Author's Note: I'm glad to see the overall good reception the ending of Part I got. Anyway, even if that part is over, there's still quite a lot of story left to tell! So now, before we head into Shippuden, there's an arc that could be considered Part 1.5. This chapter will mostly cover how much Naruto and his friends changed during the next year and a half, and towards the end, you'll see what this new arc will be about- Enjoy:
Chapter 42:
A New Mission
or
Let's give the neglected villages some love
Fourteen and a half years since the Nine Tails Attacked
Training Ground Nine
Today, two of Konoha's most promising young ninja were about to fight. Even if it was just a spar, the combatants' own reputation and the fact that they didn't clash since the Chunin Exams made plenty of ninja eager to see the fight.
"Let's hope that this time, things turn out different," Hinata, one of the many people among the spectators, commented a bit worried.
"Oh don't worry, I'm sure it won't be a repeat of the last time," Naruto assured her, as he held her hand.
While the year and a half following the Invasion of Konoha hadn't been as chaotic as the year preceding it, it wasn't uneventful either. All of Naruto's former classmates managed to score a promotion to Chunin during the Chunin Exams in Kumo, and many of them went beyond that. Naruto himself quickly earned a promotion to Special Jonin specialized in fuinjutsu when he mass produced his Chakra Blade for the ANBU to use as their main weapon. At first, it turned out it wouldn't work since the sword drained too much Chakra, but with Jiraiya's help, he realized that the original model wasted way more chakra than it consumed, something Naruto didn't notice thanks to his seemingly never-ending reserves. But once he fixed that design flaw, it could be used by people with average chakra pools.
In fact, Naruto himself was strong enough to be a full Jonin already, but Jiraiya thought he still needed more experience before he could grant him the rank. Hinata and Haku were also on their way to becoming Special Jonin, with specializations in tai-ninjutsu and ninjutsu, respectively.
"They're finally going to start," Naruto pointed out, as the two fighters got in position.
On one side, there was Sasuke Uchiha, no longer the youngest of his clan, who during the past year managed to get promoted to the rank of Special Jonin specialized in ninjutsu and sword fighting. Besides his usual katana, he also added a shoto to his regular arsenal, which he dual wield alongside his main weapon.
Facing Sasuke was Neji Hyuga, also a Special Jonin, though specialized in taijutsu, and the one who requested the spar to begin with, since he wanted to test a new jutsu he had developed recently.
"Boy, I don't know whom I should cheer," Karin whined. "Neji-kun is my boyfriend, but Sasuke is my teammate..."
Acting as referees were their respective Jonin-sensei, Shizune Uchiha and Maito Gai.
"Alright, combatants ready?" Shizune asked, looking at both of them, who nodded at her. "In that case let the fight...begin!"
Like it happened the first time, the first thing both fighters did was activating their ocular power. And the moment the word let out Shizune's lips, Sasuke and Neji dashed towards each other at such speed they were seen as blurs by some of the onlookers. Sasuke's left hand reached for his shoto, and unsheathed it in a circular motion against Neji, who prepared to deliver an arc strike.
However, Neji's opening move was a fake out, as Neji nimbly crouched and slid towards Sasuke, dodging his blade, and striking the Uchiha in the chest with an accurate palm hit. Sasuke heaved a little as he jumped backwards, holding the stricken area in pain with his free hand. He shot Neji and angry look, which was replied by a smug smirk.
"I believe the first strike is mine," Neji declared.
"Maybe, but victory belongs to those who deliver the last strike of the fight, not the first one," Sasuke replied, as he charged against Neji as once again.
Knowing that Sasuke would see it coming, Neji decided to let Sasuke strike this time and then counterattack. However, he didn't expect Sasuke reaching into his tool pouch, grab a handful of shuriken and toss them at him. As quickly as he could, Neji pulled out a kunai from his own pouch, and used it to deflect the incoming steel stars. And while he was doing that, Sasuke disappeared.
Thanks to his Byakugan, the Hyuga prodigy could see that Sasuke had appeared behind him –more than likely, after using the Body Flicker jutsu– and was about to strike. Even then, Neji was still in a disadvantageous position. Still, he wasn't deterred by Sasuke's tactic, and quickly sidestepped to avoid the incoming slash. While he was moving, Neji turned around and thrust his open palm forward.
"Vacuum Palm!"
Now it was Sasuke's turn to jump back and dodge. If Neji wanted to switch to ranged fighting, the Uchiha was more than happy to oblige. He started to make hand seals with a single hand.
"Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire Jutsu!"
Sasuke breathed from his mouth a volley of fireballs at the Hyuga prodigy, covering an area so wide that it would be impossible to dodge. Fortunately for Neji, he didn't need to dodge, and started to spin as chakra poured from every point of his body.
"Heavenly Spin!"
The fireballs crashed against a spinning dome of blue chakra, which successfully blocked both the fiery projectiles and the explosions they made upon crashing. When the dome vanished, Neji was completely unharmed.
"You'll need to do better than that," Neji taunted Sasuke.
Sasuke sheathed his shoto, while at the same time unsheathing his katana. He also made several hand seals, again with just one hand.
