A/N: Chapter 36 has arrived!

Hmmm...nope. Don't own Naruto.


Chapter XXXVI: Lingering Vestige

With the Chūnin Exams over, Naruto and Sasuke were able to sleep in, but they were quick in getting back into the swing of training. As it usually went, the two friends wasted no time; even going so far as to read and prepare during breakfast. Naruto occupied himself by creating Hiraishin tags, since the kunai he ordered from Kishibe weren't quite ready yet. True to form, Sasuke was combing through some of the scrolls from the Uchiha archives, clearly searching for something.

Naruto finished the last of his rice, glancing up at his roommate, whose nose was buried in another scroll.

"What're you looking for now?"

"Something," Sasuke answered, not looking up from the scroll.

Naruto stuck his tongue out. "Duh. But what kinda something?"

"There's something specific I'm looking for—something relating to the Mangekyō."

"Oh. But what is it?"

"I'll show you later when we're at the training ground."

"Ooh. Got some new stuff to show me, huh?" the blond cooed.

Sasuke huffed. "Nothing you haven't seen before, whiskers."

Naruto stuck his tongue out again, setting his dishes in the sink before going back to creating another Hiraishin tag. His mind wandered to the thought of using the kunai that his father had, which made him wonder if he was proud of the ninja he was becoming. A small but sad smile crossed his mouth as he put the finishing touches on the tag he was working on.

Just as the brush left the paper, Sasuke finished his meal and set his dishes in the sink as well. He gave one more cursory glance at the scroll laid out on the table before closing it back up in one fluid motion.

"Come on, let's get changed and head out."

The blond rose, exaggeratedly stretching his arms. "Alright, gimme a sec."


Sasuke was going through some preliminary stretches while Naruto placed a few of his Hiraishin tags around the training ground: one near the creek, a couple under some trees, and a couple more in the trees. Once he'd finished, he rejoined Sasuke and went through some stretches of his own.

"Okay, so what'd you wanna show me?" the blond prompted as he rolled his shoulders.

"When we were fighting that crazed Akatsuki with the scythe, something awakened: an ability I've never heard of, let alone seen," Sasuke stated.

Naruto hummed. "Yeah, I remember that. It was some kinda glowing energy type thing. I think."

"Right. But it was more than just energy, it was armor. You saw how it blocked that guy's scythe like it was nothing."

"Yeah, I do remember that. That was pretty crazy. Did you find out what it is, or something?"

"There wasn't a whole lot on it, but I did find something in the scrolls about something called 'Susanoo.' It's supposed to be one of the most powerful abilities that the Sharingan can grant you."

"Oh, so you wanna show it to me so you can actually look at it without having to worry about some crazy guy," Naruto concluded.

"Well, I still have a crazy guy to worry about—"

"Hey!"

"—but you're right about wanting to take a closer look at it. The scroll said that I need to have my Mangekyō active to be able to activate it." With that, Sasuke activated his Sharingan, quickly morphing to its crimson pinwheel form. Naruto watched expectantly as Sasuke formed the Ram seal and focused, trying to will the glowing armor to appear. Sweat beaded on his brow, but to no avail.

The Uchiha dropped his arms, panting. "Dammit. I guess it's not as easy as I thought. Maybe my chakra control isn't up to snuff?"

Naruto waved a dismissive hand. "I doubt that. Your control has always been pretty good. Not like Sakura's, but still pretty good."

Sasuke shot the blond a sideways glance. "Sakura is a special case when it comes to chakra control. Maybe I'm not visualizing things the right way?"

"Did the scroll say anything about what exactly you need to do to form this…what was it called?"

"Susanoo. And no, not really. It just went into some detail about how it can be refined with training. Surprisingly, the scrolls didn't really have that many answers."

Sasuke formed the Ram seal once more, focusing. This time, he tried to focus his chakra around his torso, picturing the armor in his mind's eye. Finally, a faint flicker of purple sparked, revealing a ghostly set of armor. Naruto's eyes widened beneath his sunglasses, but as quickly as it appeared, the armor disappeared.

