Author Notes:

Dark and Alive Minato, Minato fans beware.

Alive Kushina.

Darker Naruto.

Original Characters x Established Characters

Chapter 3: The Mental Game

After a month of D ranked missions, all of Team 13 was itching for something better, something that was more challenging. Naruko had tried for a while to get to know the enigma that was Naruto Uzumaki. Even when she would go over to the Uzumaki Clan residence for her private training with Kushina. She had been very persistent for quite some time at this point to get to know the young man but to no avail thus far. Since when she would show up he typically retreated to his room and did his best to avoid her. She had even asked Kushina for something that would help her kind of break the ice..

'Naruko stood there panting heavily, feeling sweat coming from places that she didn't even know produced sweat. She never expected these private sessions to be this hard for her, maybe he was right, perhaps she did live a somewhat spoiled life. She looked up at Kushina to see the disapproving look that she was being given. Kushina shook her head as she looked at Naruko, "You're already tuckered out Naruko? That isn't even a warm up for Naruto, barely even light stretching for him."

The young woman stood up straight while looking at her sensei, taking a deep breath, "Naruto... is there any way that I can get closer to him Kushina-san? We are teammates and everything but he doesn't seem to want to do anything with... well... anyone really."

Kushina looked at the girl, softly biting her lower lip while debating mentally about this. Naruko didn't know about the fact she was Naruto's half sister. She didn't know how much the boy truly hated their father, though most people knew he had a VERY strong disliking of the Yondaime. Everyone seemed to sum it up to the obsession the man use to have with Kushina. Releasing her lip she then let out a heavy sigh, "Nothing that you care about coincides with Naruto's. He cares for few things, and what they are is not something that you care about or want to know about."

Looking at her with confused and curious eyes, it was becoming more and more clear that the girl wanted to know about him. The whole dark and mysterious thing was driving her insane. Kushina knew that the girl was becoming too curious for her own good though, she was hoping to steer her away if only a little. If the girl had any sense then she would know to keep away from Naruto, but she was her sensei and knew that wasn't really something that was going to happen. The red head was worried that her son was getting lost further and further into his own darkness and obsession to kill Minato.

The red headed Uzumaki sighed again then looked at her pupil, "Okay Naruko, let's go again. If within the next couple months you are able to improve drastically, and I do mean DRASTICALLY, I will do what I can about getting Naruto to train with you. That may be a way to get him to open up a little bit, though I make no guarantees that it will work."

The girl nodded her head happily, then went back to training with Kushina with a new found vigor. This was something that the elder kunoichi definitely took notice of as well. She had yet to impress Kushina to the point that she got to train with Naruto except in team training. During that time he usually only did taijutsu and weapons training with Asuma. The two had a discussion at the start of their team and had come to the agreement that when they practiced ninjutsu he was permitted to train on his own elsewhere.'

Naruko sighed as they sat outside the Hokage's office to get their next mission. Team 7 was in there getting their mission at the moment, after that it would be there turn. Though unfortunately, every time they went in there they left with an irate blond Uzumaki. She didn't understand it but her father would make little comments that, though to her they seemed meaningless, but would make Naruto extremely upset. Their sensei would glare at her father then he would grip Naruto's shoulder, seeming to be an attempt to keep him calm like state, though not truly calm.

The young blond woman looked over at the other blond on their team. He already looked irritated about the fact that they were here which was probably going to be an issue. The large white door opened as a silver haired jounin came out with Sasuke Uchiha, Kiba Inuzuka and Sakura Haruno behind him. Kiba did what Kiba always did, giving her a not so subtle wink at her making her roll her eyes. Sasuke glared at Naruto like he always did, though the blond Uzumaki just flat out ignored him. Apparently the Uchiha saw Naruto as a rival while Naruto seemed to mainly just see him as a nuisance. Sakura just kind of stared at Sasuke with this weird form of admiration. To be honest Naruko never understood what all these people saw in Sasuke, he was always so self centered and arrogant.

Turning her attention back to the doors, she saw as her mother came out of the office and greet them all with a kindhearted smile., "Team 13, please come on in. The Yondaime is ready for you all."

Everyone stood except for Naruto who was glaring at the door. Asuma looked over at him, "Naruto, you have to physically come into the office. Just stay in the back and ignore him, don't let him beat you mentally."

