A/N: Okay, another short chapter. I'm trying to make them longer, but the words just don't seem to be cooperating. I apologize. Anyways, here's the next chapter. I hope you enjoy. Got some interesting things planned for this story arc. I am opening a poll though. I need votes on weather Kurama is going to be helpful or hateful. Also, I need votes on Kurama's gender. Some people prefer a Father-/Mother-like Kyuubi, some people prefer the scheming Kyuubi. I can roll with either without changing my story. Let me know what you think I should do in either a review or a PM.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. Only Kishimoto-sensei can claim that honor. Well... legally anyways.

First C-Rank Mission: Journey to Uzu no Kuni

"Sasuke in position, over."

"Hinata in position, over."

"Naruto in position, over."

Kakashi paused for a moment. "Does everyone have eyes on the target?" He asked.

"Hai!" Was the response he got from his three genin.

"I'm my mark," Kakashi said. "3... 2... 1... MARK!"

The three genin lunged from where they were hidden. Naruto was the first to make contact. "GOT IT!" He yelled.

"Confirm target. Identifier red ribbon on ear." Kakashi said over their ear piece.

Hinata confirmed, "Target Tora captured."

"AAAAAH! GET IT OFF!" Naruto yelled as Tora clawed his face viciously. Hinata walked up to him and picked up Tora off of him. The cat immediately calmed down, much to the team's disbelief.

"... how?" They all asked. Hinata just shrugged and started petting the cat in her arms.

They walked to the mission room in silence, still unable to believe that the dreaded demon cat Tora is so passive at the moment. Team seven made it to the tower and turned in Tora, completing thier 18th D-Rank mission.

The Sandaime Hokage raised an eyebrow at Hinata. That cat doesn't like many people. "Well done on your mission," Hiruzen said. "Now before I give you another, I would like your honest opinion Kakashi. Is your team ready for a C-Rank?"

"Hai, Hokage-sama. I was actually going to request one tomorrow," Kakashi replied.

"Very good. I have a mission that can only be done by your team and I don't want to wait any longer to give it to you. Come by my office tomorrow at noon. You are dismissed."

"Hai, Hokage-sama!" They all said in unison.

The trio left, leaving Kakashi with the Hokage in the mission office. As they walked down the street, Naruto ran in front of the other two, stopped and turned around to ask, "Hinata-chan, Sasuke, why don't we go out to eat to celebrate!? We have out first C-Rank tomorrow. Not only that, but it's a mission only we can do!"

"Ano, where do you want to go Naruto-kun, Sasuke-san?" Hinata asked.

"Yakiniku Q," Sasuke suggested.

"Ichiraku would be my vote, but I know you both would say no since I try to go there as much as I can," Naruto said sullenly.

"Tell you what, if you don't screw anything up on our mission, I'll treat you to ramen," Sasuke promised. As soon as the words left his mouth he felt a deathly chill crawl up his spine. His wallet might take a big hit when they return.

So the three friends went to their usual restaurant and got their usual table in the back. After ordering their food, the trio began talking about their individual training they did in their free time.

Sasuke was working on learning one of the higher rank fire jutsu his clan specializes in. His mother was teaching him, and in his words she was a 'harsh' teacher. The complete opposite of her everyday personality.

Hinata was almost there with her own Taijutsu style, Juho, the Gentle Step. She was working out the kinks. Two and a half years of hard work and it was finally about to be combat ready. She even started working on an original technique to go along with it. Though it was far from ready for field testing.

Naruto was advancing further in his fuinjutsu. His dealing prowess was second only to the Hokage already. It just came so naturally. He was a bit nervous to try developing his own seals yet. He wanted to wait until he had a safe and controlled environment and could get a deal master to check the seals before testing.

He also wanted to learn his father's signature jutsu combination. But he didn't even know where to begin on the sealing matrix for the Haraishin, nor did he know the steps to learning the Rasengan. He didn't even know who he could ask about the jutsu. 'Maybe Kakashi?' Naruto thought. 'He was my biological father's student after all. I may ask him during or after the mission...'

After eating their fill, the trio left and parted ways, sort of. Sasuke headed to his clan compound while Naruto amd Hinata headed to the Hyuuga compound. They decided to get as much sleep as they could tonight. They wanted to be well rested for the coming days.

