A/N: The Harem-

Sakura

Mei

Yugito

Koyuki

Shizuka

Kurotsuchi

Ino

"Normal Person talking"

'Normal Person thinking'

"Biju/ Summons / Inner Sakura/ Black Zetsu talking"

'Biju/ Summons thinking'

"Flasback/ Mini-Flashback/ Letters"

Chapter 5: The Raijin no Ken

The young blonde groggily stood up from his bed, he hazily used his arm to wipe his eyes before a large yawn escaped his mouth. Naruto grunted something indiscernible as he was forced to wake up from the knocks on his door. It was so early in the morning and he was still deprived of the proper sleep he craved.

After bringing back Tsunade, there were celebrations all over Konoha when they heard that she has returned, after that, the Sandaime announced that he was retiring and this time, permanently and that his successor was Tsunade, the people were over-ecstatic, he remembered about his bet and smirked, he now had the largest source of information in the world because of that.

After that, she had also healed Kakashi and the Uchiha and was diagnosing Lee, so Naruto really got no sleep and wanted to sleep very badly.

The newly promoted Chunin gingerly walked over to the door, and upon opening it he was rather annoyed not to find anyone there. Instead there was a plume of smoke and a small note on the ground, Naruto before reading the note already knew this was Kakashi's doing.

He then picked up the small note on the floor and briefly read it, it confirmed to him it really was from Kakashi. It told him to meet by Team Seven's usual training ground later that day for a quick meeting then team training now that everyone was back and fully recovered.

Naruto headed back to his home to get ready quickly, he cooked himself a quick and simple breakfast before going to shower and change into his new Chunin uniform. The young blonde checked himself out in the mirror after changing and he had to admit it looked pretty good. He couldn't help but smirk proudly at his new uniform; this was the symbol and the representation of his new promotion and his major achievement of becoming a Chunin.

He wore, black Shinobi pants along with Black Shinobi sandals, a Konoha long-sleeve undershirt and his Chunin Vest on top, he had a Bingo Book in his right pocket of the vest and wore black, finger-less, metal-plated Konoha Gloves. He had his new black-coloured Hitai-ate on his forehead and finally, his Kunai Holster on his right thigh, Fuinjutsu Kit on his right hip, Ninja tools kit on his left hip, all held by the utility belt.

With everything prepared and ready Naruto headed out in search of his team in their training grounds, he only hoped that this time Kakashi wouldn't be late. He had to wake up early today and if that was all for naught Naruto would be annoyed.

He decided to go to his Clan Compound later to explore it and find out what his parents had left for him. He also had to visit Tsunade regarding the compound, Senju Clan Library and Armoury and also the high-level Chakra Control exercises along with the secret of her super-strength.

Training Ground

Kakashi sat on top of one of the log stumps in the training ground reading his Icha-Icha book; he was waiting patiently for the final member of his team. Earlier that day he had already called Sakura and Sasuke and those two were waiting alongside him, in all honesty it hadn't been that long thus far he just chose to notify Naruto last since his house was the most out of the way from his three students.

As per usual Sasuke was sitting down patiently while Sakura tried talking to him but of course her effects were all ignored by the stoic Uchiha.

Kakashi paid no attention to his two other students by now he was used to their usual antics, but he was really looking out for Naruto's arrival. The Jonin could barely contain the small grin on his face; lucky for him he had his mask help him conceal it from the others. He had gotten news yesterday of Naruto's promotion alongside Shikamaru and he couldn't be prouder of the young Uzumaki.

But on the other hand, he felt guilty as he had absolutely no hand in his success and could not claim it. But he decided to make it up to the blonde Shinobi starting today.

Naruto had worked hard for this and he proved to Kakashi and many others that he would be a formidable ninja in the future. And speak of the devil the young blonde arrived walking over to the trio at a leisurely pace with his hands on his pocket. Kakashi smiled as he closed his book and placed it back on his pocket, Sakura and Sasuke also noticed the arrival of Naruto and the two were surprised to say the least concerning Naruto's change of attire.

The newly promoted Chunin waved his hands at his team, "Hey guys long time no see, good to be back" Naruto greeted exuberantly.

Sakura's eyes widened in shock as Naruto grew closer and as she managed to get a closer look towards Naruto's new outfit, "Kakashi-sensei what's with Naruto's new outfit? Is it what I think it is?" she asked in utter disbelief.

Kakashi chuckled and nodded at Sakura, "Hai Naruto over here just got recently promoted to Chunin by Sandaime-sama" he explained before proudly ruffling Naruto's spiky hair, "Congratulations on the new promotion Naruto, I'm proud of you".

Naruto glared at the Jonin which said "You have no part in this" getting him to look guilty because of that.

Sakura and Sasuke remained rather silent in utter disbelief that Naruto would be the first to get promoted to Chunin among the three of them, Sasuke more so than Sakura as she had seen Naruto's powers against Gaara, it was a safe bet it would've been Sasuke but it appears the underdog ended up getting promoted first.

