A/N: I live! Sorry about the little mini-hiatus. Stuff went down; butterflies, a fox, some cheese, you know how it goes. Without further ado, here's chapter 11!

Hmm...Nope! Still don't own Naruto.


Chapter XI: Blades and Lightning

The day began as normally as it could for Sasuke and Naruto: breakfast, a bit of small talk, and the trek to Training Ground Three. Konan and Kakashi were waiting for them. This time, Kakashi went with Konan to help Naruto with nature transformations other than wind. Sasuke was told to wait for his instructor to arrive, which he acknowledged, albeit with the slightest hint of reluctance.

He leaned against a tree and drew a kunai to sharpen it. Just as he produced his sharpening stone, a female ANBU agent flickered in front of him. The woman had waist-length purple hair framing a face hidden behind a mask. Said mask was porcelain colored and resembled a cat which bore three red stripes: a vertical stripe on the forehead, and one on each cheek. On her back was a standard issue ANBU ninjato.

She stood perfectly still with crossed arms as Sasuke stepped away from the tree. He stowed his kunai and studied the ANBU, looking for any signs of apprehension or subtle movements that would indicate an impending attack. Seeing none, he spoke.

"Are you my new instructor?" He was met with silence from the woman. A gentle breeze blew through, rustling leaves and catching their hair.

The woman's only response was to draw her ninjato and point it at Sasuke, who immediately gripped his own. The ANBU spoke placidly to the Uchiha. "No Sharingan."

Sasuke's face set into a more serious expression as he drew his blade, falling into a neutral stance. The purple haired ANBU did the same. The two stood motionless, waiting for the other to strike. Sweat beaded on Sasuke's brow as his grip on his sword tightened and relaxed rhythmically.

A gentle breeze blew once more. In an instant, the two charged each other. Their blades met with a loud clang. Sasuke pulled back, repositioning himself to swing. Not a second later, the ANBU's sword arced toward his right side. He barely parried the blow, jumping back from his opponent.

This woman was more skilled than she let on. He shifted into a more defensive posture. As he did, the ANBU charged again. He swung once more, trying to catch her off guard as she barreled towards him. He saw his blade connect but felt no resistance, nor did he hear tearing fabric or clanging metal. Sasuke whipped his head around to see the woman readying another strike, this time for his neck. He grunted, twisting his body to block the blow. The Uchiha jumped back once more.

Just as he regained his footing, the ANBU launched an onslaught of attacks. Sasuke cursed as he blocked each one, some coming a little too close for comfort. He twisted and arched his body to dodge the attacks he couldn't parry or block with his ninjato.

Sasuke jumped away from his attacker, his heart pounding in his chest as adrenaline coursed through his veins. He panted, his lungs fighting for precious oxygen. His opponent showed no signs of fatigue; even her breathing was hidden by her mask. She shifted into a defensive stance: an invitation for Sasuke to attack.

He tightened his grip on his sword, charging full speed at his opponent. The ANBU stood there, motionless, waiting for him. Sasuke unleashed his frustration, aiming strikes at her sides, her neck, her legs, and her head. He was fast, but she was faster. Every one of his blows were blocked or parried. The sound of metal striking metal echoed through the training ground. Sasuke aimed one last strike at her torso, slashing upwards from right to left. He grunted as she intercepted his strike with a resounding clang. The Uchiha pushed off once more.

Sasuke tried to steady his racing heart, taking deep breaths. He braced himself to defend as the woman charged him. He saw an opening and struck. The blade connected, but there was no resistance, no sound of impact. Sasuke's eyes widened, holding his ninjato in a white-knuckle grip. He whipped his head around to block the inevitable attack that was coming—

And was met with the tip of the ANBU's ninjato pointed at his throat. Sasuke turned to see two copies of the woman, each holding their own blade. He lowered his ninjato, his mouth drawn into a tight line as he heaved a sigh through his nose.

"I concede," he ground out. The three blades dropped as two of the copies disappeared in puffs of smoke.

"An enemy won't simply let you concede. If this were a real fight, you would be dead," she said plainly as she sheathed her ninjato.

Sasuke nodded slowly, wearing a pensive expression as he sheathed his own blade. He took a deep breath to steady himself before bowing deeply to his opponent. "I understand."

