Second Chances

By: FlameXFullmetal

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto!

A/N: I am back! I promised that I would be just as soon as all the revisions were done and here I am! I changed what was needed mostly spelling and grammar, clarified a few areas that people were having trouble with and fixed formatting. So hopefully the story will run smoothly. There was less to this one than I thought and to be honest I was surprised. In any event I promised a new chapter when I was done and here it is!

"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

***********The Calm Before the Storm**********

The trip to Nami was done in silence and Naruto preferred it that way. He still wasn't sure what to do about Jiraiya or his relationship. He knew that it could never be what it once was but then what could it be? Would Jiraiya actually be willing to do what was needed to repair their relationship? Or would he revert to his old ways as soon as he could? The questions that roamed his mind seemed endless and were offering no solution. Which only served to create more questions.

To Jiraiya the trip was nerve wrecking. He had no idea what to say to his godson or if he should say anything. Truthfully the sannin was confused and speechless. He hadn't felt like this for a long time and he hated every moment of it. He had to try to get to know his godson or he really would have failed at almost everything in his life. The more that he thought about the more he realized that he had mostly just followed the people around him and had rarely ever done the opposite. Rarely had he tried to establish his own identity and that scared him. For the first time in his life he was questioning who he was and if he really wanted to be that person.

For Karin she was marveling at the sights and the lingering chakra she could still pick up in the areas that they passed. She was aware of the tension between the two males in the group and she didn't want to make anything awkward by asking. Obviously something had happened between them and they needed to time to work it out. The confusion she was getting wasn't helping. Once more her thoughts drifted to the marks on her arm and she silently cursed Kusagakure. In a way she was also angry at her mom for revealing what they were capable of without thinking of the consequences for either of them.

"Hey Uzumaki-sama welcome back!" A man called startling all three out of their thoughts Naruto smiled and walked over to the him.

"Kenji, how are things lately?" Naruto asked.

"Good. Ever since Gato's trial and execution we have been doing mush better and we owe it all to your team. Who are your companions?"

"This is my godfather Jiraiya and this is Karin Uzumaki." He said happily. Kenji did a double take at the unique group and felt his eyes widen.

"Well I'll be two Uzumaki have returned to these lands now. It's good to meet you Uzumaki-hime." He said with a bright smile.

"I was told that Nami had the most direct and fastest route to Uzu and that almost, if not all, of the experienced fishermen knew how to get there. Is that true?"

"Sure is. Nami used to trade with Uzu often so it was necessary that anyone going that way knew how to get there. Why?"

"I wanted to go there to train for my matches in the chunin exams. The only other way that I can think of would take at least five more hours and I can't afford to lose that much time in my training."

"That's fine. I'll take you over there myself. How's that sound?"

"Thank you and cut the Uzumaki-sama crap. I'm not one for formalities."

"Maybe I will." Groaning Naruto followed the jovial man and shook his head. They just wouldn't stop with the formalities. A quick hour and a half later and they were on the shores of Uzushiogakure once more.

"So when you coming back across?"

"In twenty nine days."

"I see, what time I'll come pick you up." Smiling Naruto nodded.

"How about noon?"

"Sounds good! I'll try to get the ferry's call system working again so that you can come across anytime. Though you may have to activate it from this side. All I know for sure is that it works with seals so I may not be able to do much."

"It's fine. I'll take a look at it when I have the chance." Waving as he left Naruto turned to the ruins and slowly began walking through them once more. The experience was much better the second time around and he didn't feel his heart breaking. It could be the fact that there weren't any human remains on the ground this time.

"So this is Uzushiogakure." Karin whispered. "What's this weird feeling I'm getting?"

"It used to be said that no matter how long the Uzumaki had been away they would always feel welcomed in Uzu, because it was their home." Jiraiya whispered. "It must be true because you have never been here right?"

"Never. I kind of like the warmth."

"I know how you feel." Naruto quipped and then stopped in the center of the village and turned to Jiraiya.

