Second Chances

By: FlameXFullmetal

Disclaimer: I really do not own Naruto but I do want him as a pet. He would make a good pet.

A/N: I am back! I really am keeping up now! Much better time management in work. Anyway I am glad that everyone is keeping with the story and still likes it. If anyone however, knows how to get the indents for the paragraphs to show up that would be great. It is really bothering me that they will not keep once I upload the chapter. I did have someone mention that since Kakashi and Kurenai are both jonin he wouldn't outrank her. However, Kurenai is listed as a tokubetsu jonin, or special jonin. These jonin are assigned the rank when they have jonin level skills in one area that they specialize in. Kurenai's area is genjutsu, so while she is a jonin it is only because her genjutsu skills were capable of pulling her through. I believe that if you hold the rank of jonin you should have jonin level skills in every are not just on specialized area. As such tokubetsu jonin are 'half jonin' and thus outranked by full jonin like Kakashi. Reviews!

Katsumie: Sorry I didn't reply to the pm you sent but as for reviving the Uzumaki clan I may just do that or just stick with the mentioned survivors I'm not sure. As for Hiruzen...I really hate him. He could have done so much better and didn't so no forgiveness for him.

Marquis shax: I have never heard those three couples described like that before. It actually made me laugh, thx for that it was hilarious. Yes Haku will be a female in this story. I honestly have trouble seeing Haku as a male given the petite appearance he was given and I often find myself saying 'she' when referring to the Yuki. The butterfly effect if you will though don't ask for details, lol.

Guest: Hinata may not have been a medic in canon but I am sure that you must have noticed by now that this isn't canon and it is a 'redo' of the original story line by Naruto to fix things. Personally she would have made a better medic than Sakura any day. Also for a story in which you hate everything you seem to be keeping up pretty well. How is that hate of a story you like to review coming along?

"hello" people (bijuu in human form) speaking

'hello' people (bijuu in human form) thinking/coded hand signals

"HELLO" bijuu (full demon form)/summoning/deity yelling

"hello" bijuu (full demon form)/summoning/deity talking

'hello' bijuu (full demon form)/summoning/deity thinking

hello jutsu

**************Training and Meetings************

The next day at the bridge builder's house was a quiet one as the tension between the two jonin could be felt. Kurenai was still not pleased with the tongue lashing that she had received in front of the genin or the way that Kakashi had pretty much accused her of trying to kill her team. Kakashi on the other hand was trying to control his temper and not light into the woman again and in front of a lot of civilians this time. This was truly no time for them to be fighting and the last thing they needed was for anymore animosity to be seen between them and be used by the enemy later. As the genin walked downstairs they looked between the two jonin and groaned. Sitting down and thanking Tsunami for the meal Naruto waited a few minutes before speaking up.

"Hey Kakashi-sensei? What are we going to do now? We have no idea where Zabuza is or what condition he is in. Furthermore we still have to deal with Gato and whatever else he has in store plus there is the matter of not inconveniencing Tsunami any further as it is not easy to keep up with one growing shinobi let alone four and two fully grown. The last thing I want to do is leave them without after the mission is done because of our presence." His question caught the jonin off guard and knocked him out of his glaring match with the genjutsu mistress. Even Tsunami had been startled by the question and the amount of consideration that the blonde had put into it concerning her family.

"Well I intend to do a little training with all of you so that you are better prepared for what is coming. We could scout out the area and try to find Gato's location. From there we will be able to tell whether or not Zabuza is with him close by or not. If Zabuza is not close by to Gato and there seems to be little resistance in regards to other shinobi present then we could raid Gato's base and shut him down quickly. If there are other shinobi in the base or Zabuza is nearby then we will have to return and brainstorm some more." He replied. Tazuna and Tsunami were staring at the group as if they were insane. Storming Gato's base with or without shinobi there was suicide with the amount of guards and people he had working for him.

"I want to raid Gato's place anyway. I think that he is somewhat known as a collector of rare things that he may be able to tempt people to work with him for. Like jutsu scrolls, famous weapons, things like that. I want to know if he has anything that belongs to my family." Naruto replied piquing Kurenai's curiosity. Kakashi appeared to be in deep thought when Inari stood up abruptly catching the occupants of the room off guard.

"Why? You'll just die anyway! It's pointless!" He snapped. Naruto shook his head in sadness.

"I'm sure that you felt that way when you were learning to walk, talk or read. 'It is to hard, it's pointless. It'll never work' however you never gave up on those things but you would give up on living freely without fear of walking outside? Why? Those other things are trivial when compared to the value of human life." Naruto retorted making the boy glare before running off. Tsunami groaned and looked over at the ninja.

"Sorry about him he has been like this for awhile now and it is only getting worse."