As he rose, the woman stood silent and motionless once more, her arms crossed in front of her. Sasuke studied her, looking for any body language that would suggest a hint of fatigue or a shift in attitude. Finding none, and finding himself surprised at her stoicism, he cleared his throat.

"Can I ask for your name?"

A pregnant silence passed before the woman walked towards Sasuke, making him flinch. Once she had closed the distance between them, she removed her ANBU mask. Sasuke found her to be pretty; her brown eyes and fuchsia colored lipstick only added to that.

"My name is Yūgao Uzuki. I'll be your kenjutsu instructor for a little while, Sasuke."

"Thank you for teaching me." He bowed once more.

Yūgao gave a single nod as Sasuke straightened. "I have to say, it was interesting to spar against someone who's left-handed. Your fundamentals aren't bad. Your stances are solid, and you know to put power behind your strikes. However, it's clear that you rely quite a bit on your Sharingan. I will admit, the Sharingan can be an immensely useful tool, but it should be more of an ace up your sleeve, as opposed to your first response to a situation."

Sasuke nodded. "Never reveal your true power immediately."

"Precisely. Your reaction times are quick when you're under pressure, and your defense is solid. While your attacks have a good amount of power behind them, they're slower than you think."

A small sigh escaped the Uchiha as he nodded.

"We'll refine your basic skills. That way when you apply your Sharingan to them, you'll be that much more effective." She finished with a small smile, which Sasuke returned.

"I'm ready."

"Good. Let's get started."


"Wait, you were serious about teaching me Chidori?" Naruto's brows shot up.

"Well, yes and no," Kakashi said plainly.

"What does that mean?!" Naruto frowned.

"Do you know how I came up with Chidori, Naruto?"

The blond opened his mouth to speak, but snapped it shut and shook his head after realizing he didn't. Konan's interest piqued as she turned to the jōnin.

"Believe it or not, I was trying to add lightning chakra to the Rasengan. It failed spectacularly, of course. But I did manage to create the Chidori as a result." Kakashi finished with one of his trademark masked smiles.

Naruto cocked his head. "Wait. You were trying to add lighting chakra to the Rasengan? How did you learn Rasengan in the first place?"

"Minato-sensei wanted to teach it to me so I could add elemental chakra to it. He wanted to see how elemental chakra could increase its effectiveness."

"Like my Rasenshuriken?"

"Exactly. Since you now have the capability to use all five nature release types, it would certainly be worth it for you to experiment with adding different types of nature chakra to your Rasengan. As you've likely figured out, we'll start with lightning."

Naruto slapped a hand over his fist, giving a firm nod. A smile tugged at Konan's mouth as she marveled at his limitless resolve.

Kakashi stepped forward. "We'll start with creating lightning chakra." He quickly weaved through hand seals, finishing by gripping his right forearm while his palm was facing skyward. "First, gather raw chakra in your hand, but without forming a sphere for Rasengan." A body of raw chakra manifested in Kakashi's palm, looking like a bright blue flame. "Once you have a decent amount of raw chakra, try converting it into lightning chakra." As he spoke, the raw chakra transformed into a mass of chirping sparks. "The key will be stability. Lightning, by nature, can be difficult to manifest and control. It's not quite the same as wind." The lightning in his hand dissipated. "However, given how quickly you've taken to your Rinnegan abilities, I think you ought to be able to channel lightning chakra relatively easily." He finished with a masked smile.

Naruto flashed his own smile and gave a nod. He brought his right hand up and started gathering chakra. He fought his natural instinct to shape it into a sphere and form a Rasengan, instead trying to mimic the blue flame that Kakashi had created.

Ignoring the conditioned instinct to add wind chakra, Naruto focused and tried to channel lightning into the blue mass of energy in his palm. He drilled holes in his hand with his gaze until he heard the same chirping he heard earlier. Naruto watched in awe as he saw the blue flame change into a mass of lightning chakra that wrapped around his hand and wrist.

"Sensei! Look! Lightning chakra! I'm doing it!"

Konan and Kakashi both smiled. The latter held his hand up. "Very good. Cut the flow for now." Naruto did as he was told, and the chirping slowly quieted. "So. Here's what I would like you to do: create some shadow clones and practice creating lightning chakra first. Once you have that part, try adding lightning chakra to the Rasengan, much like you did with Rasenshuriken." Naruto gave a sharp nod, wearing his signature smile.

