The Wanderers

Chapter 2 – Devastation

A/N: I want to give a big shoutout to Mattwilson83 on deviantart. He writes and draws a Naruto manga called NHC (NaruHina Chronicles). You want a great NaruHina story? Read this, it is amazing. He's currently up to his 16th Volume, and it is all pure gold.

Note: I do want to apologise for the angst in this chapter. I think it has its uses, but I do promise that this will be the only chapter with this much in it. I'm trying to get more realistic reactions from the characters.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. If I did, there wouldn't be so much Rasengan spam. Talk about beating a dead horse, with a slightly smaller horse.

"Wha…what the hell is this?"

The great gates of Konoha were gone; the only remains were small shards of wood imbedded deep into the ground beneath their original position. A giant expansive crater covered the area that they once knew as their home, not even the walls remained. There were no indications that there were buildings at all, small pockets of dirt and puddles of water the only signs of life.

The crater wasn't particularly deep, but the most shocking feature was what had happened to the Hokage Monuments. The mountainside had collapsed down into the graveyard of the village, with the stone faces scattered in pieces. Naruto could see that the only face that was partially intact was the Sandaime Hokage but there were so many cracks in it that is was already falling apart.

Each of the Jounin had weapons out immediately, Kakashi scanning the area with his Sharingan trying to find any signs of residual chakra.

Asuma whispered to Kurenai who put her hands together and concentrated, "Kai!" To her shock there was no genjutsu, no illusion of any kind. "It's real" she stated, still unwilling to believe it.

"They are gone. All gone."

"I don't understand, what happened to the village?"

"How could this happen?"

"SHUT UP! ALL OF YOU!" Gai's outburst silenced the teenagers, each looking to their teachers for answers.

Kakashi took a quick look around the village with his Sharingan before turning to the Genin, "We have to assume that there was an attack on the village. I want you to spread out, look for survivors, or any indicators of who could have done this."

"There is no one left."

Everyone stared at Shino, who tried to keep his cool as his bugs returned to him with their information. The bugs claimed that there were no chakra sources at all in the village, not even in forests near the Aburame compound where they bred their Kikaichu bugs.

Naruto grabbed him by the collar and balled a fist, "What do you mean? They can't all be gone! What about the old man? Or Iruka-sensei? Everyone's families?"

Kakashi reached over and pulled Naruto off, "Naruto, calm down. Don't put this on Shino; he's just doing his job."

"But Kakashi-sensei, everyone can't be…"

"Naruto. They might be. We need to prepare to accept that."

Naruto wanted to argue more, but he could see that even his teacher was shaken. "I won't accept that, but fine."

Thankful that his student had calmed down, Kakashi nodded to his fellow Jounin. They vanished as they went searching in the places that the Genin wouldn't know about. He then turned his attention to their students, all of them shaken to the core by what they could see.

oOoOoOo

Lee and Tenten had opted to stay near the gates with Neji, who could now stand on his own, though he wasn't confident enough to walk on his own yet. "It's unbelievable. Did our shinobi get to fight back at all?"

"You can't think that way, Lee. I'm sure our people put up a good fight before they died."

"I don't know, Tenten. There are no bodies, none at all."

"Maybe the enemy used gas?"

"The defensive grid would have dispersed it. It was probably infiltration."

Neji could feel his choler rising at his teammates' conversation, "Is that really what you want to talk about? What about all our families that were killed? Don't you care about them?"

Lee and Tenten looked at the injured genius with wide eyes, not realising that they had hurt his feeling. Lee stepped up and apologised, "I'm sorry, Neji-kun. We didn't lose any… sorry, we weren't thinking."

"My clan…" His thoughts ran back to his fight with Lee during the Exams, and the dreams he had had since. I don't deserve to be called a Hyuuga. I've dishonoured our name, and now there are only two of us left. I never got to prove the Main Branch wrong.

Lee saw that he was getting depressed, so he dropped to the ground and began doing one handed push-ups. Tenten sighed and sat down on a piece of grass next to him, "Lee, what the hell are you doing?"

