Chapter 14: Sorezore no Saikai

Attakai Joki sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose between his eyes. Last year he had agreed to hold the Chuunin exams in Yugakure, the hidden village of The Land of Hot Springs. Considering the minor war that had erupted over the last chuunin exam he figured that it was the perfect opportunity to help smooth over tensions while simultaneously solidifying his regime as daimyo. However, had he known of the absolute shit-show that would start occurring in the south-elemental sea he would have reconsidered.

Some madman named Uzumaki Yagi had declared himself Uzukage of the defunct Land of Whirlpools. What had started as a harmless old man's delusions of grandeur had quickly devolved into an actual nation, and a potential threat. While New Uzushiogakure, or simply 'Nuzu' as some had begun referring to it, was forming, all-out war had broken out in the lands to the east. Not only had The Land of Water begun a genocide against all clans with bloodline abilities, but some unknown land even further to the east had also started sending invasion detachments into Mizu territory. The detachments simply claimed to be "following the orders of God" and belonging to a village called Amegakure. At least that's what the reports of reports he'd received had said.

Fortunately, the alliance between The Land of Hot Springs, The Land of Fire, and now the Land of Wind, was only strengthened as peace deteriorated in the east. The Land of Sound had also gone quiet as the situation unfolded, ironic as that may be. Unfortunately, Uzu had taken the opportunity to offer refuge and full political asylum to any and all refugees displaced by the wars, both civil and otherwise. This meant that as the east continued to eat itself Uzushiogakure had only grown stronger. In a mere 3 months since their emergence, they had seen an over 1,000% increase in their population, and their military had swollen to an estimated 100 shinobi. While 100 Shinobi might not sound like a lot, considering that a large percentage of those were known bloodline users from the attempted genocide in The Land of Water, it was enough to get them onto the global stage as a real player in ongoing power struggles throughout the Elemental Nations.

All of which led Joki to this moment, here he was holding in his hand a simple letter from the Uzukage himself. It was a request for permission to visit the coming chuunin exams and for a single team to take part. The exams were a mere 3 days away, he was tempted to ask the Hokage for her opinion, but the rumor mill reported that she'd become more and more detached from her village and was pushing most decisions onto her council for deliberation. He didn't have time for a council debate. It was with a heavy sigh that Joki penned a letter to the Uzukage, telling him in no uncertain terms that he was welcome so long as his intentions were peaceful. He couldn't afford to piss off such a volatile nation so early in its inception by denying them access but didn't want to let them walk all over him either. Instead, he had to play the diplomat, friendly but professionally distant, with only a minor threat of violence.

Once the letter was finished, he rolled it and sealed it shut with his official seal before tying it in a white silk ribbon. Returning to the window where a large gray bat had been perched since delivering the letter, he held the letter out and the creature took it in its clawed foot. Then, without hesitation, the bat held its head out as if asking for a pat.

"Umm… good boy," Joki mumbled as he gently pet the creature's head.

In return the bat hissed angrily at him and flapped its wings, staring at Joki defiantly.

"… Good girl?" Joki said, this time more hesitantly petting the thing in case it got angry again.

The bat gave a nod and a soft coo before flying off, parchment wrapped in its tiny feet.

UN:PoA

Sakura let out a sigh of relief as she saw the figure of Yugakure growing in the distance.

"Finally!" She exclaimed. "I was beginning to think we were stuck in a genjutsu, destined to walk forever!"

"Do not fear Sakura-chan!" Lee shouted from right beside her. He had a nasty habit of unexpectedly appearing nearby, she could have sworn Lee had been standing next to Kakashi a moment ago. "With your skill in genjutsu, I do not doubt that you would have no trouble detecting even the most stubborn of illusions! I have complete faith in your ability to protect the team from such harmful effects!"

"Um, thank you, Lee." Sakura sighed, doing her best to ignore the ringing in her ears. She wore her usual reddish-pink dress, but instead of shorts, she wore a set of skin-tight leggings that ran all the way down to her boots. She hadn't grown significantly in the last few months, although her hair had regrown down to about her shoulder. She now wore her hitai-ate around her forehead with her hair pulled back in a ponytail. She was a much more competent medi-nin and genjutsu user now, Tsunade even let her aid in some minor operations in the last month. Her progress was slow and steady, and she was still regulated to mostly theory when it came to human subjects. The same could not be said of her genjutsu skills. Once she managed to reliably detect and break genjutsu, her training in the skill had taken flight, with Kurenai saying she had been a "hidden prodigy" in the field.

Hinata only giggled, as she often did whenever the two of her teammates participated in their antics. Her Byakugan was now almost constantly active. Despite her taking point on the journey to Yugakure, she had a perfect view of everything happening behind her. Like Sakura, she had grown only slightly taller in the last 5 months and was still rather petite. Gone was her mesh undershirt though, replaced by a semi-formal top similar to what Tenten would often wear. Her father had insisted it was "more fitting of someone of her station" now that she was the matriarch, even if it was in name only… of course, she would still often wear her favorite coat over her new top whenever she wasn't in the presence of her father, such as now. Her hair had grown to be a longer version of her usual haircut, with the sides that framed her face now hanging down to her collarbone, and the back now resembling Sakura's old hairstyle. She had become close friends with Sakura and Lee, while also doing her best to maintain her friendships with Kiba and Shino; the professional distance made that more difficult, but she felt happy knowing she was doing her best.

"Lee-kun," Hinata started. "I don't think Sakura-chan was actually nervous, she was simply using an expression to show her relief that our journey is nearly over."

"Ah, yes, I see!" Lee said loudly with a vigorous nod. "Thank you Hinata-chan, for your continued aid in my attempts to woo Sakura-chan!"

