Naruto: Shadow Legion

by Zeltic88

Naruto Uzumaki has a lineage that should grant him legend status alone, however the truth of his lineage must be kept secret from everyone, including himself. As the life of a shinobi is dangerous, actions will always have consequences. It is for this reason that Konoha decided that the heir to Tobirama Senju, Kushina Uchiha, and Minato Namikaze must be kept a secret from the world

30. The Mission for Tsunade Begins!

Naruto

Naruto: Shadow Legion – Chapter 30 [The Mission for Tsunade Begins!]

Disclaimer: I Do not own Naruto nor its Characters

O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~O

"What brings you here so early anyways?" Ayame questioned from behind her counter, already cleaning one of the several empty bowls of ramen that Naruto had finished.

"I hrph a mishan to…" Naruto tried to say through the noodles dangling from his mouth, stopping to slurp up the remnants before he continued. "Ahh! I have a mission that will take a long time, so I figured that I'd come and have a few bowls of my favorite food, from my favorite shop, owned by my favorite people!" Naruto said with an exited smile.

"That's my boy!" Tuechi exclaimed with a proud smile as let out a powerful belly laugh. "Want me to cook some more for the road?"

"That would be amaz—"

"He's fine!" Ino interrupted quickly, shoving her hand over the boy's mouth with both an embarrassed, yet impatient expression. "I'm certain the six bowls for breakfast will be able to hold him over." She explained as she briefly glared at Naruto, who soon swallowed nervously as Ino removed her hand, placing her own chopsticks on her singular bowl before returning it to Ayame.

"Y-Yeah, I gotta make sure I don't eat too much. A shinobi can't be to lethargic on a mission…" Naruto agreed, seeing that it could be dangerous to push his luck any further.

"But I—"

"Relax dad, it's best not to argue with her." Ayame pointed out as she took Naruto's final bowl that he reluctantly handed her.

"Alright fine." Tuechi agreed with a smile. "I'll be sure to have a large bowl of pork Miso waiting for you when you get back. Keep safe kid." Tuechi added, ruffling the young man's hair.

"I'll hold you to that!" Naruto said as he stood with Ino, the new promise of free ramen rejuvenating his spirit. "I'll be seeing you then!" He said with a wave.

"Goodbye! Thanks for the food!" Ino with a giggle as she and Naruto walked off, the Ichiraku staff waving behind them as she cleared her throat. "Alright, pre mission checklist."

"Aww come on Ino! We've gone through it three times!" Naruto complained as he pulled out his bag, complying, nonetheless.

"Yeah, yeah, but it's better to keep checking in case you lose something along the way." Ino retorted casually as she looked at the list. "Camping supplies?"

"Check"

"Rations and Food pills?"

"Check"

"Additional good food for on the road?"

"Snack Check"

"Projectiles?"

"Check"

"Scrolls, books, and other training stuff?"

"Checkity check." Naruto exclaimed as he pulled out one of the labeled sealed scrolls presumably carrying said books with a purple sticky note labeling it with Ino's handwriting.

"R&R stuff?"

"Check"

"Netsurai?"

Naruto gripped the hilt on his back. "Check."

"That about covers it then." Ino expressed with a sigh of relief as Naruto put his pack back on his back. "What would you do without me?"

"I could think of a few things…" Naruto said as he feigned thought, causing Ino to playfully punch his shoulder, causing the pair to giggle. "Seriously, I don't know what I'd do without you." Naruto concluded as he gripped Ino's hand, looking into her beautiful jade-colored eyes.

Ino blushed as she too became lost in the sapphires that Naruto called eyes. "That's what I thought." She replied as she briefly moved in closer to give him a peck on the cheek.

The two were in eyeshot of the gate, seeing Tenten and Kiba already waiting and chatting in the distance. "Speaking of names…" Naruto started. "Did you ever name those twin blades I got you?"

"Now that you mention it, no I haven't." Ino expressed, the thought not even occurring to her. "Any ideas?"

"Oh no, those are you're weapons. Just because I forged them, doesn't mean I'm naming them. It's gotta be a connection to you, not me." Naruto explained, playfully chastising his partner.

"I'll have to think about it then." Ino replied as she touched the hilt of one of her blades that rested on her back. "Speaking of, what exactly did you make these out of? When I showed Tenten she was amazed at the quality of material." Ino asked as Naruto began to chuckle nervously.

"Well you see…"

"Hey Naruto!" Kiba called from the gate, waving at the pair.

"Focus." Ino said with a miniscule amount of pressure squeezing his arm.

"Right." Naruto said with a wave back. "You know how I made my sword right?"

"You didn't…"

"Now hold on I—"

Ino smacked Naruto's arm. "Forging like that is dangerous! How could you put yourself through that again! Twice!" Ino added, remembering Satsuki's bow.

"No it's not like that!" Naruto swore. "I just broke a little more off of Zabuza's sword when he wasn't paying attention to forge some more stuff. But I didn't pour nearly as much chakra into it. I'm not even sure if yours has an ability to it… does it?"

Ino put aside her annoyance for a moment as she thought. "Aside from the durability, not that I've seen." Ino admitted. "And now that you mention it, our weapons were made a lot quicker than yours. I believe you." Ino relented as the finally reached their team.

"You two good? You looked like you were about to knock him out Ino." Tenten observed as she and Kiba awaited an explanation.

"No, I'm fine. I was just worried that Naruto's shenanigans would get him hurt for my sake." Ino explained vaguely as she rubbed her temple, feeling a very mild headache beginning to subside.