"I don't know if I can trust you. I don't even know if it is possible to have any kind of relationship with you but I am willing to give you the benefit of the doubt right now. Especially at the moment. As you are most likely aware by now Konoha was infiltrated by Orochimaru. What many don't know is that the snake is planning to invade the village in one month's time. Even if the village knew the Sandaime would only inform the bare minimum of people. I need to be stronger and so does Karin. He is obsessed with bloodlines and right now we are the only two known Uzumaki alive. Karin is the only Uzumaki that should be able to awaken the clan's Kongo Fusa. Since it only ever seems to appear in females. So she is a target for him."

"As his teammate you know how he fights and the basics of his thought pattern. You can teach us how to fight him. You have already trained powerful shinobi there is no reason that you can't get us up to snuff quickly. Especially once Karin has the chakra necessary for the kage bunshin.I need to be ready to fight a jinchuriki in the exams and be able to protect the village and the stadium while doing it. You want to be a part of my life? Than teach me how to survive long enough on my own power and not by borrowing the nine-tail's power." Naruto bluntly said making Jiraiya's eyes widen.

"How do you know all of this?"

"Jinchuriki can sense one another and it is obvious why Orochimaru's appearance didn't force the exams to be canceled or even delayed. Orochimaru threatened the village if they were because he wants to destroy Konoha when they have the most to lose if they survive. As for the rest of it, I'll tell you when you have my complete trust. There are those that already know and they agree with me. So what is it going to be?" Jiraiya was silent as he thought over everything that he had learned over the last few days and what he knew from the last few years. It didn't take long for him to reach a conclusion as to what he was going to do.

"Give me a complete list of everything you two know and from there we will have a spar to see where your current level is. I'll devise a training plan from there." Smiling for the first time at his godfather Naruto now knew the course he was going to take.

With Sasuke and Kakashi...

"I have to say that Naruto's seal works quite well Sasuke. Any problems so far?"

"None. Will we be stopping by Uzu at anytime?"

"Perhaps. It will depend on whether or not we can lose our tails. It seems Danzo and the Sandaime weren't content with knowing that you were safe."

"Or you have come under suspicion as well."

"Meh..I'll live."

"Idiot. As for getting rid of them, are they all ROOT or are there some normal ANBU mixed in?"

"Looks like they are all ROOT."

"Good." Sasuke said jumping from a tree branch and turning in mid-air. "Chidori Senbon."

"New variation?"

"Sort of, it still takes a lot out of me though. To think that this used to be easy for me." Sasuke complained as they continued on, the bodies of the ROOT nin falling to the forest floor each one bearing a senbon shaped hole in their head. The rest of the trip went smoothly and as they settled down for the night Sasuke stretched out and yawned. Kakashi just smiled and shook his head at the boy's antics.

"Tell me Sasuke was I a good teacher the first time around?" Sasuke blinked and tilted his head.

"Yes and no."

"What does that mean?"

"You were so focused on repaying your debt to Obito that you forgot about the rest of the team. The only one that really got any training from you in the beginning was me. By the time that I abandoned the village Naruto and Sakura were so far behind they might as well have just left the academy. I was told that after Naruto returned from a three year training trip with that useless sannin you did start him on elemental manipulation but halfway through you left to take care of Asuma's team who were out for revenge for Asuma's death. Yamato finished that training with him. Which he was only doing to take the Rasengan to it's completed form." Leaning back Sasuke looked at the sky.

"Naruto really didn't have much going into the fourth war. Everyone was so focused on having the jinchuriki that they forgot about the shinobi that contained the beast. Most of his training was either the Rasengan and Kyuubi's chakra. He himself didn't have any skills he could really use if you took the ability to use both of them away from him. Granted he had Senjutsu but that was a liability with how long he had to sit to gather the chakra and even that put him on a time limit. So in all honesty, overall you weren't a good teacher but when you did teach you did it as well as you could." Sasuke finished looking over at the jonin who seemed lost in thought and shook his head.

