Empty

by zzzgnas

There is nothing worse in the world than the feeling of complete and utter helplessness. That empty feeling you get when you've lost everything and you know there's absolutely nothing you can do about it. Uzumaki Naruto was four when he experienced this feeling for the first time. And from then on... nothing had gone right... Strong! Naruto. Third Ninja War Timeline.

15. Chapter 15 - Preemptive Strike

Chapter-15

Preemptive Strike

"Absolute power corrupts absolutely."

Unknown Location: Day 5

Akihiro smiled as he noticed the Iwa jonin walk into the clearing. He had no idea what he was walking into. It didn't matter how skilled he was. Here, in his playground, he was nothing. He would die in an instant if he wished for it. He was the best at the 'game' after all…

The thought brought him back to a long time ago before everything went wrong. A time when he was appreciated by friends and family as a courageous warrior and fierce fighter, rather than just one of the few people who returned alive from the disastrous mission to Kiriniku.

It all started out as a game… Growing up in the dense jungles that filled the Land of Grass, there was never a lot of space for them to run around and play, as kids. So they didn't run. They climbed. The objective of the 'game' they played when they were very young was to stay hidden in trees and drop down on your friends as sneakily as possible. If you get the drop on them, you get a point. If they manage to sense you in any way and avoid you touching them, they get a point. Simple isn't it…

It stayed with them throughout their childhood. As they grew up, the game evolved with them. They started adding more rules. Soon, it was played in groups. Of three. That's how he met his teammates all those years ago. The three of them formed the best team in the game, even able to defeat the kids older than them. When they became Shinobi, their cohesion and trust was something that simply could not be overlooked. They were put in the same squad.

That's when they learned genjutsu. And how it could be used to hide in trees. And every kill they made gave them that same exact pleasure that they used to get when they won the game as kids. It was almost an addiction. That's why their mission at Kiriniku was perfect. They would get to do it and no one would ever know.

And that was why he still couldn't reconcile what happened that day. Those purple flames still troubled his sleep. Uzumaki Naruto… How a genin managed to pull that off, he would never know… Nor would he know how that confrontation came to be in the first place. They weren't supposed to realize anything was wrong. The moment the signal went up they should've run. They stood no chance against Konoha Jonin.

In a way, the purple flames that blocked his way was the thing that saved him. Otherwise, he would've met the same end as his friends…

But returning home as one of the few survivors of that massacre? He was met with simple and utter indifference. It's like they never even thought it would end any other way.

When Konoha won the previous war, Kusa rolled over and accepted the alliance which favored Konoha by a large margin. When Iwa started pressuring them into moving against Konoha, they just did what they were told. It was a hard realization to get accustomed to. The fact that the home you grew up in was just a stepping stone in someone else's powerplay.

Tch.

It made him so angry. Angry enough to set up an ambush for Iwa's ambassador. He smiled as he watched the man get closer and closer to his position. This far away from Kusa, it would never blow back on his village. They were practically at the border.

As the man passed, he slowly crept behind him. His kunai, already drawn, his genjutsu slowly fell. Akihiro smiled again. At this range, even if he made noise, there would be no escape.

CLANG.

"Huh?"

Midori turned around in confusion at the loud clang that echoed through the forest. He found a stunned Kusa ninja holding a broken kunai in his hands.

Faster than he could blink, Akihiro was on the ground.

The man smirked. "I was wondering how I was going to get a hold of some poor schmuck from your village and you just dropped right into my hands, didn't you?"

Akihiro was speechless as he finally realized who Iwa had sent as their ambassador. Midori, the steel guardian of Iwa.

Midori frowned at the panic in the Kusa-nin's eyes and took a step back. "Hey, hey. No need to worry. I'm not gonna kill you or anything." He stepped back, allowing Akihiro to get up. Midori yanked the broken kunai out of his hand and threw it aside. "Now… I have to admit. You did get the drop on me. But really? A kunai? I'm not called the "steel guardian" for nothing. Did you really think I'll leave myself unprotected in enemy territory?"

Akihiro desperately looked around for a way to escape but the moment he broke gaze with Midori a powerful fist crashed into his face, sending him flying into the same tree he'd come out of.

Midori patiently waited for his assailant to come back to his senses which took some time considering the steady flow of blood down the right side of his face.

Akihiro was done, plain and simple. One blow was all it took. The thing about the game was that there were no real consequences for losing, unlike now. The consequences were very much real.

Akihiro coughed. "Finish me off." he croaked out. "What are you waiting for?"

His eyes going in and out of focus were able to see the concerned look on his enemy's face. Whatever he was expecting, it wasn't for that concerned look to turn into a relieved one.

"I was worried I hurt you too much." Midori sighed and then sighed again after a few moments. "Although, it is good that I didn't hold back. There's no more room for hesitation. Not while he survives. Not while a fragment of their power exists in real life. My father… My father cannot be reasoned with. Onoki of the Twin Scales, my ass. He just pretends to take his time before making the decision he's already made in his mind. He just does not listen to what I say is going to happen."

The Kusa ninja spat up blood, stopping Midori's rant and bringing his attention back to the matter at hand. Akihiro almost shuddered at the look Midori gave him.

"Uzumaki Naruto is the single largest threat to my village. To my family. Hell, even to you, now that you're Konoha's enemy. He is not to be underestimated. His age does not matter, his looks do not matter, his rank does not matter. All that matters is that he's alive, despite the odds stacked against him, despite all the trouble the combined might of Iwa, Kiri and Kumo went through to end that accursed race, and despite all the sacrifices we've had to make towards that end… He's still alive…"

The moment the name was spoken, everything else left Akihiro's mind. Uzumaki Naruto… The genin that killed his friends… It seemed that the man in front of him had some unfinished business with the little shit. He could relate to that… And from the way he was relieved when he realized his attack didn't cause any lasting damage, it was apparent that he had some plan to put that brat into an early grave.

"Where do I fit in? In all this?"

Midori's eyes widened at the abrupt question, but from his determined expression, Midori was once again reminded of the fact that despite his young age, Naruto Uzumaki had a lot of enemies.

"There is a plan in motion. We don't know when it will come to fruition. The boy's MIA, but I'm certain he's alive. But the situation provides us with time. There are things that must happen before the plan can proceed. Primarily, we need a way to trap him, which is where you come in."

Midori spoke stoically in his monotone voice, but Akihiro hung on to every word. He had tried to ignite his fellow jonin to get revenge against Konoha, or more specifically, Uzumaki Naruto, but it all failed. He'd almost given up on revenge when a way showed itself.

When all was said and done, Akihiro stood up, his vision still blurry, but his face had the widest smirk he remembered giving. They shook hands firmly. With a final nod to each other, they went their separate ways, both of them now one step closer to their goal.

Konoha General Hospital, Day 6

Homura stared impassively at the bed where his oldest friend lay. She was barely breathing, her chest painfully heaving and falling every few moments. The damage she suffered was vast. The sounds of her weak existence hurt him. The fact that she had taken the brunt of the explosion for him did not escape him. He should have known she would do something like that. After all, he would've done the same for her in her place. She was actually the only one completely connected to the barriers around Konoha, which was why she was the one who saw the attack coming. He had no clue…

No fucking clue.

Homura glared up at the ceiling in anger. How could he have been that useless in that encounter? He could've done a million things differently and every single thing would've helped Konoha more than what he ended up doing. Well… He did save Koharu…

It was what he did after that was wrong. He'd given into the panic. It was the first time in their entire friendship that he'd ever seen her in that state. Barely breathing, bleeding out of every inch of her body. It was luck, pure luck that Irene Kurama happened to be in those tunnels. How she ended up in the tunnels with half her body burnt to a crisp was beyond him. But the damage Koharu had suffered that day couldn't be fully healed by someone like Irene. Her whole body had been broken, bent and burnt. Although it was because of the immediate medical treatment she administered that she still survived. For some definitions of the word. Tsunade did not hold high hopes regarding her recovery. She had even less hopes about her ever regaining the ability to move, considering the damage to her spine.

He still remembered clearly, to the letter, what Akira told him that day. It made him feel… helpless. More so than any other time he remembered.

He was angry… initially. But then he recognized the truth in what he said. He should've given chase the moment Koharu was in Irene's hands. He couldn't contribute anything there anyway.

It was a good thing the new T&I recruit got to the root of who launched the attack. If he hadn't, the Hokage would've been far more displeased with him now.

It all made him feel so useless. How fucking stupid can one person be? His fists clenched in a rarely seen outward display of emotion. His eyes burned with an increasingly terrifying glint.

It took him a long time to calm down. A long, long time. And when he finally did, he saw the pitch black eyes of his oldest friend staring right back at him, a clear stream of tears falling down her face.

Kirigakure, With Zabuza, Day 7

Zabuza Momoichi was a famous name. Everyone knew him as the one who won a 'bloody' genin exam without having a shred of training. People expected a lot from him. Even when he was just a genin, he had accompanied Mizumo Kaguya to meetings with the other islands' leaders. But his recent demotion had made him an outcast among the higher-ups. That was why he was very surprised when he was called in to meet with the Mizukage in One Island.

Apparently, there was going to be a tournament between the five great villages and only genin were allowed to participate. Being a jonin turned genin, he was an obvious choice for a candidate. The Mizukage seemed bored with the entire thing. He had a very dismissive attitude, not just to Zabuza but with the other candidate present.

Raiga Kurosuki, soon-to-be the wielder of the Kiba thunder-swords. He was a very promising candidate to become one of the seven ninja swordsmen of the mist but he was somehow still a genin. Not that he could say anything about that. He was a member and still a genin himself.

Together, the two of them were the two strongest genin in all the six islands. Which was why they were both selected. The Mizukage informed them that they needed four more genin for the tournament and they were free to select whoever they wanted.

Zabuza managed to convince Raiga to let him handle the other candidates, saying he had a few people in mind already. Raiga accepted easily. It's not like he wanted the troublesome job.

Zabuza finally made it to the shabby house where they all stayed. Gozu and Meizu were out on a mission and he didn't know if Mei was done with hers yet. The others should be here. Exactly 4 people.

"Oy. Get your asses down here. Important mission. Need you guys to be my team."

Not a sound was heard. Zabuza sighed. Now that he wasn't one of the candidates in the running to become the next leader of Four Island, he didn't get even a little bit of the respect he used to. Not that he used to get any respect before from any of the people that lived with him.

"It concerns Naruto. Now get your asses down here or I'll find other people."

Zabuza smirked when the silence was broken almost immediately. He heard the footsteps of people walking around upstairs. No matter how hard they tried, they couldn't stay still if it was a matter concerning Uzumaki Naruto.

As he expected, Haku was the first person who appeared, followed by Mei. Apparently, she was done with her mission. Soon, Mangetsu, Akane and Yagura had also appeared.

"What is this about? I was having my afternoon nap." Akane groaned, arching her back. Yagura blushed seeing her in her sleepwear but no one else minded her.

"There's going to be some sort of tournament in the Iron Country in which the five major villages are supposed to take part. Each village is supposed to send two genin teams to compete." Zabuza announced.

Mei frowned. "This is supposed to be very secret information. How did you know?"

Zabuza was taken aback. "You know?"

"Yeah." Mei nodded. "It's my next mission. I'm supposed to be accompanying the daimyo during the tournament."

"Well. Mizukage-sama wants me to be one of the "genin" taking part. Along with Raiga. You know, the one about to become a member of the Swordsmen. He told us to select four others before the tournament." Zabuza explained.

Understanding dawned on Mangetsu's face. If Naruto was in the Konoha team, they could get a chance to meet him again. But Zabuza noticed that the others still hadn't caught on.

"What are the selection criteria? Surely the Mizukage has thought of sending jonin shinobi disguised as genin? Why are we even being considered?" Haku asked in her monotone voice.

Zabuza sighed. "All he asked me to do was to take four random shinobi that weren't known to be above genin. I just thought you guys would want to come. I need four people and it just so happens that there are four genin shinobi here. If Naruto is on the Konoha team, this could be the perfect chance to meet him again. Or maybe even convince him to come with us. Jonin-senseis aren't allowed to accompany them."

Mangetsu and Akane nodded while Haku just looked ahead. Yagura voiced the obvious question. "There's no guarantee that Naruto will be there. He's still missing, isn't he?"

Everyone looked toward Mei. "Last I checked, yeah. Our spies in Konoha haven't reported his return and the bounty still hasn't been cashed in yet. So he's still MIA."

"When are we leaving?" Akane asked.

Zabuza looked at the others who just nodded at him. "The tournament has two phases. A preliminary stage and then the actual tournament. The preliminaries will start three months from now."

He wasn't prepared for the boot that slammed into his face. "Bastard. You could've let me sleep." Akane yelled at him as she made her way back upstairs.

The others laughed a bit at his expense but Zabuza saw their determined expressions. They were already excited at the prospect of meeting him again.

Konoha Council Chambers, Day 10

Orochimaru looked around the room again… Where was he? He'd been trying to meet with him for the last 10 days. Minato was better than he expected at avoiding him.

He sighed. That look he had on his face that day… Orochimaru had only ever seen one other person look as angry as Minato did that day and he was currently lying in a bed in Konoha General Hospital, fucked up beyond all recognition. He knew Minato would figure out that Hiruzen was simply trying to delay him. He didn't imagine it would be so soon. He also didn't think he'd be this angry because of it.

He was aware of how Minato had gone to the Hokage's house in the dead of the night, the day Kushina found out about Naruto. He knew of the promise he'd made then. No. Not a promise. A declaration. "When I'm Hokage, no one will have to fight for their survival inside this village."

He also knew by now that Minato Namikaze was not someone to be fucked with. That expression that he had that day… It cemented this fact in his mind. But he still wanted to know. He wanted to know what he planned.

The doors opened suddenly and everyone turned to see that it was the Hokage and his advisors. Nara Shikaku came in behind them, a fact that people were already becoming accustomed to.

Orochimaru frowned. It was going to start now. Where was he? Where was Minato?

Shikaku stepped forward once everyone had become silent. "We have considered the inputs of all the jonin senseis and we've come to a decision regarding which teams will compete a month from now."

The gathered jonin shuffled nervously. While it was an honor for them if their genin team represented Konoha at a venue as large as this, it was a suicide mission for the genin. Or at least some of them. It seemed killing was not only allowed but encouraged.

"The first is Team 7 under Minato Namikaze. It consists of Kakashi Hatake, Rin Nohara and Obito Uchiha."

The declaration was met with stony silence. This team being one of the four was no surprise. That was a fact. The only reaction from the crowd was some people turning their heads, searching for their jounin sensei.

"The second team is Team 4 under Hyuuga Hiashi, consisting of Asuma Sarutobi, Kurenai Yuhi and Yashiro Uchiha."

This was met with some cheers from the civilian side of the council. Orochimaru sighed. He didn't know why they were even there.

"The third team is Team 17 under Chouza Akimichi, consisting of Might Guy, Aoba Yamashiro and Shiranui Genma."

Orochimaru blinked in surprise when Shikaku looked up from the sheet of paper in his hand and met his eyes. And then Shikaku gulped.

"The final team is Team 19 under Yamanaka Shito. It consists of Namiashi Raido, Tatami Iwashi, Nara Ensui."

Orochimaru frowned when no one protested. He looked at the Hokage and saw that Hiruzen Sarutobi kept looking straight ahead, not willing to meet his eyes. Why was he doing this?

Over the years, Orochimaru had realized a lot of things about his sensei. And one of those things was that when it came to protecting the village, Hiruzen Sarutobi was not a slouch. Whatever disgusting thing he had to order, if it was for the good of the village, he would do it. Orochimaru was someone who knew it firsthand because he got the missions that Hiruzen knew would never be accepted by the likes of Jiraiya or Tsunade. Moreover, when it came to protecting the village, Orochimaru always trusted Hiruzen to make the right call. Here, in this situation, this was undoubtedly the wrong call.

This was the worst thing he could possibly do. It was almost like he wanted to lose this tournament. Orochimaru paused… What if that was indeed the goal? His eyes went to Shimura Danzo and he noticed the man tapping his foot impatiently. Shimura Danzo… was tapping his foot… And apparently no one else noticed other than him… And the Hokage, considering the twitch in his eye.

He smirked even though he knew what he was about to do was probably going to get him an earful from almost everyone who, in any way, knew Naruto. 'Fine. I'll do it.'

"Really? Who here has ever heard of the three genin under Yamanaka Shito?" Orochimaru asked, standing up. "How are you all just accepting this? Do you all want to lose? The choice is obvious. My team should be in there. My team. The team that survived a confrontation against three jonin from Amegakure. The team that escaped from Sanshou no Hanzo. The team that saved countless lives during the silent dispatch."

The gathered shinobi looked at each other nervously. This wasn't someone that usually happened in the council. Anyone with something in his brain would realize that this was a decision already made by the Hokage and his advisors. Shikaku was just the messenger. And no one would actually take a stance against the Hokage this publicly.

"I agree."

Orochimaru met the eyes of Tsume Inuzuka, someone who he had never officially even met before.

Tsume stood from her seat as the Inuzuka clan head. "He's 11 and in the bingo book for fuck's sake. How are we not sending him? Do you remember the rumors about him the day he became genin? He dispelled Orochimaru-sama's strongest summon. This is a genin that's been acknowledged by Sanshou no Hanzo of all people. How are we not sending him into this competition?"

By the end, there were several others nodding along. Why wouldn't they? Uzumaki Naruto had accomplished more in his half year as a genin under Orochimaru than most of them had accomplished in their lives. It was downright stupid to not send him in to this "competition".

"In case none of you have noticed, Uzumaki Naruto is incapacitated. And by Tsunade's estimations, he will remain so for close to three months. That puts the matter to rest, does it not?"

Silence met Homura's question.

And it remained silent till Tsume Inuzuka sat back down, shrugging.

"But if the boy wakes up? If he wakes up, then it's undoubtedly best to send him in. If we want to win, that is." Shimura Danzo spoke calmly and Orochimaru smiled when no one said anything in reply. Not even the Hokage.

Konoha General Hospital, Day 18.

Naruto slowly opened his eyes, the bright light blinding him temporarily. His hands instinctively came up to shield his eyes from the light. He wasn't feeling hungry anymore. And he didn't feel as weak as he remembered being. Someone had been taking care of him.

It made sense. He wouldn't be alive otherwise.

His eyes had now gotten used to the light and he easily realized his surroundings. He was in the hospital. Reaching out with his senses, he noticed the presence of four of the most important people in his life. He guessed Mikoto-sensei was away on a mission or something. Kushina and Yugao were in the room, both of them with their heads down, dozing off. He could sense Anko and Yuna outside. They probably didn't want to disturb the others' sleep.

His eyes lingered on Yugao and Kushina. He didn't know how much time had passed, but he realized that they were sure to eventually meet. Even if he'd been gone, at least they had each other. Hopefully, when his sister was called away, Hayate and his mom had taken care of Yugao. He didn't want her to be alone any longer than she had to be.

His throat felt a bit dry and he spotted a water jug on the table a few feet away from him. He removed some medical appliances attached to his body, wincing as he removed some that had needles. But the moment his foot touched the floor, he felt the chakra of a barrier seal washing over him. It didn't feel like anything malicious, more like a proximity seal used in alarms and security seals. But despite there being no danger, he still felt annoyed that he hadn't noticed it.

Uzumaki Kushina was now awake, her hand over her mouth in surprise. "You're not supposed to be awake yet." Kushina said as she rushed over to wrap him in a hug.

Naruto winced as he leaned into the hug. He was not fully healed yet and his chest felt sore. Pfft. If sore was all he was feeling, he was lucky. He remembered the hit he'd taken. He shouldn't even be alive. "What happened? How did I get here? How am I still alive?"

Kushina relaxed the hug and wiped her eyes. "You were found in the Land of Rice Fields, bleeding out and nearly dead. Minato found you."

Naruto frowned. "I don't remember him arriving. But if I survived, he must have arrived pretty soon after I passed out."

"Naruto, why did you pass out? Who did this to you?" Kushina promptly asked. Minato had reported finding him alone in the clearing. Nobody in sight and no traces of any other chakra presences.

Naruto was about to reply but his teammates at the door chose that moment to come in. "Hey!" Naruto spoke calmly, unaware of the torrent of emotions that his teammates were going through.

Yuna was the first to break out of her surprise. She ran forward and hugged him tightly, making his ribs hurt. But he didn't mind because he saw Anko was just behind her. If even Anko was running forward to hug him, they both must have been very worried.

Anko didn't wait for Yuna to break the hug, wrapping them both in one. Kushina met his eyes and gave him a strained smile. They would talk later.

"Naruto, how could you be so reckless. We were so worried." Yuna spoke, her voice breaking.

Naruto said nothing. "I wasn't thinking. I just saw sensei on his knees and my body just moved on its own."

Anko relaxed the hug first. "Who did this to you? You look like shit. Better than when you arrived, but still pretty bad."

"It doesn't matter. I killed him. He won't be bothering anyone again."

They nodded. Maybe he wasn't ready to relive the traumatic experience. He would tell them after some time to recover.

"You were starved, sob, right? Was it the same guy?" Yuna asked, her voice breaking again.

Naruto shook his head. "That was by my familiars." He moved away from them and poured himself a cup of water, gulping it down greedily. "Is Orochimaru-sensei safe?"

Yuna opened her mouth and closed it in shock. That was one of his first questions? "Yeah. He's safe. He's dealing with some council matters right now. He visits every day."

Naruto let out a breath he didn't realize he'd been holding in. "Good. That means the past two months weren't for nothing."

"You're not going to tell us anything about what happened, are you?" Anko finally asked.

Naruto shook his head. He'd gone a pretty dark route to escape both Juugo and the vultures. He didn't want them knowing that he had turned cannibal to survive. "Probably not," he replied. "Not because I don't trust you. I just don't want to think about that guy any more than I have to. I killed him. He's gone. He can't hurt me anymore."

They all went silent. Naruto was relieved that they wouldn't press him for answers now.

"What's happening here? There's a lot of commotion in the streets. Did something happen?" he asked.

They all hesitated a bit. The Hokage had announced that very morning that an inter-village competition was going to be held and the genin candidates who wished to represent their village had to register at the academy. A tournament would be held soon to select the candidates.

Also, the samurai had set up the live screens in the main stadium where exhibition matches were held sometimes. People were excited at the possibility of watching the tournament on a giant screen instead of simply staring at two miniscule figures moving at speeds they couldn't follow. The seals the Samurai claimed to have installed in the screens auto-focussed on movement, and even slowed it down sometimes when someone manually triggered that feature of the seal. There was a lot of excitement from the civilians in the village along with anyone in Konoha who knew anything about fuinjutsu.

But they didn't want to tell Naruto all that. Yuna and Anko looked at each other in worry. Now that Naruto had woken up, they would definitely take part in the tournament. Orochimaru claimed it was a decision from the higher ups, and from the village's perspective, they could see why. They would be fools to not send Naruto.

Naruto frowned at the worry in his teammates' faces. This was probably about the event that Hanzo mentioned. Hanzo had threatened him to take part in that tournament. Naruto didn't care about that at all but he somehow knew he would be taking part anyway.

"There's a tournament about to take place between the genin of the major villages to decide the outcome for this war in a bizarrely barbaric way, but with less loss of life. There's another tournament being setup here to decide who goes." Kushina finally replied, getting sharp looks from his teammates. "People are probably excited about that, placing bets, setting up stalls, etc."

…

Kirigakure was taking part… Which meant he had the chance to gain back some of his memories again. He had to take part anyway despite not caring about what Hanzo wanted.

Naruto nodded. "Does that mean we're taking part?" he asked plainly.

Yuna understood what was going through Naruto's head. "Now that you've woken up, you're allowed to take part if you want to. Or at least that's what Orochimaru-sensei said."

Naruto clicked his tongue in frustration. Even if he was in bad shape, this was a chance for him to get answers. Real answers, now that he knew Zabuza was telling him the truth.

"Oh! You're awake."

Orochimaru walked into the room and Naruto immediately noticed Kushina's expression of anger. What was that about?

