Rubies & Sapphires Book 1

by Synica

Naruto is taken in at a young age by Kakashi, and trained by the Jounin Senseis. However, Naruto's sapphire eyes have only one thing in their sights. The ruby eyes of one Yuuhi Kurenai. NarutoxKurenai. Sakura & Sasuke bashing for all. First Part Complete.

6. Sasuke's Defection

A/N: Yo! When this chapter is updated, I'm getting rid of the two ones before it, the A/N chapters. BTW, in this fic, the Sound Four did not encounter some of Shizune's team, so they kept going without hinderance because they did not have to use their stage two seals. Also, people are complaining that 'Naruto's all powerful'. Know the reason you think that? It's because in a real fight he's only faced Genin level peopl.e How easily can an upper Chuunin/low Jounin take care of a Genin? Without even trying. This chapter, he is going to be beaten so badly, he wish he never got out of bed. By who? Take a guess. I don't make my main characters in ANY fics, even if it's just a straight lemon one shot have it all easy, they will go through pain of some description. No pleasure without pain... Or whatever the saying is. As a second note, we all know what happens in each of the fights, so I'm only going to do each fight scene until the remaining group splits off, and the conclusion to each fight except the last three. I really hate retelling canon word for word. Also, from now on, whoever tells me to get a beta reader because of spelling or grammermatical errors will be automatically blocked. I've explained it far too many times for it to be sheer dumb luck for you to have missed it. Also, people, how can I give you a link to something that doesn't exist? Chapter 5 of R & S, or Chapter 6 if you include this one is the most recent chapter. It seems I should have just kept quiet. People seem to think I'm close to breaking and they can drive me away by asking more stupid questions than ever. The only think I have to hope for is my block list is big enough to hold 70 or so percent of readers... Trust me, your reviews really mean nothing to me. It does to others though. The only thing your actions are helping is for people to see my story and say 'wow, must be good'. Don't bite the hand that feeds you. And sending me a direct email to appologise is a stupid thing to do after last chapter's warning. Dobes...

Oh and about Isonade, that theory I wrote predates the time skip. However, if anything, Naruto is using the incorrect animals by breaking the mythological tradition. The one's I use from mythology/history predate Naruto by let's see... Several thousand years?

HUGELY IMPORTANT NOTE:I just realised I made an incredibly stupid mistake. I should have added the first part ofnext chapter onto the end of this one. It's going to look really stupid to send Naruto on the training mission and then have him walk back through the gates next scene.

"Bye Naruto!"

"Later!"

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3 Years Later:

"OMG! IT'S NARUTO!"

Catch my drift? It'd look incredibly tacky. I said I'm not going to write anything of what they do once they walk out of the gates until they walk back through them. I'm sticking with that. What to do, what to do... The only thing I can do is ask you to reread this chapter when the nextone is uploaded. Appologies, people!

Now, some of you will say 'See! You make mistakes too!' Truth be told, yes, yes I do. However, let's look at the definition of 'mistake'. Yes, mistake can mean 'an error of judgment' and so on, but at what point does 'an error of judgment' become the inability to judge properly? In other words, at what point does a mistake stop being a mistake? I believe that if the same people ask the same question after it was answered only to ask it again the next time it comes up shortly afterwards, I believe it is no longer a mistake. It's stupidity. How many times have I made this mistake back to back, or even at all for that matter? Back to back, never. At all, once. Just once. There for, it is a mistake. The same people asking 'when's the Suna/Oto invasion?' directly after I answered it a second time is not a mistake. It's stupidity. Huzzah for sound logic. Oh god, what a corny pun...

Comments/Questions/Suggestions:

Fan Fiction Section:

Bam Dasher: Well, it wasn't exactly a glitch, no. They did exist for the period of more or less 24 hours. However, they contained no actual content chapter. It contained a 2 chapter 'rant' on people asking me stupid questions which I answered multiple times, and when I chew them out about it, they projected their own insecurities onto me, calling me an egotistical jackass. Oh man, it was pretty funny. Seeing humans at the epitome of their stupidity not realising their own idiocy as they blurt out abuse that applies to themselves more than me. Anywho, it's all in the past now. I just decided that the 'block' and 'delete' button are getting a decent work out. I only wish that the buttons also stopped them from reading my work. Now that would be sweet. Anywho, long story short, if you didn't see what the chapters were about, then it's nothing to worry about.

Failing Mentality: I had to reread your review again to make sure I read it correctly. Holy cow, decent questions! A rare treat! The ANBU were pretty much just non descript Oto spies. Typical no bodies. They succeded in their mission, so Orochimaru would keep them alive. As for Naruto proving his loyalty to the canines, he did it during his match with Gaara in the finals. He'll summon Fenrir this chapter.

Mature-Content: NaruXKure lemon scene? Ya, there will be. However, it will not be posted on Fan Fiction. It will on Media Miner. The Fan Fiction version will cut out the 'juicier' parts of it enough to maintain it's T or M rating.

rawPASSION: Inspiraton? Hmm... Well, I mainly just like combining moves from the manga/anime to make flashy new jutsus. Very little inspiration from outside sources.

Itallia: Naruto may be a genius, but even genius's are not invincible. Naruto gets a thorough beatdown this chapter. As for the whole 'cursed necklace thing'... You could say it was answered somewhere, you could also say it isn't. Yes, in one of my A/N rants it was. I took it down because people didn't seem to get the point. Also, that necklace never had anything to do with Nidaime. Shodaime yes, but not Nidaime. I'll leave you to work out why she can wear it without dying.

Shandrakor: No, I'm not working Naruto up to having a sub elemental type. Lesser elemental types are usually associated with Kekkei Genkai's. Naruto will not have one of them in this fic.

Media Miner Section:

I've stopped answering this section for a multitude of reasons. One, I have to delete my internet cache every single time to view the newest comment thereby getting rid of my cookies and what not, which gets highly annoying, and also, the one's I've blocked on Fan Fiction seem to be swarming to Media Miner and spamming there. There is no blocking tool for Media Miner that I'm aware of, so I just don't answer the comments anymore. Sorry for the rest of you who have to endure the losses because of the fools, blame them, not me.

Thanks to everyone who reviewd that I didn't answer. Those who were fools were delt with. The rest of you, I hope you enjoy.

Legend:

'...Human or Lesser Summon Thinking/Small A/N...'

'...Demon or Summon Boss Thinking...'

"...Human or Lesser Summon Talking..."

"...Demon or Summon Boss Talking..."

"...SHOUTING/TWO OR MORE PEOPLE SAYING THE SAME THING/CASTING THE SAME JUTSU..."

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Rubies & Sapphires:

Chapter Six:

Sasuke's Defection:

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A Week Later:

It was 3pm in the afternoon on a day with no clouds in the sky, relatively average temperature for the season and not much happening in Konoha. Well, if you discarded the fact that the entire village was ballancing on a knife's edge from the fact that their Hokage was unable to do his duties. The guards on guard duty had been doubled from two to four after it was found that two members of Akatsuki had slipped into the village through a main gate. The one's at the West Gate were particularly alert, from the fact that this was the gate they entered through, as well as the guards had been told that the new Hokage would be coming down this road. One of the guards currently on duty looked up to see four figures silloutted against the early afternoon light. One was a child. Another was a grown man. The other two were female. As they approached, the guard saw who they were and his eyes widened. He stood to attention as did the other guard when the group stopped at the gate and lookd at him.

"Jiraiya-Sama! The council requested that I send you to them immediately upon your return!"

Jiraiya nodded.

"Thanks."

The group of four humans and one pig walked through the entrance and attracted quite a number of stares. As they got to the Hokage's office, they were admitted in by a pair of ANBU guards. When they stepped inside, the curent meeting between the village elders and clan heads stopped and all attention was focussed on the group. Naruto smiled lazily at them.

"Mission accomplished."

All looks turned to Tsunade. The village elders thanked him, telling him that his pay for the mission could be collected from downstairs at the mission counter. Naruto raised an eyebrow.

"This was an official mission? Not that I mind, though. Well, it was a nice suprise. Thanks."

Naruto bowed and left the room to collect his pay, and was shocked to see the mission had been rated S. That meant he was now in possesion of quite a few thousand Ryou. 50,000 to be exact. If this is the kind of pay for an S ranked mission, Naruto wouldn't mind doing a few more sometime in the future. When Naruto question why there was so much, he was told that usually only squads of ANBU took on S rank, not two people, therefore, the money was doubled. Naruto accepted it and wondered what to do with his new found wealth as he walked outside, intent on finding a certain red eyed brunnette and a cyclopian brother of his.

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30 Minutes Later:

Naruto decided after searching around and being unable to find either of the people he wanted to, that he'd go to Ichiraku's. He hadn't been there in quite some time as he pushed aside the banners for the shop.

"Irashai!"

Naruto waved.

"Hey old man."

The man's eyes widened.

"Naruto! Where've you been?"

Naruto scratched the back of his head and smiled sheepishly.

"Ah, sorry about that. Thing's have been kind of busy."

The man smiled and shook his hand dismissivly.

"Don't worry about it. So, what can I get for you today?"

Naruto thought about it as he took a seat at the counter.

"Well, I think I'll start with a large 'The Works' please."

The man's eyes widened.

"Sure you can afford that as well as others? 'The Works' costs as much as 3 regular large bowls..."

Naruto smiled lazily.

"Sure can. I just got back from an S Rank mission. They didn't say it's details were classified, so I guess I can tell you about it while I eat."

The man nodded.

"One Works coming right up!"

Naruto had just finished telling them the mission directives and their time up to reaching the lodging town when the first bowl was served. It wasn't named 'The Works' for nothing. It was filled to the brim with things like lobster, various types of vegitables including asparagus stalks, onion rings, plenty of meat and an egg as well as many other things. In between mouthfuls, he continued telling both Techi and Ayame what the mission was about, who he had encountered and the bet. By the time he had eaten two 'Works' bowls, their mouth's were practically hanging on the ground. Naruto smiled at them after he finished.

"Is something wrong?"

"You fought two members of Akatsuki and learnt Hiraishin no Jutsu?"

Naruto smiled.

"Well, I didn't 'fight' either one of them. I never engaged Kisame, and I only distracted Itachi long enough to get Kurenai-Chan away from him."