"I admit that's an impressive defense. But then again, there's no barrier my sword cannot cut down," Sasuke replied, almost boasting. "Fire Release: Burning Edge!"
The blade of Sasuke's katana was soon engulfed by a cloak of flames. His weapon now ready, the Uchiha attacked once again. Neji took a step back, and adopted a defensive position once again, seemingly trying to come up with a way to counter Sasuke's attack, given that normal weapons rarely did well against elemental-enhanced ones. And much to Sasuke's surprise, he blocked the Uchiha's flaming sword with a palm strike.
And to Sasuke's even greater surprise, the block was successful. Using his other hand, Neji tried to deliver another palm strike to the Uchiha, but Sasuke quickly grabbed his wrist before such thing could happen.
"So you focused your chakra on your fingers in order to make your hand stronger and protect it from the flames of my sword," Sasuke stated, as he inspected the Hyuga's hand with his Sharingan. "Intelligent trick."
"Oh, it's more than a mere trick. And you haven't seen anything yet," Neji replied, as he kicked Sasuke in the chest, breaking the struggle, before quickly adopting a stance Hinata knew too well. "You're within my divination range. Eight Trigrams. Sixty Four Palms!"
"Shit!" Sasuke cursed as Neji lunged at him, ready to strike. He made a hand seal one of the onlookers was very familiar with. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
Two clones of Sasuke appeared in front of him as Neji was about to attack.
"Two strikes!" one of the clone disappeared before he could ever record what was going on. "Four strikes!" the next clone soon followed his equally short lived brother's fate. "Eight Strikes!" This time, the strikes landed on the real Sasuke, who groaned in pain as his chakra points were closed. "Sixteen Strikes!"
This time, however, Sasuke managed to successfully block and dodge all of Neji's palm strikes, and force the Hyuga back by slashing his flame wreathed katana at him.
"You managed to interrupt one of the Hyuga Clan's most prized taijutsu techniques? I'm impressed," Neji genuinely praised.
"That fancy combo isn't as great as it seems once dissected through the Sharingan," Sasuke replied. "Technically, it's only a repeat of the first sixteen strikes, which I managed to see when you hit both my clones and myself, thus giving me the means to counter them. That attack won't work on me again."
"I wouldn't be so confident in your abilities, Sasuke. Just because you see a hit aimed at you, it doesn't mean you'll be able to prevent it in time," Neji countered, as his position relaxed. "I believe that was enough of a warm up, don't you think so?"
"I couldn't agree more," Sasuke replied, as his lips curved into a smirk. "I can't wait to see that technique you bragged about so much a few moments ago."
"Then I won't keep you waiting any longer," Neji then crossed his arms in front of him, a position the other members of the Close Combat Squad knew too well. He then quickly spread his arms as a burst of chakra pulsed from his body.
"Gate of Opening: Open!"
The resulting burst of chakra blew a powerful wind in every direction, as a green aura started to slowly appear around his body. Even those who weren't sensors could feel the resulting power boost.
"Whoa!" Naruto said in awe. He turned at the remaining members of Team Gai. "Didn't know that Neji could use the Gates too!"
"Well, it's only fitting, given that he was the only on of use that didn't learn to use them yet," Tenten replied, as she shrugged.
"Neji saw them as the invaluable tools they are, and requested me to teach him how to use them," Gai proudly added. "Now, my team is the first ninja squad in Konoha, probably in the world, that knows how to use the Celestial Gates."
"Since Gai-sensei and Lee use the Gates for their enhanced taijutsu moves, and I use them with armed combat, Neji thought he could create a new school of Gentle Fist by combining it."
"Nii-san said he was inspired by seeing me combining Gentle Fist with elemental manipulation," Hinata chimed in, with a slight and uncharacteristic edge of pride.
"Well, this certainly looks like something worth seeing!" an excited Naruto said as his eyes returned to the combat.
While this wasn't the first time he opened the Celestial Gates, Neji would never stop enjoying the rush of power result of the larger amounts of chakra surging through his body. Feeling more confident than ever, the Hyuga prodigy rushed towards Sasuke, ready to strike.
For his part, the Uchiha could barely dodge the much faster Neji's palm strike –and would have been unable to if it wasn't for his Sharingan– while Neji continued to launch a flurry of palm strikes, some of which were blocked or dodged, while others found its mark.
"Damn it, so this is what he meant with my Sharingan won't be able to keep it up!" Sasuke thought, as he tried as best as he could to dodge the wave of soft but painful strikes. "I need to put up some distance!"
Sasuke made a hand seal, and Body Flickered a few meters back. However, in less than a second, he saw a green flash, and Neji was in front of him already, continuing his onslaught.
"What do you think of my speed? And that's just with one Gate opened," Neji boasted as he reengaged Sasuke.
"I admit is impressive," Sasuke conceded, as he started to make hand seals with one hand while using the other to defend. "But let's see how your Gentle Fist does against an opponent you can't touch! Fire Release: Burning Man!"
Sasuke burst into flames, before they stabilized, forming a fiery cloak around the Uchiha. Naturally, Neji stopped attacking, and his confident expression morphed into a thoughtful one, as his brain tried to come up with a way to harm his opponent. It was Sasuke's turn to sport a confident and even smug grin.
