Just to be clear here, since many of you were confused: I KNOW Hizashi was the one to go to Kumo. According to Canon, Hizashi took Hiashi's place. So in the minds of the Kumo nin, he IS Hiashi. I'm just showing that by calling him Hiashi until they clear up the misconception.

Bee wasn't expecting his brother's reaction to the news of what really happened to the Hyuga who had been brought to Kumo after the mess with the kidnapping ten years ago. Hiroto was roughly the same age as the girl they tried to kidnap around that time.

It was probably why Hiashi took to the kid. Bee had put off telling his brother for years, in order to get Hiroto's skills up to par before his brother did something stupid.

His brother reacted exactly how he feared.

He blasted Bee out of the office in a fit of rage at the fact that his brother learned the actual fate of the Hyuga who had been brought to Kumo and never mentioned it sooner.

The fact was that Hiroto was scheduled to join the chunin exams in Konoha this year, since it had taken three years before Bee was comfortable in letting him try the exams. The first time around was a nightmare, since the two he was stuck working with got him kicked out by the second exam.

If Bee was right, then the fact Hiashi was still alive and had trained Hiroto would open a whole new mess to deal with. The fact the man didn't remember a thing about who he actually was, was actually a blessing since it meant that Konoha couldn't claim they had deliberately kept him in Kumo to breed with others.

The fact that they only recently found out he was even alive was in their favor as well.

"I'll let him go, but take the Hyuga with you if he's willing. If we're lucky this might solve more problems than it's already caused."

"And get the Hyuga clan off our backs about that mess the previous Raikage caused," said Bee bitterly. The Hyuga Fiasco had been the last straw. Two months after that, his brother took out the previous Raikage and his advisers who had suggested it and took over.

With the all clear to take Hiroto and Hiashi to Konoha for the exam, all that was left was convincing the Hyuga to go along with it.

Hiashi glared at Bee, but agreed on one condition. He would go to Konoha for as long Hiroto would be there...as long as Bee didn't rap in his house anymore or bug him for help with his taijutsu and chakra control.

He still didn't get why Bee had Hiroto pack anything he would miss in the house before they left.

"Passport and reason for visit," said the chunin at the gate bored.

Hiroto handed his first, and Bee handed over his and Hiashi's which had a fake name on it. They didn't want the Hyuga clan up in arms about the fact he was back the minute they stepped in the village.

Hiashi had his blindfold on like usual. After so many years it was hard for him to go out in public without it. Hiroto didn't think anything of it, since his teacher rarely took it off anyway except to wash it. He had only seen his eyes once and that was it.

It was Hiroto who stared at the people who had lavender eyes so pale that it was easy for someone who didn't know about them to assume they were blind. The way they maneuvered in the crowd said otherwise though.

Once he knew where the hotel was for the exam which was in three days, he asked Bee if he could explore the village for a bit.

"Go ahead, but don't cause any trouble, and for kami's sake don't get on the bad side of anyone who looks like him!" said Bee.

"Is this about that fiasco the last Raikage caused?"

"Idiot tried to kidnap a Hyuga. The team failed, and they sent someone in her stead to appease the greedy bastard."

"Jiji."

Bee nodded.

Hiashi was busy reading and wasn't paying any attention to their conversation.

"So you're afraid they'll take offense to the fact we brought him back?"

"No, I'm afraid they'll be pissed we didn't say anything sooner. That clan has a grudge against the village since the incident."

"So avoid pale eyes. Got it."

Hiroto ended up running into Konoha genin anyway when he saw a couple of Sand genin harassing what was obviously an Academy student.

So he did what he usually did to bullies. He whocked him upside the head and kept the kid from falling on his butt.

"You okay kid?"

"Yeah! Thanks mister!"

The pink haired genin took one look at his headband and gasped.

"What're Kumo and Suna genin doing here?"

"Chunin exam," said Hiroto with a shrug.

"Huh?" asked the blond.

"Every six months there's a chunin exam in one of the major villages. This time it's Konoha. At least that's why I'm here," said Hiroto.

"Same for us," said the sandy haired blond girl from Suna.

"Does that include Red in the tree?" asked Hiroto.

"Gaara!" yelped the girl.

