AN: Shorter chapter today. This was originally supposed to be part of the next chapter, but I decided to break it up due to the flow, and overall feel of the chapter. All your comments from last chapter were amazing, so thank you all for those. Enjoy! EDIT: Beta'd as of 8/29

Consciousness came slowly to Naruto. It was fuzzy at first, like a heavy blanket draped over his senses. But slowly it was lifting, and he became more aware of his surroundings.

There were waves outside, and the sound of wave crashing against surf woke him further. Where was he? The last thing he remembered was… it was…

Right, Haku. He hadn't died, and neither had Zabuza. Relief flooded through him as he lay on what was presumably a futon. But what had happened afterwards? After he had passed out? Had they left? Had kakashi-sensei gone and finished him off? He didn't know.

The sound of pages turning caught his ear, and slowly, he cracked an eye open to see who it was.

"Welcome back to the waking world," someone drawled from across the room. Naruto blinked and rubbed at his eyes, propping himself up on an elbow to see who had spoken. He was met with the sight of Kakashi-sensei propped up against the wall with his book, reading. Or he had been, Naruto noted once he noticed his eye was on him rather than the pages.

"Kakashi-sensei," Naruto croaked out, throat surprisingly dry and, despite the gravelly edge, voice questioning. Kakashi noticed and set his book down so as to give the boy his full attention.

"You've only been out for two days," he said, answering Naruto's unspoken question.

"Two days?" He echoed in shock.

"Yes, chakra exhaustion tends to do that to a person," was his sensei's almost-snide remark - almost snide, because there was still concern in Kakashi-sensei's voice and in his statement. But still, it was a little jarring to Naruto, who had only experienced severe chakra exhaustion two, maybe three, times in his life. And those times were limited only to intense training and going all out in a fight. And he hadn't really gone all out with Haku. Not even close.

Noticing his confusion, Kakashi-sensei explained. "Do you remember the chains you summoned on the bridge?" He asked. Naruto frowned, recalling the memory. He had been confused and surprised by them, but hadn't really put a lot of thought into it. There had been more pressing issues at hand. Like making sure Kakashi-sensei wasn't decapitated and that Sasuke didn't kill Haku or vice versa. That didn't mean, however, that he didn't recognise them. He had seen his mom use them to hold down Kurama when he had stolen the beast's chakra. But thinking back, how had he summoned those?

"They are a rare Uzumaki kekkei genkai," Kakashi-sensei filled in. "I've only seen them once before, and, quite frankly, I'm surprised you managed to awaken them yourself," he continued. "Using them the way you did at that power must have drained your reserves more than any jutsu you're used to. So it's natural you'd suffer chakra exhaustion."

"Wait," Naruto said, sitting up straight, ignoring the wave of dizziness that washed over him from the action. "I have a kekkei genkai? For real?"

Kakashi-sensei nodded solemnly. "It would appear so."

Naruto blinked, taking it in. He had a kekkei genkai. Him. The Uzumaki clan had a bloodline skill. He really shouldn't have been surprised, considering he'd managed to pull it off, but some part of him still had doubts that it was just his mom, somehow. Or some other reason he couldn't think of. To actually think that it was his own power he'd managed to unlock, instead of some other borrowed power, it was amazing. He could hardly wrap his head around it.

"Wow," he breathed. Then, in a louder voice he exclaimed, "I'm awesome, y'know! Take that Sasuke, look who's got a kekkei genkai now, y'know!"

"I think you're getting a little too excited over this," Kakashi-sensei voiced, sweat beading on his brow.

"Are you kidding, sensei!" Naruto exclaimed, punching the air in excitement. "My clan has something special! This is great, this is-" his sentence was cut off by the world suddenly swimming around him, and he pitched towards the floor. He would have stopped himself, but his body refused to react.

He never hit the ground though, strong hands catching him before he did.

"Perhaps getting over excited while chakra exhausted is a bad idea, hm?" His sensei hummed, laying him back down on the futon.

Naruto could only offer a weak, yet hearty, smile in response.

The jōnin moved back to sit against the wall again, arms folded in front of his chest in a relaxed pose. "I would suggest you rest, but knowing you you'll keep pestering me with questions," Kakashi-sensei mused in good nature. "Am I right?"

Naruto's face broke out into a guilty grin, and a long sigh escaped the jōnin, but Kakashi didn't really seem too put-out by the reaction.

"Oh, alright," he sighed. "Ask away."

Naruto opened his mouth to start his badgering, but was cut off by the sound of footsteps outside before the door was pulled hastily open.

"Is everything okay? We heard shouting," asked the newcomer.

Naruto looked up to see who it was and was pleasantly surprised to find Sakura and Sasuke standing in the doorway.