"That is why you weren't a good teacher you know."

"What?"

"You get so lost in your thoughts of the past that you forget about the present and the future. You start living in the past and that is what trips you up all the time. This time around you were an awesome teacher. Especially since we didn't give you a choice in the matter but to try. Don't think of the past. Focus on the present. The better you make the present the more pleasant the future will be."

"You learned that lesson the hard way didn't you?"

"The dobe literally beat it into me. Repeatedly."

"Ouch. So what do you want to focus on?"

"Well with a very toned down version of the shadow clone training method that the dobe uses I want to focus on improving my taijutsu some more and my reserves. Using my best techniques takes more chakra than I have at the moment and using them once usually takes me out of the fight even if I don't look like it. I'm going to need every jutsu I have for the invasion and the events that come to pass."

"I see. Let's also work on expanding your jutsu repertoire. Low level techniques can be just as deadly when used correctly. From what I have seen you and Naruto definitely have little in the way of non-village destroying jutsu. Even with the work we have been doing on that."

"True."

"We'll start first thing in the morning. Get some sleep Sasuke."

Hinata...

"Father may I have a moment of your time?"

"Come in Hinata." Walking into the room soundlessly Hinata took a seat in front of her father's desk and took a moment to control her breathing and formulate exactly what she wanted to say.

"Is it possible that the byakugan isn't complete?"

"What do you mean?"

"Is it possible for the byakugan to evolve like the sharingan?"

"No I don't believe so."

"Is that because it has never happened or because the Hyuga refuse to be similar to the Uchiha so they never tried?" Hiashi blinked and set the pen down that he had been using. Staring at the girl before him he studied her intently. Ever since the Uzumaki boy had changed and Hinata began training with him she had become more and more assertive and even more aggressive in her spars. In reality she had actually been winning them all. Something that had thrown the clan into an uproar as they had been certain that Hanabi was going to be named heiress because she was so much more talented at the juken. Yet, somehow Hinata had not only caught up to her but soared past her. Now no one knew who was going to be named heiress and the elders had stopped demanding one be marked. He was forever grateful for the last part.

"What is it you want Hinata?"

"Knowledge. I want to get into the sealed part of the archives to look at the records of our ancestors to see what they have to say about the byakugan. Right now everything that we have access to is censored by the elders to prevent anything that could prove our relationship to the Uchiha from being found. I think that the answers that I am looking for are in there. I need you to open the door though." Hiashi rolled the request over in his mind and contemplated everything that he knew about the clan and the elders. What Hinata said made sense. Their ancestors had done everything in their power to disprove that the Uchiha and Hyuga were related distantly. If the byakugan was capable of evolution than that would only prove a closer connection. Furthermore, it would disprove the claim that the byakugan was complete upon activation unlike the sharingan that needed to be trained to reach a state of full maturation.

"I'll allow it but only for an hour. If you can't find anything than you will drop this silly quest."

"You sound like the elders now, father." Hinata replied calmly making Hiashi blink.

"The pursuit of knowledge and the ability to change to become stronger is how humans have survived for so long. The fact that the clan is trying to prevent that from happening only brings the clan closer to destruction. After all, we are only alive because our ancestors changed the way that they looked at medicine." Hiashi found himself agreeing with her and before he knew it he was standing in front of the door.

"Remember only an hour." Nodding Hinata darted in before he could blink as soon as the seal was released. Once she was out of sight of her father, Hinata made several shadow clones and sent them searching. She knew the general area she had to look in. The clan was predictable like that. The oldest records would be in the back hidden in a small compartment meant to keep them from being seen. The only challenge was finding the compartment in the hour she had been given.

Forty minutes later...

Hinata was growing increasingly frustrated. She knew that Naruto wouldn't have lied to her about something like this. Moving another stack of census records the frown slipped from her face as she caught sight of a hidden door. Opening it she travelled farther down into the room and gaped as she saw hundreds of scrolls lining the wall. All of them very old and many of them didn't bear the Hyuga crest but that of another clan.

