Kakashi stared down at their captured prisoner from Oto, the red haired girl glared back from beneath the chains and chakra suppressing fuin.
The Hokage had expected the team to be attacked, it's why he'd put so many of them together, he hadn't expected Sakura to be put in critical condition and need Tsunade to perform surgery. The pink haired girl had been hit even worse than Hinata had been and was still recovering.
On top of that, Sasuke and Naruto had apparently evolved the Sharingan in response to seeing their teammate fall. Kakashi knew exactly why such a thing had happened and his former teammates were on his mind, but he'd get more details from Sasuke later.
"Well, Tayuya-chan wasn't it?" Kakashi asked, the red head didn't respond, "Are you going to be a good prisoner for us?" he tried.
"Go fuck yourself." Tayuya responded angrily.
"Alright, I'll be leaving you in the loving care of Ibiki-san." Kakashi told her, leaving the girl to the head of Torture and Interrogation.
Sasuke and Naruto waited in the hospital while Sakura was in surgery with Tsunade, both boys had identical looks of melancholy. The Uchiha sat slouched in his chair staring at the wall with his hands steeped in front of himself while the blonde sat leaning against Haku, who was trying to comfort the boy with his presence but wasn't entirely sure how. The older teen settled for just being there for the younger to lean on with his arms wrapped around his shoulders.
Kin looked oddly ashamed as if it was her fault it had happened, she hadn't really done anything but her lack of help in the fight was only contributing to her guilt. The former Oto nin had frozen in the presence of the Otogakure no Shinobi Yonin Shu, she hadn't even thrown one senbon.
Kakashi approached them, having ordered Anbu to clear the floor. The man considered having Kin sent away for this discussion but decided it wouldn't matter much, Haku was the only one who looked up at his arrival and he didn't really blame them.
The Godaime Hokage cleared his throat, "I know what happened from Yamato-san, Sasuke-kun do you know what happened with your Sharingan?" he decided to keep his question vague, curious as to how much the boy knew.
"Mangekyo Sharingan." Sasuke answered flatly, "Itachi lied to me." he added, quiet but audible to his sensei, who became concerned at the idea Itachi had told Sasuke how to awaken the eyes even if he had lied.
"What do you mean?" Kakashi asked, worried about what exactly the young Uchiha had been told and what he actually knew about the fully awakened dojutsu.
"I was informed that in order to awaken this eye," Sasuke began with a scowl, "I would need to kill my best friend." he explained and Haku tensed, "It would seem just witnessing the apparent death of someone I care for is enough." he guessed.
Naruto frowned, confused, "How did I see it?" he asked, "I sent a bunshin to help you guys, when it popped I saw, in detail, Sakura-chan get hit by that arrow." he explained his question and confusion.
Kakashi was surprised Naruto only just realized this, having assumed the blonde was using the ninjutsu for training, "When kage bunshin are dispelled you gain all their memories." he answered his shorter student first, "Sasuke-kun, how much do you know about the eye you two awakened?" he asked, the Hokage would silently admit to himself that it was good the two hadn't actually had to lose their teammate for this power, but it didn't seem like they were taking her injury well anyway.
Sasuke closed his eye, "They are heavenly eyes that see the truth of all of creation without obstruction," he began, sounding like he was quoting something which concerned the Godaime greatly, "they have greater clarity than the regular Sharingan and have strange powers, at the cost of even greater chakra demands." the Uchiha explained, uncaring that Haku and Kin were listening as well, "If it weren't for the chakra no bakemono Naruto would likely be suffering from chakra exhaustion even with his naturally high reserves. It would seem both of my eyes are capable of Amaterasu, the black flame that is said to be the flames of hell which can burn even other flames."
Kakashi was glad he'd sent word to Jiraiya about the flames in the nearby forest, it would probably take a Fuinjutsu master to contain them, "I see," he said neutrally, wondering just how much the Mangekyo he never used differed from that of his students who seemed to share a power, "I'm giving you both time off while Sakura-chan recovers, I'd advise against spending it here." he told them.
