyuubi attack." I answered him, knowing Sasuke would have dug around for details eventually, "A bunch of grief stricken civilians saw two little newborns with whisker marks as the reincarnation of the Kyuubi because we have some vulpine features." I barred my teeth and pointed at my canines, which were slightly longer than normal, and my whisker marks.

Sasuke's eyebrows nearly disappeared into his hairline, his mouth opening slightly in surprise.

He then surprised me by laughing.

"Are you serious?" He asked, "Are they that stupid?"

"I don't know," I shrugged, "That's the only reason I can think of why they hate us. It makes sense, right?"

Sasuke got up from the chair and started pacing around, most of the broken things picked up and sealed to be dumped at a trash heap later.

"Now I know why you call me an asshole all the time," Sasuke shook his head, "Kami, I feel like one."

Sasuke stopped his pacing and looked between me and Rin.

"I at least knew my father, but you two didn't get to know yours' and you're paying the price for simply being his kids, come to think of it." He shook his head in irritation.

Sasuke wouldn't know how on point he was with the last statement. Every day, I paid for the actions of Namikaze Minato making me into a Jinchuriki instead of him accepting his wife's request to reseal Kurama into her to kill them both.

Did Obito shake his resolve in being the Child of Prophecy that much by making him fight with every fiber of his being just to avoid getting killed? I couldn't remember if Minato had mentioned that, but Jiraiya's trust in him being the Prophecy Child was probably disregarded at some point.

Sasuke began to talk again, breaking me from my thoughts.

"I want to go home," Sasuke said, scowling at the now empty looking living room, "Sorry for trashing your house." he looked at Rin and me sheepishly.

"Get your eye and face fixed first." I said, gesturing towards the cuts on his face from Rin punching him repeatedly.

Hinata got up and lifted her hands up to signal for Sasuke to come towards her, having been learning Iryo-ninjutsu for the last several months.

Sasuke sat back down and Hinata made a couple hand seals, her hands glowing green as she ghosted her fingers across Sasuke's face.

Sasuke groaned in relief as the bruising faded away and the cuts sealed shut.

Sasuke went to get up, but Hinata shook her head.

"Your arms and hands." She instructed, reaching for his hands.

Sasuke rolled his eyes and lifted his hands up, several cuts on them from taijutsu with my sister.

Another application of Iryo-ninjutsu, and Sasuke looked good as new, save for the slight bit of blood still on his lip.

"I'll be sending bunshin to all the others about avoiding the Suna team," I told Sasuke, "The exams don't start til tomorrow, so it isn't cheating."

Sasuke nodded and looked at Rin.

"We alright?" He asked, his voice soft as he gestured between the two of them.

Rin took a few seconds to answer, but sighed in acknowledgement. "Yeah, it's fine now." She muttered, not looking up at Sasuke.

"Sasuke," The seriousness in my voice had him turn towards me, "Promise me you won't fight the Suna nin."

Sasuke looked puzzled at my no nonsense tone.

"I don't think I can kill him. He's that dangerous."

I was lying. The two weaknesses Gaara's sand techniques had were lightning and water, the two elements I used most often. And Gaara wasn't invincible, I just needed to fight smart and I could take him down.

All three of them were silent at my proclamation, realizing how dangerous this was going to be.

"I don't see how bad it could be." Sasuke said, but he didn't look like he even believed his own words.

"He's a murderer," I said softly, knowing exactly why Gaara was so broken, "He said that killing me would prove his existence."

Sasuke seemed to have an internal battle going on in his head, not saying anything.

He eventually sighed and nodded. "I won't try to fight him." His face then sharpened, "But if we get cornered, I'm going to kill him." His voice was unwavering.

I didn't miss his glance towards Rin and Hinata.

"Good," I nodded, "You go on ahead. I need to speak with Rin on something."

Sasuke turned around and started to walk away, but I added something else.

"Don't worry about Kakashi, I'll tell him you guys worked it out."

Sasuke heard me and stepped over the broken door, rounding the corner and leaving.

Before I could talk with Rin, Hinata asked a question.

"Naruto," She actually sounded nervous about asking me, "Why did you say those things to the one Jinchuriki?"

"Rapping back at B?" I asked confusedly.

Hinata shook her head. "You were flirting with the other."