Teuchi nodded slowly.

"So you did learn Hiraishin?"

Naruto nodded.

"However, Jiraiya-Sensei restricted my useage of it. He said I am not to use it until I am officially a Jounin or unless my life or the life of one of my friends requires me to use it."

"Souka..."

Naruto was about to order a third bowl of something slightly smaller so as not to spend too much money when Teuchi put a third Works bowl in front of him. Naruto looked up at him questioningly.

"Old man?"

He smiled.

"Brining back a Hokage and saving the life of a Jounin from two memebers of Akatsuki is no small feat. Eat up, it's on the house."

Naruto nodded.

"Thank you."

After Naruto finished, he paid the fee for the first two bowls and left, waving good bye to them as he left to get back to his appartment.

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Two Days Later:

Naruto was given a week's rest from his mission, which he was enjoying to the fullest. On the second morning after they got back, Naruto was enjoying a particulalry perverted dream of himself and Kurenai when he heard a rhythmical tapping sound.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

Naruto ignored it and continued with his dream. After 5 seconds, the sound came again.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

The dream was blurring. Right when he was getting to the good part too!

Tap. Tap. Tap.

Naruto returned to the land of the concious and stared at the sunlight streaming in throught the window. He could just make out the figure of a-

"Messenger bird..."

Naruto got out of bed and opened the window to let the pidgeon in. The pidgeon fluttered onto his arm. Naruto opened the canister on its leg and pulled out the message. The bird, it's job now completed, flew back to it's destination. Naruto opened the scroll and his eyes narrowed. He burnt the destroyed the message as was customary, got his ninja gear and used Shushin to get to the Hokage tower.

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Same Time, at the Hokage Tower:

Both Shikamaru and Chouji were already there when Naruto appeared inside the office to see that the atmosphere was tense at best. Tsunade looked at Naruto.

"Naruto, Uchiha Sasuke has left the village."

"Did he give any reasons?"

Tsunade sighed and shook her head.

"The last person to see him before he left was his teammate Haruno Sakura. She apparently begged him to stay, however, he knocked her out. All we know is that he left in the direction of Oto."

Naruto looked at Tsunade.

"Judging by the fact you called us here, there are no Jounins or even other Chuunin to back us up?"

Tsunade nodded.

"Correct. Sasuke could not have chosen a worse or better time to defect, depending on who's perspective you view it from. With our mission intake increased so suddenly, we barely have any Chuunin or Jounin left available. Naruto, here is your mission. This is an S class mission due to the fact that you may encounter Kabuto or Orochimaru. You are in overal charge of this mission while your teammates Nara Shikamaru and Akimichi Chouji are your direct subordinates. You are to retrive Uchiha Sasuke before he crosses the border between Fire and Rice. If you encounter either Kabuto or Orochimaru, you are ordered to forget about Uchiha Sasuke and retreat. Gather any Genins you wish to take with you and leave immediately."

"Will Rock Lee be able to come?"

Tsunade shook her head.

"I have only just finished with the operation to recive this news. He will not be able to back you up immediately, however, I will send him out after two days. If there are no other questions, then you are dismissed."

All three boys left the room and as they ran out of the tower, Naruto turned to Shikamaru.

"Shikamaru, I need you to get Neji and Tenten. I've worked with them for the past year, so team work comes fairly easily for us."

Shikamaru nodded.

"Yokai."

Shikamaru broke off from the group and Naruto turned to Chouji.

"Chouji, I need you to get Kiba and Shino. We were all friends in the academy, so we can work together well."

"Sure thing."

Chouji spilt off from Naruto as Naruto continued to the North Gate as he thought about the Raven haired Uchiha.

"Sauske, were you that intimidated by my power that you pulled something like this? You fool..."

Naruto bit his thumb and formed the seals to summon the tracking pack of canines. When he finished the summon, there were a total of seven dogs of varying descriptions looking at him expectantly. The smallest one, Pakkun looked at Naruto.

"What do you want, Naruto?"

"I need you guys to split off and try to pick up Sasuke's scent. It's possible that his scent may dissapear, but there should be other scents that were with him that will still be followable. Go!"

The seven dogs charged off in different directions. All Naruto could do now was wait and hope for the best.

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20 Minutes Later:

Shikamaru and Chouji arrived about twenty minutes later with the Genin they were asked to bring. The looks on their faces told Naruto they had already been informed, at least somewhat of what had happened. Naruto looked at them seriously.

"I can tell you've been told some of what's happened from your expressions. We don't have much time, so after we head out, I'll explain everything. However, we can't just rush in there. We need to use speed, but speed without any sort of formation is useless. If any of you have a suggestion, speak up. I'm not the sort of guy to tell you to listen to me or else. Kiba. Your sense of smell is a powerful tool. I want you to take point and be our forward scout, making sure we don't run into any traps. Shikamaru. Your analytical skills will be neded up front to assess dangerous situations. You will follow directly behind Kiba. Tenten. Your ability and knowledge of weapons will help those in front of you should they use any unusual weapons long enough for the rest of us to catch up and help. Next will be me. I will be able to hand out orders from the middle and also provide assistance to both ends just as quickly. Directly behind me will be Shino. Shino, you play a crucial role in this, perhaps more so than the others. You will be our tracer. Should we be separated, I need your tracking bugs to be able to locate the others that have split off and give me reports on them, as well as their conditions. Directly behind Shino will be Chouji. Chouji, you sever several purposes. I need you to not only be the powerhouse that covers us from behind should we be flanked, but you will also relay orders back to Neji, who will be behind you. Neji, you are our primary lookout for sneek attacks from behind. Your Byakugan will enable us to detect attackers and respond before they get a chance to do anything. Any questions?"

No one answered, so Naruto stood up.

"Apart from your positions, I also require you to look in a specific direction for attacks. Kiba and Shikamaru, you need to be looking forward. I will not be looking in any set direction. Tenten, you will be focusing mainly forward, but if you feel it's safe, check left and right. Shino, you will be focusing left. Chouji, right, and Neji, behind. As a warning, we have no idea as to what we will face, so don't overlook anything. Even if something seems slightly out of place, warn myself, Chouji or Shikamaru, whoever is closer to you. I'm not taking any risks. Before we head out, I need to check your inventories. Show me everything you have."

Everyone pulled out their ninja pouches and shuriken holsters. Naruto, Chouji and Shikamaru quickly made a mental checklist of everyone's inventory before Naruto reached into his chuunin vest and pulled out 6 three pronged kunai. Everyone's eyes widened.

"These are not ordinary kunai. These are kunai that when thrown will allow me to be summoned to your position at the speed of light. I will give one to each of you, however, don't use them unless it's a dire emergency. I will need to be able to give commands to the others. However, if you are about to die, use it. Got it?"

They all nodded as Naruto handed out the kunai and they looked at Naruto expectantly.

"Guys, although Sasuke was never close to any of us, he is still a fellow Konoha Shinobi. That's why we will get him back. Remember this though. Do not throw away your lives to bring him back."

Naruto felt a rather weak chakra source behind him and turned to see a crying Sakura looking at him desperately. He sighed.

"Sakura, what did you say to Sasuke to try and get him to stay? Don't leave anything out."

Sakura nodded and told him about the short meeting, and when she told him about even offering to go with him, she felt a sharp spike of killer intent and looked up as she saw Naruto seething at her.

"If there's one thing I hate more than anything, it's traitors. The fact you admitted to be willing to betray the leaf to go with the center of your obssesive compulsive disorder makes me wonder why you aren't being held pending execution. Listen well, Sakura. The moment you put that leaf hitai-ate on, you signed an unspoken agreement to serve your Kage to the death. Crushes mean nothing once you put that on. When I get back, I'll make sure you are stipped of your rank for treason."

Sakura gasped as everyone looked at Naruto in horror when everyone could hear a howl and Naruto looked in the direction.

"They've picked him up. Let's move!"

All 7 shinobi got into formation and charged out the gate in the direction Naruto had indicated, leaving a distraught Sakura behind.

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About a Quarter of a Day Later:

The team had been travelling for arounf a quarter of a day when both Kiba and Naruto picked something up. Something vile. Shikamaru noticed Kiba's unease immediately.

"What's up, Kiba?"

"I sense a chakra source nearby that reeks of death and sickness..."

Naruto nodded in agreement.

"There's only two kinds of chakra like that. Orochimaru's chakra and the chakra of one of the biju, Nibi no Nekomata. Either way, all of you stay on full alert. I'm upgrading this to a lower or upper double S rank mission, depending on who's chakra that was. If we encounter either of the two I mentioned, you are ordered to forget all mission objectives and retreat. None of us stand a chance unless we use Shinjutsu, which I will not allow. Understood?"

Everyone's eyes widened at Naruto's orders. For him to do something like this meant they were treading very thin ice. The last part was not strictly true, Naruto could pull out the Kyuubi's chakra, but he refused to do that unless there was no other option. Kiba turned around to face Shikamaru.

"I can smell another dog heading after them. It's not a normal dog."

Naruto nodded.

"That's one of my trackers. Kiba, lead us to him. And let me warn you all of one final thing. I've been ordered that if Sasuke tries to resist capture to the extent he harms any of you severly... You are allowed to use whatever force you deem necissary."

They nodded solemnly and sped up, quickly catching up to a small dog which Naruto identified as Pakkun. Pakkun turned back to the group.

"So you caught up?"

"Yeah. No mistaking the direction, right?"

"Yeah."

Everyone understood what this meant. Sasuke was aiming to use his head start to cross the border before they caught up. If he did, following him would incur the next Great Hidden Shinobi war. Naruto looked at Pakkun who has settled in beside Kiba.

"Pakkun. How far away are we?"

Pakkun turned to look back as they continued jumping between the brances.

"When I caught the scent, they had a half day lead. They now have close to a quarter. Also, I've lost Sasuke's scent from the spot where the disgusting chakra came from. However, the four that were with him have continued in the same direction."

Naruto nodded and focussed on the possibilities. His eyes shot open in realisation as he gasped unconciously, causing everyone to look at him. Naruto's eyes narrowed.

"Guys, I'm changing the mission directives again."