"Don't worry about creating a full-on technique like Rasenshuriken just yet. Focus on adding lightning chakra for the time being." Naruto gave another sharp nod before Kakashi continued. "The other thing I want you to do is have one or two shadow clones study this scroll closely." Naruto cocked his head. Kakashi quickly produced a scroll from one of his vest pouches and tossed it to his student. Naruto examined the scroll, noticing the kanji for "water" written on it.

"Is this what I think it is?" Naruto asked, waving the scroll.

"If you're thinking it's a water jutsu scroll, then you'd be correct. It has the basics of creating water chakra, as well as a few basic jutsu like Mizurappa, Suidan, Mizudeppō, Suijinheki, and Mizu Shuriken."

Naruto gave a sharp nod before throwing his hands into the familiar hand seal, creating seventy-five shadow clones. He sent all of them away to practice molding lightning chakra and adding it to the Rasengan. He created two more, handing the water scroll to one and sending them to the creek to study and practice. The blond turned back to his sensei, waiting for his next instructions.

"I'd like to try something. I'm going to teach you an earth jutsu: Tsuchi Nami. It's in direct contrast to wind; and even though your affinity test showed you have an affinity for all the basic nature transformations, I'd like to see how easily you learn it."

"Alright, how do I do it?"

"It's fairly straightforward. The only hand seal is Serpent. After that, you slam your hand onto the ground and channel chakra into it, focusing on making the ground move in waves, as the name suggests. It takes a considerable amount of chakra, but given your reserves, I don't think you'll have any problems. Try it out."

Naruto immediately slapped his hands together in the Serpent hand seal before slamming a palm onto the ground. "Doton: Tsuchi Nami no Jutsu!" Despite the gusto in his cry, the ground only wobbled beneath Naruto and his two instructors. He rose from his crouched position, a frown darkening his face.

Kakashi offered a sympathetic smile. "We'll work on that. From here I'll turn you over to Konan. I'm going to check up on Sasuke and see how his supplemental instruction is going." With that, Kakashi disappeared in a flicker, leaving Naruto and Konan to continue honing his Rinnegan abilities.

"Naruto, I would like to try something, if that's alright with you."

"Sure, what is it?"

"So far, we've gone over Tendō, Chikushōdō, and Gakidō. However, I think we should at least touch on Shuradō." Konan braced herself for the inevitable.

Naruto's jaw hit the ground. "Shuradō? That one with all the weapons and the extra arms and faces?" Konan gave a small nod. She may as well have set off a paper bomb. "What?! No way! I'm not going to turn into a freaking octopus! And there is absolutely no way in Hell I'm going to make myself grow two extra faces!"

Konan let out an exasperated sigh, trying to keep her eye from twitching. "Naruto, I understand your apprehensions about trying to use its abilities, but please try to understand that it's necessary. It's a tool; one that you may end up using at one point."

"Tool or not, it's freaky! I'd rather use the other paths, at least they don't turn me into a fr—"

"Enough." Konan's interruption was sharp enough to make Naruto flinch. She took a deep breath before speaking placidly, though there was a touch of frustration present in her tone. "As I said, I understand your apprehension. But, if you are to reach your full potential and full strength, you need to at least familiarize yourself with the abilities of Shuradō."

The mention of strength seemed to snap the blond out of his near-hysterical refusal. He stood silent for a moment, poring over Konan's words. He knew she was right; he needed to be as strong as possible to protect his precious people. Still, he felt a sense of trepidation at drastically changing his body into a living armory.

Naruto let out a sigh. "You're right. I'm sorry." He fidgeted, trying to choose his next words. "So…how do I use Shuradō, exactly?"

Konan brought a hand to her chin, a long moment of silence passing as she tried to remember Nagato's explanation. Naruto waited as patiently as he could, but still fidgeted. He snapped his attention to the azure haired woman as she finally spoke. "If I'm being honest, the best explanation I can give is that you gather your chakra and exert your will to make weapons appear. The same applies to the extra arms and faces."

Naruto's face twisted into one of perplexity. "Pretty much like the black rods?"