"That's… not what I-" Hinata started to explain but was cut off by Lee, as was the norm for the two.

"Sakura-chan, I too am most happy that we are approaching Yugakure," Lee spoke. "Soon our months of training together will meet fruition and we can see if our FLAMES OF ROMANCE will be enough to best our foes!"

Unlike his female teammates, Lee had hit a growth spurt and grown about 6 inches, or 15cm. With the growth spurt he had outgrown his old dark-green jumpsuit… and then immediately replaced it with an identical dark-green jumpsuit. Lee's hair also grew at what he assumed was a normal rate, but given that he still followed his regular bi-weekly haircutting schedule he wasn't entirely sure.

"Please don't call our technique that, I preferred 'super sneaky tricky punch,'" She moaned, referring to his first name for their technique.

"And we still have to think of a name for our technique Lee-kun," Hinata spoke politely, hoping to give Sakura a break from their green-clad teammate.

As the three youths continued to chatter away amicably their two teachers walked behind them, shoulder to shoulder.

"They really are advancing," Kurenai spoke softly. "Both martially and mentally. I haven't seen Hinata this happy since- well ever."

"It's almost like some of my ideas are actually good," Kakashi chuckled, looking up from his most recent pornographic novel to address her.

"I wouldn't go that far," Kurenai chuckled, bumping her shoulder against his teasingly.

With a renewed vigor from the sight of their destination, the 5 marched onward to Yugakure. They had been cutting things a bit close, arriving only 2 days before the chuunin exams would take place. Something that Kurenai said sounded "typical of a team lead by Kakashi." With a stretch and a pop of his back, Kakashi bought the attention of the group as they approached the gate.

"Well," he spoke. "Once we get inside, I'll leave you three in the care of Kurenai to find the hotel while I make contact with the event organizers and get you three signed up. I'll handle the paperwork, so you guys just focus on getting ready. Unlike last time, this is hopefully going to be a completely normal, non-invasion, chuunin exam. You need to focus on passing if possible, one of you in particular."

Kakashi made a not-so-subtle glance at Sakura and pointed at his one eye before pointing at hers.

"Why are you acting like I would throw this intentionally?" Sakura huffed. "If I don't pass, I'm stuck with you for another six months."

"Sakura-chan!" Kakashi gasped, clutching his chest in mock pain. "Are you implying that you have better things to do than to spend six months with me in intense one-on-one training sessions?"

"I'm saying," Sakura scowled "you're lucky that I have Kurenai-sensei to vent to while you're distracted with Hinata and Lee."

"Hinata-chan," Lee started with what was supposed to be a whisper but was still loud enough to disrupt the glaring contest between Kakashi and Sakura. "Why are Sakura-chan and Kakashi-sensei fighting again?"

"That's just how they bond Lee-kun," Hinata smiled. "Don't worry, they're not really mad."

"I see," Lee nodded. "…Thank you again for your continued aid my efforts to woo Sakura-chan!"

"T-that's not what I-" Hinata started before changing her approach. "Have you considered not constantly-"

"Don't bother," Sakura interrupted with only a small blush. "If he hasn't given up by now nothing will stop him. We just gotta live with it, y'know?"

Kakashi chuckled as he walked away, using the interruption to leave the three in the care of Kurenai.

UN:PoA

Naruto ran for his life, a strange purple four-legged creature chasing after him. His breath hitched as he tripped and fell on his face. Rolling onto his back to look he realized he was too late, as the giant entity brought its hoof down on him, crushing him into a fine paste.

When he opened his eyes again, he was on his knees in front of the large stone doors as they slid open to reveal his library. The purpose of the visions given to him whenever he opened the walls continued to illude him. With the help of his clones, he had advanced in the field of fuuinjutsu at an exponential rate. He was hesitant to call himself a "master" of the art, but considering how rare fuuinjutsu users were he may very well be. Even with all of his newfound expertise in the field the seals on the wall were still far too complicated for him to decipher. Like trying to untangle the world's most complicated knot. He would pull and tug, but whenever he made progress in one area it was like he lost it in another.

Walking into the vault Naruto went to the section pertaining to economics and a bunch of legal bullshit. Yagi's humble amount of knowledge in the field had been sufficient at first when they focused just fishing and selling their catch back to anyone willing to buy it in Shiokiri. But now that they were opening official relations with some of the companies and needed to start signing contracts he wanted to know more. Pushing his hands together into the familiar seal he summoned about 100 clones. He'd been pushing himself and could now manage the influx of about 100 clones with little to no negative side effects, but he was still hesitant to go beyond that limit. If he was desperate, he could now make up to 150, but he would almost always pass out afterward

.

This wasn't to say his chakra levels hadn't increased during his training, they had more than doubled since he started pushing out so many clones on an almost daily basis. Theoretically, he could create well over 300 clones to help him in combat, but if he gave them orders any more complicated than "kill the bad guy" it would debilitate him afterward.

Thanks to the influx of refugees, along with their ships, Naruto and Yagi managed to turn Uzushiogakure into a miniature empire. With a slow but constant flow of resources between Uzu and the mainland, their economy grew steadily. Whatever ships weren't busy with trade or fishing had been formed into a sort of sea fairing militia. Mizu had placed an official embargo on all travel out of the country and had constant patrols that would chase down and attempt to terminate anyone fleeing. Naruto's pseudo-fleet wasn't large enough for sustained warfare but was usually capable of fighting off or capturing any Mizu ships that would cross into Uzu borders.