"Dammit. I almost had it," Sasuke said under his breath.

"Wait a sec, are there any like, y'know, steps to this thing?" Naruto wondered.

"Your guess is as good as mine," the Uchiha admitted. "The scroll didn't go into detail about how to conjure it in the first place."

Naruto nodded, humming. "Well, you almost had it just now. Did you do anything differently?"

"Other than focus on making it appear? Not really."

"You want my advice?"

"Depends on what it is."

"I think maybe it'll help. You know how my eyes gave me new abilities, right? I noticed that using them was different from a jutsu. It was more like…tapping into something within myself."

Sasuke blinked. "Whiskers, that might be one of the smartest things you've ever said to me."

Naruto's face twisted in both annoyance and confusion. "Uh. Thank you?"

A smirk crossed Sasuke's face before he took a deep breath and focused. His brow furrowed as he looked inward, focusing his chakra and flipping the mental switch: it's not a jutsu, it's an innate ability granted to him by his Sharingan. Sasuke took deep breaths, focusing his chakra around his torso and picturing the armor.

Suddenly, he felt a click. Sasuke's crimson eyes snapped open, and he immediately looked down at his arms. His breath hitched as he beheld the same glowing purple samurai armor that he'd seen in the Forest of Death.

"Holy shit," Naruto breathed. "That's…you were right, I've never even heard of this."

"Try slashing me. I want to see how strong it is," Sasuke ordered.

"With what?"

"Try a kunai."

Naruto nodded, producing the weapon and drawing the blade across Sasuke's armor-clad forearm, which drew a shake of the head from the Uchiha.

"Swing it like you're trying to hurt me."

The blond made a face before nodding, albeit reluctantly. He took a deep breath before swinging, the blade of the kunai impacting against the glowing vambrace with a clang.

Sasuke met Naruto's spectacled gaze. "Try something else, like one of the black rods, or something."

Blond eyebrows furrowed. "Are you sure?"

"Positive."

A sigh escaped the Uzumaki, who then quickly created a black chakra rod. With a snap and a twirl, he swung the makeshift sword, aiming for one of the spaulders covering his shoulder. The rod impacted against the armor with another resounding clang.

Naruto blinked, dispelling the rod into dust. "That armor is some tough stuff, huh?"

"You're telling me." Sasuke paused, an idea popping into his head. "I wonder…" He concentrated, forming the Ram seal once more and closing his eyes. He felt another click and a surge of energy. Sasuke opened his eyes and peered down, his legs now clad in glowing purple greaves and thigh armor. His waist now also donned faulds in addition to the cuirass that covered his torso. The only parts of him not covered in the glowing armor were his feet, fingers, and head.

"Our spars are about to be a whole lot more interesting, aren't they?" Naruto thought aloud.

"Maybe. This is harder to maintain than it looks, believe it or not," Sasuke replied.

"Huh. I'm sure it is," the blond mused, studying the spectral armor. He could feel a low thrum emanating from his friend, the sheer power of the Susanoo evident. Naruto couldn't help but wonder if the armor could also block jutsu in addition to weapons.

Suddenly, Sasuke screwed his eyes shut and clutched his temple, the armor disappearing just as quickly as it manifested. With a wince, he stumbled backwards and almost doubled over. Naruto wasted no time in rushing to his friend's aid.

"Whoa, you okay?"

"I'm fine, just a sharp pain."

"This happened before. Your head started hurting in the forest, too, didn't it?"

Sasuke nodded, not daring to open his eyes yet. "Yeah. My guess is it's because of this ability."

"Ya think?"

"Wiseass," the Uchiha grumbled. He straightened, his now onyx eyes fluttering open. "There's gotta be a way to train myself so I can use that longer."

"There probably is. The scrolls should have something, right?" Naruto suggested.

Sasuke shrugged, the pain fading. "Probably. Guess I'll have to do some more digging."

The blond gave a firm nod before cracking his knuckles. "Alright, my turn."

Just as he was about to test his Hiraishin, a feminine voice called out.