"Essentially. The main differences are the fact that this channels Shuradō, not Gedō; you also use chakra to manifest the weapons initially."

The blond brought a hand to his chin. "What sort of weapons and stuff could I use?"

This time it was Konan's turn to ponder, the only indication of which was a slight furrowing of her brow. "I remember a few that Nagato used regularly. One was a large, flexible blade that the Shuradō Pain could produce from its waist; it reminded me of a scorpion's tail. It could also create small bombs that would shoot out from its arm. It could also fly using some sort of…propulsion from its feet. There were also the blades it could create from its arms and being able to launch its fist at targets." Naruto's face contorted more and more as Konan spoke, his expression a mixture of horror and fascination.

"Is there anything it can't do?"

The Ame woman paused, contemplating his question. "You know, now that I think of it, I suppose the limitations of Shuradō would likely be that of your imagination."

Naruto hummed, examining his hand and forearm, trying to imagine blades emerging from it. He turned his attention back to Konan. "So…just imagine the weapon I want, and focus my chakra to make it appear?"

"Yes. Try it and see what happens."

The blond pushed his sleeve up to his elbow, exposing his right forearm. He tried to think of what sort of weapon would be useful to him. He wasn't well-versed in kenjutsu, nor had he really used any weapons outside of kunai and the occasional shuriken. An idea popped into his head: knuckle blades. Not a second later, three curved, pointed blades shot out of the spaces between his fingers. Naruto fell onto his rear with a shriek, staring at his hand in horror. He expected a searing pain, but was even more shocked when he felt none. His eyes widened to the size of ramen bowls beneath his sunglasses.

"No way, no way, no fucking way!" Naruto stared at the scythe-like blades emerging from his hand as Konan approached him.

"Calm down, calm down. They won't cut you unless you're carele—"

"Calm down? Calm down?! There are knives! Coming out of my fucking hand!"

"Yes, there are. But they're weapons that you can use in combat," Konan explained dryly.

Naruto took a deep breath, turning back to his bladed hand. He clenched his fist, noting how the curved blades extended out like claws. They had a single cutting edge that made them good for slashing, but were also pointed to allow for stabbing attacks. He gave a cursory swing, trying to imagine driving them into an opponent or slashing them. He contemplated how they could be used as defensive tools, likely to block the swing of a sword or kunai.

The blond turned his attention back to his blue haired instructor. "So uh, how do I, y'know, make these things go away?" He waved his bladed hand about.

Konan awkwardly cleared her throat. "Well, I would imagine you just…retract them. In the same way you extended them."

Naruto cocked his head before shrugging. He focused on the blades extended from his hand, mentally commanding them to retract. To his surprise and relief, the metallic appendages complied and retracted back into his hand. He studied his knuckles, wrist, and forearm, giving experimental squeezes with his left hand to see if the blades were still present. The blond breathed a sigh of relief when he felt nothing aside from muscle and bone.

"That…was weird. Like…really weird."

"Shuradō is one of the more…unique paths. Look at it this way: an enemy would never expect you to simply grow a weapon out of your body. Think of it as constantly having the element of surprise on your side," Konan reasoned.

Naruto hummed. "I guess that's true. You said I could make like, bombs and stuff?"

"That's right. Last I remember, the Shuradō Pain quite literally pulled the bombs out of its arm. You can try, if you'd like. Just…be careful." Konan's tone carried an air of concern.

Naruto swallowed hard, looking at his right hand again. His mouth drew itself into a tight line as apprehension seeped into him once more. He took a quivering breath, steeling his nerves. Naruto clenched his right fist, channeling chakra into his right arm, picturing the various small bombs that Konan told him about. He grabbed his wrist and twisted.

There was an audible click, causing Naruto to flinch. He steadied his breathing before pulling. With a fleshy splat, his hand and wrist separated from his forearm, revealing a dark grey metallic rod that connected his hand and wrist to the rest of his arm. The central rod was covered in cylinders with rounded tops, resembling a metal tree that was devoid of leaves.

Naruto stifled another shriek, studying his elongated limb and motionless hand. "So…these…are the bombs…right?" His tone was even as he tried to suppress his shock.

