Branch Family

The kunai flew towards her head. She didn't seem to pay much attention towards it. A questioning look was in her eyes. In an instant it was over. The group looked on in shock as dark red blood ran down pale skin and dripped onto the ground, staining the skin and grass. The green darkened along with a few petals on a flower that blood had dripped onto.

Bensha glared at Orochimaru.

"Snake, why must I wait?! Should the emotions not be gone? Have you lied to me? If so, then I will gladly rip off your head." Orochimaru sighed.

"Now Bensha, I haven't. I have to make up an entirely new seal again just for you." Bensha stared at him.

"That's not good enough. I want these emotions of hers gone." Orochimaru sighed and nodded.

"I know. It will only take me a few more hours to complete the seal. Until then, Kabuto can get you caught up on the current events." Orochimaru left while Bensha stared at Kabuto.

"Bensha-san, I know that Setsuko has not had much contact so I will . . . ." He trailed off as Bensha walked away.

"I tired of this." She whispered to herself as she walked out into the courtyard to wait. She easily leapt up into a tree to stand on a branch and stared into the sky.

Blood further darkened the fabric, if that was even possible. Green eyes blazed in anger as a blade was held in her hand right hand. Robin threw the kunai in her left hand to the side with some of her blood being flung with it. Setsuko stared at the group as if the kunai was never thrown. Robin moved into a fighting stance as she drew another blade. Setsuko turned her eyes down to Robin. The girl stood in front of her protectively.

"Setsuko-sama." She threw over her shoulder. "Please go to Yoko. I will take care of these fools." Setsuko didn't move. "Please Setsuko-sama. I cannot allow harm to befall you. It is safer."

"Why? Tenshi has their weapons." Each ninja check their weapons only to see them gone.

"Please understand," A deep harsh feminine voice came from their left. They turned to see a strange woman with their weapons at her feet. "Robin-chan is not going to let anyone hurt her family. She will not hesitate to kill you. She never has." She wore black silk pants and a very baggy white long sleeved shirt over it. A long dark green vest was over it and a gold silk ribbon was tied tightly around her waist. Two bracelets were around each ankle and her feet were clad in golden Arabian slippers. Her white hair had been pulled back into a low ponytail with her bangs grown out to her chin, most swept to her right side of her faces and the rest to her left. Her green eyes did not have the sweet smile her red lips carried and her eyes were mostly closed revealing her shiny gray eye shadow against her lightly tanned skin. "Please, before anymore problems, at least let us know your names in case we must carve your gravestones." Her threat was obvious.

". . . Hatake Kakashi"

"Haruno Sakura."

". . . . hmph, Hyuga Neji."

"Ano . . . H-h-Hyuga H-Hinata . . ."

"Hn. . . Uchiha Sasuke."

"Ch, how troublesome . . . Nara Shikimaru."

". . . Sarutobi Asuma . . ."

"Yuuhi Kurenai."

"Yamanaka Ino."

". . . . Aburame Shino"

"Rock Lee!"

"Uzumaki Naruto!!!!" Tenshi and Robin lost all color in their face and Tenshi was in front of Naruto before anyone else could say their name.

"You . . . you are Uzumaki? Tell me, where did you grow up?!" Naruto blinked a few times.

"Umm . . . Konoha?" The woman grasped his face firmly in her hand and looked it over. She stared at the whiskers.

"Setsuko-sama . . . she is your cousin, correct? On her mother's side? And on your mother's side, correct?"

". . . Hai . . ." Naruto stared at Tenshi in confusion. Robin eyed the others before dropping to her knees and bowing. Tenshi released Naruto and bowed. "Gomen! I did not realize you were of the Uzumaki clan. I have treated you harshly, forgive me." Naruto blinked a few times.

"Who . . . who are you?" Tenshi smiled at him. Her actions startled them.

"I am Uzumaki Tenshi. Uzumaki Robin is over there, protecting our cousin. Robin and I are of the Branch family, along with the other Uzumaki here, except one." Tenshi took Naruto's hands in her own. "Come. We have much to talk of. You must be happy to see your cousin, no?" Her giant mood swing took everyone off guard.