"Yeah," Tsunade's voice got their attention, both boys heads snapping towards her, "your teammate will be fine, but she's not ready for visitors." she continued, "She's got one kidney left but I was able to repair the damage to her other organs, I've got her on heavy painkillers and an IV drip and I'm not waking her up until the painkillers are no longer needed." the blonde woman explained, motioning to shoo the young ninja from her hospital.
Sasuke and Naruto glanced at each other but left without complaint, although some tension had obviously left them at the news Sakura would live. Haku and Kin followed them, the older dark haired teen clearly worried for the young blond and the girl looking down to avoid meeting anyone's gaze.
Outside of the hospital the Uchiha stopped, "Naruto, could you come with me for a bit?" he asked suddenly, "Alone?" he added quickly. Haku frowned, wondering what the Uchiha wanted with the blonde that couldn't be said in front of him.
"Haku-chan, take Kin-chan home." Naruto said, surprising Haku with the order. The older teen wasn't one to disobey orders and watched as the two boys with Mangekyo Sharingan left for the Uchiha estate, he could tell the blonde didn't actually know what Sasuke wanted.
Naruto followed Sasuke into the Uchiha district and to a shrine, the blonde wasn't sure what his teammate wanted but he wasn't going to argue. He'd half hoped the other boy wanted to train their newly awakened eye. The two descended deeper into the shrine, into an underground bunker.
Sasuke walked up to a tablet and activated his Sharingan, Naruto was confused since the stone tablet just seemed to be gibberish, "This tablet is an Uchiha ancestral artifact," the dark haired boy explained, "only the Sharingan can read it," he began as his dojutsu spun and transformed into the triple overlapping eclipses, "and the Mangekyo Sharingan reveals more secrets."
Naruto wasn't sure why Sasuke was sharing this information with him, he wasn't Uchiha even if Sasuke had given him the eye, but he gathered that the other boy wanted him to look with his dojutsu and lifted his forehead protector. A lot of the writing became apparent to him then.
"As I thought," Sasuke began, "even more of the writing becomes clear with the Mangekyo Sharingan. The tablet details how to use this newly evolved eye to control the biju. This tablet contains not only the secrets of the Uchiha clan, but the story of our ancestor; Rikudo Sennin." the Uchiha explained without even a hint of his usual arrogance or pride.
Naruto was stunned and focused his chakra, activating the Mangekyo Sharingan to see for himself, "Seeking stability, one god was divided into yin and yang, these opposing two acting together obtain all things in creation." the blonde read a passage in confusion, unsure of exactly what that means.
"I think," Sasuke started as he deactivated his dojutsu, "that even my clan may have misinterpreted some things. For even this tablet makes mention of personally killing your loved ones to awaken the Mangekyo, maybe the tablet is too vague or maybe it's wrong, or maybe by giving you my left eye we unlocked another way to awaken it." the Uchiha mused, "Whatever the case, I'm glad I gave you my eye back then, I'd intended on defying Itachi and splitting the Sharingan, using your power as a Jinchuriki combined with my eyes to bring him down without having to kill anyone I cared about." he explained, "From the looks of this, it's a good thing we did awaken it, since the Mangekyo Sharingan is apparently required to control that kitsune of yours."
Naruto frowned when he noticed something, "You're going to go blind." he pointed out, noticing that passage.
Sasuke nodded, "This must be why Itachi kept me alive." he said as Naruto deactivated the Mangekyo and closed his left eye, "He's probably been going blind this whole time, waiting for me to activate this eye. This is probably why he reminded me that I should kill my best friend, he wanted me to get my eye back from you and awaken this power so he could take it for himself and become eternal." the young Uchiha assumed, scowling.
Naruto pulled his forehead protector down, "We'll just have to kick his ass when he comes for these eyes then." the blonde decided simply and Sasuke smirked, nodding in agreement since that was his plan exactly.
Kakashi looked up as Naruto entered his office, wondering what the blonde could want, "I need to borrow Tayuya." he said simply and the Hokage just stared at the young blonde who gave no further explanation unprompted.
"What?" Kakashi asked, not bothering to ask why he just wanted to know what the hell the young chunin was on about.