"Yes. You can fire them off, and they'll explode on impact. You could try, but…aim for the trees. I'd prefer it if you didn't injure yourself…or me." Konan backed away a few paces to avoid any stray explosions.

The blond nodded slowly before bringing his elongated arm out in front of him. He turned towards the trees, taking a deep breath before channeling chakra to his arm; almost as if he were triggering a paper bomb. Not a split second later, the individual bombs came to life. Their rockets ignited, sending them screaming towards the tree line in a deadly salvo. The miniature missiles exploded as they hit the unfortunate tree trunks. Naruto stared wide-eyed at the spectacle, completely ignoring the fact that his arm returned to its original length, with no evidence of its detachment. His jaw went slack as the explosions went off one after another.

He was brought out of his stupor by a hand on his shoulder. Flinching at the contact, he relaxed as he saw Konan.

"I think you have a fairly good understanding of how to access Shuradō. Would you agree?"

Naruto nodded fiercely. Konan regarded him with a small smile. "Don't let the peculiarity of Shuradō discourage you from testing some of its capabilities. Just make sure you don't turn the training ground into a crater." She finished on a lighthearted note, trying to lift the blond out of his shock. A chuckle escaped him as he flashed her his signature grin and nodded again.

"Then let's call it for today." She turned to the trio, who looked to be wrapping things up. Kakashi caught her glance, gesturing to Sasuke and Yūgao. The latter replaced her ANBU mask as they walked towards Naruto and Konan.

"Done then?" Kakashi asked, hands in his pockets.

"Yup! I think my shadow clones are just about done, too," Naruto answered.

The silver haired jōnin smiled beneath his mask. "Great. Same time tomorrow, then." He turned to the masked Yūgao. "That work for you?" Yūgao gave a single, silent nod. Kakashi's eye crinkled once more. "Great. Naruto, Sasuke, you two are free to train some more, if you'd like. See you tomorrow." Kakashi and Konan disappeared in their respective swirls of leaves and paper, while Yūgao simply flickered away, leaving the two friends in the middle of the training ground.

Naruto turned to Sasuke. "I would ask to spar, but I'm guessing you have somewhere to be?"

Sasuke shook his head, much to Naruto's surprise. "Actually, I was gonna show you something. Dispel your clones and come with me."

Naruto nodded, dispelling the clones that were working with lightning chakra first. He stumbled a bit as all the memories of the clones came flooding in at once. After regaining his bearings, he made his way towards the creek where his other two clones were studying the scroll of water jutsu that Kakashi had given him. He dispelled them and retrieved the scroll, stowing it in his pocket. He turned to see Sasuke watching him expectantly.

"So, what did Kakashi-sensei teach you while I was training with Yūgao-sensei?"

The blond opened his mouth to answer before he caught what Sasuke had said. "Yūgao-sensei? Is that the person that Kakashi-sensei was talking about yesterday?"

The Uchiha nodded. "Yeah, she's an ANBU who's training me in kenjutsu."

A wry smirk tugged at Naruto's mouth. "Did she kick your ass?"

Sasuke threw a glare at his friend. "She didn't 'kick my ass,' but she did get the drop on me. We sparred without my Sharingan."

Naruto hummed. Even he knew how useful the Sharingan could be, so it made sense how much of a disadvantage Sasuke would be at against a high-level kenjutsu specialist. True, he was no pushover, but he was no master, and Sasuke was aware of that.

"Anyways, what did Kakashi-sensei teach you?" The raven-haired shinobi asked.

"Well, he showed me how to channel lightning chakra and an earth jutsu. My shadow clones were working on adding lightning chakra to the Rasengan; so far, I've only sort of gotten it down. He also gave me a scroll of a few water jutsu that I gave to two shadow clones."

It was Sasuke's turn to hum. "Lightning, water, and earth, huh? Interesting."

"Why do you ask?"

"Well, I wanted to show you something. You have a natural affinity for all five nature transformations thanks to your Rinnegan, and I figured I'd help you out and show you how to use fire chakra."

Naruto's jaw dropped. "You…want to teach me?"

"Of course. One of my affinities is fire, after all. Before I teach you a jutsu, I'll explain the basics of fire chakra. Don't fall asleep on me, got it?"

Naruto waved his hand dismissively. "Yeah, yeah, yeah. So how does fire chakra work?"