I started laughing at what she was saying.

"Sorry," I said through my stifled laughs, "That's not flirting, that's me intentionally being insufferable to throw her off."

At Hinata's look of confusion, I clarified.

"I worded it so she thought I was a pervert with a lot of wordsmithing to mess with people. I didn't complement her at all. I actually said she was lacking and other things to piss her off, including saying she smelled like burnt cat."

Rin groaned slightly, probably from the reminder.

"You'll know if I was actually flirting with someone," I raised a brow at Hinata, who was still sitting, "For you, I'd wax poetic on how bright and luminous your eyes are, about how even the moon pales in comparison to their ethereal beauty."

Hinata blushed red and looked away, looking like she was trying to hide in her jacket.

"Or I'd say how I can see the gentleness and kindness in you very steps, of how you seem to glide through katas like water."

Hinata was getting progressively more red faced.

"Naruto, stop teasing her," Rin rolled her eyes, "You're going to make her faint."

"Sorry." I said, lifting my hands to placate her, "I just want to point out the difference between actually flirting and being an intentional perv."

Hinata managed to control her embarrassment some and stood up, walking towards Rin.

"Do you n-need help with your cuts?" She asked, trying to not stammer from just a few seconds ago.

Rin pressed on her lower lip with her finger, humming softly.

"Nope," She shook her head, "It's all healed."

Hinata smiled softly and turned to leave, but turned back and gave Rin a hug, then me next.

"I'll see you tomorrow." She whispered, to me, letting go and leaving, stepping over the door like Sasuke.

After I pinged my chakra sensing out to make sure no one was eavesdropping, I grabbed Hinata's chair and sat down in it heavily, my head resting in my hands.

"What damn mess." I said about nothing in particular, "5 Jinchuriki in one village at one time. This doesn't happen at all."

"Can you open up the connection to the fox?" She asked, wincing at something, "He keeps yelling."

"Tell him to quiet down and I will."

Rin nodded and I pulled on Kurama's chakra to open it back up.

"How the hell did you know that he was a Jinchuriki?"

Which one? B? I asked.

"Yes." Kurama growled, his chakra making my tenketsu itch a little from his anger. "What you said to the Hyuga and Uchiha was a lie, you're sensing isn't good enough to tell they're Jinchuriki unless you were right in front of them."

Rin was remaining quiet, just listening to the conversation.

You do realize I read and listen to the Hokage's stories, right? I asked sarcastically, One of the stories involved a certain Jinchuriki and a Kumo Jonin fighting against the Yondaime in the Third Shinobi War.

"What Kumo Jonin?" Rin asked, having not listened to as many stories about our father.

"Killer B got the name 'Killer' from fighting Namikaze Minato alongside his brother, the Yondaime Raikage."

"He's the Raikage's brother and a Jinchuriki?" Rin's eyes widened in shock at what I'd just revealed.

"Yes, and one of the things Jiji told me was what Killer B looked like and acted like. Plus, he's the Jinchuriki of the second strongest Bijuu."

"Thank you," Kurama said mockingly, "You know my place in the hierarchy, little monkey."

"Still didn't stop you from getting sealed by a tree hugger and a blond piss ant." I snarked back, hearing Kurama grumble at the reminder.

I managed to shift Kurama's suspicion away, thankfully. I wasn't lying about hearing about B from Hiruzen, but I'd already known he was a Jinchuriki before the history lesson.

"So what does this mean?" Rin asked, her voice small from uncertainty.

"I," my mind drew up a blank, "I don't know." I was at a loss on how things were spiraling out of control. Would Orochimaru even attack the village when over half of all Jinchuriki were here? What the hell would convince Ay to send two Jinchuriki to Konoha? His brother at that.

Rin got up and hugged me, her whole body shaking.

"I'm sorry for messing with the notes," She gasped, starting to sob, "I'm sorry I didn't stop fighting Sasuke and broke everything." I couldn't understand anything after that because she started breathing quickly and was crying openly.

"Rin," I placed my hand on her cheek and looked at her tear stained face, seeing how anguished she was at causing me problems, "I don't care about the notes. I was just angry at the day and I ended up walking in on you and Sasuke fighting." My then voice adopted a gentle tone, "I know me abruptly telling you about B and not elaborating scared you and I'm sorry for that. But I saw the Suna Jinchuriki and felt like I was looking in a mirror."