"It looks like they're all here then." The familiar voice of Jiraiya expressed as he appeared beside the group.

"What? How? I should have been able to—"

"Simply being an Inuzuka does not make your instincts or senses absolute." Kagami's voice added from the other side of Kiba. "You must understand we have been evading Inuzuka tracking for longer than you have been born."

"But… I…" Kiba asked in vain as his words wouldn't form, Jiraiya ruffling the hair of the boy, pushing the hood aside.

"Don't worry, you'll get plenty of training on the way to help deal with that little flaw." Jiraiya assured.

"And that goes for the rest of you as well." Kagami continued. "We plan to discuss with you the ways you wish to improve, as well as give you the means to do just that. With any luck, you'll be much stronger come your return."

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go get Tsunade!" Naruto exclaimed as he pumped his fist in the air excited.

"Now that is the spirit!" Kagami replied elegantly as he began walking forward, the rest of the group soon joining in pace as Jiraiya brought up the rear, beginning their trek to who knows where to find the most elusive woman they could think of.

O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~O

"ETA to the location?" Yuugao asked from the rear of the group.

"We're almost there." Hana replied, her ninken having just returned to her side. "We have a confirmed location."

"You don't gotta be so formal Yuugao, It's just a recon mission." Anko added as she moved beside Natsu, the group forming a diamond with the three brothers adding an additional layer of defense in front of them.

"You must understand Anko, Yuugao has been trained as an anbu. Her standards are much higher, and her conduct reflects that." Natsu said in an attempt to explain the reasoning to the woman, failing to notice the fact that it was quite obvious to the woman.

"Really? I wouldn't have guessed." Anko replied sarcastically as the group began to descend from the trees, touching down outside of what appeared to be a ruin from a past age.

The ruin was small, likely a watchtower that existed during the warring states period. The brick work was pristine despite the natural erosion that had taken place, the forest seemingly enveloping it, returning it more to a natural state as vines and weeds overtook the architecture. "We're here." Hana surmised as she turned to the group. "Alright, Natsu, use your Byakugan to secure the area and search for the entrance." She began, causing Natsu to activate her Byakugan as Hana continue, giving a sharp whistle that signaled her dogs to search the nearby area outside the ruin.

"Yuugao, until we find the entrance I need you on high alert. Don't let anyone out of sight. Stay by Natsu to protect her, and if any of us leave your sight, find us."

"Roger." Yuugao said, no longer wearing her anbu mask as her eyes began to dart around, looking for anything peculiar that Natsu may not pick up, seeing as she spent most her time in the hospital.

"Anko, you're with me in the ruin." Hana concluded as she turned towards the building, motioning for Anko to follow with a beckoning hand.

"You got it!" Anko replied with a smile as she tucked her hands behind her head, casually making her way to the building behind the squad leader, clearly not taking the mission seriously.

Entering the building there was not much to see. The roof, and upper level had massive holes in them, the entire length of the tower lying next to the base as it likely fell over the many years it stood. Inside there was cracked stone, moldy crates, and grass that came from the creases between stones.

"So why'd you pick me to search?" Anko questioned.

*Sniff Sniff* "Well with your knowledge of Orochimaru's tactics, combined with my senses…" Hana started as she moved towards a corner of the building. "I figured we would be the best team to search the most obvious spot."

"Most obvious huh?" Anko questioned as she watched Hana pull back a rug, revealing nothing but more stone beneath with a few mushrooms that had sprouted through. "The thing is, Orochimaru wouldn't go the obvious route. I doubt the entrance will be in this tiny thing." She explained as she moved over to the crates that had obviously been looted a long time ago.

"That so?" Hana asked as she joined Anko with her eyes closed, sniffing wildly as she grabbed one of the boxes. "Give me a hand?"

Shrugging, Anko grabbed the other end, sliding the massive crate aside, revealing more stone, but this area peculiarly not containing any grass, weeds, or moss in the cracks. "Ominous." She said with a smile. "I may have a way to get in, but…" Anko's smile waivered. "Hey, could you go grab the others? I'll have this open in no time. Orochimaru always had plenty of ways for his subordinates to get it, I'll just run down the list." Anko explained, returning her smile, this one forced.

"Right, I'll be right back. DO NOT enter the base until we're all here." Hana said as if she were speaking to a child.

"Yes mom." Anko replied playfully, resulting in a smirk from the Inuzuka before she exited the building.

As soon as Hana had left Anko's smile faded as she instinctually grabbed her neck, nervously turning towards the clean brick. "Damnit! I promised myself I wouldn't use it…" Anko thought as she knelt down, pressing her hand to the stone, causing it to emit a faint purple glow that filled the room with menace. "I guess I shouldn't be surprised though… it was only a matter of time before I had to use it against him." Anko thought disappointed as the stones faded slowly, leaving only a dark and decrepit staircase, random objects scattered around as if it had been torn apart by its previous occupants.

As Anko stood again she tensed, holding in a wince as she reflexively gripped her neck again, quickly retracting it as the group came back in. "That didn't take long at all! I knew you were the perfect pick!" Hana exclaimed with a feral smile that was akin to that of her hounds standing beside her.

"What can I say? I got a way with doors." Anko smirked, looking towards Natsu. Anko's body stiffened as she saw a look of pity on the woman's face. "Shit… Byakugan." She thought as Yuugao, Hana and the ninken began making their way down, followed by a reluctant Natsu, not taking her eyes off Anko.