Gaara was roughly Hiroto's age, and he carried a massive gourd on his back. He had the kanji for love on his forehead and he looked like he was an insomniac.

"Well this is beyond awkward. Just out of curiosity, is anyone else up for ramen? They don't have any decent restaurants in Kumo and I can't ever seem to get it right," asked Hiroto.

The Konoha blond brightened up immediately at the word.

"I know a great place!" he said cheerfully.

"First round's on me!" said Hiroto.

The blond cheered and so did the chibi patrol. The pink haired girl grimaced. The Suna nin went on their own way, but Hiroto noticed the odd look the red head gave him.

Hiroto was having a blast chatting with Naruto about pranks. When he saw the Sexy Jutsu, the first thing on his mind was...

"Dude! You have got to teach me that! The sheer amount of chaos I could inflict would totally be worth the ass kicking from the girls!" said Hiroto. Naruto beamed at him.

Hiroto ignored the glares the Hyuga clan were giving him, even when Naruto picked up on it with confusion.

"Why are the Hyuga glaring at you? They normally reserve those looks for, well, me!" said Naruto.

"Ah, yeah, about that... My teacher told me in no uncertain terms to 'avoid the pale eyes' after our previous Raikage did something so monumentally stupid that Konoha refuses to make a new peace treaty with us."

"Are you talking about the incident where two supposed Kumo nin tried to kidnap Hanabi's sister Hinata when she was three?" asked the kid Hiroto had helped.

Finding out he had prevented Suna from pissing off the Third Hokage for bullying his grandson had been a shock.

"Yeah. Want to hear something really weird my teacher told me though? When all was said and done no one had a clue where the body went. Even when the representatives from Konoha asked about it, they admitted that it was never found. In fact they never found any evidence that the man was even in Kumo, and they found the people who were supposed to work on it," said Hiroto.

"What does that mean?" asked Naruto.

"It means we have no idea what happened to the Hyuga who was selected to take the girl's place, or even if he's alive. Believe me, seeing someone with pale eyes able to shut off tenketsu would be a big deal in Kumo. We place a lot of emphasis on clans there for some reason."

"What's that mean?"

"Clanless orphans have a harder time getting promoted, unless they're really good at something. Hell, in the orphanage, we had this messenger board that gave the equivalent to Konoha's D ranks so the orphans could earn a little pocket money. We spend most of our times either training or doing C ranks."

"Sounds like it would be a lot more fun that what we do. Kakashi doesn't even really train us, just dumps a D rank on us. I mean Sakura-chan can barely do the basics!" said Naruto sagely.

"I have an idea! How about a little sparring before the exams? No jutsu, nothing too damaging, just straight out taijutsu. It's a real pain finding anyone who can keep up with me in Kumo."

"Sure!"

Naruto didn't seem to find it odd that he was talking to Hiroto like another Konoha genin. He was just that friendly and Hiroto was really nice. He didn't see a Kumo nin, he just saw a new friend.

Kakashi wasn't the only one staring when he saw the Kumo headband sparring with Konoha Leaf.

The Kumo genin's taijutsu looked extremely familiar, and he was actually correcting a few things Naruto did without thinking about it.

Kakashi was more worried as to why a Kumo genin was using what was clearly Jyuken strikes without the chakra.

"You're not half bad fox boy!"

"You're better than Sasuke!" grinned Naruto. He was enjoying the sparring match with the Kumo nin.

Hiroto grinned at him. He liked this kid, who reminded him of a younger, less annoying version of his teacher Bee.

He felt a bit disappointed to leave Naruto to his team, but was heartened by the fact that he would eventually run into the kid again later.

It wasn't until he found another genin with pale lavender eyes and a rather nasty scowl on his face that he had any real trouble.

"Look pale eyes, I don't want any trouble. I have been told specifically to avoid anyone from your clan."

"I don't care about that. I want to know if what you said about the Hyuga selected to take the place of Hinata-sama was true."

"Well yeah. Bee-sensei mentioned it off hand that the man they sent was never actually found and that the medics that were supposed to operate on him were all knocked out. There wasn't any physical evidence he was even there, not even a single drop of blood. They have no idea what happened either. The Raikage was replaced because of that mess and several advisers were killed for convincing him to try and kidnap a Hyuga," said Hiroto, keeping his hands in full view of the genin.