"No need to apologize, he is grieving and depressed. As things are now I can see why as well. However, he is forgetting the things that he has that many other people in the world don't have. He has food, even if it is scarce at times. He has a roof over his head. A warm bed to sleep in and a loving family around him. He is merely overlooking the important things because he can't see past the grief of whomever he lost." Naruto said making her eyes widen. Sasuke nodded in agreement and looked out the window.

"It's true. He does have things that a lot of people would kill for. Both literally and metaphorically. People have killed over beds, homes and food before. People have killed families for things that they had no control over and they have killed for no reason just to spread the suffering. He is a very lucky person. However, he is letting that grief consume him and when that happens you can lose yourself and become someone that you will hate later when it is all said and done. The grief that a person feels can make them do things that they otherwise would not have been able to do or thought that they could bring themselves to do like murder or lash out and hurt loved ones in anger." He said sadly remembering how the old him hadn't even tried to comfort the boy despite knowing better than anyone how much it hurt to see your father die. He never did forgive himself for that after Naruto knocked some sense into him. Tsunami stared at the young boys before her and she could see that their eyes held wisdom far beyond their years. She couldn't even imagine what had happened to them to make them so insightful on the subject.

"Yes well he will come around. He just needs time and a reminder that not all hope is lost." Kakashi quipped. Naruto nodded sagely and then gained a very serious expression.

"Kakashi-sensei, I know that this is a big request but when we next meet Zabuza I want to be the one to deal with him and anyone that he has with him. Well me and Sasuke." He said. Tazuna felt himself choke on his rice and Kurenai just barely managed to get her tea back into her cup.

"Why Naruto? You know that you are not ready to face one of the seven." Kakashi demanded.

"He owes my family. He took an oath of loyalty when he accepted the Kubikiribocho. I intend to make him honor that oath. If he doesn't and I can't handle him then I will let you step in and finish it but I think that I can end the fighting between the two groups of shinobi without bloodshed. I want Sasuke with me because I felt someone watching the battle back there so I think that he has an accomplice. In that case I may need Sasuke to keep them off of my back while I discuss Zabuza's loyalties with him." Naruto replied.

"You are just a genin! Kakashi surely you can't be considering such a dangerous proposition?! He would get killed!" Kurenai shouted having finally gathered her wits again and found her voice.

"The Sandaime was only a chunin when he became Hokage! Surely he wasn't ready to handle the duties that came with the position either, yet here he is still alive sixty years later!" Naruto fired back hotly at the jonin. Kurenai and the blonde continued to glare at each other before Sasuke interrupted.

"Whether or not that is the case Kurenai, you must realize by now that your judgment is severely hampered by several contributing factors and as such you have no say in this decision especially since you are not mine nor Naruto's jonin. Furthermore, it is not up to you to decide whether or not rank denotes skill. I think that you had better learn to think before you speak." He snarled catching everyone off guard. Sasuke had never been so venomous before and never so disrespectful to a superior before. Naruto on the other hand groaned mentally as he realized that Sasuke's loyalty was kicking in and if he didn't calm down soon he would slip and call him Hokage-sama by accident.

"Sasuke. Enough." Naruto barked. Those two words were more than enough to settle the Uchiha as he sat back apologizing but still glaring at the woman before him. The interaction between the two startled Kurenai speechless and Kakashi began to wonder even more about the tie between the two.

"Sasuke is right Kurenai, that is my call to make. I can see why you would be concerned but seeing as you have forgotten what the three of us accomplished before I have to believe that you have a very short memory. Naruto, regardless of rank, is a very powerful shinobi. At the rate that he is growing I doubt that he would not be stronger than me in a few months. Furthermore Sasuke had been growing at the same rate and Hinata's progress has been staggering as well. I find that the three of them working together may actually be able to defeat Zabuza in combat. I still have my doubts as to your safety in this manner but I will allow you to confront Zabuza on several conditions. One: You only fight Zabuza when I am present." He started and Naruto nodded. He had to admit that getting Kakashi to agree to the request was easier than expected.

"Two: You must retreat if you become seriously wounded. I know that a serious wound is child's play to you considering your unique lineage however, I will not take any chances. I doubt that even you could survive without your head. Three: I am allowed to interfere if it appears that you are losing the battle and will not be able or willing to make the decision to retreat. Four: If either you or Sasuke is incapacitated in any way I take over the fight. Understood?" Naruto nodded and Sasuke relaxed a little. They had some assurance that Zabuza and Haku had a higher chance of survival. Especially if they were the ones that fought them. They had been worried that the copy nin wouldn't agree to the proposal but now that he had they felt a small amount of relief. Finishing their food they waited for the jonin to stand and then followed him from the room Kurenai receiving orders to stay with Tazuna.

*****Elsewhere*******

"So how are they?"