"Wow, I guess congratulations are in order. Nice one Naruto, are you the only who's been promoted?" asked a curious Sakura.

Naruto shook his head, "No it's not just me Sakura-chan, Shikamaru and Shino were also promoted to Chunin" he admitted.

"Cha what the fuck, I understand Naruto but how did that lazy-ass and that Bug-freak get promoted?" Inner Sakura asked in utter disbelief.

'I know what you mean inner, Naruto has grown stronger. I mean he singlehandedly beat that Gaara guy. The idea of Naruto getting promoted isn't as far-fetched, but Shikamaru and Shino as well? That is ridiculous.'

"Hey Sakura-chan are you alright?" Naruto asked out of concern.

Sakura blinked before shaking her head, "Yeah I'm alright just lost a bit of focus for a second there" she replied with a nervous chuckle.

Naruto nodded, "Okay then I believe you I guess" he replied before looking at Sasuke, who simply scowled refusing to acknowledge Naruto or his promotion.

The young blonde raised a single eyebrow, "What's his problem?" he asked himself.

Kakashi noticed this and decided to break the tension, "Congratulations again Naruto, I heard about your promotion yesterday and I decided to call a meeting for a few reasons. One being to properly congratulate you for being promoted to Chunin, I remember when I was first promoted, it was one of the proudest days of my life and I'm sure it's yours as well" he said.

"What are the other reasons then?" asked Naruto.

"The first is to gauge all your skills again; it's been a while since we've been a proper team again with the whole Chunin exams and everything after then. You've all trained with different people around that time and now I just want to see how much everyone has progressed since our last proper time as a team" he explained.

"The other reason is to discuss the new team dynamics now that Naruto is a Chunin. I'm sure Tsunade-sama already explained everything to you Naruto, but now that you're an actual Chunin you won't have to be with this team all the time. You may be sent on other missions with other teams or you might choose to join other missions you see fit. In the instance of that or whenever you are in a mission with us I'd like to discuss how the team will function. Everyone understand?"

"Hai Kakashi-sensei" replied Sakura, as Naruto and Sasuke simply nodded in understanding.

Kakashi clapped his hands before pulling something out his back pocket; he revealed a pair of bells bringing out a sense of nostalgia to the team.

"You three already know what the point of this exercise is. I'll put the timer to thirty minutes, I won't be holding back this time but that only means I'll be expecting you three to work together this time. I want a proper challenge unlike last time and I'm looking forward to seeing how much you three have grown since then" he said before vanishing leaving a plume of smoke.

The three Genin shielded their eyes as the smoke engulfed the area; soon as it disappeared so did Kakashi as the Jonin was nowhere to be seen.

"Dammit, Hatake is back at it with his tricks" said Naruto, "Alright guys let's go look for Kakashi" he said before summoning ten shadow clones to help him look all over the place.

Sasuke scowled before unleashing his Sharingan to help him search for their sensei, Sakura decided to go follow Sasuke in hopes they'll soon find their sensei.

The original Naruto ran all around the training grounds in search of Kakashi, then for a quick second he stopped as he felt one of his clones disappear, he then grinned and summoned a few more shadow clones, their duty was to find and gather Sakura and Sasuke while he went after Kakashi himself.

The young blonde ran towards the direction of his sensei and there he found him leaning towards a tree reading his book.

"Oh, I see you found me Naruto. Quite impressive indeed" he said before placing the book in his pocket, "Now show me what you got"

Naruto grinned before running at Kakashi engaging him in a small Taijutsu fight, he went in with a flurry of attacks but of course they were neutralized by Kakashi. But he had to admit Naruto's Taijutsu wasn't as sloppy or random as it was once, it was still a bit unrefined but improved significantly since their first bout. Naruto then jumped back seeing how Taijutsu wasn't working at all.

He wiped away the small blood stain on his cheek before unleashing a hand seal, "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu" (Shadow Clone Technique) he yelled. Now he summoned ten shadow clones and all of them jumped at Kakashi.

This time Kakashi was serious, he pulled out a kunai and began to quickly slash away Naruto's clones before landing a proper kick to the original's gut. But as soon as Naruto was sent back flying from that kick, he heard a voice from the opposite direction.

"Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu" (Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique)

He turned back to see Sasuke arriving with Sakura as well, Kakashi reacted quickly forming new hand seals himself. Naruto saw this he quickly stopped nursing his gut and he summoned a shadow clone to help him with his Jutsu.

Kakashi on the other hand yelled out "Doton: Doryuheki" as a wall of earth sprung forth from the ground protecting him from Sasuke's attack, as soon as the fire died down the wall fell back to the earth.

It was then Naruto decided to strike, he jumped at Kakashi and the Jonin only just noticed him in the last second, he used a Shunshin to replace his body with a nearby tree stump.

"Rasengan" yelled Naruto.

Naruto then plunged the blue ball of chakra into the tree stump causing it to explode and blast off far away from the sheer impact and strength of the attack.

Sakura and Sasuke were shocked at the Jutsu; they couldn't believe a power like that came from Naruto.