Walking over to the area with the oldest records he pulled the first scroll and tried to open it only to find a blood seal in the way. Pricking her finger she watched as it opened quickly. Adjusting the chakra orb she was using for light her eyes widened as she read. Each new sentence causing the act to continue. By the end of the scroll she sat on the floor and stared at all of the records around her. There was only one thing that crossed her mind as she thought of the actions her clan had taken over the years and the consequences they refused to see or acknowledge.

"Fools. They are all fools." She whispered looking back at the scroll.

"Hinata, time's up." She heard her father call. Looking around the room she groaned and then smirked. It was a gamble and a Naruto like maneuver but she was willing to risk it.

Hiashi just nodded at Hinata's exit and resealed the room following after her. He needn't ask if she found anything as the lack of scrolls on her seemed to be self-explanatory and disappeared back into his office. Never noticing the small smirk on her face. Running to her room and gathering her training supplies she called out that she was going for training and left the compound quickly. Darting from road to road she periodically checked to see if she was being followed by her retainer and when she was sure that she wasn't she vaulted over the gate to training field zero.

Once she had put quite a bit of distance between her and the fence and knew she couldn't be seen by the byakugans or any of the ANBU patrols her smile grew wider. A puff of smoke later and Hinata nodded to her shadow clone before the original disappeared revealing herself to be a clone as well. After a few seconds another puff of smoke was seen and when that cleared she was holding the scroll she had been looking at.

Knowing that there hadn't been nearly enough time to seal the scrolls or look through them for the ones she needed Hinata had sent a clone up to her father in her place. Since he never considered her to have cloned herself he thought nothing of it and let it go. It was a gamble because she had no way of knowing whether or not the room was sealed in such a way that she wouldn't be able to replace out of it. Her gamble had worked and she looked at the object in her other hand.

Inside of it was all of the scrolls that she had found in the hidden room. She had made an effort to seal all of them before her clone dispelled telling her that they were going to do the replacement. Sitting back against a tree she began to reread the scroll and as she did she began to understand why they had sealed all of it away. They were angry and jealous that they hadn't been able to access the knowledge that had been contained in them. According to the scroll, more of a letter to be honest, everyone that had tried to open it had been deemed unworthy by her clan's founder. However, it had judged her to be worthy and she refused to waste this opportunity to show the clan that they had been destroying themselves piece by piece by sticking to "tradition".

'Naruto-kun, I'm one step closer to my goal of uniting the clan and getting rid of that accursed seal. Soon I will be able to unite the clan as they should have been, a family. I still don't know what to do about those that refuse to go quietly, however, I know that I will find a way to prove that this change is needed. I won't let anyone stop me, not even my grandfather.'

Meanwhile...

Elsewhere in the village the other rookies were also approaching their training with the same determination. In the Yamanaka household Ino was quietly working on an exercise that Naruto had suggested. She was attempting to separate her yin and yang chakra to use them separately. He had theorized that no one had developed the mokuton in the Senju clan because it wasn't a bloodline and more of an innate ability to manipulate his yang chakra to his will. So by that logic anyone with water, earth and yang should be able to produce the same results.

She wasn't having any luck but she was determined to succeed. If only to prove her father wrong. When she had told him what she was attempting he had tried to dissuade her telling her that wasn't how it worked and that Naruto shouldn't have filled her head with such a fairytale. She, however, knew differently. She knew that it would probably be useless against Fu if she managed but she was going to try anyway. Besides no one would expect it and it would be a good trump to use. Fu already knew about her poisons and she wasn't dumb enough to use her clan techniques against a jinchuriki. Besides she and Fu shared an affinity and she truly needed something to surprise her with.

Glancing to her side she smirked at the box next to her. The item inside was something that she had wanted to try and had picked it up without anyone knowing about it. Even if she couldn't use the mokuton she had one ace. She didn't want to rely on it though. There wasn't nearly enough time to get good enough to use it perfectly. It was a start though.

