Chapter Eighteen

Sasuke could honestly say that sparring days were his favorite part of his time at the Academy. Granted, he embraced every lesson on martial forms, weapons styles, and chakra manipulation, no matter how dull it may seem or how quickly he mastered them. He had to in order to achieve his goal. But this was the time he could test himself against his classmates and see where he fell on the scale. It was the only real way to see how far he had grown and how fast. At least as much as he could against his fellow students who rarely posed a challenge.

Until recently, that is. Sasuke narrowed his eyes, wishing for the thousandth time that he could awaken his sharingan, as he carefully watched the spar going on now. Naruto Uzumaki, the jailor of the Nine-Tails, against Kiba Inuzuka. His new ninja-pup, Akamaru, was sitting and watching the match attentively.

To say the match was one-sided was not exactly accurate. It wasn't like mere months ago when Sasuke would thrash Naruto with little real effort. Kiba was keeping up, in a sense, but it was abundantly clear that Naruto's skills had grown exponentially in recent weeks. He was a whirlwind of open- and closed-hand strikes, lashing elbows and knees, headbutts and joint-locks all delivered with no discernable pattern. The blond had always been hardy and refused to stay down, but nowadays he wasn't even getting knocked down.

Sasuke was unwilling to admit it to himself, but he was starting to grow jealous of the Uzumaki boy's rapid growth. And the display of sealing arts his new clansman had given the class had shown how much further Naruto might grow over time. After the demonstration, Sasuke had looked over what little he could find on the sealing arts in the shinobi library accessible to Academy students and the results had left him frustrated and his head hurting. If that was a viable route to power, he needed a teacher. But that thought was for another time.

The entire class groaned in sympathy as Kiba's legs were swept out from under him and Naruto followed up with a downward open hand strike to the chest that forced him to the ground even harder; even Sasuke grimaced with a twinge of sympathy pain.

"Dammit, Naruto, how'd you do that?!" Kiba shouted, with a voice that was sometimes even more loud and grating than the blond's. Kiba curled and sprung to his feet, pointing almost accusingly at Naruto. "And even more important, how'd you get so tough all of a sudden?!"

Naruto laughed and pointed a thumb at himself. "I was always tough, but now I've got skills to back it up! Cousin Ken's been putting me through the wringer since he came to the village. And even when he's gone on his test thingy to get promoted, I'm still learning under Tomo and her mountain monkey! And she's related to Lord Hokage, so you know she knows what she's doing!"

"That's enough, you two!" Iruka barked firmly but not unkindly. "Make the Seal of Reconciliation and let's move on." The boys wove their pointer and middle fingers and nodded before returning to the circle of classmates. "Will anyone volunteer?" Iruka asked.

Before Sasuke could step forward, a most surprising voice spoke up. "I-I would like to v-vollunteer." The entire class, including Sasuke himself, looked at Hinata Hyuga in something close to shock. The class pacifist wanted to volunteer to spar? Even Iruka seemed surprised as he nodded and gestured the white-eyed girl forward. "Is there anyone in particular you would like to challenge, Hinata?" he asked gently.

Hinata nodded shakily. "I challenge ... Naruto Uzumaki."

Lord Hiruzen chuckled to himself at the proposal he was reading over. Not his usual warm, grandfatherly chuckle, but one of sympathy. "Tomoko, I appreciate the gesture for the boy. But even though I want to approve this, the Jonin Council will be up in arms over it."

Tomoko sighed through her nose with a faint grin. "Did you read the whole thing, Uncle?" she asked.

Hiruzen shook his head. "As I said, they won't let me do this without good reason. At least not while Naruto is still in the Academy."

"Well if you read it all, you'll see some arguments I have prepared," Tomoko said with a sweet smile. Hiruzen sighed and resumed his reading, his eyes slowly narrowing with thought as his gaze crossed the paper. He arched his eyebrows at one point and chuckled toward the end, this time a genuine sound of amusement.

It mostly boiled down to the trip to Kusagakure being a brief one that was publicly known, that this briefness would mean Naruto's presence as a jinchuriki and deterrent to invasion wouldn't be missed long, and that his current lack of training in the powers of the Fox would mean his absence would hardly make a difference if there were an incident with the village while they were gone. And as to his security while out of the village for the finals tournament, Lord Hiruzen and a team of top-tier ANBU guards would be there to protect him.