Sasuke cleared his throat. "Well, it's sort of like lightning in that it comes from within. One key thing to remember is that how you breathe can affect the stability of the jutsu. Granted, the power of a fire jutsu is dependent on how much chakra you mold. Does that make sense?"

The blond hummed, scratching his cheek. "I think so."

The Uchiha brought a hand to his chin before snapping his fingers. "Lemme show you what I mean. Watch how I breathe." Sasuke turned to face out towards the stream, flying through hand seals, ending on Tiger. His chest expanded as he inhaled deeply. On the exhale, a great stream of fire exited his mouth, blooming into a wall of flame that cast an orange glow over the area surrounding the two teens. Naruto couldn't help but feel a sense of awe; he knew Sasuke prided himself on being able to use fire jutsu despite his lightning affinity, but he never knew he had reached this level of proficiency.

Sasuke turned back to his friend once the flames subsided. "Did you catch that?"

Naruto gave a firm nod. "You breathed really deeply."

"Exactly. Now comes the part where I teach you a fire jutsu; specifically, Gōkakyu."

Naruto's brows shot up. "Gōkakyu? The Uchiha signature jutsu?"

"Yes. I'll spare you the spiel…brother." A small smile tugged at Naruto's mouth. Sasuke gestured for him to follow him through the hand seals. "The seals are: Serpent, Ram, Monkey, Boar, Horse, and Tiger." Sasuke slowly demonstrated the seals while Naruto followed along, trying to commit them to memory. He ran through the hand seals a few more times, restarting every time he missed one. After three attempts with no mistakes, Naruto decided to try the jutsu.

"So, just mold fire chakra in my lungs with the inhale, and force it out on the exhale?"

"Yeah. Give it a shot. Remember: breathe deep."

Naruto gave a firm nod before weaving the necessary hand seals. He inhaled as deeply as he could, feeling the heat well up within his chest. Once his lungs reached capacity, he blew with all his might. To his surprise, a stream of fire exited his mouth and spread out, much like Sasuke's jutsu. Naruto's fireball was considerably smaller, but it was there, nonetheless.

A small smile formed on Sasuke's normally stoic face. Watching his friend learn the same jutsu he had learned as a child brought back fond memories of his mother and father. He tried not to think about Itachi; doing so would only sully the pleasant nostalgia.

Once the flames subsided once more, Naruto turned to Sasuke, an expectant look on his face; one that was decorated with his signature grin. Sasuke nodded, the smile still plastered to his own face. "Not bad, whiskers. The flame was a bit small, but that'll get better with practice."

Naruto's expression softened slightly, though a smile still painted his features. "Thanks for this, Sasuke."

"Don't sweat it. Think of it this way: with practice, maybe you can make a flaming Rasengan or something," Sasuke offered.

The blond raised his brows as he considered the possibility of a fire enhanced Rasengan. A laugh that sounded closer to a cackle escaped him. "That sounds awesome!"

Sasuke winced internally at Naruto's reaction, finding the laugh to be a bit manic. "Just a thought. Anyway, I'm gonna go bother Lady Tsunade again. I'll see you at home. You think you can make more fish tonight?"

The blond shrugged. "Sure. I'm gonna head to the village archives." A small frown painted his face. "Hopefully the ANBU won't hassle me too much about why I want to access them," he grumbled.

Sasuke gave his own shrug. "Just don't piss them off. See you at home, blondie." The Uchiha vanished in a swirl of electric sparks.

Naruto cursed under his breath, forgetting to check for a scroll that would teach him the Shunshin. He made another mental note to check the archives once he got there.


Gaining entry to the ANBU headquarters was one thing. Gaining entry to the archives held within was another. After verifying his identity twice, he was allowed access to some of the archives; being a chūnin meant he was barred from certain sections of the archives that were reserved for Tokubetsu jōnin or higher. Naruto wanted to argue for permission to access the restricted sections, but thought better of it when he remembered that he would only be bombarded with questions as to why he needed access in the first place.

Despite his usual aversion to lengthy books and scrolls, Naruto was impressed by the archives, if only for the sheer volume of documents they contained. There were countless mission reports on file; though they were mostly C and D rank, higher ranks needed higher clearance that he didn't have yet. Along with the reports, there were official copies of laws and ordinances dating back to the founding of the Konoha Council, some even to the founding of Konoha itself. Some jutsu scrolls were also present, but the highest level jutsu were, of course, restricted. There were even copies of older Bingo Books on file, no doubt kept for reference.