"I'm going to talk with Kimimaro again, Tayuya used to be his subordinate. I need information from them and I'll do my best to make them talk." Naruto explained, crossing his arms. Kakashi found the look in his eye concerning but signaled for an Anbu to make Ibiki aware that two of their Oto prisoners would be being interrogated by a blonde chunin.
Ibiki probably wasn't going to like it, but Kakashi was curious enough to allow Naruto this concession. After the blonde left another blonde came in looking very concerned.
"Kakashi, we need to talk." Tsunade said once she was certain the younger blonde was out of earshot. Kakashi raised an eyebrow and she took that as permission to continue, "That Tayuya girl is Uzumaki too and I don't think she even knows it." the woman explained and Kakashi's eye widened before he shot to his feet to go after Naruto.
Kimimaro wondered why he was being moved until he was in a cell with a chained up Tayuya, "I really hope you're here because you were discarded as well." he told her with a hard edge to his voice, the red head simply shivered in response.
Naruto entered the room next, "Alright, Kimimaro I told you I'd capture one of your old teammates, the others are dead." the blonde told the white haired prisoner who turned a glare on the shivering red haired prisoner.
"It seems that trash really can't do anything without me around." Kimimaro said, not sure why he was being informed of the failures of his former underlings, or the survival of the foul mouthed girl.
"Hey! Only the fatass got a chance to activate his Juin to it's second phase and he was still incinerate by those freaky flames!" Tayuya tried to defend herself despite her fear.
"Shut up." Kimimaro said bluntly and the girl winced as if expected a physical reprimand.
Naruto scowled, "Both of you shut up." he snapped, surprising the Kaguya, "What the hell does Orochimaru want and where the hell is he?" the blonde asked as his glare shifted between the two prisoners.
"What makes you believe I am privy to his inner thoughts?" Kimimaro asked before Tayuya could anger the blonde further with defiance, "I was discarded, remember?" he pointed out with a raised eyebrow.
"I'm not saying shit." Tayuya added defiantly and the weight of the blonde's ire was on her.
"You'll talk or I'll find some way to use this 'freaky' eye to make you talk." Naruto said with surprising coldness before the door to the cell opened.
Kakashi and Tsunade walked in, the blonde woman realized now why the Hokage had come here so hastily now that she saw the meeting taking place.
"Torture me all you fucking shitheads want!" Tayuya said defiantly, "I'm not betraying Orochimaru-sama!" she declared.
Naruto reached for his forehead protector and frowned when Kakashi's hand on his arm stopped him, "No, Naruto." the Hokage said sternly, "Tsunade-sensei why don't you tell our guests the results of her little blood test." he said.
Tsunade frowned, not sure if it was a good idea, "You're an orphan right?" she asked, deciding to lead up to it but the red head didn't respond, "Like Naruto-kun and Karin-chan," she added and the younger blonde became confused, "but unlike them you were probably never told that one of your parents was Uzumaki." she finished.
Tayuya scoffed, "You expect me to believe that shit?" she asked as Naruto's eye widened and he went pale, the fact he'd been about to torture family making the boy feel sick. Kimimaro was just confused, assuming like Tayuya that this was just some ploy.
Tsunade laughed, "Oh I wish," she said, "the fact you're related to my grandmother sort of pisses me off honestly and I bet Orochimaru knew exactly who you are." the iryonin mused.
Kakashi nodded, "This does seem like the sort of twisted thing that snake would do," he agreed before his eye narrowed, "were you ordered to kill Sakura Haruno, the pink haired girl?" he asked.
Tayuya looked confused, "What? No, I assume that six armed freak just saw and opening and took the shot." she answered before reminding herself not to give away information like that.
"Well he was probably still discarding you, sending you against Sasuke and Naruto like that, those two are insanely powerful for their age and rank." Kakashi mused, crossing his arms and leaning against the wall, a little bothered that Naruto didn't even react to the praise.
Kimimaro frowned, "Why should he discard them? Trash as they are those four had some measure of power and were some of the few to survive the Juin with their minds intact." he spoke honestly to the surprise of his former subordinate, "I was dying, so of course I was discarded." he added to explain his own predicament.