Everyone stared at Naruto. Kiba, being the loudest one of them all, spoke their minds.

"What the hell, Naruto? How can you just change the mission directives like this?"

Shikamaru looked at Kiba.

"Kiba, listen to what Naruto says. I've known him for almost seven years now. He's not the type of guy to toy with the mission objectives like this without a good reason."

Kiba did as he was told and everyone turned back to Naruto.

"Tsunade sent us in here blind. She had no intel on who our opponents were, their strength or numbers. I have a strong suspicion that the chakra we felt was Orochimaru's. I doubt he would risk come this far with only three subordinates. The only way they could gain Orochimaru's chakra is through a seal known as the Cursed Seal. Only one out of every ten people who recive it will survive. Those that do are able to siphon off a small amount of Orochimaru's chakra. Even for those that survive, the side effects are severe. Anko-San also has one. She told me that whenever the bearer uses the seal, it slowly corrupts their mind as well as their body. There are two stages to the seal. First stage is what Anko-San has. Sasuke also had a stage one seal, but judging by that level of chakra, that is well beyond what a stage one should be capeable of, possibly even a stage two. Should the seal progress to stage two, the barer sacrifices his own free will in exchange for an incalculable amount of power. The shell we once knew as Sasuke will attempt to kill us on sight, so the mission to retrive him is over. This is now an assasination mission. However, if you see a chance to retrive him, do so. Otherwise... Kill him."

They all nodded slowly as they turned back to increase their speed, puming more chakra to their legs and feet as they rushed to catch up with their targets.

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A Day Later:

Everyone was exhausted from the full day of flying through the trees when Chouji handed everyone an Akimichi food pill, replenishing their strength almost instantly and they continued on. With regular updates from Neji, they were certain they were not being followed. They were within range now that even Kiba could clearly pick up their target's scent. Kiba looked back at them.

"They're slowing."

Naruto nodded.

"Everyone stop."

Everyone came to a rest on the branch Kiba had landed on and awaited Naruto's orders. Naruto looked at Neji.

"Neji. Can you focus your Byakugan's range of vision fully forward?"

Neji nodded as the pulse of chakra infused light extended out from his face and the telltale veins on the side of his face bulged.

"Byakugan!"

Neji looked forward through the trees until he found what he was looking for.

"Naruto. They're stopping. I can't see Sasuke, but there is a barrel that reeks of evil that is heavily guarded against my Byakugan. There are no traps in the area."

"There are."

Everyone looked at Naruto.

"They suspect they are being pursued. Neji. Look at each of them closely."

Neji nodded and focussed his byakugan towards each member. Neji's eyes widened as he looked at the six armed one.

"He has strings of chakra attached to each finger. Each one leads to a web like structure of chakra that surround them."

Naruto thought about it.

"Are there any near us?"

Neji nodded and pointed to one right next to Kiba, who froze. Naruto looked at the web and thought over his options. Eventually he pulled out one of the Hiraishin kunai.

"We have one shot at this. None of you can move fast enough to get in there before they realise it. Neji, I want you to go with Shikamaru and help him get in range for him to use his Kagemane. Neji is the only one capeable of seeing those chakra webs. However, Kiba. Can you smell them?"

Kiba conentraited and took a few wiffs of the air around him.

"Yeah. It's faint, but I can tell when I get close to one."

Naruto nodded.

"Kiba, I need you to go with Chouji and flank them from the other side and provide us with raw power if things get out of hand. Tenten, Shino. I need you two to remain here and provide cover the second I get in there. It's a decent warning system, however, I belive he will let the first warning slide if we conceal our presence. Remember, one slip up. No more. Go."

Both of Naruto's teammates were lead by their person towards their assigned points while Naruto chose a position for the kunai. When Naruto felt his friends get into position, he threw the kunai at a space between them and felt himself being drawn into the chakra tunnel. Tenten and Shino immediately launched an assult while Shikamaru caught them with his Kagemane. Naruto saw that at the end of the chakra tunnel there was a dome of chakra around it with the kunai at the center. Naruto reappeared and ripped the barrel out from under the female Oto nin and grabbed the kunai to go back, however, he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"That was some move, brat. But don't think I'm going to let you use it again."

Naruto turned slowly to see that the guy with green lipstick and two heads was poking a hand out of his chest and grasping Naruto's shoulder. The man concerntraited and Naruto saw Shikamaru's Kagemane no Jutsu retreat and then saw two blook soaked shuriken fly into the clearing from where Shikamaru was. Naruto's eyes narrowed. The wound had been light. Only just enough to break Shikamaru's concerntraition, as his chakra signature was still strong. The female threw a kunai with several explosive tags at the position Naruto had come from, as well as Shikamaru's and Chouji's location. All three parties flew into the clearing from the force of the explosion and landed ungracefully at Naruto's feet. The female of the Oto group smiled at him in a rather malicious fashion.

"What's this? I threw some kunai into the bushes and got some pieces of shit. Hand over the barrel, kid."

The large orange haired guy looked at his female teammate dissaprovingly.

"Tayuya, women-"

"I don't care, fatass."

Naruto had no choice. He put the barrel onto the ground and backed away from it. His friends were too close to slap an explosive note on the barrel and be done with it. Naruto was aware of the double headed guy of the four had dissapeared and reappeared behind him, giving him a punch to the high back, sending him flying into a tree.

"NARUTO!"

'He's fast...'

Naruto got to his feet only to be pulled up by the collar and punched several times.

'How? How can he be so fast?'

The man laughed as he let the orange haired guy pass.

"This is the guy Sasuke-Sama is so scared of? Why would he be scared of such a weak piece of trash?"

The orange haired guy picked Naruto up turned around and threw him against another tree before turning to the others.

"I feel sorry for you, having such an idiot for a leader. Don't worry, I'll finish him to save you the pain of being led by that piece of trash."

What he didn't count on was that Naruto came flying back at him with a kunai in hand and put it to his throat.

"Don't underestimate others from your first opinions."

The six armed man smirked.

"You're getting slower than normal, Jirobou."

The dual headed guy reappeared behind Naruto and punched him to his other friends before forming a few seals and announcing his jutsu.

"Doton Kekkai: Dorodomu!"

Jiroubou slammed his palms onto the ground and created two waves of chakra which surrounded in the group in a circule, which raised into a barrier or rock, completely sealing them off. Naruto felt there was something very wrong with this. Naruto turned to Neji.

"Neji! Activate your Byakugan!"

Neji did so and looked around, his eyes widening.

"It's absorbing our chakra..."

Naruto's eyes narrowed.

"I see..."

Thy heard a voice from outside.

"Hope you kiddies have a lot of chakra. I'm rather hungry..."

The idea hit Naruto as he smiled.

"How much chakra do you think you can handle?"

Everyone turned to Naruto.

"Alot more than you runts have to offer, that's for sure."

Naruto got an evil glint in his eye as he turned to the others.

"All of you, he's going to drain us dry at this rate. However, I have an idea. I need all of you to back away from me."

Shikamaru and Chouji's eyes widened.

"You're going to use that?"

Naruto nodded.

"Yeah. What you guys see me do does not leave this dome, got it?"

They nodded as Naruto shut his eyes and began a low hum, which gradually built into a roar.

"First gate, Kaimon... KAI!"

Chakra exploded out of Naruto. However, the chakra wasn't blue. It was blood red, full of hate and killing intent. Everyone staggered back at the sheer force of the chakra and the walls started to strain under the force of the chakra as Naruto. Jiroubou had no clue what was going on in there, but the wall was quickly being destroyed from an overload of chakra.

"Impossible... How can one brat have so much chakra? I've got to let go before that chakra gets to me. That isn't ordinary chakra. Jiroubou sprang back as the dome's power source was cut, making it give way under the stress. Or in this case, explode outwards. Jiroubo sheilded his face with his hands as the rocks bounced off him and he saw what had caused the problem. The 'trash' was emmiting some sort of monsterous chakra that was just as evil as Orochimaru's chakra. The chakra died down and the boy dropped to his knees panting. Jiroubou looked at the boy in interest.

"That was some chakra you got there kid. This could get interesting."

Naruto got to his feet and saw that the other three had taken the barrel and left. They didn't have any more time to waste.

"Guys, we need to move. They're going to cross the border at this rate."

Jiroubou smirked at the boy.

"And what makes you think I'm going to let you, trash?"

Chouji stepped out from the line.

"I am, fatass."

Chouji hasd obviously struck a nerve.

"Who are you calling fatass?"

Tenten looked at Chouji dubeously.

"Can you really handle it by yourself?"

Naruto looked at Tenten.

"Tenten, I've known Chouji for a long time know. Chouji's gentle with his friends, but to an enemy, he's a lot more resolute."

Chouji pulled out a bag of soldier pills and handed them to Naruto.

"Go Naruto. I'll take care of him."

Chouji pulled out a glass medicine container with three different coloured pills in it. Naruto's and Shikamaru's eyes widened. Naruto looked at Chouji.

"He's got it in the bag. Chouji, whatever you do, don't go passed the green spinach pill."

Chouji nodded.

"Sure thing, Naruto. The rest of you. Go!"

Naruto led the others past the huge guy, who was about to turn around and stop them when Chouji charged forward and hurled the big guy over his shoulder. Naruto watched with a pang in his heart as he left his childhood friend behind. All he could do was...

"Believe."

The others turned to him.

"Believe in him. Chouji had a reason he wanted to stay behind. He will not lose."

They all nodded and smiled as they turned back to continue the chase. Naruto whispered to himself.

"Chouji... Good luck... My friend..."

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

30 Minutes Later:

Jiroubou released his stage two form and Chouji had just consumed the red pepper pill, catching Jiroubou's fist as if it was nothing.

"You may be ten times stronger in that form, however, in this form... I'm 100 TIMES STRONGER!"

Jiroubou noticed butterflies made of chakra appearing from everywhere and attaching themselves to Chouji's back, forming butterfly wings made of chakra. Chouji turned around and slammed Jiroubou in the stomach with his elbow, sending him sprawling.

"That was for eating the last bite of an expensive meal."

Chouji walked up to him and slogged him in the face as he tired to get back up.

"That was for calling me a pawn and a fatass."