The blond teen just looked at Asuma for a second, clearly unhappy with the idea. In the end though he wordlessly stood up and moved into the office with the rest of his team. Naruto stood in the back of the office as the rest of Team 13 stood at attention in front of Minato. The Yondaimes eyes scanned over them then focused on his bastard in the back of the room. There he saw the familiar scorn of hatred in Naruto's eyes making him smirk as it always did, bringing him a sick sense of pride. His wife stood off on the side with a disapproving look as Minato continued to stare at the young man, "All of Team 13 needs to be at attention in front of me and be the respectful subordinate you should be. It seems though, that you are lacking someone in this lineup Asuma."

The teen in the back just glared then pushed himself off of the wall to come stand next to Naruko. Minato smiled at him, "Isn't that better Naruto, you should always show respect to the Hokage. Like I said at the graduation ceremony a month ago, it's almost like I am a father to you as the Hokage. You respect your father right? Oh shoot, sorry about that..."

Naruto clenched his fists as he stared at him before his almost trademark sinister smile appeared, "You should be happy I am not your son since when I get stronger I am going to kill whoever my father is."

The Yondaime stared at him then let out a rather loud laugh, "Oh really? Just how are you going to do that Naruto?"

The teen just laughed, "I have my ways, I have gifts from both of my parents that are more than anyone can fathom. He best be ready when the time comes, because when his day of reckoning is upon him, I at least want a challenge."

Staring at him for a moment, wondering if there was a bluff there Minato smirked. After a moment of contemplation he let out another chuckle, "That's interesting Naruto, does your mother know about this dream of yours?"

Said teen just nodded his head, "She does and she isn't going to do anything to try and stop me. If I didn't know better then I would think that she actually supports me as well as hopes I succeed. I mean after all, I may be the bastard son but we all really know who the bastard is in that scenario."

Minato looked straight at him, no longer smirking after the shot from Naruto, "Hmm.. well I know that if you were actually my son and were plotting such a thing I would tell you that if you try I will put you in the ground, and that I will be merciless."

They both just glared at each other before Naruto unclenched his fist as he just stood there silently. Asuma looked at the boy then back at Minato who had a victorious smirk on his face, "Asuma I believe that it is time to truly test your team with a C Ranked Mission, don't you agree?"

The Sarutobi nodded his head, followed by Minato tossing him a scroll with mission details. Minato's eyes shifted a pointed gaze on his daughter, "Naruko, you will do good on this mission. I have been gracious enough to let you train with Kushina despite her reputation as a whore..."

Minato looked over at Naruto who now had crimson eyes with balled fists. That confident smirk returned to the Yondaime's face, "... prove to me I was not mistaken in letting you do that."

His daughter nodded her head, though she didn't appreciate her father calling Kushina a whore. The Uzumaki Matriarch had been nothing but kind to her throughout their entire time together. Everyone turned to leave the office, everyone but Naruto that is. He just kept staring then Asuma went to touch his shoulder. Naruto grabbed the mans wrist and not realizing how truly angry he was, broke it. He just glared at Asuma with crimson eyes as the man cringed in pain, "Do NOT touch me without my permission!"

When he released Asumas wrist he turned and walked out of the Yondaime's office. Shikamaru had rushed to try and help Asuma but Naruko had seen the crimson eyes Naruto had showing as he left. She looked back over at her father, his smile didn't look like it could get any bigger. Asuma on the other hand shunshined to the hospital so that he could get a quick fix on his wrist, not wanting to impede the mission for his genin. Unfortunately while he was there the doctor informed him his right hand would have to be in a cast for a couple of days. Apparently there was some sort of malicious chakra left over that was affecting his mystic palm technique.

Naruto on the other hand just arrived back at the Uzumaki compound and slammed the front door hard enough to startle Kushina. She had been happily reading on the couch prior to her sons abrupt entry into the home. She could feel the KI leaking off of Naruto, "Sweetie... whats wrong?"

He was still so infuriated that he had begun to shake with anger, his eyes still crimson, wave after wave of anger pouring out of him. Kushina looked at his eyes before coming over to him, "What did he do?"

Continuing to just stand there, his anger still obvious as it seemed to be dominating his body, "He called you a whore."

Kushina looked at her son then gave a small sigh, "Sweetheart, you have to stop letting him get to you. You have to be able to beat him in the mental arena as well as the physical arena Naruto. He is strong physically but he has a strong resolve as well if he gets in your head he will win."