"Sasuke! Naruto!"

The two young men turned to see Sakura, Ino, and Haku strolling toward them.

"Oh, hey!" Naruto threw up a hand in greeting.

"What brings you all here?" Sasuke queried.

"I was actually hoping to show you two something. I decided to bring Ino along for the ride. We ran into Haku on our way here, and he remembered something Naruto told him, so he tagged along," Sakura explained.

Naruto snapped his fingers. "Oh yeah! That's right! Perfect timing, actually. I was just about to try it out and see if I can do something fancier."

"So, what's this jutsu, anyhow?" Haku prompted.

A mischievous smirk crossed the Uzumaki's face. "You'll see."

With that, Naruto formed the Seal of Confrontation. In an instant, he vanished with a flash of orange. The trio's eyes widened as they searched for the blond, who was nowhere to be found. Instead, they caught flashes of orange light bouncing around the training ground. When the light show stopped, they craned their heads, still searching for their friend.

"That's called the Hiraishin," an all-too-pleased voice called from a tree just behind the three medics, who all turned on a heel and looked up at the owner.

Naruto's smile matched his tone as he folded his arms. "Whaddaya think?"

Haku blinked. "That might be faster than how fast I move when using Makyō Hyōshō…"

"I think it is faster than that," Sakura added, trying to mask her incredulity.

"How the heck did you do that?" Ino blurted.

Naruto hopped down from the tree, chuckling as he landed. "It's a little complicated, but it uses seals."

The platinum blonde hummed. She suddenly remembered the burning question she had for the Uzumaki.

"Hey, Naruto. Can I ask you something?"

"What's up?"

"About the mission with the Akatsuki. When you, uh, rescued that kunoichi. What jutsu was that? I've never seen anything like that before."

Naruto simply nodded. Without a word, he removed his sunglasses, revealing his dōjutsu. By now, he was beginning to question the point of wearing the sunglasses and even keeping his eyes a secret, seeing as how plenty of people know about them by now. He pushed those thoughts down as he reminded himself of the ramifications if certain unsavory individuals were to learn of his possession of the Rinnegan.

Ino gasped. "Those eyes…I've seen them before."

Another wordless nod from her fellow blond.

"How? Why?"

Naruto let out a sigh as he explained the situation for what felt like the 100th time. Understanding set in for the platinum blonde as she let out her own sigh when Naruto finished his retelling.

"So that thing you did in the forest was one of the abilities?"

"Yup. I know you've seen these eyes cause a lot of death and destruction in the past, but there's no way in hell I'm gonna use these for evil. I only wanna protect my friends, the village, and the other jinchūriki," Naruto declared.

Ino nodded, satisfied with his explanation. "How many people know about this?" she wondered aloud. Judging by the way Sakura answered her question last time, Ino couldn't help but feel curious.

"Well, everyone here, Granny, Shizune, Konohamaru—"

"Doesn't that seem like a lot of people?" Sakura interjected.

Her blond teammate shrugged. "It's all people I trust, so I don't think it's that big a deal."

The pink haired kunoichi hummed. "Well, as long as it doesn't reach anyone bad."

"What do you mean?" Haku asked.

A frown darkened Naruto's face. "There've been some pretty nasty people who've been after dōjutsu in the past. One creep was after Sasuke's Sharingan for a few years until we stopped him." Sasuke and Sakura each gave a somber nod.

Ino swallowed hard. "Was it…"

"Orochimaru," Sasuke breathed.

It was Naruto's turn to give a somber nod as he replaced his sunglasses. "That's why I've only told you all. Actually, Sakura was one of the first ones to find out. She was the one who started patching me up."

"No wonder you never mentioned what happened with Naruto after the attack," Ino realized.

"He was out for nine days, believe it or not," the pink haired medic added.

"Ya know, now that I think about it, sooner or later these sunglasses are gonna be kinda pointless. I'll have to use my abilities more often if I'm gonna protect people, and that means that even without seeing my eyes, people are gonna know something is up," Naruto thought aloud.