Chouji walked up to him and stood over him, flaring killing intent as he spoke his next part of the judgment.

"However, all of that means nothing. What I will not forgive..."

Tha chakra drained from his wings and focussed into a flaming blue aura around his left fist.

"Is calling my best friend a piece of trash. That's worse than eating the last chip. It's worse than calling me a fatass or a pawn. It's completely unforgivable!"

Jiroubou's eyes widened.

"This last blow is heavier than life!"

"Wait! You don't have to rush it!"

"Too late!"

Chouji slammed his fist into Jiroubou's chest as the ground underneith the strike buckled under the blow, creating a 10 foot deep crater. As the dust settled, an unnerving calm settled over the battle field. Chouji panted.

'Naruto... I did it... I beat him...'

Chouji walked away from his dead opponent and trudged slowly after the boys, using will power alone to move with the spasms of pain wracking his body. Chouji was vaguly aware of a buttefly leading him forward until it landed on a tree. When Chouji got close enough to it to make out the tree clearly with his blurred tunnel vision, he remembered his father's words the day he had met Naruto and began crying.

'We believe in you Chouji.'

"That must be Naruto and Shikamaru..."

'Come on! We're waiting!'

"Kiba..."

'You will be fine.'

"Shino..."

'Otousan... I've made lots of friends...'

Chouji clutched his chest where his heart was as a particular violent jolt of pain went through his chest and he slumped down, unable to go any further.

'Naruto... I'm sorry... I won't be able to catch up... I didn't want to call you, because I know how important you are to this mission... Sorry, Naruto...'

With that, Chouji slumped and fell into unconciousness as the last of his life began slipping away.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Just Then With the Others:

Both Naruto and Shikamaru were aware of the chakra butterfuly that flew past their heads and stared in disblief. Everyone caught this and Shino updated them.

"Chouji is severely injured. If he does not recive medical treatment in the next 15 minutes-"

"Don't, Shino."

Everyone looked at Shikamaru except Naruto.

"Chouji was both my own and Naruto's first friend, but Chouji was closer to Naruto than me. He doesn't need to hear it."

Shikamaru looked back to see Naruto on the verge of tears, which he had not seen since Kurenai was stabbed on the bridge in the Wave. Naruto shook the forming tears away and regathered his resolve, concerntraiting on not sacrificing any more precious people. Shikamaru offered Naruto a consoling look before turning around and they continued onwards, trying to steel himself from the pain he was feeling.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Several Minutes Later:

Kiba and Pakkun had both confirmed that there were no traps up ahead. Neji frowned.

"That is strange. Why would they not leave traps for us?"

At that point, Naruto formed a calculative frown.

"They think we're dead."

Everyone turned to Naruto. Neji's eyes narrowed.

"You mean they wouldn't be expecting us, but their teammate?"

Shikamaru thought about it.

"Exactly. This puts us at an advantage."

Naruto went ahead of the team, using a Henge to approach his 'teammates'.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Sound Group:

Tayuya looked backwards.

"Where is that fatass? He's late."

Kidomaru turned around and smiled.

"No. Hes' here."

Jibourou came out of the bushes. Sakon stared at him.

"What took you so long."

"One of the kids had a lot more chakra than he should have."

Tayuya snorted.

"Whatever. Carry the barrel, fatass."

"Tayuya, women-"

"Women shouldn't do this, women shouldn't do that. I don't care. Just carry the damn thing, fatass."

When Jibouro nodded but didn't answer, they smirked at him.

"You're unusually obedient today, Jibourou."

Shikamaru had to think fast.

"Whatever chakra that kid had wasn't human chakra. I don't have the energy to argue after what it did to me."

"I wonder if that's true..."

"I don't think we can give you the barrel. You're not Jiroubo."

Shikamaru scowled and dispelled the Henge.

"Not bad for a punk who's only met the guy for a few minutes. You had us going there. Sakon, Tayuya. Take the barrel and go. I'll handle this."

The other two used the basic body flicker to escape just as Kidomaru spat a chakra infused spider web at Shikamaru point blank, which took him to a nearby tree and plastered him there. Kidomaru looked awound. He was surrounded.

"Oh? There are lots of them. This should be fun for a while. Try and keep me amused."

Kidomaru was aware of someone behind him and released his chakra strings that held him in their currect position before spitting out a web and catching the white eyed boy. He proceeded to laugh as he wrapped him up in a cocoon and looked to the left as he saw the boy in the blueish white trenchcoat sending an army of bugs at him from his shirt sleaves. Kidomaru smirked and jumped away, straight into Tenten's weapon barrage. The weapons however, just bounced off him as he spat another web and stuck her to the tree.

"Nice plan. However, it's impossible to harm me with regular or even chakra attacks of that level."

His skin turned golden and then crumbled off to reveal some sort of armour made of some sort of chakra resistant substance. He turned around to see a pair of spinning grey tornadoes flying at him.

"GATSUUGA!"

He dodged again only to find himself aware of several presences behind him and turned to see Naruto, or more correctly, a bunch of Naruto Kage Bunshins. Kidomaru smirked as he reappared behind the clones and produced a ball of the web like stuff and spat it out and caught the 6 Kage Bunshins before dropping down to the branch below.

"Hmph. Kage Bunshin. Not bad for someone your age. Well, why don't we play a game? It's called: Guess the real one!"

Kidomaru chewed and produced six golden chakra threats which instantly began hardening as they hit the air. He snapped them off and held one in each hand.

"First one's the one on the far end! Ha!"

He threw the sickle like weapon and it slammed into the clone, getting rid of it. He smirked.

"Next is the one on the other side!"

He threw another one and the Kage Bunshin burst into smoke.

"Oh? He's a lucky one. Next will be two! It's a 50/50 chance!"

He hurled two of the objects and burst two more Kage Bunshins.

"Wow, he's very lucky! This, time, I'll only throw one. Again, a 50/50 chance."

He threw it and the second last Naruto burst into smoke. Kidomaru smirked.

"I've never met someone so lucky. However, this is the end."

He threw it it hit the last Naruto, which burst into smoke. His eyes widened as he felt three presences coming at him from behind and turned to see another Naruto, Shino and Neji attackng him. He understood Naruto, but the other two were a mystery. He aimed a web at Naruto only to have it sliced in half by the white eyed boy.

"What the?"

He turned around to see the others had been freed and were now on the branch behind him. Naruto jumped overhead as Shino and Neji stared at their opponent.

"That which is made by chakra will be destroyed by chakra. Both our clans specialise in affecting another's chakra flow."

Naruto looked at both of them.

"The two of you can handle him, right?"

Shino nodded slightly.

"Yes. Out of all of us, we are best suited to fight him. Naruto. Get Sasuke back. We're counting on you."

Naruto turned around.

"Whatever you do, don't die. I know you'll win, but I'm not losing any more of you."

"We won't Naruto. Hurry, or you'll miss Sasuke."

Naruto nodded and took the last remaining members of the team onwards, leaving Neji and Shino to deal with their opponent.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

An Hour Later:

A pair of golden arrows ripped through the forest, creating widespred destruction and pierced Neji and Shino through the kidney. Both of them stumbled before they just managed to right themselves. This guy was as good an analysier as Shikamaru and as strong as Naruto, if not stronger. Both of them, with the last of their strength grabbed the chakra string attached to the arrow and sent their prospective weapons either along it or through it. Both of them severed the chakra string and ran lopsidedly at their opponent who was falling through the trees. Both of them unleashed a final attack of Jyuuken strikes or Kikai bugs and collapsed, as did the Oto nin. There was no energy left for speeches of fate, destiny or how they beat the other. All that was left was to await the sweet embrace of death.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Quarter of a Day Later with the Oto Group:

Tayuya was aware of the barrel being thumped from the inside as she halted on a branch. Sakon stopped beside her.

"Is it starting?"

"No. It's too early for it to start."

They looked behind them to see three Konoha shinobi facing them. Naruto smiled as he threw a Hiraishin kunai at them and they took the barrel and jumped, smiling.

"We're not falling for that again, kid."

Naruto smirked.

"I wonder if that's true..."

Both of them landed and felt the loss of control over their bodies. They dropped the barrel when Shikamaru moved his hands out to the side, which forced them to do so as well.

"Shit! The barrel!"

Naruto flew to the branch using Hiraishin and formed several hand seals.

'Now's a good a time as any...'

"Katon: Karyu Endan!"

The Oto nins stared in horror as the flames hit the barrel and exploded. When it cleared, they felt someone land behind them. Someone very familiar.

"Kimimaro..."

"Why have you taken so long, Tayuya? Sakon? Orochimaru-Sama is getting impatient. The only reason I haven't killed you yet is because you have a mission to complete. Kill them."

Their eyes widened as Shikamaru turned to Naruto.

"Naruto! Take Tenten and go after him! Kiba and I will hold these two off!"

Naruto nodded and motioned Tenten to follow him straight past the two Oto nins. Naruto tutned to look at both of his friends.

'Don't you dare die... Shikamaru... Kiba...'

Tenten stared at Naruto.

"Is it really just alright for you to leave them there? Aren't they-"

"My friends? You have no idea how hard this is for me to sacrifice my friends to get this god damn S.O.B back. When I find him... He's dead."

Tenten gasped as Naruto's appearance changed. His hair became unrully, his charka started rolling off him, but it was crimson instead of blue. It raidiated massive amounts of killer intent and hatred as Naruto got to all fours and increased his speed. The most suprising of Naruto's changes was when he opened his eyes, they were no longer sapphire blue. They were ruby red and the pupils were now slits. They were the eyes of someone who promised the enemy a long slow painful death. Naruto roared as he charged ahead, leaving Tenten to try and keep up with the blonde.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

In a Clearing not too far Ahead:

Kimimaro turned around to see the boy who was apparently the captain of the team charge him and engage in a brawling style of taijutsu usually associated with a beast. Kimimaro dropped the barrel and focused on dodging the blonde's ferocious volley of attacks. When Naruto thought he had pushed Kimimaro sufficiently away, he dissapared and landed next to the barrel.

"Take another step, and this barrel will be nothing but ash."

Kimimaro stopped his advance. This boy was serious. If the barrel was destroyed before it's contents were ready, the contents would die without fail. At that point, a kunoichi appeared an Naruto looked directly at Kimimaro.