"Tenshi, that's enough." Tenshi turned to look at another woman. She was traditional meiko clothing. Her black hair had three different lengths. Her bangs were above her eyebrows, some hair in front was to her chin, and the rest of her had was pulled back. Her soft gray eyes stared at Tenshi. "You speak too freely." Tenshi glared at the woman.

"Oy, Yoko-chan, you should not be so harsh. Last I checked, you and I were not on different levels. You have no authority over me, Yoko-chan." Yoko glared at Tenshi before looking back to the shinobi.

"You come here and endanger Setsuko-sama. What is the meaning of all this?" Tenshi smirked.

"Yoko-chan! You didn't know! Yahari! (Of course) You were busy being egoisutikko. (egotistic) This is Uzumaki Naruto, a member of the Main family." Robin kept her eyes locked on the group of shinobi. She had long since gotten up from bowing and two blades were in her hands, ready to defend Setsuko.

"Oy, Tenshi, you're too noisy. If does not matter who is with them. They attacked Setsuko-sama. You know what must be done!" Robin hissed.

"Hai! Toshiko-sama told us before how to handle this matter." Yoko remarked coldly. Tenshi stood to her full height and rolled her eyes.

"Hmph. I know that. But do the others know that is it time." Yoko shook her head.

"Iie. You need to rush to them and tell them. While you are gone I will tell them." Tenshi nodded and disappeared in front of all the leaf-nin. Yoko stared at them.

"What is going on?!" Naruto demanded. Yoko smiled at him sadly.

"Perhaps it is best that I tell you. Toshiko-sama told the Uzumaki here that a group of nin were to come in search of answers to find Setsuko. If they should attack then a great test must be held. It was to see if they are indeed worthy to stand on this holy ground. So she has ordered the Uzumaki here to have a tournament when that should happen. Tenshi has gone to inform the other Uzumaki here. My duty is to lead you to the fighting grounds." She looked over to some trees. "Gaara-kun, you and your siblings are also in this tournament." The sand-nin dropped to the ground with surprise written across their faces. Yoko turned back to the leaf-nin. "There are a few exceptions to who will battle in this tournament. The Jounin all have proven themselves by reaching such a level. Naruto-sama, Hinata-sama, Janghoon-san, Seung-san, Riki-san. You are all considered worthy. You came here because you cared and-" Naruto cut her off before she could continue speaking.

"Nani?! I will fight like everyone else!!! I can't take short cuts in order to become the best!" Yoko blinked in surprise.

". . . H . . . hai! I a-agree with Na-Naruto-kun . . . I will fight as well." Hinata quietly told Yoko.

"Heh, I too with fight in this tournament. You can't deny me the chance to have a good fight and prove my skills." Riki smirked. Seung nodded.

"I will not allow you to leave me behind and have everyone else fight." Janghoon shook his head.

". . . hmph, guess I'll fight too." Yoko stared at them before nodding.

"Very well. Please come with me. Robin," She looked towards Robin. "Please take Setsuko-sama to a safe area to observe the fights then come to the fighting grounds." Robin nodded.

"Hai!"

Yoko stood in the middle of a fighting arena. She took two die and held them out in front of her.

"The way this tournament works is simple. I roll this dice," She held out a 18 sided die. "To see who will fight. After each fight, the dice will change shape and lose a side. That way the same person does not have to fight twice." She held out the other die with six sides. "This will be rolled to see which Uzumaki will fight." She turned to the five people on the other side. "I will introduce you so there is no mix up. Akira," A young boy, around the age of nine stood up from his sitting position. He had a long bow with his arm stuck through it and arrows strapped to his back. His head was shaved and he wore a sleeveless ripped blue shit and ripped black pants and ninja sandals. His eyes were closed. "Yukio," A huge man with dark brown eyes stepped forward. He wore black pants and a dark gray vest. His dark blonde hair was pulled back into a ponytail and he had a small mustache. "Masaru," The man with light blue gray hair and dark blue eyes stepped forward. He wore a sleeveless traditional Japanese robe over a long sleeved shirt and had two samurai swords strapped on his his back at his waist. "Robin," Robin stepped forwards with her Naginata wrapped in an off white sheet and leather straps wrapped around that on her back. "Tenshi," Tenshi stepped forward and smiled. "And myself, Yoko." Yoko turned towards the shinobi. "We will begin." Yoko tossed the dice out, letting them roll before stopping. "The first match with be between Lee and Tenshi." Yoko walked over to the other Uzumaki. She shot Tenshi a glare as they passed. Tenshi smirked as she reached the center.