Aside from official and archival texts, there were other documents that pertained to the clans of Konohagakure—namely the Senju, the Uchiha, the Hyūga, the Akimichi, and the Aburame. Most of it was official information, such as the clan heads and their officially named successors.

It was difficult to know where to begin his search. Naruto figured he would try to find some reference texts and look for memoirs or accounts from early Konoha. Surprisingly, he was able to find more documents from early Konoha. He read through memoirs of early shinobi, accounts of early battles, and a few excerpts from old history books. As always, there was no mention of the Sage of Six Paths, nor was there any mention of the Rinnegan. Naruto expected as much, but he was still disappointed at the lack of information.

Despite the dead ends, he did learn something interesting: Konoha was not only co-founded, but named by Madara Uchiha. As it turned out, Madara and the First Hokage had been friends. For reasons that weren't detailed, Hashirama and Madara's friendship ended, and the two fought at the Valley of the End. Naruto had faint memories of Iruka teaching these things, but given that he had slept or not paid attention, the information never fully stuck.

The blond had his nose stuck in a scroll that taught Shunshin when he was interrupted by an ANBU agent.

"Naruto Uzumaki; your presence is requested by the Hokage," the masked man recited.

Naruto heaved an exasperated sigh, setting aside the books he had gathered. He paused when he rolled the jutsu scroll back up. "Wait, can I take this with me? It's a jutsu scroll: Shunshin. You guys allow check-outs of certain things, right?"

The ANBU responded placidly. "Yes, so long as you return it within a reasonable time frame. The standard amount of time that is allotted is one month. After that, you need to put in a request to keep it checked out for longer."

Naruto held the scroll out in front of him. "Then I'm taking this with me."

The masked man nodded. "Very well, I'll make note of it. Come with me."

The blond nodded and followed the ANBU out.


Tsunade was finishing up some paperwork when there was a knock at her office door.

"Enter," she called, not looking up from her task.

In burst her favorite blond pain in the ass. "Granny! Why'd you summon me? Do you have a mission for me?"

The Hokage held a hand up, silencing Naruto as she put the finishing touches on the document she was signing. She set her pen down, finally looking up and meeting Naruto's spectacled gaze. A long silence passed between them as she studied her pseudo-grandson, who fidgeted uncomfortably.

Her poker face was unwavering as she finally broke the silence. "So, how's your training been going, brat?"

Naruto's face lit up. "Really great, actually! I've practiced almost all of my new abilities so far, and Kakashi-sensei started teaching me to add lightning chakra to Rasengan. He even showed me an earth jutsu. Oh yeah, turns out I also have affinities for all the nature transformations. Crazy, huh?"

Tsunade nodded, a small smile tugging at her ruby red lips. "That's good to hear. Do you like having Konan as an instructor?"

"Yeah, actually. She's tough, and doesn't hold back when we spar, but she explains things really well. She's strong." Naruto paused for a moment. "Wait, did you call me here so I could report my training to you?"

The Hokage shrugged. "Is that such a bad thing? It's been a little while since I last saw you, so I figured I'd check up on you." Naruto hummed as Tsunade nonchalantly examined her painted nails that matched her lipstick. "Oh, I also wanted to know who else you've told about your Rinnegan," she said coolly.

"Oh, just Ha—" Naruto stiffened as he realized what the buxom Hokage had just asked. "Wh— how d— when di— huh?!"

"Oh, come now. You couldn't have honestly thought that I wouldn't hear about it, could you? Haku is one of my apprentices, after all."

Naruto's mouth opened and closed as he tried to form words, making him resemble a fish out of water. He frowned. "Haku is the only one besides you, Shizune, Konan, and my teammates," he grumbled.

Tsunade nodded slowly. "Alright then. That's alright. I know you trust Haku. I trust him, too. Granted, it's really your secret to tell, and you've proven to be a good judge of character, so I trust you. Just be mindful of who you tell."

The younger blond gave a nod. "I gotcha, Granny. Was that all you needed me for?"