"Well, you've been careful of who you tell so far," Sasuke reassured before turning to Ino. "I'm guessing Shikamaru and Chōji wanna know, too, don't they?"

The platinum blonde nodded. "If Naruto is okay with them knowing."

"Yeah, that's okay. Just try to keep it on the down-low, y'know? And just make sure Chōji keeps it to himself. I know how he gets when it comes to over-sharing," Naruto answered.

"Don't worry, I'll keep them in check," Ino proclaimed before turning to her roommate. "You said you had something to show them, too?"

"Yes! First thing I need is for Naruto to make a shadow clone," Sakura chirped.

Naruto nodded and did as she asked. "Whaddaya need the shadow clone for?"

A wry smirk crossed the pink haired medic's face. "You'll see."

With that, she flew through hand seals. She took a deep breath, and her cheeks ballooned. Suddenly, she spit a stream of a thick, sickly green liquid at the shadow clone. In an instant, the clone dispelled, having sustained a significant amount of damage. The memories of the shadow clone hit Naruto, causing him to stumble.

"Holy crap, Sakura! What was that?" the blond cried.

"Something I learned from Lady Katsuyu."

"What kind of something did she teach you?" Sasuke asked.

"Acid spitting," Sakura proudly replied.

"Was that Senjutsu?" Naruto wondered.

Sakura's pink locks danced as she shook her head. "Not quite, there's no sage chakra required to do it. Apparently, it helped that I have a water affinity." Another smirk crossed her face. "Shizune also taught me how to use her poison cloud jutsu."

Naruto's brows shot up. "Whoa. That's cool."

"So that's why you've been so busy lately," Ino realized. "And here I thought you were just busy with stuff Lady Tsunade asked you to do."

"I figured you were busy helping with the exams, if I'm being honest," Haku added with a shrug. "Does this mean you'll start using more poison with your senbon and such?"

"Not sure yet. Honestly, I kind of want to see what else I can learn from the slugs," Sakura said. She turned to her blond teammate. "So how are you gonna use this super-fast jutsu, exactly?"

Naruto laced his fingers together behind his head. "Well, I figure this would be super useful in a fight, so I'm gonna train to be able to use it. I actually ordered some kunai a few days ago to help with that."

"Wait, so this is why you ordered those kunai from Mr. Hayakawa?" Haku questioned.

"Kunai?" Ino echoed.

"Yup. The Fourth Hokage used this jutsu—the Hiraishin, I mean—and he used these special kunai to move around the battlefield super quickly. His nickname was 'The Yellow Flash of Konoha.' Pretty sweet, huh?"

"I'd always heard the Fourth was strong, but I never knew he used something this…well, incredible, honestly," Ino mused.

"That reminds me, I need to come up with forty thousand ryō to pay the smith," Naruto grumbled.

"To be fair, that was a reasonable price," Haku reminded him.

"My sword cost me double that," Sasuke countered.

"Wait, how are you gonna use those kunai, anyways?" Sakura asked.

"Same way the Fourth did," Naruto responded coolly.

"And how did he use them?" Ino added.

"Well, I'm not too sure. But I do know that he wrote the seal for the Hiraishin on the handle. I'll figure something out, though, you'll see!" the blond declared.

The group collectively wondered what Naruto could possibly have up his sleeve, but decided to bite their tongues for now. He was full of surprises, and would no doubt surprise them with his method of using this peculiar jutsu. Of course, he'd first have to get the kunai before he started training more practically.

Ino craned her head to peer up at the sun, which was a little past high noon. "Well, I'd better get going. I need to go help out a bit at the flower shop. I'll see you all around."

"Oh, that reminds me, I'd better go tend to my plants," Haku said.

"Plants? What do you grow?" Naruto asked, his interest piqued.

"Just some herbs and house plants, really. I grow a few flowers for tranquilizers, but nothing deadly," the coal haired medic answered. "But, at any rate, I'll be seeing you all around, as well." With that, Haku left the training ground.