"The tournament starts a month from now, if they haven't already told you. You 3 will be part of the 12 shortlisted genin. Make sure you're ready by then."

Yuna looked at the sannin incredulously. Not even a thank you for saving his life from Hanzo? Her surprise just doubled when Naruto simply nodded as if that was what he expected.

Kushina on the other hand was not that accepting of Orochimaru's command. "He hasn't even agreed to take part yet."

Orochimaru frowned. It seemed Kushina still blamed him for the shape Naruto was in. After all, he was the one who prevented Minato from rescuing the boy as soon as he popped back to this realm. Then again, if he hadn't done that, they would be at war right now. So… He would just have to deal with Kushina's anger.

"I only have the best interests of the village at heart. A loss at the chunin exams would be much more devastating than if we continued the war. Our only guarantee is that Kakashi will pass the preliminaries because he's already way past genin levels. It makes sense that the guy who beat him in a spar should go as well." Orochimaru met Naruto's eyes and they grinned simultaneously. "Besides, the brat wants to go as well."

Yuna and Kushina snapped back to the injured redhead, their indignant expressions leaving no doubt that they disapproved.

Naruto shrugged. "Kiri will be there. It's my chance to get some more answers out of them. Zabuza will probably be there considering he's a genin now who is already jonin-level."

Orochimaru's eyes widened. "A jonin-level Kiri-nin… Well, that settles it then. Kiri will win the tournament."

Kushina couldn't help but nod. She'd had her fair share of run-ins with the elusive ninja from the bloody mist. Ameyuri Ringo was the most fearsome opponent she had ever faced. And this was coming from someone who had just faced a fully-transformed tailed beast. No matter what the other villages said or did, this was always going to be an undisputed fact. Kirigakure shinobi were top-tier. They were trained to be leagues ahead of the other villages.

Anko was furious at Naruto. He was going to put himself in danger again? For what? For answers about his past? They were all right there with him now. Now. Why couldn't he see that?

Yuna just sighed. "Why do we have to take part? It's obvious why Naruto has to go. But why do we need to? Asuma or Guy would do much better in our place."

Orochimaru looked at the two genin he'd been rigorously training for the past two months. It seemed they were still unsure of themselves. "If this… 'competition' was in any way a team event, I would agree with you. They would be a better fit because they've been part of a team much longer than you both have and as much as the three of you have accomplished, none of those accomplishments were a result of teamwork. And in the coming fights, we don't need arrogant brats like Asuma Sarutobi or idealistic fools like Might Guy. We need hardened killers… Like Naruto and yourselves."

Both Anko and Yuna flinched at his declaration. Kushina just looked at Orochimaru in confusion. "So, killing is allowed in these battles?" Orochimaru nodded. "The Hokage didn't announce that." Kushina stated.

Orochimaru shook his head. "No idea what's going through his mind."

While this was happening, Naruto slipped away from the group and walked over to where Yugao was sleeping. "I know you're awake, Yugao-chan. I can't help but notice the absence of your snores."

Naruto struggled not to laugh as Yugao tried to look at him without alerting him to the fact that she was indeed awake. After a few seconds, even she seemed to realize that it was pointless and she leapt up on the chair. "You're mean, Naruto-nii. You said only a week."

Naruto frowned at the tears that threatened to fall down her face. He wished he didn't have to explain himself, but she was the only one he had to explain himself to. "I'm sorry, Yugao-chan. I didn't mean to leave you alone."

Yugao giggled. "No silly. I wasn't alone. I'm mad about that too. Why didn't you tell me you had a sister?"

Naruto's heart leapt at the sound of her giggle. He didn't realize how much he'd missed this when he was a prisoner. Involuntary tears began to form and Naruto knew that his voice would break if he tried to speak. So he just leaned forward and wrapped her in a tight hug, uncaring about how his chest hurt when Yugao tried to snuggle in closer.

He quickly reigned in his emotions and broke the hug. "How about I take you out to eat something? I'm starving."

Yugao giggled again. "Ok, nii-san. But I want to ride on your back the whole way."

Kushina also broke away from the conversation to notice Naruto's interaction with the young girl. It was so strikingly similar to how Naruto used to act with her that she almost started crying. But she stopped herself and went to join them. She needed to hold it together. "I'll join you both. Yuna tells me you've never had ramen. I know the best place to get it.

With Naruto, Ichiraku's Ramen Shop

"What is this?" Naruto asked, confused. "It can't be this delicious and still only 200 ryo."

The shop owner just grinned at him. It was always a treat to see someone try his ramen for the first time. Their compliments always meant the most to Teuchi.

"You better believe it, Naruto. This is the reason Konoha survived getting blown to smithereens." Kushina said cheerfully.

Naruto's eyes bulged. "What? Konoha really blew up? Huh. Was this the same explosion that happened when we were in Shimogamo?"

Kushina rubbed the back of her head sheepishly. "Yeah. Some kid from Iwagakure did it."

"But I saw my apartment building on the way here. Does that mean my seals worked?" Naruto asked curiously.

Kushina smiled. "Yes Naruto. They worked. When your landlord realized that you were the reason it was still standing, he agreed to waive the rent until you came back."

Naruto smiled. "That's nice of him. What about Mikoto-sensei? Is she in the village?"

Kushina's smile disappeared. "I don't know actually. She was acting pretty weird when I last saw her. But then Minato came back with you and I was at the hospital. She didn't visit the hospital at all so she's probably on a mission."

Naruto hummed in agreement and went back to eating. After two months of eating nothing, this was delicious beyond anything he thought humanly possible, yet somehow, he still felt hungry for more. And just as that thought came to him, he pushed it back down as deep in his mind as he possibly could. As both sister and brother devoured bowl after bowl of ramen, Anko, Yuna, Yugao and Orochimaru could do nothing but sit and stare in amazement. They had eaten more than 30 bowls between them and they were still going.

Yuna leaned over to Orochimaru. "This isn't normal, is it?"

Orochimaru shrugged. "Naruto was starved for two months, Yuna. Don't be insensitive."

"What about his sister then?" Anko asked, her small voice betraying her surprise.

Orochimaru shrugged again. "I don't know. She's a freak."

"Hey, guys. What are you doing… here…"

Naruto turned around to see Rin at the entrance with a hand over her mouth and tears in her eyes. She ran forward and wrapped him in a tight hug. "Thank god you woke up. We were so worried."

Naruto didn't know what to do with chopsticks in one hand and his ramen bowl in the other. He just stared at the others in confusion. "Come on, Rin. It can't have been that bad."

He was smacked on the back of his head immediately. "Not that bad? First you go missing. Then you show up half dead. Now, when you've just woken up, you leave the hospital without asking your doctor?"

Naruto sniffed. "How do you know I didn't ask a doctor?"

Another slap hit the back of his head. "No doctor in their right mind would let you leave stupid." Rin yelled.

"Stop hitting me." Naruto yelled back.

Rin continued fussing over him while the others just looked on in amusement. They didn't stop until two new people entered the store.

"Well. At least you've recovered enough to handle Rin." Obito smirked as he entered the store.

"Obito!" Naruto exclaimed. "You seem… taller…"

Obito grinned. "Yep. I'm now taller than Kakashi-teme, even with his stupid spiky hair."

"That just means you have more reason to be embarrassed when I kick your ass, Obito." A lazy voice taunted.

"Kakashi! It's good to see you." Naruto said. "I heard what you did for me when I was unconscious. I'm grateful."

The current situation wasn't something he was familiar with, so Kakashi couldn't help but look away. "Itwasnothing!" He mumbled.

Obito laughed at his teammate's discomfort before turning back to the newly recovered Naruto. "Does this mean you'll be competing in the tournament?"

"Against our advice, yes." Anko spoke tiredly.

Rin hit Naruto again. "You can't fight so soon after that. Do you even know how injured you were when Minato-sensei found you? It's a miracle you're alive."

Naruto was about to retort angrily but he was interrupted by his sister. "She's right, you know. I'm not letting you fight unless Tsunade-sama says it's okay."

Yuna nodded at that, completely agreeing with Kushina. Rin also calmed down. Now that Naruto was reunited with his sister, she could help keep him in line. They wouldn't need to worry about his recklessness any more… Hopefully…

"Where's Minato-sensei?" Naruto asked. "I'd like to thank him personally for saving me."

Rin shrugged. "I don't know actually. He's been acting really weird lately. He said he had some stuff to take care of."

With Minato, Hokage's Chamber.

Minato could sense the discomfort in Hiruzen Sarutobi's face as soon as he walked in. He wasn't exactly happy to be there either, but he needed to know. He needed to know what he meant.

"Minato… What is it that I can help you with today?"

"Tch!" Minato was already annoyed. Then, he frowned at how easily he got annoyed. "Don't try and make it seem like you're doing me a favor by meeting with me. We both know what you tried to do that day." Seeing the blank look he received in reply, Minato just continued. "You very nearly succeeded too. If I had been even a few seconds late, he would've died. Blood filling his lungs…"

…

…

"What I don't understand is why? What was the point? If he had died, you would have to face an angry Kyuubi Jinchuriki, Konoha's Golden Flame, Orochimaru, Mikoto and myself, possibly even the rest of the newly-instated clan heads, once word gets around. Internal conflict at a time of war, possibly leading to a full-fledged civil war eventually. Making us easy pickings for the rest of the world once we destroy ourselves."

…

…

The silence was becoming unbearable, but Minato pressed on. "Are you seriously that afraid of a 11-year-old boy that you would rather destroy your own village, killing countless loyal shinobi in the process?"

Hiruzen sighed. "I'll be frank with you. You had a decision to make, boy… Listen to your Hokage, talking about what it would take if you want to succeed him in this godforsaken post… Or save your ex-girlfriend's traitorous brother and you chose th-"

"Traitorous?" Minato interrupted sharply. "How is Uzumaki Naruto in any way traitorous? He is the sole reason that Orochimaru-sama is still alive. His ingenuity is the only reason we escaped Hanzo relatively unscathed."

Hiruzen leaned forward and grabbed his pipe. "What do you want me to say, Minato? Do you not remember me talking about the hard, gut-wrenching choices you'll have to make once you reach the position you dream of reaching. Believe it or not, I actually want you to become Hokage. Because you've been the only person in over five decades to say you would do a better job."

Minato frowned. "What are you saying? Are you saying I made the wrong choice or the right one?"

Hiruzen laughed. "That's just the thing. When you're Hokage, you just make the choice. You never really know if you made the right one because in every possible scenario, shinobi die. Shinobi who you watched grow up. Some of them you still remember giving the Will of Fire speech to. Some of whose parents you watched grow up… You'll never know if you made the better choice and you'll go to sleep every day with all of these choices, all of their deaths, weighing on you."

Minato didn't know what to say to that.

"I'm tired, Minato-san. I'm tired of this job. If there was someone who I thought would do a better job, I would pass it on in an instant. You might think me a fool for making the choices I've made. With all the death I've caused, the only relief I have is that I got us through the last two wars with relatively, relatively less losses. It could've gone smoother maybe. I was probably wrong about tons of things. But if you think Uzumaki Naruto is not a threat to the village, it's not me who's the fool. And that's all you'll get out of me at this point."

Minato frowned again as the Hokage went back to his paperwork. It really did seem like that was all he would get out of him at this point. And once again, he was left with more questions than answers.

With Naruto, 30 Minutes Later.

"I can't believe you still won't go back to the hospital." Yuna huffed in frustration.

"I told you guys. I need to go see someone." Naruto turned around to face his companions and started walking backwards. "You guys are free to leave though. I'm pretty sure I'm strong enough to get to the hospital on my own."

Anko swore silently and looked at Kushina who just shrugged. "I wouldn't stay in the hospital any more than I had to be. Why should he?"

"You're just as bad as he is." Anko complained to which Kushina just grinned.

Naruto walked up to a strange house that they had never seen before. At least Yuna and Anko never had. Kushina and Yugao were very familiar with it.

CRASH.

"Akira-ojiisan. Open up." Naruto yelled.

Yugao jumped excitedly at the prospect of seeing the funny old man again. "Yeah, ojiisan."

Crash.

"Open."

Crash.

"Up."

Anko and Yuna looked at eachother. "Are they talking about Konoha's Golden Flame?"

Kushina grinned at them. "Yep. And he won't be alone inside."

The door burst open and they were faced with a very angry blonde kunoichi. A very angry, very drunk kunoichi. She was, in fact, sometimes called the strongest kunoichi in the elemental nations. And she looked pissed.

"Who the fuck let you out of the hospital?" Tsunade yelled.

Naruto slowly turned around and looked at his sister. "You knew about this, didn't you?"

Kushina nodded smugly.

"You never had any intention of letting me go back to my apartment today did you?"

"Nope. I don't know how you've been bullying these two here into letting you do whatever you want, but from now on, you're going to take care of yourself. Your sister is here to make sure of that."

Naruto sighed and turned back around. "Where's Akira-ojiisan? This is important."

An irritated voice came from inside. "What is it, brat? Can't you see we're mourning?"

Tsunade stepped aside and let them walk into the house. They immediately noticed the considerable number of empty bottles around the living room.

Akira downed the rest of what was inside his bottle and threw it to the bin in the corner. The glass bottle obviously hit the wall and broke into pieces. Naruto slowly picked Yugao up to prevent her from walking over the broken glass.

"I'm gonna regret this tomorrow." Akira groaned.

Tsunade scoffed. "Lightweight."

Naruto looked around at the older shinobi. "Don't you know some medical jutsu to sober him up?"

"Why on earth would I want to sober up?" Akira asked incredulously.

Naruto sighed. "Because this is important."

Akira appeared serious for a minute before laughing out loud. "It can wait, brat."

Naruto slowly handed Yugao off to his sister. "Kushina-nee, why don't you take Tsunade outside and ask her about whether I will be able to participate in the tournament or not?"

Kushina looked suspiciously at him but moved to do as he asked. Naruto turned to his teammates. "Why don't you go after them and list off the many reasons why I shouldn't participate?"

Yuna and Anko looked at each other and sighed. "If you wanted us out of here, you could just ask." Anko scoffed.

"When has that ever worked?" Naruto retorted.

Anko looked surprised for a moment and then she grinned. She really missed him when he was gone. Naruto was one of the few people her sass didn't work against. "Fine. We all know you'll participate anyway regardless of what Tsunade says. Just saying."

Naruto nodded and they left, following after Kushina and Tsunade. He turned to look at the older shinobi who was already asleep and snoring. Taking a deep breath, he started to calm his anger. Then he walked over and slapped him in the face as hard as he could.

Akira jerked awake and jumped back, rubbing his cheek. "What the hell brat?"

Naruto started pacing around the living area. "Tell me about Nature Chakra."

Akira's emotions immediately fled his face, leaving only a slightly surprised expression. "What- Why do you think I know anything about that?"

Naruto sat down on the couch. "I admit that I have no reason to think you'd know. But I'm sure you do. Humans don't go against Tailed Beasts and match their attacks. I sensed a different type of chakra coming off you. Something my sharingan couldn't see until it was almost too late… I saw just a hint of green. I suspect the Byakugan can't see it either. And for some reason, I don't think the others can even sense it. I didn't come into contact with it again until… Well, until Hanzo. And then a few days later, when I arrived in my familiars' territory. The place was oozing with that chakra."

Akira got up and performed a few hand seals, accelerating the alcohol processing capabilities of his system. "How are you able to sense it?"

"I don't know." Naruto snapped. "I don't care. Because after being starved by those ugly birds for two months, I finally got back to the real world. Apparently somewhere in the Land of Rice Fields. And there it was again. Another encounter with nature. His name was Juugo. He had Nature chakra as well. But unlike you, he was not in control at all. He was this blood-crazed beast with too much power in him. He caved in my entire chest with a single punch, breaking every rib."

Akira stared at him in stunned silence.

"So, tell me. What the fuck is this overpowered chakra and why is it that I'm seeing it everywhere I go. Just two months ago, I didn't know this even existed and I'm pretty sure I didn't know in my previous life either."

Akira clutched his head trying to process the information he just received. "Are you seriously telling me that there are other sages in the elemental nations?"

Naruto stared at him in shock. "You didn't know? How the fuck did you learn about that chakra anyway? Is it something anyone can just pick up? One day, you're a regular plain old shinobi, you learn about nature chakra and suddenly you're as strong as Konoha's Golden Flame?"

Akira shook his head. "Even if I wanted to, I couldn't teach you about it. I thought it was some Senju clan bloodline limit that shows up intermittently. You won't be able to read the scrolls without getting through the best blood seals you'll ever see."

Naruto whirled around at him angrily. "Fuck that. I don't want anything to do with that chakra, let alone learn how to use it. I just want to know how common these so-called 'sages' are. If I keep running into them as often as I have been, I might as well just kill myself right now."

Akira was silent for a few moments. "You know I can't answer that for you. Until now, I thought I was the only one alive who could even sense it. But I do know that the toads know more about senjutsu than any other living being."

"And how exactly does a vulture summoner come into contact with the toads?"

Akira's eyes widened again. "So, you signed a contract then?" Akira looked up and it was only for a moment, but Akira saw the pain in Naruto's eyes.

"How else would I have gotten away from them alive?"

"Fair point. The question you're asking has a very simple answer you know? I'm surprised you don't know it yet."

Naruto's visible eye twitched in annoyance.

"You could simply ask a toad summoner about it."

"How would that-". Naruto blinked… "Now that you say it out loud, it was pretty stupid of me to not figure that out myself."

Akira nodded, grinning. "Well then, get the fuck out of here kid. Go bother Jiraiya now."

Naruto frowned. From his discussion with Orochimaru, he knew Jiraiya was still MIA. And besides, Jiraiya was the most likely reason for why he lost his memory when he was 6 years old. That didn't particularly endear the man to him.

With Naruto, Day 22

Something was wrong. He knew it the moment he woke up, but he didn't let it show. He didn't even open his eyes. Yugao was right there in the room with him and he didn't want to risk any sudden moves, alerting whoever was out there to the fact that he was awake.

Whoever it was, they were skilled. Skilled enough to sense the security seals placed by his sister and stay right at the edge of it. And as he extended his senses, careful not to alert the intruder, he realized to his horror that Yugao was out of that boundary. This was probably the first time, he realized, that he was about to be in a hostage situation, should it lead to that.

Not knowing anything about the intruder, he wasn't sure how to handle the situation. Hell, with his luck, this was probably another 'sage'. One thing was sure, if he stopped at the boundary of the seal, he was going to be skilled enough to find the seals and disable it as well.

Now the dilemma that Naruto faced was whether to attack him while his attention was on the seal and risk Yugao's (and his) safety because he didn't know anything about the prowess of the intruder. Or he could also try to grab her and run, which could also lead to a nasty situation… Both of those scenarios were a coin toss. He might get away. He might not. And that was something he would've been willing to try had Yugao not been there. Risk. Reward…

Tch.

Suddenly, as he sensed the intruder finally reaching the position of the security seal, he realized there was a third option. One that didn't improve his odds at all, but it would give him information.

He could wait. Wait until the security seals were down and the intruder was free to approach him. This would also lead to a fight but at least this way, he could find out exactly what the intruder wanted from him.

He felt the barrier seals go down and he wondered if his sister would've put in some alerting mechanism if someone tampered with the seal.

Probably not. His sister, while more experienced and probably stronger, was far less paranoid.

Now that the intruder was coming closer, he was able to hear the tense breathing, the soft sound of footsteps… And somehow, he instinctively came to the realization that the intruder was a man. Not that the info was of any use to him… The man was now directly in front of him, the light from the window that he could feel through closed eyes, was no longer reaching him.

…

*THUMP THUMP*

…

*THUMP THUMP*

…

Naruto tried his best to keep his breathing normal, his heart rate constant, but the moment the stranger's hand touched his right eye, his breath caught in his throat, his eyes snapped open, a gasp he was unknowingly holding in escaped, and Naruto's hand slapped the man's hand away.

…

Their eyes met and simultaneously, morphed into the black in red pattern that was widely known and feared as the Sharingan. There was a moment of hesitation from both of them, one of them surprised that the assailant was an Uchiha, the other, steeling himself for what he was about to do to a child not yet in his teens. Then their eyes simultaneously morphed into distinct patterns that made both their hesitation turn into panic.

Everything happened in slow motion. Naruto, acting instinctively, reached for his assailant's eyes who gathered as much chakra as he could, as quickly as he could.

"Kotoamatsukami!"

---

Naruto suddenly found himself in a world with red skies. The moon was out behind him, lighting up the entire world. But somehow, it was still dark. As he started to look around, he realized that he was standing on a gigantic circle and when he tried, he found he couldn't move.

Despite the situation, Naruto couldn't help but smile. It was peaceful. No sound, no surprises. It was mesmerizing. He found himself feeling the sensation one gets when they're slowly falling asleep and they realize it's happening. Someone was drawing a curtain around him and somehow, he knew that once it was fully wrapped around him, there would be bliss. Pure, utter bliss.

…

But why?

Naruto blinked and found his assailant standing a few feet in front of him.

"What is this?" Naruto was unnerved. Unlike the tight binds he usually found himself in, now, there was no voice telling him how to escape. For the first time in his life in Konoha, he found himself trapped. Both mind and body.

The man chuckled, only his glistening red eyes visible in the dark. "I'm impressed you haven't succumbed to it already. I should have expected it from someone who has the same eyes as me. This is the ultimate genjutsu, Uzumaki Naruto. In here, I am God. Your life is now over as you know it."

Naruto could feel the chakra being gathered and a farfetched desperate hope sprang into his mind. Every genjutsu he had ever come across, had one flaw… It couldn't control the way time flows in the illusion. That is what enabled your enemy to disrupt his chakra flow, or cause pain to himself to escape. If this was a genjutsu… His body had already started to move before he had been caught in this genjutsu.

"What kind of shitty monologue is that? There's no such thing as an ultimate technique. There's a weakness to each and every single technique in existence."

"Tch. It seems you're as ignorant as can be expected of your age. There is no weakness to Kotoamatsukami. It is absolute. It eliminates your free will. I can imprint false memories in your mind to make you believe you're doing things out of your own free will. And for the rest of your life, you'll be unaware of this manipulation."

Naruto wanted to not react… But when you hear something like that, you can't help it. He gulped. Whatever he assumed the 'ultimate genjutsu' was, it wasn't this. This was insane. This was, as the name suggested, a power that should belong to gods. And only gods. But there was one thing that still didn't make sense.

"What are you waiting for then?"

Fugaku flinched at the question. What was he waiting for? If the message in the shrine was to be believed, this could take care of all his problems. It could give him the chance to fix his mistakes. It could give him an infinite number of attempts. Why was he hesitating? Was it because he was just a kid? No, it couldn't be that… The answer, when it came to him, was fairly obvious.

Naruto watched with great anticipation as a flurry of emotions went through the older Uchiha's face. And that alone told him that somehow somewhere in his mind, the man didn't want to do this.

The man finally looked as if he'd made up his mind. "I wanted to ask about her. She had a lot of memories about you. I had to - "

---

"GAAAAAH!"

Naruto was immediately on his feet. Throwing the sheets at the attacker, he went straight for Yugao and scooped her up. Then it was just a flurry of movements. Through the window, running up the wall, casting a genjutsu on Yugao when she started to wake up, reaching the roof and placing her into the hands of the new clone he created.

Then, he jumped off the roof, not bothering to stick to the side. A chain formed from his back, went straight through the window of his hospital room to grab onto the bedpost and yanked him into it, only to see a cloud of smoke, rapidly dissipating.

He immediately realized what happened. Whoever it was had a summoning contract as well.

"Tch! I really fucking hate the summoning technique!" Naruto groaned as he used the hospital gown to clean the blood on his index and middle finger. He sat down on his bed and sighed. "Did I seriously get away with my mind intact because I poked a man in the eye?"