"Gai-sensei said that when you are down, you should train. If I can't do five hundred push-ups, then I'll do one thousand sit-ups." Lee continued to quickly do push-ups, counting them as he went.

Neji stared at his teammate for a moment, before a weak feeling in his stomach dropped him to the ground. Just before he struck the ground both Lee and Tenten caught his shoulders, propping him back up. "Maybe we should all just take it easy, okay?"

oOoOoOo

Sakura wandered through the rubble, with Sasuke walking several feet behind her. Why did Kakashi tell me to go with her? I wanted to see if there were any remains of the underground sections of my family's compound.

Sakura had run out of tears by the time she had reached the section of the crater she thought had been her home, she simply walked around lost in her grief. Her plan to ignore Sasuke to get his attention had been working, but she had forgotten about it after she learnt that she had lost everyone. "What are we meant to do?" she asked, to no-one in particular.

Sasuke ignored her; an odd thought came to him. Everyone is like me, now.

"Sasuke-kun?"

He looked up and realised that she was staring at him. "What?" he responded, still frustrated that he had been sent with her.

"How am I meant to feel? A shinobi must not show any emotion in any situation. A ninja must put the mission first and must have a heart that will allow him to not cry." She sniffed sadly as she quoted the 25th rule of shinobi. She wanted him to console her, at least say something to make her feel better. He went through the same thing with his family, surely he understands how I feel?

He merely looked away and stared at the area where his home once stood. Did you have something to do with this, brother? Was this another attempt to destroy the Uchiha name?

Sakura felt her heart crushed as Sasuke ignored her; he even started to walk away from her. "Sasuke-kun?" I…I don't understand…why is he ignoring me?

Sasuke turned his head back and looked at Sakura with cold eyes, "Sakura. Find your own way back."

Time seemed to stop for Sakura as the biggest realisation dawned over her. He doesn't care at all. There is no room in his heart, only hatred. Is this what happens when everyone you love dies? Will I become like that?

Sasuke walked away from her as Sakura collapsed onto the ground, finding fresh tears to cry as she begged for her parents to come back to her.

oOoOoOo

She had been reluctant at first, but Naruto had insisted that she should have a look around where the Hyuuga complex had been. She used her Byakugan to look underneath the ground, but she couldn't find any trace of the honourable clan. "Naruto-kun, I don't see anything at all."

Naruto swore, the sheer immensity of the damage was staggering to his mind. He could just picture where all the building were: the small street that had Ichiraku's, the building where his apartment had been, and the large space where the Hokage Tower had once been. All this destruction. Why? Who could have done this? He wondered if another village could have done this, but doubted that. There would have been other casualties, and there would have been evidence, they had found neither. Hinata tugged slightly on his orange jacket, and when he looked at her he could tell that she was petrified. "Hinata, are you okay?"

"Th…they are all gone, aren't they? Father, Hanabi…everyone."

Damn, what do I say? There are no words to make this any better. "I don't know Hinata. But if they are, we need to be strong."

She deactivated her Byakugan and looked at her crush, "Are you okay, Naruto-kun?"

She's lost her whole family, and still worries about how I feel? I didn't have any family to lose, she knows that. He looked at her lavender eyes and realised that she was looking to him for answers. He slung an arm around her shoulder and hugged her tightly, the same way she had hugged him on the road.

She was initially excited by the contact, until she realised that it was as much for him as it was for her.

"It's okay to cry, Hinata. I'm not going anywhere." She tried to hold back, but when she felt his tears on her hair she couldn't help herself. In her mind she could see the faces of her clan members, but what stood out was the stern look on her father's face before she had left. He had told her that if she didn't come back as a Chuunin then her position as the heir would be reviewed. He died before I had a chance to prove that I had changed. What did we do to deserve this?

They stood there for a long time, simply holding each other. Naruto found himself unable to put on his fake smile, the soft sobbing of Hinata into his jacket cut straight to his heart. This is too cruel. Too damn cruel.

oOoOoOo

"I can't believe it. It…just can't be real." The Ino-Shika-Cho formation had been sent to the mountain faces, though there was no sign of what had caused the calamity.