"Tenten. Use 'it'."

Tenten nodded and pulled out two scrolls before performing four hand seals.

"Sourshouryu!"

The clearing exploded into smoke as a pair of dragons ro se into the air and twisted around themselves before revealing the scrolls as she jumped up and began hurling the weapons at the white haired man who pulled out a sword that was made of bone and began parraying every single weapon. However, once the smoke cleared, Kimimaro saw that Naruto had slapped explosive seals all over the barrel.

"Mission success."

Naruto activated the tags and jumped back as the explosion ripped through the clearing. When it began clearing, Naruto sensed a very evil presence at the explosions center. Once it did clear, Naruto saw Sasuke, or what he presumed to be Sasuke lauging manically. His features returned to normal and he charged off. Naruto looked at Tenten.

"Tenten, hold this bastard off. I'm going after him."

Naruto used the modified Shushin no Jutsu to get past Kimimaro, leaving the weapons mistress to handle him while he ran after Sasuke.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Valley of the End:

Ssuke jumped off the Shodiame's statue as Naruto got into the clearing.

"Afraid of me, Dobe?"

Sasuke flinched and turned around to sneer at Naruto who just smiled.

"That look suits you. Even with that level of power, Itachi would still beat you into the ground."

Sasuke let of a fairly large amount of killing intent.

"What the hell would you know? You've never faced Itachi!"

"Really? After he had his fun with you, he came after me. Even with as much power as I'm using now, he still wouldn't have taken me seriously. You're not even worth his time. Letting you live was a mistake."

Sasuke charged at Naruto who grinned. Hook, line and sinker. People were so easy to manipulate.

"Shut up, bastard!"

Sasuke charged him, and Naruto charged back. They grabbed each other's fists and exchanged blows before Naruto punched Sasuke in the face and proceeded to lay into him. After he felt Sasuke got the point, he slugged Sasuke in the gut, sending him spiralling towards the water and formed several hand seals, remembering if he used jutsus Sasuke didn't know, he'd just copy them.

"Katon: Goukakyu no Jutsu!"

The fire caught up with Sasuke just as he hit the water. The resulting explosion and hiss of instant evaporation of the water resounded throught the area. Naruto let the Kyuubi's chakra subside as he waited for the Uchiha to get back to the surface. Sasuke stared up at Naruto who looked at him in a fashion that clearly sceamed 'Come on, do something amazing. I'm bored.'

"You know something Sasuke?"

Sasuke glared at Naruto.

"I'm sure you're aware of your beloved fan girls."

Sasuke involuntarily shuddered at the thought. That was another reason for leaving Konoha. To get away from the rabid monsters commonly known as fan girls.

"The fact that you had them is completely your own fault."

Sasuke looked up at Naruto in disbelief.

"Nani?"

This was going to be fun. Toying with the Uchiha's mind. Normally, he didn't do this sort of thing, but these were extenuating circumstances.

"Girls dig the angst filled emo type. They thrive on it. It kicks up a mixture between maternal instincts, obsession and lust. In other words, a completely twisted one sided relationship. You really are a 'dobe'. First, you act 'cool' to hide your true feelings after the massacre, and wonder why the girls won't leave you alone. Secondly, you can't deal with the fact that you were beaten in the academy scores by me, and tried to challenge me to a fight, thinking the outcome would be different. Then, at the Chuunin exams, you increased the potential number of examinees by two times, thinking it'd be 'cool' to point it out. Then, you challenge me to a fight, not even realising that you never stood a chance, foolish little brother."

All this time, Naruto had been using a specialised Genjutsu simmilar to a Henge to slowly transform not only his voice, but his body into that of Uchiha Itachi. This Genjutsu was far above Sasuke's level of perception, even with his Sharingan. It had taken Naruto almost half a year to master this move, and he was glad he had kept at it. Only another Genjutsu specialist would be able to see through the guise. Sasuke was livid. His insanity that had been bubbling constantly under the surface was reaching boiling point. He had to thank Ibiki for giving him psychology lessons. Without the two Jounin's help, this wouldn't have been possible. All that was needed was one final push.

"You will never be able to surpass me. I had hoped that letting you live would eventually provide me with a challenge. I see now that even our father was stronger than you ever could be, Otouto."

That did it. Sasuke screamed like a banshee as he charged Naruto. Sasuke's power had definitely increased, but he now lacked cunning and the ability to fight properly, relying on his rage and bloodlust to pull through. Naruto saw the cursed seal spread over Sasuke's body. Naruto avoided Sasuke's reckless attacks in a very Itachi like manner until he saw an opening when Sasuke's head was turned and discretely replaced himself with a Kage Bunshin and let Sasuke land a 'lucky' kick as he made the clone explode. Sending Sasuke flying into the cliff, shattering a large portion of it. Sasuke fell to the water and stared at the sky as Naruto appeared next to him.

"Don't you see Sasuke? You were a fool. I'm sure if you had asked me to help you with your training, I would have gladly agreed."

"Shut up."

Naruto looked down at Sasuke.

"You've always had a family. You would never know what it's like to lose someone."

"That's not entirely true."

Sasuke looked at Naruto.

"For the first four years of my life, I had no one. Nothing. People hunted me down in mobs, burnt my possessions and tried to assasinate me. For something I had no control over. They took particular relish in attempting to kill me on my birthdays. For the first three years, the old man Hokage saved me. However, on my fourth birthday, he didn't come. I was on the verge of death when Kakashi-Niisan saved me. I didn't know it then, but Kakashi was my father's prize student. After I got out of hospital, who reluctantly treated me when Niisan swore if they didn't, they'd all be tried for high treason, he adopted me. Even after your family was murdered, you still had people waiting on you hand and foot. It was hard wasn't it? Not having people recognise you for who you were, but what you stood for? I know exactly how that feels, Sasuke. My first four years of life were a living hell for that exact reason. However, while people lavished praise and whatnot on you for being an Uchiha, they attempted to kill me for being something that I hold prisoner. Humans are stupid, shallow and hypocritical, Sasuke. If they suffer a loss, they will seek anyone to blame it on except themselves. However, I put up with the fact that out of every hundred or so bastards, there is one person who is not shallow, is not hypocritical, and not stupid. Those are the sort of people you gather around you. The rest, you push away, in a sense. Ignore them, pay them no attention. Did you ever find someone like that, Sasuke?"

Sasuke shook his head slightly and Naruto sighed.

"Believe me Sasuke. Those people are there. You just have to know where to look and what to look for. Personally, I've never looked at you as 'the venerable Uchiha'. I've always seen you as Sasuke. To me, clan names mean little to nothing. Sasuke. I'm giving you one chance and one chance only. Come back. If you come back now, I can explain that Orochimaru brainwashed you and you were not yourself. However, if you leave now, you will never be able to return. What is your answer?"

Naruto became very aware of a powerful presence, one that far dwarfed his own coupled with aq manical rasping laughter. There was no mistaking this chakra.

"Orochimaru."

"Naruto-Kun. You have no idea how much you remind me of your father. It's a pity he died so young. He could have been a great man."

Naruto reined in his emotions. He was not going to play this game at the snake's pace.

"Yeah. He was. No wonder he got the position of Yondaime instead of you."

That got the desired reaction. Orochimaru let out a non too small wave of killer intent which Naruto had to steel himself against to appear unaffected. Naruto smirked at him.

"I have no idea why you chose Sasuke, but it's fitting really. An idiot container for an idiot soul."

Naruto was aware that he had less than a five percent chance of surviving this encounter, even when he unleashed his full powers. He might as well go down in style. He was aware of Orochimaru standing right next to him.

"Watch what you say to me, gaki."

Naruto smirked and jumped back. There was no point in running. Ororchimaru would just catch up to him. Ororchimaru went over to Sasuke and grinned manically at him.

"Sasuke-Kun. Watch from up there and I will show you the kind of power I can give to you."

Sasuke slowly got up and went to the sidelines to watch the battle. If Naruto tried anything on Sasuke, he would be killed. He should have just kiled him, but his heart interfered with his sense of judgment. Orochimaru smirked at Naruto.

"Regretting something, Naruto-Kun?"

Naruto wasn't going to answer that one, so he looked at Orochimaru.

"I'm not going to bother wasting useless jutsus on you."

Orochimaru smiled.

"Hmm. Seems you understand, Naruto-Kun."

Naruto sighed and channeled a huge amount of chakra.

"Watch closely, Orochimaru. Here's a jutsu I highly doubt you can ever use even if you learn it."

Orochimaru's eyes lit up.

"Show me then, Naruto-Kun."

Naruto bit his thumbs and pulled his hands apart and began forming a dual set of 5 mirrored one handed seals, the only ones he had learnt specifically for this jutsu.

"Nijuu Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"

Naruto slammed both palms onto the surface of the water and Orochimaru's eyes lit up.

"A dual summon. How troublesome."

Orochimaru bit his thumb and smeared it on his forearm before forming the seals.

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"

The clouds cleared and three summon bosses appared. A frog, a wolf and a snake. Sasuke stared in awe. He knew Naruto could summon both, but at the same time? And he had used dual one handed seals? Not even his third level Sharingan could copy that... Sasuke was wrenched back to reality when he felt the same abnormal chakra coming from Naruto he had felt when he got here, however, this time, it was much stronger. Naruto started channeling Kyuubi's chakra through his system to replenish his completely used up regular supply. He stared at Orochimaru, and then at Sasuke, and back again. Manda looked up at Orochimaru.

"Oi, Orochimaru! Why did you summon me to such a troublesome situation?"

There was no answer from said snake Sennin, so Manda let off a hiss of anger.

"Answer me, teme! Or do you want me to eat you?"

"Surely, you have noticed the two in front of us?"

"Are you implying something? Watch your words carefully. I may or may not eat you depending on what you say."

"Manda, I may be a sannin, however, two summon bosses is troublesome."

Manda seemed to consider this before he turned his eyes back to his amphibian and canine counterparts.

"You had better prepare 100 sacrifices for me."

Orochimaru smiled.

"Sure."

Gamabunta took a long drag of his pipe and looked at Manda.

"I haven't seen those two in a while. 32 years to be exact."