Rin sniffed and leaned into my hand, wiping her eyes with her right hand.

"What do you mean?"

"It's not just that he had red hair, a sister with blonde hair, and is a Jinchuriki," I said, knowing that a darker upbringing would have done the same thing to me or Rin, "His eyes are empty. He wants nothing except to prove he feels, that he's alive. And he can only do that by killing."

Rin chewed on her bottom lip and looked deep in thought.

"Are you going to warn everyone else?" She asked quietly, her eyes downcast.

"I'll tell them the same thing I told Sasuke and Hinata," I promised, "Hinata definitely won't change her opinion on us if we told her about us being Jinchuriki. I don't think Ino or Shikamaru would either, and Choji will listen to Shika's reasoning."

"But what if you're wrong?" Rin sniffled, taking a deep breath, "I don't want to lose my friends. I can't stand thinking of them looking at me like everyone else."

"Ino, Shikamaru, and Choji have seen me at my worse," I stated flatly, "Ino felt me at my worse. She and Hinata were the ones that stopped me from brooding in the woods."

Rin looked unconvinced.

"You know what they said to me?" I continued, making sure she was looking straight into my eyes.

I pulled my left hand towards my chest and made a half seal, Henging as Ino.

"You are not a demon." I recited with her voice, seeing Rin's eyes widen.

"She knows?" She leaned away from me, breaking contact.

"No," I shook my head, dropping the Henge, "She and Hinata have both heard some unnamed members of their clan refer to us as demons. Both of them said they were idiots and that I shouldn't take it to heart."

Rin looked down and mumbled something about Shikamaru.

"Hmnn?" I questioned, not hearing it all.

"Shikamaru said something similar," Rin said, "About how he wouldn't dig about what he saw. He said his dad wouldn't have encouraged him to befriend us if we were dangerous."

Shika, thank you. I gave a silent prayer of thanks, having cut off Kurama's connection because it was giving me a headache from doing it for more than a few minutes today.

"You see," I pointed out, "They won't abandon us because of something as stupid as something we have no control over. And if they do, then they weren't true friends to begin with. But we both know that it's not true."

Rin had stopped tearing up and had calmed down from her near panic attack. She glanced around the room and blushed a soft shade of pink.

"Sorry for trashing the apartment," She repeated herself embarrassedly, "And your bed."

I groaned and leaned back, pressing my fingers on the bridge of my nose.

"Do I even want to know?" I asked exasperatedly.

Deciding that I did, I got up and walked down the hallway to my bedroom, groaning at the sight.

My bed was caved in and part of the wood frame was sticking upward out of the matress right where my back would be.

Rin looked embarrassed and rubbed the back of her head.

"Sorry."

"Just tell me it broke from you suplexing Sasuke into it."

Rin's giggling was the answer I wanted, confirming it.

"I'm just going to crash at Kakashi's. He'll have a couch." I shrugged, eying the broken frame.

"Shut up." I heard Rin growl under her breath.

"What?" I asked, wondering what the hell that was for.

"Perverted fox," She grumbled, "He said he thought he was watching a repeat of kaasan and tousan when I was punching Sasuke."

Ass. I thought, knowing Rin hated jokes like that.

"Just cut him off. That's what I do when he's trying to be funny. It's like putting an overgrown toddler in time out."

Rin considered it and nodded quickly, her hair bouncing as she jumped in excitement.

"Bye bye, fox." She snickered, cutting the connection.

I walked passed her and went to leave.

"I'll make some clones and relay the message to everyone else." I turned to her, "And you can throw out my bed. You broke it."

Rin maturely blew a raspberry at my back as I stepped over the broken door and left to head to Kakashi's. I needed to talk with him about more than just staying the night.

---

Kakashi was in bliss right now, his fingers running through Anko's purple locks.

He had the difficult choice of telling Sasuke and Hinata about the respective issues that concerned them, Sasuke's being very unpleasant.

But Anko was kind enough to get his mind off things and challenge him to some taijutsu. She'd wagered she would win in pure taijutsu, which he accepted.

He was currently reaping the reward for his win.

Both of them were completely naked on his couch and her head was nestled between his legs, her eyes on his.