O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~O

"Alright, Let's stop here a moment." Jiraiya expressed as the group slowly began to settle in a small clearing in the forest. Naruto looked around and saw that the group were sore, but not tired exactly as they began passing around rations.

"Hey, Jiraiya sensei." Naruto asked as he moved towards the man currently unwrapping a granola bar.

"Yes?" Jiraiya asked suspiciously, hi granola bar inches from his face.

"We've been walking for almost a day now, when does the training begin?" Naruto questioned as he pulled out a similar granola bar from his pocket, taking a large bite out of it.

Jiraiya pondered for a moment, soon beginning to smile. "Tell ya what, I'll start your training a bit early since you can practice it on the go, although it would definitely be more difficult that way." Jiraiya explained as he walked over into a more secluded area of the forest with Naruto not too far behind.

"Where are you two going?" Ino questioned.

"To start my training!" Naruto said exited to Kiba's chagrin.

"What! How come you're starting early!" Kiba questioned, the jerky he was eating still hanging from his mouth.

"Patience young Inuzuka. Your training, as well as the others, will begin once we stop for the night." Kagami urged as he lit a small fire, putting a kettle stand above it.

"But they haven't even discussed what they hoped to learn? How could he know what would be best for Naruto?" Tenten questioned as she pulled an onigiri closer to her mouth before biting into it.

"It was Jiraiya who trained him for the chunin exams." Ino explained to the pair. "This is basically like starting where they left off."

"Precisely." Kagami said with a nod, shooing Naruto off to continue following Jiraiya.

After a brief walk in the forest, Jiraiya stopped at a tree before he began to speak. "Alright. This is one of the final Jutsu that your father wanted me to teach you." Jiraiya explained as he held out an open palm.

Naruto, without hesitation, activated his sharingan to observe the technique. He noticed Jiraiya flinch for a moment. "Something wrong?"

"I didn't realize you earned your third tomoe." Jiraiya explained as he shook his head. "Never mind that, watch closely." Jiraiya said as Naruto watched him begin gathering chakra in his hand. Naruto looked on in awe as the chakra in Jiraiya' hand began to expand outward, the spiral pattern seemingly holding it all together as it reached the size of his palm, vigorously spinning in place.

"Alright, what does it do?" Naruto asked as he dropped his sharingan.

"Let me show you." Jiraiya expressed joyfully as he pressed it against a tree, causing it to essentially burst into debris as the jutsu dissipated, and the tree fell between the two.

"Oh I am sooo learning this one." Naruto exclaimed as he held out his hand, gathering a similar amount of chakra to his palm that Jiraiya had, trying to push out the swirling chakra as he only managed a cluster of chakra to form in his hand, not nearly as elegant and powerful as he would have liked.

"Now slow down, that's not the way to learn this technique." Jiraiya explained as Naruto cut off the flow of chakra. "There are a few steps you need to go through if you're gonna master this thing." Jiraiya warned as he pulled out what looked to be a balloon, handing it gently to his student.

"How is this supposed to help?" Naruto asked as he jiggled the balloon around, this one full of water.

"You may have been able to copy the rotation of the chakra, but you have no idea how to mold or apply the chakra properly to create the ball." Jiraiya began. "You'll be able to use the churning water to mark your progress. We'll move on to step two when you can burst that balloon with the rotation necessary.

Naruto almost immediately tried to churn the water in the balloon, only managing to make it wobble slightly.

"Look at that!" Jiraiya started sarcastically. "It took me a few days before I could move it. Wow that sharingan is amazing!"

"Let's just get back to the others." Naruto said with an annoyed yet embarrassed face as he held the balloon outstretched, walking back for some tea, staring intently at the slightly jiggling ball.

O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~O

Satsuki walked to the Hyuuga compound as she was about to continue her lessons with Hiashi. Coming up to the estate she was greeted by a smiling guard. "Good morning Tai." Satsuki said with a smile.

"Good morning Lady Uchiha." He said with a similar smile as he opened the door to the compound, allowing her to enter and make her way towards the main house.

As she walked, she looked around, spotting many branch members living their lives, however in a much more traditional sense. It looked and felt like the compound came out of the warring states period. On her walk she soon spotted a familiar face that she was requested to find by a certain client that had recently left on mission. "Neji Hyuuga yes?" she asked as the boy approached her.

"I am indeed Lady Uchiha." He replied with a bow, his more bandaged aesthetic replaced by a more traditional loose fitting one, the sleeves wide enough to probably fit his head inside as he put his hands together, allowing it to drape down and cover them. "Is there something you need?"

"Yes." She explained as she held out a letter that he soon grabbed. "You were specifically chosen for this mission because of your prowess with the Byakugan."

"It seems rather odd to be using such a gift to aid in construction, are you certain that he requested my assistance? I only just recently discharged from the hospital."

"He was rather insistent that it was you since he didn't want to bother Hinata's training, and he really didn't know any of the other Hyuuga's. Besides, he's paying double." She said trying to incentivize the 'mission'.

"I will accept, however I will have to clear this with the clan head." Neji said with a light bow.

"I was heading there anyways so I suppose we could walk together." Satsuki said with a shrug.

"Very well." Neji said as he turned, leading the two of them to the main house.

There were a few moments of a very awkward silence, so Satsuki decided to try and strike up conversation. "So how are your injuries? I heard you had to stay longer than the others."

"Well, following the injuries I received from the Inuzuka, I was much weaker than the others at the time. My body took longer to recover because of that." Neji said simply as they continued their walk, leaving a brief pause of nothing.