The young Uchiha clenched his fists, 'What the fuck was that? It seemed stronger than my Chidori' Sasuke thought to himself in anger and frustration.

"Whoa that was cool, what was that Naruto?" asked Sakura.

The Chunin cursed his luck his sensei managed to escape just in time before appearing just behind him a second later, he put his right hand on Naruto's shoulder with his left hand placing a kunai to his back so that he wouldn't attack him.

Kakashi couldn't help but whistle in appreciation of the Jutsu, "Impressive Naruto it seems Jiraiya taught you well. I'm amazed you managed to learn the Rasengan already, quite the power A-Rank Jutsu is it not?" he asked.

Naruto grimaced as he felt the kunai scratching his back but said nothing, showing that he has not acknowledged Kakashi's words.

Kakashi nodded "Not going to say anything, well, have it your way then" he replied before jumping back to give himself space, "You still have a long way to go"

The Jonin then began to unleash his own Rasengan in his right hand, Naruto's eyes widened in disbelief before pointing at Kakashi in shock.

Naruto showed no reaction to Kakashi forming the Rasengan, which led Kakashi to believe that Jiraiya would have already told him.

"Kakashi-sensei what is this Jutsu anyway?" Sakura questioned curiously.

"This, my dear Sakura is called the Rasengan, one of Konoha's most powerful and notorious Jutsus. It is an A-Rank Jutsu created by my sensei the Yondaime Hokage and it took him three years to create it. Since then only Jiraiya-sama of the Sannin and I have learned how to form this Jutsu, until Naruto here"

Sakura's expression was of utter disbelief as well, she couldn't believe that Naruto managed to learn a Jutsu so rare and powerful. Maybe she really did misjudge Naruto; I mean he did show his strength and skill in the Chunin Exams, it turns out he isn't really a dead last after all.

"Enough of this talk let's continue" yelled Sasuke as he ran at Kakashi while forming hand seals.

"Chidori"

Kakashi turned to dodge the attack before landing yet another powerful punch this time of Sasuke's gut.

Sasuke skidded a few meters back before cursing his luck, Sakura then ran up throwing a few shuriken at Kakashi but the Jonin managed to quickly dismantle them with his kunai. Until Naruto jumped up again with a brand new Rasengan, he jumped up to dodge their attack instead but instead of colliding, the Jutsu with a nearby tree. While up in the air Kakashi braced himself for yet another attack from Sasuke.

"Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu"

This time Kakashi defended himself with Suiton: Suidan no Jutsu (Water Release: Water Bullet Technique) knowing that water would beat fire.

Kakashi then landed back on the ground and as he did his stopwatch conveniently rang marking the end of the thirty minutes, he clapped his hands marking the end of the exercise and although he was practically unscathed he was impressed. I mean after all no one expected the three of them to defeat Kakashi in his own game after all.

"Quite impressive you three, you've all grown especially you Naruto and I'm more than proud to witness you all grow right in front of me. You three still have a long way to go but you three should feel proud of how much you've grown, and as for you Naruto you really showed me today that you do deserve the rank of Chunin. The Rasengan is a powerful Jutsu so use it well and be careful with it, in the wrong hands it could be devastating" he explained.

Naruto just nodded his head in understanding refusing to say anything to make Kakashi guiltier.

"But remember Naruto, in fact this goes out to the three of you. Never feel satisfied, you can always improve one way or another and the worst thing you can do is stagnate no matter how strong you are, because there is always someone out there growing stronger"

"Hai sensei" replied the three students.

"Well then with that out of the way we have to go onto team dynamics with and without Naruto. As a Chunin Naruto will not be able to join us for every mission seeing how he might be called forth for other missions by the Hokage herself, and in the chance of that we either carry forth as a three-man team or sometimes we might have another Genin or even a Chunin every now and then join us for that mission. Seeing how we'll most likely only deal with C-Rank missions the most we're more likely to have another Genin replace Naruto for the duration of the mission"

"What about when Naruto's with us then sensei?" asked the pinkette.

"Well when Naruto is with us he shall effectively be second-in-command straight after me" said Kakashi as both Sasuke and Sakura's jaws fell to the ground, "Say it isn't so sensei. Are you sure about this?" asked the Kunoichi in distress.

Kakashi nodded, "Yup it's only fair seeing how he outranks you two. Look past the Naruto of old, Naruto proved himself enough to deserve the title of Chunin and in ninja rulebook the leadership goes down from ranks, until you two both reach the level of Chunin Naruto will remain my number two" he replied.

"So, now that we have much more time till the next exam and after reviewing your performance in the exams, I have decided to train you individually in your own specialities."

"Ok then what do you have in mind then sensei?" asked Sakura.

Kakashi's glanced over to the young Uchiha, "Well for you Sasuke the plan is to help you out a bit more with the Chidori and work on your Sharingan a bit more" he answered as Sasuke nodded in understanding.