"I will admit, this is some sound reasoning," Hiruzen admitted. "But, if I may, why bring it up in the first place?"

"Because it will do Naruto good to see Ken's standing in the tournament," Tomoko answered. "For one, I can tell he misses his cousin dearly. And there is no doubt in my mind that Ken misses him right back. For the other, Ken's been careful to hide his real skills from Naruto for fear of egging on his desire for 'flashy stuff.' But I think it will do Naruto good to see exactly what being an Uzumaki entails. And to see a close idea of what the results of his training will be."

Hiruzen nodded at the almost verbatim reply, one pulled straight from the proposal in his hands. "Very well. I will bring this before the Jonin Council. If nothing else, I believe Shikaku will be firmly onboard with it. If that is all, then you are dismissed."

"Thanks. Good day, Uncle Hiruzen."

"I challenge ... Naruto Uzumaki."

Naruto blinked slowly, eyes wide at the quiet proclamation. He was, for lack of a better term, completely floored. Hinata wanted to fight him? Why him?

"Well, Naruto?" Iruka asked, "How do you respond?"

Naruto nodded resolutely, reclaiming a bit of his usual attitude. "I accept!"

Iruka nodded and gestured for him to join Hinata in the sparring space. "Form the Seal of Confrontation," he instructed, to which Hinata and Naruto formed the customary half-seal. Naruto smirked and nodded while Hinata took a deep breath with red cheeks, the veins around her eyes bulging as she initiated her byakugan, and nodded in return. "Partners ready? Hajime!"

Naruto folded into the basic stance his cousin had taught him and darted forward with a string of jabs, all of which Hinata shakily batted aside or bent and wove just enough to avoid. Naruto hummed and tried a forward kick and side kick to try and catch her off-guard, but she nimbly dodged them too.

This pattern went on for a few more minutes, with Naruto attacking and Hinata dodging or batting away his attacks — with the class oohing and aahing where appropriate — until Iruka sighed and intervened. "Hinata, your defensive skill is commendable. But perhaps you could try going on the offensive?"

Hinata's cheeks turned from the pink they had held all match to red as she locked up, which allowed Naruto to land a solid hit to her jaw that sent her sprawling. "Oh man, Hinata!" Naruto cried out in shock. "I didn't mean it, I swear! I thought you'd dodge that just like before!" He knelt and helped her to her feet. "Maybe that's enough, eh?" he said sheepishly.

Hinata set her mouth in a firm line and shook her head. "N-No. I can keep going. I w-would make a poor shinobi if only o-one hit stopped me." Naruto looked to Iruka, who nodded. They resumed their stances, this time with Hinata initiating. She lunged with a palm strike that Naruto backpedaled to avoid before countering with a straight punch. Hinata knocked that aside and delivered a palm strike to his shoulder that left Naruto hissing. He moved back and pulled the hem of his shirt down to find the area red and inflamed.

Hinata gasped and covered her mouth, ashamed at having harmed the person she admired most, and started to apologize. But before she could get any words out, Naruto was laughing. "Wow, good one, Hinata!" He hissed as he rubbed the affected area. "Man, that stings. And just from that little love tap? You must be super strong!"

Hinata's cheeks had reddened so much that Iruka was afraid she might pass out. "Okay, I think that's enough. You both did splendidly. Now, the Seal of Reconciliation." Naruto offered his first two fingers with his trademark wide grin, while Hinata offered a small smile as she offered her trembling fingers in return. Hinata swallowed as she felt gooseflesh rise along her arms at his touch, while Naruto cocked his head in surprise at a similar feeling. They separated and he smiled before returning to the circle of onlookers.

Hinata shyly returned as well, leaving the space open for Sasuke Uchiha to be stoically challenged by Shino Aburame. All the while, she pressed her index fingers together and smiled to herself. She'd done it! She'd interacted with Naruto on her own! Maybe, just maybe, she could befriend the boy who had saved her.

Tomoko smiled as the Academy bell announced the end of the school day, clapping shut a worn copy of "Journey to the Sunset" and tucking it into her vest as she kept her eyes peeled for Naruto. This time of day, picking him up from the Academy, made her feel nostalgic for the days when she would pick Kato up not too long ago.