"I can't believe I didn't do this earlier," Sasuke admitted. "Guess my pride didn't allow me to use my best moves from the very beginning."
"While withholding your true power is a valid tactic sometimes, doing so due to a sense of pride is something I'd call 'beyond stupid'," Neji replied, prompting Sasuke back into his usual frowning expression.
"You didn't show me your true power from the start as well," Sasuke retorted.
"Because I wanted to assess my opponent's abilities and capabilities first. And now, I have an approximate measure of what I'm going against," Neji explained.
"Measure THIS then!" Sasuke replied as he shot forward towards Neji, leaving a trail of fire behind.
Using his enhanced speed, Neji dodged Sasuke's charge, and moved to the side. However, the cloak of fire somehow increased Sasuke's speed as well, and the Uchiha was now able to match the Hyuga in that department. They spent a few seconds engaged in a game of cat and mouse, with Sasuke chasing and attacking Neji, and the latter evading and dodging him. That's it, until the Hyuga managed to find a window of opportunity long enough to prepare his next move. He slipped once again into the stance used for the Eight Trigrams Combo.
"Let's see how well you do against this," Neji announced, as he prepared to attack. "Eight Trigrams: Sixteen Exploding Strikes!"
While some people in Sasuke's situation would have believed that there's no way taijutsu, even the Gentle Fist, could bypass a shield of fire, most people didn't have a Sharingan. Thanks to his ocular power, the Uchiha could see, much to his worry, that Neji was gathering an inordinate amount of chakra into his hands.
"This is bad!" Sasuke thought as he moved to dodge the strike.
"Two Strikes!" Neji delivered two pal hits that, as the name implied, created two small chakra concussive blasts upon hitting the target, effectively bypassing Sasuke's fire cloak, but leaving Neji unharmed. "Four Strikes!" two more strikes were delivered, to the same effect. "Eight Strikes!"
"His palm strikes aren't closing my chakra points, but those blasts are making a number on my body!" Sasuke noted, trying to contain the pain caused by the hits. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
A clone of Sasuke appeared before the original.
"Sixteen Strikes!" Neji finished the short but devastating combo, though it was wasted on the clone Sasuke summoned in the nick of time.
Sasuke put some distance, panting heavily. He wasn't expecting that Neji would aside the subtle damage usually caused by the Gentle Fist and replace it with brutish explosions. Then again, that was probably the idea.
"Pity I was unable to finish the combo properly," Neji lamented, shaking his head in disappointment. "Then again, you're not Naruto. Using Shadow Clones so lightly will hinder you in the long term. Your chakra levels decreased substantially."
"That might be true, but never underestimate me. I still have plenty of chakra to spare," Sasuke replied.
"After what happened the last time, I would never even dream about underestimating you," Neji sincerely admitted. "In fact, I think it's about time to step up my game even further. Gate of Healing, open!"
Meanwhile, to the onlookers, the match had become even more interesting now.
"How many Gates can Neji open?" Naruto asked.
"Neji can open up to three Gates right now, just like myself," Tenten replied. "We're working on the fourth one, but so far we've been unable to handle the strain caused by the withdrawal backlash."
"Don't worry, Tenten, just keep training! That's how both Gai-sensei and I managed to surpass our limits!" Lee chimed in, with his usual optimist demeanor.
"Some limits can't be overcome by mere training, Lee," Tenten replied.
"Nonsense! That's just unyouthful talk from a quitter!" an indignant Lee replied.
"So are you telling me that, if you train a lot, you'd be able to use ninjutsu?" Tenten sharply asked. This managed to shut Lee into a stunned silence, as he wordlessly accepted Tenten previous statement. "Thought so."
Meanwhile, Hinata was watching the fight with her Byakugan activated, in order to get a better assessment of the situation.
"Neji-niisan was right, Sasuke-san wasted a lot of chakra using Shadow Clones so carelessly," Hinata confirmed. "But the Gates is consuming niisan's chakra at a fast rate. The match won't last much longer."
"My money's on Sasuke. We've fought quite a lot of times this past year, and he got really strong," Naruto stated.
"And you just saw Neji-niisan also spent a lot of time growing stronger," Hinata replied, almost with a hint of animosity.
Back to the match, Neji and Sasuke continued trading blows, producing a strong gust of wind every time they clashed. Neji's blows created shockwaves upon impacting, while Sasuke's fire aura shot fireballs with every move the Uchiha made. However, he deactivated it after a few moments in order to save chakra.
"Smart move," Neji told Sasuke.
"I'm not the only one whose chakra is quickly burning," Sasuke said as he stabbed his katana into the ground and made several hand seals, this time with both hands, before grabbing his katana and unsheathing his shoto once again. "Fire Release: Burning Edge! Lightning Release: Thunder Blade!"
Once again, Sasuke's katana was wreathed in flames, while his shoto started to crackle with electricity. Lastly, he crossed both blades, casting a beam of fire surrounded by electricity from the intersection point at Neji.
"Double Elemental Release: Plasma Beam!"