"So those scars, they weren't able to heal them?"

"They could have, however I requested for them to leave them."

Satsuki was mildly surprised as she continued. "But now they likely wont be able to be healed, why ask them to leave them?"

This got Neji talking for a bit. "I choose to keep them as a reminder." Sensing further questions, he decided to elaborate. "They are a reminder, a reminder that our destiny is for us to decide, not an arbitrary system or deity. It was that Inuzuka that taught me that. In honor of that I decided to brand myself in that honor. I deeply respect the boy, despite his distasteful conduct." He concluded as the two reached the door, Neji opening it and holding it for Satsuki.

Entering Satsuki heard the door close behind her as the two made their way towards the training grounds where they saw Hinata hit the ground, rubbing her head as she sat up. "Your form is improving, and your improvised fighting technique is adequate, however you still have much to learn." Hiashi explained as he aided his daughter up.

"Lord Hiashi, I bring Lady Uchiha for her lessons." Neji bowed as Hiashi turned to face the pair with Hinata.

"Hinata, spar with Hanabi until I return." Hiashi stated firmly.

"Yes father." Hinata bowed, without stuttering, something that Satsuki noted to ask her about later.

"I also have a mission request that I would like to pass by you." Neji explained as he handed the incoming clan head the letter.

"Quite the lack luster request for someone of your talent. However given the client I don't misunderstand your interest." Hiashi pondered as he handed Neji back the letter. "Very well, until your teammate returns or your mission complete, you have my permission to undertake this task." Hiashi granted as Neji bowed and respectfully and left. "Now please lady Uchiha, follow me." Hiashi beckoned her to follow him into the training area where Hanabi and Hinata were lightly sparring.

"Lord Hyuuga, you can simply call me Satsuki if you wish." Satsuki requested as the two took a seat watching the contest.

"On the contrary, I believe that using your title to be very important given your position, whether it be officially bestowed or not." Hiashi explained. "Do you see my daughters out there?"

"Yes?" Satsuki asked confused.

"What do you see?" Hiashi asked simply.

Satsuki took a moment to observe, seeing the while Hanabi had a seemingly perfect technique, Hinata's was less so, although more unorthodox and more trance like focused due to her training with Kurenai. "I see a rather even bout, why?"

"I see my two daughters in the midst of competition, not much unlike how you and Sasuke are now." Hiashi elaborated, "although, the stakes are fairly higher for the two of them."

"In what way?" Satsuki questioned.

"You see, one of the ancient customs of the Hyuuga are that only the firstborn heir is to be capable of inheriting the role of clan head. The elders had noticed that despite this law, Hanabi showed more potential than Hinata when she became of age to receive the caged bird seal."

The mention of the seal made Satsuki deflate as she thought the practice was barbaric, a sentiment Hiashi saw. "So your saying that should the elders decide she is more capable…"

"Then Hinata would receive the seal." Hiashi finished. "I personally believe this competition is a blessing however."

Satsuki turned in shock as she questioned the head. "How is this beneficial?!" trying to keep her voice down despite her concern.

"As you can see." Hiashi gestured. "Neither of them has the seal. This contest has given me the time I needed to wear down the elders, but it gave Hinata the chance to improve her abilities, making it a much closer decision. As such, now they will be forced to wait until I retire from my position to brand either of them."

Satsuki was in awe as she listened to her sensei. "B-But wouldn't one need to get it anyways? Even if it were when they were much older?"

"Indeed, however there are loopholes. That is to say if I couldn't eventually end up abolishing the practice in its entirety." Hiashi commented slyly to Satsuki's surprise. "You see, it was my wife's dying request that I find a way to abolish it for our daughter's sake. And I intend to at the very least keep them from it."

"B-But in the meetings the other heads always throw the seal in your face! Why do you never explain this to them?"

"Because I cannot trust the likes of Danzo and his ilk." Hiashi explained simply. "He would use it against me to strip me of my title via the Hyuuga elders that he has almost in his pocket with a few exceptions. As such I am forced to rely on loopholes. For example, should Lady Hinata be wed before the next head is decided…"

"She wouldn't be eligible for the seal!" Satsuki finished.

"Precisely." Hiashi said as he turned to his pupil. "You must always keep your intentions hidden from those you cannot trust, even if politically behind the scenes your goals are much more noble than you let on." Hiashi continued. "I took you on because I believe that you would be a better fit than your kinsman. But that does not mean that you should not try and salvage safety or perspective of those you leave behind. Namely Sasuke and Naruto."

Satsuki thought deeply on the head's words before her next response. "I think I understand."

"Very good, then let the real lessons for today begin." Hiashi said as he stood, leading her to their normal workspace. "The workload is going to be much more intense from now one, be prepared."

"Of course!" Satsuki expressed now fired up, ready to take on her potential responsibility.

O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~O

The team bound for Tsunade kept their pace for the second half of the day. Kiba had been taking glances at Naruto, who seemed to be holding a water balloon, no doubt a part of the training that Jiraiya had given him around lunch. "I wonder what he's trying to do…" he thought. "I wonder what I'M going to do." He thought further, noticing that he hadn't really thought about it until then.

"Alright, let's stop here and camp for the night." Kagami said from ahead as he rested his backpack on a nearby tree, searching through it for his camping supplies.

Kiba, along with the others, similarly began setting up camp. Normally this would take a long time, in fact for most people stopping so close to sundown was foolish. However even the most mundane shinobi techniques were used by nearly all shinobi. "Release." Kiba expressed as a fully set up tent was summoned within the deeper forest that was off the main road about a quarter mile out.