Shikamaru was also trying something new. He knew that the clan's jutsu were easily dispelled with enough light so he was trying to find away to make them solid. Almost like manifesting them into a tangible form. One that he could use with or without the light. In addition, he was trying to find a way to combine his fire and earth releases with his clan's shadow jutsu. He knew that his mom was worried about the new attitude towards training and his behavior but he didn't have time to worry about that. He had an invasion to stop and a world to save. He could watch clouds some other time.

Shino was having the most difficulty with his training. He had decided to take one of the clan's weaknesses and turn it into their strength. At the moment he was working side by side with his clan to breed a fire resistant kikkaichu. From there he wanted to try and combine them with is fire, earth and yang release to truly take command of a battle and catch enemies off guard. He believed that had he been able to do so against Hiyari he would have been more help to Hinata. Glancing to the side he also reminded himself that the he needed to sign the Mantis contract and pass their trial. He wanted to at least ask the summons if they would consider becoming the clan's summons instead of just an individual summons passing from wielder to wielder who may or may not betray them. He felt that the mantises fit with the clan's specialty and felt that there was no harm in trying.

Lee was working himself into the ground to increase his limited abilities to the next level. Unlike the other genin he couldn't work on the elements that they had tested for to make a new trump card because of his inability to use jutsu. He could, however, learn new taijutsu styles and weapons to take them by surprise. He refused to hold the team back because of his inability to use chakra like they could. In all honesty, he needed something that would let him match against ninjutsu specialists as well as genjutsu. Looking down at the object in his hand he gritted his teeth and channeled what little chakra he could and held his breath. A grin slowly broke across his face and he looked towards Gai who had tears running down his face. He was one step to closer to his goal.

Fu was also working on her jutsu mainly because she had never realized how much she relied on Chomei until she had been forced to use her own ability. She never wanted to go back to using Chomei's power to fight her battles for her. Furthermore, she intended to do her Uzumaki heritage proud as she focused on the strokes she was making on the paper before her. Fuinjutsu wasn't as easy for her as it was for Naruto but she refused to quit. Putting her brush down she glanced out the window where her clones were training with either Haku or Zabuza. Haku had wanted to get physically stronger and Fu had promised to help the best she could. By the end of the month she would be that much closer to being Chomei's partner and not just her vessel.

Neji was panting hard and looking at the lake before him. He knew that Hinata wouldn't restrict herself to a juken battle and he had to respect that. She was working hard to try and free him from his cage, he could see that now. So he was doing the only thing he could. Training to give her the best fight he could. However, despite having worked on ninjutsu when he was training with Kakashi he was finding ninjutsu to be much harder than taijutsu. For Hinata he believed that it was the opposite. Still he refused to quit. Standing once more he began to weave the seals for the jutsu he was practicing with renewed vigor. He refused to quit before he managed to prevent his father's grave from being desecrated.

TenTen was having a meltdown. She had no idea how she was supposed to defeat a jinchuriki. Just from watching Naruto and Fu train she knew that she was outclassed in chakra capacity, endurance, stamina and she couldn't heal half as fast as they could. As she continued to panic she found herself thinking back to the many discussions she had with Naruto over her future self's abilities. As well as the fights he had as a child. When it clicked. She may not win but she would be able to do some damage. Especially if he was as reliant on one thing or his bijuu like Fu had been when they had started training together. Picking up her gear she called out to let her dad know that she was leaving and darted off to one of the many training fields. She would pull this off. She didn't have a choice if she wanted to survive.

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

A/N: It's so good to be back. A much longer chapter than some of the ones that I have written and to be honest I wasn't sure if I was going to write this chapter or just go straight to the finals. However, I was asked for a brief overview and I hope that this works. The next chapter will most likely be the final rounds of the chunin exams and the start of the invasion depending on how long the chapter runs. In any event, if you find any errors that I missed in editing let me know and I will fix it as soon as I see the review. Ja ne!