Naruto sighed as he walked out of the vault to let his clones continue their study. He didn't need information on contracts and such. But until they got word from the Land of Hot Springs's Daimyo, he, Yagi, Shio, and the genin had nothing better to do than sit on their thumbs and wait.

Climbing up out of the secret room Naruto readjusted his mask as the bright lights made him blink. Thanks to an endless supply of clones and some aid from many of his newfound allies, Naruto had managed to rebuild almost the entirety of Uzushiogakure proper. He didn't feel comfortable leaving access to his vault in the Uzukage tower, however, so he'd remodeled the old tower into a home for himself and relocated the official Uzukage tower up to the mountain at the center of the island. It was a bit farther from the city than he'd like, but it was also the most defensible spot on the island. Building hadn't yet been completed, but it was finally starting to look like a real tower rather than a pile of crudely cut stone blocks stacked on top of each other.

Naruto stepped out of his home and into the now bustling city center. It was a far cry from the metropolis that Konohagakure had been, but it was making progress. Unfortunately, the vast majority of refugees had been civilians and not shinobi. Contrary to his predictions, most of the shinobi had chosen to stay in Mizu to cover their families' escapes and continue the fight. Naruto was fine with that, it just meant they didn't have as many soldiers as he'd had hoped for. Still, the amount of progress that had been made was astronomical. There was just a single problem still… There wasn't a FUCKING ramen shop! You'd think with the power of a small nation behind him he'd find a way to get a ramen shop set up but noooooo~ he was stuck with the cheap instant ramen that they could buy from Shiokiri. Admittedly he was happy for any ramen at all after going months living on fish and roots, but still! He was the godsdammed Uzukage! How hard was it to find a single-

"Ne, you're Haku-sama, aren't you?" a small voice piped up from nearby. Naruto turned at hearing the name, he had more than grown used to going by the moniker. Just beside him was a little girl, about 5 years old, holding a rag doll and looking up at him.

Naruto got down on one knee and did his best to smile through his mask at her. "That's right," he said. "And what's your name?"

"Mommy said to not give my name to strangers…" She said, sounding sad.

"I understand sweetie," Naruto pat her head gently, causing her to giggle. "What did you need?"

"Oh, a ninja man was looking for you earlier," She answered. "But you didn't answer your door. He asked me to wait here and tell you that you were summonninie-… Sumonmom- Sundomd- that you were s'posed to go to the big tower on the mountain." She finally finished getting flustered at the long word.

"Wow, that was really brave of you to wait here all by yourself," Naruto chuckled at her. "Does your mommy know you're out here?"

The little girl shook her head. "Nope! She thinks I'm napping, but I like to sneak out and do stuff!" She declared.

"Umm, how old were you again?"

"I'm this many!" she held up a single hand with four fingers up.

"Well then-" Naruto chuckled. "If you're already sneaking around, you'll certainly make one hell of a ninja when you grow up." He said before standing up. "Don't get in trouble though, ok? I'm sure your mommy would be sad if you got hurt."

The little girl just nodded up at Naruto before blushing and running off.

Naruto shook his head and began making his way to the Uzukage tower. That wasn't how he thought he'd receive word that they'd gotten a response from The Land of Hot Springs, but he was starting to get used to the unusual. Besides, there were worse ways to receive news. Like waking up in a casket for example!

Naruto shook his head, he needed to get over that already. Dying was no good excuse to not go on living.

With a thud, Naruto landed inside the official Uzukage's office.

"Hey boss," Naruto smiled and waved as Yagi sat at the desk, a letter in the old man's hand. "I sure hope you have good news." Yagi smiled and threw the letter to Naruto with a flick of his wrist. Catching it he gave it a quick readthrough, smile growing as he did.

"We're in!" He finally exclaimed, throwing a fist in the air. "If we can show off a team of genin, we'll gain even more respect and the other countries will start taking us seriously! We might even get support in fighting off Mizu raids."

"Yes, for once it seems that everything is going according to plan," Yagi chuckled at seeing him so excited.

"Did you already tell Shio?" Naruto asked, finally getting control of himself. "When are we leaving?"

"He did, and we're leaving right now," A voice came from behind him.

Turning around Naruto saw the now-familiar pale face of Shio. The Dokeshi boy had still insisted on being mostly formal around him, but had mellowed out enough to show off some personality other than 'stoic kid.'

Shio tossed a scroll to Naruto, which he also caught.

"What's this?" Naruto asked.

"It's everything you'll need over the next month," Shio answered. "Remember when you 'gave me' those sealing scrolls you made? Well, I finally put one to use."

With a "huh" Naruto shoved the scroll into the pouch on his thigh, locking it in place. "Neat."

"Did you collect the genin as I asked?" Yagi interrupted.

"Yes sir, Yagi-sama," Shio said with a bow. While Naruto had gotten the boy to mellow out a bit, he was still uptight around his clan head. "They're already in the ship and waiting for us to arrive."

Yagi nodded in response and started walking away.

"Wait… we're going now!?" Naruto asked. "I haven't even had breakfast yet!"

Yagi chuckled as he continued to walk. "Don't worry Haku-sama, I knew that the Daimyo would approve and began preparing everything last night. There is a bowl of instant ramen with soy sauce waiting for you now. Besides, we need to hurry if we're going to make it by tomorrow night." He laughed with a wink.

"Oh… well why didn't you say so?" Naruto mumbled as he followed Yagi to the ship.

