Itachi launched a storm of shurikens at Naruto, who haphazardly deflected them while retreating and rapidly taking cover inside an enormous hollowed out tree.

Naruto's throat and nostrils burned with each rushed breath; his sides throbbed with pain, but he tried his best to ignore it "You can only attack from one direction now" he reasoned.

A serene silence overtook the forest, The only noise being the slowing beat in the boy's overworked heart. Naruto relaxed noticeably; it was the first breather that he had gotten. The barrage of attacks had started at noon and the night sky was the only clue of the passage of time.

The silence started to grow uncomfortable after a few minutes. "I lost him? not possible." Naruto focused his hearing. Crackling and popping were approaching from a distance, and it could only mean one thing. He turned around and rushed up inside the tree to the opening at the top and bolted out of it, followed by a stream of fire.

Now in freefall towards the fast-approaching ground, he rattled his brain for a solution and found none. Naruto braced for impact. Something tugged at his shirt hard, and his momentum slowed down.

Itachi dropped Naruto on the ground and allowed him to rest. Naruto gather strength and look up to the spot where his mentor was just standing, now empty. They had gone way past schedule. He flopped onto his back and look up to the starry sky, inhaling some air with char wood scent he started retracing his day.

He laid there contemplating what he had done right and wrong, squeezing as many memories out of his training session as he could. Visualizing the predicaments that he faced earlier that day and trying to come up with other solutions.

The moon had not moved much. Naruto snapped back onto his feet, with his exhaustion completely gone and his muscle soreness slowly fading away. "Time to go back home" he realized and started his journey out the forest.

"Jiji? Why am I here? Am I in trouble again?" Natsumi asked fearfully from the chair in front of the Third Hokage's desk, he leaned back on his chair a took a puff from his pipe.

The hokage looked at Natsumi with an expressionless face "Its best you confess'' he suggested nonchalantly '' If you admit to your crime your punishment won't be as severe".

Natsumi was sweating profusely, she could not believe that she had been caught so fast. The execution of her plan was immaculate, there was no way that it could have been traced back to her, she had made sure of it.

Calmness washed over her body " it's a bluff'' she thought, there was no other explanation that she could have come up with.

The old man noticed the change in her demeanor and decided to stop teasing her "I have something for you, it's from your father". Hiruzen smiled at the shocked face of the girl. He reached for an old simple wooden box with a reddish tint that was in his desk and placed it in front of Natsumi.

Hiruzen lifted an eyebrow. Natsumi had not moved a muscle and just stared at the box blankly. She slowly looked up at her dear Jiji with teary eyes "From my dad?'' she questioned softly, to which he nodded affirmatively.

The girl lifted the lid with the out most care in the world. Inside was a three-pointed kunai with a wooden handle adorned by some intricate seals. She stared curiously at it and picked it up slowly. It felt natural to her, almost as if she had held the weird kunai before.

"Channel some chakra into it'' whispered the third.

Natsumi looked at her grandfather figure hesitantly and did as she was told. With a swish of air, she banished from her chair and instantly appeared in the middle of the office, barely landing on her feet.

Natsumi froze for a few seconds, processing what had just happened. The Hokage observed closely. Natsumi look at him with a coy smile and bolted towards him leaping over his desk and with a swish in the air she appeared in the middle of the office once again.

The old man chuckled triumphantly " I thought she was going to be incompatible too" he thought to himself.