"I'm gonna go comb through the Uchiha scrolls some more," Sasuke announced. "Are you staying here?" he asked his roommate.

The blond in question shrugged. "Dunno. Maybe I'll go drop off that money and then head home."

The Uchiha gave a nod. "Alright. I'll see you at home, then."

Naruto gave a single nod before turning to his pink haired friend. "You're sticking around?"

"I actually wanted to ask you something," Sakura stated.

"What's up?"

"Well, you went to Mount Myōboku to learn Senjutsu and Sage Mode, right?"

"Yup! It was kind of a pain, but it ended up being helpful. Why do you ask?"

"I know I said I learned that acid spitting jutsu from Lady Katsuyu, but I also asked about Senjutsu, too," she explained.

A smile lit up Naruto's face. "Oh! That's cool! So you're gonna be a Slug Sage like how I'm a Toad Sage? Actually, sometimes I forget that I'm technically a Sage now."

"I would, except there's technically no such thing as a 'Slug Sage,'" Sakura said, making air quotes.

"Wait, really? Then how are you gonna learn Senjutsu?"

"That's where you come in," Sakura answered sweetly.

Naruto's face contorted in confusion. "Huh?"

"I want you to teach me what you can about Senjutsu, you dummy."

Naruto stared at his teammate, his mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water. After what felt like an eternity, he shook his head to snap himself out of it. "You want me to teach you Senjutsu and stuff?"

The kunoichi nodded. "If you're able to and willing, of course."

"Of course I am!" the blond declared.

"Great! Thank you so much, Naruto! Is it okay if we start tomorrow? I heard you saying you need to go pay a smith or something."

"Yeah, I still owe him money, so I'm gonna go pay him real quick. Should we meet here in the morning?"

"Sounds like a plan," Sakura answered with a smile. "See you tomorrow, Naruto."


"Welcome in—oh, it's you," Aki called as Naruto entered the Hayakawa shop, offering a wave of the hand.

"Yup. Aki, right?" the blond answered.

"Yeah. Did you need help with anything?"

"I'm actually here to pay the rest of what I owe and check on my order."

Aki hummed. "Okay. Lemme go get your tab really quick." The slender young man glided towards what Naruto assumed was the office door. He snuck inside for a moment, reemerging with a sheet of paper in hand as he returned to the counter. "Okay, let's see. Naruto Uzumaki, right?"

The blond in question gave a firm nod.

"Okay. Forty custom kunai, fifteen thousand ryō as a down payment, which means you have forty thousand remaining," Aki recited.

Without missing a beat, Naruto quickly produced Gama-chan and opened the frog wallet's mouth, retrieving a fistful of bills and placing them on the counter. Aki scooped them up and counted them, mouthing the numbers to himself.

"Alright, that covers everything," the dark-haired man stated as he marked something on the sheet of paper. "Did you want me to check and see if they're ready? I know dad said to give him a week, but he tends to finish things faster than he says he will."

Naruto couldn't help but smile at the prospect of getting his special kunai earlier than expected. "Sure!"

Aki exited through another door, presumably to where the forge was. A few moments passed before Aki returned, the blacksmith known as Kishibe following closely behind. Naruto's heart skipped a beat when he caught sight of a small wooden crate being carried in by the smith. He could barely contain his excitement as they approached the counter.

With a dull thud, Kishibe set the crate down, the top of which was covered with a linen cloth. "Good to see you, kid. Aki tells me you paid off the rest of it. I'm sure you have an idea of what's in this here box."

"Those are my kunai?"

Without a word, Kishibe lifted the linen cover, revealing a set of brand-new kunai that looked exactly like the one that Kakashi showed Naruto. The only difference was the wooden handles were blank, and the blades still glistened with oil. Naruto gingerly picked one of the kunai up, and it felt just as natural to hold as the one that Kakashi showed him. His breath hitched as he stared at the weapon for a moment before an idea popped into his head.

"Do you have a space where I can test these?" he asked Kishibe.

"Sure. There's a space out back. Let me show you," the smith answered before turning to his son. "Grab a storage scroll so he can have an easier time taking them home."

