I'm just gonna get this over with.

Disclaimer- I do not own Naruto, but I do own Naru's clothing, Genma's doubts, and well…I'm taking the Dolphin!

Chapter Dedicated to Pandora and getting sick for pulling me out of the rock I was under and forcing me to write.

I~~~~I

Sasuke was worried. Ever since Naru had walked off the first day Teams Eight and Seven had arrived at the Fire Temple, she had been acting oddly. Akihane spent more time than usual training, and mostly only talked in two word sequences, and only to him or Shikamaru.

The ivory haired girl was worrying the Loyal Uchiha, and it was starting to affect the others.

Sasuke was brooding even more himself, his snappish mood getting the better of him whenever Yamanaka or Haruno decided to be annoying. Any comments from Kakashi about his failures at controlling his fire style also angered him, resulting in many downed trees and exasperated monks.

Ino and Sakura were at a loss of what to do, Choji simply didn't want to be involved, Asuma was leaving it to Kakashi, and Kakashi was sick of his dysfunctional team.

Sasuke didn't care what any of them thought, however. The Uchiha only cared about Naru, and by extension Hinata.

There was very little else that took priority in Sasuke's mind, and right now only one of them was here, and something was wrong with her.

"Uchiha, Asuma-Sensei wanted me to tell you he expects you up in five…"

The soft and lazy voice sounded from a small crack in the door to Sasuke's provided room where he slept with his team.

"Whatever Nara."

Sasuke bit out a reply, rising to his feet anyways so he could get that morning's training over with before they were sent to scout the area in the afternoon.

Shikamaru left, muttering out, "Troublesome Uchiha", as he did.

I~~~~I

Concentrating on her hands, Akihane pulled forth her chakra. It took a bit of effort, but her elemental natures soon followed.

The smooth flow of water combined with the rough particles of earth.

Grains met silk, the chakra in Aki's palms seizing as she tried to work it together. A harsh breath left her lips, her eyes shooting open as she dropped to the ground, her chakra imploding, sending her stumbling into the gravel.

Water fell over her attire, dirt pushing out from around her body.

A growl of frustration past her lips, her eyes flashing into bright maroon.

"Why can't I get it!?"

Naru's voice sounded over the private training ground, breaking up the silence as anger coursed through her veins. She had struggled to replicate that many times, had failed to produce even the smallest likeness to that ability.

That day had rubbed her wounds raw, opening up past insecurities and bringing forth old questions that Aki had thought she had made peace with.

Now, with the mission running too smoothly for anything to distract her enough, she was left pondering such things.

Her parents, for one. She already knew they were important, knew that her mother was the previous Jinchuuriki, and Uzumaki as well. Akihane only knew her dad was blonde, though not nearly as much as she was, and that he was someone with enemies.

Both of the adults had died the night that Naru was born, leaving her an orphan in the care of a vengeful and bigoted village.

The subject of Naru's parents was always a soft spot for the ivory girl, constantly effecting things whenever she was drawn back into the thoughts about either of them.

Aki's parents weren't all that plagued her, however, one other sore subject being her inability to control her emotions.

The influx of the Kyuubi's chakra not only caused her nerves to quickly adapt, but also her senses, which included her responses and emotions.

While most people, or even trained ninja, would feel only a small edge of suspicion toward a stranger, Naru would go through an entire process from the person's attire to their nature, just to see whether they were trustworthy, somewhat trustworthy, not at all, kinda, maybe, might be, could be, and much more.

When 'normal' people got angry, they normally had a one track mind. Naru's mind split off into a million directions.

Others dealt with sorrow by seeking happiness, but Naru would distract herself with other emotions or try to piece together the fifty different variants of sadness on her own.

Any emotion that Akihane experienced, she did so in a heightened manner. The fact had nearly driven the young Kunoichi insane on several occasions, forcing her to draw into herself, or do what she normally did, suppress her emotions.

The whole idea for hiding behind the emotions she could control came from a history lesson involving Senju Tobirama, better known to the world as Konoha's Silver Kage, or the Nidaime.

The Nidaime was a prodigy from birth, mastering concepts and overtaking politics as if they were child's play. All the while, the man never showed any real sign of his emotions. The Nidaime cared for Konoha, died protecting the lovely village, or so Naruto thought.

Of course, Naru heard about this all when she was struggling through her depression over Shisui's death, and so she decided to try it herself.

At first, the young girl struggled, trying hard to ignore the pressing emotions and the different sounds of silence in her mind. She worked on her skill, however, her ability growing stronger each day before she finally came across her first test.