With Kushina, 30 Minutes Later

When you thought your brother was dead for the better part of the decade and then realized he was living in the same village as an amnesiac, you wouldn't want to let him out of your sight. Kushina didn't want to leave his side at all. But some things, Kushina had learned from the mistakes of her parents. Coddling him would just suffocate him. He could take care of himself. Or at least, she tried to think like this every moment of the day when she wondered why she wasn't at his side.

But when he's been missing for 2 months and then returned to her in critical condition, the least she expected him to do was stay in his hospital bed. For the love of God, he even disabled the security seals…

Wait…

Kushina leaned down to see the shoddy penmanship of the counter seal drawn over hers. This wasn't Naruto… That meant he was attacked. As usual, her mind started going through its emotions at the speed of sound. Panic, then rage, then even more rage, until finally relief when her senses found him on the roof with Yugao near him.

She took a few moments to calm herself because she was still in the middle of a mild panic attack. It wouldn't do well for her brother or his protege to see her in that state of unrest. She looked again at the penmanship, just to see if she could recognize it but it wasn't familiar. Who would want to attack Naruto?

The thought that popped into her mind made her flinch. The Hokage? Jiraiya? Danzo? Too many important people in that list. And too few she would be able to reliably take on… But… it wasn't them. The rather amateurish calligraphy made sure of that.

Slowly, she walked out of the room, having stared at the seal for long enough. She walked towards the stairs that led to the roof and calmly started climbing them. In her mind, she wondered what they would talk about. Would Naruto tell her? Or keep things to himself again. Not for lack of trying, she still hadn't managed to get a sense of what really transpired in the two months he was missing. To be frank, she didn't really press the matter, because she wasn't too sure how it would be received. Whether she wished to admit it or not, they were now strangers to each other. The blame could lie with any number of people, but it didn't change that fact.

So, the past few days, she never went to any topic she knew he would be uncomfortable with. They talked about simple things. How his life in Konoha was before he graduated. She knew that he was from the red light district and that alone would have made sure her brother was far more mature than his age would make it seem. From their talks, she now knew of a person named Irene Kurama, an underappreciated legend of the First Shinobi World War and how much she had sacrificed for the helpless children of the red light district. When she heard how Irene had taken care of her brother, she made sure to add meeting this person to her internal checklist.

She learned about Shinzo and Shizuka, the two older orphans who took care of him after he woke up in this village with no memory of his past. She knew of their tragic end as well, so there was nothing to add to the internal checklist here.

Then she learned what Yugao meant to her little brother. Despite all his injuries and fatigues, he made sure to always be awake whenever Yugao was there with him. Kushina understood. He felt guilty for the 2 months he missed.

…

She sighed. She left Naruto when he was younger than Yugao is now and then found him when he's 11, 7 years later. Imagine how she felt.

…

Having reached the door to the terrace, she sighed again. She stopped and took a moment to school her face before opening it. She was met with a rather peculiar sight.

Yugao Uzuki was bending backwards as far as she could, with a leaf on her forehead.

"See, Naruto-nii, I'm doing it. I'm doing it."

Naruto looked irked. "Yugao, we both know that's not what I meant. Balance it using chakra. Not… not gravity."

Yugao came back up and the leaf fluttered to the ground. "That's too tough." She pouted.

Naruto grabbed the leaf and placed it on his forehead. "No, it's not. Look at how easy it is."

Yugao just stared at him for a few long moments. "You look stupid."

Kushina flinched at the loud sound of Naruto's face-palm.

"If you're able to do this…" Naruto slowly said before he started spinning the leaf while it was still stuck to his forehead. "...you'll be able to do this."

Yugao looked at him with stars in her eyes, as the leaf started spinning so fast that it just appeared to be a green circle. "I wanna do that."

"Then practice, Yugao-chan. Practice till you're able to do it."

"I don't wanna do that. It's boring. The leaf just falls."

Naruto tilted his head back. "Does it?" Yugao stared at him in shock when the leaf stopped spinning and then started levitating above his forehead. "Do you still not want to practice?"

Yugao had a leaf in her hand the next moment. She slapped it on her forehead with force and furrowed her eyes in concentration. She started applying more and more force till her hands started trembling. Then, with an almighty yell, she let her hands fall away.

And the leaf stuck to her hand instead of her forehead.

…

"FUCK!"

"Yugao!" yelled a scandalized Naruto.

"Sorry!' Yugao yelled back and ran away with the leaf in her hand because she knew she would be tickled mercilessly if she stayed within arm's length of Naruto.

Kushina couldn't help the giggle that escaped her. The situation was just so bizarre that it just made her laugh. "I see she is that way with everyone. I was dumbstruck when I heard her curse for the first time. I think she likes the shock factor."

Naruto tilted his head to look at his sister and activated his sharingan. From how relaxed she looked compared to how fast her heart was beating, he knew she was holding in her questions for his benefit, but as much as he appreciated her not hounding him for answers, he knew he owed her some.

He turned around to look at Yugao, who had now completely forgotten about the leaf and was instead trying to catch a pigeon. "Come sit with me, Kushina-nee. I think it's high time we talked."

Kushina blinked… Well, not that she wasn't happy about it, but she really didn't expect that from her secretive brother. "Who?", she voiced the question that was at the forefront of her mind at that moment.

Naruto shook his head. "No idea. But whoever he was, he had the sharingan…"

Kushina's head snapped towards him in surprise. "What?"

Naruto nodded. "Not just that. He has a mutation of the sharingan that till now, I thought only I had. I'll have to talk to Mikoto-nee. She can help… Probably."

Kushina's eyes scanned her brother's body. No injuries anywhere, no indication of having gone through any sort of scuffle… "How did you get away?"

Naruto turned to her and grinned sheepishly. "Some instinct made me poke him in the eyes. And that broke the genjutsu he had me under." Naruto's expression sobered up quickly making Kushina look at him in worry. "Speaking of… The things he said about that genjutsu… If what he said was true, then there's no stopping him. He can rewrite memories, plant false ones, control the thoughts of his target and I suspect so much more…"

Kushina's eyes widened. "That shouldn't be possible."

Naruto scowled. "It's these overpowered new eyes. I saw rain catch fire in Ame. Hell, I saw fire catch fire. These eyes… It makes it seem like it can do anything."

"What do you plan to do? I can't think of anyone that matches the description. I haven't been keeping in touch with what's happening around the village recently and I haven't seen Mikoto in close to 2 months. It's unlike her to disappear without saying anything, but these sort of things do happen at war time. People get sent on missions at a moment's notice and it could be months, even years before people hear from them again. The best bet for getting answers is Mikoto, in my opinion as well…"

Naruto nodded. "I'll try and find her after I'm allowed to leave this godforsaken place."

Kushina grinned. "Can't imagine that happening anytime soon."

"Tch." Naruto stared back up at the sky. "Tsunade… Tsunade was the one who healed me back up, wasn't it?"

Kushina nodded, intrigued at why he would be interested in that particular detail.

"Why?" Naruto asked simply. "Why would she heal me? I know the condition I was in. For all intents and purposes, I should be dead. And if Konoha did indeed seal my memory, they should be wary of me now that I've started to remember. Why would Tsunade Senju, clan head of the most acclaimed clan of Konohagakure, the prized student of the man in charge of the village, help me?"

Kushina just looked at her brother for a few moments. "You could say the same things about Orochimaru. Do you believe he has any bad intentions toward you?"

Naruto turned an eye to look at her. "No. No, I guess not. But I can't be sure of that, can I?"

"No. No, you can't and it's a relief that you know that." Kushina smiled. "When you substituted with him to save him from Hanzo of all people, I was worried you didn't."

Naruto didn't reply to that.

"We should probably talk about that." Kushina spoke softly. "Just before you substituted, your entire body became covered with seals."

Naruto's eyes snapped to his sister, before looking over his entire body and finding nothing. "What seals?"

Kushina hesitated. "Seals that I'm afraid even I don't fully understand… yet." She gulped. "But there was one pattern to it that stuck out at me… The spiral. The symbol of our clan…"

"What does it mean?"

Kushina shrugged. "No one knows. The closest meaning I've attributed it to is 'sacrifice', which I don't know the extent to which it's correct."

"Sacrifice?"

She nodded.

"What could that mean? Am I a sacrifice for someth-""

I don't really know how many of them will escape, but at least some of them will finally be at rest.

Kushina looked up in confusion when he stopped. His eyes darting around, it was obvious that he had caught on to something pivotal, and when his eyes came back to focus, she realized he had an idea. Something clicked just then. Then his eyes met hers and he just started speaking.

"When I was completely beaten in the Land of Rice Fields, I was carried to my mindscape. I met what I think is a version of myself when I was younger… Or something like that. Anyway, he said something before he took over my body and powered through the other guy like he was nothing. He said 'I don't really know how many of them will escape, but at least some of them will finally be at rest.' I don't know what it means, but some element of our deceased villagers might be sealed in me…"

Kushina snorted. "No way. There's a reason why a human sacrifice is considered taboo. Everything in this world is governed by intent. And that includes chakra. If any amount of chakra, no matter how small, of another human is sealed inside you, it would mean a part of their mind is also within you… And I don't know if you've read about this particular field of fuinjutsu, but a person cannot function with multiple minds within them. That's why a Yamanaka's mind takeover is so deadly. We are so unaccustomed to a mental attack, that we have zero defense against it. And if they do take over, there's really nothing you can do. And that is also one of the reasons why jinchuriki are generally ostracized. People believe they can't function with two minds living inside them and that's usually right. The bijuu can take over at any moment, particularly when the jinchuriki is not thinking too clearly. But Mito Uzumaki was a fuinjutsu genius and she has somehow found a way to avoid that when there's one extra mind sealed in a person." Kushina frowned. "I have no idea how the Kumo jinchuriki gained complete control over his bijuu"

Kushina thought about telling Naruto about her own burden, but she noticed the intense look he had. He was thinking hard about something. Oh well. Another time.

A million scenarios immediately popped into Naruto's mind. He remembered all the times he'd been in trouble and something would tell him to do something and more often than not, he would end up doing it and would end up on top because of it. But one after the other, his past experiences started popping into his head which he now realized was probably because of whatever seals had been put on his body.

The times he substituted with Orochimaru! The barrier seal that he was able to master after only looking at it once in Akira Senju's security seal matrix. The chains that came forth when he needed them, despite not even knowing that he was capable of using them!

The things he did, the others might have assumed this was his sense memory kicking in. But Naruto knew that was not the case. Somehow, deep down, he'd always known this was never something a kid under 6 would just know… He finally recognized an alternate explanation. And this realization that each and every decision he made had probably been influenced by whatever was inside him…

It made him so angry… Because if the seals were in the shape of the spiral, the symbol of the Uzumaki clan… If this was indeed the case, it meant that this time, what was done to him was done by his own people.

His fists clenched and he started grinding his teeth. "Why is it that everytime I think I have someone to blame, I find something else about myself but done by someone else, that has been equally damaging to me?" He whispered the question angrily and Kushina watched in sadness at how empty his eyes looked.

Naruto abruptly stood up and watched as Yugao ran back to them excitedly. "Look, look, I caught one." She was holding a struggling pigeon in her hands and Naruto's eyes softened.

He smiled at her fondly and touched the pigeon's head. "Let it fly, Yugao. No one should have to stay on the ground if they can fly."

Yugao shrugged and threw the pigeon in the air. Naruto watched as it made a circle around them and flew off to the west, his eyes hardening as it reached further and further away.

As the three of them started towards the stairs, they failed to notice a spider shift from its position near where they were talking and slowly make its way to the edge of the roof and begin its descent down the side…

With Fugaku

That couldn't have gone any worse. The entire purpose of it was lost. He touched his eyes and flinched. Through his blurred vision, he looked at his hands and found, somewhat to his relief, that he could still see the red color of his blood. And then he blinked and red was all he could see with how his eyes bled. And then the panic set in.

Does she remember anything?

Is she still where I left her?

…

Does she still love me?

…

…

It hurt so much. His eyes… It felt like they were on fire. A fire that felt like it would never stop burning. Like he was doomed to suffer this pain for the rest of his life. And somehow, he knew that once this fire subsided, he would never see a thing again.

So… through the fire in his veins, through the blood in his eyes, he wanted to find her. He wanted to see her just one last time before his eyes reached the state of no return that was warned by the Uchiha shrine.

The blood in his eyes cleared for a moment and he suddenly became aware of someone standing right in front of him, far too close for comfort. In fact, Kazane was so close to him that the blood from his eyes had dripped down onto her hand.

Fugaku blinked. She was free of her restraints. How?

"Are you surprised to see me?" Kazane asked softly. Her voice even softer, she continued to speak. "Do you want to know how I managed to escape? Your lover… Mikoto Uchiha, was it?"

Kazane smiled evilly when he flinched. "How do you live with yourself? With what you've done? How is it that she once loved someone like you for real?"

Fugaku took a few steps back and wiped his eyes again, revealing a nasty wound across his right eye where something had scratched him. He remained silent as Kazane went to a stool and sat herself on it, staring intently at him.

"You talk when you sleep. Did you know that? I was with you for a few days before she was." Kazane glared at him. "You loved her at some point, didn't you?"

Fugaku looked at her, teeth clenched in anger. "What do you know of love? You're a whore."

The glare on Kazane's face never even wavered. "Oh! What do I know of love? What do I know of love? What do you know? What do you fucking know about love? What could possibly happen to you that would make you desperate enough to brainwash the person you were in love with? What happened that made you change her so much that it isn't even her anymore?"

Fugaku's mouth fell open in surprise. What she asked him shook him to the core… He knew what he was doing was wrong every step of the way, but somehow he had kept on doing one monstrous thing after another. There was only one thing that happened that changed him so… "She rejected me." Fugaku spoke softly and collapsed on a chair. "She said she didn't need me anymore." His eyes looked into Kazane's. "I couldn't live with that."

Her eyes softened. A tear formed in her eyes and slowly traced a path down her face. She looked surprisingly vulnerable and when she started speaking, her voice was shaky. "His name was Shiro… We met when I was just 6 years old. When I lost my home to the second shinobi war. Amegakure suffers a lot during wartime. Everyone knows this. But what no one knows is what happens to the suburbs, the small packets of infrastructure that were abandoned for the bigger city. These places just seemed to draw in all sorts of conflict.

My family was one of the few who stayed. We were miners. It was a hard life, even for a little girl. But the life that came after they destroyed our home? Not even a question. Now, after my parents were killed, after every single person in the village either fled or got killed, what was left? Revenge? I would if I could. The truth is, I don't even remember which villages were fighting that day. Over the years, the headbands have just melded together to form some random shape carved in steel. I was too young."

Kazane shook her head. "It doesn't matter now. What happened that day was tragic, but it is perhaps because of that, that I met Shiro. He was from a village at the border between the Land of Rain and the Land of Grass. He was a part of Kusagakure, before his father decided to move. The same battle that destroyed my home had passed through his village, a few hours earlier. His father had been killed, mother already gone at childbirth. He followed the people responsible but instead of revenge, he found me. Just like me, his thirst for revenge didn't last long. I don't really understand now, but perhaps he felt that because I'm younger, I'm to be protected. We lived off of whatever we could get. He looked after me and after a fashion, I looked after him. We went through so much together that now, I can't even remember a time I wasn't with him."

Fugaku leaned back in his chair. Kazane simply smiled wistfully. "I was 10 when I first heard. Konoha… Konoha… Hope… It's such an innocent feeling… It's a deceptive one. It fills you with positivity, doesn't it? Only, it doesn't prepare you for when what you wish for doesn't happen. Konoha… Such an innocent name too. The leaf… Wherever we went, we heard it."

'The leaf takes care of its civilians.'

'The leaf protects the entire land, not just the people living in the village.'

'You wouldn't see such atrocities being committed anywhere in the Land of Fire.'

…

'No sense of direction, no idea where we were in the elemental nations, we went on quite a curved path, but we finally made it. We stayed in small towns for a few months at a time taking up odd jobs and chores. It wasn't a lot, but we survived. We even spent close to 6 months in a hidden underground cave on the side of one of the mountains in the Land of Fire. We had a spectacular view of the Fire Temple and all of the Daimyo's estate. " Kazane sniffed as tears fell, even as she smiled. 'God, I wish we'd stayed in that cave."

"I was 16 when we finally reached Konoha. Well, not exactly 'reached'... We saw it from a distance, just a few kilometers out. We knew we shouldn't travel at night, but Shiro was so overjoyed that he took me up a nearby hill, to get a better view of what would no doubt be our home from now on… We kissed after we saw the village for the first time. The first kiss we'd ever shared. That night, my mind so full of hope and anticipation, and passion and lust, I wept as we made love. For the first time in over 10 years, I realized what it meant to completely belong to someone, and have someone belong completely to me."

Kazane's smile slowly turned indifferent. Her eyes slowly lost their glow. "We didn't make it to the morning. When I woke up, Konoha ANBU had surrounded us. When Shiro tried to resist, he was put down instantly. As if the past 10 years meant nothing. As if the love we made just a few hours before meant nothing. I remember screaming, trying desperately to reach him one last time before the glow in his eyes was lost forever. I didn't make it halfway. I was on the ground with my skirt around my hips in an instant."

A small tear dropped down Fugaku Uchiha's blood soaked face. "We were together for 10 years. The lovemaking that happened after so many things, so much suffering that we went through, that was the epitome of it all. And the same activity had now somehow become torture. Every single moment of it. But the worst of it didn't happen till I gathered the courage to look at Shiro once again because that's when the light in his eyes finally went out."

"I don't remember much of what happened after that. I woke up in some ANBU barracks, my whole body feeling raw. They were all asleep. I thought of slitting their throats in their sleep. I wanted to as well. But I found my body wouldn't move. Because it was then I realized. We weren't innocent. I doubt anyone in the elemental nations is. We had fought and killed innumerous people to reach our destination. But it was only then I realized that any life I took, would be someone's most precious person. I could be committing the same heinous crime that was committed to me."

Kazane wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. "I left while they were asleep and entered the village. The rest was just a matter of time. I didn't know that I had entered directly into the red light district. I met this kind old man and he took me in, promising me food and shelter in exchange for some manual labor that he was no longer capable of in his old age. I lived there for a couple days. It was an easy life compared to before but without Shiro, it was the most difficult time of my life. After a few days, he told me that he got me a job as a waitress in a popular restaurant. I don't know why. A job wouldn't bring Shiro back, but it filled me with hope. You see, I'd never had a job before."

Fugaku's mouth fell open, his face aghast. Kazane smiled. "Yes. That is how I ended up in that place. When I arrived, the other girls laughed at me, japed at me. I couldn't understand why. Kirua… Kirua gave me some pills and told me to take one before I came down. I thought of doing so, but I didn't because I still didn't understand why. I seem to recall you being there on my first day at the job. You know what happened after that. How cruel. Every single time they thrust into me, I was brutally reminded of the happiest time of my life and of the undeniable knowledge that I'll never get him back."

Finally, her gaze was back on Fugaku. "Now, trapped in the basement of a random Konoha ninja, pregnant with my abuser's child, if I received some new superpower that would make it so that I can get Shiro back, but not him really… Do you think I would use it?"

Tears were streaming down Fugaku's face now, his mouth open in horror. He couldn't really believe he had done so much. Sins piling on top of each other, he was standing atop a massive mountain of them now. When did he become capable of this?

Kazane snarled at him, bringing her back into focus. "Don't you think, after all I've suffered in my short life, I should use it? That I should bring him back? Not for his benefit. Purely for mine. Could anyone really blame me? After all… you're doing the same thing because of a simple rejection…"

Fugaku sobbed.

"What do you think would have happened if at the top of that hill, when I tried to kiss him, Shiro pushed me away and told me there was nothing like that between us? Do you really think the relationship we shared would just end?" Kazane watched, enraged. Her captor's shoulders shook as he cried. How pathetic. "If it was true love you shared, Mikoto would never have rejected you as completely as she did. And if it was true love, you wouldn't have fucking killed her and replaced her with your FAKE FUCKING FANTASY."

Kazane was on her feet now and Fugaku didn't even register that. If she wanted to grab a knife and thrust it through his heart, she could have. "Now, here's what's going to happen. After all you've done… I don't think you're a bad person. Kirua said so herself. You were the reason my torture stopped that day. I had given up. My life was forfeit already. There was nothing for me to live for until you set that shop on fire and they got off me, panicking, trampling each other trying to get away before the ANBU arrived. I remember you that day. You were so angry at what you saw. I believe you made some decisions, very bad ones, but that wasn't you. I believe the real you is still in there somewhere and it is to him I ask this…"

Fugaku stared at this girl, who by all means, should hate him enough to just grab a knife and kill him. But here she was… Saying she thought he was still capable of mercy. He wasn't sure of it himself.

"What would you ask of me?" Fugaku spoke, his voice broken, his shoulders slumped and Kazane nodded.

"I'm not asking for a lot…" Kazane looked down, her own tears starting to fall and her fists clenched. "When Shiro died, I was left with nothing. And there was no reason for me to live until I almost died that day when I finally received another purpose." Her hands went to her stomach. "I have a reason to live. And this is what I ask of you… Let me live in a house, a humble house and raise my child there. Let me take up a job in the village and I'll earn enough to support my child once he / she comes along. Do this for me, and I'll never speak a word to anyone about what you've done to me, Kirua or Mikoto… You can lie in this bed you've made and I will do nothing to stop you."

Fugaku nodded almost immediately… His ears had picked up the humility, the need in her voice, when she spoke her mind. He'd never thought his ears were capable of detecting such intricacies in human speech. But he was glad of it because this vision of Kazane looking down at the ground, tears falling and fists clenched, was the last thing he would ever see clearly. His vision had already begun the final stage in its decline.

Training Ground 11, Day 30

Naruto frowned. It really didn't make sense. "You're telling me, the Hyuga doujutsu, the Byakugan, can see everything, even how chakra flows inside one's body and a way to block this flow temporarily is all they've accomplished?"

Orochimaru looked surprised at the question. "What do you mean, 'all they've accomplished'. You can't really do anything if enough of your tenketsu gets closed off. It's a hugely coveted bloodline limit. Kumo and Kiri have made all sorts of schemes trying to get at least one, just one functioning eye. In fact, it's so heavily coveted that the Hyuga clan have made it their mission to protect the eyes by marking their weaker users with the cursed seal."

"That's another thing I wanted to talk about… Are you sure it can't be removed? I've never encountered a seal like that." Naruto had only recently found out about this absurd practice and he couldn't really believe such a barbaric practice was still happening in Konoha. The stuff that goes on in the red light district was another thing entirely. It wasn't 'public knowledge' even though most of them knew. This somehow is public knowledge and nobody gave a fuck. How? "Leave that. I don't want to get into how stupid that practice is right now. What I mean is that you could do so much more if you could see the way chakra functioned inside the human body."

Orochimaru turned his head away from the two Hyuugas' training session and looked down at the young redhead. "What do you mean?"

Naruto shook his head. "My Sharingan can do so much. It can slow down perceptive time, it can cast genjutsus, it can mirror them, it can do all sorts of things that I still haven't fully explored… And it can see chakra. But recently, I've realized I can see only chakra outside any chakra containing entity. I couldn't see the green chakra Akira Senju used to block the tailed beast until it had built up so much that the chakra started oozing out of his body. And that too, I could see it for barely a second."

Naruto sighed. "I could see the tailed beast bomb because it was already out of the eight-tails. It was purple chakra. And that technique… It was mind blowing. But the thing is… It was basic chakra manipulation. Confining it to a shape and somehow adding movement inside it. Rapid circular movement."

Seeing Orochimaru just stare at him, unsure where the discussion was going, Naruto decided to get to the point. "The thing is… I'm confident I can perform that technique… With normal chakra of course, not the purple shit that the eight tails used. I'm confident I can replicate that jutsu, given enough time to practice. And the only reason I think that is possible, is because I saw what was happening. How the chakra was being molded, manipulated and released." Naruto met his eyes. "If that is possible, with seeing the chakra after it's molded, shaped and released, and the Hyugas are able to see all this in more detail, not to mention see it happening internally, how is it that they haven't capitalized on this?"