"As for you Sakura, you will be trained in increasing your chakra reserves and physical fitness. From what I saw a while ago Sakura you still lack the chakra and physical stamina required from a ninja, but you do possess amazing chakra control. But before I could teach you some Jutsus we'll first need to increase your chakra reserves so that you won't suffer from chakra exhaustion"

"Then finally there's you Naruto-"

"Just give me some advice on Raiton manipulation and some Raiton Jutsus; I don't think that you can train me in anything else to be fair."

Kakashi frowned and tried to reason with Naruto who just looked at him and said "That is the reality, you and I both know that my library is an ocean of knowledge, so don't try to reason with me, if you can't do what I asked, then leave it at that, I can learn Raiton manipulation later on."

Kakashi reluctantly nodded and gave Naruto 2 scrolls, one containing Raiton manipulation exercises and the other containing Raiton Jutsus that he had in his arsenal.

Some Days Later

Naruto along with Jiraiya stood in front of the Uzumaki Clan Compound after getting his sleep fulfilled; he had decided that no one will know that he knows his heritage and that he will reveal it in such a way that not only Konoha but the whole elemental nations will be shaken to the core.

Naruto entered the compound by smearing his blood on the seal present on the gate which was the Uzumaki Swirl, the gates opened and he entered the compound and started exploring; he had to say, it was one big hell of a house, like traditional Japanese houses, it had a garden from the gate to the entrance of the main house, the garden had well maintained trees, flowers and even a lake which was surprisingly clean.

He walked until he saw something to his right, there were statues of two people, one had a Konoha Hitai-ate while the other, he could guess … was the Uzushio Hitai-ate because of the Uzumaki swirl on it.

He came closer and realized that the person on the right was the Shodai Hokage, Senju Hashirama, while he did not know about the one on the left.

"Wondering who are they and why are they like this?" Came the voice of Jiraiya from the back; he looked at him and nodded. Jiraiya came and stood beside Naruto, watching those statues, which he had not seen in years.

"The one on the left is Uzumaki Ashina, father-in-law of the one on the right, Shodai-sama; he was the Uzumaki Clan Head when Konoha was founded. Uzushiogakure was our greatest ally during the First Shinobi War, you can ask sensei sometime; he fought alongside many Uzumakis during the First War, to this day, he still says that the destruction of Uzu has to be his biggest failure; he built this compound in Konoha only for Mito-sama and your mother. He always said that both the Shodaime and the Nidaime would never forgive him, but he could do his best for the Clan" said Jiraiya.

Naruto nodded, processing the information, he will have to thank his Jiji sometime as having this big of house built only for two members would have been difficult, especially with those old crones, Uchiha Clan and the Hyuga Clan on the Council.

He went inside the compound and started exploring it; he went through all the rooms except the library, where his clones were. He went for the last two rooms, one of which he deduced were his parents' but did not know about the last one.

He went to his parents' bedroom, and he opened the door, he saw that the room was still in perfect condition. There was some secret as to how the whole compound was still perfect even after all these years, he will have to find it though. Naruto sat on the bed and shifted his eyes around the room. He smiled sadly seeing the portraits that were hung on the wall within the room. The portraits were truly beautiful. He would not mind gazing on them for a full day.

His parents seemed to be truly happy together. They seemed perfect for each other. There was no doubt about that within his head. Naruto's eyes trained on the one that his mother was still pregnant with him. The smiles on both their faces made him shed a tear. He could only guess how happy they must have known that they were expecting their first child. By just looking at the portrait, he could only say ''really happy''. They must have waited patiently for his birth so that they could see their first product, their joy. A pity they never got the chance to live with him after his birth, they never got to hear his first words or hear him call them ''Kaa-chan'' and ''Tou-san''. Death had taken them away from their beloved the day he was born.

The world had a funny way of operating.

He went over to the last room to see whose it was, and as he opened the room, he saw something that made him cry; he fell on his knees and cried to his heart's content. There was a crib inside this room, without any doubt it was the room that was built for him. The crib was made for him. It was the room at which he was supposed to have had nightmares in. He was supposed to let loose of unwanted water inside his body while he was sleeping peacefully inside the crib. A pity he never got the chance to rest on it. Instead he had a cold and lonely bed at the orphanage. He would have wished just for once to enjoy the comfort of the bed his parents had prepared for him. They had made it, but never got the chance to watch him fall asleep inside the little bed they had made.

If he could fit inside the crib, Naruto would have jumped inside and taken a nap. But he was not; he could only enjoy the comfort with his own hands and thoughts. One thing was certain though; he was going to leave the room as it was. Nothing would be changed from the room. Perhaps his own children will enjoy the comfort he never got the chance to enjoy.

He felt an arm on his shoulder and looked back to see Jiraiya who was shedding a few tears of his own, "I still remember when they told me that Kushina was pregnant, they were the happiest people on the planet that day, they loved you from that moment on, this room, the crib, they made all the preparations just for you, a shame that neither they nor you could enjoy all of this" said Jiraiya.

Naruto nodded and left the room untouched as he did not want to remain there any longer, no doubt, he would cry the hell out if he did.

A clone came to him and Jiraiya outside the room and said "Boss, I found the Notes for the Hiraishin and the Rasengan and according to the others; Kaa-chan's Katana is in the Senju Armoury."