He had his mask off and both eyes open, wanting to burn the view into his mind, it was so good.

The things this woman could do with her tongue and mouth was near maddening from what it did to him.

He encouraged her on with his hands on the back of her head, not wanting it to end.

But of course, his Sensei's son had a habit of raining on his parade constantly.

Naruto, not knocking at all, opened the door that Kakashi had forgotten to lock and walked right in.

"Oi, Kakashi," His voice rang out, "I need to tal- WHAT THE FUCK!!" He screamed, eyes bugging out at seeing the two of them.

Anko hopped off of him with a soft pop sound and covered herself up, her face one of fury.

"Get the fuck out, gaki!" She shouted, her hair hanging down passed her shoulders.

Naruto spun on his heel and slammed the door shut, the sound of his groaning audible through the door.

Kakashi saw Anko's face as she turned back to him and started grabbing her clothes.

She was embarrassed.

Mitarashi Anko, kunoichi extraordinaire, and the best seductress in Konoha, was embarrassed at being seen by Naruto in a compromising state.

"Anko." Kakashi tried to say, his mind still a little hazy from what was happening seconds ago.

"I'll talk with you later, Kakashi," She put on her shirt, grabbing her pants right after, "Naruto needs to talk."

"He can wait." Kakashi said desperately, not wanting her to leave.

Anko shimmied into her pants and put her sandals on, trying to fix her hair.

"He's still outside." Anko said simply, killing any argument he could muster on the fly, "We can continue later." She opened the door and rushed out, passing by a near catatonic Naruto.

Kakashi growled and jumped off the couch, walking towards Naruto with his fists clenched.

"Could you not pick a better time?" He demanded, seeing Naruto's eyes bug out impossibly wide.

"P-put your pants on." He sputtered, turning around and looking away.

That was when Kakashi realized he was still completely naked, in front of Naruto.

Scowling, he went back inside and put his pants on, going back to the doorway.

"What pressing need is it that you show up in the evening when I'm wanting some private time to myself?" Kakashi asked irritably, expecting a damn good reason.

"Hinata and Sasuke hurt each other, Rin and Sasuke got into a fight that trashed my apartment, and there are 5 Jinchuriki here in the village." Naruto rattled off quickly, pointedly keeping his gaze above his waist even when he now had pants on.

What the hell happened in the last couple hours? Kakashi thought with horror, trying to digest what he'd just heard.

"What did you do?" Kakashi asked, his emotions running back and forth.

"Me?" Naruto demanded, stomping into his front room, "You're the genius that thought it would be alright to tell Hinata about Kumo nin being here and Sasuke about someone stealing Sharingan. Did you expect them to be perfectly functional in a taijutsu bout after that?"

Kakashi shook his head and cursed himself for doing that, now that Naruto put it that way.

"I didn't think of that." He admitted, "I thought you'd be there with Rin to calm him down."

"Well, I was busy training," Naruto said flatly, "You could have given me a heads-up on doing it today."

Kakashi sighed in annoyance and walked back towards the couch and sat back down, patting one of the cushions to gesture for Naruto to sit down.

"I'm not sitting where your bare ass was at." he said sharply, "Actually, I don't want to sit anywhere you and Anko fucked."

"Then I'd recommend you not touch any surface in the house." Kakashi grinned, seeing Naruto scowl.

"You're such a dog."

"Did my summons give it away?" Kakashi raised a brow amusedly, before shifting to a more serious tone, "Tell me what happened today."

Naruto elected to stand and explain, probably believing what he said about him and Anko.

The fact that the Jinchuriki of the Hachibi and the Nibi was who the Raikage chose to send to Konoha was alarming, making Kakashi think of what the reason was.

"Was anything said about Rin or you?" Kakashi asked, "Killer B would be one of the few that might connect the dots on who Rin's father is."

"That's why I'm freaking out," Naruto admitted, "I might look in control right now, but I keep running it through my mind over and over again that a catastrophe is going to happen. Do you realize the last time this many Jinchuriki were in one place was when Uzu was attacked?"

"Yes," Kakashi winced, "I realize that."

"And the Nibi was killed by an Uzumaki," he continued, "One that I'm descended from. She looked at me like I was dangerous. Me, a damn 13 year old, was looked at like a massive threat."