"Do you think our families are dead?" asked Chouji in one of his rare moments where he had no appetite.

Ino turned around and glared at her fat teammate, "Don't say that, Chouji! There are no bodies, they could have just been captured…or something…"

Behind her Shikamaru dug through some rubble, trying to occupy himself with anything but thinking about his family. Father wouldn't go down without a fight. None of them would. The fact that there are no bodies means either of two things: They were taken somewhere before the village was destroyed, or everyone was vaporised when the village was. Damnit, I may have thought my family was troublesome, but I never wanted this.

"Shikamaru, do you think our families are alive?"

He stopped rummaging and sat down while running a tired hand on the back of his neck. "There is no easy way to deal with this. The likelihood of anyone surviving…this…" He tried to keep his sadness from spilling out, but when Ino and Chouji sat opposite him he couldn't hold it in anymore. They had each lost a family, and there was nothing to stop them from giving in to their emotions.

Chouji thought about the last time he ate with his family, his father's hearty laugh and his mother's nice smile as she served them dinner.

Ino thought about the last time she spoke with her father. They had had an argument about her participation in the Chuunin Exams. Inoichi had told her he thought she wasn't ready for it, and in retrospect she agreed with him, but she had still argued and called him filthy names. I'll never get to apologise. "Damnit."

"What's wrong, Ino?" asked Chouji.

"It's just that I…I'm angry at the fact that I'm angry. I'm angry at my father, at my mother, at my whole clan for dying, but that's such a horrible thing to think."

Chouji reached over and put an oversized arm around her shoulders, letting her cry into his shirt. "You want to know something, Ino? I'm angry too. I'm angry that I'll never be able to taste my mother's cooking again."

Despite her sadness Ino laughed and coughed as she thought of the complete absurdity of how they felt. "That's…just…damnit Chouji, don't make me laugh. It hurts."

Chouji smiled as Ino appeared to have cheered up slightly, though they all knew that it was only a temporary fix. Shikamaru smiled as he watched his two teammates. The last time he had spoken to his father was during their regular Shougi match. He had never beaten his father before, but knew it was good practise. Shikamaru, tomorrow you leave for the Exams. Knowing you, you'll just want to give up and not bother. But know that if you do, you put your comrades in danger. You are the heir of our clan, and your friends are the most important resource you have. He smiled as he thought of what his father would think of his match in the Chuunin Exams.

***Flashback***

The first match of the fourth Exam was about to commence, Shikamaru stood on one side of the sand-covered arena, while his opponent stood near the other. Why do I have to face him? I got through the team rounds; can't I just give up and go watch the clouds? In Suna the sky looks so inviting.

His opponent moved his sunglasses slowly as he analysed his opponent. Both Shino and Shikamaru were defensive fighters, and analytical as well, so they both knew their battle would be one of the minds. The crowd was cheering for the Konoha shinobi, most of them simply wanting to see a spectacular battle. Shikamaru looked at the crowd to where the rest of the Konoha Genin were, and noticed that the Suna Siblings sat next to them as well.

Even from this distance he could tell that the blonde girl was glaring at him fiercely. She hadn't forgiven him for the third round, where he and Sasuke had beaten her and her puppet-using brother. During the two week interval between rounds she had hounded him: demanding a rematch, trying to psych him out, she had even tried to get him drunk on some strange desert sake.

"Shikamaru."

He shook his head and looked at his opponent, noticing the small bugs running down his jacket. "What is it?"

"The match has started."

With a yawn, Shikamaru looked around and saw that it was only the two of them in the arena. "Why did you tell me? You could have just attacked, it's not like I was paying attention."

Shino began telling his bugs to sweep around from above, beyond Shikamaru's visual range. "Why? The Aburame clan fights with full force, no matter our foe. You deserve a chance to make Chuunin as well."