Neji turned into a green blur as he outrun the destructive beam aimed at him. Sasuke moved his crossed weapons in his efforts to hit Neji, leaving a trail of burned earth behind. In no time, Neji managed to reach mid distance, and prepared for his next attack.
"Eight Trigrams, Invisible Palm!"
Neji started to thrust both palms back and forth, generating spectral arms made of chakra that flew at Sasuke. The Uchiha parried all the hits with his elemental-enhanced weapons, but the strikes packed so much power they pushed the Uchiha back with each blow. Neji finished the combo with a double palm strike that blew Sasuke's weapons out of his hands and pushed him so hard, he fell on his back.
"This is over!" Neji proclaimed as he prepared for the finishing move.
Sasuke saw Neji gathering chakra on the tip of his fingers, and knew whatever he was preparing, it couldn't be good. Thankfully, he rolled on his back in time to avoid the strike –which created a small crater on the ground–, got on his feet, and managed to retrieve his shoto.
"Don't underestimate me!" Sasuke indignantly shouted.
"This IS over," Neji insisted. "Gate of Life open!"
Another burst of chakra, this one even more intense than the previous two, shook the battleground. Neji's green aura became more intense, as his pale skin started to take a reddish tint. A powerful wind started to blow. Sasuke made a hand seal.
"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
A single clone appeared besides Sasuke, and both he and his clone continued making hand seals, a different sequence each.
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu!"
The clone blew a massive fireball at Neji, as the real Sasuke prepared his next attack.
"Lightning Release: Thunderbolt!"
Sasuke released an array of lightning bolts at his fireball, coating it with electricity. Neji, however, didn't look impressed.
"I've been looking for an opportunity to use this," the Hyuga prodigy stated, as he started to spin. "Heavenly Spinning Lotus!"
Neji turned into a green spinning chakra dome that successfully deflected Sasuke's bi-elemental attack. The Uchiha, however, wasn't impressed.
"So, a beefed up Heavenly Spin. It won't help you any-what!?" he asked in shock.
Much to his surprise, Neji started to move –rather fast– while still spinning.
"The hell!? How can he move?" Sasuke asked, visibly taken aback.
The Uchiha tossed a few shuriken at Neji, but as expected, they failed to slow him down. Sasuke leaped above the spinning Hyuga and landed besides him, but Neji merely moved in the opposite direction. Sasuke sheathed his shoto before retrieving his katana from the ground.
"Thanks to the additional power provided by the Gates, I can now use some chakra to propel myself while I'm still spinning," Neji thought. "The Hyuga's Ultimate Defense can now be used as a weapon to attack!"
Sasuke's hands flew through hand seals as he prepared his last attack. "Let's hope this can be enough to counter that technique!" he worriedly thought.
Sasuke gripped his sword with both hands, and the blade was quickly covered in both fire and electricity, before dashing at Neji.
"Double Elemental Release: Plasma Blade!"
Sasuke's elemental sword struck Neji's spinning chakra dome. The two forces clashing resulted in a powerful wind blowing outwards as flames, lightning sparks and chakra bursts flew everywhere. Both forces struggles against each other, neither of them bulging one bit. And finally, like it happened all the time Sasuke used that jutsu, when the energy gathered reached a critical point, it was released at once in the form of a large explosion, which hurled both combatants up in the air, before they both landed in the floor with a loud thud.
Shizune and Gai quickly went to check their respective students. They both were bruised and badly beaten, but they didn't have any serious injury. They would be fine after being healing.
The onlookers started to murmur among themselves, until somebody, namely Lee, voiced what most of them were thinking.
"So...who wins?" the green clad ninja asked.
"Since both Neji and Sasuke are unable to continue fighting on their own, then it's a tie," Gai declared. "But even if none of you won, it was a fight to remember! You showed everybody the height of your passion and your flames of youth!"
"Karin, go and heal Neji-kun! Sakura, help me treat Sasuke-kun!" Shizune instructed.
"Right!" Karin obediently said as she rushed towards her boyfriend, kneeling before his fallen body, and started to heal his injuries, not with her innate ability, but with the Mystical Palm Jutsu. It seemed that, despite the intensity of the match, Sasuke made sure not to make any irreparable damage.
Neji himself didn't deal any crippling blow to Sasuke either. Gai was a bit worried that, even after all this time, the Hyuga prodigy would be hungry for payback.
"So...how was I?" Neji asked Karin.
"You were impressive, honey," Karin earnestly told him as she treated his wounds. "I wish you could have seen yourself."
"I couldn't be that impressive, given that I still lost," Neji bemoaned.
"You didn't lose, it was a tie," Karin pointed out.
"I didn't win, hence I lost," Neji insisted.
"Sasuke didn't win either," Karin countered, sounding a bit annoyed now.
"Well, in that case-AW!" Neji yelped after Karin pressed one of his wounds.
"You didn't lose, end of discussion!" Karin sternly stated. "Now shut up while I heal you!"
Neji let out a sigh, but smiled as well. "Of course, Karin."
Meanwhile, Sakura and Shizune were having a similar conversation with Sasuke.
"You did great, Sasuke-kun. Truly an amazing display," Sakura sincerely praised.