As he walked, Naruto thought back on everything that had occurred since the Dokeshi landed. At first, Naruto had tried to be the Uzukage but as more and more refugees arrived, he became increasingly uncomfortable with being front and center of everyone's attention. He knew it was just a matter of time until he was found out, but wanted to maintain his cover for as long as possible, and the more time he spent in the spotlight the shorter that time would last. Eventually, Naruto concluded that the best way to rule the nation was from the shadows. Yagi took up the moniker of Uzukage, but still deferred to him in everything. A fact which Naruto found humorous considering it technically made him the Uzukagekage, which he thought sounded funny. To even further throw off the trail Naruto had 'adopted' the old man into the Uzumaki clan until further notice. While this gave Yagi the unfortunate burden of having to manage the Dokeshi clan as well as the day-to-day of Uzushiogakure, it meant that Naruto had more time for his studies and training. It also meant he didn't have to do any paperwork, which he was more than alright with.

Naruto followed Yagi and Shio onto the ship as the crew prepared to launch. Yagi was wearing a replica of the Uzukage's robes and hat. Naruto liked the guy, but there was no way in hell he'd let him wear the real thing. And Shio wore what was now standard uniform for Uzu forces. A simple black pair of canvas pants and a black skin-tight shirt with the red Uzu swirl in the center of his chest. With a little help from Ms. Mizuhana and her Menagerie of Miscellaneous Materiel, they had managed to get a standardized uniform as well as repair the equipment that they did have. Shio had customized his uniform a bit, as most shinobi do. Adding a belt around his waist and wearing an armband with the Dokeshi clan symbol on it, three red balls laid out in the shape of a triangle. He wore his hitai-ate around his neck like a scarf.

Naruto had made only minor changes to his attire, doing his best to go unseen in the sea of faces, despite how famous he was getting locally. He wore the same general outfit as before, with the only addition being an Uzu hitai-ate tied to his forehead, simultaneously showing his allegiance and helping to keep his mask in place. Of course, Shio had tried to get him to wear a standard uniform, but that hadn't ended well for Shio. That had been the day that Naruto had learned that living people could in fact fit inside sealing scrolls.

With their short walk over, Naruto sat down in the captain's quarters, a bowl of hot ramen in front of him. Wanting to start his feast, he grabbed his chopsticks and began to eat, not paying too much attention to his surroundings. He could tell that the ship had left port almost immediately when he sat down, but ramen was more important.

With a hearty burp and leaning back, sighing in satisfaction Naruto looked to Yagi and frowned.

"Something wrong?" He asked the old man. "You look, kind of sad."

"It's just that… well after 108 days lost at sea you can never quite look at a ship the same way." He answered.

"Don't worry so much old man," Naruto smiled as he stood up. "This ship is way faster than your old one. We'll be in Yugakure in no time, besides now you have a home to go back to."

Yagi smiled as well after hearing Uzushiogakure referred to as his home. "Thank you, Haku-sama. You always know just what to say."

"Yeah, I'm pretty awesome like that." Naruto laughed, trying to hide a burp. He had eaten a bit too fast again.

UN:PoA

Sasuke panted heavily, sweat dripping down his brow. His legs were bent into a sort of sideways horse stance, and his hand was pointed out with two fingers pointing at a simple metal target. With a weary smile, he dropped out of stance to stand more casually. He'd finally managed to direct his Inazumaya or "lightning arrow" to the target about 15 yards away without it arcing to make ground with the… well, the ground.

A soft clapping reached his ears from farther away. "Yay, Sasuke-kun!" Karin shouted from far off, holding a basket full of food with the crook of her elbow as she walked closer. "One step closer to killing Itachi!"

Sasuke rolled his eyes but started walking towards her. "You're here early." He spoke bluntly.

"I had faith that you would adequately perform your tasks in a hasty manner," Karin replied, pushing her glasses up as she tried to sound smart. "Also, I was hungry and didn't want to eat alone. So, there's that."

Sasuke couldn't help but roll his eyes again to suppress a chuckle. He and Karin had gotten much closer over the last six months, so close in fact that-

"Muah~," Karin said after planting a kiss on his lips. "What are you looking at dummy? Help me with this blanket."

Sasuke shook his head before giving her a sour look. They may be 'close' now, but she knew he didn't like displays of affection, especially where there was a chance they could be seen. Still, his progress had accelerated leaps and bounds since he'd started getting closer with her. He wasn't consciously aware of when his apathy became feelings of friendship, or when his feelings of friendship became more romantic, but he was aware that it had happened. Sasuke finished helping Karin with the blanket and sat with her on it, taking a sandwich out of the basket he started eating without another word. He frowned as he ate. The food here still tastes off, he had figured he was just not used to it at first, but after six months that wasn't an excuse anymore… oh well, at least the tomatoes were good.

Karin just sighed and started eating her seaweed salad as well, whenever Sasuke was like this it was best to let him smolder away until he felt like participating. She scooted over and sat next to him, although not close enough to touch. Despite her best efforts he still wasn't the biggest fan of prolonged physical contact, she'd have to work on that. Still, regardless of his uniqueness, Karin thought her transformation of Sasuke had been fantastic. Sure, he still liked to brood quietly, answered questions with 'hn,' sat away from others, did nothing but train for the day he could kill his brother, and sneered at anyone who talked to him… but it was about progress, not perfection!

Karin finished her food quickly; she had been rather hungry. She laid back on the blanket and looked up at the sky as Sasuke continued to eat. She bit her lip and hummed softly to herself as she waited, knowing better than to interrupt Sasuke while he ate.

"What are you thinking?" Sasuke asked suddenly, having finished his food without her noticing.

"Hmm? Oh, just about what Orochimaru-sama will want next week." She answered. "He's only visiting for a day. That's not long enough to instruct you, but is too much effort for a simple report that I could have sent to him back in Otogakure."

"Hn," Sasuke mumbled in response, causing Karin to roll her eyes at him.