"Alright, I'm going to survey the area, you kids get relaxed and Kagami will be going over the details of your training regimens." Jiraiya explained as he poofed into smoke, leaving the four young shinobi in the hands of the Uchiha elder.

"Alright then, I guess everyone gather around." Kagami stated as he pulled out his famous tea kettle and began going through the setup once more, allowing the team to gather around and getting comfortable. Kiba grabbed his knapsack, deciding to lean it up against a tree, using it as a cushion as he put his hands behind his head in wait.

"So Naruto, care to explain to us what you're learning?" Ino questioned as she got comfortable next to the boy, still holding the balloon in his palm while staring at it intently.

"It's called… actually he never told me." Naruto began. "It's kinda like a powerful chakra sphere that can be really decimating to those I hit with it."

"And playing with a water balloon is supposed to help how exactly?" Tenten asked skeptically, inspecting one of her kunai as she polished it off.

"He's not playing with it." Kagami interrupted, his tea set prepared. "He is attempting to control the flow within with only his chakra, in a sense replicating the control required to perform the technique." Kagami explained as he began passing out cups, Kiba grabbing it with his eyes closed seeing as he felt even the most minor changes within the air around him. "It is called the Rasengan."

"Alright, then." Kiba started as he sat up. "Then what's the plan for us?" he asked, pointing at himself with his thumb.

"Right, I suppose we should begin. Might I ask, what are you proficient in, and what would you consider your weaknesses." Kagami asked, shifting his attention first to Ino.

"Oh." Ino said after a moment of not realizing he was talking to her. "Well I'm pretty good at Kenjutsu, my ninjutsu isn't amazing but it's average. I'm not particularly strong but I'm pretty agile, especially when using wind enhancements. I'm rather lacking in my family techniques, or at least the orthodox ones." Kiba watched Naruto shift at the statement, pondering the last words.

"Let's not forget that display of genjutsu you showed at the exams." Kiba brought up to gauge her reaction.

Ino threw around a few statements in her head before settling on. "Yes and No, but I want to keep that more ambiguous until I'm sure its complete."

"Is there anything else you would like to add aside from that? We could discuss that privately later on." Kagami asked trying to get back to the interview.

"Average projectiles, Taijutsu, minimal Fujinjutsu and medical Ninjutsu… nothing much more of note." Ino finished.

"And what of you?" Kagami shifted to Tenten.

"Well…" Tenten looked nervous. "I'd say I'm the most qualified projectile user outside of the Uchiha, I have at least basic skills in most forms of weapons with my best being the bo staff, I have above average sealing techniques, my athletics and agility are way above average on account of… special training." Tenten shuddered at the thought of Gai sensei's warmups. "My ninjutsu isn't the greatest, I'm abysmal in Taijutsu, and fighting with smaller weapons is shockingly not an option in close quarters." Tenten finished, watching Kagami nod with a neutral expression on his face before he shifted to Kiba.

"Right, my go." Kiba said trying to hold back his enthusiasm. "My senses are much higher than a majority of my clan, Taijutsu is more than just above average, my clan techniques are thoroughly mastered, or at least the ones I have access to." Kiba added under his breath. "In terms of ninjutsu I really only know one that isn't from my clan, but it's pretty powerful. I don't really use any weapons because I really only need my claws." Kiba tapped his chin trying to think of anything more that he was good at. "If I'm not focused my senses take a massive plummet, when I get angry, I get feral in combat… I'm currently missing my partner." He said in disappointment. "And I get really distracted in combat or otherwise when somebody I care for gets injured."

There was a moment of silence. Kiba could feel the stares on him, particularly from Ino as he let that last statement hang before he heard Kagami clear his throat. "I believe I have gotten a decent understanding of what we need to work on this trip." Kagami expressed as Kiba felt a brief moment of pressure before realizing he couldn't actually move his arms. Looking down in a panic her realized he was tied up, and Jiraiya was standing right behind him.

"You, need to work on maintain your senses even in emotionally taxing environments, whether it be anger, despair, joy, or anything that will undoubtably shake your concentration." Jiraiya exclaimed.

"Had you been able to maintain your natural instincts, you would have been able to seen that coming." Kagami explained. "Aside from physical training that we expect all of you to do, we are going to be subjecting you to a variety of intense emotional states where we will also be training your senses to be as easy as breathing, so much so that even when you're enjoying a nice bowl of ramen, you could easily dodge an assassination attempt by Satsuki the sharpshooter herself shooting from well out of sight." Kagami explained as he moved to the others, leaving Kiba to look on with mixed emotions.

"Intense emotional training… so I'm going to be fighting at all times, and their not even going to give me a moment to process them." Kiba let out a smirk. "Perfect."

O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~O

Kin sat alone near the edge of the compound where the path met the tree line. Wanting to be alone she had set up various tripwires around her using her senbon, adding an easy jutsu Naruto had taught her to enhance her detection by having the chakra thread send a small ping to her if it got tripped. She was sat in a common lotus position. Since she had gotten out, she was instructed by her silver haired landlord that leaf nin commonly practiced meditation so that they could be more spiritually connected to the world, thus boosting their chakra levels.