"To be fair, you are extremely dangerous," Kakashi pointed out, "Even if you weren't accounting for you being 13."

"True." Naruto shrugged his shoulders, "But she also knew I was an actual Uzumaki. There's no other reason for her to point out my hair, sword, and being unsubtle."

Kakashi suspected that there was more to a Jonin saying something like that, unless she had a similar relationship with her Bijuu like Naruto and Rin did.

Could the Nibi have said something to her about treading carefully around an Uzumaki? He thought to himself, cataloging it for later.

"What about the fighting amongst my students?" He asked with a depressed tone, "Do I need to talk with them?"

"No," Naruto replied, scratching at his ear, "I already talked with them. They were all in the ruins of my living room when I talked with them."

Naruto explained all that he said to them and what their reactions were.

Hinata and Sasuke weren't a problem, today only being an outlier. But Rin and Sasuke was another story.

They were capable of being the best of friends, but also being at each other's throats on a bad day.

And this was a terrible one.

"Did you really need to give Sasuke your sword and challenge him like that?" He had to ask, astounded that Naruto would actually try that.

"I'm tired of thinking of the parallels between me and Itachi," He said with his teeth bared, "It was either that or I Henge as Itachi and beat the shit out of him to get the point across."

"You know that would have been going to far." Kakashi scolded him.

"That's why I didn't," Naruto shrugged, "If he really thought I was like Itachi in the making, he would have stabbed me."

"Why comment about twisting the blade?" Kakashi asked, narrowing his eyes.

"You may not know this, but I'll heal from my spine breaking." Naruto said, "Hell, I might survive getting my head cut off. I might need to test that out."

Kakashi didn't waste a second to shoot that down.

"You are not getting your head cut off to sate your curiosity." Kakashi said flatly, remembering how he had to deal with the Sandaime demanding that Hidan not be mentioned to Naruto.

I'm not going to bring this up yet. He thought to himself, not wanting to have to deal with the Hokage have a small panic attack about Naruto's propensity for stupid things.

"I'm being sarcastic." Naruto deadpanned, looking scandalized, "Do you really think I'm insane?"

"I'm not going to answer that." Kakashi replied.

Naruto snorted. "Jackass."

Kakashi decided he'd prefer having a shirt on and grabbed his off the floor, putting it on.

"You know," Naruto said, looking at his uncovered face, "I was half expecting you to keep your mask on when you would sleep with Anko."

Kakashi gave him a mock glare, shrugging at how Naruto wasn't exactly being hyperbolic.

"If you had it off in public, you'd probably have half the female population lining up outside your door." Naruto continued, "The scar over your eye adds a more fierce look to you." He grinned toothily.

Kakashi rolled his eyes at the choice of word. Anko mentioned something about that, but not using 'fierce'.

"Tempting, not like you'd know what it's like."

"What, having several girls pine after me?" Naruto snorted, "Remember Nami?"

"I was talking about sleeping with more than one, but sure, go ahead." Kakashi leaned back into the couch, grinning at Naruto's look of embarrassment.

"Of course a pervert like you has done that." Naruto shook his head.

"Don't knock it til you try it." Kakashi continued grinning at Naruto's discomfort, going in for the kill, "The first time that happened to me was the day I found out that little detail about Hyuga girls being freaks."

Naruto actually flipped him off and scowled.

"I told you I don't like visualizing you naked." Naruto gritted out.

"You already saw me naked." Kakashi pointed out.

"Thank you for reminding me." Naruto said sarcastically, groaning at the reminder.

Kakashi was enjoying putting the little gaki in his place for messing with the fun he'd been having.

"Actually," Kakashi said suddenly, a look of triumph on his face, "Would your little escapade in the hot springs count as one upping me?" He started laughing at Naruto's murderous look.

"I didn't realize sex involved getting my genitals stomped on by Kiba's sister." the red haired teen said irritably, looking ill from remembering it.

"It qualifies," Kakashi said sagely, "You entered an enclosure full of naked females and left without pants, several women screaming and trying to get a piece of you, and your balls hurt. Congrats on an orgy." He managed to keep his face straight with supreme force of will.

...

"I have nothing to say except 'Fuck you'."