"Orochimaru doesn't care about any of you," Tsunade said simply, "why do you think you're still here? Hell he gave an incomplete formula for a combat drug to one of our other prisoners and if he'd given the full recipe I'd probably be dead." she explained.
Kakashi closed his eye, "That man doesn't view you as subordinates, but experiments." he added simply.
Naruto was struggling to reign in his anger and rage since the target wasn't in range, "Tsunade-baachan," he began, surprising the two prisoners with his affectionate term for one of the Sannin, "are you serious about Tayuya being family?" he asked with a hard look.
Tsunade frowned, not liking the look in Naruto's blonde eye, it looked like it was lengthening into a slit, "Yes." she said shortly with a nod and the room filled with malevolent killing intent for a moment as the blonde Uzumaki's visible eye turned blood red.
Kakashi and Tsunade both tensed but thankfully Naruto closed his eye and took a deep breath, the killing intent subsiding slowly, "I'm going to kill Orochimaru." the blonde suddenly said before the killing intent disappeared entirely.
Kimimaro was surprised at the intensity and certainty of the blonde, "You are a child, I admit you have impressive power but Orochimaru is far greater than any normal ninja." the white haired teen said, Tsunade and Kakashi both noticed he dropped the honorific and wondered if he even realized.
"Don't tell me you think we're actually family you blonde retard?" Tayuya asked, "Even if we are what the fuck does it matter, we're both orphans of some shitty dead clan." she pointed out, flinching at the glare that was turned on her.
"If you don't behave yourself," Naruto began, "I will find a way to reverse engineer that fucked up seal the Hyuga put on their branch family members and put it on you." he threatened coldly. Tsunade was stunned the boy would even consider that option, "I don't care about shit like normal ninja, I have an eye that can create the flames of hell which is exactly what the damned snake deserves to burn in." the young chunin added with a glare at Kimimaro.
Kakashi frowned under his mask, worried that Naruto might not be the good influence Jiraiya was hoping for, the boy seemed completely consumed by his hate. Kimimaro just raised an eyebrow, "What of those who stand in your way? Those loyal to Orochimaru who would die for him?" the older teen asked.
"I'll brush them aside." Naruto answered with a shrug, "If they kill themselves to follow that snake into death then that's not my concern and if any of them are powerful enough that I can't just brush them aside," he continued as he crossed his arms, "I'll kill them." he finished bluntly.
Tsunade and Kakashi were both concerned, the usually bright blonde had taken the fact Sakura had been injured so badly very badly it seemed, but his sudden dark shift seemed almost unnatural. Tayuya wasn't sure what to make of what he was saying, she'd heard of what the Hyuga did and didn't really like the idea of being a slave forever, it sounded even worse than being killed.
Kimimaro just smirked, "How interesting," he said, "and what of Kin?" he asked, "You really don't seem to care that she likely killed innocents for her former master, is anybody redeemable as long as they don't personally harm those you love?"
Kakashi realized the white haired boy was implying the blonde was being a hypocrite and was surprised when Naruto just nodded in response, "Kin-chan tried to hurt my friends, but she failed and she's sorry for allowing herself to be used as a tool." the Uzumaki boy explained simply, "In the heat of the moment I didn't consider trying to rescue your dead teammates or that they might be tools, but I'm not going to waste tears on them." he said before turning his glare back on Tayuya, "I'll mourn you as family, but I won't waste tears if I have to put you down either." he threatened simply.
Kimimaro nodded, "It would seem you've finally grown up." he said and the two adults in the room pitied the Kaguya's outlook on life, "Tsunade-sensei," he began, surprising the Sannin with the respectful honorific, "how is my recovery?"
Tsunade frowned, "You're pretty much fully recovered as long as you don't make your bones super dense again." she answered truthfully, on edge and worried about why he'd asked that.
"I have felt fine for a few days," Kimimaro agreed, "yet Orochimaru hasn't come for me, so it would seem I am truly discarded." he said sadly, "Still, I have to agree with my former master on a few things, Naruto-sama is truly a lot like him." he decided, surprising everyone with the switch in honorifics, "Although now I disagree on the differences, one is cold and ruthless, a snake, the other is angry and passionate, but compassionate too. I worry and wonder what it would take to make you become him." the boy told Naruto who was standing there with a shocked expression, "Would you like someone to warn you when you are becoming cold, Naruto-sama?" he offered.