"Such a way with words." She teased before going back to relaxing.

UN:PoA

Hinata kept her Byakugan active as she did her best to not see what was happening in the other rooms of the hotel. She and the others were waiting for Kakashi to return from signing them up. Lee was in the corner of the room, currently on sit-up 5,986 of his second set of 10,000. Sakura and Kurenai were both sitting cross-legged on one of the beds holding each other's hands; both of their heads were bowed as they participated in some sort of mental duel that only the two of them could perceive.

A knocking at the door interrupted the four, along with the word: "Housekeeping!" being shouted in a high-pitched voice.

Hinata just focused her Byakugan to look through the door and see Kakashi.

"You can come in Kakashi-sensei," she said with a smile. "The door isn't locked."

Kakashi walked in, a pout on his face so sour that it could be seen through his mask. "You guys are no fun," he said. "Lee didn't even pause in his sit-ups."

"My apologies Kakashi-sensei!" Lee answered, still doing his sit-ups. He was now on 7,328. "But, seeing as the chuunin exams are imminent, I must be at peak physical condition at all times! Once I am done with my sit-ups, if you would like to pretend to be a maid once again, I will also pretend that I do not realize that it is you!"

"Umm, no thanks Lee, that's ok." Kakashi sighed as he sat on the same bed as Hinata. He looked over to Sakura and Kurenai. "How long have they been at it this time?"

"Only about 30 minutes," Hinata answered, finally turning her Byakugan off and letting out a sigh as she suffered through the tensed muscles in and around her eyes spasming in their attempt to relax. "We only just found the room an hour ago, and even that was due to luck. It's the last room in the hotel."

"Last room?" Kakashi hummed to himself, noticing that Sakura and Kurenai had pulled their hands apart but still had their heads bowed. "Well, that could be a problem, keeping the boys and girls together."

"I concur!" Lee shouted as he sat up, now finished with his second set of sit-ups. "Kakashi-sensei I believe that it is only courteous to the ladies of our team that you and I find a place to sleep in the wilderness surrounding the village. It shall be a most YOUTHFUL camping trip."

"Don't worry," Kurenai said, now slowly opening her eyes as she looked towards Kakashi. "Lee may be… Lee, but I doubt he would do anything fishy while Sakura was asleep."

Lee looked taken aback, as if he had just been physically struck. "What!? Perish the thought! I would never do something so, so, UNYOUTHFUL!" He shouted in defense of himself. "In fact, I hereby declare that I will do everything in my power to guard and protect Sakura-chan's dignity and chastity, at all costs!"

"Kurenai-sensei?" Sakura spoke softly.

"Hmm?" Kurenai turned back to her pink-haired student.

"Please tell me that this is another genjutsu and I didn't just hear Lee promise to defend my chastity." She said, eyes still closed.

Kurenai chuckled and pat Sakura on the head. "Unfortunately, Sakura, reality can sometimes be scarier than illusions."

"Kakashi-sensei?" Hinata said, asking for his attention, not wanting to disturb the moment between Kurenai and Sakura.

"Yes, Hinata-chan?" Kakashi answered, turning to her with an eye smile.

"Since all the paperwork is done now, what will we be doing tomorrow?" She asked. "The exam doesn't start until the day after."

Kakashi placed a hand on her shoulder. "Well, that's up to you four. I suspect Lee will continue to-" Kakashi looked at the boy, who was now starting his third set of 10,000 sit-ups. "Be Lee… but, you, Kurenai, and Sakura can do as you please. As for advice on my part? I would recommend acting exactly like what you are."

"What I am?" Hinata hummed as Sakura finally started to stand up and stretch.

"A beautiful young lady, a tourist, and someone who seriously needs a vacation." Kakashi chuckled, holding up one finger for each point. "Go out with Sakura and have a good time, get some sushi, sing karaoke, go shopping for some new clothes. Heck, maybe find some cute boys to flirt with, you're out of Konoha and in your prime."

Hinata did her best not to frown at the thought of flirting with boys, she subconsciously held a hand to her chest. She had already found love and let it slip past her fingers. She didn't want or deserve another.

Kakashi immediately realized his error when he saw Hinata's reaction. "But, the moral of the story Hinata-chan," he said to her, placing a hand on her shoulder to draw her out of her spiral, "Is that for the next 24 hours, you can do whatever you want."

"For once, Kakashi-san is right, Hinata-chan," Kurenai smiled after having just walked over to her and placed a hand on her shoulder. "You and the rest of the team have been pushing yourself for nearly six months straight. A little bit of R&R could do you some good."

Hinata put on a brave face for the both of them and nodded. "You're right," she smiled before turning to Sakura. "Sakura-chan, is there anything you want to do tomorrow?"

Sakura shrugged. "I dunno, I'm sure we can walk the streets and find something to do. I do wanna see if they have any good ramen stands here, let's go out to lunch."

Hinata smiled and gave Sakura a nod. She was glad that she had such good friends and teammates. Kurenai and Kakashi were now talking in hushed tones like they often did whenever Kakashi made some sort of faux pas. Sakura was stretching her neck after half an hour of focusing. Lee was, well Lee was now on sit-up 2,048 of his third set of 10,000.

UN:PoA

Naruto was bent over the railing of the ship as it made its way towards Yugakure. They had been making great speed with the wind at their back, but the downside was that their increased speed meant that they were smacking against the waves hard enough to give him flashbacks to his time in the barf bunk.

"You alright there Haku-sama?" A voice came from behind him. Lifting his head miserably Naruto turned to spot Shio chuckling at his misfortune.

"I long for the sweet embrace of death," Naruto mumbled before looking back to the ocean and puking a bit more. Carrots, why was it always carrots? He didn't eat carrots… he didn't even like carrots!