The Next Day, the trio met up in front of the Hokage's tower and waited for their sensei once again. Luckily for them, he wasn't late like he normally was. 'I guess he's not late for important missions...' they all thought.

"Well then, lets get in there team 7. I don't think we should keep Sandaime-sama waiting, do you?" Kakashi asked. They sweatdropped a bit at that. Normally they are the ones waiting on him after all.

They walked up the stairs in silence, each wondering what the mission that calls for their team specifically could possibly be. Naruto had an interesting feeling about the mission. Almost like something very important was going to happen while they are out there. Something that he absolutely could not miss.

Kakashi knocked on the door to the Hokage's office and after a short delay, 'Enter' was heard from the other side. The team walked in and stood in formation waiting for their leader to address them.

"Thank you for coming," Hiruzen said. "I'm sure you are all curious as to why I need this specific team for the mission, no?"

They all nodded.

"Well to be quite frank, there is only one person in the village who can do this mission. Naruto, how much have you learned about seals so far?" Hiruzen asked.

"Well, Hokage-jiji, I've made it to the fifth book in the intermediate set. Once I finish it, I'll be on the Expert set." Naruto said proudly.

Hiruzen was genuinely surprised that Naruto had managed to get that far so quickly. 'Although I guess I really shouldn't be that surprised. It is in his blood after all.' he thought. "Well, Naruto, the reason I ask is because this mission is to the ruins of Uzushiogakure no Sato, your ancestral home. But the whole Island is protected by a defensive grid of barriers that can only be safely bypassed if there is an Uzumaki present. It was a fail-safe enacted shortly after the fall. The whole world has been trying to find a way past the barriers but no one can get through. Our own seal master, my student Jiraiya, has figured out why. The entire barrier system is run off of blood seals. Only an Uzumaki can disable or circumvent them."

The team stared at the Hokage in shock for a few seconds before recovering. Naruto was the first to speak in an almost whisper.

"Uzushio..." was all he said.

"Naruto-kun, are you okay?" Hinata asked.

Distracted by his thoughts, Naruto didn't hear her. So when Sasuke tapped on his shoulder, Naruto was startled into a small jump. "Oi, say something," Sasuke said.

"Huh?" was Naruto's less than intelligent response. "I'm sorry, I was lost in thought. What'd you say?"

"I asked if you are okay, Naruto-kun?" Hinata repeated.

"Hai, hai. I just didn't think I'd be going to Uzushio so soon.I figured it would be a few more years before I got the chance to visit," Naruto replied. Both of his teammates nodded in acceptance of his response.

Hiruzen looked them over before saying, "Your official mission is to bypass the barriers without triggering or deactivating them. With a blood seal that is easy, as long as the seal accepts your blood. As heir of Uzu no Kuni, as well as Uzushiogakure no Sato, your blood will undoubtedly be accepted. We don't want any of our enemies getting inside Uzushio, that's why I don't want the seals completely deactivated. Once inside you are to locate the underground archive chamber. The last person to see the chamber was the last Uzukage. All I know from Mito-sama and Kushina-chan is that the archive is located below the kage tower in the city. I don't know where in the city that is. So pack for at least a two month long mission just in case. Once you find it, seal the contents into an extra large scroll. I have an empty one slightly bigger than the forbidden scroll of sealing prepared for you. The archive is your birthright, and so it is yours if you can find it. Also, Naruto, you have an optional secondary mission. Mito-sama once spoke of a cave below the island whose entrance is in the center of the island. She said this cave was a safe-house of sorts for the royal line of Uzu no Kuni. It also has a blood seal that can only be undone by a direct heir, which you are the only living heir. In this room is said to be documents of vital information for each Daimyo of Uzu. These documents will be needed in the future for reestablishing the village if you choose to in due time. If you can, retrieve them. If not, it will have to be done later. Good luck, and be safe. Dismissed."

"Hai, Hokage-sama," They all said in unison.