Naruto pocketed the scrolls as the clone went to the library to read about other things, he exited the compound along with Jiraiya.

3 Days Later

Naruto walked in to the Mission Assignment Desk to get himself a mission after a pretty interesting week, he got his date with Sakura-chan, he explored the Senju Library along with the Senju Armoury and even retrieved his mother's Katana which was named as the Uzu no Sozokujin (Heir of the Whirlpool), which he sealed on the back of his right hand under his glove to be safe from any questions or suspicions, the seal was a red Uzumaki Swirl, simple yet effective.

He entered the room and saw Hiruzen along with Iruka, which confused him as Tsunade was Hokage, so she should be giving out the missions.

"Ah! Naruto-kun, here for a mission I see" said the Sandaime.

Naruto just sighed and nodded, getting the Sandaime to frown along with Iruka as it was not like Naruto at all.

"I have a B-rank, potential A-rank mission here that Tsunade gave me to give to you, the details should be inside the scroll" said the Sandaime as he handed Naruto a scroll drawing a surprised and bewildered look from Iruka.

Naruto unrolled and read the scroll, it was a mission to go and kill Rokusho Aoi and as a side bonus, his partner Morino Idate if possible but the main mission was to retrieve the Raijin no Ken (Sword of the Thunder God) from him which he stole with the help of his mentioned partner.

He saw that he was allowed upto 3 teammates; he rolled the scroll and left to gather his teammates for the mission.

Team 8 Training Grounds

Kiba, Shino and Hinata along with their sensei Kurenai were doing their regular training, with Kiba practicing his Taijutsu along with Akamaru; Shino training with his bugs and Kurenai giving Hinata a few pointers on her Chakra Control to improve her Juuken (Gentle Fist) style of Taijutsu.

Suddenly everyone tensed as the 3 Genin were trackers and Kurenai was a Jonin, they sensed someone entering their Training Grounds. Hinata activated her Byakugan and relaxed "Don't worry, It's Naruto-kun."

Naruto entered the clearing and saw the 4 looking at him, he waved at them as the 3 Benin waved back, he came closer and said "Sorry Kurenai-sensei for interrupting but I need to know if Kiba is busy or not."

"No Naruto, we are currently Training and we are not on any missions, so what the matter is?" asked Kurenai.

"I need him for the mission that we are going to go on, since the invasion, everyone has been taking more missions than usual, well except for the Genin," said Naruto, earning a mild glare from the Inuzuka.

"Don't act like you have become better, I will train and surpass you in no time and what is the mission about, it better not be a D-rank or even C-rank for that matter" said Kiba in his usual prideful manner.

"Oh, I think that you don't want to go on this mission, too bad and here I thought I can give you a B-rank borderline A-rank mission to go on your record" said Naruto with a teasing smirk.

Suddenly everyone froze except for Kiba, who was contemplating what Naruto just said, Kurenai looked at him and asked "Naruto, are you sure that you want Kiba to go on such a high-ranking mission and how did even Hokage-sama give you such a mission?"

"He always not my first choice Kurenai-sensei, I tried to search for his sister first but she was already on a mission and taking a Clan-head such as Tsume-sama on such a mission is not on my list, so from the Inuzukas I know, only Kiba was left, so I came to ask him for the mission" told Naruto earning a playful growl from the Inuzuka but even he knew that he was way weaker than his mother and his sister.

"Ok, I will come, just tell me the details and the duration of the mission so that I can prepare myself," said Kiba.

"We have to kill a missing-nin called Rokusho Aoi, he is not dangerous but the weapon be has makes him, he has the Raijin no Ken, our main mission is to retrieve the sword with the side mission being killing him and for a bonus, we can also kill his partner Morino Idate, the one who helped him steal the sword, pack for 2 weeks and I will advise you to use sealing scrolls, keep enough supplies with you and meet me at the North Gate tomorrow at 7 a.m., you will meet your other teammates there" told Naruto, and watching Kiba nod, he looked away, indicating that it was a Kage Bunshin.

Everyone was silent for a moment until Kiba exploded, ranting about Naruto and his laziness while Kurenai just chuckled as they went back to their training but Kiba kept it easy so that he could be in top form for tomorrow's mission.

Next Day (The North Gate, 7 a.m.)

Naruto stood alongside his teammates that he had selected for the mission, namely Kiba, Neji and Choji. At the start Kiba was little wary of Neji, despite knowing that the relations between him and Hinata had improved, he was not as forgiving as Hinata when it came to betraying comrades, well it was also because he was an Inuzuka who were fiercely loyal to their comrades.

Naruto stood in front of them and said "Ok, now according to the scroll, Aoi was last sighted in the Cha no Kuni (Land of Tea), we will go there and search there first before moving to the other surrounding regions, we should arrive there by late night or early morning depending on the number of breaks we take, I assume you have packed the things in order."

Watching the 3 Genin nod, he nodded back and they set off to complete their mission.