"Huh…" Orochimaru really didn't know what to say to that. Then he shook his head. "I don't really know why that is. And neither do you. Nor will we. Maybe they can't see it in more detail. And if they can, maybe they can't follow it, because need I remind you, it doesn't slow anything down like the Sharingan does…"

Naruto just huffed. "Eyes can be trained." Naruto looked back at the Hyugas with his Sharingan enabled. He took note of every single movement of chakra that the winning Hyuuga made. The branch member had no chance with him after he started using his signature move… The Kaiten… A heavenly spin… Fascinating.

Orochimaru just shook his head. He knew Naruto had conceded the point and was just arguing for the sake of arguing. So, he decided to get to the real purpose of this meetup. "What really happened to you? In the land of the vultures… What happened?"

Naruto turned sharply, his eyes angry. But it quickly softened when he realized the question was coming from a man that had experienced something just as harrowing, if not more. And Naruto knew it the moment he saw the look on his face the first time after he woke up. There was acknowledgement in those eyes. A hint of respect, and something unexpected, a look of acceptance. What happened to him a month ago had made him question a lot of things about himself, including his purpose. The very role for which he was placed in the elemental nations. It had made him question his own humanity. Whether he would ever really fit in with the normal people again. And he knew Orochimaru felt exactly the same way.

"Will you tell me yours, if I tell you mine?" Naruto asked slowly.

"Yes. For sure." Orochimaru replied, surprising Naruto with his quickness. Orochimaru just shrugged. "You have to talk about it. If I hadn't talked to Jiraiya all those years ago, and he hadn't talked to me, we would be very different people right now."

Naruto slowly nodded, accepting the experience the man in front of him possessed. "I was starved." he sighed. "I was starved for 60 days. Not a drop of water. Not a crumb of bread. Not a grain of rice." Orochimaru looked at him with something that looked like pity on his face. "The worst part of it wasn't hunger. The hunger, you learned to deal with after the first few weeks. It's the thirst that truly tortures you. I've never put much stock in water. Even when I leave on missions, I make sure to stock up on ration bars, but water was never a concern of mine. But now…" Naruto looked down at the ground… "What was the worst thing of it all was that I had no idea when it would end." He let out a dark chuckle. "Or rather, if it would end."

Orochimaru looked at him in sadness. "Naruto. Look at me." Naruto looked up at his sensei indifferently. "My time in Ryuchi cave, while gory and horrifying, was short… Very short compared to you… But the snakes… If what vultures want in a summoner is resilience, what snakes want is likeness. Likeness to their language, their body, their movements… Similarity in everything. Do you know how many times I've heard the question you yourself have asked me so many times in the past… I believe it went 'How the fuck are you so flexible?' Snakes. That's how. They bound me to an altar, and lowered me into a snake pit."

Orochimaru gulped. Naruto looked away at the Hyugas again as his sensei gathered his words. Two branch members were fighting now and they were much more evenly matched. Orochimaru sighed.

"Do you know blood reaches every single part of our body? The human circulatory system is a thing of wonder. Through tiny vessels, and tube-like structures, blood reaches every single part of the body, providing full connectivity. And it's into these vessels that the snakes entered. Looking back at it now, the entry was the worst part. After that, it was a blur as the tiny snakes moved around inside my body so quickly that it started reshaping and restructuring my entire being." Orochimaru smiled. "3 days and I was done. And that's when they told me the fun part… I wasn't human anymore… Do you know I don't have a heart?"

Naruto stared at him incredulously. "What the fuck do you mean by that?"

Orochimaru smiled. "I was completely rewired. Many medical scans and surgeries were performed on me after I came back. Not one of them could make any sense out of anything in my body. Because there's not a single organ in my body apart from my brain that is similar to any other human. But every single function performed by any of the organs in the traditional human organ system is performed by some part of me in ways that no one, not even me, understands."

Naruto remained silent, his mind racing to accommodate the horrifying experience his sensei had been subjected to. "Why did you decide to tell me all this?"

Orochimaru smiled again. "I am where I am now, because I learned to summon." Orochimaru's neck started changing and morphing until his head just lifted off his body, his neck elongating to accommodate. "And because I learned to summon, I can do incredible things." Orochimaru held his head in his hand and smiled again when Naruto just looked on curiously instead of being scared like people usually become. "I can shed this body like a snake sheds its skin, though it takes a lot of chakra. I can basically come out with no external injuries if I have enough chakra to do so."

A smile formed on Naruto's face and Orochimaru reflected it.

"Do you think I had all these powers immediately after I signed the contract? No. I summoned my familiar, bonded, got his support, slowly started working with other snakes, sacrificed many, many people to them to earn their favor and now… I can even summon the boss of the Snake clan."

He looked sideways at his student who just looked at him confused, his earlier question still unanswered. Why was he telling him this?

"I'm saying you should try summoning them. You already suffered so much for this. Why not use the perks you've earned?"

With Naruto, Day 38

Naruto stretched out his body and yawned the way you do when you wake up every day. This was something he didn't realize he needed. Konoha hot springs… One of Konoha's major tourist attractions, he'd read. He'd never been to the place. Of course he hadn't. Up until very recently, he was shit poor. And after he solved that, or rather Mikoto solved it for him, he hadn't gotten the opportunity to enjoy the perks that came with it.

The thought of Mikoto made him sigh in worry. From the relatively short time he had spent with her, he thought it very unlikely that she would just disappear without telling anyone, mission or no. It was always hanging in the back of her mind that he didn't know what happened to her. She had taken care of Yugao when he was away, but days before he came back, everyone lost all contact with her. And it didn't seem to bug anyone else. Naruto frowned. Was this common for ninja at jonin level? To be sent on missions without even giving them a chance to let their friends / loved ones know?

"What are you so bothered about, kid? You're here to relax. You should actually do that."

Naruto looked sideways at Akira Senju, every part of his body submerged except for his head. Naruto was about to come back at him with a quip about his age and that his old hairy body made it impossible for him to relax, thereby starting one of their petty arguments, but he realized there was truth in what he said. He did come here to relax.

He eased the muscles in his hands and quietly leaned back against the wall behind him. "I'm just worried. That's all."

Akira raised an eyebrow at the sudden change in posture and tone. "What about? The chunin exams?"

Naruto was already shaking his head. Somehow, it didn't bother him at all that within a few weeks, he would be fighting against the best of the best shinobi from the other major villages. And if he lost, it would be very bad for the village… Konoha, whether he cared to admit it or not, was the safest place for him at present. Except maybe Kiri, but that was a complete unknown. Better the devil you know than the devil you think you know… But still. It didn't bother him. What was at the forefront of his mind regarding the chunin exams was the fact that Sanshou no Hanzo would be watching.

"The chunin exams don't bother me at all. I have a shit ton of other, more important things to worry about."

Akira chuckled. "What a life you must lead. The future of the village is in your hands and it's the least of your worries." He closed his eyes and let out a content sigh. "Leave it for tomorrow, kid. You're here to relax."

Naruto's head snapped up when he heard giggling from the other side of the hot springs.

'Kushina-nee! Stop! That tickles... STOP!"

He sighed sadly. "Why can't I go to the other side? There should be a common gender section in this place. At least for kids."

Akira shook his head. "This is a sacred place, Naruto. This is where men of all trades and rank come to enjoy their time away from the women in their lives." Naruto took a look around the place and saw the numerous people looking at him as if what he suggested was worse than the upcoming war. But he did notice a few people who were wistfully smiling at the idea of sharing the hot springs with the other gender.

Naruto sighed. Despite not being able to play with Yugao, Naruto was sort of thankful for the separation of genders. His sister always tried to make it seem like she wasn't worried about his health, but he'd sensed her worried eye on him many times. It wouldn't ease any of her worries if she saw him shirtless.

"Whatever. This place is nice and all, but it's making me uncomfortable. It's too calm."

Akira laughed. "You know what? Kushina said the same thing when I brought her to a hot spring for the first time. You Uzumaki aren't used to calm waters." Naruto didn't say anything and Akira slowly let the smile drop from his face. "Look kid, it's obvious there's something you want to talk about. You know I can always tell…"

Naruto stared at the water, letting the silence between them stretch. It was a nice feeling, the slow ripples that spread through the water hitting his body with the softest of impacts… He built up a little bit of chakra and levitated a small drop of water up.

"My main worry, I've already talked about with you…" An uncomfortable smile formed on Akira's face. "Senjutsu… It's too powerful. And somehow, it keeps finding me. You, Hanzo, the vultures, the rando that attacked me when I came back from my familiars'."

"You already know I have no idea why that is happening to you. But I would like to tell you one thing where I think you might be wrong. Senjutsu is an incredible thing, Naruto. If you learn to wield it, you would be unstoppable. It's a never ending resource. The power you generate with a meager amount of Nature chakra surpasses what you can do with every single ounce of normal chakra in your body. But I'll also tell you this… My father… My father failed at only two things in his life. One of them was senjutsu. It was before my time and I've only heard stories from other Senju clan members. But he's never touched that scroll again after the first time."

Naruto listened earnestly but he already knew what he was going to say. "Somehow, I have a feeling that the price that comes with using the Nature chakra will be too much for me to pay right now."

Akira nodded. "You'll know when the time is right. I can't even remember how I started. I remember that at one point, I had no intention of ever going near that scroll. I would never succeed where my father failed. I stayed far away. But someday, something happened that changed my outlook towards it and I just ended up reading it. And luckily, I had an affinity towards it." He looked sideways at Naruto and smiled. "Maybe one day, you'll wake up and just feel like learning."

"Pfft!" Naruto scoffed, but from the way his brows were furrowed, Akira knew the message was received. "What was the other thing?"

"What?"

"What was the other thing the Second Hokage failed at?"

Akira blinked in surprise and then let out a chuckle. "Something you've already succeeded at. My father sat me down one day and told me one day when I was 6. Actually, it was the day the first Team 7 was formed. He was seldom… vulnerable, in his interactions with me, but that day, he almost had tears in his eyes when he talked to me. He told me he was sorry that I was an only child. The times he enjoyed with his siblings were some of the best moments in his life. The kind of friendly competition that existed between him and his brother in the beginning was one of the reasons they became so strong. He asked me to find the same kind of competition with my new teammates and I've tried to do that ever since…"

Akira sighed at the memory. "He also told me that the competitive mind was only good to a certain extent. There were only two things he'd ever failed at. And it was both because he tried to compete with his brother. Hashirama Senju was a master of senjutsu. My father wanted that power for himself. He tried and failed. And was never the same because of it. Hashirama Senju was a master of the summoning technique. My father tried… He was never the same after that. Contrary to popular belief, he was well aware that some of the policies and decisions he'd made were kind of extreme. Whether it be the presence of a red-light district in the village planning phase, the establishment of an ANBU corps, the emotionless standard that shinobi are now expected to adhere to… He knew some of these were unnecessarily extreme. That day, he told me that if he hadn't tried to summon, if he hadn't experienced the horror of it, he might not have made those same decisions…"

"And you've succeeded at that, Naruto. You've come back from where the Second Hokage himself failed. I was always too scared to try and I know it's past my time now. I don't know why, but I have a feeling you're still the same though. The experience may have been harrowing, but I don't think it has changed your whole outlook on life as drastically as it did to my father."

As the silence between them stretched again, Naruto stared at Akira, someone he now looked at as a friend / mentor. "I don't know how drastic it is, but it has changed." Naruto replied softly. "I have changed. I've never had the drive to grow stronger. I was just going where life took me. Up until very recently, I was a ninja only for the money. The money which I would then use to get a house away from the red light district and live comfortably in for the rest of my life. The fact that being a ninja would likely make my life short, didn't bother me at the time. Now, money is the least of my concerns. The apartment I bought… The only meaning it has to me now is that it's a place Yugao can stay in."

Naruto glared at the water drop that he'd levitated earlier. Akira could sense the chakra being built up, but he didn't say anything.

"Now, it's like there's a fire in me. A fire that cannot be put out. A fire that yells at me to grow stronger every single waking moment of the day. You, Orochimaru, my sister, everyone… You all tell me that it's a remarkable thing I came back after two months of unspeakable torture at the hands of my familiars. To that, I say it's two months I wasted. Two months away from my sister. Two months away from Yugao. Two months away from the answers I seek. Two months I'll never get back…"

Naruto snarled as he poured more and more chakra into the tiny drop of water. "There's so many answers I want that it's not even funny anymore. And the thing is, I don't get answers but the questions keep on piling up. And to top it all off, Sanshou no Hanzo, the fucking boogeyman of the elemental nations, has noticed me."

Akira just let him vent. It seemed that somehow, Akira had attained that role in this remarkable young man's life. The day he woke up, he was the guy he came to vent about Senjutsu. Now, he was the guy he was talking about Hanzo with. It was obvious to the older shinobi that even if Naruto would never accept it, he was scared.

Naruto's hands started trembling beneath the now sizable water droplet. He kept adding more and more chakra, rotating it like the eight tails did, until he felt the orb wouldn't be able to take anymore. And with a nasty gleam in his eyes, he threw the technique into the middle of the water. It hit the surface with an audible plop.

Akira almost screamed at the immense pull he felt. As soon as the drop touched the water, a huge whirlpool formed in it. He was about to yell about the civilians in the water with him, when he noticed they were already out of danger, floating above the hot spring in swiftly made half spheres of water.

Akira looked at the boy responsible, laughing as he got swept up by the rapid waters, going around in circles in the whirlpool, unafraid of what was happening. "This is much better." Naruto yelled out.

Akira sighed. This had happened with Kushina too, her first time in the hot springs. "You know something? You're not supposed to use chakra here."

Naruto blinked, all his earlier seriousness gone. Growing up in the red-light district, he was familiar with what would happen when he did something that wasn't allowed in some shop.

"Banned?" he asked, still smiling at the way the water carried him around.

Akira nodded, wondering just how much he'd have to pay in damages. "Banned."

---

After it was all settled, and Naruto's picture was added to the collection of faces that were banned from the hot springs, Akira went down to where Naruto was waiting for his sister and Yugao.

"Naruto, I get that you're scared. If I had seen as much senjutsu as you have when I was your age I would be too. But really, it's not that common. And it's not that dangerous. The Nature chakra you gather can only stay in your body for a short while. Only around 5 minutes. Unless you have someone gathering for you, which is unlikely given how rare it is, a 5 minute boost is all it is."

Naruto looked at the older ninja in surprise. He didn't know that. But it didn't make it a whole lot better because he was sure Ibuze could gather and replenish it for Hanzo if someone lasted 5 minutes against him.

"Thanks for the info, but you're wrong about one thing. I might have been scared if all this happened to me and I hadn't tried the summoning technique. Now, after those two months, even the prospect of getting involved with someone like Hanzo makes me excited. What I just did inside that hot spring, I don't think it would've ever occurred to me if I hadn't gone through what I did. I feel like I have access to a little bit more of the me from before. Somehow, I see chakra more clearly. I see the water element more clearly… Now…"

Akira just looked at him curiously and Naruto grinned.

"Now, whatever happens, I know I'm ready. I know I'll be able to handle it."

With Haku, Day 43

Haku was on the roof, staring up at the sky. This was where she usually was, but today was different. It was a bit startling to realize that of all the times she'd been up here, it was never once during the day.

Today was a rare day in Kirigakure and especially in Four Island. Somehow the mist had dissipated in the afternoon sun and from her position on the roof of one of the tallest buildings in the island, she could see around for miles. The view was incredible and she found herself with a smile on her face, something that was even rarer. Although, thinking about her oldest friend usually did bring a smile to her face…

Soon, very soon, she would see her friend again. She was somehow sure of that. Naruto always had this way of convincing you that he'd do something without saying it even once. And he'll end up doing it. She'd had no interactions with him for over five years now, but somehow she still knew that he'd be there. Memory sealed or not, it didn't matter. He would find a way.

Thinking about her oldest friend's circumstances however, made her smile disappear very quickly. A memory seal? A seal? How could Naruto of all people be held back by a seal? She quickly got rid of that thought. She knew very little about fuinjutsu, but even she knew memory seals were a whole other dimension. Another thing that they had to consider was that it may not be a seal at all. It could be the work of a Yamanaka clan member. As she understood it, the techniques of the Yamanaka clan were an extension of their willpower. Their mental strength against their target's mental strength. Mental development is heavily neglected by most shinobi and as a result, it is somewhat accurate to say that if you get hit by a Yamanaka's technique, you're done. But she had trouble believing that Naruto would be defeated in a war of wills. He wouldn't be-

Her thoughts were interrupted as she turned around to the sound of a door opening. Mangetsu Hozuki stepped out onto the roof. Haku gave him a smile which he returned. Despite Naruto not being here to accompany her during her many sleepless nights after his disappearance, she was seldom alone. Mangetsu always made it a point to accompany her as much as he could. They had spent many nights on this roof just laying back and talking. On days where she wanted to talk, he would listen. When she wanted to cry, he would make her laugh. Haku knew for a fact that Mangetsu Hozuki was the sole reason she still held it together.

"You were thinking about him, weren't you?" Mangetsu softly whispered as he reached her, his eyes squinting at the unfamiliar light. "We'll see him soon, won't we?" He said, smiling at the thought. "Hopefully he hasn't been slacking. God knows we're a lot stronger now."

Haku scoffed. "No… I don't think he's even capable of slacking.", she said, making Mangetsu chuckle. "What brings you up here?"

He shrugged. He didn't really have a reason. "I was bored and there's nobody else in the house." He then took out a crumpled up piece of paper and slowly started unfurling it. Haku smiled as Mangetsu set about his task. This was kind of their little secret. In their little group, Zabuza and Mei were much older than them. The twins, while only a few years older, still didn't mix in quite as well with them. Yagura, Akane, Mangetsu, Naruto and herself. They were the closest in age and so, they were much more comfortable around each other.

When Naruto disappeared, their group kind of split again. They still did close to everything together, but Yagura and Akane preferred going to some places alone, and likewise with her and Mangetsu. Smoking up on the roof was one such thing that Haku shared with Mangetsu alone. This had started very recently when they saw Zabuza and Mei doing the same thing on the roof one day. They were curious, and it wasn't like the stuff was difficult to get. So they decided to try it out one day and ended up liking it.

When Mangetsu finished and held it up, Haku smiled at him. Neither of them had a fire affinity, so they had to rely on a lighter. They smoked in silence, just staring out at the view. The wind probably wasted half of it, but they didn't care. It was a temporary high anyway.

After a few minutes of silence, Mangetsu turned onto his side, making Haku tilt her head. "This is going to sound very weird but I'll say it anyway. Have you… Have you ever thought that maybe, maybe it's a good thing Naruto's memory got sealed?"

"What?" Haku asked, bewildered.

Mangetsu sighed. "The others don't want me to tell you this, but you guys weren't alone that day in the tree when Naruto told his story. Just hear me out." He interjected quickly, seeing the rage building up on Haku's face. "You remember what he was like when he arrived. Do you really think any of us would let you anywhere near him without being on hand to protect you?"

Haku looked at him stunned. "I-"

"And knowing what we know of him now, he probably knew. He probably knew we were all listening, but he told his… story anyway. The things I heard that day, I've never gotten over it. How is it that one person can go through so much, hold so much anger and despair back, and still be as human as you or me?"

Haku looked at him, her eyes wide. No matter how close they had become, it was still very uncommon for him to express his feelings like this. His fists were shaking, all his muscles tensed and his whole body trembling with rage… Honestly, she'd never seen him like this.

"I remember… I remember my hands twitching. I so yearned to just draw my sword and go vent everything I was feeling. If I were in Naruto's place, I would never be able to handle it all. I would give up in an instant. I don't know what kind of determination he had, but he had already come to terms with it. His eyes were lit up, he was dead set on revenge and he would never give up."

Haku looked away, realizing what Mangetsu meant to say.

"That knowledge of his burden… Of what he holds inside him… Isn't it better to spare him that? Isn't it better that he doesn't remember? That he lives his life not in pursuit of something as ugly as revenge? That-"

"That's not him." Haku's soft whisper cut through his speech. Her glare stopped what he was going to say. "I get it. Mangetsu, believe me I get it. But it wouldn't be him. They erased everything that made him who he was. Sure, he had a horrible past. But he was doing everything he could to get himself the future he wanted. The future where the people who hurt him no longer existed and his sister was safe by his side. That was what he fought for. What's he fighting for now? All his dreams, his desires, his hobbies… It all got erased with that seal. Whoever is known as Uzumaki Naruto now, isn't the real one."

Mangetsu just stared at her, knowing she wouldn't budge on this. Haku sighed heavily. "Besides, if he doesn't regain his memories, we all remember the promise we made… That's what the Naruto we know wants. Of that, we can be sure…"

With Naruto, Day 43

The hostility in the stares he received didn't go unnoticed by Naruto. But he knew it was better to ignore them till he couldn't. This deep inside the Uchiha clan compound, it was better not to react. Being a wielder of the Sharingan that was not part of the clan, he received a fair amount of hostility from its members. For the moment, he just kept on walking to his destination.

The clan head's house. He was wary about the situation but couldn't find any other way to proceed. He visited Uchiha Nanaba, Mikoto's former friend, to enquire about her whereabouts and that was where he heard that Uchiha Mikoto had been in the village for weeks now. In fact, she'd moved back into her old house…

Naruto couldn't figure that out. The Mikoto he knew wouldn't do this unless something else was forcing her to. He remembered how happy she was happy to walk away from this clan. Why would she return to the people that threw her out for no reason?

He shook his head. He'd reached the clan head's house. Taking a deep breath, he walked up and knocked on the door, well aware of how the hidden guards tensed up.

KNOCK. KNOCK. KNOCK.

He didn't have his sharingan activated, but from the light footsteps that came from the other side of the door, he knew it was a woman opening it. A smile formed on his face but as the door slid open, the smile fell from his face.

It was indeed a woman, just not the one he expected. His disappointment was plainly visible on his face for only a few moments, before he schooled his expression and gave a small smile.

"Excuse me, I'm sorry for showing up unannounced, but I was looking for a very good friend of mine and I was told I could find her here." Naruto spoke formally, wanting to give a good impression to someone whose favor he probably needed to get the information he wanted. "Is Uchiha Mikoto available?"

Fondness? Familiarity? Jealousy? Hate? He was prepared for many things to show up on the woman's face. Just not… alarm… But before he could even begin to understand why, something else entered his mind.

Sniff…

Kazane took a step back as the young boy's eyes turned into that horrible red shape and a suffocating, eerie presence settled around her. "Wha-?"

"I can see that you're a civilian. If you're here against your will, step aside. If not, do the same thing or I will kill you where you stand."

The air was suffocating her, the intensity making her gulp. Living outside any village for as long as she had, this wasn't the first time she had been faced with a shinobi's killing intent. But this was somehow different. It didn't take her long to do what her mind was screaming at her to do. She stepped aside and stared at the ground, shocked at how easily this little boy had turned into… into a monster.

Naruto growled softly. "Is Mikoto here?"

Kazane shook her head and he nodded.

"Where is he? The asshole that tried to steal my eyes… Where is he?"

She pointed a shaky finger down the hall and Naruto turned and walked in that direction. As soon as he disappeared from view, Kazane collapsed on her knees. In the past few months, she'd had the unfortunate pleasure of crossing paths with many strong Uchiha shinobi… Some of them terrified her. But none of them held a candle to how much the little kid affected her with a simple look.

Naruto calmly walked forward, but his heart was racing. He was walking into a conflict with a person that had the power to brainwash people and with no plan to counter that technique. But it didn't matter. He was done running. These mind manipulation techniques were finding him far too frequently much like senjutsu was. It was time to act.

A sudden thought almost stopped him in his tracks… What if?

This could very well have been the technique that was used on him in the first place. But wait… Why would someone with absolute power over his mind give him the option to remember, albeit by suffering through some very intense pain?

…

Ok, maybe this wasn't the technique that was used on him all those years ago, but the fucker still tried to steal his eyes. It demanded some retribution.

It was a determined Naruto that walked into Fugaku's bedroom with both swords in hand and his Mangekyou active. He wasn't prepared for the sight that greeted him.