Hardly a minute after the bell had rung, an orange-and-yellow blur raced from the Academy doors and toward her with a cheer of freedom. He crashed into her legs with surprising force; she was fleetingly grateful that she'd had the foresight to brace herself. "So, you ready for the weekend, Naruto?" she asked.

"Oh yeah!" he shouted with a double thumbs-up. "Two whole days with no boring Academy classes!" He darted off and began running in circles, fueled by excitement and childish energy. And, if Ken was to be believed, crazy Uzumaki stamina. Having slowly grown used to Naruto's unique brand of crazy, she simply started her way back toward the Sarutobi compound, Naruto catching up when he realized she had started walking.

As they walked, Tomoko noticed Naruto had suddenly gone quiet. She glanced at him to find him looking at something in the distance. Subtly following his line of sight, she saw a man with short, dark hair dressed in customary Hyuga robes. Next to him was a girl about Naruto's age with hair so dark she thought she saw blue highlights, also in Hyuga garb.

The girl looked backward and turned red enough that Tomoko could clearly see it. She looked to her right to see Naruto wildly waving his hand to her. She gave a small wave back before turning forward again.

"Is she a friend from the Academy?" Tomoko asked.

"I dunno," Naruto answered pensively. "I think Hinata's really shy, or something. She was never mean to me before, but she also never really stood out, either. But she came to my birthday party," — Tomoko smiled as she recalled the pair's interactions at the gift giving — "and today she challenged me to a spar, which is really unlike her. The entire class was surprised, including Instructor Iruka. And she did pretty good, at least to me. But then she kinda went quiet again, so … I dunno what her deal is."

"Well, take it from a lady," Tomoko advised, "if she's shy, I think she really wants to be your friend. But she can't bring herself to ask because she's scared you'll turn her down and hurt her feelings." Tomoko was no expert on the Hyuga clan, but she'd heard enough gossip to know they tended to avoid overt affection. And this Hinata girl had the bearing of someone who felt like a failure. "I think she'd be a great friend. But if you want that, then you will have to make that first move."

Naruto took a little while to digest this before he spoke up again. "Hey, Tomo?" He waited until she looked at him before continuing, one of Ken's first lessons when asking questions. "During our spar, Hinata used this really strange style. Her stance was different from the style we learn at the Academy or what Cousin Ken has taught me. And when she landed a hit, she barely touched me and my shoulder felt like it was on fire! How did she do that?"

Tomoko pursed her lips for a moment. "Did her eyes change before you started fighting?" she prodded.

"Yeah," he replied. "Her eyes were more … intense, and the skin beside them got all bulgy."

Tomoko nodded. "Yeah, that's the byakugan." She offered what little she knew of the fabled white eyes of the Hyuga clan, such as their three-hundred sixty degree vision, ability to see through solid objects, and telescopic sight. "One last thing they can see is the tenketsu, which are the tiny openings that allow our chakra to leave the body. Now since they can actually see them, Hyuga can kind of clog them up to keep their enemies from using chakra or force their own chakra into a person to damage their insides. And since they only need a quick touch to do that, it can be really hard to defend against."

Naruto practically had stars in his eyes as Tomoko explained the Gentle Fist to him. "Whoa! Hinata's gonna be super strong! But she seems so nice, too!" He pumped his fists in excitement. "We need more people like that! First thing Monday I'm gonna ask to be her friend!"

Tomoko smiled at the child's enthusiasm and ruffled his hair affectionately. "I think she would like that very much," she replied, looking up to see the Sarutobi compound coming into view. "Just try to reel in your enthusiasm a bit, huh? Don't wanna scare the poor girl o-"

Tomoko was cut off by the sound of a distant explosion, the muffled sound of it accompanied by a faint wave of chakra that splashed against her chakra senses. On instinct, she clutched Naruto to her and unsealed her naginata, on guard for any threat that may come.

"Hey! That's coming from our house!" Naruto shouted before breaking away and running in the direction of a plume of white smoke. Tomoko realized he was right and hefted her weapon over her shoulder before running after him, scooping him over her shoulder as she overtook his pace and they found a scene of devastation.