Around Noon

Naruto and his team had stopped because of the high temperatures outside and also because they needed a break, they were currently at an inn and still had some distance to cover until they came to the border of the Hi no Kuni.

Naruto sat along with the others around a round table with Choji in front of him, Kiba to his left and Neji to his right, he took out his Bingo book from the right pocket of his vest, opened the desired page and threw it to them, they looked at information, getting a bit surprised at Aoi' skill level and started wondering why the hell it was such a high-ranking mission.

Naruto seemed to sense their doubts and answered "As you may have seen, Aoi' s skill is not that of a Jonin as he was ranked but that is without the sword with the sword, things get more complicated, that is the reason why this mission was given such a high ranking, only Neji and me and go toe-to-toe against him in Taijutsu and that is because Neji has his Byakugan and I have my stamina, we need to separate him from the sword so that we can easily capture him and then kill him after some interrogation."

The 3 nodded and after resting for a bit, they set off again this time stopping only to regain their breath and drink water, they ran until night came and decided to camp and call it a day, Naruto sat up the camp while Neji scanned the area and set up traps around the perimeter, Kiba and Akamaru went to search for some berries as they happened to smell some around and lastly, Choji went to a nearby river to refill their bottles and get some fishes, Naruto also lit the bonfire and cut 2 trees that they could sit on while eating.

The dinner was fairly quiet with Choji and Kiba asking Naruto questions about being a Chunin and the things he had learnt and Neji listening in. Naruto just divulged the information he wanted to which Neji seemed to notice but did not say anything about. They ate the fishes which Choji caught easily due to his Bubun Baika no Jutsu (Partial Expansion Technique).

They ate some sweet berries before going to sleep, Naruto took the first watch with Kiba taking the second, Choji the third and Neji being the last.

They woke up in the morning and judging by the position of the sun, it was 8 a.m. They then set off again and arrived in the country by 11. They decided to take a break before they started to search for Aoi.

"So, according to the information I have been able to collect, Aoi seems to be on the Nagi Island, but the problem is that the island is big and also that it rains there frequently, so we all need to stay together as it disrupts my plan to use Kiba's nose as one and Neji's Byakugan. We can now only use the Byakugan to locate him and still, we will need to be careful as we don't want Neji losing all of his chakra" said Naruto as the three of them nodded, Kiba felt a little down as he was not able to do much to this mission but was uplifted by a few words by Naruto.

"I want to tell you our plan of we engage him in combat, I will try to knock the sword off his hands along with Neji and when we are successful in doing so, Kiba will engage him in Taijutsu and Choji, you will try to restrain him through your Jutsu so that we can interrogate him before killing him" the Genin nodded but Choji and Kiba gulped thinking about killing anyone while Neji remained unaffected because he already had his first kill on a bandit camp extermination mission.

Naruto noticed this and said "Don't worry, I will be the one to kill him, you just have to weaken and restrain him while I deal with the sword and Neji, you will engage in battle if your chakra reserves have enough to help you and if you are physically not exhausted."

Neji frowned a bit but nodded, knowing that Naruto was right and also that he was the leader of this mission, so he had to listen to him for sure. They then took a boat to get to the island to search for the missing-nin.

Nagi Island

The trio landed on the island by the cliff side on the rocks to go and search for the missing-nin. They started from the side opposite to the bridge connecting to Ouza Island. Neji was constantly spying with his Byakugan and as it was not raining, Kiba was also using his nose.

Naruto looked up at the sky and nodded to himself; he clapped to get the attention of his team and said "Well, looking at the sky, it will not be raining for about days, so we are safe for now. So, now we will split and go according to our primary plan. Kiba and I will be the first team while Neji and Choji will be the other, we are currently on the south side of the island, Kiba and I will investigate the eastern and southern parts while Neji and Choji will investigate the Northern and western parts, we will meet at the bridge connecting to the Ouza island and search that island together if we find nothing here."

They all nodded and Naruto but his thumb and summoned Gamakichi, who arrived in a puff of smoke and said "Yo!"

Naruto picked up Gamakichi and said "Neji, keep him with you, if you are in any trouble, he can reverse-summon himself to me so that we can arrive there as fast as possible."

Neji nodded and handed Gamakichi to Choji who placed him on his head much like Naruto and headed off.

After Some Hours

Naruto and Kiba were resting after searching most of the western part of the island, well mostly because Kiba did not have Naruto's stamina and needed rest. Naruto meanwhile was cursing himself as he watched the random build-up of clouds, he should have known that a place which was known to have rain would not go many days without it.

Kiba also saw this and said "What now Naruto? It seems like it is going to rain, my and Akamaru's sense of smell is even though as much as I hate to say it, useless in rain, Choji and Neji must also have sensed this, we don't know how to contact them also."

"We will continue to search while we can and meet them at the supposed place, we have no other option except that" said Naruto.

After that, Kiba and Naruto kept on searching their part of the island but they did not find Aoi much to their displeasure.

They were currently in the trees, taking shelter from rain, they still had a few more kilometres to go until the end of the island but none of the three liked rain, especially that much.