"Got it, pops," Aki answered as Kishibe let Naruto through a door leading outside.

The smith led him to an area with a few targets and a single, rather large tree. "I'll let you try it out. Just head in and see Aki for the rest of your weapons once you're finished. Pleasure doing business with you, kid."

"Yeah, likewise to you, Mr. Kishibe. Thanks a lot for this, I really appreciate it," Naruto said with a smile. The man returned his thanks with a nod and a small smile before retreating into the forge shed.

Naruto stared at the weapon, drinking in its shape. He retrieved a brush from his pocket, taking a deep breath before marking the wooden handle with the Hiraishin seal. Taking another deep breath, Naruto steadied himself and took aim at the furthest target. With a flick of his wrist, he sent the kunai sailing through the air.

The second the kunai hit the wooden target, Naruto immediately threw up the Seal of Confrontation.

A surge of chakra, a flash of orange light, and Naruto reemerged in front of the target, the handle of the kunai pointing at him. His breath hitched, and he forced himself to blink back tears. "I did it, dad. I hope you're proud of me," he said under his breath.

He swiped at his eyes, wiping any tears that dared escape before retrieving the kunai and heading back in to claim the rest of the custom-made weapons. After thanking Aki for the sealing scroll, he headed home, knowing full well he'd be up late.


Dusk was beginning just as Naruto arrived home to a familiar sight: his roommate burying his nose in more scrolls. The Uchiha heir looked up briefly, offering a nod to the blond.

"Did you pay the smith?" Sasuke prompted.

Naruto produced the storage scroll that the Hayakawa shop provided him, which made Sasuke raise an eyebrow. Still not saying a word, Naruto set the scroll down on the table before reaching into his pouch and drawing the freshly marked kunai, letting it dangle by the pommel ring.

Sasuke's eyes widened. "Is that…"

"Yeah, it is," the blond answered, trying to contain his excitement.

"You already put the seal on it," Sasuke noted.

Naruto nodded, tilting his head to gaze at the weapon. "I did. I tried it out at the shop. The smith had a little area where I could try it out, and it worked."

"And the scroll?"

"A storage scroll the shop gave me. There's…thirty-nine others in there. I was gonna mark them all tonight."

"All of them in one night?" Sasuke snorted. "You sure you have the attention span for all that, whiskers?"

Naruto returned the snort with a raspberry, unsealing the stored kunai into a neat pile on the table. Sasuke blinked, glancing between the blond and the weapons.

"You mind moving this over to the couch? I'm not done with the scrolls yet."

"Oh, yeah, sure. By the way, have you found anything out yet?"

"A little bit. One of these mentions something called a 'perfect Susanoo,' whatever the hell that means. As far as reducing the pain after using it goes, there's not a lot. But there's some stuff in there about what it takes to maintain it for longer."

The blond hummed as he gathered the kunai and laid them out on the living room table and couch. "What did it say about that?"

"Apparently it takes a good amount of chakra control and concentration to maintain. My guess is the headache that I got was probably because of concentrating that hard. Might also just be like, growing pains or something."

"Well, you only recently found out about that ability," Naruto pointed out as he started working on adding the Hiraishin seal to a blank handle. "If you ask me, it makes sense that you wouldn't have it down enough to where you could use it without any side effects or stuff like that."

Sasuke turned and leveled his stoic gaze at the blond. "You know, you scare me when you say smart things."

"Kiss my ass, Uchiha."

"Pass."

Naruto blew another raspberry as he turned his attention back to the kunai he was marking. "So what about that 'Perfect Susanoo' or whatever?" he called.

"So far it's only been mentioned in passing. Apparently, the Perfect Susanoo is the goal of training and mastering it. How you get there, I'm not sure."

The blond hummed as he put the finishing touches on another kunai. "Maybe you just have to get to a point where you can keep it up for a while without the headache?"

"Maybe. Then again, I've never even heard of this ability until recently, so who knows what else there could be?" Sasuke mused.