He just looked at her before his eyes slowly turned back from crimson to azure. He stared at his mother for a bit then nodded and headed to his room to grab his gear for his mission. When he had everything he came and gave Kushina a kiss on the cheek, "Thanks Kaa-san, I should be back in a couple of days."

She nodded her head before he left the house, starting his trek to the gate to meet with his team, trying to get to a somewhat calm state while heading there. He also knew that he needed to apologize to Asuma, that was if his sensei was there and there wasn't going to be a fill in. Since his temper had flared the way it did he had hurt someone that had never hurt him, someone that he didn't mean to hurt. That made him feel like he was actually Minato's son. It was a feeling that made him feel like vomiting to be completely honest, the only relation he wanted from that man was the Storm Release.

Naruto arrived last for their team, though that wasn't all that surprising given his talk with his Kaa-san. Judging by how long they appeared to have been standing there though the talk clearly took more time then originally believed. Naruto also noted that Asuma was there, though his wrist was in a cast. Naruto walked up to his team then looked at Asuma, "I am sorry about that Asuma-sensei... I don't have the best control over my anger still."

The bearded Sarutobi nodded his head at him, "It's fine Naruto, regardless of it all I shouldn't have tried to move you while you were... out of control. Just next time I try to help let me keep my wrist in operation, doctor says I can't use my wrist for at least a couple of days because of some special chakra residue that is still in there."

Naruto looked at him then nodded his head before stepping in front of where his teammates could see. His eyes turned crimson then he touched Asuma's wrist absorbing the remaining Kyuubi chakra. Naruto's eyes turned back to azure then looked at Asuma, "Sorry again sensei."

Asuma nodded his head then motioned for his team to start through the gate. As they headed along the path Asuma looked at his team, "Okay, our mission shouldn't be to hard. We are just going to the Land of Tea to get a message from their Daimyou. After that it's straight back to Konohagakure."

The blond teen girl on the team looked over at Asuma, "Why is this a C Ranked Mission? It seems so simple."

Her sensei just smiled at her curiosity, "C Ranks aren't usually too difficult Naruko, especially if the mission is able to be given to a genin squad. Officially a C ranked mission runs the risk of being harmed, though it's not too high. Since there is always the chance of foreign ninja becoming involved with foreign countries something outside the border of the Land of Fire will typically be at least C ranked."

The lazy genius on their team then spoke up, "Tea Country doesn't have a shinobi village. This just seems like a very troublesome walk to me."

That made their sensei laugh then, shocking everyone that was there, the other genin on their team spoke up, "If there is no shinobi village it makes it a better safe haven for those who have fled their villages. Less chance of recognition, on the flip side bounty hunters would probably be higher there. Bounty hunters often have egos that exceed their skills though so it makes sense that foreign ninja would be there. Now you're a foreign ninja with a skill set that is best suited for killing, assassination and infiltration since they are the basis of our field. What is left for you to be?"

Naruko spoke up, "Police or criminal."

That made him nod his head, "Which one pays more?"

The black haired genius spoke up again after a long sigh, "Criminal... damn you and your reasoning Naruto. Besides, why do you have that so thought out anyways?"

The blond boy shot Shikamaru a glance before looking forward, "No reason."

Asuma was watching Naruto carefully, 'So that is where you plan to run to if you can kill Minato huh Naruto?'

Elsewhere in the Land of Fire...

Two people stood in the shadows then one of them spoke up, "So... this is where we are suppose to be meeting him huh?"

The other figure nodded, "Yes, he said that he would be here around noon."

The first figure gave a long sigh, "To bad that it is already one huh sempai?"

He shook his head, "Well... he's always had a problem with being punctual."

The other nodded, "That or his pervert senses were tingling and he could sense an onsen in the area. If that is the case then he will show up tomorrow sometime, he falls down on things if he gets one of his feelings."

Suddenly a white haired man was behind them, "You know, I expected more respect from my pupils."

Both of the figures gave a quick bow to the man, "Sorry Jiraiya-sensei."

Jiraiya nodded his head at them, "Alright, alright, enough of that, there is a reason I called you both here after all. It just so happens that I have a long term mission for the both of you."

They looked at one another then back at him, neither of them missing the devious smile that he had, "You will be going to Konohagakure."

The first figure let out a long groan, "FUCK!"