Naruto was prepared not to look the man directly in the eyes, but once he saw the man wasn't on his feet but instead on his bed, he let his gaze travel upwards. A cloth bandage around his eyes, his chest heaving slowly. Not at all the kind of confrontation he had mentally prepared for.

"I knew you'd find me sooner or later."

Naruto stayed a safe distance away, knowing that no one, especially not someone who tried to steal his eyes in broad daylight, would be this unprepared for a conflict. Instead he circled away from the door, keeping his back to the wall. If something came at him through the wall, he would sense the chakra first.

"Why'd you try to steal my eyes?" Naruto asked, keeping his eyes fixed on a spot near the man's stomach, not wanting to risk any sudden attacks.

Fugaku chuckled at the question. "Look at me, boy… Why do you think I wanted your eyes?"

Naruto's eyes widened at what was implied. "You're… blind?"

"Not far off." He sighed. "I knew… Somewhere deep down, I knew this was a power that could never come without its consequences. I read Tenzen-sama's journals. He'd also experienced some deterioration in his vision, but his use was neither as extreme, nor as frequent as mine."

Frowning, Naruto let one sword hand drop. It was obvious the man intended to talk. "Why me? I personally know another Uchiha orphan. Why not him?"

"Please, let's not pretend. I know you wield the Mangekyou Sharingan. And you've been in possession of yours for at least as long as I have. You should've noticed its effects on your vision after 5 or 6 consecutive uses. You've used it a lot more, and somehow I don't think you have suffered the consequences. How?" It was almost a whisper.

Naruto scoffed. "Is that how you ended up blind? From overusing that technique?"

Fugaku held up his hand and immediately Naruto was on the back foot. Over ten Uchiha shinobi stepped outside the shadows where the light from the singular window failed to reach. Naruto's mind was screaming at him to run because no matter how skilled the shinobi, the intent can never be truly masked. And Naruto didn't sense a single one of them till they appeared in front of him.

Uchiha Nanaba stepped in front of Fugaku's bed and held a tanto up in the basic attack stance and Naruto grimaced. Mikoto had told him stories about her life in the Uchiha clan. He knew what kind of person Nanaba was and from that, he deduced why there was no killing intent coming from any of them.

…

Puppets didn't usually emit killing intent.

"I knew you were coming from the moment you stepped foot inside the Uchiha compound. I may not be able to see very well, but it doesn't mean I'm defenseless."

Naruto would agree with that. Nearly a dozen fully trained Uchiha shinobi directly under his control. Naruto was confident he could escape, but not completely sure what would happen if he tried to stay and fight. As strong as he was, he didn't want to tempt fate by taking on too much.

"Puppets usually become useless when their wielder falls."

Fugaku smiled. "I know how this looks. But I have no interest in fighting you."

"Says the guy who tried to steal my eyes."

"Fair enough. I no longer hold any interest in fighting you. I simply want to ask you something. Something that has had me puzzled for weeks now." Fugaku slowly leaned forward into a sitting position. "Who was Mikoto to you?"

Naruto frowned. I wanted to ask about her. She had a lot of memories about you. I had to -

Realization dawned in Naruto's eyes. Mikoto was who he meant by that. He had tried a lot to decipher the conversation he had that day inside the genjutsu, but he didn't imagine it would be about Mikoto. If he had, he would've made this visit a long time ago. "What have you done to Mikoto-nee?"

"Mikoto-nee?" Fugaku repeated, all semblance of mirth gone from his face now. "You were that close with her?"

Naruto snarled in anger, fists shaking. He now had an idea why he hadn't seen Mikoto around since he'd woken up. "What did you mean when you said she had a lot of memories about me? Did… Did you use that technique on her?"

A pained expression formed on his face seconds before Fugaku was launched off his sitting position with a fist to his cheek. He crashed against the headboard with a gasp and immediately felt the sharp edge of the boy's longsword at his throat.

Surprisingly, none of the Uchiha shinobi moved from their positions. Uchiha Nanaba didn't even react to Naruto bypassing her completely. He looked inquisitively at the Uchiha clan head.

"As I said, I have no wish to fight you."

Naruto grit his teeth in response. "Where is she?"

"Gone out to get groceries."

Naruto realized it was the lady at the door who replied. "Who are you? How do you fit into all this? Does he have you under his control as well."

"I'm Kazane. And I might be the only person here who isn't under his control."

Kazane's observation skills were keen enough to notice the pained expression that was quickly suppressed from Naruto's face. Mikoto Uchiha was important to this kid. That much she knew now.

"I came here to tell you not to kill this man." Kazane continued knowing the question that would follow.

"Why? He is the single most despicable person I've met in my life. And believe me, I've met a lot."

Kazane smiled. "Of 23 Uchiha shinobi and 18 other staff members in a brothel, this was the only man who thought to stop the atrocities that were being done to me." Naruto blinked. "Trust me when I say, he's not that bad. Other people with his power could have done a lot worse. If there's one thing I'm sure of, it's that this man loves Mikoto."

"Love?! Is this what you call love?" Naruto growled.

"Love was the reason this was done."

Naruto didn't say anything. For the entire time, he hadn't taken his eyes off Fugaku. Irrespective of who was speaking, it was a fact that the civilian didn't pose a threat. He would much rather focus on the bedridden blind shinobi than turn to look at the civilian.

"If you want, you're welcome to try and kill me." Uchiha Fugaku slowly leaned back and fell onto his bed. "But before you do, think about what will happen to those that are already under my control. Commanded to obey my every whim and not look any further into it. What do you think will happen to them?"

"I don't fucking care. Whoever's in the room, I'll kill. Along with you. About Mikoto, I'll find a way. I'll find a way to reverse her and-"

"Impossible." Fugaku's interruption was so sudden that Naruto actually let him speak. "Believe me, I've tried. It is perhaps because I tried so much, that my vision has now failed me. Kotoamatsukami works once… And only once on a person." A lone red tear fell down his cheek. "I would reverse it if I could. All I wanted was for her to love me again, but I didn't realize how deep her rejection of me went. I… I changed the very core of her being. She's not Mikoto anymore. Not the one you know anyway."

Naruto was shaking now. So much rage. So much anger. So much anxiety. "How does any of this matter? She's a smart woman. If I explain to her how she's being controlled, she'll learn to adapt to the situation and act accordingly. Perhaps she'll even be the one to put an end to you."

"I tried that. She refuses to comprehend that I could do something like that. She doesn't even register it. I tried every single way I could think of and I've just about given up."

Fugaku's head turned up and looked straight at Naruto.

"Mikoto Uchiha is dead. Dead. And I killed her."

…

…

…

"Fugaku-kun, I'm back."

Naruto blinked in confusion. He didn't get time to fully comprehend the situation before he was tackled to the ground and a fist hit him hard across his face, breaking his nose.

"Who are you?" Mikoto growled, a kunai held close to his throat.

Naruto had suffered a lot recently. He'd gone face to face with Hanzo, something that could very well be classified as traumatizing. He'd been starved for two months and then subsequently had a lot of bones in his body broken.

…

None of it hurt as much as that question. Who are you?

"It's me. It's Naruto." He gasped out. The force of the kunai at his neck only increased, now almost piercing him.

"Stop, Mikoto." Immediately she let up, getting back on her feet, allowing Naruto to scramble back onto his feet, disbelief etched on his face. "This is Naruto. Naruto Uzumaki. He's Kushina's younger brother. They finally found him."

A huge smile appeared on Mikoto's face as she stepped away from him. "I can't believe it. Kushina must be so happy." She leapt forward and wrapped him in a hug. "I'm thrilled you were found."

Two swords clattered on the ground as Naruto lost all strength in his arms. He suddenly realized that everything Fugaku said was undeniably true. She didn't remember him? Was this what his sister felt when she heard he had no memory of her? How did she still put on a happy face for him? How did she still manage to talk to him without crying?

Tears flowed down his face as the hug continued. He wanted so much to move his arms and reciprocate the hug but he found he couldn't. He just stood there, enveloped in the arms of the woman who had helped him so much. Who was probably the only reason Yugao and he had a place to live. It was Mikoto Uchiha who found him on the roof, trapped in his own memories, about to be swallowed by his own black flames. It was Mikoto Uchiha who taught him genjutsu, and how to use the sharingan. It was Mikoto Uchiha that made his oldest friends' lives tolerable towards the end.

Over the few months that they spent together, he had so many memories of her. He had so much love and affection for her, as did Yugao… And it turns out she may never… No, she will never remember them.

He looked at Fugaku. "You… You monster."

A sob escaped Fugaku at that moment. "I know what I am… I know..."

Mikoto looked at them in confusion but Naruto ignored her. "How could you do this?" He turned to look at Kazane, who also had tears in her eyes, somehow empathizing with his anguish. "How can you claim this is love?"

"What was done to her was not out of love. It was out of selfishness and jealousy and pride…" Kazane met his eyes. "But the fact that he's staying and taking care of her, knowing that he's the one who killed her identity, knowing she'll never be the same and he has only himself to blame… The fact that he doesn't try to kill himself or her or just ignore the situation… or, or something… That's out of love."

Naruto didn't know what to even think. His whole world, his whole outlook on life had just been shattered. All he wanted to do was keep his friends safe. He had done a piss poor job of it so far, because Shinzo was dead. Shizuka was dead. He'd promised himself that whatever happened, even if it meant his death, he would not allow harm to come to anyone else.

And here Mikoto was… A shell of her former self. A mindless drone.

A permanent reminder of his failure.

Naruto stared at Kazane, then slowly whirled around to see the sobbing Fugaku Uchiha. Then he looked at Mikoto. She kept looking at the three of them, somehow not realizing that she was the topic of their conversation. Until finally, she decided to stop trying to understand and just say what she was planning to say.

"I have some happy news to share." Mikoto chirped cheerfully, drawing the eyes of all of the others. Naruto watched as Mikoto's hands rose up and came to rest on her stomach. His sharingan activated and he gasped.

With a small cheerful jump, she announced the news that would undoubtedly make everyone happy. She had left home early that day to get herself checked out, making the excuse of getting groceries. But she knew already. A mother always knows…

"I'm pregnant."

With Yuna, Day 45

Yuna was actually enjoying her time at home nowadays. From the moment she had come to terms with the truth, she found that her 'father's' indifference didn't bother her as much. And somehow, seeing her indifference to the situation was bothering Hiruzen and that would have made her laugh out loud if the situation allowed it.

The situation was indeed tense. So tense that the usually dense Asuma had picked up on it. He was as silent as she usually was. Again, she would've laughed out loud if the situation allowed it.

And as usual, her mother was the person still trying to have some semblance of conversation at the dinner table. "So, are you both prepared for the tournament tomorrow?"

Asuma's smirk formed again. "I am. Don't know about her though. I bet my entire team is going to pass."

PFFT.

Yuna didn't really mean for it to be that loud. She didn't really mean for it to be heard, even. But now that it had, it was time for some fun. "Not a chance, Asuma. Kurenai is proficient only in genjutsu. No matter how skilled she is at that, you can't really fight with only one specialization."

Asuma predictably brought the conversation back to one day from her academy days when her brother's team came over and Kurenai put her under the Hell Viewing Technique as a part of their 'hazing'. "Says the girl who cried for three days after getting hit with one genjutsu."

"ASUMA!" yelled a scandalized Biwako. It was a sore topic for her. Yuna had spent close to a week in closed therapy sessions because of her exposure to that ungodly technique.

"It's ok, mother." Yuna spoke with an equal smirk on her face. "It's true. Back then I did cry unconsolably for 3 days when my brother's teammate showed me a vision of him and my other brother getting brutally murdered. I'm pretty sure if I saw the same thing now, it wouldn't even faze me." Yuna realized none of the others at the table expected her to clap back like that. She had a fire in her now. She was enjoying this. "Hell, I might even enjoy it."

"YUNA!" Biwako yelled again.

Asuma grit his teeth in anger. "You've been spending too much time with that red haired brat. You… you can't talk to me like this."

Yuna laughed. "Nice. Blame it on him. This version of me, the one you see now, you guys made her. If Naruto did play any part in this, it was only to hasten the inevitable. This is me." Yuna got up, slamming her hands on the table. "You won't see me here anymore. If anyone needs to find me, you can reach out through my sensei." She wiped her mouth on the napkin and threw it on her plate. "But I suspect no one will."

She turned and walked toward the door, ignoring her mother's request to wait. She paused at the door and turned around. "By the way, I hope Naruto is matched with Kurenai tomorrow. Maybe I'll tell him about what she did to me back then. It'll be fun to hear her scream."

Asuma, now livid with the way she was talking, didn't want her to have the last word. "Kurenai's genjutsus are so strong that they can't be mirrored by Yashiro's sharingan."

Yuna paused again. Oh, this was so… so refreshing. "That speaks more to Yashiro's lack of talent than it does to Kurenai's skill."

And then she walked out, leaving behind her devastated mother, her speechless brother and her indifferent father, calmly picking through his food.

She almost cried out of joy.

The Forest of Death, Dusk

Before finding out what happened to Mikoto, if you'd asked Naruto if he'd ever summon the vultures, his answer would have been no despite the talk Orochimaru had with him. It was a plain equation in his head. Did he need them now? The simple answer was no. He didn't. Would he need them in the future? The answer was probably yes, the way things were going. But still, he didn't really want to.

He did agree with what Orochimaru said. He did suffer at their hands. Might as well get something out of it. But there was something wrong with that logic. If he did get their help… How much could he really trust them? He'd read up on the birds. Vultures were scavengers. They won't kill you… But if they saw you dying, it was unlikely they'd help you.

But…

Trust was overrated.

Boar. Dog. Bird. Monkey. Ram.

"Summoning Technique!"

Mikoto probably had the same uneasy feeling he had right now. But she trusted her former lover enough to go to him unprepared and look at what happened. She was dead. Replaced with a ghost.

It made him feel helpless. He just didn't know how to save her. He could kill Fugaku and his little puppet soldiers but what good would that do. Give Mikoto the same feeling of loss he was feeling? It was obvious she loved him now…

…

Fuck that jutsu.

…

He still hadn't told Kushina, but he would… Soon. A reckoning would happen. It had to. With the brainwashing, the memory sealing, the spying and all the fucking international politics that was going on, he could sense things were at the tipping point. Something big was coming and now all Naruto wanted was to be as prepared as he could possibly be.

…

Because he wouldn't be able to handle another loss. Mikoto was dead. Kind of. At least she was beyond saving at the level he was currently at. The weeping pathetic Fugaku had promised that it was the sole reason he was staying alive. He was going to take care of her. And Kazane… Kazane had convinced him that keeping him alive would be a far greater punishment than killing him would be… Naruto had to agree. It was torture for Fugaku to see the woman he loved like this.

Kazane. Kazane was a whole other thing. He didn't know who she was, but the girl had spunk. With the killing intent he had released that day, normal civilians shouldn't have gotten back up so soon.

"Naruto… I was hoping you would summon me." Hayate was a lot bigger now despite it being less than two months since he last saw him. In fact, he was almost five times Naruto's size. "What's on your mind?" Hayate asked, seeing Naruto staring into space.

Naruto's eyes quickly turned to the summoned vulture and studied him. "Too much. Too much on my mind."

Hayate unfurled his wings and performed a motion that looked a lot like a shrug. "Wanna talk about it?"

"How would that help?"

He 'shrugged' again. "I don't know. You humans are supposed to feel better after talking about stuff. That's what I read anyway."

Naruto gave him a quizzical look. "You read?"

Giving an offended huff, Hayate leaned forward to look at him face to face. "Contrary to what humans think, the summoned creatures have a very developed society."

"I saw that." There was a dry look on Naruto's face and the bird got the message. Make sure the subject stayed far away from his experience at the vulture lair.

Hayate folded up his wings again and settled down next to him. He didn't know exactly what was on the young boy's mind that troubled him so. But he knew how to fix it. There was nothing quite like soaring through the air at supersonic speeds.

"You know something? I think my father told you. You're not the first person to come to our lair. I won't bore you with the details but you probably know where they ended up."

Naruto touched his stomach and Hayate nodded.

"I won't sit here and preach about how you're different from all the rest, how you've withstood far greater trials than even the mightiest vulture has, throughout our history, because I know you know it already. Instead, I'll tell you something all you humans that came into our lair have in common."

A raised eyebrow was the only indication of curiosity he got from the tiny redhead. And the only warning Naruto received from the vulture was a wink.

WHOOSH!

The next thing he knew he was on the vulture's back, soaring upwards. The wind threatened to send him flying off Hayate's back, but he managed to channel chakra to his legs in the nick of time, letting him stick to Hayate, his legs on either side of the vulture's neck. When he finally regained his bearings, he was above the clouds. His ears felt weird. He'd read about the effects of changing altitude, but he never imagined it would be as apparent as it was now.

Hayate had his wings fully unfurled and was now softly gliding through the air, the way he'd seen eagles do. His pitch black feathers were glistening in the evening sun. Naruto didn't usually put much stock in beautiful scenery, but even he had to admit this was the best view he'd ever had till that point in his life.

The wind in his face felt amazing. In fact, it felt rejuvenating. The last time he'd felt this alive… was when he was as close to death as he'd ever come, taking his first bite of human flesh…

He could see the wind. Not with his eyes, but somehow he could sense every tiny movement of air around him. The intricate pattern of that movement and how even the tiniest movement of his hand sent ripples through that pattern… It was beautiful. And amazing…

…

And something he'd experienced before… In the time before Konoha.

"Wind affinity." Naruto muttered under his breath. "All the people who were stupid enough to wander into your lair had a wind affinity…"

Hayata made a clicking sound that Naruto attributed to a sound of confirmation. "It's the minimum criteria of admission."

Naruto nodded and decided to lead the conversation into a whole different path. This was their ice breaker session after all… "Do you feel this amazing every time you fly?", he asked softly.

A deep chuckle rumbled through Hayate's body which Naruto felt, which in turn made him smile. "Of course I do. It's the one escape that I will always have to myself. It's been ages since any of the others have left the lair. I'm usually the one who hunts now. The others can sit in their nests gathering dust. But that's not me."

Naruto hummed in response. "I'm glad you're not boring. Even though I did think you were, when I threatened to kill you back at the lair…"

Hayate knew where Naruto was going and decided to get there faster. "No hard feelings Naruto. I was your enemy and you were looking for a way out. It's not like I don't have others to be angry at…"

Despite not being able to see Naruto's face, Hayate could sense the curious look he wore. "My own father was prepared to sacrifice me just because of some stupid rule about no killing. Hell if you step back and take a look, my entire clan unanimously wanted to sacrifice me for a few moments there… Just because they thought Nature would strike us down."

"I take it you aren't a fan of Nature then?"

Hayate 'shrugged' in mid air, giving Naruto his first real scare riding on top of him. "Sorry", he said sheepishly. "But to answer your question, I will need to give you some context regarding how the summoned creatures work."

Naruto leaned forward so he could hear better. After the initial adrenaline rush, the rushing wind was becoming kind of annoying, making it harder for him to hear what Hayate was saying.

"Every animal that is part of a summoning contract is just a normal animal of the corresponding species. Until one fine morning, Nature bestows a blessing on you and you become infinitely more capable in every sense of the word… Usually, it follows the trend that the children of summoned creatures get this blessing at some point early on in their lives… Only, that didn't happen for me. So, am I a fan of nature? Not really… At least not for the better part of the 37 years I've been on this planet." Hayate sighed. "I was the weakling. My father didn't want to cast me out, so he kept me around. I did odd jobs here and there, like hunting small game, chaining prisoners, etc etc. But for the most part I was free to do what I wanted, so I spent my time reading."

"You're 37? What the fuck?"

"I'm 37. I'm actually quite young considering my father has been alive since the time before the Sage split the ten tails."

Naruto was silent, just absorbing all the information. "How are you so big now anyway, if you don't have Nature's blessing or whatever? You're not a normal vulture anymore…"

The vulture chuckled. "I don't know if father knew it before he said it, but I was always meant to be your familiar. Because what didn't happen for 37 name days, happened the moment you signed that summoning contract… Whether you like it or not, we arechosen by Nature. For whatever purpose."

…

"So, if you ask me, am I a fan of Nature? I owe all my power to it. Everything that I can do now, is because of Nature's power."

Naruto scoffed. "That doesn't answer my question. Are you happy that Nature has 'chosen' us?"

"No, I'm angry Nature has chosen us… We sure as hell didn't ask to be chosen did we?"

Naruto smiled. "And what are you going to do about it?"

Hayate turned his head to the side, allowing Naruto to see one of his eyes set in determination. "Whatever the fuck I want.", said Hayate, making Naruto's smile widen.

Almost simultaneously, their heads turned and saw a couple of vultures flying some miles away from them. Their eyes met again and neither could help the mirth in them.

Naruto grinned. "Go!"

The acceleration was unlike anything he'd ever experienced before. Even in Shimogamo forest or in Amegakure when he channeled wind chakra through his body, he was not this fast. Hayate covered close to two miles, the entire separation between them, within the blink of an eye. One vulture was in his beak and the other was clutched in his talon… There was a small pause where they met gazes again, after which both vultures were decapitated in an explosion of blood.

Naruto was as enthralled by Hayate's first kill as Hayate had been by Naruto's first real meal.

As Naruto looked down and saw the mutilated corpses falling through the air, he couldn't help but smile… This was the start to a beautiful friendship.

Iwagakure, Tsuchikage's Chambers, Day 47

"Where were you, Midori?" The Tsuchikage roared at his oldest son. It was a very rare moment when you saw Onoki of the twin scales get angry. But then again, it was rare for anyone in Iwagakure to disappear for a month and a half during a time of war, so perhaps his anger may have been justified.

Midori however, was not fazed. "I had some things to take care of…" And that was all he was going to say about that.

Onoki glared at him suspiciously. There had been only one thing, over the years, that the father and son had disagreed on. And he knew this was probably related to the same thing. Uzumaki Naruto was a thorn in his side already. The thing was that, in the grand scheme of things, a 11 year old shinobi, no matter how powerful, did not matter. For now, at least… For now, what mattered was planning for the chunin exams…

And luckily for Midori, the plans that they'd come up with hadn't required him to be present. If it had, Onoki might have been a lot angrier. Besides, his gem of a student was going to be in the chunin exams.

Deidara was many things. He was young, talented, eager to prove himself, curious, inquisitive… But the one thing about him, the something that stood out more than any of his other attributes, was his mind. He was brilliant.

To think, as a 7-year-old child, he had succeeded where Mu himself had failed… His clay techniques were unbelievable. Extremely powerful. Not to mention extremely versatile in its uses. He could attest to that fact, considering the treasure trove of information about Konoha's city planning he now had in his possession. That was the part he had the most trouble believing. This boy… This young boy… He was creating life. Every single being he made with his clay was sentient. It was miraculous. When he took the young orphan under his wing, he hadn't expected this much out of him. At least not so soon.

Deidara was rapidly becoming an asset on par with Iwa's two jinchuriki themselves. And he would prove himself in the chunin exams as well. Of that he was sure.

Tournament Stadium

With Minato

The chunin exams, the first ever one to be held in the Elemental Nations. Minato was probably not aware of the entire political situation but he was sure that if the conflict was meant to continue, it would. Who would care that some village's genin thwarted another's? In the grand scheme of things, did it really matter who won? Because aside from Kiri, everyone had an equal chance of losing this tournament.

He sighed. Somehow he'd ended up with the duty of proctoring the chunin exam, and like the genin, proctoring the mock tournament would be good practice for him. When he was initially given this duty, he did wonder why he was chosen. He'd even questioned the Hokage about it. Danzo had lost an arm. Orochimaru wasn't speaking to him. Jiraiya was still recuperating… Fugaku was out of action and that was all the info he got.

He sighed again. He could have said that he wouldn't go. It was well within his rights to do so, but he didn't probably only because of one thing. He wanted to see Naruto fight up close.