Shikamaru simply smiled and jumped back, putting his hands together in his clan's handseal. "Kagemane no Jutsu" He shot his shadow towards Shino, who jumped backwards outside of the shadow's range. He sent a large swarm of bugs straight at Shikamaru, who swore as he barely avoided the swarm, forced to use an explosive note to prevent them from following him.

He could see a very small shift in Shino's expression, sadness at the loss of his bugs? Inside Shikamaru's mind he played out hundreds of scenarios, the majority ending with him covered in bugs begging for mercy. As he continued to run around away from the encroaching bugs, Shikamaru wanted to just give up and save himself the pain. When he used his last explosive note, a scenario finally came to him that had a higher probability of success.

He pulled out one of his two remaining kunai, taking off his jacket at the same time. Shino gestured towards Shikamaru with a finger and Shikamaru looked behind his position with a look of horror. "How the hell?" Behind him crawled a giant swarm of bugs, moving in a pincer formation to crush him with the main swarm. "How did you?"

"I don't like explaining myself. During the match I sent my bugs one at a time behind your position. This is my trump card."

Shikamaru smiled with exasperation, placing his last explosive note on the ground beneath him, sending chakra to his the souls of his feet. He jumped up just before the explosion, throwing his jacket attached to the kunai up into the air as well, disguising this with the explosion. He landed back down onto the ground, with the swarms quickly closing into his position. He tried to run through the small gap he saw towards Shino's position, but it was quickly closed as Shino walked towards him, more bugs pumping out of his sleeves.

The swarms got within a few feet before Shikamaru sighed, putting his hands together. "Checkmate."

Above them the jacket with the kunai attached exploded, but to Shino's surprise it wasn't an explosive note that was attached to the kunai. It was a flash bomb. His sunglasses shielded his eyes, but using the expansive light Shikamaru called out "Kagemane no Jutsu, successful." Spread out from underneath Shikamaru were hundreds of little spikes of shadows, each attaching themselves to the shadows of the swarming bugs, and a single tendril to Shino.

"You caught me."

Between heavy breaths Shikamaru smiled, standing up slowly. He had taken some damage when he accidently caught himself in the last explosion, and he realised that if the flash bomb had gone off a second later he would have lost. "You didn't make it easy. This was the only way to guarantee that I would get all the bugs as well."

"I miscalculated, I shouldn't have come closer."

"Probably, but I'm done. Examiner, I give up." He released the technique and rubbed his sore legs. The crowd was silent at the result, none of them expecting for him to just give up. In the stands he could see the shocked faces of his fellow Shinobi, and felt a twinge of happiness as he saw the angry expression on the crazy blonde's face. Maybe this will keep her off my back for a while. Wait, who am I kidding? I don't get women at all.

***End Flashback***

Shino and Kiba had been sent to the outlying forests, their tracking skills being used to look for any possible survivors. Kiba felt an overwhelming anger at the death of his clan, one that Akamaru had adopted as well, both growling uncontrollably at intervals. They couldn't smell anyone within a mile of the village, and as the two shinobi ran through the woods they found a distinct lack of animals as well. Did Mum fight to her last breath? I can imagine her and Sis fighting side by side with their companions. Damnit, there's no trace of anyone. If this is an illusion, it's a damn cruel one.

"Kiba."

The insect user stopped on a tree branch, causing his teammate to halt a tree in front of him. "What is it Shino? Did you find something?" Akamaru barked at Kiba sharply, "What does that mean? I know the others will be fine."

"Kiba. Go ahead of me."

The Inuzuka heir looked at his fellow teammate with suspicion, until he noticed a slight quivering from his hands. "Shino, is something wrong?"

"My hive is searching around this area. Go ahead of me, I will catch up."

"I don't understand, what are you going to do?" Akamaru barked again, but Kiba didn't understand him this time.