"I didn't so great if I was unable to win," Sasuke replied.
"You were holding back," Sakura justified.
"While I was with-holding my most powerful moves, I was still giving it my all," Sasuke insisted.
"You simply weren't fighting with the intent to kill, despite the magnitude of your attacks. You kept the fight to a level your opponent was able to follow, which is what we should do when sparring," Shizune interceded. "Hence, you should feel proud of your fight. Just as I am."
Like Neji before, Sasuke decided not to press the issue. So far, no Uchiha had ever won an argument against Shizune, and he didn't have any hopes of being the first one.
Realizing that there was nothing else to see, most of the onlookers – with the exception of Sasuke and Neji's respective teammates and sensei – quickly dispersed and went their separate ways to do their daily tasks and jobs.
…
It would be lunchtime soon, and thus, Naruto and Hinata were heading towards the latter's house. They had some free time during the afternoon, and Hinata wanted to spend it training alongside Hanabi, and asked Naruto if he wanted to tag along, and naturally, he agreed. She also asked him to have lunch with her family.
"Hanabi's finally starting to get the hang of elemental manipulation," Hinata commented. "In less time than I did, might I add. Not that surprising, since she has far more talent than I."
"Come on, don't sell yourself short. You also had the inventiveness of combining the Gentle Fist with Lightning Release," Naruto reminded her. "If it wasn't for you, Neji wouldn't have had the idea of combining it with the Celestial Gates."
"But I did it because of my inability to master the proper Gentle Fist," Hinata replied.
"So? That just meant that your talents laid elsewhere. You turned a weakness into a strength," Naruto insisted.
Hinata couldn't help but giggle. She loved when Naruto praised her like that, even if she felt sometimes it was undeserved.
"Speaking of which, Hinata, I know you want to focus on Hanabi, but I'd also like to continue with my training on Lightning Release," Naruto told her.
"I don't know why you're so insistent about it. You already have mastered wind and water. Isn't that enough for a Jonin promotion?" Hinata asked.
During the past year, Naruto asked Haku to teach him how to use Water Release jutsu, given that wind's weakness was fire. After he mastered Water Release to an acceptable level, he then went to Hinata with the same request. And while Hinata was happy to oblige, she always thought such thing wasn't necessary.
"For a promotion, yes, but for me? Not in the slightest," Naruto sharply replied. "The Old Man mastered all five elements, and I'm not going to be any less. But don't think I'm doing this out of pride, having all five elements at my disposal will make me a force to be reckoned with."
"With that Sage Mode of yours, I think you already qualify as that," Hinata pointed out, giggling a bit.
"What about you, Hinata? You're pretty good with lightning already. Don't you plan on learning a second element?" Naruto asked.
Hinata put her finger on her lips, as she started to think. "Mmmmm...I didn't think about that until you mentioned that. So far, I've been good with what I already have."
"Remember that if you want that Jonin promotion, you'll need two elements," Naruto reminded her. He left the part about having an outstanding mastery of another discipline unsaid, since he felt it wouldn't be nice to point out his girlfriend's shortcomings.
"Well, first I want to focus on being promoted to Special Jonin. I mean, we're still young, there's no hurry, right?" Hinata asked him.
"Kakashi-sensei was a Jonin when he was twelve," Naruto stated.
"Naruto-kun, this isn't a competition. While your desire to surpass yourself is admirable, you shouldn't be concerned about what Kakashi-sensei or other people did. Other people's accomplishments don't diminish your own," Hinata sagely said.
"Guess so. Still, can't help to feel like that," Naruto replied. "By the way, you didn't answer my question."
"I believe I can afford learning a second element now. Besides, with how much I've been helping Hanabi-chan with her training in Fire Release, I believe I have a good base to start with that," Hinata stated.
"Besides, fire is wind's weakness, which is lightning's weakness," Naruto pointed out.
…
Memorial Stone
"You know Kakashi, after all what happened, I thought I'd stop seeing you here."
Kakashi turned around, and saw his friend and rival Gai, standing there with his arms crossed, shooting him a mildly disproving stare.
"I know it makes no sense, but what can I say, some habits are hard to break," the silver haired Jonin replied. "I just...I can't believe that the two of them are still alive."
"Yes. People don't come back from the dead like that. Even the Impure World resurrection doesn't work that way," Gai continued. "While what happened to Obito is indeed tragic, I'd expect you to be a bit happier to have Rin back."
"I am happy," Kakashi pointed out.
Skeptical, Gai raised an eyebrow. "You don't look all that happier to me."
"You know Gai, people have different ways of expressing happiness. Not all of us go around screaming about youth at the top of our lungs," Kakashi softly but mockingly said.
"WHOA! Don't say anything you might regret! You may be my rival, but there are lines that are never meant to be crossed!" Gai angrily shouted, pointing an accusatory finger at the Copy Ninja. Kakashi merely chuckled. "I think you should spend some time with Rin. She needs you more than ever."
"I know. I do spend time with her whenever I can. We all do," Kakashi replied. "Kurenai took her to eat out today," Kakashi told him.
"How is she doing?" Gai asked.