He looked around the stadium, in awe at the roaring crowd. At the time of the village's founding, this was a place Hashirama Senju insisted on building and during the early days, exhibition matches were fairly common. However, over the years this had turned into a simple gathering place or a marketplace for festivals etc… But he could tell from the crowd's approval that this was something they appreciated.

Minato stepped forward and the 12 assembled genin immediately turned to him. He looked over their faces to get a sense of what they were feeling. Mostly excited or nervous… or bored if you looked at Kakashi or Asuma, or indifferent if you looked at Naruto…

"Welcome everyone, to the tournament we've all been preparing for." Minato shouted and then waited for the crowd to quiet down, which took quite a lot of time. When it finally happened, he didn't wait for any confirmation from Shikaku or the Hokage. He just continued with his job. "I will now announce the rules for the matches that will take place now. It will be a series of one on ones in which your performance will be recorded. Based on this evaluation, six of you will be selected to participate in the Chunin exams to be held in the Iron Country."

Again, cheers echoed around the stadium and Minato clicked his tongue in annoyance. But he held whatever he wanted to say back, because he knew that if he was in the stands and not out here doing this menial task, he would also have cheered.

"While it is a series of 1v1 matches, winning is not a defining criteria for selection, just as losing is not a disqualifying factor. There is a chance that you will win and not get selected and similarly with losing and getting selected." If anyone noticed Yuna Sarutobi's shoulders slumping, no one commented. "With all this in mind, direct your gaze toward the big screen our friends from the Iron Country have installed."

With Naruto

Naruto almost smiled at how uncomfortable Minato looked. It seemed that whatever your rank, you will be forced to do some things you didn't want to do. He wasn't really paying attention but he did see Rin in front of him turn her head upwards to look at something and he followed her gaze.

Match 1: Kakashi Hatake vs Kurenai Yuhi

Match 2: Might Guy vs Obito Uchiha

Match 3: Asuma Sarutobi vs Naruto Uzumaki

Match 4: Rin Nohara vs Anko Mitarashi

Match 5: Yashiro Uchiha vs Aoba Yamashiro

Match 6: Genma Shiranui vs Yuna Sarutobi

Asuma turned to look at him. Naruto, more than a foot shorter, had to look up at Asuma. The moment Naruto met his eyes, he gave a smug smirk and turned back, making Naruto clench his fist. When he turned back around he met Yuna's pleading gaze. 'Please don't do too much.' She said with her eyes. Naruto grinned and saw her turn even more worried. This was going to be fun.

"Participants of the first match may stay back. Others, please make your way to the waiting area." Minato said, pointing to an open area carved into the stadium wall.

Kakashi and Kurenai didn't move and the others slowly started moving. Naruto took a good look at both combatants. Kakashi looked as stoic as he always did, just as he expected. What he didn't expect was Kurenai having the same smug smile Asuma had given him a few moments ago. Either she was very ignorant about her situation and didn't know anything about what Kakashi could do… Or, she was able to back up her arrogance.

And somehow, he was sure it was the latter.

With Jiraiya

He'd reached the village a few minutes ago and wanted nothing more than to get something to eat. But he saw the commotion in the streets and sensed the excitement of the village folk and couldn't help his curiosity.

It was a good thing he did too. He was gone a long time and needed to be caught up on recent events. Minato's introduction to the tournament was enough for now. It seemed that his sensei had somehow convinced the other major villages to hold a tournament for genin as a substitute for all out war? It didn't presently make much sense to him, but he was sure someone would clarify why later on.

Seated atop the stadium wall, he looked through the stands trying to spot anyone he knew, mainly Orochimaru. But when he did spot him, he saw two others with him that made him want to stay put. Kushina Uzumaki and Akira Senju. He gulped. Whatever he had planned to talk to Orochimaru about, it would have to wait.

Match 1: Kakashi Hatake vs Kurenai Yuhi

Minato jumped back to the stadium wall after announcing the start of the match and both shinobi were immediately in motion. This match was something no one expected to take long. Hatake Kakashi was a prodigy. The entire village knew that. Talented at every aspect of being a shinobi. You wouldn't see him casting genjutsus but he was proficient at sensing and avoiding them.

He was especially talented with his tanto, to the extent that even chunin were wary of him. So, it was generally not a good idea to get too close to him.

It was probably for this reason that Kakashi's eyes went wide when Kurenai charged him, drawing a kunai as she moved. But nevertheless, he was prepared for it. The fact that they clashed midway was a testament to how much he was faster than her, considering he had waited for quite a bit after she initiated her charge.

As soon as their weapons clashed, Kurenai withdrew her attacking arm, waving it in a particular pattern before she somersaulted away.

Kakashi frowned in confusion. What was the point of that?

He didn't want to give her any time to regroup, so he sped after her, knowing he held the advantage up close.

This time Kurenai was forced to defend as Kakashi's tanto moved so quickly that a white light after image was all the untrained eye could see. Kurenai somehow managed to block and dodge in and out of his attacks until Kakashi decided to use his legs along with his tanto and aimed a roundhouse kick at her head. Kurenai ducked just in the nick of time, but in a supreme display of flexibility, Kakashi twisted his body around to regain balance and brought his tanto down in an overhand cut with both hands.

Kurenai, in an even greater display of flexibility, went down on her hands and brought her leg spinning from the side, timing it perfectly that she actually kicked the tanto right at the hilt and sent it flying.

A moment later she was back on her feet. She lunged with a kunai and almost got him but Kakashi caught her hand. But the kunai wasn't even in her hand anymore. It was sent spinning in the air into her other hand. But instead of trying to attack, she weaved another pattern in front of his eyes.

Once again puzzled, he wasn't prepared for her to bring her leg up in a deadly kick to the face which he was thankfully able to catch with a hastily brought up hand. But it did make him lose hold of her arm and she was immediately a safe distance away.

Kakashi nursed his arm. She was way more skilled at taijutsu than the others had let on. It was to be expected when she'd been a genin for over a year already and in a team with Sarutobi Asuma.

But still… This was not at all going the way he expected it to. He looked up to see Kurenai with her hands in the horse seal and her eyes closed, a vicious smirk on her face.

"Demonic Illusion: Cascading Mirrored World Technique!"

Kakashi immediately held up a half-ram seal and flared his chakra. This only widened the smirk on Kurenai's face.

"I specialize in genjutsu. Do you really think I'll make a jutsu not resistant to the normal Release technique?"

"Doesn't hurt to try." Kakashi shrugged. "When did you cast the technique?"

"Now that would be telling." Kurenai smiled. "Being from a civilian family, I'm much more invested in the theory behind everything we do as shinobi than others are… You probably don't know what the hand seals actually do for us, do you?"

Kakashi's eyes widened in recognition. "Those symbols you drew?"

"Yes. They served as both the snare and the trigger for this genjutsu. My first vision-based original genjutsu experiment is a resounding success."

Silence reigned over the stadium. No one in the stands could possibly hear what was being said between them, but they were silent all the same.

"This genjutsu… What does it do? I feel no different." Kakashi spoke cautiously.

In response she smirked and drew a kunai. This time, she didn't charge him with it. She threw it. Kakashi watched the flight of the kunai and knew it shouldn't pose a threat. It was coming from the right and even if he didn't move, it would only graze his arm…

What the hell was she playing at? She didn't even try to aim. Kakashi felt a little annoyed till Kurenai brought her hands together in the horse seal again.

Suddenly, the kunai, now only a couple of meters away, seemed to disappear. A splitting pain entered his system and he grabbed his left arm in pained surprise. The kunai aimed at his right arm had somehow changed sides and grazed his left…

Cascading Mirrored World Technique!

Realization dawned in his eyes as he realized what the genjutsu did. It could somehow warp his sense of left and right. The kunai had always been aimed at his left arm. But her technique had made it seem like it was coming to his right. Why did she change it back before the kunai hit him? He never would've figured it out so quickly had it not been for that.

Out of pity? Out of arrogance?

His arm was wet with blood… She had cut through a vein.

"It looks like you know how the technique works now. You should know give up. It's pointless to continue." Kurenai spoke with an authority he didn't expect. After seeing he had no intention of surrendering, Kurenai drew a kunai again. And sped toward him.

He dropped his hand from the wound and gripped his tanto. Seeing her hand in a horse seal again, his wounded hand drew a kunai. When she reached him, not knowing which direction the attack would come from, he brought both hands up. Her kunai clashed against the tanto and he immediately slackened his other arm, now knowing which "mode" she was in. Now, as long as she didn't make the hand seal again, she would be stuck to attack from this direction alone.

But he didn't factor into consideration the pattern she drew in the air with her kunai as she brought it down for another slash. The result was a deep cut on his cheek.

Waiting Area

"This genjutsu is ingenious." Naruto muttered, his sharingan eyes spinning in their sockets. "How did she even come up with this?" He felt the collective shrug he received in response.

"Is Kakashi-teme going to lose?" Obito asked, a hint of worry in his tone despite the attitude he usually adopted towards his teammate.

Naruto looked at Kakashi's teammates and saw the worried look on Rin's face as well. "Not a chance in hell. He can end this fight whenever he wants to."

Obito blinked. "Then why is he not doing that?"

Naruto scoffed. "Isn't it obvious? He wants to try and figure out a way to break this technique. He knows killing is disallowed in this tournament and so, as long as he doesn't take too much damage, he can probably demonstrate a lot more ingenuity on his part if he's somehow able to counter it."

Obito's eyes went wide at the response. He had heard Minato say that people were selected based on their performance regardless of whether they win or lose. But he didn't think that people would actively seek ways to showcase their talents like this. Especially not someone like Kakashi, someone who was definitely going to be part of the six that represented Konoha at this event.

"SUCH A PASSIONATE DISPLAY OF YOUTH!" Might Guy yelled even though he was right next to him. "HATAKE KAKASHI… YOU ARE TRULY A YOUTHFUL SHINOBI. SUCH AN AMAZING SHOW OF…"

With Kakashi

"Tch." The moment Guy started yelling he knew it was time to stop kidding around. If Guy was impressed with what he was doing, it was probably time to stop.

He leapt backwards channeling chakra into his legs, generating a respectable distance between them in a blink of an eye. Kurenai didn't let that stop her and continued to throw projectiles, changing the mirror mode randomly to make it difficult.

Kakashi ran through hand seals at speeds that astonished every shinobi in the audience including the Hokage and his advisors. He finished 48 hand seals before the projectiles even reached the halfway point of the separation between them. All of the 48 seals required to perform one of the most well known water style ninjutsu.

"Water Style: Water Dragon Bullet Technique!"

A huge dragon made of water formed in the area between them that swallowed up the projectiles like they were nothing. Faced with the glowing yellow eyes of the inhuman technique, Kurenai unwittingly took a step back. The technique crashed into her carrying her along with it, straight into the far end of the stadium wall.

BOOOM!

The crowd had been actively participating in the match, giving the ooh's and ah's at the appropriate places, but they were dead silent now.

And that silence continued until Minato Namikaze dropped into check on the unconscious Kurenai and turned to Kakashi.

"WINNER OF MATCH 1: KAKASHI HATAKE OF TEAM 7!"

And they roared their approval.

With Hiruzen

Danzo turned to look at his old friend. "What do you think of the match?"

Hiruzen tsked in response. "Hatake is obviously going to be on the team, but we must ensure he won't try the same passive approach in the actual battle."

"And the girl?"

The Hokage looked out at the field where medics had arrived to carry Kurenai to the medical bay. "Her technique is intriguing. The amount of effort it takes to develop a new technique, especially a genjutsu of that level, is no joke as you well know. But the fact that she effectively ended up explaining her technique to the enemy is not a good sign." He took a huge puff of his pipe… "Let's put her on the waitlist for now. If we don't have a definite six at the end of the matches, we'll consider her."

Waiting Area

"You could've done that earlier, you know?" Rin huffed, annoyed at the injuries in multiple places on her teammate's body. She didn't like to see anyone hurt. The medic inside her was itching to deal with his wounds, but she was going to need every bit of chakra she had for her upcoming match with Anko.

Kakashi gave a sheepish grin in reply. "I was trying to find a weakness to that technique. That genjutsu in the hands of someone like Naruto and I wouldn't be able to do anything against it."

"Damn right!" Naruto said smugly. "Not like you'd fair well without it."

Yuna couldn't help but feel a bit relieved at how calm Naruto seemed. She knew Asuma's reputation was about to be ruined pretty badly. She didn't particularly care about that bit, but she knew Asuma would be going back home to their father. Asuma treated her horribly but she knew it wasn't entirely his fault. The Hokage was the only reason for that. So, while she would enjoy it immensely if Asuma was knocked on his ass by Naruto, she didn't particularly want that to happen.

So, it was a good thing that Naruto was calm. Hopefully, he wouldn't be as rough as he usually was. During the battle in Amegakure, Naruto had fought like another person entirely, the entire battle governed by his rage. A display like that would give Naruto a lot of enemies among Konoha's civilian population, the majority of whom idolized the second son of the Hokage.

"MATCH 2: OBITO UCHIHA AND MIGHT GUY." Minato announced and everyone turned their attention back to the stadium.

Match 2: Might Guy vs Obito Uchiha With Minato

The previous match had been somewhat surprising. He knew Kakashi would eventually come out on top, but he hadn't quite expected such a display from the young civilian born Kurenai Yuhi. It seemed only the patriarch of the Yuhi family was a waste of space.

Seeing both participants making their way across the stadium ground, he held up a hand and signaled the grounds team to carry out their roles. "In the Iron Country, discussions had taken place regarding the terrain you would have to fight in. It is quite likely that you will end up having to fight in very unfamiliar territory and it is expected that you adapt to the situation."

Minato met the eyes of both genin. "Seeing that thanks to Kakashi, there's a lot of water in the stadium, we will be having a water themed terrain for this match."

The support team made quick work of the request. The earth style users were able to carve out a large trench right down the middle of the ground and the water style specialists started filling it up.

Few minutes later, Minato stood across from both combatants. "Match 2: Might Guy vs Obito Uchiha… HAJIME!"

Obito's Sharingan came alive. He remembered from the silent dispatch that Guy was a taijutsu specialist. He remembered that fact because of one simple reason. Back then, he didn't have his sharingan. His eyes were unable, as in completely unable, to track his movement. Back then, one moment Guy was next to him and the next, he was next to the Kusa chunin.

But this was back when he didn't have the sharingan. It happened in Shimogamo forest. When that overbearing presence suffocated him and he saw the most dangerous technique he'd ever seen head straight for him, something had just clicked inside him and suddenly the entire world had become much clearer. And slower.

But when his sensei announced the start of the match, Obito didn't expect to have to react to Guy immediately. It was a testament to how much he'd improved that Obito was able to catch the first punch aimed at his face. But when Guy used his grip as leverage and aimed a kick at his head, he was barely able to bring his hand up in time.

And the one that followed? He had absolutely no chance. It was as Minato explained to him. If his body was unable to react with enough speed, the sharingan wasn't really all that useful was it?

CRACK!

"Leaf Tornado!"

Obito was sent flying across the battlefield, coming to a stop only when he crashed into the stadium wall. His sharingan had seen the attack coming but he had no chance to block.

The crowd was as silent as it had been when Kakashi unleashed his monster water technique. When Obito finally walked out of the hole he had made in the wall, it was obvious the match wouldn't continue. His entire face was covered in blood and he was clutching his shoulder which seemed to be dislocated.

Minato gulped down his concern and brought forth the emotionless voice the situation demanded from him. "Genin Obito, are you able to continue?"

When Obito looked at Minato, his heart broke, because he knew what that look meant. And he agreed with it. Obito Uchiha wanted to continue. He wanted nothing more than to retaliate and win this fight and make it to the international stage… But if there was one thing Minato Namikaze had drilled into his head, it was to know when you were outmatched.

…

And this was certainly one of those situations. Obito knew that much.

"WINNER OF MATCH 2: MIGHT GUY!"

As soon as Minato announced the end of the match, Guy was in front of him, offering a hand. "Hey, you're not too badly hurt are you?"

Obito winced at the question. "No, it's fine. Just a dislocated shoulder. Happens everyday."

Guy smiled at the sarcasm in his voice. "I should've held back a lot more. Sorry, my excitement got the better of me." The sincerity in his voice stopped Obito from saying the exceedingly sarcastic reply that his mind had formulated. "It's just that I've heard about how Uchiha are the most dangerous to face with only taijutsu. I didn't want to take any chances."

"Well, sorry to disappoint." This time, Obito wasn't able to stop the scathing reply that just popped out of his mouth. He could see the hurt and confusion appear on Guy's face.

But then he seemed to realize something and Guy smiled. "On the contrary, my friend. You are the first person in my age group that has managed to block one of my attacks, let alone two."

Obito blinked and a smile slowly formed. "Next time's going to be different."

"I'm ready anytime… My rival."

Minato watched the exchange with a measure of fondness. It would be good for Obito to have some friends outside of his team and team 12. He wasn't exactly the most outgoing guy and he could tell Guy would be good for him.

He then turned to the crowd who had predictably not cheered for this match because it ended all too soon and then prepared to announce the match they were all the most excited for. The crowd because of the Hokage's son. Him and perhaps a few others, because of Naruto.

With Hiruzen

This time he had managed to ask first and Danzo had to reply. "The green kid can be one of the six. The Uchiha is obviously rejected."

Hiruzen nodded. He'd thought the same. But that wasn't his concern here. And his eyes must have reflected that because Danzo picked up on his discomfort.

"Were you expecting something else, Hokage-sama?"

The mocking undertone in the question wasn't missed by Hiruzen, but he chose not to rise to the taunt. "I expected them to be somewhere near Asuma's level… Or at least able to put on a show for the civilians. If a match ends this fast in the actual chunin exams, the daimyo is not going to be impressed."

Danzo just stared at him for a few moments before turning back to the stadium, looking out at the crowd. "Every generation I've seen is weaker than the last, Hiruzen. Self-discovery is not something shinobi do anymore… Because every single aspect of being a shinobi is taught in the modern academy, Hiruzen. There is no place for self-learning in their minds."

Hiruzen looked at his oldest friend, pondering on the things he said. He didn't have to think too long to realize he was right. Even now, with all three of his students matured and well into their prime, he could probably take all three of them at once. It was probably like that for his students' students and it would continue like that. "What change do you suggest we make?"

Danzo sighed. "The same change I've asked you to make for years now, Hiruzen. Emotion is what ruins these young shinobi."

Shaking his head, Hiruzen was quick to dismiss the sentiment. "Emotion is attachment, Danzo. Without emotion, do you believe you would be this attached to our village?"

Danzo had no reply for that. He believed yes, but from the way the question was framed, he knew Hiruzen thought differently. But he did have an idea. "Tell you what. Whoever passes the preliminary stage… Give them to me. I'll train them for the entire time we'll get. And I'm sure we'll see the difference."

Hiruzen met his rival's eyes and realized this wasn't just a request. This was something he wanted to do. Danzo only showed this kind of determination when he had something to prove.

With Kushina

"Naruto-nii's match is next, isn't it?"

Kushina was glad Akira was with her in the stands. She didn't think she'd have been able to hold Yugao back by herself. Looking at the kid sitting next to Yugao, she couldn't help but sigh. Why can't she be more like Hayate? The kid knew how to just chill.

"Yes, it is." Hayate supplied when it became obvious that neither Kushina nor Akira was going to speak up. "This is the first time ever that I'm going to see him fight."

Yugao turned to him with stars in her eyes. She hadn't thought of that. This would be her first time too.

Kushina leaned in and whispered in Akira's ear. "Was I ever this… hyper?" she whispered. His immediate reply of "You still are", did nothing to improve her mood.

Tsunade, sitting on Akira's other side with Orochimaru next to her, guffawed loudly, but quickly regained composure after seeing Kushina's death glare. "Kid's got a point though. I've never seen the brat in action. I've just heard the rumors. Hopefully he doesn't disappoint."

Akira was the one who laughed after hearing that. At both their inquisitive stares, he just shrugged. "Trust me, disappointment is the last thing you're going to feel."

Orochimaru just smiled at that.

Match 3: Asuma Sarutobi vs Naruto Uzumaki With Naruto

When he turned around, Naruto wasn't surprised to see it was Yuna who called after him. "What's up?"

Yuna almost laughed at his nonchalant greeting. Wasn't he nervous at all about the match? She knew at this point that Naruto was probably much stronger than Asuma was and Naruto probably already knew that. But she could rest easy because she knew that Naruto wasn't someone who would underestimate someone he'd never faced before.

…

Naruto raised an eyebrow at her and she couldn't help but blush. The fact of the matter was that she'd had an epiphany that night when she walked away from her family. She finally knew. She knew what she wanted to do with her life. And she wanted Naruto to know.

"MATCH 3: ASUMA SARUTOBI VS NARUTO UZUMAKI!"

But that could probably wait.

"I have something to tell you…" Naruto opened his mouth to respond but Yuna spoke before he could. "But I'll wait till later…"

Naruto met her eyes for a few moments and then nodded. "We'll talk after."

Yuna nodded back. "And Naruto… Please don't hurt him too badly. I mean that. His attitude isn't really his fault."

Naruto paused and twisted his head to look back. "You're probably right… But that doesn't mean it can't be beaten out of him."

Battle Grounds

Minato was supervising the changes to the tournament stadium. This time, all the water was being drained away and numerous rocky patches had surfaced. What they were going for was a barren open area this time, emulating the desert as best they could.

"Match 3. Are both genin ready?" Minato asked. He was worried about Naruto after seeing how he looked, but he realized that Kushina would never allow him to do this if he wasn't healthy enough to fight. He looked at both shinobi.

On his left was Sarutobi Asuma, wearing his usual smirk. Minato didn't know much about the son of the Hokage, but he knew that if the Hokage allowed him to strut around like he owned the entire village, he would undoubtedly be able to back up his words.

Then there was Uzumaki Naruto. He looked frail, malnourished and weak, half the size of Asuma and like he could fall over any second. But the look on his face was enough.

He didn't know why Naruto was so adamant on fighting but even with how weak he looked, he didn't have a doubt in his mind about who would win. If Orochimaru were to be believed, Naruto had faced off one-on-one against a wielder of the Rinnegan and come out on top. Sarutobi Asuma stood no chance.

Seeing both competitors were ready, Minato realized that it was time to start the fight. He brought his hand down while jumping back. "Hajime!"

Asuma immediately started running through hand seals but Naruto threw some kunai at him forcing Asuma to draw a kunai to deflect some of them while jumping aside. By the time Asuma restarted his attempt at a jutsu, Naruto was rapidly going through hand seals. Despite that, Asuma was the one who finished first.

"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"

An unusually large version of the signature technique of the Uchiha Clan came sailing through the air towards Naruto. It almost reached him when Naruto finished preparing the technique and held up the final Horse Seal, whispering the name of the technique.

"Water Release: Exploding Water Colliding Wave!"

Minato's eyes widened when he heard the name of the technique. This was the signature Water Technique that all Kiri Shinobi seemed to know along with the Mist Gathering Technique. If he knew the technique subconsciously, then that meant it was indeed true that Naruto was initially from Kirigakure.

…

There goes the barren terrain they were going for though.

The relatively flimsy fire technique was snuffed out with no trouble and the immense wave of water hit Asuma dead on, dragging him along the current. Minato was already on the stadium wall, high above the water level.

Naruto looked around the stadium. They were dead silent. It seemed they didn't cheer every time something happened. Only when things went the way they wanted it to. He wasn't an idiot by any means. He knew how public opinion worked. He knew what a crowd wanted most of the time.

Pfft.

The water kept seeping through the ground and the level was slowly decreasing. Soon, he saw his opponent slumped against the wall opposite him, clutching his shoulder in pain. Naruto didn't have his Sharingan on, so he couldn't see that far, but he could deduce what happened from the reactions of the crowd near where Asuma had ended up.

…

His shoulder was dislocated.

Waiting Area

Kakashi turned sharply, glaring at the far corner of the room they were in. It had been bugging him for some time now. He just couldn't shake the feeling that he was being watched. He had checked out the place when he first came in, but there wasn't anything suspicious, but it was obvious from the dust and the spiderwebs that this place wasn't maintained very well.