Focusing on the world around her, all she could control was her breathing. Hearing the light chirping of the birds, the wind rustling in the trees, and the rather loud construction in the distance now nothing more than minor noise that didn't really affect her training. "This is… peaceful" she thought as she sat calmly, however after breaking her concentration to think, anxious thoughts forced their way through as she began thinking about Hana and her team, and about the reason she wanted them to check that base first. About—

Kin quickly sprung up from her position, throwing a senbon into woods while also preparing a kunai to defend herself. "Who's out there?" she called out, waiting for a moment as she had felt a warm sensation in the back of her neck, symbolizing the activation of her jutsu. After a few minutes no more of her wires had gone off. "Probably just a squirrel of something." She figured as she went to sit back down, instead finding a rather familiar looking boy standing right in front of her, holding her senbon.

"I'm quite impressed by the amount of wires you set up, unfortunately, I am the one person it would not work on." The boy with rather pale eyes acknowledged, tossing back the weapon that kin quickly caught.

"You're that guy from the chunin exams, right?" Kin asked as she sheathed both of her weapons. "What are you doing here?"

"Yes, my name is Neji Hyuuga." He explained as he held out a letter, offering it to the girl.

"Damn, he had the Byakugan then. Maybe I should only coat a few wires with chakra instead of all of them." Kin thought to herself as she quickly skimmed over the letter. "Oh, so you're hear to help the builder. Alright follow me." Kin motioned as she began leading the boy down the path towards the clearly under construction area, the beginnings of a wall already being started on the far side of the large clearing.

"Why were you out so far from the construction site? Are you not also aiding in this mission?" Neji questioned.

"Well… I was out meditating. I'm not a shinobi of the leaf so I can't accept a mission. Haku just ordered me to continue training until I ended up working my way to it like she did." Kin explained. "And while I'm moving again, I can't really train in anything else until I'm fully recovered from Oro… my injury."

"I see." Neji replied simply as they continued. "If you would like, I'm certain that there are more… serene places I could show you. I do not believe a busy construction site would be seen as sufficiently peaceful."

Kin was confused for a moment. The boy she saw in the prelims was certainly more antagonistic than he was now, but for all she knew it was because of the highly competitive nature of the tournament. Although based on what Kiba told her about there fight perhaps he had been simply humbled. "That would be great. With everyone busy with construction, there's not much else I can do." Kin admitted as they neared the entrance.

"Well I do not intend to be here at all times of the day. Perhaps whenever I am not, I could aid you in some of that training. I could give council and participate in your meditations to keep you focused." Neji offered, once again surprising the girl due to her perception of the boy previously.

"You really don't have to." Kin insisted as she waved over an older man with a straw hat, the lead builder. "I'm sure you have more pressing matters to take care of."

"On the contrary, I meditate at the same time every day. Meet me at the mouth of the forest at 8 a.m. tomorrow, I will show you to my personal meditation location." Neji offered in a tone of finality, the man coming over to shake his hand.

"You must be the boy that has that byaku-thingy, we could really use the sight coverage! The names Tazuna!"

"Neji, it is good to meet you." Neji said formally as he bowed, breaking the handshake.

Kin thought to herself, whether she should accept the offer. "I don't see why not. The mist nin are gonna be busy with this for the foreseeable future, and I don't really know anyone outside of the genin I've met…" Kin took a deep breath. "Sure, but are you sure that—"

"I am certain." Neji smiled and bowed, making his way into the compound, leaving Kin to her own devices.

"Well I'm not going to be able to focus after such an interruption… maybe I should just aid with some lightweight tasks for today, get back at it tomorrow." Kin figured as she walked into the main compound.

O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~O

"You have much you can improve on from what I understand." Kagami expressed as he looked down at the girl with brown buns as her hair. "Low chakra reserves, no idea as to your natures, and poor close combat abilities."

"Gee, thanks." Tenten mumbled as she didn't take to kindly to the assessment.

"I understand how that must sound; however it is important that it is said." Kagami expressed in a tone that suggested he did not enjoy putting down the kunoichi. "However you are the most malleable of the others, so as a result, we will be working with you in all of those areas and more."

"And more?" Tenten questioned.

"Well you said that your endurance was rather high, I say we put that to the test." Kagami expressed with a smirk as Tenten gulped at the insinuation.

"During this trip I will have you working with all of the rest of us." Kagami began explaining. "You will practice Taijutsu and various weapon fighting with Naruto and his shadow clones. You will practice your stealth and assassination by constantly attacking Kiba, who will undoubtably improve the more you attack. You will work with Jiraiya to increase your spirituality and improve your chakra reserves. And finally, I will be aiding you when it comes to your Ninjutsu arsenal."

"Uhh… that's all well and good. But where exactly are we going to find the time for this? Aren't we trying to find lady Tsunade?" Tenten questioned.

"Why my dear that's quite simple. We use half of the day to travel, and half of the day to train what we can't while we travel." Kagami answered cryptically.

"So basically, no R&R for me." Tenten mumbled.

"Not quite, I will not allow you to train yourself to death." Kagami said with an elderly laugh. "I don't expect you to improve overnight, so you will only work with two people a day, that way while you'll be growing steadily, you won't be overexerting yourself."

"But then I'll still be practically useless compared to the others!" Tenten snapped, immediately feeling bad as Kagami recoiled in minor shock.

Kagami knelt down to Tenten's level as he began to speak "I council patience Tenten." Kagami expressed with a soothing voice that seemed to affect her, her tension melting away as she listened intently. "You have yet to really specialize into any true role due to your skillset. Sure you are clearly a long-range fighter, however without any ninjutsu or defensive fallbacks to rely on, you are vulnerable. If we do not enhance your abilities, diversify your skillset to the extent that you have plenty of options, you will stay locked in obscurity while your friends and comrades advance even farther." He stopped for a moment, placing a hand on her head. "You cannot expect to be a close combat specialist like the others around you if you cannot use taijutsu for instance."