"Good, I think, but I couldn't really tell," Kakashi replied, sighing. "She looks like she's getting used to her new life and how everything changed since the day she died. But there's something that disturbs her, I know that. But when I ask her, she tells me everything's fine."
"Rin was –is– a very selfless girl, she probably doesn't want to worry you, or anybody," Gai concluded. "Then again, it's obvious that what bothers her is Obito. It's what bothers you as well these days, am I right?"
"Guess that there's no point in denying it," Kakashi conceded, and sighed. "I just can't imagine what did he go through in order to end up part of Akatsuki. And not just that, but the fact that he was behind so many tragedies, starting with the Nine Tails' attack..."
"You know what this means, Kakashi?" Gai asked, now in his usual boisterous tone. "We need to train even more now! No doubt we will meet Obito again in combat, and when that day comes, we need to be ready in order to protect our village, and make sure to knock some sense into that empty head of his!"
…
Meanwhile, in Konoha's downtown, just as Kakashi said, Kurenai and Rin were having lunch together. Even if Rin didn't really need to eat, she liked to do so, since it made her feel more human and less...whatever she was now. So far, they two of them had remained silent, but the red eyed Jonin decided to break the ice.
"So, how was your day at work?" Kurenai asked.
"Good, I guess. Nothing worth mentioning happened. And quite frankly, I'm starting to enjoy the monotony," Rin admitted, as she took a bite of the hake she was eating. "It's relaxing, and leaves me time to think."
"So you're not planning to return to active duty anytime soon," Kurenai concluded.
"I don't think I'm ready yet," Rin replied.
Kurenai smiled emphatically. "It's okay, just take all the time you need. All of us we'll be here to support you."
Rin smiled back at her. "Thanks. I don't think I could have done this alone."
"You came back from the death, girl. I'm sure there's little to nothing impossible to you now," Kurenai said.
That made Rin chuckle. "If only that were true. You know, you became quite the motivational."
"What do you mean 'I became'?" Kurenai asked, mildly indignant. "I have always been like this! But I admit that being a Jonin-sensei allowed me to hone my skills in that area."
"You know, I always wanted to become a Jonin-sensei. I think I'd make a good teacher. Minato-sensei was a very good reference," Rin mentioned. "And you got to teach his son."
"Naruto's a hard worker, and quite eager to learn. The dream of any teacher. But he sometimes can exhaust me," Kurenai said, chuckling lightly. "Not to say my other two pupils aren't great either."
"I always wanted to meet Naruto. But whenever I plan to do so...I don't know what I can tell him," Rin confessed.
"I can introduce you to him if you want. To my whole team, really. I'm sure you'll like all of them," Kurenai suggested.
"I think I already met one of them, if briefly. The girly looking boy with the Ice Release. Haku was it, right?" Rin asked. Kurenai nodded affirmatively. "He seemed nice."
"He is. Like you, he also went through a lot. In fact, all of them had their own share of past tragedies, yet they didn't let them to define who they are," Kurenai replied. "So, how about if you come with us the next time we have a training session? I'm sure it'd be good for you. You should make a few friends your age." That last comment made Rin to lower her head in sadness, and Kurenai realized too late what she just said. Her hands flew to her mouth. "Oh, sorry! I didn't mean to-"
"No, it's okay. It has to be just as weird for the both of us, you and the others being adults, and me still being a teenager," Rin replied.
"At least, you won't stay like that forever. I notice you're getting taller," Kurenai pointed out.
"Obito said that he did something similar to whatever they did to him in order to save his life. I was expecting to grow up into an adult, given that he did. But truth be told, I was a bit scared to be stuck like this forever," Rin told her.
"Look at the bright side. Eternal youth!" Kurenai pointed out.
Rin chuckled, and rolled her eyes. "Eternal life isn't all that great if you can't enjoy it to its fullest. For example, you wouldn't be able to drink."
That comment made the Genjutsu Mistress to rethink what she said. While she wasn't a drunk, she did enjoy alcohol regularly, and she wouldn't be so eager to give up such a pleasure.
"And I wouldn't be able to marry and start a family. Speaking of which, when do you plan to marry Asuma?" Rin cheekily asked.
Kurenai was a bit taken aback by the question. But then again, he had to admit that she and Asuma weren't exactly subtle.
"There's still time for that," Kurenai hand waved. "What about you? Did you meet any boy worth pursuing?"
"I don't think I'm ready for a relationship just now," Rin admitted. "But I think you're right in that I should try to get to know some people my age."
"Good! My students would love to meet you!"
…
Senju Residence
That afternoon, Hagane and Kaida were in the house's backyard, entertaining a small, few months old baby boy with both black hair and black eyes. They were using small scale ninjutsu to create spectacular visuals that the baby would enjoy. The baby would giggle and clap whenever he saw something he liked, which was often.
The house's back door opened from the inside, revealing a smiling Shizune. The baby smiled and tried to stand up upon seeing the medic-nin.
"Aw, there you are!" Shizune happily cooed as she held the baby in her arms. "Did you miss mommy, Shiro-kun? Because mommy misses you a lot when she's at work,"
Six months after her wedding, Shizune gave birth to a baby boy, which they named Shiro. This caused a lot of people to groan and roll their eyes, but neither Shizune nor Shisui paid them any attention.