Fenrir smiled ferally.

"It's been over four hundred since I last met Manda."

Fenrir looked up at Naruto on top of Gamabunta's head.

"Naruto. One of my pups told me about your actions during the event you call the Chuunin exams. As of now, your signature in the canine contract is solidified."

Naruto nodded.

"Thanks, Fenrir."

"No problem. Now, as for you-"

He looked at Manda.

"My pups have been asking me what snake meat tastes like for a while now. There may just be enough of you to give them a sample."

Manda reared up and gave an angry hiss.

"Try me, teme."

And so they stared at each other, waiting for some sign to start the battle. It came when an eagle overhead let out a high pitch shreek, setting all three of them into action. Orochimaru formed a hand seal and extended his neck towards Naruto who formed a half ram seal.

"Ninpou: Hari Jizou!"

Naruto was surrounded completely by a shield of golden spikes and Orochimaru backed off, deciding it would be wise not to turn himself into a fine example of human swiss cheese. Manda went to wrap itself around Gamabunta when he felt a sharp stabbing sensation in his side and let out a loud hiss of suprise and pain to see Fenrir biting savagly into Manda's side. Manda let go of Gamabuna who jumped into the air.

"Gamabunta! Give me oil!"

Gamabunta's cheeks swelled with oil as Naruto formed the seals for a Gokakyu no Jutsu.

"Katon: Kyuukyoku Goukakyu no Jutsu!"

Fenrir smiled and dived underground to avoid the jutsu that was coming. The fireball hit the oil and the entire area exploded into intense flames that Sasuke had to shield his eyes from. When the fire cleared, they saw a molted shell that cracked under it's heavy weight. Naruto felt something moving underground.

"Gamabunta! Below!"

"Nani?"

The ground directly in front of Gamabunta exploded as Manda's tail tried to stab him, but Gamabunta grabbed the tail and then realised his problem. Manda had used it as a distraction to swallow him from behind. Or, he would have if Fenrir had not come out of the ground in between them and bit into Manda's neck before giving a savage wrench and leaving Manda lying there.

"Orochimaru, you better believe you're going to pay for putting me in such an unsightly situation! Next time we meet, I'll eat you!"

Manda poofed out of existance and Orochimaru shot up ontop of Gamabunta's head and began laying into Naruto, who had not expected it. Orochimaru landed a sickening punch to his head which sent him flying off and into the head of the Shodaime, much to the chargrin of the remaining summon bosses.

"NARUTO!"

Naruto hit the statues head and fell into the water, lifeless. The link tying the two summon bosses to this world grew too weak and they both poofed out of existance. Orochimaruu laughed manically.

"As you can see, Naruto-Kun. You are nothing compaired to me."

Naruto was not at the moment, in any state to listen. Naruto was dragged into his mind, or more specifically, in front of the cage. The fox opened it's eyes and looked at Naruto.

"You're weak, brat. Be grateful to me. And that Yondaime Hokage who sealed me inside you!"

The foxes eyes lit up and Naruto was forcefully ejected from his mind scape. Both Orochimaru and Sasuke felt the chakra coming from Naruto and turned to see a bubbling blood red chakra begin to over take Naruto as the chakra forced him to stand up in a manner usually associated with poorly animated corpses. Sasuke, being the fool he was got too close and Naruto slammed his fist into his face, making Sasuke's skull groan under the pressure before it sent him to the far wall. Naruto groaned in pain as he clutched his chest and then let loose a primal scream of pain, angusih rage and hatred which chilled Sasuke to the bone. Naruto lowered himself onto all fours and steam came off his hands. Naruto let out a guntral snarl as Orochimaru snickered.

"There's no point in trying to scare, me Naruto-Kun. You still do not have the power to defeat me."

Naruto snarled as he got up and released a wave of pure chakra that brought the water up into a wave that overtook Orochimaru. When the water cleared, Orochimaru saw Naruto flying at him, spinning in mid air, trying to claw him with several different attacks in the space of less than a second. The last attack was unnervingly close, and the chakra surrounding his hand spearated and moved on it's own accord, missing him by less than 5 centemeters. Orochimaru smiled.

"It seems that the Kyuubi has partial control of your chakra, Naruto-Kun. Not suprising since you've realeased the first of his tails."

Sasuke's eyes widened. Orochimaru was insinuating that the Kyuubi was connected to Naruto? Naruto snarled as he held out his hand and started pumping a massive amount of the Kyuubi's chakra into it, far more than was necessary. Naruto looked up at Ororchimaru.

"Odama Rasengan."

Orochimaru's eyes lit up at the name.

"Oh? The Yondaime's original jutsu? And you've improved it, too. Show me what this new jutsu can do, Naruto-Kun."

Naruto held onto the Kyuubi powered Rasengan as he charged Ororchimaru. Ororchimaru did nothing as Naruto charged forward, and at the last second, Orochimaru grabbed Naruto's hand and threw him into the wall, before producing his sword from his mouth and charged Naruto, running him through and nailing him to the wall. Naruto choaked as it pierced his lung and tried to get it out, but he realised that the blade was coated in a highly toxic poison. Naruto's hand dropped to his side, limply as all he could do was stare at Orochimaru, who was grinning at him evilly.

"Noticed it, have you, Naruto-Kun? The blade produces a highly toxic poison. I'm impressed that even you are alive now. However, you cannot fight any longer."

It was true. The demonic chakra needed to be rediverted to healing just to keep him alive. Even the armour quickly vanished and Naruto slumped into unconciousness. Orochimaru withdrew the sword and let Naruto fall to the ground in a heap, his blood pooling around him. Sasuke had something he had always wanted to see. Naruto's face. Sasuke walked up to him and was about to uncover it when Orochimaru grabbed his wrist.

"There are two Jounin coming. We have to leave."

Sasuke tried to shake Orochimaru off, but he held firm.

"Let go of me."

Ororchimaru held fast and stared at him.

"If we do not leave now, you will most likely die."

Sasuke shut up and followed Ororchimaru over the border as a heavy rain set in.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

5 Minutes Later:

Kakashi and Kurenai had returned from there missions at almost the same time just over a day ago and were immediately informed of the mission and Sasuke's defection. Both of them looked at each other, completely oblivious to Tsunade trying to hand them there next missions and they dissapeared from the room and ran after Naruto's party. Kakashi had summoned Pakkun who Naruto had dismissed quite some time ago to help them. When they were close to the border, both Jounin's eyes widened at the amount of corrupt and evil chakra being unleashed. Some of it was definitely the Kyuubi', however, the other was far more worrying. It was Orochimaru's. When they got to the valley of the end, the look that greeted them was horrific. It looked as if this place had been the testing ground for several new super powered explosiove tags. However, that was not what caught their attention. It was a very familiar blood soaked blonde who had minimal to no chakra signature. Their eyes widened in fear.

"NARUTO!"

They jumped down the cliff and came to a stop in front of Naruto, checking his vitals. They were there, but he was as good as dead if he didn't recieve emergency treatment right away. Not too long after, a squad of medical nins in their trademark beige coats and pants came down and saw Naruto's condition and applied emergency treatment to get him into a stable condition before taking him back home to report the failure to retrive Uchiha Sasuke.

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A Week Later:

Naruto had been brought back and rushed to hospital, in a critical condition as had most of Naruto's teammates. Tsunade had personally overseen the majority of the treatments, while Shizune had overseen the others. A week after the battle, people were demanding answers. Where was the Uchiha? It took a week for Naruto to regain conciousness after the battle, and when he did, he found both Kakashi and Kurenai next to him, looking at him worridly. Naruto tried to open his mouth and speak, but he was unable to. His throat was dry as a desert, which Kurenai seemed to notice because she poured him a glass of water and handed it to him. Naruto tok three huge gulps and finished off the glass.

"Arigato... Kurenai-Chan..."

"No problem, Naruto."

Naruto looked at their expressons and noticed that they had quite a few emotions showing. Anger, sympathy and pain. Naruto looked at each of them.

"What happened while I was out?"

Kakashi sighed.

"The villagers are demanding answers, and are on the verge of blaming you for the failure."

Naruto's eyes narrowed.

"What did they expect me to do? Kill Orochimaru by myself and bring Sasuke back while I was at it?"

Kurenai sighed and sat back.

"Those of us who know you personally Naruto know what happened. However, to the villagers, nothing is more important than their 'precious Uchiha'. Tsunade asked to see you when you as soon as you were concious. She didn't sound too happy."

Naruto looked at Kurenai.

"Nani?"

Kurenai shook her head.

"It's a long story. I guess you should get changed and go see her."

Naruto sighed and got out of bed. Due to the Kyuubi's marvelous healing abilities, whenever Naruto was wounded, the moment he woke up, he was pretty much in top shape again. Kakashi and Kurenai left the room to give Naruto some privacy while he changed. Once he had donned his usual gear, he walked out of the room to see his team there, looking at him. All of them had some sort of injury that had still not healed. Such as Tenten had her right arm in a sling, Kiba had medical tape wrapped around his middrift, while the others sported some kind of sign of being injured. Naruto nodded at them as they got up and followed him to Tsunade's office in the hospital. Once they got there, Naruto opened the door when he was waved in by the single ANBU guard. Tsunade looked up from her desk. Her eyes implied she was tired, but there were no other visable signs of it. Whatever that Genjutsu was, it was good. The team stood in front Tsunade who looked at them.

"Give me a full report."

Naruto proceeded to tell Tsunade and Shizune who was by her side absolutely everything. When Naruto finished, Tsunade and Shizune were gobsmacked. Naruto glared at her.

"Next time you send us on a suicide mission against one of your former teammates, give me some warning."

Tsunade slowly nodded.

"What we were told by the medical team was very different. Do all of you agree with Naruto's account?"

Everyone of them nodded. Naruto had told 'the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth'. Tsunade sighed as she unconciously massaged her temples. Naruto waited for her response. Tsunade finally looked up.

"I have no doubt that you are telling the truth. The majority of the villagers will be saited with the fact that you tried to take on Orochimaru by yourself. However, some of them will still blame you. Those few may try and convince the others that you were directly responsible for the loss of the Uchiha. Now, one final matter. Your comments to Haruno Sakura."