"I think Jiraiya would be interested in your harrowing tale of escaping the clutches of an enraged Inuzuka," Kakashi ignored Naruto, "I can already see the title of a best selling novel. 'Icha Icha. The fox and the hound'."

"I stand corrected," Naruto said in a monotone, "I have another thing to say... Fuck you, sideways."

"You started it with interrupting Anko and me." Kakashi smiled, knowing Naruto had no response to match his comment.

"I think that red eye of yours has made you into a dick. It can't be a coincidence that Sasuke is a dick too." Naruto grumbled, turning to leave.

"Where are you going?" Kakashi tilted his head in question, wondering what he was doing.

"Rin smashed Sasuke into my bed when they were fighting and broke it. I was going to ask if I could crash here tonight on the couch, but given that it stinks like sex in here, I'm going to find somewhere else."

"Like?" Kakashi said dryly, interested in knowing where Naruto was goin to sleep.

"I'll head to Sasuke and see if I can sleep on his couch." Naruto replied simply, turning around and leaving.

"Ask nicely and he might share the bed with you." Kakashi called out as Naruto passed the doorway, the boy disappearing.

That'll make him mad. Kakashi snickered to himself, lounging back in the couch and contemplating the conversation that had occurred.

---

"I hate Hatake Kakashi more than anything right now." I mumbled to myself, making my way to Sasuke's place.

Of course I walked in on them banging, or more aptly described, Anko blowing Kakashi.

I'm never going to get the image of Kakashi's expression, or his dick, out of my mind.

I could have gone a hundred lifetimes without knowing what he looked like naked, but of course I get cursed with such terrible knowledge.

"Is this because I said 'Fuck you' as I was being born?" I looked up at the sky, hardly caring if anyone was listening, "Well, you win." I kept walking on.

I got to Sasuke's and knocked on the door, not feeling up to doing anything.

Sasuke came walking towards the doorway and opened it. He didn't even blink at the sight of me.

"What do you want, Naruto?" He asked tiredly, not looking up to verbally sparring.

"Can I spend the night?" I asked simply, "You and Rin broke my bed and I need somewhere to sleep."

"Ask Kakashi-sensei." He shook his head, going to close the door.

"I already did," I raised my voice slightly, not enjoying the reminder of what happened, "And he was naked, on the couch, with a female companion."

Sasuke gave a dignified snort as a reply.

"That sounds fun."

"I've known him for 7 years and saw him getting his dick sucked," I said sharply, "I'm not sleeping where he was screwing a girl."

Sasuke scowled under his breath and opened the door wider.

"You're sleeping on the couch and you don't eat anything you don't ask about," He instructed fiercely, "I'll make what the women in the hot springs did look like paradise if you eat any of my tomatoes."

"I thought I was your tomato, Sasuke-kun." I pointed at my hair as I walked passed him, collapsing on the couch.

"I'm tired, feel like a jerk from today, and the exams are tomorrow," Sasuke said, back to a tired tone, "Just let me rest and keep quiet."

"I'll just read and not speak." I offered, pulling out a book about the history of the Elemental Nations.

Sasuke ignored me and went back to whatever he was doing in the back of his house.

After he left, I formed a hand seal to make a clone for each member of the other rookies to warn them about avoiding Gaara's team. If they asked questions about why he was dangerous, the clones will explain he's a Jinchuriki. But if they took my word for it, I saw no reason to give that information out.

I returned back to my book when the clones snuck out of the house and Henged into a couple of disguises. Eventually, I zoned out the words on the page, starting to doze off from how tired I felt from the emotionally taxing day.

I don't know when, but I ended up falling asleep right there on the couch, the bliss of sleep taking me.

---

Are you going to tell me why I needed to say that, now? Yugito asked Matatabi, wanting to know what prompted the feeling of terror from her early in the day.

It was nighttime and she was sitting on the roof of the hotel they were staying in, gazing up at the stars like she normally did.

"The boy feels like him." Matatabi said quietly, sounding lost.

You kept repeating that over and over, Yugito reminded her, What do you mean by 'him'?.

Matatabi had been screaming at her to kill the boy, to attack him on the spot and rip him apart when she first felt his chakra. But Matatabi had calmed down seconds later, telling her he was an Uzumaki and to be extremely careful around him.

Matatabi audibly breathed and exhaled.