"So, did he gave you much trouble?" Shizune asked.
Both twins shook her head in unison.
"Not at all. Thankfully he didn't cry today," Hagane mentioned.
"Because he's a good boy, isn't he?" Shizune cooed again, making Shiro giggle. "Anyway, now that I'm done for the day, I can take him out of your hands."
"Will you bring him tomorrow?" Kaida asked, almost pleading.
"Probably, yeah," Shizune replied. "I didn't see Tsunade-sama, is she still at work?"
"Nope, she is home. I think she's upstairs taking a nap. Let me check," Kaida took a deep breath. "MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!"
A second later, a window in the second floor opened, revealing a very angry Tsunade.
"Goddamn it Kaida, what the hell did I say about yelling like that!?" Tsunade angrily shouted back. Then she noticed Shizune and Shiro, and her murderous expression changed into a happy one. "Oh, Shizune, didn't see you! And you brought Shiro-kun! Wait a second!"
Not wanting to waste a moment, Tsunade jumped out of the window, shattering the earth upon landing, leaving a small crater with spreading cracks.
"Kaida, honey, fix that, please," Tsunade told her.
Kaida groaned and rolled her eyes, but complied. Making a few hand seals, she used her powers to repair the damage to the grass and the ground.
"I'm the closest thing Konoha has to a princess, yet I always find myself doing gardening jobs..." the white haired girl angrily groaned.
Tsunade ignored her daughter's complaints and took Shiro from Shizune's arms. Shiro giggled as he started to pull Tsunade's bangs.
"Ow!" Tsunade cried.
"Come on Shiro-kun, don't do that to grandma," Shizune said, grabbing the baby's hand.
Tsunade's eyes narrowed, as she shot her former apprentice a murderous look. "Shizune, what did we say about the G-word?"
"Awww, it isn't cute, Shiro-kun? Grandma hates being reminded she's not young anymore," Shizune cooed in an incredibly mocking way.
Tsunade rolled her eyes, but she didn't do anything else. Of course, Shizune was more than aware that, if any other person sassed Tsunade the way she did, the Slug Princess would shatter every bone in their bodies without mercy. Even then, Shizune still knew not to push her luck.
"Any progress on the investigation regarding the cursed seal?" Shizune asked.
Tsunade shook her head. "Some, but not as much as we would want. There are elements in the seal we are unaware of its nature, though one of my researchers think there's a key component based on an unknown Bloodline Limit."
"And the investigation regarding Orochimaru's possible hideouts?" Shizune asked again.
"We did locate some of them, but they were mere laboratories and glorified storage warehouses, nothing big so far," Tsunade replied.
"Orochimaru uses a ninja village to gather funds, we should be able to track that," Shizune pointed out.
Once again, Tsunade shook her head. "Jiraiya and I thought the same, but Orochimaru already thought of that. Rather than having the customers come to his village, if it ever exists, he sends his ninjas to offer their service to potential customers. And those ninjas more often than not never come from the same place. Basically, just like how his Akatsuki friends operate."
"Drats. At this pace, we will never find again until he decides to stop hiding. And by the time he does that, he might have a whole slew of nasty surprises prepared for us," Shizune lamented.
Tsunade sighed. "If he succeeded in kidnapping my children, we may had never seen them again. We were lucky Naruto and his friends tracked them in time."
"I prefer not to think what would have happened," Shizune then looked at the blissfully unaware Shiro in Tsunade's arms. "Shisui and I are constantly afraid that somebody might want to target our son as well, given he's the first Uchiha born after the insurrection."
"You know what happens to people who target out family. I'm sure Obito will never forget the beating she got from us that night," Tsunade stated.
…
Hokage's Office
"Well, this is the last meeting of the day," Jiraiya told his predecessor turned advisor. "I can't wait to get back home with my wife and kids."
"A feeling I'm familiar with, much to my distaste," Hiruzen agreed. "Then again, today hasn't been a particularly busy day."
"If only all days could been like this one," Jiraiya mentioned.
The office's door opened, revealing Shisui Uchiha. He was holding a folder in one of his hands.
"Hokage-sama. Sarutobi-sama," the black haired man respectfully greeted.
"Look at that, my son-in-law!" Jiraiya heartily said. "So, what bring you here, Shisui?"
"I've been working on a project for this past year, and I believe it's ready to be implemented. Said project would benefit Konoha immensely," Shisui explained as he handled the folder to Jiraiya.
"Let's see it then," the Toad Sage replied, as he opened the folder and took a look at its contents, an action Hiruzen mimicked.
However, as they read Shisui's proposal, their cheerful and relaxed expressions morphed into tense and disapproving ones, much to the Uchiha's discomfort.
"So you want to...revive the Military Police?" Jiraiya asked, shooting an skeptical look at the young man.
"I know the implications, but listen to me on this one. There are a lot of ninja, mostly people with families and small kids to take care such as myself that would love to have a job that doesn't require them to leave the village for long periods of time. Not to mention that it would release most Chunin from doing the job the Police used to do in the past," Shisui explained.