How he had managed to vomit without getting any on his still unmoved mask was a mystery to Shio.

"Don't be so dramatic, you'll be fine," Shio said comfortingly. "At this rate, we'll be in Yugakure by tomorrow morning. Why don't you go lay down and try to sleep through the worst of it hmm?"

Naruto stood up straight, taking deep slow breaths through his nose. "Honestly? I'm halfway tempted to just run the rest of the way on top of the water. But you're probably right. Tell Yagi-san that I'm in our quarters." Naruto had opted to share a room with Yagi. For this little detour into Yagakure, he'd decided to mascarade as Yagi's bodyguard. While this meant he would be present for any important political events that took place, it also meant he would have to be stuck to Yagi at the hip to keep up appearances.

"I won't have to, Yagi-sama is in your room already," Shio spoke. "He gave me the idea, actually. You go get some rest; I'll make sure the other genin don't get in any trouble."

Naruto nodded and made his way to the VIP room he and Yagi were sharing while giving a thumbs up to Shio. All the while doing his best to not pay attention to the persistent rocking and swaying of the ship. Once inside the room, he looked around. The ship they'd chosen was rather small to increase their speed, so even the VIP room didn't have much to offer, just a single twin bed with silk sheets, a red and blue rug, and a small desk most likely intended for writing or other politician-y stuff. Taking a step inside Naruto felt his foot bump into something, he looked down to find Yagi laying on the floor, he had fallen asleep on the rug.

"Yagi-san… what are you doing?" Naruto asked with a long pause as the older man slowly sat up.

"Why Haku-sama," Yagi yawned. "I didn't know if you were coming or not so I decided to go to sleep without you."

"Ok…" Naruto sighed. "But why are you on the floor?"

"I may be playing the role of Uzukage, Haku-sama," The pale old man started. "But I wouldn't dream of attempting to place myself above you when it's not necessary to maintain our cover."

"But you're like… old and shit," Naruto retorted eloquently. "Won't that mess with your back, or your new hip, or something?"

Yagi chuckled softly, still sitting on the floor. "Haku-sama, never underestimate your elders. I have suffered through much worse in my life, this barely registers as an inconvenience to me."

"Ok," Naruto hummed to himself as he carefully tiptoed around Yagi. "You're sure you're ok with this? I can sleep on the floor, it's not a big deal."

Yagi just laid back down, rubbing his now clean-shaven upper lip where his mustache had once been. "I'll be fine Haku-sama, really. Go to sleep, tomorrow we'll reach Yugakure, and then we'll have a team participating in the Chuunin exams," He explained as he closed his eyes. "We'll have plenty of excitement up ahead, so get some rest. Besides, I'm not the one who's been seasick for the last 8 hours."

Naruto rolled his eyes; Yagi had failed to suppress a note of humor in his tone when he'd brought up Naruto's seasickness. He didn't feel so bad about letting the old man sleep on the floor anymore. Snuffing out the light, Naruto laid down on the bed and closed his eyes. Breathing through his nose and focusing on that, he slowly drifted off to sleep.

UN:PoA

The next morning Hinata and Sakura had chosen to sleep in, not getting up until almost noon. The two had taken turns getting showered and ready for the day in an otherwise empty room. A simple note on one of the nightstands read:

Kurenai and I are out for the rest of the day, Lee has sworn to run 300 laps around the village and do a bunch of other stuff. There's 10,000 ryu from mission funds for you two to split for the day in Sakura's left shoe. Don't spend it all in one place and try not to get yourselves killed or imprisoned.

-Kakashi

"Well, that's one way for a legal guardian to act." Sakura chuckled as she finished getting ready while Hinata got out of the shower. Sakura took her left shoe off and sure enough, there were 5 2,000 ryu bills in there.

Hinata got dressed quickly so that the two could head out, they had both missed breakfast and were rather hungry and eager to get lunch soon.

"Ready Sakura-chan?" Hinata asked once she was finished. It was still a shock to her that Sakura didn't have to dye her hair for it to stay pink. She was a little jealous.

Sakura smiled and nodded. She was still in shock that Hinata didn't have to put on any make-up to have such perfect and pale skin. She was a little jealous. "Girls' night out- girls' night out- girls' night out! Dattebayo!" Sakura chanted happily as she and Hinata walked out.

As soon as they left their room Hinata activated her Byakugan, causing Sakura to turn on her heel and face the slightly taller girl.

"I don't think so~," Sakura said in a fake authoritative tone.

"What?" Hinata asked, genuinely confused.

"This is our last day off before the chuunin exam. No Byakugan," Sakura stated. "We're in a friendly village surrounded by jonin whose sole job is to keep the contestants safe until the exams start. If there's one day that you don't need your Byakugan active, it's today. Turn it off and relax. You can't relax if you're keeping an eye on literally everything all the time."

Hinata pouted softly but did as she was told, deactivating her Byakugan. "You're right Sakura-chan, I'm sorry."

Sakura just rolled her eyes and grabbed Hinata by the hand before leading her out of the hotel and out into the streets. "You don't need to be sorry Hinata. It's not like I'm actually in charge of you or anything, I just want my friend to relax for once."

Hinata blushed at Sakura so explicitly calling her a friend. Despite her constant effort to put her teachers and teammates at ease by acting more relaxed, she was still incredibly reserved, it was just that she hid it better now.