None of that had anything to do with this uncomfortable feeling he had though. He just couldn't shake it. He shook his head and turned back to pay attention to the fight. He didn't want to miss anything Naruto did after all.

With Naruto

Asuma screamed as he slammed his entire right side against the wall, trying unsuccessfully to pop his shoulder back to where it was supposed to be. He saw the wince the people seated in the stands nearest him gave.

He was annoyed. Mostly with himself. He should have known the redhead would go all out right from the start. He should've noticed the look on his face. That was the kind of face people got when they wanted to make it clear that no bullshit would be tolerated. Basic ninja rule, expect the unexpected.

Asuma screamed again as he slammed himself into the wall and finally, his shoulder snapped back into its socket. He flexed his fingers to make sure that he still had the ability to use hand seals. Then he started running forward, going through different hand seals.

The crowd erupted around him and Naruto shook his head in disbelief. The only reason Asuma was still fighting was because Naruto allowed him the time to get up, regain his bearings and snap his shoulder back in place. If he'd decided to press his advantage, the one handed idiot would be on the ground by now.

But it seemed like Asuma had a different plan for this time, so Naruto just stood there waiting to see what it was.

As soon as he was within range of Naruto, Asuma unleashed his technique.

"Fire Release: Ash Pile Burning Technique!"

Naruto watched, slightly puzzled, as a cloud of black smoke rushed out of Asuma's mouth towards him. He drew a deep breath before the cloud managed to reach him. Even though using a technique as a bioweapon was probably not Asuma's style, Naruto couldn't take the risk.

But then, he noticed something. The smoke was hot. Really hot. And much thicker than regular smoke. Almost as if there was some particulate matter floating around in the cloud.

Shit.

BOOOOMMMM!

Waiting Area

"What is that technique?" Yuna yelled, alarmed at the explosion.

A laugh turned her head. "He isn't getting up from that." It was Yashiro who spoke.

"What do you mean?" Rin's worried look as she asked the question made him smirk. "That move doubles as a bioweapon. If he inhales even a part of that smoke, it won't matter if he makes it out of the range of the blast. He won't be able to continue fighting."

They turned back to stare at the battlefield in worry. That didn't sound good.

With Naruto

Asuma smirked when his technique was successfully completed. The huge explosion shook the entire arena and filled the stadium with smoke.

"Proctor-san. You can call the match. He won't be getting up from that." Asuma yelled out at Minato who was standing on the opposite side of the field.

"I wouldn't be so sure." Minato replied, pointing to the place where Naruto had been. The smoke slowly cleared to reveal a huge blue sphere of water in the middle of the battlefield. The sphere slowly lost its form and Naruto walked out calmly.

"Water Release: Water Prison Technique!"

Asuma clicked his tongue in annoyance and ran through the hand seals again. "Fire Release: Ash Pile Burning Technique!"

As black smoke poured out of his mouth, Asuma closed his eyes and extended his other senses. He knew the disadvantages of his technique and knew that he would have to rely on his other senses in case his opponent tried to attack. He had trained his ears specifically to make this technique more viable and useful.

This was what enabled him to pick up a small whizzing sound. A sound every shinobi was familiar with. The sound of a kunai flying through the air.

Asuma stopped the flow of smoke and jumped sideways just in time for a kunai to appear out of the smoke at the very position he was in, just a moment ago. However this maneuver ended with him inside some of the same flammable smoke he had just then created. He heard more kunai being thrown, making him run away desperately. But this time he could hear another sound. A strange sizzling sound that could mean only one thing.

An explosive tag.

Asuma barely managed to get outside the smokescreen when it exploded behind him, launching him through the air. He crashed into the ground a few dozen meters away. Wincing in pain, he stood immediately, ignoring the burns on his legs. There was no time to tend to his injuries. This was still a battlefield and he needed to be alert.

However, Naruto didn't make a move until the smoke cleared when he just calmly walked forward. "Your technique is innovative. Didn't know it was safe to ingest so much flammable material. I wouldn't use it again if I were you. You've undoubtedly heard that I have a bit of an affinity toward explosions. And because of that, I know how to deal with fire. You won't beat me using only your fire release."

Asuma didn't want to admit it but his opponent was right. There was no way he could fight him using his fire techniques. That meant he had no choice.

Naruto watched in fascination as Asuma drew two weirdly shaped knives. He channeled chakra to his eyes and his sharingan came alive immediately. He could see the buildup of chakra being channeled to Asuma's arms.

Naruto smirked.

Wind… The reason why Asuma thought he was special… According to Yuna anyway.

He couldn't stop grinning. Wind was his primary affinity. There was no doubt in his mind about that. When he started learning water style ninjutsu under Orochimaru, he found it was easy to learn. He had marked it off as something caused by his life in Kiri and he was probably right.

But when he felt the razor sharp chakra coating his opponent's strangely shaped weapons and he also started molding the same chakra almost instinctively, he knew wind was his primary one. The feeling he got when he was atop Hayate… It was indescribable.

He felt his chakra being compressed and honed into the sharpest blade he could imagine. Asuma ran forward with trench knives in each hand, intent on closing the distance between them. Naruto drew two kunai and channeled his molded chakra into them just like he'd seen Asuma do just moments before.

When their weapons met, both of them were surprised. Asuma, because his enhanced weapon didn't cut through the ordinary kunai and Naruto, because their weapons didn't actually meet. Their reaches had been extended somehow. Wind chakra could give weapons an invisible extra reach…

…

…

That was too good to be grinned gleefully. He was going to have a lot of fun with this.

Asuma saw the smile on his opponent's face and immediately concluded that going close range was probably another mistake. He jumped back, making a half-ram seal as he did so, channeling more chakra into one of his trench knives.

"Hien!"

Naruto's eyes widened when Asuma threw the weapon at him underhanded, and it flew at him at speeds that Asuma shouldn't have been able to generate.

His sharingan was the only reason he survived. His ability to see it coming in slow motion, not that anything about that throw was slow, let him bring his hands together just in time for a substitution jutsu.

Naruto stared in amazement when the weapon split through the hard wooden object and continued flying through the air without even hinting any loss of speed. It crashed into the trees near the edge of the stadium and soon, four trees were crashing down to the ground.

"Tch!" Asuma grunted in annoyance. Even that wasn't enough to get him. He ran through hand seals and slammed his hands on the ground.

"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough Technique!"

A strong gale spewed out of his mouth and headed straight for Naruto, slamming into him and pushing him off his feet.

However, Naruto quickly regained his bearings and ran through hand seals of his own.

"Water Release: Water Wall Technique!"

The wind slammed into the wall made of water and lost its force, letting Naruto get back on his feet. He immediately jumped to the side, but he was just a little bit late. The second trench knife came bursting through his shield made of water and nicked him on his left shoulder, a large amount of blood gushing out as it flew past him.

Naruto cursed at himself. This battle was getting a bit out of hand. If Asuma's wind techniques were powerful enough to cut through his only shielding technique, he had better wrap things up fast. However, Asuma had lost both of his custom-made weapons. He would either try to retrieve them… or he had something else up his sleeve which somehow, Naruto doubted

Konoha General Hospital

Homura always held her hand for the entire time he was there. He had read some medical books on how to communicate with coma patients and most of the books told him that even though the coma patients do not register any response to physical stimuli, they still feel everything, see everything, hear everything, etc. So, he always made it a point to hold her hand, sound upbeat and not mention anything about how even Tsunade Senju was struggling to save her life, whenever he came to see her.

"... and that's how that ended up. The mock tournament is going on now to decide the best candidates to send for the first ever chunin exams… I'm still not sold though. Other than the Hatake kid and Asuma, I don't think anyone really reaches even chunin level. Oh, and something interesting happened at that council meeting I was talking about. Danzo indicated that he wanted Uzumaki Naruto to enter."

Homura gave a grim smile when Koharu's eyes widened, registering surprise. "Yes, the very same. Kami, save us. What is Danzo thinking? He should know better than to…"

Blink.

His entire body stiffened up. Homura stared at Koharu's unmoving body stunned. Tears fell down the side of his face as his mind came to terms with what had just happened. He looked away from Koharu's open eyes to her hand inside his which had just moved. Just a finger. And it continued to twitch erratically after he let the hand go.

Homura was overjoyed. How wonderful. After her eyes opened almost a month ago, Tsunade was talking about a chance of recovery. But it was nothing that would happen in a month. For all intents and purposes, she should be paralyzed from the neck down. But she was fighting. She was fighting to come back. The fact that she regained movement in one of her fingers was enough. Recovery was possible. And Koharu was not someone who gave up easily.

He smiled at her and his eyes slipped down to her hand for just a moment. His smile slowly disappeared. This wasn't involuntary twitching. It wasn't involuntary at all.

He grabbed a piece of paper and noted down the signs she made with the two fingers she had control over. When she was done, she blinked twice.

Homura nodded at her and looked at the message, his eyes widening in horror. He froze, not knowing how to react. And while his mind was stuck trying to put together a plan of action, the white spider that had hidden itself in Koharu's clothes wandered out of its hiding place in the neck of her gown, sensing movement. From its position atop its target's head, it could see a sheet of paper with letters written on it. It could also see the woman's hand desperately twitching, trying to draw attention to the danger she was in.

…

It had to warn its creator.

…

BOOM

…

The heart monitor made a continuous flat beep. Homura looked up from the piece of paper, his shoulders shaking. Koharu's face was bashed in, blood everywhere.

The shock took a few seconds to wear off after which Homura stood up. Without another look at his friend, he ran to the window and jumped out chakra building up as he ran.

The piece of paper fluttered to the ground. E.X.P.L.O.S.I.V.E.S_S.T.I.L.L_I.N_V.I.L.L.A.G.E_M.A.D.E_-_O.F_E.A.R.T.H_-_H.U.G.E_N.U.M.B.E.R_S.T.A.D.I.U.M_-_W.A.R.N_G.E.N.I.N.

Iwagakure, With Deidara

"So, are the seals the reason for his power?" Midori asked, once again and Deidara fought the urge to palm his face.

"No. As I keep saying, I don't know." Deidara was exasperated. He knew the Tsuchikage's son was strong. And he knew that the man was against his father's decision to do nothing against the surviving Uzumaki kid. But the man was dense. Or rather, the man needed stuff to be explained to him very, very clearly. "Even they don't know what the seals do. The kid never even knew they existed. The only thing they know is that the kanji used is somehow related to the word 'sacrifice'. And that's all." Deidara spoke with finality.

Midori nodded. "You were right to bring this to my attention. Needless to say, keep your trap shut around my father. This merits an investigation:"

He then turned and paced around the room. This was something new which meant he had to factor it into his plans. Which meant modifying the ones already in play… But despite the trouble he'd have to go through, it was not an unwelcome development.

"Yagura… I have a mission for you." He finally spoke, drawing Deidara's attention to the inanimate person sitting in front of the window, staring at a picture on Midori's desk. "During the preliminaries, everyone in Konoha will have their attention elsewhere. You will use the opportunity to infiltrate the village. Your mission is to dig up everything you can about our shared enemy, Uzumaki Naruto… If Deidara doesn't fight him during the preliminaries, he most definitely will fight him in the actual tournament. It would be good to have as much information as we can get."

"What?!" Midori was not surprised at Deidara's exclamation. He had expected an outburst based on the character of his father's latest pet project. "I was the one who found out about this. If anyone deserves to take this mission, it's me."

Midori just stared at him until Deidara became a bit unnerved. "You are not fit for this mission, Deidara. Besides, Yagura… or Shinji here is already keyed into the barrier. He's the most suitable choice for this mission."

Deidara was about to retort, but then his breath caught in his throat when his mind registered that one of his creations had exploded, and for a few moments, reeling from the information that suddenly rushed into his mind, he couldn't really register what Midori was saying to him. He was only able to catch the tail end of his statement.

"- because the fact is that you're not exactly subtle."

Deidara gulped. What had just happened was not something the Tsuchikage ordered. His creation, with a mind of its own, had just done what it assumed would be best… And it definitely was not… subtle.

With Asuma

Immediately after he threw the second trench knife, Asuma had started running in the direction of his first blade. His wind release still wasn't strong enough for him to use regular kunai for throwing. His trench knives were made of special chakra conductive material that enabled him to enhance his wind technique to an extreme extent. In the back of his mind, Asuma was aware of the fact that Naruto had taken two regular kunai and met his trench knives easily which was kind of a big shock to him. But he would have time to think on that later. For now, he needed those trench knives if he wanted to get the drop on Naruto again.

However, he didn't make it far. He turned around to look at what his opponent was doing and gasped at what he saw. There were chains flying towards him, originating directly from the redhead's body. And for some inexplicable reason, he knew he shouldn't come into contact with them.

Trusting his instincts, he jumped aside just in time for the first chain to slam into the ground, ripping through it easily and creating fissures all around the point of impact.

Asuma backpedaled as fast as he could but he was nowhere near fast enough. A chain snagged his right foot and wound itself around it, preventing him from moving any further. A second later, it did more than just prevent his motion. It yanked him up from the ground and slammed him down face-first, knocking the breath out of him.

Asuma slowly lifted his bloodied face and gulped. Naruto was slowly walking toward him with his second trench knife in his hand. He seemed to be feeling out the weapon, twirling it in his hand. If the rather deep wound on his left shoulder was bothering him, he didn't let it show. His red eyes sought out Asuma even as his lips widened in a smile.

"Hien!"

Asuma leapt to the side as quickly as he could. The knife scraped his leg under the knee bringing him down. The knife then hit the ground and continued on its merry way. Knowing the nature of wind chakra, it was probably very deep underground. It would be a few hours before he saw either of his knives again.

Naruto brought his right hand to his left wrist where he'd kept his storage seal and unsealed his longsword. Naruto didn't know much about swords but he knew Hayami was beautifully crafted. Its long sharp steel caught the sun and gave off a dangerous glint.

Asuma watched, petrified, as the younger genin got closer and closer. His red eyes, spinning in its socket and his longsword spinning in his hand. The killing intent saturated the air around him, forming knots in his stomach. For some inexplicable reason, he couldn't even bring himself to draw a weapon. Deep down, he knew it wouldn't have mattered.

Four chains made of chakra formed out of Naruto's back and slowly inched closer to his opponent. No, his prey. Each chain found a limb and wrapped itself around it, hauling Asuma from the ground and holding him up like a ragdoll, blood freely flowing down his face.

Asuma closed his eyes at the pain from the chains stretching him out painfully. When he opened them again, Naruto was directly in front of him with the longsword pricking at his neck. Asuma instinctively leaned as far back as he could but the pressure on his neck increased, drawing blood.

"Look at me!" Naruto snarled and pulled his sword back a little bit.

Asuma leaned forward to look at his opponent. "I surrender. Proctor! Stop the match!"

Out of the corner of his eyes, Naruto saw Minato speeding toward them, but he didn't care. The chains tightened around him and Asuma felt… terrified… absolutely fucking terrified for the first time in his life.

"Some of us…" Naruto whispered. "Some of us didn't have any family to take care of us when we were growing up. I've felt lonely in this village ever since I woke up in the hospital 5 years ago. Even though I had friends… I had Shinzo and Shizuka for nearly the entire time, but somehow it always felt like I was missing something. Something special."

Asuma strained his neck and stared at the younger boy in wonder. This wasn't the attitude he expected from him after all the nasty things he'd said about him. The 11-year old genin seemed… somber?

"A family… I was missing a family. I never had that for as long as I can remember and I only recently obtained one. Yugao-chan, Kushina-nee, Akira-ojiisan, my teammates, my friends, my sensei… and… and Mikoto-nee. It's all I can remember wanting in my life. They're my family now."

…

"And one of them… One of them got very hurt recently because I wasn't here to look out for her. Now she's lost to me forever and I will never… I can never forgive myself for that."

Naruto's eyes changed to the Mangekyou pattern and Asuma felt a chill travel down his spine. "I'm never letting anyone hurt any of them. Ever. Again." Naruto looked at the waiting area and he saw Yuna staring at them with a hand on her mouth, horrified at the position Asuma was being held in. "You, Sarutobi Asuma… You've had a family your whole life. And you, Sarutobi Asuma, you're throwing that away. Look at the stands. Your sister is worried for you. Even after all the crap you put her through, she still cares. She's your family."

Asuma stared at him in stunned silence. Even Minato, who had reached them in the middle of his speech, was too stunned to say anything. The killing intent had reached a level that Asuma had never felt before. His eyes fell, breaking the gaze, but the longsword at his throat lifted his face up, forcing him to maintain eye contact.

"Don't take your sister for granted. Take care of her and never ever hurt her ever again." Naruto maintained eye-contact until he was sure the message was received, before turning around and walking away. "If you do, remember this." His eyes suddenly morphed into its Mangekyou shape. "I'm your worst fucking nightmare. I'll come for you in your sleep."

Asuma lay on the ground stunned, staring after the younger boy as he walked away. Minato noticed the complete lack of activity in the Hokage's son and channeled chakra to his lungs again.

"By way of verbal surrender, Uzumaki Naruto wins the fight. Please wait while the debris and smoke is-"

"GENIN! GET OUT OF THE WAITING AREA NOW." Minato's sharp eyes picked out the speaker, sprinting down the stadium wall. It was Homura.

A huge surge of chakra made Minato turn around. He saw the entire waiting area encased in a white light. Naruto was a few feet in front of him, also staring at the light, horrified.

BOOOOOOMMMMMM!

Medical Bay, Moments Before

Kurenai knew it seconds after the match started. Her affinity was water. But she didn't yet have the kind of chakra capacity needed to freely practice ninjutsu. But their sensei had told her one thing. The less chakra you have, the more control you have over it. Which made learning the basics of elemental chakra manipulation very very straightforward. She had many little parlor tricks that people were often impressed with, and now her focus was only on improving her chara capacity so she might start rounding out her skills. She was more skilled with the water element than most.

Or so she thought. Never, not once in a year of practicing with the element was she able to summon water out of thin air. That was the next step. Drawing the element in from the terrain. No matter how hard she tried, she had never been able to do it.

When Naruto summoned a huge torrent of water just to establish his dominance over her teammate, she knew. Asuma couldn't and wouldn't win this. So, with a hand on her mouth, she watched the match that was going to be etched in everyone's memory for the foreseeable future.

Waiting Area, Moments before

The only person in the waiting area that was similarly affected was Yuna Sarutobi. She didn't know why she cared, but she did. Despite everything Asuma did to her, she didn't want him defeated easily like this in front of the whole village. His ego wouldn't be able to handle the defeat easily. And problems of the mental variety would only fester in a home like hers, where Asuma still lived.

Only two other genin were anything less than transfixed on the battle taking place between Konoha's perceived strongest genin and its actual one. Kakashi would, normally at least, want to pay the most undivided attention to Naruto's fight. Something about the place just made him nervous. He just couldn't shake the feeling of being watched… Which he probably was, the Hokage probably had ANBU monitoring them to ensure no conflicts arose on top of the announced ones.

But he could tell there was something else there too because he could feel it. He could sense killing intent… He'd asked Rin about it and she looked at him like he was crazy. Meaning this was targeted at him and only him.

The other genin was Guy. Who had noticed Kakashi's discomfort and wanted to know more.

"Kakashi-san! I wanted to renew our acquaintance from the silent-"

Kakashi held up his hand and inched closer to the far corner of the room. "Something's wrong." He started while reaching his hand out. There was a spider. A white one. But again, there was something about it. It wasn't quite like any he'd ever seen.

When his finger was close enough, the spider jumped onto his finger. He waited for a few moments but nothing happened. But then something made his eyes travel upward and he fell back in panic. White spiders fell in troves from the ceiling, some landing on him.

Suddenly he felt a pull from behind and was thrown clear, the force knocking away the spiders already on him.

"GENIN! GET OUT OF THE WAITING AREA NOW."

Sent hurtling through the air by Guy, Kakashi did the only thing he could do to salvage the situation. He grabbed the collar of the one person who was in his path and yanked him/her along with him.

BOOOOOOMMMMMM!

He landed roughly with Yuna on top of him. In a split second, she was thrown off him. He jumped onto his feet drawing his tanto. The smoke coming from the waiting area showed no sign of clearing.

"What happened?"

Kakashi looked sideways to see Minato-sensei, and Naruto next to him.

"Don't know. There were spiders… White spiders. I suspect the same creatures that were used to destroy the village."

Minato stared at him, disbelievingly. "How is that possible?"

Kakashi shrugged. "Don't know. But somebody seriously needs to read up on the way the barrier around the village works." The smoke showed no sign of clearing. "What I do know is that Might Guy is the only reason I'm alive. If it turns out that something has happened to him or the others… I-"

"Time for that later." Naruto interrupted. "Yuna, are you okay?"

Yuna, still on her knees, snapped her head towards Naruto. At the look she received, she realized the question was less 'are you okay' and more 'why aren't you in your battle stance?'.

"They're made of earth chakra." Homura dropped down next to them.

Kakashi's eyes hardened. "I see." He ran through the hand seals quickly. Everyone could sense the amount of chakra he had built up. And they could tell he was pissed.

The leftover creatures barely made it out of the smoke.

"Lightning Release: Electromagnetic Murder!"

Kakashi slammed his hands on the ground and a huge wave of lightning exploded outward from the point where his hand touched the ground. The spiders that had jumped toward them thudded to the ground, unmoving. They weren't even twitching from the amount of electricity passing through them.

They waited for a few tense moments, but there was no sign of chakra being built up anymore and they couldn't see movement either. When the smoke sufficiently cleared, Minato could see the broken pieces of an earth wall on the ground. Which meant someone had been able to get some form of defense up in time

Minato nodded at Kakashi before turning around to address the others. "Naruto, get the medics. Kakashi, inform the Hokage. Yuna, you'll be with me. From the academy, I know you're the best at first aid." When Naruto and Kakashi left, he turned to look at Homura. "How did you know?"

"Koharu could somehow sense their presence. She was in a coma, unable to communicate for all this time."

Minato nodded. He had heard about the unfortunate situation of the elder kunoichi, but he didn't think too much into it.

Jiraiya dropped down next to his student. Yuna noticed that Minato didn't seem too happy to see his sensei and judging from the frown on Jiraiya's face, she wasn't the only one who noticed.

Jiraiya turned his attention to the elder shinobi. "Did she say this was the only place we need to worry about?" Jiraiya asked.

Homura froze and that was enough of a reply for the others. "Shit…"

Iwagakure, With Deidara

"What are you thinking, Deidara? I taught you better than this." Onoki yelled at his protege. "We can't have major things like this happening while the Iron Country is involved. This could become a serious issue if they decide to press it."

Deidara kept his gaze fixed on the ground. Despite his giddiness and hubris while explaining what happened to Midori, he couldn't bring himself to look at the Tsuchikage's face. This was perhaps the first time he'd seen his mentor angry with him. And he didn't know if he could handle that.

"I don't get why this is a problem. We never agreed to a ceasefire with Konoha. No one agreed on a ceasefire with anyone. Just that we'd participate in the tournament and see where it goes. They have no grounds to complain." Midori spoke in his usual offhanded tone.

"The problem is that a ceasefire was implied, you fucking morons. Midori, I swear to Kami, if this comes back to bite us in the ass…"

Deidara couldn't believe the jonin's courage. He may have been the Tsuchikage's son, but to not even be slightly troubled by the tone of the conversation?

"Deidara?" Midori called.

"Y- Yes!"

"Tell him."

Onoki turned his attention towards his pupil once more and saw the boy too frightened to even speak. At that moment, he remembered a similar situation he had come across with his own sensei. He knew what the boy needed to hear. "Speak now, Deidara. What's done is done. Let's weigh the problems and the benefits… As we always do."

His student opened and closed his mouth a few times, but finally seemed to gather enough courage to speak up. "I think I killed 7 people."

Whatever he thought the boy was going to say, he didn't think it was going to be this. And he also didn't think it was going to be such a low number.