"That's true. There could be more to it," Naruto agreed as he started on another handle, his tongue sticking out of a corner of his mouth. Just as he finished, an idea popped into his head. "I have an idea."

"No, Naruto," Sasuke groaned, giving an anticipatory eye roll.

The blond arched an eyebrow. "You're that against reading the scroll with your Sharingan?"

Sasuke turned, a puzzled look on his face. "You…don't want me to make sunglasses for you out of my Susanoo?"

Naruto's face twisted in confusion. "What? Where the hell did that come from?"

"Nowhere, never mind," Sasuke hurriedly grumbled before recomposing himself. "You figure since the stone tablet had some stuff that you could only see with our dōjutsu, the scrolls would have something like that?"

"I mean, they were written by the Uchiha, right?" Naruto asked with a shrug.

"Good point," Sasuke conceded. He adjusted the scroll a bit before his eyes flared crimson. "Whoa."

Naruto turned around. "What is it?"

"You were right to suggest looking at this with my Sharingan," Sasuke admitted. "There's more stuff written in here."

"What kinda stuff?" the blond prompted as he set down the kunai he was working on, shimmying to fully face his roommate.

"There's more information on the Susanoo—even pictures of what the supposed 'Perfect Susanoo' is supposed to look like."

"Well don't leave me hanging. Spill, dude."

"It's supposed to be a full suit of armor. With a helmet and even a mask. There's also…are those wings?"

Blond eyebrows shot up. "Wings? Seriously?"

The Uchiha heir nodded, bringing the parchment closer to his face. "I can't tell. It's pretty faded, so it could be something else. Oh, here we go. Looks like what you were saying at the training ground holds water. The Susanoo is less of a jutsu and more of an innate ability, and perfecting it looks like it takes concentration and chakra control. Something like this has to be pretty taxing on chakra reserves, though."

"Did you feel tired after using it at the training ground?" Naruto prompted.

Sasuke moved his hand in a "so-so" gesture before shrugging. "I think that headache I got stopped me before I could exhaust myself."

"You sound like Kakashi-sensei after using his Sharingan," the blond snickered.

"Not everyone has the same absurdly massive chakra reserves you do, whiskers."

Naruto stuck his tongue out before returning to his kunai. "Well hey, at least you managed to find that stuff, right?"

"No kidding. I'm surprised someone was able to write all this down," Sasuke agreed.

"Who wrote those scrolls, anyways?"

"Doesn't say, but whoever they were, they must have been pretty powerful."

Suddenly, Naruto's stomach decided to interrupt. "Ah, I guess I forgot to eat lunch."

"Should I make you extra portions for dinner?"

"Yes, please. What are we having, anyways?"

"Tonkatsu."

Naruto's stomach growled even louder.


The late afternoon sun streaked into the Hokage office as Tsunade stared at the document before her: an official summons to a tribunal. She turned to her assistant, who offered her an apologetic look.

A sigh escaped the Hokage's ruby red lips. "Make sure those old crones know that this is going to happen. Tell Captain Yamato to step up security—I want to make sure this goes as smoothly as it can."

"Of course, Lady Tsunade," Shizune answered with a bow.

Adjusting her reading glasses, Tsunade's pen danced across the paper, filling in all the necessary information, checking all the appropriate boxes. Once she'd finished, she handed the document to Shizune, who excused herself to file it away.

After her assistant left, Tsunade opened one of her desk drawers and fished out a bottle of sake and a small porcelain cup, pouring herself a drink. After downing the strong liquor, she let out another sigh. "If Uncle Tobirama were in this position, he probably would have already killed Itachi."


A/N: A mix of fluff with a bit of plot. I really love the idea of Naruto using Minato's kunai and Hiraishin to go with it. Just feels right, ya know? Sakura also has taken an interest in Senjutsu. We'll have to see where this takes us. I know it's been established in previous chapters, but I did kinda re-imagine Susanoo into a suit of armor instead of a kaiju-sized chakra megazord. Thanks so much for reading! Chapter 37 is in the works!