Shino took his hands out of his pockets, reached up and removed his sunglasses, revealing his full face to his teammate for the first time. Despite how dense Kiba could be, he understood his teammate enough to understand what Shino was going to do. With a nod and a bark from Akamaru, Kiba leapt over to the next set of trees, disappearing into the forest. I guess even the cold Shino needs to grieve at some point. He spent the next few minutes spinning into a Tsuuga, destroying any trees he could find. He may have been wasting chakra, but it took his mind off the devastation.

oOoOoOo

The group reconvened as the sun began to set, rays of sunlight disappearing from the crater as clouds began to spread out amongst the darkening sky. Each reported that there was nothing left, not even a trace of the over-a-century old village. "We can't stay here" stated Kakashi, putting his hand up immediately to silence the inevitable protests.

Shikamaru sighed, "Where would we go?"

"That's not the problem, Shikamaru? Why do we have to abandon the village?" demanded Naruto.

"We don't have a choice. Whoever did this may still be around" said Asuma, pulling out a new cigarette from his seemingly infinite pack.

"So what? We should be looking to get some payback on the bastards that did this to our home!"

"Yeah!"

"We should stay and fight!"

With a cold stare Kakashi silenced the group, "You fools. You think you stand a chance against the enemy that destroyed our ENTIRE village? The bastards took out our whole shinobi force, including our Hokage. Do you think some VERY inexperienced Genin could succeed where they failed?"

Their eyes down, the Genin mumbled apologies to him. He shook his head slowly, I don't blame them. The urge to kill someone for this is overwhelming.

"Where do we go? We can't assume anything anymore. The likelihood of our safehouses being secure can't be that high" said Gai, putting on a serious face.

"What about our forces outside the village? Surely there would be some shinobi on missions that wouldn't have been caught in all this." The group nodded in agreement with Shikamaru's statement; if they found others then they could be a stronger fighting force.

"We can't assume that. We have to act as if we are the last Konoha shinobi. There is a place I know of that we need to go to. It's not too far outside the village, but I want everyone on full alert. Neji, can you move well enough?"

The Hyuuga genius stretched out his hands and grimaced in pain, still needing to lean on Lee to walk. "I can't run without support, but my Byakugan still works."

"Okay, this is going to be our formation. Hinata, Naruto, Gai, Kiba and me at the front. Hinata use your Byakugan to scan the area, and Kiba use your nose to sense any foreign presences. Naruto, you and Gai are going to be our hard hitters, attack anyone you don't recognise that may threaten the group immediately."

The four of them nodded in agreement. Hinata was scared that she might miss something, but a reassuring nod from Naruto alleviated her fears. He leaned over and whispered to her, "Don't worry, I'll keep the enemy off you." She smiled warmly in return, feeling a small boost with his confidence in her.

"In the middle will be Shikamaru, Sakura, Ino, Tenten and Shino. You guys will support the others, Shino I want your bugs to be scouting the sides as we move." Shino nodded slightly, his insects still unsettled by his previous display of grief.

"At the back, will be Chouji, Kurenai, Sasuke, Asuma, Lee and Neji. Sasuke, how is your arm?" When they had initially separated, Sakura had helped him remove the bandages from his damaged arm. He had regained some mobility, and could form seals, but wouldn't be at full efficiency for several weeks. "I'm fine, Kakashi."

He didn't believe his student, but left it alone. "Neji will use his Byakugan to scan the back, but you guys are to support the middle group. I know you have injured in your group, but with two Jounin, you should be okay."

oOoOoOo

Before they went to leave, Naruto suggested that they say a few words for their fallen village. Kakashi was apprehensive about this, but understood that the group was barely holding together as it was. They stood on top of the ruined gates, the symbols for retreat covered by dirt and scattered grass.

Naruto reached up to his head and pulled off his forehead protector, running a thumb across the leaf symbol. "I…my dream was to be Hokage. I realise now it was a selfish dream. I wanted the village to recognise me, to respect me. But now…" He felt tears running down his face, in his mind flashed the people he cared about that were gone. Iruka, Konohamaru, the old man, all gone.