Midori seemed to sense this and interjected. "We know from our spies in Konoha that they are holding a tournament with 12 genin, to select the 6 that would be sent to the Iron Country."

Onoki nodded. What did that have to do with the current subject?

"Well, that was today." he said, making his father's eyes widen. And Deidara here… He killed, or at least injured 6 of them."

"Meaning we'll be getting whoever is left… Perhaps not the strongest six." Onoki finished.

Midori smiled at his father and he couldn't help but return it. This was good. This was amazing actually. He had no doubt as to the potential of Konoha shinobi. If Kakashi was a genin, said to be at jonin-level skills, he was rightly worried to match up even Deidara with him. To be frank, there were perhaps 3 shinobi in the 6 he was sending, that he would actually categorize as 'strong'. And that worried him. A lot.

Now, just knowing that Konoha would be unable to send their best six was giving him a lot of pleasure internally. He couldn't show it now of course. Deidara had operated on his own accord and that was something that just wouldn't do… Not at all. But before he could begin to reprimand him, he needed to know something else.

"And the seventh?"

Deidara gulped. "Koharu Utatane."

With Jiraiya, Day 51

During his time away from humanity, he often wondered what would be the first thing he noticed when he arrived back home. Now he had his answer.

It was the smell. Mt. Myoboku, beautiful as it was, was not meant to be a home to humans. As he walked through the streets, he couldn't help but smile at the amazing aromas that reached his nose. He knew he was on a mission and the mission demanded a level of attention that he was presently not providing. But he was close to the red light district. He had to make a quick stop first.

The Hokage didn't want to trigger a village-wide panic attack and so, formed a team of lightning style specialists and instructed them to go about doing their task discretely. Their task was to check every nook and cranny of the village and eliminate all (if any) remaining explosive creatures that were proving to be very, very costly to the village.

…

Very costly indeed. 12 of the strongest genin gathered at the same place… It was a miracle that only 6 had been incapacitated. One dead, five injured. According to the general consensus, Uchiha Yashiro was a very strong genin, but what can you do? He didn't have the presence of mind to shield himself. It was lucky for the others that the girl from Orochimaru's team did… Although it was highly unlikely that any of them would recover in time for the chunin exams… So, that left only 6 others. Two of whom had already been defeated quite easily in the tournament.

Jiraiya sighed. Might Guy… He was in the most danger at present, his condition critical. A promising young man. You had to commend his actions. He knew Kakashi was probably the strongest genin and sacrificed himself to save him. It was unbelievable to see that kind of loyalty to the village in a man so young…

From his conversation with Kakashi, it seemed like the other villages also thought that Kakashi was the strongest genin Konoha had. Which was why the miniscule amount of killing intent was directed only at him.

He turned left and started down the street that 'officially' led to the red light district. It was the only part of the village that still looked like it was still recovering from a disastrous explosion. He kept his head down because he knew that if he looked up, he would have to meet their eyes. And even though he knew none of them would dare to judge him for his life choices, he was still afraid to meet their eyes.

So, he kept walking with his head down until he arrived at his destination. One look at the place and his face fell. The place was in ruins. He looked around in panic.

Kirua…

…

Where was she?

With Naruto

He was regretting this already. Looking over at his sister, he wondered if it would have been a good idea to bring Yugao along. At least his sister would try to reign in her temper if she were here. But sadly, that was out of the question. If they brought Yugao, she would realize that Mikoto Uchiha, the person who had become a sort of mother figure in her young mind, didn't know of her existence anymore. And Naruto didn't think Yugao would be able to take that.

There was probably nothing he could do to separate the two of them forever, but he wanted it to happen later rather than now. Perhaps when Yugao was at an age where this fucked up situation could be explained and understood.

He groaned internally. And when would that be? He had no idea. Even his sister, at age 20, couldn't completely comprehend the situation despite him explaining it to her repeatedly. Hence, the visit to the Uchiha clan compound.

He just hoped he wouldn't be scrubbing pieces of Fugaku off the floor. He hated to quote that disgusting excuse of a man, but if things ended like that, if Fugaku was killed, what would happen to Mikoto?

Sigh.

They finally arrived at their destination. Kushina raised a trembling fist to the door. When she turned to look at him, he gave her the nod she needed.

KNOCK. KNOCK. KNOCK.

Kazane opened the door and her face immediately paled when she saw who it was.

"Who the fuck are you?" Kushina asked bluntly.

It was then that Kazane noticed the older redhead at her door. "I'm Kazane." Sighing, she turned to Naruto again. "Who are you here to see this ti-"

"Are you pregnant?" Naruto interrupted.

Kazane opened her mouth to reply and closed it… It had been only four months and she had barely started to show. How did this kid…

"Yes." The answer was obvious when she noticed the red spinning eyes. The Sharingan makes it possible to tell.

At her response, the boy seemed furious which Kazane just didn't expect. But before she could ask what was wrong, he asked the question he meant to ask.

"Was it him?"

Kazane blinked. "No. This was because of a completely different Uchiha." At Naruto's intense look, she decided to continue. "Tenzen Uchiha, Mikoto's father."

Naruto looked her over, noting every fading bruise and every healing scar on her body… "It wasn't consensual, I take it." Kazane nodded, surprised at the statement. "Where is Tenzen Uchiha?"

It wasn't Kazane who replied. "Dead." Naruto's eyes snapped to the side. "I killed him." Fugaku said in a stoic tone.

Kazane waited till Naruto looked at her again. "See, I told you. He's not all bad."

Naruto couldn't help the rage that rushed into him, but the sudden burst of killing intent from his sister made it his responsibility to be the sensible one. "Kazane. Would you take my sister to see Mikoto? I have things to discuss with him…"

He could feel Kushina's eyes burning a hole through the side of his head, but he didn't care. This was a condition he made clear before he agreed to tell her about what he found out after visiting the Uchiha clan head.

Kushina's eyes turned to look at Fugaku. "You only loved her as long as she held the name Uchiha. But she loved you… With everything she had. I know you know that. And that's the only reason why, as angry as I am, I agree with Naruto. You, being alive with the knowledge that you're responsible… It's a much better punishment than just killing you."

Naruto watched her leave with Kazane in tow and his gaze went back to Fugaku. "You said I should have noticed the effect on my eyes after 5 consecutive uses. How did you know?"

The surprise was evident on Fugaku's face, but it quickly disappeared. "Follow me."

With Kushina

Kushina was relieved by the hug she received when she walked into the room. She was never a big fan of physical displays of affection. Mikoto knew this and understood. Which was why she made it a point to hug her whenever they met. With what had happened, she wasn't sure what changed and what remained.

"Kushina! It's so good to see you." Mikoto exclaimed, in a sweet voice, exactly like the Mikoto she remembered.

Her heart leapt. Maybe Naruto was mistaken. Maybe it was all just a misunderstanding. Maybe-

"I met your brother the other day. You must be so happy to have him back."

Her face fell. She didn't remember Naruto. Chances are, she didn't remember Yugao either. It was over. If the technique was as absolute and irreversible as Naruto made it seem, then there was nothing to be done. With the amount of time Mikoto had spent with Naruto and Yugao, it shouldn't even be possible for her to forget.

"Y- Yeah…" Her voice broke. "I'm happy…" All the memories they'd shared came to the forefront of her mind. How could Naruto ask her to sit back and do nothing? Fugaku had taken away her independence and her free will. How was it more 'humane' as Naruto put it, to let him continue to keep her in this fucked up fantasy of his.

She wanted to scream. Mikoto Uchiha was her closest friend. Ever since they were placed on a team together, she was the one that had been there, always. Hitomi helped in her own way, but only when they were together as a team. Akira also helped, but what a girl her age needed more than anything was a friend. Not someone to take care of her, not someone to coddle her, not someone to pity her… Just someone to be with her when she was alone.

And Mikoto was exactly that.

And now… How could she ever forgive herself? She should've been there for her… This wasn't the life Mikoto was supposed to lead.

But when Kushina's eyes finally came up off the ground to look at her oldest friend, all the rage she was feeling just went away.

Mikoto was sitting comfortably on a rocking chair, one hand holding a book and the other slowly rubbing her stomach. She was even humming a cheerful tune to herself.

The fury and rage Kushina was feeling at the audacity of her best friend's predicament just slipped away, and it was replaced by despair. The feeling of true and utter helplessness.

Because this was the happiest she had ever seen her.

With Naruto

When he looked at the clan head's house from outside, he knew there had to be more hidden inside. It was thoroughly unimpressive when he looked at it. Sure, it was a big house, towering over the others in the clan compound. It was just… bland.

What he didn't know was how deep the structure went. He didn't even think there would be anything underground. The first sort of 'security measure' was a trap door accessible only via a blood seal. Only an Uchiha would be able to pass through that.

Naruto scrutinized the seal pretty thoroughly. As far as security measures went, the seal was plenty, that is if you only needed to protect the trap door against non-Uchihas.

They both deposited a drop of blood on the seal, Naruto needing no explanation as to the workings of a blood seal. They waited a few moments and the door opened on its own, revealing stairs that led down to a lower level.

Naruto looked over at the man walking down the stairs in front of him. He was surprisingly surefooted, given that his eyes were still covered in bandages.

Going down at a very leisurely pace, Naruto was very close to telling the older shinobi to pick up the pace when they finally reached the bottom. A narrow passageway ended in a huge barrier made of rock, covered in seals.

Fugaku ran through a sequence of hand seals and slammed his hands on the ground. With a large grating sound, the barrier moved to the side revealing a huge meeting area that was big enough to seat at least 500 people. A tall stone gate stood at the entrance to the hall.

"Naka Shrine." Naruto's sharp eyes picked out as he followed the Uchiha clan head into the hall. It was a long walk to the center but as he got closer, he noticed a somewhat unremarkable stone tablet. Instinctively, he knew that the stone tablet was their destination.

"What is that?" he asked, unable to keep his curiosity in check for any longer.

Fugaku didn't turn around. "Messages from our ancestors, passed down through multiple generations. Some say it dates back to the time of the Sage of the Six Paths."

The look of distaste that appeared on Naruto's face as he remembered the last occasion where the Sage of the Six Paths was mentioned, naturally went unnoticed by Fugaku.

They finally reached their destination and stood next to each other in front of the stone tablet. Strange characters filled the tablet from top to bottom which Naruto was thoroughly unimpressed with.

"Activate your sharingan." Fugaku spoke softly. "Your Mangekyou Sharingan."

Naruto spared a small glance to the older shinobi before doing as he asked. His eyes morphed into the pentagonal shape that it seldom assumed and immediately the text on the stone tablet became readable.

There were 7 separate sections, of which only 3 were visible to him.

Mangekyou Sharingan

An advanced form of the Sharingan that only few Uchiha will ever activate. There are two requirements for an Uchiha clan member to surpass the capabilities of the ordinary Sharingan doujutsu and achieve the enhanced Mangekyou Sharingan.

Requires a mastery of the Sharingan built up from immense experience and practice.

You must kill the person you love the most in this world.

The Mangekyou Sharingan retains all of the Sharingan's generic abilities. In addition to that, the Mangekyou grants powerful abilities that may differ between each pair of eyes. Moreover, it may not even be the same abilities for both of a single user's eyes. The ability is tied to the eye and not the individual.

Using the Mangekyou Sharingan comes with its drawbacks. It can cause a great deal of strain to the user. It requires a considerable amount of chakra just to simply activate it and even more when a technique is used. Each time it is used, the user's vision deteriorates just a little bit. The blindness that results due to excessive usage is permanent.

Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan

This is obtained by transplanting the Mangekyou Sharingan of another Uchiha with extremely strong blood ties. This will drastically reduce the amount of chakra needed to keep the Mangekyou Sharingan active as well as enhance the power of its techniques. The wielder of the Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan will have the techniques associated with their original eyes and not the ones of the transplanted Mangekyou. The Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan is proof that you can continue to push forward despite experiencing great losses.

Below are the techniques available to the Mangekyou. You will be able to read about only the ones your eyes are able to perform.

XXXXXXXXX -
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XXXXX -
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Amaterasu -
The deadliest offensive technique of the Uchiha clan. These black flames are invoked only by those who possess the Mangekyou Sharingan. It is the highest level of fire release.

A person with the Mangekyou Sharingan can produce these black flames at the focal point of their vision. These flames are often said to be "the fires of hell" and are said to burn as hot as the sun itself. Amaterasu burns any material - other flames included - until nothing remains. Amaterasu is immortal and never disappears, fitting for the best offensive technique of the Uchiha clan. Amaterasu cannot be extinguished through conventional means and will continue burning until their target is completely incinerated. Only the caster or another with the Mangekyou Sharingan may put out these flames.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX -
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…

Naruto stared at the stone tablet in wonder. More than half of it was unreadable but it was still a lot of information. It threatened to almost overwhelm him. "What does this mean? How much of this are you able to see?"

"I can read the paragraph about the Mangekyou Sharingan. And the description of Amaterasu and Kotoamatsukami." Fugaku replied, not thinking anything of the question. It was something he was expecting.

Naruto almost jolted in surprise. Nothing about the Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan… Which meant Fugaku didn't have it and he did.

…

How? How would he have it? He wasn't even an Uchiha, as in, no one else he had interacted with before coming to Konoha would've even had the Sharingan. His sister had assured him many times that he was the only one with the Sharingan in the whole of Uzushiogakure.

There was only one possible explanation for this. There was only one Uchiha he had strong blood relations with… His father… He had transplanted his father's eyes… Did he kill him for it?

"You should read the other side." Fugaku suddenly spoke. "There's more."

Naruto brutally suppressed the chain of thoughts his mind was going into and walked over to the other side. As he quickly scanned through the names, he realized what it was. Messages from their ancestors.

Indra Otsutsuki - The Sage of the Six Paths was my father. A strong shinobi, a great revolutionary, the harbinger of Ninshu… A horrible father. When the entire world expects you to succeed your father and your own father doesn't trust you enough to pass on the torch, it causes problems… I didn't want to start a war. I never liked violence. I never wanted to fight my brother…

But actions have consequences. My followers didn't take too kindly to what my father did. It reached the tipping point when the family of the woman I loved propositioned my brother instead of me, as I would no longer be succeeding my father… That's just how things are. People do what they want to do, and the people they hurt just have to deal with it. What a silly way to start a war…

Taka Uchiha - As a clan, we're very proud of our eyes. There is power in them. Power which I took for granted. The normal Sharingan techniques weren't enough for me. So I did the unthinkable. I gave in to temptation and killed her. My sister.

I hated myself the moment my blade struck her. The look of betrayal on her face, I couldn't handle it. She was dead before she hit the ground and I was crying blood, screaming at the skies. Why? I asked. Why did I do it?

The answer is simple. As Uchiha, we are taught to seek out power. We are taught that power, real power doesn't come to those who were born the strongest, or fastest, or smartest. It comes to those who will do anything to achieve it. And we willdo anything to achieve it.

Did I make the right choice then?

No… I did not. For a time, I really did help further my clan's goals. For a very short time… Now, as I lie on my deathbed, blind and alone, the only sight that I can remember seeing is the look of betrayal on my sister's face.

…

Nothing is worth sacrificing your family.

Madara Uchiha - I honestly believed it would work. That love and cooperation was possible in this godforsaken world. I owed it to Izuna to try… What an idiot I was… The only thing more vile than malice is morality. I have had enough. Mistakes are lessons waiting to be learned and hard lessons are not welcomed. They are suffered.

And I have suffered…

I know what I must do… And who I must become…

It will all be over soon.

Kagami Uchiha - The passionate mind is selfish. It is so focused on what it desires, that 'reason' becomes background noise. And I have been selfish, haven't I?

Whenever I read through the above entries, I always wonder, why do all of them seem like a goodbye… It turns out you don't feel like leaving a message unless you're not sure if you'll come back…

And I am not sure if I will come back. My selfish desires have made it so that I cannot ignore what is going on. I must save her. And I will.

…

Naruto paused, seeing who the next entry was from. He looked up from the stone tablet at the man who led him here. "You planning on saying goodbye?"

Fugaku shook his head. "I wrote the message I wanted to pass on while I still had my vision."

Naruto stared at him for a few silent moments before bringing his attention back to the stone tablet. This time, he read it out aloud.

"Fugaku Uchiha - As an orphan living under the Uchiha clan's care, I was completely enamored with the name 'Uchiha'... There is perhaps only one thing I hate about the Uchiha clan. The inherent feeling of superiority that every Uchiha just seems to have… There was a time when I even thought the same way. These eyes… They make us superior to normal shinobi.

It took a clan head's daughter's intervention in this downtrodden orphan's life to change that thought process. When no one else would even look in my direction, she stopped to smile at me. She dragged me off to meet her friends and they welcomed me into the fold. I still remember that day. It is perhaps the first happy memory of my childhood…

I didn't know it at the time, but I was in love. She'd snuck her way right into my heart, tearing down the walls that my isolated childhood had forced me to build up. As we got older, we grew closer. When my teammate died, she attached herself to me, not willing to let me be alone with my sorrow. When her brother died, I did the same. There was only one thing I wanted to do in my life back then. I owed a debt to my clan, the clan which made it possible for a nobody like me to love somebody like her…

…

As I write this, I can't believe what I went on to do. What have I become? How did it end up like this? The things I've done…

I was lost. Unable to drink, unable to eat, unable to sleep… Until I found Tenzen Uchiha's journal. He was struggling with the same things I am struggling with. He was doing things he never meant to do. Things like oppressing his only daughter, terrorizing innocent civilians, foregoing his duties to the village… He never would've done those things… Before he got the Mangekyou Sharingan. Or more specifically, before he got the technique XXXXXXXXXXXXXX.

There is only one explanation. Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely."

...

...

Naruto read it over once again. When he looked up, the clan head's shoulders were shaking, tears dripping down his face. Uchiha Fugaku was weeping.

"I hope… I know I have no right to ask anything of you, but I hope you will take this to heart… If… if your second technique is Kotoamatsukami… Don't use it. On anyone… Because it's not a power meant to be held by humans. It is not a power we can handle… Look at what it has done to me."

Naruto continued to glare at the man in front of him. "Are you seriously using the technique as a fucking excuse? Do you think it shields you from what you've done?"

Fugaku's shoulders shook. "I'm serious. That power… is the power of a God. It changes you. It corrupts you. It-"

"SHUT THE FUCK UP. DO NOT STAND HERE IN FRONT OF ME, AND BLAME THE TECHNIQUE FOR YOUR DESPICABLE ACTIONS!" The killing intent made him feel like he was holding the sky up on his own. The pure rage in the 11 year-old's voice was unfathomable. Fugaku tried to take a step back, but stumbled and fell to the ground.

Naruto started walking away, the small sounds of his footsteps filling the chamber and the killing intent suddenly stopped. Fugaku collapsed to the ground, his mind reeling from the mental drain of staying conscious in the face of the Uzumaki's fury.

"I will figure out a way to save Mikoto. I will save her from this nightmare you've trapped her in. And I willrip you limb from limb when she is finally free of you."

---

Ok… That was another long wait wasn't it? : ) But maaaan, this was a colossal chapter though. I really need to organize things better, but I just wanted all these events wrapped up in one go. But 43k is too much… I realize that. Hell, the doc editing tool in this site almost crashed multiple times… I will try my best to ensure that subsequent chapters are around the 20k mark, if not less.

And again, sorry for the lateness, really. This time it was not just me goofing off with my friends, it was my job that got in the way. Entry level employees are pretty much treated like shit nowadays, aren't they? I really don't get much time away from work except for during the weekends and the weekends mostly just consist of me waking up, eating and then passing out… Rinse and repeat… But at least it pays well. You know how the saying goes… There's nothing money can't buy… I think.

A bunch of you reached out asking if the story is abandoned, but I assure you that I am very much committed to finishing this story. It's not going to be discontinued. It'll take me a while to learn how to balance everything that's going on in my life right now, but I will continue to update the story as fast as I possibly can.

On a happier note, there's some amazing news to share.

A reader reached out a few months ago with a request to upload this story in his youtube channel. Once again, I'm immensely flattered by the interest and support and this is the only way I can support them in return. Check out his youtube channel (EDW Teorias) if you find the time guys. I don't really understand the language but I am super encouraged by his efforts.

Another reader reached out, wanting to translate this story into spanish. And once again… I'm very, very flattered and overjoyed at the recognition.

Now, onto other things. The song I'm obsessed with now is Decks Dark by Radiohead. I watched House of the Dragon recently… It was kind of a disappointment because I expected a lot more action and less… squabbling, but I guess it does have scope for some good shit in the second season the way it has ended. Aemond and Daemon though… Fucking badasses, both of them.

Remember, remember, the 5th of November,
the gunpowder treason and plot…

I know of no reason
why the gunpowder treason
should ever be forgot…

It's that time of the year guys… Go watch V for Vendetta, one of the greatest movies in existence. The domino scene is just way too powerful. I can't seem to get enough of that : )

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AN0: The thing I struggled with the most in this chapter is obviously, the fight scenes. But Deidara came to my rescue didn't he? I can't even imagine having to write 3 more matches. I spent a lot of time on the matches because it's very, very difficult for me to put on paper what I envision for a fight. And it's pretty fucking difficult to just think up a fight sequence which is not, a throw a punch - rib cage explodes type of thing. My respect for my favorite fanfiction authors is just through the roof now, because I really don't know how they do it… So, since Naruto is an anime that is primarily action, I will have to write a lot more fight scenes in subsequent chapters… Hopefully, you liked what I came up with in this chapter and I hope I get better as I go along. I'm super proud of Kurenai's genjutsu technique though. Mirroring right and left at will… That's an amazing technique to have isn't it?

AN1: I killed off Koharu… Nuff' said. She is useless in canon, and in most fanfics I've read, as is her male counterpart Homura. This way, she died a dignified death and hopefully provided the trigger for Homura to eventually kick some ass… Or not, because I have no plans for that loser as of now. Which is a problem, because I do want all characters to serve some purpose in the story. I'll have to think up something.

AN2: What's happening with Minato and the Hokage? Does Hiruzen really want Minato to succeed him? If so, how will they overcome the obvious difference in opinion they have about Naruto? Find the answers to all this and more in the next episode. Of. Dragon. Ball. ZZZ.

…

Wait, I'm not done ranting about stuff.

AN3: Hayate… I loved writing his part in this chapter. I think we'll see a lot more of him in upcoming chapters. Him carrying Naruto to the skies has also helped him get in touch with his wind affinity, which is definitely something we'll see a lot more of.

AN4: Yuna… Oh man. I only started writing that scene of her in the Sarutobi household because I needed a scene with someone other than Naruto to transition into the next Naruto scene… But phew! What a badass. That speaks more to Yashiro's lack of talent than to Kurenai's skill - this is one of my favorite lines in this chapter.

AN5: Fugaku messed up really badly, didn't he? He didn't get Naruto's eyes and also managed to get his weakening eyes hurt in the process. You can probably guess what's coming next regarding Mikoto, Kazane and Fugaku. Hope you liked Kazane's story. I didn't want her to be just another name in the story, so I decided to go ahead with some form of a backstory… I have plans in place for her as well, considering who her kid is going to be.

AN6: Then there's Deidara. He's just dealing out so many blows at once, isn't he? And Midori's plotting against Naruto, and recruiting people as well.

AN7: I still haven't decided what Naruto's second Mangekyou technique is going to be. I really liked writing the Uchiha Shrine messages from the Uchiha ancestors. I thought I came up with 'Absolute power corrupts absolutely' by myself, but I did a google search and it turns out someone has already said it, so I must have just heard it from somewhere. I really liked 'The only thing more vile than malice is morality' as well, but not really sure where I got it from.

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And that's it for now. As always, let me know what you guys think of the chapter. The next chapter will deal with the preliminaries. I haven't decided on a title yet.

The schedule I'm hoping for is one chapter a month now (or at least 1 in 2 months), but considering the next chapter is going to deal with the preliminaries of the Chunin exams, it's definitely going to take more than that. But hopefully not as long as this one took.

As always, hope you liked this chapter. Let me know what you think of how the story is progressing. See you soon : )