"Actually, there was something else." Her eyes softened as she beckoned him to approach the desk. She rose and stood in front of it as he approached. "Kakashi told me you met your father."

Naruto stiffened for a moment, relaxing once he met her soft honey gaze. He let out a small sigh. "Yeah, I did." He paused, choosing his next words carefully. "Wh-why didn't anyone tell me that the Fourth Hokage was my dad?"

It was Tsunade's turn to sigh as she placed a hand on his shoulder. "I know you won't believe this, but it was to protect you. Your father had a lot of enemies, and the Third wanted you to be kept safe."

Naruto blinked back tears beneath his sunglasses, his voice threatening to break. "Is…that true? My dad told me something similar but…did Old Man Third really try to protect me?"

The Hokage squeezed his shoulder. "He did the best he could. Thankfully, he succeeded." She released his shoulder, turning and grabbing two scrolls from her desk. "These are for you."

Naruto took the scrolls, looking them over. "What are these?"

"Those…" Tsunade gestured to the scrolls. "…are scrolls that were left by your father." Naruto's eyes widened behind his sunglasses, his brows shooting up and peeking over them. "One of them contains his writings when he was developing the Rasengan. I'm sure Jiraiya told you that the Fourth was the one who invented it?"

The younger blond nodded slowly, still staring at the two scrolls, speechless.

"The other scroll contains his signature jutsu: Hiraishin. It's the jutsu that earned him the name 'The Yellow Flash of Konoha.' They're yours to keep."

As soon as she finished, Tsunade found herself on the receiving end of a crushing hug.

"Thank you, Granny. Thank you thank you thank you," he said into her shirt, his voice trembling.

Tsunade smiled as she returned the embrace. "You're welcome, Naruto." The two stood there for a moment before Naruto finally released her. "Now head on home. I'll summon you when I have something else for you or need a report from you," the Hokage told him.

Naruto gave a thumbs up, his signature grin plastered on his face. "Sure thing! See ya Granny!"

In typical Naruto fashion, he leapt out the window and flew over the rooftops to his apartment.


Sasuke had beaten Naruto home and had set up shop in the living room. He was surrounded by scrolls, each of which bore the Uchiha crest. After they exchanged greetings, Naruto blinked at his roommate, who didn't look up from his reading material.

"I…take it you got to access the archives."

Sasuke nodded, still not looking up from the scroll he was studying. "Yeah, this was all in the Uchiha compound. There was other stuff, too, but a lot of it was financial records. Most of this is clan history, a few jutsu records, and some writings about the Sharingan." The Uchiha shifted the scroll in his lap. "Can't seem to find anything about the Rinnegan, though…" he mumbled.

Naruto shuffled behind him, peering over his shoulder at the scroll he was reading: a study done on the Sharingan. The blond shrugged after confirming his own suspicion that there really was nothing on the Rinnegan. He made his way to the kitchen to fix dinner.

He practically had to tear Sasuke away from his scrolls to get him to eat. They discussed their training routines over their grilled fish. Sasuke detailed how Yūgao was training him to be quicker without using his Sharingan straightaway. Naruto told him about what he had found in the archives, which prompted Sasuke to mention that the name "Madara Uchiha" showed up in a couple of the scrolls he had read. The young Uchiha made a mental note to investigate this Madara character more.

The blond also told his friend about Tsunade's summon and her gifts. Sasuke congratulated Naruto upon hearing the news about the scrolls, but admonished him over revealing his secret to Haku. He wasn't as harsh as he would have been if Naruto had revealed his Rinnegan to a stranger though, since he knew Haku could be trusted.

After their meal, the two retreated to their rooms, poring over their scrolls until they each surrendered themselves to a restful sleep.


A/N: A nice mix of some fluff and some training. Yūgao is still on-call for ANBU duties, but has sort of distanced herself after Hayate's death, in this AU. I thought it would be fun to have Sasuke learn some kenjutsu from her, since she and Hayate were both kenjutsu specialists. As far as Naruto's knuckle blades go; just picture them being sort of like Wolverine's claws, but shaped more like small scythes. Thanks a bundle for reading! Again, so sorry for the little mini-hiatus outta nowhere. Fav/follow if you enjoyed, leave a review if you like! Chapter 12 is in the works!