"Oy, Lee eh? Well, I hope you understand that you can die." Lee grinned.

"Hai! I am willing to risk my life in order to prove my skills!" Tenshi smiled.

"Hmph, I'm beginning to like you kid."

"Begin!" Yoko yelled out. Tenshi smirked as Lee got into his stance. Tenshi quickly disappeared from sight.

"Eh?! Were did she go?!" Ino yelled as she looked around.

"Tenshi has spent most of her life practicing on her speed." Ino whipped around to see Robin.

"What are you doing over here?" Sakura asked as the other genin stared at her. Robin glanced over her shoulder at Setsuko.

"Setsuko-sama would not allow me to take her away from this battlefield. I am here to protect her. Setsuko wanted to come over here. Also, before Tenshi left to fight, she said it would be a good idea for me to be over here to explain some things in case anyone was lost." She stared at the fight. Lee was being hit from all directions. "As I was saying before, Tenshi is faster than anyone I have every known of. And right now, she is not at her fastest speed." Shikimaru stared at her.

"How are you so sure? She can't be seen right now."

"Simple, when Tenshi is at her fastest speed, you could not even see Lee being hit."

'Damn, she's too fast!' Lee cursed as he hit the ground. He stood up quickly as Tenshi appeared in front of him again.

"Tell me kid, are you going to try your hardest. Because right now, this is pathetic. I am the one to decide if you are worthy and right now, you are anything but." Lee sat down and began to take off his weights. Tenshi stared at him. "Kid, a few weights aren't going to make that much-" Tenshi stopped when Lee dropped them, leaving a huge crater. She looked back up at Lee. "So, are you going to show me your top speed then?"

"Hai!" Lee disappeared from sight and appeared in front of Tenshi. He landed a punched right in her gut. Tenshi flew back several meters and landed on her feet. She spat out alittle blood.

"Hmph, I see." Tenshi stood up to her full height while holding her hand against her stomach. She turned to Yoko and smirked. She turned back to Lee. "Congratulations kid, I say you're worthy." Lee stared at her.

"But, the match just started." Tenshi smiled.

"Kid, you don't get it. It's not to see if you are a good enough fighter. This is a test of your soul. I like you kid. You've got a good heart."

"Eh?! But that match just started and he was only able to punch her once!" Kiba yelled. Robin stared at Tenshi with her arms crossed as Tenshi came to the side with Lee.

"This isn't a test to see if you are strong enough. Sometimes even the most skilled people are wicked. This tournament is to see who is worthy." Tenshi smiled as she patted Lee on the head.

"Good job kid." She turned and smirked at Yoko's glare. Yoko tossed the dice out to the side once more.

"Hinata and Akira." Hinata timidly stepped forward to face Akira. The boy smiled through closed eyes.

"Greetings. I hope this will be a good fight." Akira bowed. Yoko yelled begin and Hinata dropped into a fighting stance. Akira readied his bow and aimed. As Hinata charged he fired. The Hyuga heir moved out of the way of the arrow but was cut. Akira jumped up and shot off a few more arrows.

"Is that all he's gonna do?" Lee asked Tenshi. Tenshi shook her head.

"Iie. Our fight was short because I didn't want to really, fight and you had a good heart. Akira on the other hand . . . he may seem like a polite little boy but he will never let anyone off easy." Lee nodded.

"Demo . . . why does he have his eyes closed?" Tenshi smiled at Lee and patted him on the head again.

"Simple. Akira is blind."