"I understand your concerns, Shisui, but even with the benefits you exposed, the matter is far more complex than it appears," Jiraiya replied.
"The Military Police was strongly associated with the Uchiha, to the point that it incorporated the clan's crest into its logo. Many people may see this as a ruse for your clan to recover their lost power and influence," Sarutobi explained, trying to sound as reassuring as he could.
"I know about that, but here's the thing: everybody will be able to join the Police, not just the Uchiha. Which was kind of a given, since even if we count Shizune-chan as an Uchiha, there's only four of us to man it," Shisui added with an awkward laugh.
"You raise good points. And I do agree that Konoha would become more efficient with the Police back," Jiraiya agreed, much to Shisui's joy. "The hard part is how are going to implement it without reopening the old wounds of the Uchiha Insurrection."
"I think I may have an idea," Sarutobi interceded. "We can do a survey, asking both the ninja civilian population about it, but trying to push into the forefront the benefits of having the Police back in force in order to gain support."
"Good idea. However, in order to placate those who distrusts the Uchiha, I think it should be run by somebody other than you or your clansmen. I mean, you planned to become its new chief, am I right?" Jiraiya asked.
Shisui nodded. "Indeed, but trust me, I don't mind giving up that if the Police can be reinstated."
"Very well then, tomorrow I'll get the survey started. I'm sure we can make this project into reality," Jiraiya stated as he closed the folder, and handed it to Hiruzen, who placed it inside one of the shelves.
"Thank you, Hokage-sama! You won't regret this!" an enthusiastic Shisui stated.
"I'm sure I won't. Now everybody, let's get the hell out of here! It's closing time!" Jiraiya eagerly said as he got up from his chair.
…
Next morning appeared to be just another uneventful day like those in the past few months. The night shift guards on the north gate were finally able to leave their posts as their replacements for the morning shift, Shikamaru, Ino and Choji, appeared to take their place.
"Boy, I hate gate duty," Ino said with a yawn. "It's even worse than the worst of Asuma-sensei's training."
"Eh, it's not so bad," Shikamaru replied. "I mean, after all the deadly missions we got as Genin, I learned to appreciate the joys of a monotonous chore."
"Of course you'd say that. I can't believe you find checking passports and interrogating merchants who come into the village enjoyable," Ino said as she rolled her eyes.
Choji, who had been silently eating from a bag of chips, spoke for the first time. "Somebody is coming,"
"This soon? We barely opened the gates," Ino groaned.
Shikamaru narrowed his eyes as he focused his eyesight on the newcomers. It was a rather large group, much larger than usual, composed of a dozen people at least. Upon getting closer, they noticed they were ninja.
"They're ninja," Shikamaru warned his friends. "Mist ninja, if their forehead protectors are any indicators."
Worry spread among the trio, as they thought what they should do. Having a group of ninja from a non-allied village were never good news.
"Should we warn anybody?" Choji asked.
"Let's wait a bit. If they were enemies, they wouldn't be walking towards the gate like that," Shikamaru replied.
"Maybe they're a distraction," Ino conjectured.
"I'll deal with this, you two stay behind. In case it's a ruse, run back into the village and alert everybody," Shikamaru instructed. Ino and Choji nodded.
Minutes turned into hours as the group of Kiri ninja got closer. Shikamaru now could see that it was being led by a very tall and attractive redheaded woman. Upon getting closer, the woman noticed the Nara, and shot him a smile that could melt any man, regardless of his sexual orientation.
"Halt," Shikamaru told the group, trying to sound commanding, who promptly stopped in front of him. "State your name and purpose."
"Of course, handsome," the redheaded woman said with a tender smile, making Shikamaru blush. "My name is Mei Terumi, leader of the Kirigakure Liberation Movement. As for why I'm here, I wish to have an audience with your Hokage, if it's not asking much."
Author's Note: Yep, this new arc will cover the Kirigakure Civil War! Props to...well, nobody in particular, since nobody guessed it. Then again, I didn't leave any kind of clue asfor what this arc would be about. And as you can expect, this arc will focus on Zabuza and to a lesser extent Haku.
I hope you liked the Sasuke vs Neji fight during the first half. It's my delayed apology for the admitedly lackluster match they had in the Chunin Exams preliminaries. I hope I made Neji justice with his new abilities. I mean, in canon we only saw the Celestial Gates applied to normal taijutsu, so I wondered how other arts, such as the Gentle Fist or Ninjutsu would benefit from the boost granted by the gates.
Like I said in the secondary title, I want to flesh out the other villages before the Five Kage Summit/Fourth Ninja War begins. I'll flesh out Suna way more during the Gaara Resuce Arc, and I have other arcs that will focus on Taki and Kumo. I'm still planning how to bring Iwa into the forefront without disrupting the flow of the story too much. The hardest part is that Iwa is the village with the least amount of canon characters to use, and i'm very reticent to add even more OCs.
Thanks a lot to gio08 for betareading this chapter.
Anyway, hope you liked this chapter, as well as the arc that is to come, and don't forget to review! Reviews make me really, really, really happy!