Walking up next to him, Lee removed the forehead protector from around his waist. "Our village may be gone, but Konoha is not. So long as we live, our village's way of life survives. We owe it to our fallen comrades to fight our best." The rest of the group did the same gesture. Naruto grinned as he wiped his tears away. He pointed his forehead protector at the crater then fixed it back on his head, "So long as I wear this, I am a proud shinobi of Konoha. Nobody can take that away from me, I swear we will rebuild."

oOoOoOo

The trip to the next spot was uneventful, but they took their time. By the time they reached the small alcove that Kakashi pointed out, they were all dead tired. Neji was ready to collapse, his constant use of his Byakugan preventing his full recovery. The group sat down as Kakashi dug up a small symbol under an uninteresting piece of grass.

"Konoha was a proud village, but we weren't stupid. We knew that the other villages wanted our special techniques, but there was also the threat of infiltration. In response we had most of our villages techniques removed from their respective houses and stored in an undisclosed location, known only to the Hokage and leader of the Anbu."

"Kakashi-sensei, how do you know this?" asked Sakura.

He looked at her while covering up his Sharingan, there was no need for it anymore. "Until I took on students, I was the head of the Anbu. I guess that information doesn't need to be concealed anymore."

Taking a puff from a cigarette Asuma put his hand on Shikamaru's shoulder and eyed his friend, "You quit being the head of the Anbu? How did you talk my father into doing that?" He felt a wave of sadness as he mentioned his now deceased father, a reminder that even a shinobi as strong as The Professor wasn't invincible.

"It wasn't hard. I simply threatened to tell the girls of the village about his crystal ball."

Asuma laughed, and even Kurenai couldn't help but grin slightly. It took their minds off what had happened, to laugh about their friend's antics. Sasuke pushed through the others, ignoring the pain in his arm as he did. "Kakashi, did you take jutsu from every clan in Konoha?"

"I personally didn't, but the clan heads agreed it was in their best interests to hide their techniques this way." He moved his hands through a set of seals and slammed his hand onto the ground, "Doton, Chidokaku (Moving Earth Core)" A small rumbling sounded underneath his palm and he motioned for the group to stand back. After a few seconds four pillars arose from the ground, each having a symbol on them.

"Earth, Water, Fire, Lightning. Kakashi, what is this?" He patted the shoulder of his student and created three Kage Bunshin. All four of the Kakashi's lay their hands on separate pillars. "This is the security measure that I created. To my knowledge, because of my Sharingan I'm one of the only people who can use four elements. If separate people try to do this, the pillars kill those that are touching them."

"But wouldn't that let any of the Uchiha clan in?" asked Kurenai.

"Sasuke, you want to answer that?"

The Uchiha heir sighed as he thought about what his brother had told him years ago, "The Sharingan doesn't give you elementary chakra, just the ability to use the techniques."

Naruto scratched his head, confused. "But, how then can Kakashi-sensei use four elements? I thought the maximum was three?"

Each Kakashi pushed its separate element into the pillars, while Gai stepped forward and looked the real Kakashi at the lightning pillar with a serious expression, "Obito?"

With a grim smile, Kakashi nodded in response as the pillars slid back into the ground. A small altar rose in front of Kakashi, another symbol on the front of a tablet sitting on top. He turned to Asuma and tried to sound as confident as possible, "Asuma, you are the only one who can do this. The technique was designed to only respond to Sandaime's chakra, but…"

"Didn't you say that if it doesn't work, he'll die?" asked Ino, not wanting to risk her teacher's life over a few techniques.

Asuma threw his spent cigarette into the dirt, ruffling her hair as he blew smoke into the open air. "It's worth the risk. We need you guys to be stronger." He walked over and cut his hand open slightly with one of his trench knives.

"Besides, these techniques are the only things that remain of Konoha. If we keep them, our village hasn't been completely destroyed." He placed his hand on the tablet, grimacing as the tablet read his blood, which glowed a light blue.