A ROOT operative dressed in the black cloak of an ANBU captain and a rat-themed mask remained carefully still in the shadow of a tree in the yard of the Uzumaki assigned quarters. While the shadow was not necessary due to the Chameleon Technique that hid him from sight, years of training under Lord Danzo had him in the least visible location by sheer habit.

"Visual presence established, Lord Danzo. Shall I proceed?" Ordinarily, ROOT operatives were allowed to work as they saw fit on an operation, but Lord Danzo had been adamant that this mission was different. For one, it was within the village walls, and second, he wanted to savor it.

"Proceed, Rat," Danzo confirmed through the receiver in Rat's ear. Rat moved with utmost quiet, never letting his Chameleon Technique waver as he made his way to the far wall of the house. The blueprints from the village archives indicated the house was built with the bedrooms on the far left of the house and separated by the bathroom, the rest occupied by a combined living room and kitchen. As per Lord Danzo's instructions, he unfurled the scroll housing the Diffusing Disarmament Seal and rolled it along the center of the house's wall, slowly swiping his hand over it to remove any air pockets as it adhered to the bricks.

With that done, Rat focused an iota of chakra in his fingertip and tapped the expansive seal matrix at its very edge. That small bit of chakra acted as a spark to light up the seal, the formulae glowing with ruddy light and growing brighter by the second. Rat took a step back, preparing for the seal to fall from the bricks and signal any security measures had been disabled.

But instead, the scroll flashed and crumbled to dark ash, and the lines of mortar between the bricks began to glow with lurid light. Rat barely had time to turn to flee before a pulse of devastating energy ripped through the air in a wide arc with a sound like thunder.

A few moments later saw Naruto and Tomoko arrive to find the entire yard on one side of the house torn up and charred up to the bordering trees, a smoking black corpse lying among the destruction. Tomoko quickly conjured a shadow clone to investigate, her original self crouching beside Naruto and prepared for a possible attack.

After a few minutes, the shadow clone's investigation was interrupted by a team of ANBU of village security landing on the swath of blackened and broken soil and quietly demanding to know what had happened. The clone paused before saying a few terse sentences, then looked at its originator and dispersed itself, the memories rushing back to Tomoko.

In a flash, one of the ANBU in an anteater mask approached the pair as his team continued looking over the site. "Have you anything to report?" he asked with typical ANBU stoicism.

Tomoko sighed with frustration and stood to her full height, still keeping Naruto close. "My shadow clone already told you everything it knew," she said with forced patience.

"Interfering in a crime scene like this is a punishable offense," the agent informed. Behind his mask, he glanced down at Naruto. "But you are a shinobi of the village and your shadow clone provided acceptable preliminary data without compromising the crime scene. You are free to go with a warning."

Tomoko nodded in reluctant thanks and drew back to leave with Naruto. But before she did, she paused. "This house is assigned to Ken Uzumaki and Naruto, here," she said, drawing the ANBU agent's attention. "Ken is a seal master, and his work to secure the house is probably what did this. Perhaps you should ask Uncle Hiruzen why an ANBU agent was poking around their house." She quirked her lips in a dark grin. "Also, don't try to break into the house or else you'll probably end up like your colleague over there." The agent remained quiet but nodded before rejoining his teammates.

Tomoko pursed her lips and began to guide Naruto back toward the Sarutobi compound, her steps unconscious as her thoughts whirled.

"Those ANBU guys are under Gramps' direct authority, right?" Naruto asked out of nowhere. Tomoko glanced down at him and gave a small nod, nervous about where this was heading. "So does this mean Gramps ordered that guy to break into our house?" Naruto asked, his eyes shining with unshed tears.

Tomoko's eyes flashed and she turned Naruto toward her, kneeling down to address him at his level. "No." That single word was said with utter, unshakable conviction. "I don't know why an ANBU agent was poking around your house, Kit, but I can guarantee it wasn't on Uncle's orders."

Naruto looked down as he thought this over, turning the situation over and over in his head. "Then why?" he asked, the sadness in his tone replaced by sheer confusion.

"I don't know," Tomoko admitted before her lips hardened into a thin line. "But I'm going to find out. And when your cousin gets back, there's no way he won't figure it out, too."