Kakashi hadn't expected that, it was technically what Jiraiya had wanted but not in the way he had wanted. The Sennin had wondered if Naruto could get the boy to defect to Konoha but the Hokage could read underneath the underneath, he could tell the Kaguya didn't care one bit about Konoha and that the boy had simply shifted his obsession with selflessness from one man to a younger boy, much like Haku had done.
Tayuya just stared at Kimimaro with her mouth agape, wondering what the hell her captors had done to the fanatically loyal white haired teen to cause this.
Haku and Karin looked up as Naruto returned home, Kin had gone to bed and after explaining the situation to the red haired Uzumaki neither of them had wanted to say anything. Both had simply waited for the blonde to return home with downcast eyes.
So when Naruto walked in with Kimimaro following neither were sure what to think, "Naruto-kun, what is he doing here?" Haku asked, a little worried.
Naruto scratched the back of his head and tried to think of a way to answer as Kimimaro smirked, "Hello again, Haku-senpai," the white haired teen said and Haku's jaw dropped, "starting today I am your subordinate." he explained before bowing to Karin, "You must be Karin Uzumaki, a pleasure to meet you." he greeted.
"You picked up another vassal!?" Karin asked, "This clan is more vassal than family at this point!" the girl groused angrily.
Naruto looked down, "Uh, about that," he began, "we're actually three for three." he said and Haku and Karin took a moment to try and figure out what he was talking about.
Haku's eyes widened as he remembered the red haired girl they captured, "Tayuya?" he asked, not wanting to be right.
Naruto nodded, "According to Tsunade-baachan." he confirmed, not looking too happy with it either.
Karin remembered what Haku told her, "Oh," she said, not sure what else to say so there was an awkward silence, "what's she like?" she asked.
"Tayuya is a foul mouthed and ill tempered kunoichi." Kimimaro answered simply, Naruto thought the fact he hadn't referred to her as trash was progress.
Karin frowned, "I've got to be honest, I don't actually know who you are." she confessed.
Kimimaro bowed to her again, "I am Kimimaro Kaguya, now in service to the Uzumaki clan." he answered politely.
Naruto and Sasuke had, predictably, spent their time off training. Kin did D rank missions almost mechanically, as if going through motions, she didn't seem to put any effort into training herself, and Haku tried to keep up with the training pace Naruto had set for himself but often found himself resting while Naruto continued.
With the knowledge that he gained the memories of his kage bunshin the blonde Uzumaki had started training on cutting the leaf with them, which combined with his ability to train himself into the ground meant he swiftly outpaced Haku.
Kimimaro had joined them for training, although he mostly practiced his kenjutsu kata and assisted Naruto and Haku in such training as he'd never learned his chakra affinity. Sasuke joined in with this kenjutsu training as well and it seemed he kept his Sharingan active more often, Haku realized he hadn't actually seen the Uchiha's normal black eyes in a while and wondered if it was some kind of training the boy was doing.
By the time Jiraiya returned Naruto could cut through a leaf with his chakra easily while Haku was still struggling and Sasuke could burn a hole through a leaf just by pressing his fingers on either side. The Sennin was clearly concerned with how things had gone while he was gone but had likely gotten the details from Kakashi as he didn't ask questions.
"Here," Jiraiya said, holding out a chakra kannoshi to Kimimaro, who accepted it and stared at the man awaiting further instruction, "channel chakra into that." the Sennin ordered and the paper turned damp, "That figures." he said with a nod.
Kimimaro and Haku were instructed to use their chakra to turn clumps of dirt into mud in order to train their natural affinity for Suiton chakra while Naruto moved onto the next step of his Futon chakra training. Yamato made a waterfall by with his Doton and Suiton ninjutsu, then spread a bridge across it with Mokuton.