Asuma, the man who had helped her numerous times and aided the Hokage in taking care of her, had finally had enough with the village. Not even a year had passed after the Uchiha Massacre, and yet Asuma did not seem to care as he stormed out of the Hokage office, right into the shocked Jinchuuriki.

Naru had heard the entire conversation, hidden as she was by the door, and she honestly couldn't believe that Asuma would dare think that the Hokage was the most important part of the village, that the Hokage that cared for her, didn't know what he was doing.

At the time, Akihane had found herself overwhelmed with emotions, unable to look into the eyes of the man so readily abandoning her.

And then, something had clicked in the back of Naru's mind, pulling forth her training. Aki had pulled all her emotions down except those she could bother with, looking up toward Asuma with a raised brow as her lips tilted into a frown.

"Don't argue with Jiji-Sama."

The words had left Naru's lips before she knew what she was doing, and even now, years after the event that caused a rift in her relationship with Team Ten's Sensei, she didn't regret those words.

The girl came back to her present thoughts, struggling to force herself out of the mud. Naru remembered those words, her eyes flashing again as she pulled at her emotions, drawing them back out and into herself. She pushed forward her other emotions, ones of determination and the will to continue struggling, ones of hope and eagerness.

A deep breath left Naru's lips, her eyes slipping closed as she pulled at the soaked ground below her, tearing apart the two natures, before twining them back together on her own.

Chakra seemed to flow out of her at an unsettling pace, forcing its way down through her fingers as her hands clenched at the dirt.

The chakra vanished into the ground, lavender eyes snapping open to look at Akihane's tiny creation.

A single tear slipped down the blonde's cheek, falling right onto the small plant with only one leaf.

I~~~~I

Akihane arrived back at the temple, covered in mud, smiling gently while she held the plant in the palm of her hands.

The monks noticed, one in particular walking over.

The monk wore the same robes as the others, white with a black sash draped over the left side; however, he also had a sash hanging from his waist.

"Akihane-San?"

The monk spoke up, a stunned look appearing on his features as Naru offered him a small, gentle smile.

"I found it a bit farther out, Chiriku-San, do you think you have a spot for it?"

Chiriku blinked twice at the odd Kunoichi, before he chuckled and gently accepted the tree.

The monk walked toward the side of the garden, gently kneeling before an empty plot.

Naru rushed to help out, aiding the man in settling the sapling into its new grove.

"You are an odd one, Akihane-San."

Chiriku commented to Naru, whom only hummed at the monk, gently drawing her finger over the dirt, drawing up water chakra in order to fill the gaps.

"I suppose."

The ivory girl allowed, tilting her head to look at the tiny sapling.

Naru did not notice that Asuma and Sasuke were watching her alongside Kakashi, all three males glancing at each other. Asuma and Kakashi kept sharing a look, the Jonin both thinking along the same lines.

'She solved her problem on her own'

I~~~~I

Sasuke woke the morning after Naru's comeback, feeling refreshed over sleep and the absence of worry for Naru's situation.

The blonde had subtly apologized to him with an offer for a spar, which Sasuke agreed to. The spar would be just before lunch, and following lunch the teams would go out on another patrol of the area.

For now, Sasuke was to help the monks around the temple, while Naru and the other females trained.

Pausing in the middle of his daily routine, Sasuke looked outside of his room, watching as Naru flew across the training area. Kakashi shot after the girl, even as she countered with a simple fireball.

The Uchiha shook his head at the display, turning his attention back to getting ready, even as his fingers itched to toss a kunai and a voice begged him to jump to Naru's side.

Sasuke shoved those thoughts aside, pushing through the opposite door without looking back.

I~~~~I

"So, have you thought over my proposal?"

A harsh and deep voice echoed over the exposed boxes hidden inside a small warehouse. The sun beat down outside the warn window frames, casting odd shadows throughout the room.

"Yes, I have."

A single red eye cut into the darkness, a darkened figure leaning across a wall addressing the mysterious voice. "In fact I wish to concede…I'll help you."

The red eyed male answered the other male, stuck still in the shadows. A small shift could be seen in the black expanse, before the gravelly voice spoke up once more. "I'm glad. You remember the details, yes?"

The revealed dealer tilted their head to the side, the single eye narrowing as there was another shuffle of movement.

"Get the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki and get out. I know."

The clouds outside drifted away from the sun, bringing in more light to the storage center. The figure leaning on the wall gazed through his black mask with both sockets revealed. The red orbs inside concentrated on the revealed second party, lips curving into a grimace.

The gravelly voiced male turned his head away, twirling a kunai in his hands. The light reflected from the blade angled enough, revealing even more of the sharp and stunning features of the youth.