A few hours later, Hiruzen Sarutobi was agitatedly puffing at his pipe as he mulled over a report from the man before him, Kakashi Hatake. He examined every one of the considerable details Kakashi had given him over the incident earlier at the Uzumaki house.

"It would seem Danzo has become fixated on the fledgling Uzumaki clan," Kakashi noted wryly.

"Indeed," Hiruzen replied. Danzo had never done anything to directly affect Naruto under Hiruzen's explicit orders, no matter how many times the war hawk had lobbied for Naruto to be secreted away for inhumane and brutal training to harness the power of the Nine-Tailed Fox. Hiruzen was adamant that Naruto be allowed to have as close to a normal childhood as a jinchuuriki could, and though he had half-failed up to this point he refused to allow this second chance to pass the boy by.

It had to be young Ken's arrival that stirred Danzo's ambition. Naruto was a child with no connections to his lost clan aside from blood. But Ken was a living remnant of that same clan, bearing much of the notorious skill set that had made them so formidable. This would have stoked the flames of any impassioned seal expert, especially one as unashamedly power hungry as Danzo.

"What will we do about it?" Kakashi asked.

"I will have the house watched by ANBU until the end of the Exams," Hiruzen replied. "Danzo is certainly after Uzumaki sealing techniques, and the unauthorized procurement of clan secret techniques within the village is strictly forbidden." That was true, a law that stretched back to the very beginnings of the Leaf. When long-established shinobi clans had begun joining the newborn village, trust had been hard to earn even under the assurances of the combined Senju and Uchiha. And so it had been deemed illegal to even attempt to steal clan secrets.

Of course, Danzo had planned for this fact. There was no evidence to implicate Danzo directly, even if anyone who knew the Shimura elder could reason it out. For all intents and purposes, it had been a rogue ANBU who had mistrusted the new Uzumaki, or perhaps even an accident.

"We will have to play this carefully," Hiruzen added. Danzo was a wily bastard and had enough influence to cause real problems if charges were formally pressed. And unfortunately, he was still too valuable to execute outright. "Carefully, indeed."

Danzo simmered in the main chamber of ROOT headquarters, a large portion of his forces kneeling before him and awaiting instruction. His Diffusing Disarmament Seal, something he had spent almost a full day preparing, had failed utterly and cost him a valuable pawn. And now Hiruzen and his loyal forces would be suspicious.

What was worse, though, was that he was more surprised than he should have been. How could he have expected the home of an Uzumaki sealmaster to be unguarded?! Many in his long life had called him arrogant, and he was loath to admit that they might have something resembling a point. He had foolishly believed that a mere ten days of preparation would be enough to crack what was no doubt the housing equivalent of an armored safe. He'd let the Uzumaki whelp's defiance stir his emotions, his drive to prove himself better, and it had blinded him to the foolishness of his actions.

But Danzo was patient, and he always learned from his failures. There had to be a way in, and he would find it. And when he did, the village would gain a wealth of valuable assets from the vaults of their long-lost allies.

But not so soon. Hiruzen and the young Hatake would be sniffing around, no doubt. They would suspect his involvement and watch his forces closely for another overt attempt. But their time in the village was limited. He would strike and open that treasure trove at a time when Hiruzen was gone from the village and the young Uzumaki could not leave the Hidden Grass.

He would strike during the finals of the Chunin Exams.

Another Naruto-point of view chapter. I really enjoy these.

*It was a struggle to get into the mind of Sasuke, even for this. The character lost his appeal after he started to fall off the deep end and just lash out at anything and everything. This will not devolve into a bashing fic, so help me, but I will not let Sasuke go scot-free for his attitude. We'll see if I succeed.

*For those of you who might be outcrying that Hinata seems too advanced in Gentle Fist, bear in mind that it was her shyness and lack of self-confidence that held her back in her early years. Naruto has already begun to influence her here.

*Tomoko's book, "Journey to the Sunset" is the Naruto-verse equivalent to "Journey to the West" - which you might recall is a massive influence on my take on the Sarutobi clan.

*The law preventing the theft of clan secrets is all from me. I think it makes sense.

Thanks for reading! Please do leave a review - I like hearing your thoughts and any questions I can cover in Author's notes. Have a great day!