"I didn't tell you how my previous container and I were killed, did I," She whispered, her voice trembling, "We were tasked with breaking through to the dock and destroy the boats evacuating civilians."

Yugito was giving her entire focus to Matatabi as she told her about something she'd refrained from ever asking about. It's rather rude to ask someone how they died.

"The Uzumaki had done something to the surrounding water, making it impossible for it to be used for jutsu." She explained, "Meaning the Kiri nin couldn't sink the ships."

How can someone even do that? Yugito asked in shock, trying to think of hiw that was even remotely possible.

"Nature chakra." Was the soft reply, "The Uzukage did something to himself where he was manipulating the chakra around the village. He felt like a sage."

Sages were incredibly rare, and for good reason. Most people who tried to manipulate or wield even a modicum of nature chakra were turned to stone from it.

"He turned the entire coast of the village into an unusable body of water for Suiton jutsu with nature chakra."

He was supposed to be 90 something. How was he able to pull that off without a drawback? She asked incredulously.

"He didn't. It was only after their defenses collapsed that the air and weather seemed to turn against us. My container was a capable sensor, yet couldn't feel through the mist he made. The Uzukage wasn't using Nature chakra until the very end of the battle."

Yugito was going to ask about that, but the cat kept speaking.

"Even if he'd managed to kill the Raikage and get to a boat, he would have died shortly afterwards," Actual pity was in her voice, "His chakra was depleted and had been forced to be overworked by him eating food pills. The last thing my kitten saw was a hand destroying her seal. His hand was partially turned to stone from his own chakra being overwhelmed with nature chakra, and he used it to rip part of me out and destroy us." Her voice was as dark as the night sky when she finished.

How do you know this much about Sages and Nature chakra? Yugito asked, trying to think of how such knowledge was discovered.

"A story for another day." Matatabi said sharply, leaving no room for discussion.

Yugito sighed and pulled her legs to her chest, wanting to keep in her body heat.

What does this have to do with the boy though? She asked.

Matabi was silent for several seconds.

"His chakra feels like the Uzukage's," She eventually said, "Much like how direct relatives are. He's more than just an Uzumaki. He is descended directly from Uzumaki Ashina."

Didn't you say there was something strange about the blonde girl's chakra? She remembered Matatabi mention something about her, The one with the Uchiha?

"I thought her chakra felt like my brother's."

Brother?

"I won't give you his name, as it's not my place, but he has 7 more tails than me."

Yugito gasped, her mind racing.

The Kyuubi!?

An Uzumaki, and a Jinchuriki. Two different genin of Konoha. The Raikage would need to know this as quick as possible.

Could Namikaze have sealed it in her," She was thinking of the choice of words. You said 'thought'. What does that mean?

"I thought she might have been a Jinchuriki, until we were in front of the Uzumaki boy." Matatabi said stiffly.

Yugito started breathing heavily.

Please don't tell me he's a Jinchuriki and some last member of the Uzukage's family. She begged.

"You remember what he smelled like up close?" Was all that was said.

He'd smelled like a fox, commented how she smelled like burnt cat, and had sharp canines mixed with whisker marks on his face.

Is he like me?

She hated water and preferred curling up when she slept, just like a cat. Her waist was also more sensitive to the touch and her sense of smell, hearing, and vision in the dark was somewhat better than a normal person.

Wait, didn't the blonde girl have similar marks. Are they related? Siblings? They looked the same age. Possibly twins. Her mind was going at a mile a minute, causing Matatabi to grumble.

"Hush, kitten, you need to think calmly," She scolded her, causing Yugito to sober up, "It's possible, if not likely, that is the case. I didn't feel if her chakra was like the boy's, I was too busy thinking of the Bijuu chakra that was coming from her."

How is it possible for her to have that when her maybe sibling is the Jinchuriki? Yugito asked, not seeing how her tenant's theory would hold up.

"The gold and silver brothers weren't Jinchuriki, yet they still had similar power." The Bijuu pointed out.

I don't think she ate a tail. Yugito laughed darkly. And it's impossible for there to be two containers for one Bijuu.

Yugito got up and stretched her limbs wide, groaning as her back arched.

I'm going to sleep. We can talk about this tomorrow when I'm more alert.

"Goodnight, Kitten." Was all she heard before Matatabi went silent.