"Ah, Sakura, please come in," their sensei greeted. "I was just explaining to Naruto about his new kekkei genkai."

Naruto watched as Sakura's eyebrows rose comically high on her forehead. Her eyes widened and flickered over to Naruto as though to confirm that, yes, this was who Kakashi-sensei was talking about.

"A kekkei genkai?" She asked, still unable to believe it.

"Yeah," he laughed. "Guess I'm just that awesome, y'know."

Sakura frowned as she took her seat by him. It was almost cute to watch. "But you never had a kekkei genkai before," she mused, referring to how in the past timeline he had never awakened such a power. And if Naruto was being honest, he was thinking the same thing. How had he never discovered it? What was different about this time around that he did? He remembered using Kurama's power on the bridge last time, but that was a response to seeing Sasuke supposedly die in front of him. That hadn't happened this time though. This time he wasn't as angry. He was… desperate.

"Kekkei genkai are sometimes awakened by strenuous circumstances, or severe emotions," kakashi-sensei cut in, oblivious to what Sakura had actually meant. "For instance, Sasuke awakened his sharingan, an Uchiha dōjutsu which he didn't have before."

Naruto's eyebrows rose up his forehead as he turned to his teammate. "Really?" He asked, giving Sasuke a searching look. He still had his fully formed sharingan, not the two and one tomoe he'd originally had. How had he managed to swing that without incurring suspicion?

The Uchiha merely shrugged, unwilling to expound upon it himself. Naruto's shoulders slumped, but he accepted the silence. He would badger him later during their secret meetings anyway. Another thought suddenly occurred to him.

"Wait," he started, turning back to his sensei. "What about Haku, and Zabuza? What happened after I blacked out?"

"Oh," Sakura started. "Right. Inari and the other villagers arrived to help. But they were a little late. Haku and Zabuza agreed to give some of Gatō's money back to Wave and they're still hanging around town. Haku wanted to speak to you before they left."

"Left?" Naruto frowned. "To where?"

Sakura shrugged, a small smile tugging at her lips as she whispered. "I may have told them about the revolution being planned in Kiri. Zabuza seemed to like the idea and agreed to go back and help. For some reason the mention of Mei Terumi piqued his interest."

More like another part of him… Naruto thought, recalling Mei Terumi and, more specifically, her looks.

"So that's that," Kakashi-sensei cut in mildly. "We managed to clean up the bridge while you were out, and since it's almost done, Tazuna thinks we'll be able to leave within the week."

Naruto nodded. That was good. He couldn't wait to get home and tell everyone all about their mission. Neither could Sakura or Sasuke by the looks of it. They had all been starting to get some form of cabin fever over the last few days. As great and exciting as this mission was, they'd rather be focusing on the future and preparing for that.

"However," his sensei continued. All three genin let out a groan. What now? "You will be on bedrest for most of that week."

"What!" Naruto cried, jolting in his seat. "That's unfair! C'mon sensei, you didn't stay in bed all week! Why do I gotta?"

"Maa, Naruto," Kakashi-sensei sighed in defeat. "Can't you just follow orders once in your life?"

"Not when they're lame orders," he shot back. Then something flashed in his sensei's lone eye, and Naruto stiffened in response.

"Sakura, Sasuke, don't you have somewhere to be?" He asked, his tone hard and filled with an authority the two had hardly realised he was capable of.

Sakura, nodded quickly and got up, ushering Sasuke to do the same. With an apologetic glance back at Naruto, she and Sasuke quickly left the room, leaving Naruto to face whatever Kakashi-sensei had to say to him alone.

Naruto gulped nervously.

"Naruto," his sensei said seriously, forcing his attention. "I don't think you understand just how much danger you put yourself in," he said. "Unleashing a kekkei genkai that powerfully your first try, on top of forcing your body to work through the injuries you'd received, you could have been seriously hurt. If not dead."

His words were heavy, but rang with truth. Overcome by the guilt the jōnin's words instilled, Naruto looked down at his lap, fingers twisting the blanket around absently.

"I swore I'd never let my comrades die," he continued. "And that means protecting them from themselves, if I have to."

A lump formed in Naruto's throat, thick and painful.

"I'm sorry, sensei," he murmured. "I didn't realize."

Kakashi-sensei let out a low sigh, shoulders slumping some. "It's alright, Naruto," he said. "Just make sure you never push yourself like that again."

I can't promise that, Naruto thought to himself despairingly. I'll do whatever I have to to protect my comrades. Even if it kills me. Even if it means facing a Goddess, or accidently being sent back in time.

"Okay, sensei," he said quietly, not meaning a word of it.