"Bad. I will need more supplies soon in order to make more salve. At this rate the wounds may never fully heal. There will more than likely be some minor scaring."

"That wasn't even a direct hit. Those three are dangerous. That blonde especially." Zabuza lamented. He had never expected anyone to have a combination jutsu as strong as they did. The copy ninja he knew would be a problem but the kids were a surprise. He also felt somewhat insulted. Kakashi hadn't even used his sharingan once during the fight. That meant that he hadn't seen him as enough of a threat to use it. He had heard that the man had gotten weaker over the years due to grief but if anything he seemed much stronger than he used to be! Flinching as he adjusted in the bed he sighed as he knew that it would be at least a week before he could even think of lifting the Kubikiribocho again. 'Damn them.'

********Back with Kakashi********

"Alright, Shino how far have you gotten in your chakra control exercises?" Kakashi asked as soon as they were far enough away from the house.

"I have mastered the tree climbing and am currently working on the water walking. However, I appear to be having some issues with it." The Aburame admitted. He was almost ashamed at how far behind he seemed to be compared to his classmates. Nodding Kakashi looked over at Hinata.

"Try to help Shino master the water walking so that we may work on the next phase. Also I want you and Sasuke to begin working on attempting to combine your elements. How far you get will allow me to know if you have enough yang chakra to manifest into a more complex element. Especially you Naruto." Kakashi instructed and the four got to work on their individual assignments. With Hinata's help Shino quickly discovered what he was doing wrong and had the water walking mastered to Kakashi's approval in an hour. Immediately afterwards Kakashi tested Shino's chakra type. Not even Kakashi was prepared for the results given the fragile nature of Shino's kikai insects.

"Well that's interesting. You have fire and earth chakra. If your yang is high enough you may be able to use the lava release." Kakashi quipped. Sasuke smirked over at the bug user.

"Welcome to the club. This team pretty much has all of the same chakra types. We'll help you train okay?" Kakashi watched in amusement as the four quickly busied themselves by working on their chakra natures and practically ignoring his presence. Well he didn't mind that meant that he could do some reading.

Almost a week had passed with no news of the swordsman and no luck on scouting for Gato until Naruto had a shadow clone follow on of Gato's thugs back to their base. As soon as it did a quick inventory of the number of people present and the current lack of a shinobi present it dispelled and sent the information back to the original.

"Found him." Naruto said during lunch. The shinobi turned to look at him and he smirked at Kurenai's look of disbelief.

"He is in a mansion north of here. It is pretty well guarded against bandits and civilians. Most of what he is is quantity over quality. At the time that my clone dispelled there was no shinobi present at the location. Zabuza is no where nearby. Furthermore, my clone noted the positions of several vaults some more protected than others. A room full of headbands from many different nations and several account books in his office. It seems Gato has several legit businesses as well as his illegal ones. I think that any shinobi artifacts that he has is in one of the vaults. I believe that we should hit the mansion before facing down Zabuza as the headbands may belong to other shinobi that he has hired in the past and then had killed to avoid paying them. Trophies perhaps." Naruto filled them in. Sasuke nodded. He knew the place well. He knew the general layout as well.

"How many people are we talking and any non-combatants?" Kakashi demanded.

"A few non-combatants but they are being held in the basement. For the most part it looks like they are being held hostage. Perhaps more victims for his human trafficking ring. As for the enemies there are at least a hundred or so bandits and approximately twenty ronin. As I said before no noticeable shinobi." Naruto replied. Kakashi sat quietly for a few minutes and then looked over at Shino.

"Have you had your first kill yet?" The calm way that he asked it made Tazuna shiver at the reminder that shinobi were killers and assassins.

"No." Was the curt reply. Kakashi had noticed over the time that the boy had been training with him that Kurenai had been doing a piss poor job and Shino had never noticed just how little he was improving until this mission.

"I see. We'll raid the mansion tonight. Shino I want you to stay with Hinata when we go in. Naruto I want you to start stringing up traps with your clones before we head out. Once your clones are done I want Sasuke to create a diversion so that the traps will take out as many as possible before we attack. Your clones are to head down to the captives and keep them out of harm's way. After that we go in and kill all of the bandits. We can't risk them getting a hostage. Keep Gato alive though." Kakashi laid out for the genin who nodded in understanding. Shino wasn't sure how he felt about the killing everyone part but at the same time he knew that if they didn't the bandits would more than likely take out their frustrations on the villagers.

"Kurenai you are to stay here and protect Tazuna. Naruto and I will leave some shadow clones behind to assist. I doubt that Zabuza will come tonight but we can't be to sure." He ordered. The genjutsu mistress merely nodded. She hadn't been doing much talking ever since Sasuke had blown up at her. Finishing their meals the genin went about checking their supplies instead of training and an eerie silence fell over the house. After a few hours Naruto nodded and sent the clones off. It was only a matter of time before the raid would begin.