"So what your saying is I'm not going to be branching out from what I know, but rather catching up?" Tenten asked, Kagami giving a reaffirming nod.

"Once you have gotten to a point that you can complement your weapons with the shinobi skills you acquire from this journey, you will be able to branch out in almost any direction you see fit. "Medical, assassination, close combat, support, although I believe you already fill that role with your hail of projectiles." Kagami chuckled as he stood once more. "So are you going to let those around you leave you in the dust, or are you ready to catch up?"

Tenten looked at the wise and calm man, thinking hard on what he had said. "I guess this is good a time as ever." She said with a smile. "I'll be sure that when we get back, I'll ask Gai sensei to teach me his style of Taijutsu, I've honestly not been paying much attention because of how much he focused on Lee."

"I think I might have a better idea…" Kagami said as he gripped his chin in thought. "Tell me, have you ever heard of the interceptor fist?"

O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~O

Ino ended her jutsu as Jiraiya walked towards her. "That was what I used in the chunin exams." Ino explained as she picked up the kunai that sat below her, looking up to see that Jiraiya already collected the other four while she picked up the one.

"That is a very interesting jutsu. Not a genjutsu, but very easily mistaken for one." Jiraiya expressed exited. "What was the problem with it?"

"Well…" Ino started as she looked towards Naruto, who had nearly twenty clones all trying to control the water balloon, and another group of five sent to go attack Kiba on his bathroom break. "I know for a fact it won't work on him, not while he has the Kyuubi."

"That is very true, but that only accounts for nine people you can't use it on. Although I also see how the setup can be rather poor. Why do you need those kunai anyways?"

"If I don't set up the markers, then I won't be able to maintain the field. Sure if one got removed it's not tied to the jutsu, besides it had already been set up by then. I use them to mark where I put my area, that way I can corral my opponent back into."

"I think what you need is to practice setting the field without the kunai then." Jiraiya said rather matter of factly which really irritated the Yamanaka, almost suggesting she hadn't tried that.

"Well if you hadn't realized, the 'field' really only matters because I haven't actually mastered the phantom clones just yet. Once I do it would be basically obsolete aside from making some admittedly pretty cool illusions. The field simply enhances the clone's abilities, giving it a conduit that with practice will be more of a boost to the technique then a crutch." Ino explained as she officially dropped the name of the technique.

"Phantom clone huh? Well then if that's the case, I think its time you finally sat down and worked on your family techniques. You won't tell me what those clones will be capable of, nor will you explain how the field and the clones are linked, so I think the only thing you can do is discover the answers in your families' archives."

Ino recognized this in her response. "Yeah…" she started as she began getting exited. "I didn't really have time to focus on them since training with Naruto and then Asuma sensei and Anko sensei! No I actually have time to dig deeper into how our clan techniques work!" She expressed; her second wind officially hit. "I'm going to go grab my scrolls!"

"Good, I want you studying them for the bulk of our trip. Do not hesitate to help your comrades or ask for aid. Now, I'm off to find Kagami and Tenten, I'm sure that by now it's time for us to switch for the day." Jiraiya stated with a grin as he disappeared into smoke.

Ino turned to run towards Naruto who had been sat next to all of the bags. "Naruto! We made a breakthrough!" she expressed excitedly as she stopped by him, breaking him of his concentration.

"That's great! I can't wait to fight against it!" Naruto matched Ino's excitement as one of his clones popped, giving the rest information on a new technique to controlling the water.

"Yeah… ummm." Ino started, causing the excitement to fade in Naruto. "I don't now if it will work on you. Not to its fullest extent at least." Ino said disappointed.

"So? No harm in trying right?" Naruto asked confused, not sure as to why she seemed so distraught.

"Well I suppose not but based on how it works I don't know if I could get around the Kyuubi's abilities." Ino explained further. "But I'm going to see if theirs anything in my family scrolls that could enhance it properly, or even gave me a way to circumvent your immunity to genjutsu and most other similar jutsu forms. Even though I know that entering his mindscape is near suicide." Ino thought before he spoke again.

"That's the spirit!" he exclaimed before he suddenly held a very devious smile.

"NARUTOOOOO!" a cry came from the forest as Naruto popped the rest of his clones.

"Well it seems Kiba didn't take to kindly to your attack." Ino giggled as she looked off at a commotion going on in the distance. "Although you were right. That is the most vulnerable state to be in."

"Yeah, I only have two left, I better get moving before he finds me!" Naruto agreed as he too vanished in a silver flash, teleporting away towards a kunai he had given to his grandfather prior just in time for Kiba to burst out of the forest, a clone with his claws wrapped around his throat.

"He already teleported away!" Ino called over, causing the boy to growl in anger as he applied pressure to the clone, causing it to poof away. "Now, lets see what you hold" Ino thought as she pulled out the proper scrolls, beginning her training for the rest of the trip.

O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~O

As Hana made her way through the abandoned building, she couldn't say she was surprised as she stepped over bodies and leftovers alike. "I guess some people had some personal grudges with one another." She pointed out as she walked past two corpses, each stabbing the other in the neck with a kunai.

"Yeah, if they didn't kill one another, they probably would have been able to get a lot more of this stuff out." Anko agreed checking the pockets of one of the dead, finding a map with directions to one of the other bases they already knew the location of.