"AAAHHH! This rain, why won't it stop, we have a mission to complete and we are getting nowhere with that!" exclaimed an angry Kiba with Akamaru growling in agreement.

Naruto sighed and kept himself calm but the rain was already getting on his nerves and combined with Kiba's ranting, it was just becoming intolerable, he just wanted Kiba to shut up, it was not like he could control the weather using chakra.

"Dammit Kiba, just shut up for once, I myself don't enjoy this but we have to wait for them, we know that they are not in trouble because Gamakichi is still with them and is not with me or at the Myobokuzan (Mt. Myoboku)" said Naruto with frustration evident in his voice.

Kiba growled but compiled as he knew from Naruto's voice that he himself was frustrated and wanted to get somewhere with this mission but that was not happening anytime soon if the clouds had any say in it.

Half an hour later lightning started crackling in the clouds and the sounds of thunder reached their ears, suddenly a lightning bolt struck upon the island and waking up all three of them from their sleep.

"What the bloody hell was that!?" exclaimed Kiba with Akamaru growling and barking in agreement.

Naruto narrowed to eyes towards the place where the lightning fell, he felt that something was definitely out of place here, suddenly a puff of smoke appeared on his shoulder startling all three of them. When the smoke cleared, they saw Gamakichi slightly panting and looking distressed.

"Naruto, you need go to the place where lightning struck now! You friends found that guy with that sword and are battling him, I will explain everything on the way" Naruto nodded and went off with the other two, running towards the western edge of the island where they heard and saw the lightning strike from.

"So Kichi, what do you want to tell us?" asked Naruto remembering what the Toad Clan Heir had said earlier.

"When that guy activated his sword, your… what are they called, yes Hyuga, your Hyuga friend and I felt the sword giving out a pulse of chakra as if it was sensing its surroundings, after a few moments it started to vibrate in that man's hands and started giving out electricity in all directions, when that man tried to pick it up again, it reacted violently and brushed off his hand with the help of electricity, the lightning bolt was also caused by it, currently your friends are not in a good shape and that man is also not faring any better, I suggest you watch out for the sword" said Gamakichi and went back to Myobokuzan.

Silence reigned as they contemplated what Gamakichi told them, it seems like that sword suddenly turned hostile, but something must have happened to cause it.

"Hey Naruto, I think that the sword must have reacted to someone chakra as you friend also said that it seemed to sense chakra when it was first activated" said Kiba earning a yip of agreement from Akamaru.

Naruto said nothing and just jumped along the trees towards the destination while thinking 'Is this why Baa-chan sent me for this mission, that sword must have reacted to my Uzumaki Chakra signature as it is the closet Chakra signature to that of a Senju and from what I have read about the Nidaime, it seems like he developed a fail-safe of some kind which activated when it sensed my chakra.'

"You are right ningen", came a voice he very well knew but was confused hearing it.

'Kyuubi?'

"Of course, don't ask me how but I know that what you theorized is true; believe it or not, that is up to you" said the Kyuubi who was also thinking that Naruto was not worthy enough of finding out that he has had previous Jinchuriki also.

Naruto and Kiba arrived at the scene and saw Neji and Choji sitting across a tree with burn marks on them and Aoi on the opposite side of the clearing with a look of rage and pure hatred in his eyes. They looked in the centre and saw the Raijin laid on the field with electricity crackling through it.

Naruto made a few Kage Bunshin to help the two and restrain the third person in the clearing, Kiba also helped Neji and Choji while Naruto looked at the Raijin thinking about what to do 'I could die if my theory is wrong, but the fox also confirmed it, but on the other hand, he may be just looking for entertainment, well just fuck it, it's not like that fox will let me die any soon.'

Naruto started to walk towards the Raijin and there is no one to stop him as the others are busy and Aoi is knocked out and being tied up by his clone. He takes steps slowly, one at a time to make sure that the sword doesn't kill him.

Naruto stands with the sword at his feet, he just has to pick up the sword to see if what he thought is true or not, he bends down and touches the hilt of the sword, watching that it has no negative reaction, he picks up the swords and feels that sword 'checking' his chakra. This gains the interest of the others as they see with wide-eyes as Naruto casually swings the sword without any negative effects.

The electricity crackling through the sword calms down and returns to its normal state. Naruto then stops his chakra flow making the electricity stop and puts the hilt of the sword in his Fuinjutsu Kit for some reason.

He received memories of his clones and turned around and narrowed his eyes at Aoi who had dispelled his clone and broken free of the restraints. He was snarling and said "That sword is mine, give it back to me, I don't know what happened earlier but I will show that sword it's place, trying to fight with me."

"Kiba, go back with Neji and Choji to the docks, they are not in the condition to fight, you are to protect them if this freak has any other comrades, I will fight him" said Naruto while taking a Kunai out of his holster and channelling his wind chakra to further enhance it.

Kiba shockingly agreed and left along with Neji and Choji with Akamaru running behind him along with some Naruto clones.