The night was quiet if not a little darker than the bandits would have liked. There was rarely anyone that was daring enough to attack Gato and so guard duty often got boring. Just as he was about to doze off a loud explosion rang out from the other side of the mansion and warning alarms began to blare through the air. The fact that someone had been brazen enough to attack was a foreign concept to the guards as they all began to move towards the blast. If only they had the light of the moon available they might have managed to notice the shinobi thread on the ground. They may not have tripped the traps.

As he was running to the source of the explosion Yusuke cursed at the timing. He had been about to go to the bathroom and he really didn't want to deal with any intruders at the moment. He only had a mere second to register the fact that his foot had caught onto something before he knew nothing more as a hail of kunai and shuriken embedded into his skin. The men that had been running behind him freezing at the sight. That proved to be their downfall as the exploding tags on the handles began to detonate one by one, the explosions echoing down the hallways.

Down another hallway no sounds could be heard except for the echoes of the other traps. It may had been deserted if not for the corpses littering the hallways a myriad of senbon littering the floor and walls. Many of them sporting a slightly off green color. There was no blood, no explosions just the quietness that came with a silent death. The death that accompanies a lethal poison. All across the compound a mass array of traps were set off one after another as many of the hired help frantically tried to respond to the first attack. After several more explosions the bandits were trampling each other in a desperate attempt to escape the mansion alive. What they found at the exits though was just more death. What they had come to know as a safe hideout had suddenly become a prison in which death was visiting every cell.

As the first wave of panicked bandits made a break for the exit Shino quickly dispatched a wave of insects to deal with them as he drew a kunai and swiftly darted in hoping that he could keep it together as he ended one life right after another. In the trees above him, Hinata was providing even more distanced support with her arrows flying true. It was eerie how swiftly the traps had been set off and how accurate Naruto's predictions had been when estimating how long it would take for pandemonium to take over. No longer were they thinking rationally. They just wanted to survive. Unfortunately they had chosen the wrong line of work as they were cut down quickly. The raid ended as fast as it began when no more enemies came from the building and it became eerily quiet once more.

"This is shadow fox. All the traps have been triggered. The only survivors are holed up in Gato's office on the third floor. There are four bandits and three ronin left. The civilians have been moved to safety." Naruto's voice rang over the headset that Aburame was wearing.

"Alright team move in. Be careful though I don't want to trigger any of their defenses."

"Affirmative." Came the chorused response. As the groups began to make their way through the building not a word was said. No words needed to be said.

With Sasuke and Naruto...

Sasuke and Naruto were heading towards Gato's office from the southern end of the building when it happened. A massive explosion from under their feet. As the floor began to collapse under them, Sasuke grabbed Naruto's hand and threw him back up to the stable floor and quickly activated his sharingans hoping to use susanoo to lessen the impact. They had been separated and Sasuke was not a fan of their predicament. He had to find a way to regroup with his Hokage. Standing he narrowed his eyes.

'First things first. I have to deal with him first.' He thought to himself as he looked at the man in front of him. How the dobe had missed him he had no idea but despite the appearance of a normal civilian Sasuke's instincts were screaming 'shinobi'.

"Well I was most certainty not expecting to find the Uchiha survivor. You also seemed to have quite the advanced sharingan. Quite the prodigy aren't you?" The man taunted. Sasuke just narrowed his eyes and prayed that the Rokudaime would be fine without him.

As the dust settled down Naruto cursed realizing that the ceiling had caved after the explosion and that the hole had been covered up. He hadn't expected Sasuke to throw him out of harm's way like that though. His promise to take care of him was showing through. 'He made good on his promise Minato.' He thought to his unborn son. Even though he knew that he was here to make things better for his children he still felt bad leaving them behind the way that he did. However, not only would they not have survived the jutsu they had no form in the past meaning that they would have ceased to exist. Shaking his head clear he looked at the man stepping out of the wall and narrowed his eyes. There was no mistaking the man before him.

"I got a mini Yondaime, how quaint." The man taunted. Naruto's eyes narrowed an he felt rage building in his chest.

"How has life been since you betrayed Uzu?" He asked the stranger. The smile faded and a glare replaced it.

"Who are you and how do you know that?"

"I know a lot of things especially about Uzu's fall, and your role in it, Uncle Ryusuke."

**************T.B.C******************

A/N: PLOT TWIST! A lot of people write the Nami arc with very little changes and just retell the same tale. I decided that I wanted to make a change that would make the traditional story more interesting. Anyway if anyone can tell me how to get the indents for the paragraphs to work I would be eternally grateful. Yusuke is NOT from YuYu Hakusho. There is no crossover! Ja ne!