He could see the ANBU who were guarding all the foreign genin watching the confrontation. As long as he made it clear he wasn't going to start something, he wouldn't get kicked out. He wasn't an idiot.

Hiroto was going to back up slowly when he sensed the old man show up.

"Hiroto, get back to the hotel now. Bee is driving me up the wall with those poor excuses of a rhyme," said the old man gruffly.

The effect was instantaneous. The genin stiffened, and looked at the old man hard. He couldn't see the man's eyes, and he seemed far too familiar.

"You got it Jiji. See you pale eyes," said Hiroto, eager to leave.

"Hiroto, who was that?" asked Hiashi.

"Some genin who overheard my comment about the body of the guy sent after that fiasco never being found."

Hiashi slapped him upside the head hard.

"You idiot! You're not supposed to speak of village matters to foreigners! What if it had been an S class secret? You could be endangering yourself and your village with that loose tongue!" he barked.

"Yeah, but this wasn't a village secret so much as an odd rumor I heard around town," said Hiroto, rubbing his head.

Besides, he ran it with Bee who agreed it was the perfect way to lay groundwork for returning Hiashi to his real family. Plus he really wanted to meet this Naruto, as he had a few suspicions about the kid.

It was the last name apparently.

"Neji, what's this I hear about you challenging a Kumo genin in the middle of the road?" growled Hiashi.

"Uncle, don't take this the wrong way, but where were you about twenty to thirty minutes ago?"

"I've been in here all day filling out paperwork. Why?" he asked suspiciously. Neji noted that one of the other Branch members nodded in confirmation.

"Because I swear on our family name I just saw you wearing a blindfold and blank headband walking away with the same Kumo genin I confronted about a rumor he started," said Neji flatly.

"What?" said Hiashi in shock.

"According to the Kumo genin, my father was never found in Kumo, even though the medics scheduled to remove his eyes were found. Shortly after the Raikage was replaced, they still have no idea where the body went or what happened to it. And while I was spying on that genin during a sparring match with the Uzumaki kid, he was fighting with what were clearly Jyuken strikes without chakra," said Neji.

"Are you positive it was Jyuken?"

"There wasn't any mistaking that form. He was using the Gentle Fist with precision, as if he had been taught by an full practitioner."

"...I will have a word with the Hokage tomorrow. Neji, don't say a word of this to anyone, particularly the Elders."

"Understood Uncle."

Right before Naruto and his team were to go into the building, Hiroto walked up to them.

"So you guys got the all clear to join the exam too?"

"Hey, where's your team?" asked Naruto.

"Haven't got one. I'm apprenticed, since I had trouble working with the kids in my class. Anyway, are you guys planning on going through the school?"

The pink haired one nodded carefully, not sure whether to trust this foreigner.

"...You guys do know how to walk up trees without your hands right?"

"Yup! About the only thing Kakashi's taught us!" said Naruto.

"Then why don't you walk up the building to the room? It's what I planned on doing, since I saw that pale eyed kid from earlier go in with his team. I'd like to avoid him as long as possible if it's all the same to you," said Hiroto.

Seeing the collective blink of Team 7, it was clear that the thought hadn't occurred to them.

"Is that even allowed?"

"I saw three teams, one from Konoha, Iwa and Kusa walk up the other side of the building into an open window, where I can only assume the classroom is not more than ten minutes ago. I don't think they really care how you get in, just so long as you're on time," said Hiroto flatly.

"I'm in!" said Naruto.

The three followed Hiroto, and he pointed at a window. Naruto went first, and he quickly confirmed Hiroto's story. The other three promptly walked up the building and into the room without going through the floors.

Because of him they missed Kakashi and (thankfully) Gai's genjutsu which inflicted mental trauma to some unlucky genin a floor down.

Naruto grinned as he introduced his new friend Hiroto to the other Konoha genin. Hinata was understandably nervous until she noted that Hiroto was making it a point to avoid her like the plague. When asked why by her Inuzuka teammate, Hiroto cheerfully gave him the same answer he gave Naruto.

He was under orders to avoid the pale eyed clan to avoid problems.

Of course that didn't stop the ever sadistic Ibiki from putting him next to a still terrified Hinata. Or from putting him in front of a still livid Neji intent on boring holes through his head.