"It appears that our information was correct." Yuugao commented as she opened a door, finding a room with a shinobi that had seemingly died in their sleep, an empty vile clutched in their hand.

"These people were clearly fearful of Orochimaru. I could not believe so many would end their lives simply for failing." Natsu stated with a shiver, her Byakugan seeing much more then the rest of her team. "Two doors down there seems to be a survivor, not moving, but just barely breathing."

"I'll check it out." Hana insisted as she opened the door, finding the young woman lying face up, her eyes holding a blank expression. "I think she's a nurse."

"What makes you say that?" Anko questioned.

Hana simply opened the closet, showing some clothes, a set of scrubs, and a fairly ragged nurses outfit stained with blood. "I mean its that or a scientist."

"S-survivors…" the woman croaked out.

"No, were a recon team. What's the situation?" Yuugao explained, posing as a sound nin, certain the delirious woman would not tell the difference.

"Survivors… medical lab… must kill them for lord Orochimaru…" the nurse continued, clearly not thinking straight.

"Medical lab? Survivors? Why would O… Lord Orochimaru want to kill them?" Natsu questioned, shuddering at calling the snake 'lord' even to fool the dying woman.

"Punishment…"

"Punishment for what?" Hana inquired in a serious tone. "What did they do?"

"Nothing… not their fault but… if he were not their… if she had not opposed…" she began rambling, no longer speaking as she studied Hana with what little energy she had. "I… I know those markings. You are no sound nin." She stated simply as she weakly threw her hand out as a punch, it easily being caught by the Inuzuka.

"Anko, Yuugao, search what bodies you can for information on the sound. Natsu, I need you to tell me if you find any rooms that aren't simply lodging housing corpses. The medical lab, offices, anything that could contain remnants of information. Me and the triplets will sniff ahead for any signs of trouble you can't see." Hana ordered as she drew a kunai.

"W-What are you doing?" Natsu questioned behind her.

"Ending her suffering. She's delirious and likely hasn't eaten or drank anything for the past few days. She will die regardless." Hana explained.

"Allow me." Yuugao stepped forward. "I am trained to bring death swiftly and painlessly."

Hana shook her head as she sat the woman's hand down laying limp on the floor, absent of a pulse. "I don't think that will be necessary." She said as she put her kunai back. "Come on, we have more searching to do.

O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~O

Shinko was in her shop polishing a kettle behind her counter. The shop was dead, only an older woman that stopped by every day sat down.

"There we go." She smiled as she moved to place the kettle back on the shelf. As she moved towards it, she heard the bell on her door ring, signifying a customer had arrived. She turned briefly to see two cloaked figures wearing hats to hide their faces pick out a table. "I suppose a shinobi will be a shinobi." She thought as an odd aura of familiarity filled the room. "I'll be with you in a moment!" she called out as she grabbed her notepad.

Moving towards the pair, her familiar feeling skyrocketed, however a feeling of anxiety also filled her as she reached their table. "What can I get for you? The current special brew is Arandal." Shinko said as she went through the motions.

"I figured our usual would be on special today." A mans voice replied. Shinko immediately froze as she had recognized the voice, but clearly it couldn't be…

"Alright, we'll get the usual then." A similarly familiar female voice added.

Shinko was frozen solid as her pen hand was the only thing able to move, trembling as the two faced her. "I…I…"

"Are you alright?" the man asked concerned.

"I'll get that… for you…" she said, not remembering her own script as she stiffly walked back to the kitchen and brewed a fresh kettle "This can't be real, it isn't real. It has to be a dream…" she thought bringing out two cups and the freshly cleaned kettle, setting it down before them.

"Thank you Shinko, It's been far to long. Please sit, enjoy a cup with us." The man expressed calmly.

"S-Sure." Shinko agreed as she pulled up a chair and cup, holding it out allowing the man to pour the kettle for her.

"You seem rather tense Shinko, you're usually not like this." The woman proclaimed as she took a long sip.

"I apologize, I just didn't expect to ever see you two again." Shinko explained as she two took a sip before returning her gaze to her former best customers. "What brings you two here?" she asked, a clear tone of fear in her voice.

"Do not be frightened, we have no ill will against you." Izumi explained as she put on a smile for the shop owner.

"We merely wanted to have a cup of tea with a friend before we returned to our business here in the leaf." Itachi reassured with a friendly smile as he too took a long sip of tea, leaving Shinko in a very vulnerable situation.

O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~O

Authors Notes: Gotta love cliffhangers! So yeah, next chapter will be covering Itachi, and now Izumi's battle with the leaf Jonin, as well as Team Naruto's arrival to the hotel. For those curious, I decided to have Naruto make improvements to the compound while he was gone seeing now, he has his family inheritance as well as a home that isn't properly protected by the leaf. Basically it will just be more walls around the area, some of the open space being turned into a few buildings, and a proper pathway being constructed to the village. With Team Naruto I decided to spend this chapter detailing what the various students would be working on in the background of the story, only really touching on it on occasion going forward. I revealed a little bit more of the inner workings of Ino's new jutsu so I'm curious as to what you guys think it is! Next chapter will have plenty of combat, so I hope you guys have had enough of a break! Once Team Hana's mission wraps up, I'm going to put nearly all my focus on team Naruto, perhaps moving focus to various people in Konoha once or twice a chapter rather than having them share it equally. This way I can still plant interactions between the side characters, while also not slowing down the story to much. I hope to see you in the next chapter [The Shadows of the Leaf Return]