Soon the two were walking through the streets, Sakura still leading Hinata by the hand as the two browsed the various shops and food stalls. Hinata had said she was willing to eat at a teriyaki bar, but Sakura was set on finding ramen. After only a little bit of searching and asking for directions, the two did find a ramen stand near the eastern side of the city. Walking inside they both took a seat at the counter next to a boy that looked about their age. She couldn't tell much about him due to his mask that looked like it was made out of a ratty old shirt. He was doubtlessly also here for the chunin exam considering he didn't wear the Yugakure hitai-ate. Also, his headband looked… very familiar. Was that a Nuzu symbol? Was he a-?

"And what can I get you two young ladies?" A voice spoke from behind the counter, causing Sakura to jump a bit as she directed her attention to it.

"Hmm!? Oh, uh, just two bowls of miso ramen to start us off" Sakura said before turning back to the boy, only to be left staring at a pile of empty bowls and a pile of cash where he had been eating.

"Is something wrong Sakura-chan?" Hinata asked. "I thought you'd be more excited; you've been talking about getting ramen since we left Konoha."

"Y-yeah, it's fine. Did you just see-?" Sakura looked back to the empty seat before shaking her head. "Never mind, let's eat!"

UN:PoA

Naruto let out deep panicked breaths as he hid behind a dumpster on the other side of town, his heartbeat so loud in his ears that it threatened to deafen him. After landing that morning, he'd made his excuses while Yagi did the paperwork with the Daimyo before running off to the nearest ramen stand. Things had been going great, he was on his 8th bowl and about to order his 9th when he'd heard a familiar set of footsteps. Out of the corner of his eye he'd seen her, the girl he had loved… the girl he had failed.

"Dammit!" Naruto shouted to himself as he punched the pavement. Gritting his teeth as he tried to focus on the pain. "Dammit, dammit, dammit!"

Naruto punched the pavement repeatedly with every breath. "I'm over this! I'm over them! I'm over her and the whole damned village!" He continued to punch until his hands grew bloody. "I'm over Sasuke, and being a jinchuuriki! I'm not even Naruto anymore! I'm Haku now! I moved on! I started a new life! I'm not… Dammit!"

Naruto scooted back, resting his back against the dumpster as he took deep breaths. "I'm over this! I have a new home now, and new friends, and new responsibilities. I have a new life now! So why-" Naruto sniffled, doing his best to hold back tears.

"Why was I so happy to see her?"

UN:PoA

Shio tossed and caught a ball in the air as he walked the two other genin to their quarters. "Alright kids, looks like we're all bunking here until tomorrow morning. Joki-san wants to make sure we're 'well taken care of' until the exams start."

"Yeah, we know. We were there too, remember? And why are you calling us kids?" One of the two asked. "We're the same age as you."

"That's true, but you heard Haku and Yagi-sama. I'm in charge, and that means it's my responsibility to make sure you two don't make the village look bad."

"How would we make the village look bad?" The other asked.

"Yeah!" The first said with a nod.

"We're awesome!" The two shouted in unison.

"Ugh… twins." Shio sighed as he rubbed his eyes.

Nana and Nene were identical in every way imaginable. Supposedly Nana was a girl, while Nene was a boy, but he wasn't entirely sure they weren't messing with him about that. Or was Nana a boy and Nene a girl? Either way, he didn't want to check. The two were short, even shorter than Haku-sama was. They had long black hair that hung straight and low with deep red eyes and round, almost heart-shaped, faces. They both wore the standard Uzu uniform with no customizations other than adding a black leather glove on their right hands.

"Why did we pick you two again?" Shio asked, catching his ball one last time before placing it in his pocket. "I'm already getting a headache."

"Because we were the only genin who would volunteer to be stuck with you for a month!" The two spoke before giving each other a high five.

Shio sighed, pinching the bridge between his nose. Finally, he pointed to one of the two. "Listen, Nene-"

"I'm Nana."

"You two are gonna go to your room and not cause any trouble for me, ok? I know Haku-sama has a plan; I just don't know what that is yet. So, we're all gonna play nice, put on a nice show during the exams, and hope to God that nothing bad happens, ok?"

"Whatever, let's go, Nana." The one said before grabbing the other and walking away.

"Wait, I thought you were Nana!?" Shio shouted as the two giggled and ran off into the distance.

Shio walked into his room and tossed his bag onto the bed before opening it. With a long-suffering sigh, he reached in tried to pull out a single shirt, only to pull up a long string of them. Somehow Nana and Nene had managed to secretly tie all of the sleeves of his shirts together while he wasn't looking.

"Why can't anything in my life just work out?"

UN:PoA

After calming down from his near-miss with Sakura, Naruto had returned to his and Yagi's provided quarters. He'd had to wait as Yagi schmoozed with the politicians, something that he was grateful he 'missed' out on. Naruto was already getting bored with all the legalese, further cementing in his mind that it was a good idea to leave it up to Yagi. He dreaded the day he would have to come out as the true Uzukage and have to deal with all the bullshit. Maybe there would be some way to keep Yagi around and pawn all that stuff onto him while he focused on NOT focusing on how nice Sakura had smelled… or how her hair had gotten a bit longer and how cute it looked on her… or-

"Are you alright Haku-sama?" Yagi asked suddenly from behind Naruto.

Naruto responded with a shrug and a sigh. "I just saw a couple of ghosts from a past life is all." He finally said after a long pause.

"Are we talking literally or figuratively?" Yagi asked seriously. "Hauntings are no laughing matter and I could perform some rituals of cleansing."

Naruto shook his head. "No, thankfully they weren't literal ghosts. Just some people I knew before I became Uzukage."

Yagi nodded and sat down on his bed. "I see, would you like to talk about it, Haku-sama? I understand you value your privacy, heck I still haven't even seen your face, but if you give me the gist of the situation, I might be able to offer some old-man advice."