Yugito climbed down from the roof and walked down the wall, deftly slipped into the window she left open, stripping off her clothes and collapsing into her bed, immediately fast asleep.

---

End Chapter:

This specific part is being added because of the review by Cosray8d. You're basically 9/10 on point with the critiques you had. The part about Kakashi beating the shit out of him is addressed in more detail below.

The rate of his injuries does look abnormally high, much to my chagrin.

Kurenai didn't 'torture' him with Genjutsu, he never told anyone why he hated sparring against her and the Genjutsu used by her isn't the kind that are traumatizing.

Basically, Naruto despises his own weakness and disregards the pain he often feels, hoping that hurting will make him forget what's at stake for the future. I didn't exactly make the execution of it perfect because, like you said, adults wouldn't exactly let a kid be cut and stabbed repeatedly.

He doesn't move to a different apartment because of his emotional need to be 'near' her in the sense of not leaving her. She's been the biggest reason for him not being a sadistic bastard towards the villagers for how shitty they've been. When he or she eventually moves out, it's going to be rough for the both of them.

Finally, the Uchiha part. There is very little he could think of that might hold off the chance of a coup. The word of a child won't be heeded on things to prevent something of that magnitude. Every time Naruto has twisted things to benefit him, he's had his ass covered with a plausible reason, the bell test with Saauke being one of them. He can't very well say something about Danzo when he's never 'met' the guy in the capacity of being a Jinchuriki.

Naruto only got Hiruzen and Kakashi clued into who unleashed the Kyuubi by encountering Tenzo and using how his chakra felt as a springboard. There is no context on what the Mokuton feels like unless you encounter someone with it and do what Naruto did. Naruto is rather paranoid about covering his tracks on things, so that would extend to not sticking his neck out for a clan he sees no possibility of saving. (His opinion doesn't mean it was impossible, but nothing is possible if you don't take the leap of faith, which Naruto didn't do.)

I'm extremely grateful for your review. You wrote it in the way critiquing ones ought to be. You stated what you like about the story, giving more than one example, before diving into the dislikes. A on it, thanks.

END REPLY.

---

The whole thing with Team 7 arguing amongst themselves was for Sasuke to understand that his friends can easily be driven away if he pushes too much. He's extremely private about his own inner demons, but struggles to see that others value their privacy as much as he does.

This chapter marks the end of the arc leading up to the exams. Either next chapter, or the one immediately after will contain the Forest of Death section, which is going to have a massive twist to it concerning Orochimaru.

For Kakashi, I don't think it's possible for me to write him and Naruto having a conversation without them trying to one up each other.

Matatabi has a little story to tell Yugito and reveals a couple of details about Uzu's destruction not known by others. Feel free to notice the hints I've left in the story.

One final thing: I re-read my early chapters, specifically chapter 6/7. In summary, I hate almost every single thing about them.

Whether it was the improper way I described Naruto and Rin's chakra growth having an unstable bell curve, the blatant canon breaking excuse I hamfistedly added that went against what Itachi, Shisui, and Kakashi did, being Chunin at a young age, in the form of 'Physical growth messing with your fighting form', or the absolute worst travesty of writing I've ever made, which was the near destruction of Kakashi's character by having him beat the shit out of Naruto from being stabbed in the open emotional wound that was Obito and Rin's deaths, I'm wondering what to do about it.

Most of the critiquing reviews I've received are about the terrible quality of that chapter(s). Maybe that's good though. My writing has gotten a little more clear since then, thank God, so I can look back and see how I jumped the shark in planning out that chapter.

So my question is... should I rewrite the chapter(s)? It's early on in the story at that point and I don't want the bad planning of that chapter to act as an understandable turnoff to readers. It would basically be a clearer explanation of the unpredictable chakra growth with Rin and Naruto being Uzumaki and the entire training session part will be overhauled, with Kakashi probably calling Naruto out for it and stopping training for awhile instead of punching the shit out of a 6 year old. God, I hate how I wrote it. I wanted to show Kakashi still having unaddressed issues tied to him being the only member of his Team 7 still alive, but screwed it up in one of the most spectacular ways possible.

Anyway, I'll stop with my rambling and let you get on with your day. I hope you all have a good one. Cheers.

Raging..