"Don't forget about us, Asuma-sensei! We are still here, so the village isn't completely gone." Gai looked over at Lee, almost willing his student to give a 'Nice Guy' pose so he could put a sunset genjutsu behind him. But to his disappointment the group just nodded grimly, as Lee tried to keep an optimistic smile up. Asuma stepped back from the altar as a small plume of smoke came from the tablet. With a small bang sound the altar disappeared, replaced by a large chest covered in gold chains and a single piece of paper marked 'Seal'.

Without a word Kakashi opened up the chest and began removing the scrolls inside. Each was marked with the different clans and was sealed by the clan's blood. "Only a member of the clan can open their respective scroll. Now I know this must be hard for you kids, but you must know that these techniques were meant for you. So act as a Konoha shinobi and a proud member of your clan."

Each of the clan heirs got their respective scrolls, though they each responded differently.

Shino took his scroll without a word, moving away from the group so that he could grieve without showing any emotion to the others. He had a smaller hive then he normally did as his bugs were out sweeping the area, but he held some comfort that he had friends around him.

Kiba gave a low growl as he received his, showing the large fang mark on his family scroll to Akamaru, "All that remains of home, huh. A stupid piece of paper won't bring back my sister, or my mother." The small white dog barked back sadly, snuggling into Kiba's jacket.

Chouji tried not to cry as he got his family scroll, but when he saw a small preserved crumb between the scroll sheets he broke, bawling his eyes out as he walked away.

Ino took her scroll and held it close to her, wondering what her father would say to her, what advice he give in this situation.

With a sigh, Shikamaru took his scroll and stuffed in into his jacket. Knowing Father, it'll be a blank scroll that says: 'I'll get around to it.'

Kakashi took out the Hyuuga scroll, which was the largest, and looked at the two Hyuuga students. Neji had recovered quickly, but still had a pale look on his face. Hinata's face was still red from crying, the collar of her jacket damp and uncomfortable. "Ano…" Before she could continue, Neji put his hand up and took a step back, "Give the scroll to Hinata-sama."

"What? But Neji-niisan, you are a much better fighter then me, you can use it better" responded Hinata, not even considering her own position.

Kakashi went to say something but was cut off by Neji, "Hinata-sama, you are the heir of the Main Branch. While there may only be the two of us left, you are still the heir of the Hyuuga clan. So long as I hold this seal, you are my superior."

Naruto stepped up and grabbed Neji's collar, his hair flaring up in anger. "Don't put that crap on Hinata, you bastard! If she knew how to get rid of your seal, she would in a second!"

Lee ran up and took Naruto's hand off his teammate, standing between them defiantly. "Naruto-kun, don't hate Neji for the past. We have to work together now, we are comrades." With a tsk, Naruto stepped back next to Hinata, his anger subsiding slightly. He was still cautious about Neji, not convinced that the Branch member wouldn't attack them again if given the opportunity.

"Kakashi-sensei, please give the scroll to Hinata-sama. I have no right to it." Kakashi eyed him cautiously as he handed the gold-plated scroll to Hinata, who accepted it reluctantly. Hinata looked at it then walked over to Neji and looked him in the eyes. "Neji-niisan, we are both Hyuugas. We can both learn the techniques, and we both will continue the Hyuuga traditions." Neji seemed suspicious of her, but let it go as she put the scroll into her jacket.

Sasuke stepped forward and put his hand out, as the last clan heir he figured his family's scroll would continue the secrets of the Sharingan that his brother had never told him about. I need to know if he was telling the truth about the Mangekyou Sharingan. Kakashi handed him the Uchiha scroll reluctantly, unsure whether Sasuke was ready for the secrets that the Uchiha scroll no doubt possessed. With no ceremony, Sasuke ripped open the scroll, uncaring that the remaining Konoha shinobi could likely see the contents.

"What is the meaning of this?"

Sasuke slammed the scroll to the ground, revealing the contents to the others. There was no text on the scroll, just a small map with the Uchiha fan symbol on a small section next to a group of trees. "A map? The last record of my clan is a damn map?"