Naruto tipped his chair back, balancing on the two back legs as he thought. "Hmm, old-man advice does tend to be the most reliable of advice."

Yagi chuckled softly and nodded but didn't speak, simply waiting for his young friend to continue.

"I've had a crush on this girl for… well basically forever really," Naruto started. "She and I were on a team together she had a crush on the other guy in our team."

"Classic love triangle," Yagi nodded wisely.

"Right? So anyway, this other guy decided to be a real asshole and go rogue. She asked me to bring him back so I promised I would, up until then my nindo was to keep my promises," Naruto explained, getting comfortable as he did his best to explain the situation without giving away too many details. "I went after him and, let's just say things didn't work out how I'd hoped."

Yagi nodded again, "I understand so far, keep going."

"Well," Naruto continued. "The next thing I know, things have gotten way more complicated, I'm running away from home with nothing but the clothes on my back. After a strangely not-so-long series of events, I wound up on Uzu and had just started rebuilding when you guys showed up."

"Well, that doesn't sound too bad. Stranger things have happened in this world. I'm assuming this isn't the whole story?" Yagi asked.

"Not by a long shot," Naruto replied.

"So, what does this have to do with why you're so down at the moment?" Yagi asked, getting to the heart of the matter.

"You know how I ran off to scout the town and get a lay of the land just in case things went south?"

"You mean how you ran to the nearest ramen shop the second you thought of an excuse?" Yagi chuckled with a nod. "Yes, I remember."

"Well, while I was out scouting-"

"You mean eating."

Naruto gave the smiling old man the evil eye for a moment before returning to his story.

"While I was out, I ran into the girl I had a crush on," he explained. "And I just… I thought I was over her y'know? I thought I had moved on, but the second I saw her I wanted to hug her and tell her everything that had happened, but I freaked out and ran away."

Yagi leaned back in his chair and nodded, stroking his chin. "And why would telling her be a problem? Why are you still hiding your identity at all?"

Naruto sighed, that was a good question. He had started using the Haku persona with Hige-san as a gut reaction.

"I think… I think it's because I don't know how people would react. Not to brag, but I'm kind of a big deal in my old village- well I wasn't when I was alive, but after I died, I sort of became a big deal… again, it's complicated. I'm just scared of what they'll do if they know I'm me. Before that a lotta people hated me."

Yagi looked at him with a look of barely suppressed shock. "I'm sorry, but did you just say after you died?"

"Oh yeah, I guess I left that part out. I died and got buried and stuff before having to crawl my way out of my grave… did I mention it's complicated?"

"Have you told anyone else about this?" Yagi asked seriously.

"Only Shio, but I'm pretty sure he thought I was joking," Naruto answered.

"Ok… ok, well, let's put that on the back burner for a second. Just don't tell anyone else alright?" Yagi asked seriously.

"Wasn't planning to the chief." Naruto chuckled with a shrug. "So anyway, back to the important part: this girl never really liked me before, in fact, she basically hated me. So, now that people like me I don't know if she'll like me or just the idea of me because I'm the son of a famous guy. Also, I've been pretending to be dead for half a year and that's kinda fucked up on my part. It's just so…"

"Complicated. Yeah, I get that," Yagi said as he let out a sigh.

"So… what's your sage wisdom, oh wise old dude?" Naruto asked, sitting up.

"Well," Yagi began. "Unfortunately, I don't know much when it comes to romance. I can tell you this though: don't rush into matters of love. Take your time with this one. Should you reveal yourself to this girl, you can't take that back. I don't think there is a right answer to this, Haku-sama. You just have to listen to your heart and hope for the best."

"Oh, I wasn't planning on revealing myself," Naruto clarified, unknowingly taking the wind out of Yagi's sails. "I just want to know why I still think she's cute even though I've been doing my best to forget her for the last six months."

"Wait," Yagi pinched the bridge of his nose. "That is your dilemma?

"Yep," Naruto nodded.

"So… everything you just told me," Yagi started. "About dying and coming back to life. About running away from home. About breaking your nindo. About realizing who your father was. About being betrayed by your friend. About founding an entire nation… All of that, and you're only concern is why you still have a crush on her?"

"Yeah," Naruto said with another nod as though it were obvious.

Yagi let out a long-suffering groan as he relaxed back into his seat. "Haku-sama… there are these things called hormones. They're what make you like girls. They don't make sense, they just kinda happen. Don't worry about it."

Naruto smiled and gave a thumbs up to Yagi. "That's brilliant! I'll just stop worrying about it! See? I knew old-man advice always helped!"

Author's note:

Man, this might be the longest chapter I've written and I still feel like I'm cutting it short. Anyway, about the name of the chapter. The chapter title is a reference to the post-3-year time-skip chapter "Chapter 166: Everyone's Reunion" in the original run of Dragon Ball, which is credited by some (including me) with unintentionally popularizing time skips in anime. I figured since I'm taking advantage of a short time skip, I may as well pay homage to the classics.

Feel free to skip this next part. It's more of a madman's ravings.

So… I've got an idea. I like to consider this fic as me writing an anime more than me writing a novel. So, for "season one" I want the intro song to be "Dead on Arrival" by Fall Out Boy. I also want the ending credits song to be "My Hope Will Never Die" by VEX, or "Hate To Say I Told You So" by The Hives. I can't pick :/

Starting with this chapter, I'm now considering the fic to be in "season two." The opening song for every episode/chapter is "Another Level" by Oh The Larceny. The ending credits song for this "season" would be a minor spoiler, but I'll let you know what I'm thinking after we get past that point.

Thanks for your reviews and continued support. Now go out and kick some ass!