"Cut this waterfall in half." Jiraiya told Naruto, who blinked owlishly at the task. Sasuke wondered what the next phase of Katon chakra training was going to be, Haku was a little sad he wasn't continuing to train with Naruto, Kimimaro didn't seem concerned, and Jiraiya wondered when training all of Naruto's friends had become his concern.
The Sennin hadn't yet told Naruto that the Rasengan was an incomplete ninjutsu, he and Kakashi had both tried to complete it after Minato had died but neither of them could do so. His Katon attempts had resulted in burning himself and Kakashi had almost stopped his own heart with his Raiton attempts.
Sasuke stared at Jiraiya for a bit, "What?" the Sennin asked, unnerved by the Sharingan that the Uchiha still hadn't deactivated.
"I can set a leaf on fire with my chakra, now what?" Sasuke asked and the gallant Gama Sennin again wondered why this was his job with a twitching eye.
"Practice doing it to planks of treated wood, you can buy them at any hardware store." Jiraiya told him, giving no further instruction as the Uchiha left to go purchase exactly that.
Haku progressed on the dirt to mud training faster than Kimimaro, not that the white haired teen seemed overly bothered by this. While resting the two vassals watched Naruto try to cut the waterfall in half with the assistance of his kage bunshin.
When Sakura opened her eyes she wasn't sure what had happened, then she remembered the fight and tried to sit up only to cry out in pain and clutch her stomach. Shizune came in to change her IV drip and noticed the girl waking up so she put a calming hand on the girls shoulder.
"Take it easy," Shizune said in a soothing voice, "you got hurt pretty badly but you're okay now." she tried to assure but the pink haired chunin still seemed concerned.
"Is Sasuke-kun okay?" Sakura asked, worried as she remembered the fight that had caused this injury, "And Naruto?" she added, remembering his disturbing habit of jumping in front of attacks meant for others and that she'd seen his bunshin struck by an arrow before she blacked out.
"Sasuke-kun and Naruto-kun are both fine," Shizune assured, "they dealt with the shinobi that injured you and brought you back to the village as soon as Haku-kun stabilized you enough that it was safe to move you." she informed the younger girl, keeping her tone soft and soothing.
Sakura relaxed, noting that the apprentice of Tsunade had impeccable bedside manner, "Thank goodness." she murmured, "How long was I out?" she asked.
"Four days," Shizune answered, "one of your kidneys was completely destroyed but Tsunade-sama was able to repair your other organs." she explained the situation, "If you'd like I can inform your team that you're awake and they can visit you?" she offered and Sakura nodded gratefully.
It was surprising how quickly Naruto arrived, it had only been a few minutes before he rushed into her room with one hand in Haku's and the other on Sasuke's arm. Someone she didn't recognize with white hair following a moment behind.
Sasuke looked annoyed at being dragged along at the speed he'd been dragged but his look surprisingly softened when he saw Sakura. The girl blushed a bit when she realized he'd been worried about her.
"Um, who is that." Sakura asked, nodding her head at the fourth person who had followed them.
Kimimaro bowed, "I am Kimimaro Kaguya, vassal of the Uzumaki clan." he introduced himself.
Sakura wondered when that had opened, "Oh, well, a pleasure to meet you then." she responded, not really sure what else to say, "I'm Sakura Haruno." she decided that introducing herself back was the polite response.
"I am aware." Kimimaro said in a neutral tone and the girl felt a bit awkward.
"Sakura-chan are you okay?" Naruto asked, "Do you need anything?" he added without waiting for her to answer the first question.
Sakura tried not to be exasperated with Naruto, knowing the blonde was just worried about her, "I'm fine, just a little sore still." she assured, "What happened out there?" she asked.
"You got hit by this arrow that moved so fast even the Sharingan couldn't see it with all three tomoe awakened." Sasuke answered, which only fueled Sakura's worry.
"We thought you died," Naruto added, "but apparently watching someone you care deeply about die awakens this weird new version of the Sharingan so Sasuke and I were able to defeat those Oto shinobi." he explained, oblivious to the blushes that appeared on his teammates and the bemused expression Haku gained, "Sasuke was worried that Itachi wanted him to kill me to awaken it," the blonde added and Sasuke looked a furious blend of embarrassed and frustrated, "but we're both glad you didn't actually die." he finished with a smile at the blushing pink haired girl.