Naruto glared at her and ground out his words.

"She's not fit to be a kunoichi. Her 'crush' has exceeded the limits of what can be described as a crush and has progressed to obsessive compulsive disorder of the highest degree. She admitted to being willing to betray the leaf just to go with Sasuke. I'm officially requesting she be stripped of rank and ninja status for treason and insubordination."

Tsunade nodded slowly.

"Would you be willing to provide evidence should it be necessary?"

Naruto nodded. He wanted her gone for good. Even Ino understood when a crush had gone out of control and had the sense to stop. Apparently, Sakura didn't. He hated people who would betray their village for such trivial reasons even more so than people who betrayed it for 'good' reasons. Tsunade sighed as she looked at Naruto.

"Naruto, Jiraiya has asked that he be allowed to take you on a two and a half year training mission."

Everyone's eyes widened, none more so than Naruto's.

"Wha... What? You expect me to just up and leave for two and a half years after something like this?"

Tsunade sighed. She could feel one monster of a headache coming on. Lucky she had her emergency 'medicine' laying in a draw of the Hokage desk.

"It's for that exact reason that Jiraiya has requested to take you. He feels that you could easily become the next Hokage, however, you will not be able to learn everything you need to here. If you accept, this will be classified as a compound double S rank mission. I cannot tell you more than that unless you accept."

Naruto sighed. He would have to leave his best friends and Senseis to go on a training mission with the living god of all perverts. If he didn't, he would be free from attempted corruption of becoming a super pervert for quite some time. However, he would not be able to become Hokage. If he did go, he would be able to learn from possibly the only seal master left in the world and become Hokage. However, if he did go and was turned to the 'dark side', Kurenai would never want to go out with him, assuming their relationship even got that far. Decisions, decisions... Shikamaru and Chouji raised an eyebrow at Naruto's calculated look. He didn't think something over this seriously for long unless there was major repercussions for both choices. Naruto smiled lazily as he looked at Tsunade, reaching his decision.

"I'll go. But I want a week to do whatever I want within the limitations of the law before I leave, no compromises."

Tsunade smiled. It was a reasonable request, given the suddenness of it. She quickly conluded the meeting and called Jiraiya in so they could discuss the mission.

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Several Hours Later:

A tired and hungry Naruto walked out of the Hokage's office, inten on getting home, stuffing himself and going to bed. However, fate would have it that one very angry pink headed Konoichi would storm up to him and began berating him, along with a group of friends. Naruto smirked under his mask. How typical of a regular human. Try and seek safety in numbers. Naruto wait until Sakura had run out of breath, not listening to a word she said.

"Well? What do you have to say for yourself?"

Naruto smiled. It was time to take her highness down several hundred pegs.

"How well do you think you could have survived single combat against Orochimaru?"

Sakura didn't understand.

"What has that got to do with it?"

"Answer the question and you'll find out."

Sakura's eyes narrowed.

"Why should I?"

Naruto smiled. Time to pull her down from the clouds.

"I thought so. He woudln't even have to use a ninjutsu, genjutsu or straight taijutsu attack to kill you. Just some killer intent and a kunai to the head."

That remark got a far better reaction that Naruto had aimed for. He pressed his advantage.

"So, considering he wouldn't even take you seriously, how far do you think I could have gotten against him when I faced him in single combat to retrive Sasuke after facing all five of his personal bodyguards? Sure, I landed some blows on him and defeated Manda, king of the snakes, but I got my rear end handed to me. It was a miracle I even survived a stab through the lung with a sword that produces poison strong enough to kill an elephant with a deep wound."

With that, Naruto strolled off, acutely aware of the dumbstruck looks from the mob of girls behind him and the pathetic amount of killer intent that would be more apropriately labelled extreme hatred from the pink haired woman leading them. Normally, he wasn't like this, but the fact that people were being ignorant and once again blaming him for something that was well and truly beyond his control struck a very deep and sensitive nerve. A nerve that brought out the darker aspects of him. The interogator within that enjoyed toying with peoples minds to see how badly he could break them with just words. He had little doubt that the Kyuubi played a direct role in that somewhere himself as well. Naruto shook the fact from his mind as he made his way home, making sure he was not being followed. He could not have the location of his and Kakashi's home revealed to the general public lest they get rowdy and attempt to destroy it, or worse, the entire appartment complex.

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Inside the Appartment:

Naruto opened the door to see more than he had bargained for. He really was just looking for something to eat and a sleep, not all of his sensei's in the room, including Iruka and the 'Ero-Sennin'. They all looked up as the door opened. Naruto groaned.

"Guys, I'm not leaving for another week. You didn't have to-"

Iruka got up, looking rather distressed.

"Naruto, that's not what we're here about! Why did you fight Orochimaru? You could have been very easily killed if it wasn't for Kurenai-San and Kakashi-San!"

Naruto took an empty stool and pulled up.

"Iruka-Sensei, if I had tried to run, how far do you think I would have gotten before Orochimaru caught up to me?"

Iruka though about that. He had a good point.

"Iruka-Sensei, if I had run, I wouldn't have gone 500 meters before he caught me. If I had used Hiraishin to get out of there, assuming I had enough kunais to do so, I would have collapsed from chakra exhaustion pretty soon after leaving. It's not an S rank jutsu for nothing. If I had, he could have killed me unopposed."

Iruka sat back down. Naruto was practically falling asleep on the chair, which they all seemed to notice. Kurenai sighed.

"Naruto, I think you had better get to bed. You can hardly sit let alone talk."

"Yeah..."

Naruto got up and trudged to the bedroom like a zombie looking for sustinance.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Two Days Later:

On the first two days of his week he was required to give evidence at Sakura's trial for treason, using his entire team as witnesses to support his claim, ending up in her being stripped of her ninja rank and privledges. The next day, he was walking with Neji, chatting about things in general when both boys had seen an older version of Sakura, most likely her mother screaming obcenities at him like a banshee as she charged him, waving a kunai in the air.

'I can see why Sakura had no skill in the academy...'

Naruto knocked the kunai away and pulled her arms behind her back. This was getting out of hand. Naruto couldn't have had better luck having a Hyuuga, and a friendly one at that, as his witness. Even a branch family member held a lot of power in the community. Neji was no exception. Soon enough, people had crouded around, demanding what was going on and Neji told them that Naruto had been attacked and only used self defense to protect himself. When one man tried to question Neji, he activated the Byakugan.

"Do not question me. In matters that concern the law, Hyuugas speak only the truth, even if it is their own kin at stake. Back off."

Everyone had done so and after conveying the message to a Chuunin who was patrolling nearby, the elder Haruno was taken into custody. Attacking a village ninja was an offense usually met with severe punishment. However, it was never the death penalty unless the ninja had been killed in the attack. Naruto and Neji had kept walking, the mood spoilt.

'No wonder the Haruno were never ninjas...'

Naruto pushed it to the back of his mind and went off to say good bye to Gai and his Genin team.

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Next Day:

Naruto had taken the next day to spend with Asuma and his Genin team. Asuma decided to test Naruto to see how far he had come with his trench knife combat skills. First to draw blood was the winner. Hinata, Kiba and Shino watched in awe as Naruto went toe to toe with their Jounin instructor and they both danced around each other's strikes with practiced ease, both of them trying to find an opening in which to attack. Naruto could tell Asuma was taking this as he would a fight with an enemy. Naruto realised that this wasn't just a spar, this was a test. The test to see if Naruto had surpassed his sensei in his chosen form of combat. Naruto kept it up for a good fifteen minutes , sweat drenching both of them. Naruto decided to try and finish it by waiting for Asuma to try a right hook at his head, and blocked it with one knife while Asuma tried to strike Naruto's chest with his other knife, which Naruto blocked with his free knife. Both of them struggled to break the other's attack, their chakra extended blades straining against each other. Naruto had to time this perfectly, otherwise, either or both of them could be seriously injured. Naruto brought his knife that was stopping the one from hitting his head and brought it down and then up making a shallow slice at Asuma's forearm as he ducked and rolled away before either of Asuma's knives could touch him. Asuma jumped back as well and they stared at each other. Naruto's eyes widened as a cut appeared in his mask with blood dripping down from the cut that was nothing worse than a bad paper cut. Kiba an Hinata gasped.

"Asuma-Sensei won!"

Shino shook his head.

"Look closely."

Both Shino and Hinata saw that their Sensei's forearm was bleeding from a very simmilar cut as the one on Naruto's face. Asuma smirked while Naruto smiled.

"A draw... Wonder what that means in terms of the test..."

Kiba and Hinata's eyes widened for different reasons. Kiba spoke his point of view.

"Test? That was a test?"

Hinata nodded.

"Ano... It's often a way for Sensei's to assess if their student has successfully passed their training and has become a qualified fighter of their chosen art..."

Shino nodded in agreement.

"If the student manages to land a hit on the Sensei, they pass. If the Sensei hits the student, they have not yet completed their training. I am unsure as to what a draw means..."

Asuma smirked.

"You've come far in 8 years, Naruto. I wasn't taking it easy on you at all and you still managed to bring this match to a draw... You pass."

Naruto nodded and bowed to his Sensei and Asuma returned it. Both of them got up and shook hands before they came over to sit with the three Genin with some rice balls that Hinata had prepared before she left home for the team. There was plenty for everyone, even Naruto. They munched away happily in the shade of a tree as they talked over everything and nothing at the same time.

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Next Day:

Naruto had spent half the day with Ino, who was rather dispondent to the fact that she had no team, however, she was smart enough to see that Naruto was not at fault for any of it, and had handled the situation as any other proper shinobi would have. For the second half of the day, Naruto had spent it with Ibiki, getting some psychology tips as he was teased mercilessly about Kurenai, which he blushed insanely at considering how vivid Ibiki had been with descriptions of what Naruto would do to Kurenai if he had the chance in front of countless ANBU before Ibiki led Naruto to his office. Sortly after they got there, an ANBU knocked on the door and called Ibiki to something, saving Naruto from further embarrisment. Ibiki walked out the door and turned back, saying to Naruto he would retun in a minute. Ibiki left the room and Naruto saw what looked suspiciously like something pink and fluffy sticking out of Ibiki's desk draw, and he couldn't but check it out to confirm that it was indeed the leg of a stuffed fluffy pink elephant. Naruto smirked, trying to hide his laughter as he took each of the animals out and placed them around Ibiki's desk, mostly concerntraited around the name plate which identified him before he took out his camera and snapped away at Ibiki's little collection of the most adorable stuffed animals he had ever seen. He felt Ibiki approaching so he shoved the camera back in his pocket and the animals back in the draw, closing it. Still trying to contain his laughter as he thought up ways of getting payback for the comments about Kurenai. Ibiki looked at Naruto in a completely serious tone.