Long red hair blended against tanned skin, the youth's features were only blemished by a long gash trailing down the right eye, the same eye a shifting violet while the other stood out as a blazing blue.

"Alright, that's all. I'm glad that you decided to help me, Itachi."

The Uchiha traitor did not offer a verbal reply, merely turning away just as the other male had done.

A soft chuckle broke from the throat of the stranger, whom turned away, taking the handle of his kunai into his right palm. He waved back at the traitor, oddly carefree over turning his back to an S-Rank shinobi.

"I'll owe you~"

The singing tone did not fit the man's voice, instead turning what should have been amusing or lighthearted into a gruesome psalm.

Both parties disappeared from the warehouse, no traces left of their presence.

I~~~~I

Sarutobi Hiruzen stood before his desk, staring at the box left on top.

Inside, two blades rested on fine silk, sharpened and honed to a point. The two were opposing, one a shorter blade with a silver handle bandaged with red, while the other was longer and had a gold handle bandaged in blue.

The blades were as perfect as they had been when Akiri had handed them to Hiruzen, cleaned from the blood that her husband had drawn to protect Konoha.

The blades were retrieved by Senshi's best friend whom had been the one to witness Senshi's very last breath, an Uzumaki who died not too long after.

Shinigami-sama had walked hand in hand with the weapons before Hiruzen, had blessed them with his curse quite personally, dictating not just the deaths of their victims, but of their owners as well.

Now, Hiruzen was to give the cursed weapons to Akihane Naru as was her right by birth. Cursed blades cast upon a cursed child trapped in a cursed fate. A horrible situation that reminded Hiruzen far too much of his mistakes in the past. The aging Hokage wished for nothing to come of such a tragic jumble of chaos, but still he feared for his dear Akihane.

A hand drifted over the handles of the blades, a heavy breath leaving Hiruzen's lips as he angled his gaze to the picture of Tobirama staring stoically into the camera, happuri faceguard highlighting his sharp features and blazing maroon eyes that Naru's reminded Hiruzen of.

"I honestly am at a loss for what to do, Sensei."

I~~~~I

Alright first thing's first, I am so sorry it took me months to write this one chapter. I have had a bad case of writers block over this damn chapter but I finally got into the groove and started it up again. I have future chapters already in progress around the time of the Exams (Spoiler-It's gonna shock you) and I have kick started Naru's journey to figuring out her family history.

The Blades.

Tobirama's is Blue and Gold, blue drawn from his armor, nature, and from Michiki's eyes, while the gold represents Michiki's hair and her vibrancy. The blade is a 65cm Wariha Tetsu Katana.

Michiki's is Red and Silver, red based on her clan color, her fiery spirit, and Tobirama's eyes, while silver represents Tobirama's hair and his sophistication. The blade is a 45cm Wakizashi.

These blades I had already created, I just modified small things like appearances. They are part of a Bleach OC, and are named Memori-Hime and Buki-Hime respectively.

Omake-A Brother's Doubt.

Genma was very on edge.

He had spent his entire day off wondering what to do, unable to snatch up Naru for training since she was on a mission, and unable to grab anyone else because he was the only one off.

The Tokubetsu Jonin shifted the Senbon in his mouth as he wondered what he could do to pass the time, thinking back toward his little sister.

Akihane Naru was growing up far quicker than the former Guard Platoon could keep up with.

The girl was already a Genin when each of the Jonin remembered the girl when she was a tiny girl training alone.

Now the Uzumaki had two friends and her own Genin team along with a new Sensei and fellow classmates as fellow rookies.

Frankly, Genma was worried that soon Naru would outgrow them.

The Jonin had a lot to teach her, yes, but the girl was always distant and couldn't come out and reveal her odd relationship with the elder nin.

It was true the Hokage probably already knew, but others simply couldn't.

That left the girl to have room to drift away, and possibly not re-

"Genma-San?"

Genma's head snapped up quicker than ever before, catching the shocked gaze of one Chunin Umino Iruka, carrying loads of groceries in his hands.

"Iruka-San."

Genma's tone let out his relief as the Tokubetsu finally found an outlet, rushing forward to help the Academy teacher with his bags.

(Later on, Genma took residence on the caring Chunin's carpet, the two both reminiscing on when Naru was younger, and how she had grown. The Jonin would cherish the memory of Iruka puffing up to scold him over his earlier thoughts after he voiced them, but he'd never mention the utter relief he felt at being reassured that Naru wouldn't leave him behind, since she still visited Iruka despite having graduated and having no need.)