"Sasuke-kun?" Sakura asked shyly, clearly hopeful.
"Naruto awakened the eye too." Sasuke answered, refusing to make eye contact. Haku noticed the blonde wasn't even slightly embarrassed to admit or reveal he cared deeply about his team while Sasuke was thoroughly humiliated.
"They also managed to capture one, she's apparently related to Naruto-sama." Kimimaro decided to add, both of the chunin who didn't already know looked surprised at this, distracted from their embarrassment.
"That foul mouthed red head?" Sakura guessed, remembering Karin's words about Uzumaki and red hair. Kimimaro nodded and the pink haired girl frowned.
"At this rate Naruto will adopt all of Orochimaru's servants." Sasuke decided to turn the situation into a joke, "Do you think Kakashi will let you be Otokage?" he asked with a smirk.
"Like hell, I'm going to be Hokage," Naruto shot back, "I don't care about some made up hidden village that snake made." he declared, crossing his arms and turning his nose up at the idea he'd be anything but the Hokage.
Haku was glad Naruto's mood was improving, the blonde hadn't been cold or distant over the past few days thankfully, if anything he had been even more clingy in bed, but the boy had been morose most of the time.
Kakashi watched from a distance and was relieved his team still seemed to be holding each other together. There were parallels to the original Sannin, and even his own team under the Yondaime, but thankfully the differences seemed to be for the better. The Hokage mused on how quickly this new generation was catching up to the previous one, although the pace Naruto and Sasuke set was monstrous he'd noticed the other Konoha shinobi in their age group were taking their training more seriously too.
It took Sakura a few more days of recovery to be allowed to leave the hospital, she wasn't Uzumaki after all, and when she was allowed out she felt like her team had practically left her in the dust. Even Haku had finished the first step of his Suiton training and was working on Futon training again.
Sakura didn't mind working with Kimimaro, they were doing different but similar things she supposed. The fact Naruto was trying to cut a waterfall in half and Sasuke was trying to start fires using treated wood planks using his bare hands did make her feel like her progress had been slowed down too much, and her low chakra reserves meant she needed more breaks than any of them.
The chunin was vindicated that she was catching up thanks to her near perfect chakra control, but that just meant she finished at the same time Kimimaro finished his first step of Suiton training, "Yamato-sensei, I did it!" Sakura called out, showing that she could crush a pebble with chakra flow.
"Ah, very good Sakura-chan," Yamato praised, he was a bit colder than Kakashi or Jiraiya but he still gave praise when needed, "next step it to do it in reverse, turn dirt into stone." he informed her and she frowned, wondering how long she was supposed to play in the dirt.
"What's my next step?" Kimimaro asked as Haku turned his attention to Yamato, having finished the first step of Futon training earlier and watching Naruto while he rested. Sakura wasn't going to point out how much the older boy watched Naruto train since the blonde had started going shirtless due to training with a waterfall.
"The next phase of Suiton training is to form a ball of water, without using a water source, between your hands." Yamato said as he returned to keeping an eye on Naruto. Sakura frowned since she was now playing in the dirt alone and decided to watch Sasuke while she took a break herself, lamenting that the Uchiha kept his shirt on to train.
Kin entered the Uzumaki home after finishing her D rank mission, putting the pay on the counter for Karin or Naruto and approached the red haired Uzumaki while everyone else was out. Karin took a moment to realize she was being stared at and looked up from the kunai she was sharpening.
"Do you still train?" Kin asked.
Karin frowned, wondering where that question came from, "I still do basic exercises to stay in shape, and chakra control exercises, but mostly I've been studying to become an iryonin." she answered truthfully, "Why?" she asked.
Kin looked a bit downcast, "I just felt-" she began, remembering the battle during the border patrol mission, "I don't know, I guess I just recently felt like the kind of kunoichi I made fun of." she confessed, sitting down across from the red eyed Uzumaki with a dejected expression, "Why do you want to be an iryonin?" she asked.