Kakashi got up from his kneeling position and picked up the scroll, looking at the map with interest. "Sasuke, calm down. This is likely just a map to where the real scroll is. The Uchiha clan was the most reluctant to the idea, so this doesn't surprise me." He handed the scroll back to Sasuke, "We can go there if you want. I recognise some of the markings."

With a hn he snatched the scroll from his teacher's hand. Lee, Sakura and Tenten knew that there were no scrolls for them. Lee was an orphan; Sakura's parents were civilians and Tenten's father was an armourer. Kakashi handed Asuma the Sarutobi clan scroll, took out the final scroll and closed the chest. With a single handseal the chest burst into flames, destroying all evidence that it had existed.

The group began to split apart to look at their separate scrolls, but Kakashi called them back. "Wait; there is something we need to tell Naruto."

"Are you sure about this Kakashi? It was a secret for a reason." He waved Kurenai of with his free hand, "There is no benefit to concealing it anymore."

Naruto coughed uncomfortably, getting the Jounin's attention. "If it's about the Kyuubi, everyone already knows." The teachers were surprised, but they kept their comments to themselves. If their students were still comfortable with Naruto, then they had no issue with his revealing that information either.

"That's not what Kakashi is talking about Naruto" said Kurenai, her red eyes staring at the scroll in Kakashi's hand.

"Then what is he talking about? Damnit, what are you hiding?" Naruto held his head, as if just thinking was doing his physical harm. Next to him Hinata felt like she should say something to calm him down, something to help him.

She resolved to slowly slip her hands into his, hoping that he wouldn't shrug her away. He seemed surprised by the touch, but with a slight tug and a smile he accepted the gesture. "Sorry, Kakashi-sensei. What did you want to tell me?"

Now they are holding hands. To be young again. With a smile Kakashi held the last scroll from the chest tightly, "Naruto, you weren't told who your parents were because they had many enemies, both inside and outside the village. But now, I see no need to hide who they were."

He looked at the scroll's insignia, "He wasn't part of a clan, but we put his techniques in anyway, as they were very powerful and useful to the village." He handed the scroll to Naruto, who was speechless at the fact that he was about to find out about his parents. The scroll was black outlined with no symbols on it. Along the front of it was a single name.

Minato Namizake

oOoOoOo

The group had decided that their first target would be Tenten's father's shop, and then afterwards they would go to the Uchiha hideout marked on Sasuke's scroll. It was a day's trip from the remains of Konoha, and they could restock their weapons as well. The group was still sombre from their experiences in the remains of Konoha, each trying to make sense of the madness that had become their world. Naruto had taken an opportunity to look into his father's scroll; there were many things inside it he didn't understand. He had initially been overcome with the knowledge that his idol was his father, then angry that it had been concealed.

Hinata had pointed out to him on the road that the Yondaime had many enemies, and it would have been for his safety. He felt honoured that he was the son of a Hokage, but felt a new weight on his shoulders. He had to surpass his father; he had to be strong for the good of the group. He opened up his father's scroll again and looked over the first jutsu that his father had created. This is the technique that made my father known around the shinobi world. I will do my best, I have to. Father, I will perfect this technique. It'll take a lot of effort though, but you'd be proud of me, I have lots of friends to help me.

"Naruto-kun, have you worked out what technique you are going to learn?" He smiled at his dark-haired companion, showing her the diagram on the scroll. A large name appeared at the front.

Hiraishin no Jutsu (Flying Thunder God Technique)

Author's Notes:

I may have lied when I said the chapters would be shorter. I wanted to expand on each individual reaction, and it kind of ballooned. Next chapter there will be action scenes, I promise. There will be no Rasengan in my story. I like the technique, but I think everyone is sick of it. It wouldn't be on the scroll either, as it was unfinished when Minato died.

Please review and tell me what you think. What can be improved, what you liked, I'm a writer so I'm always open to criticism.

Naruto Story Spotlight: Lacking Sight by Neo-Lifethane. A great NaruHina story that has two of the best developed OCs ever. Really well written, great jutsu inventions and action scenes. Definitely one to look for.