Kakashi spoke up next, "Meet at the gates in two hours. Pack for a two month stay outside the village. Pack for a wilderness survival." And with that, Kakashi disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Two hours later the team met at the gate. Before they set out, Naruto handed each member of the team a storage scroll big enough for all of their equipment and supplies. He had a massive scroll strapped to his back and closed with a blood seal that he himself made in advance for if and when they find what they are looking for.

"Well, it looks like you are all prepared. Let's go," Kakashi said. And so team seven set off to the East towards the coast.

They traveled along, jumping across the limbs of the trees, for a good portion of the day, stopping only for short breaks. When the sun started to fall they stopped in a decent sized clearing and set up camp. They set up a rotating watch and settled in. Hinata cooked them all a nice meal and after cleaning up they ended the day. Kakashi took first watch, Sasuke had second, Naruto third, then Hinata had the final watch.

The night passed peacefully with nothing out of the ordinary. The second day passed much the same way. Nothing out of the ordinary. On the third day, when they set up camp for the night, Naruto could smell the sea. They were close to the shore. They set up camp, had dinner and started their rotating shifts much the same way as they had the nights before. When Naruto's shift came around he sat in a tree keeping watch. About halfway through his shift he heard a soft whisper. Looking around for the source, he couldn't see, hear, smell or otherwise detect anything.

He couldn't quite make out what was being said. Nor could he tell what direction the whispering voice was coming from. It almost sounded like the voice was coming from the direction of the shore. And just as suddenly as the whispering had appeared, it was gone. That night, when his shift was done and he went back to sleep, he had the dream again. Neither he nor Hinata have had the shared dream in years. Not since they found out what had happened that night. The difference tonight was that his dream seemed to be from the point of view of the fox exclusively.

When he awoke from the dream/memory... thing... he could remember one key detail that wasn't present in the past. He remembered seeing a single glowing red eye before he-as the fox-began attacking the village. It was like the fox couldn't even control his own actions.

'What the heck is going on? Why now of all times?' Naruto thought. As they finished breaking down camp, Naruto walked over to Hinata and asked, "Hey, Hinata-chan... did... did you have that dream last night?"

She just nodded, not having to say anything else. "It felt different Naruto-kun. It felt like the Kyuubi wasn't in control of itself. And, I remember seeing a red eye. I think it was a Sharingan."

Naruto stiffened at that. That would mean that it was an Uchiha that was behind the attack if it really was the Sharingan. But most of the Uchiha have been wiped out, so there is no way to know for sure. "Do you think we should tell anyone?"

"Not yet, Naruto-kun. Let's wait until we have more solid information to go off of. I don't want to worry anyone unnecessarily." Hinata sighed, "I thought we were done with these dreams."

"Me too, Hinata-chan. Me too." Naruto went back to packing up and sealing the rest of his camping equipment before heading off towards the coast once again. The hours passed by in silence as the two Jinchuuriki pondered what it could all mean. Was it really an Uchiha who orchestrated the attack on the village. If so, what for?

Before they knew it, they had arrived at the coast. They could see an island in the distance. The water in between them and it was filled with whirlpools of all sizes and speeds. One thing they all had in common, even the slowest one was too fast to safely traverse. Without knowing how to get across, they were effectively stuck here.

"Kakashi-sensei, any ideas? Hokage-jiji didn't say anything about getting across actual whirlpools. He just said there were seals to go around on the island." Naruto stared out at the island. "Something feels off too. I don't know how to explain it, but something is wrong."

"No, I'm not sure. We'll set up a forward operating base here. It'll act as our base camp as we figure out how to get onto the island." Kakashi said.

Naruto nodded. "Hai, Kakashi-sensei. Maybe-" Naruto trailed off, seeming to be lost in thought.

"Naruto?" Kakashi observed his student. "Is everything alright?"

"I... don't know, sensei. Like I said before, something feels off. Wrong. Don't you feel it?" Naruto asked.

"No," Kakashi admitted. "Everything feels fine to me."

"Hmm..." Naruto sighed, "maybe I'm just imagining things. I... don't know-" He trailed off again before turning back to his team and helping to set up their base camp for an undetermined amount of time.

A/N: Hope you enjoyed the chapter. Let me know what you think. What you liked or didn't like. I can't promise it will change anything, but there is always a chance, right? Anyways, don't forget to vote about Kurama please. Ja Ne.