Aoi snarled watching this thinking that Naruto does not think of him as a threat; he yelled "You weakling, I will show you your place" and rushed towards Naruto with a kunai in hand.

Naruto brought his kunai forward and when they made contact, Naruto's kunai sliced through Aoi's. Watching this Aoi tried to do a roundhouse kick to Naruto from his right foot but Naruto read his movements easily and used his right hand to stop his foot and caught onto it.

Naruto grabbed his ankle and flipped his backwards where he landed on the ground on his back. Naruto made a few hand-signs and thought 'Katon: Ryuka no Jutsu' (Fire Release: Dragon Fire Technique).

Naruto had to use a lot more chakra even by his standards due to the rain and the surrounding but managed to target Aoi who just burned from the impact but when the fire cleared, there was not Aoi but a piece of wood showing that he had substituted himself.

Naruto jumped back to avoid an incoming punch from Aoi who rushed at him from the trees and landed on the ground after the failed assault.

Naruto was now contemplating his options in his head 'Damn it, his Taijutsu is as good as me, he was not an Academy Instructor for nothing, I have not completed Suiton manipulation, Katon uses a lot of chakra in these surroundings, Raiton will affect me due to this rain and there are no Futon techniques I can use because they are not as offensive.'

"Use that damn sword; I thought that you were a foolish container but now it is confirmed" said the Kyuubi from the seal.

'Maybe the fuzzball is right, I can use that sword and if I am right, Aoi can't hold it in my presence' thought Naruto and pulled out the hilt of the sword from his Fuinjutsu Kit making Aoi snarl. Naruto activated the sword and saw that it was in its bright yellow colour like normal instead of being violent and throwing electricity everywhere.

Naruto gripped the sword and removed his seals while thinking 'Damn it, I really am an idiot, I could have released these seals earlier but no I have to forget, and damn it, I also forgot about my chains, well it doesn't matter now, I get to try a legendary weapon and have my first kill using it.'

Ignoring the mad laughter inside his head of a certain fox, he crouched and rushed at Aoi with full speed surprising him before swinging the sword towards the right, beheading him in the process. He then deactivated the sword and placed it inside his kit again. (A/N: Think of Sleeping Zenitsu attack, just like that but different surroundings, weapons etc.)

Aoi's head fell onto the ground as Naruto had a distant look in his eyes due to his first kill; he sealed the sword hilt and Aoi's head inside 2 separate scrolls and burned the remaining of his body as the standard procedure. When he reached the edge of the island, the rain had stopped and the Sun was shining in the sky.

He along with his teammates departed for the mainland to rest and return home.

Few Days Later (In the Hokage Office)

Neji and Choji were in the hospital, Kiba had returned to his clan compound and Naruto was in the Hokage's office giving his report of the mission as the superior in the rank. He told Tsunade and Hiruzen everything except for the fact that he had killed Aoi but they were not legendary ninja for nothing and Hiruzen was not called 'The Professor' for nothing.

"Naruto-kun, what happened to Aoi?" asked Hiruzen in his usual calm tone.

Naruto did not answer but gained a distant look in his eyes and placed the scroll with Aoi's head on the table which had mountains of paperwork on it.

Both quickly understood what had happened and knew that they had to comfort Naruto over his first kill as it happened with everyone after their first kill.

"Shizune, take the scroll and cash in Aoi's bounty at the bounty station after that, tell them to transfer the money to Naruto's bank account" said Tsunade to her apprentice/assistant.

Shizune nodded and left the room with the scroll; as soon as she left, Tsunade walked up and hugged Naruto burying his head in her cleavage making Hiruzen grin a little perversely.

"Tell me everything that happened, will you?" asked Tsunade in a calm voice resembling a mother or a grandmother.

"I saw his eyes, they looked at me as if I was some sort of a murderer, the Kyuubi did not help either, feeding me horrific images in my dreams about it's killing and after that, the memories of the villagers came, calling me 'demon', 'freak', 'monster' and other things, after that came the worst, the memories of loneliness, all the times I cried about it, all the time I wondered why I never had any parent, they still haunt me baa-chan, they keep on coming back" said Naruto with tears leaking out of his eyes.

Tsunade hugged him even tighter and whispered into his ear "Don't worry, you have people now who care for you Naruto, I am there, sensei has always been there, Jiraiya, Shizune, Sakura, your friends, you don't have to worry about being alone ever again, now smile and show me why you are my favourite brat."

Naruto nodded and pulled away from the hug and smiled while wiping his tears, this beautiful moment was interrupted due to a certain self-proclaimed super-pervert giggling perversely from the window and taking notes in his notebook.

"My student is gold, he got the pleasure of Tsunade's boobs, I have tried for years and still could not get it, oh, and he is a great research material also" said Jiraiya while crying anime tears due to sadness and happiness.

Tsunade and Naruto scowled and rushed towards the man who was sent flying by Tsunade's punch and Naruto's Rasengan.

Tsunade then dismissed Naruto telling him that she is entrusting the sword to him like the Necklace and expects him to use it well. Naruto nodded and went off to rest and possibly train a bit after that.