"Naruto, something's come up. I'll have to cut our time short."

Naruto nodded as he left Ibiki's office going around the corner and broke out into howls of laughter at the absolute stupidity of the notion that the 'badass' Ibiki had a collection of fluffy stuffed toys. If news of this got out into the ANBU and the terrorism and interigation squad, Ibiki would be paid back 10 fold for what he had heaped onto Naruto in front of them and he would be considered a hero among them. Naruto went straight to a trusty little one hour photo printing place he had used before many times, asking for tripple copies and came back an hour later before he took the copies with him. He hid the negatives and went back to the Terror and Interogation headquaters, being stopped by the guard.

"Naruto, Ibiki-San's left. If you-"

Naruto held up a picture of the collection and the man stopped mid sentence, before he began a slight chuckle which turned into full blown laughter. Naruto smiled at the man who smiled straight back at him.

"Seems the tough as nails Ibiki has his softer side too. Remind me never to get on your bad side. Go in and ask for Anko-San. She'll be able to help you."

Naruto nodded.

"Thanks."

The man shook his head as he burst out into laughter, causing a workmate to look at him.

"When did guard duty get so funny?"

The man looked at him colleague.

"Since a certain blonde found out Ibiki's secret."

"What?"

The man smirked.

"You'll find out soon enough."

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Next Day:

Ibiki had arrived back to find that everyone was smiling at him. He knew something was up when Anko saw him and burst out laughing.

"Mind telling me what's so funny here, Anko?"

Anko pointed to the wall behind Ibiki who turned and saw what she was referring to.

"Your collection, that's what."

Ibiki went silent as all of the ANBU chucked as they saw him staring at the picture. Ibiki turned back to Anko, clearly very unhappy with the way things had turned out.

"Who did this, Anko?"

Anko smiled with an 'I know something you don't' look.

"Let's see, he was about 5 foot tall, an excruciatingly annoying smile, blonde hair-"

"NARUTO!"

Anko laughed again as Ibiki stormed off to find the blonde in question and teach him a lesson he wouldn't soon forget.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Next Day:

Naruto had decided to spend the second last day with his teammates as they all went to the B.B.Q restraunt and ate to their hearts content while they chatted. At the end of the meal, Chouji had to be admitted to hospital because he had eaten too much, much to Naruto and Shikamaru's amusement. Once they had dropped Chouji off at the hospital, Naruto and Shikamaru decided to play one last game of Shougi that lasted well into the evening, ending in Shikamaru pulling a number Naruto had not been expecting. However, the game had been very close. Naruto bid Shikamaru good night as the lazy pinapple haired Nara waved good bye and left Naruto's appartment.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Day Before Leaving:

Naruto had spent the last day with both Kakashi and Kurenai. Kakashi had led Naruto into his room and opened a draw that Naruto was not permitted to touch. Kakashi pulled out a rather long katana ahnd Naruto saw on the pure white scabbard it had the Kanji for 'White Fang'. Naruto looked at in it disbelif.

"Niisan, is that your dad's..."

Kakashi smiled.

"Yeah. It's my dad's sword. I want you to have it."

Naruto was gobsmacked at this.

"Niisan... I can't take this..."

Kakashi smiled at Naruto.

"He would have wanted you to have it."

Naruto nodded slowly and accepted the katana and savoured it. He had a limited amount of training in Kenjutsu with Tenten, enough to get him through a fight with a decent street thug, but not enough to get through a fight with anyone better than that. Naruto strapped the sword to his back with the should strap that was attached to the katana's scabbard as he hugged Kakashi.

"Thanks, Niisan..."

"No problems, Otouto."

They separated and left the appartment together to go and get something to eat at Ichiraku's.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

That Afternoon:

Naruto had seen Kurenai walking with Asuma, and when they saw each other, Asuma smiled and whispered something just loud enough for Naruto to hear.

"I'll leave you and your bodyfriend to it."

Kurenai triend to send Asuma to the 5th level of hell for a few minutes but he'd already body flickered away, leaving a very embarrised Naruto and Kurenai to deal with it. They both tried to smile at the other, but that just made things worse. Naruto looked up at his Sensei and crush.

"Ano, Kurenai-Chan... I'm going to miss you..."

Kurenai smirked. He may be a hardened ninja, but he still had a soft spot as did all people.

"I know. I'll miss you too, Naru-Chan."

The useage and emphasise of Naruto's nickname made him get rather bashful due to the lack of it's usage in recent times. Kurenai hugged Naruto to her, making him go as red as a tomato remebering all of the perverted things Ibiki had soiled his mind with. Naruto looked up at Kurenai's face, only to see it between her rather pronounced... Assets that were between their faces, which caused him to look straight back down. Kurenai smiled at him.

"Naru-Chan, if you resist Jiraiya's attempts to turn you into a pervert while you're away, I'll give you something special when you get back."

Naruto blushed even more if it was possible at the possibilities of what Kurenai could have implied. Naturally, the more perverse thoughts came first.

'I failed already...'

Kurenai seemed to sense this and smiled inwardly.

'That test should prove whether or not you really are more of a man than those three, Naruto...'

Kurenai leaned down and planted her lips on his forehead, causing Naruto to cease all thoughts and actions before passing out, much to Kurenai's amusement. Kurenai picked him up and took him back to Kakashi's apparetment where she put him on his bed and smiled at him before leaving.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Early Next Morning:

Naruto had come to the South Gate, expecting to see Jiraiya and his Jounin Sensei's as well as his two teamamtes. However, he was surprised to see everyone there bar the two former members of team 7. Naruto looked shocked for a second before he approached them, recieving last words and pats on the backs from friends as well as advice from each of his Jounin Senseis. Naruto was about to leave before Kiba called out to him.

"Oi, Naruto."

Naruto looked back at him.

"Hmm? Nani?"

"What's it like under that mask?"

"What, you want to see what's under my mask?"

"Yeah!"

"Well, you should have said so."

Ino looked at Naruto hopefully.

"So, you're going to show it to us?"

"I don't mind."

Suddenly, everyone except the four Jounins in the group had gathered around as close to Naruto as they could. Their eyes said it all. They were desperate to see what was under it. Naruto slowly reached his hand to his face.

"Here goes..."

Naruto was almost aware of everyone's heart beating faster as he hooked his fingers under his mask.

"Under the mask is..."

Naruto could almost hear them repeating the question in their minds in a strange unison. Naruto ripped down the mask to reveal...

"Nada masuku, osoreiru koreiga?"

Everyone stared at it before they recoiled and a strange Genjutsu fell over the area where everyone lost their colour, turning into grey sillouettes of themsevles as they cried out in confusion while the background turned yellow before they fell to the ground in an uber facefault. Naruto scratched the back of his head and laughed nerviously. Gai went on about 'hip' attitudes, Asuma laughed, Kurenai chuckled and Kakashi smiled at the fact that Naruto wore another mask underneith his main one. Naruto waved at them as he poked the perverted hermit who got up and followed Naruto out of the gates waving back at the others who were just starting to recover. Naruto laughed as he heard Kiba's enraged voice call out at him.

"What the hell was that?"

Naruto paid no attention to him as the pair left on their two and a half year journey.

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A/N: Sorry this chapter took longer than normal. I had several pressing real life issues to attend to, and I had trouble doing the final battle scene. Anyways, I'll catch you round. Oh, and if you're wondering what the line Naruto used was, translated, it means "Another mask, suprised?" Oh boy, I'll never get tired of that episode...

Now, some of you may ask 'What's going to happen to the next group of Sannin if Sakura's stripped of her status as a ninja?' or 'How could you do that?' Quite a simple answer really. The answer to the first question started when Naruto was four. The second Kakashi took Naruto under his wing, the possibility of Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura becoming Sannin went out the window. The Sannin are supposed to comprise of a 'dobe' turn seal master, an elite genius that's completely insane and power hungry, and a female medic on permanent pms with a massive punch to boot. When Kakashi took Naruto under his wing, the 'Dobe' aspect of canon Naruto was turned around. Yes, he was still going to be the generation's seal master, but he was going to be increadably tallented, which would mean that Naruto would never be placed on a team with the second best student and the brains trust of the class. A team is always supposed to be properly ballanced, reguardless of the team member's gender. To create a new 'Sannin' team requires the Academy instructors to be incredibly stupid and place a 'dobe' who is actually a genius in hiding with the 'best of the best' and a female with perfect chakra control, a huge forehead to hold all the knowledge in and as Jiraiya so elloquently put it, be a 'flat chested bitch'. If you take away that purple seal from Tsunade's head, notice she also has an unusually large forehead. Now, as for the 'how dare you' part, all I have to say is this. Unless you are an expert in human psychology, don't second guess me. I may not have any training, but I have a decent amount of experience. However, even my mum, who's a specialist in the area straight away recognised it as eithera severeobsession,lacking a few key elements of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder,or a mixture of other things that usually amounts to what we would refer to as 'brain washing'. Take your pick. It has nothing to do with the fact that Sakura's 'young'. No, the moment Sakura was willing to betray the leaf for Sasuke, it went beyond a simple crush. It became a severe obsession. Sakura had neither the skills or the 'street smarts' to survive as a ninja. Also, I personally detest both her and Sasuke. I really do hate them with a passion. An emo drama queen and his lap dog. What Naruto did he should have done the second he got the chance if he had been promoted to Chuunin in the first exam. If the 'love of your life' tells you to walk off a cliff with him or her for no reason, would you do it? Probably not. The effects from hitting the bottom would be the same as if they had both left the village, however, walking off the cliff would have ended it sooner than betraying the leaf. Anyways, enough rambling. I hope you get the point.

Ja ne,

Specula.