Karin felt bad for the other girl, "Well, I guess I always hear about Naruto-nii getting hurt, or how he loses his composure when one of his friends get hurt." she said, "I wasn't really sure what kind of ninja I wanted to be, but I've had some time to think about it on probation so I sort of just decided I'd like to be able to heal people." she explained with a shrug, not wanting to mention her ability to heal others or how she didn't want to use it because she was certain it was killing her.
"Can I study with you?" Kin asked, looking like she was embarrassed to even ask for some reason that Karin couldn't discern. The red haired Uzumaki girl nodded slowly, not seeing a problem with it since having a study partner would probably help her as well.
"Anko-sensei!" Sakura called out when she spotted the purple haired woman on her way home from training, the call surprising the woman, a few Anbu on patrol, her teammates, and Hinata who was stalking Naruto.
"Damn it, what now?" Anko asked, turning to the pink haired chunin as the girl ran up and bowed to her.
"I just wanted to thank you for pointing me at Yamato-sensei, even if he's usually busy he's been a big help with my growth." Sakura answered happily.
Naruto and Sasuke both looked confused, Kimimaro was trying to figure out why a Hyuga was stalking Naruto and not paying much attention and Haku was looking at Anko strangely for a moment before the dark haired boy seemed to finally recognize the woman, "Ah, you're the woman that gave Naruto-kun his blood fetish!" he accused suddenly.
"Not intentionally." Anko responded shamelessly as Naruto blushed bright red, "Why? Are you thanking me or something?" she asked with a smirk.
Haku shook his head, "No, I just haven't seen you since I was told you cut and licked my boyfriend." he responded neutrally.
"Haku-chan, people are listening." Naruto whined, not happy with the conversation topic.
"Yeah," Anko agreed with the blonde, "quit making people think I'm into kids, I don't need that added to my reputation." she scolded, "For that matter isn't he a little young for you?" she asked, steering it away from herself.
"I am not!" Naruto denied angrily, taking offense to that.
"Naruto-sama is clearly the domineering one," Kimimaro spoke up to interject, "besides which Haku-senpai is too submissive to tell him no." he added and it was Haku's turn to blush.
Anko blinked owlishly at Kimimaro, "Damn kid," she said to Naruto, "you have some varied taste, you like the older long haired types?" she asked and Kimimaro frowned as the implication of that set in.
"Haku-chan is the only one for me!" Naruto insisted angrily, "Kimimaro just decided to be my vassal because, wait why again?" he asked, trying to remember the details.
"You are a better man than Orochimaru." Kimimaro answered with a shrug.
Anko gawked at Kimimaro, "That's not a compliment," she snarled suddenly, "even scum is better than that bastard!" she exclaimed.
"Oh you hate him too?" Naruto asked with a grin, catching the kunoichi off guard.
"Oh yeah, you brats got nicknamed the Nidaime Sannin because you survived him back during the second phase of the last chunin exams." Anko remembered.
"Is this a bad time to bring up that Naruto has been taking Orochimaru's old minions and making them his vassals?" Sasuke asked with a raised eyebrow and Anko seemed startled, looking between Haku and Kimimaro.
"Not me, the other two." Haku said simply.
"Other two?" Anko asked, "You have three vassals?" she asked and Naruto nodded, "You know what, I need a drink." she decided and turned on Kimimaro, "If you hurt anyone in this village I'll kill you myself." she declared.
Kimimaro shrugged, "I don't plan on it, but fair enough." he said amicably enough.
Kakashi was once again looking over mission details. The man really wanted to give Sakura more time to rest and recover, so he wasn't putting her on the mission. Anko was available and given where the mission was she'd be a good fit for the mission, but aside from Naruto's vassals the only genin available were Ino and Shino.
Aside from the mystery of a sea monster it was a pretty basic escort mission, he could probably just send Naruto and his vassals since it probably didn't require much more than a four man squad. Then he remembered Naruto and Sasuke's causality altering curse and decided against it.
The Hokage didn't want to put Ino or Shino in needless danger, so he could just put them on D ranks but he couldn't exactly coddle them either. He could just send Sasuke, but the Uchiha had been asking for a higher rank mission to test his new eye on. Kakashi decided on Naruto.