Underneath the Underneath

By: FlameXFullmetal

Disclaimer: I still don't own my little Naruto pet. I still want him.

A/N: Well it is that time again. I hope that you haven't been waiting very long. As I have said countless times before, thank you to everyone that has stayed with the story since it's beginning, especially through the restructuring of the story. A big hello to those that are joining us for the first time. As you know by now, a few reviews and then the chapter.

First a big thank you to Nightshadegirl, draugeltheshadowhero, marquis shax and Rose Tiger for letting me know that I spelled Hanabi's name wrong. I will be going back to fix that later this week.

Guest: Of course he would be dead if the seal hadn't been replaced. Similarly, he would have been dead had his heart not been stabilized and the other half of Kyuubi not been placed back in his body during the war. There are always ways to prevent the death of a character and trust me the way that Kishimoto let Naruto live through the war left quite a few plot holes based on the 'lose the bijuu and die' mechanic.

"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

************Preparations and the next Mission*************

After the test with the elders, Hinata felt herself internally wondering if the fight could have gone differently. Should she have stayed and tried to help Neji up or would that have only made things worse? She knew that the boy had a massive amount of pride and it was second only to the almighty Sasuke-sama. As soon as the thought entered her mind she felt herself giggling at the thought. Sasuke really had become a prank magnet and she was hoping that the pranks didn't end. After all, he was spying on her date. Or at least trying to. Walking towards the training field she felt her eye twitch. Glancing out of the corner of her eye she noticed Sasuke attempting, and failing, to follow her once more. Stopping in front of the Yamanaka flower shop she turned and glared in his direction.

"What do you want?" Stepping into sight from behind the pole that he had been hiding behind slightly shocked.

"Tell me how he is getting so strong," Sasuke demanded. Hinata felt herself give him a blank stare.

"He already told you how to get stronger. It's called training. Do you need me to spell it so you can look up a how-to manual in your clan's library?" She snapped feeling all the anger coming back from finding out that he had been spying on her.

"He has to be using a secret method and he taught it to you so tell me what it is," Sasuke demanded.

"Or you'll what? Tell the whole village that you are a baby and don't know how to train right? All this time you spent stalking me you could have been training and getting stronger. So how about you stop trying to figure out the 'super secret' method to becoming strong overnight and actually work for it." She barked before taking off. Sasuke gritted his teeth and then paled as a gaggle of fangirls came around the corner. One of these days he was going to make her tell the secret since he couldn't force the idiot to tell him.

As Hinata reached the training field she felt herself growing considerably more agitated. Sasuke had some nerve demanded her training schedule after all the years of acting like she wasn't good enough for the world. She had never cared what Sasuke personally thought of her but his opinion seemed to be the opinion of everyone around her. So when he acted like she was useless so did everyone that idolized him. One of many reasons that the girl had so few friends in the academy. Taking a deep breath she noticed Naruto sitting in a lotus position meditating. Sitting next to her boyfriend she placed her head on his shoulder and smiled.

"Naruto, your girlfriend is here," Minato whispered to his son who was attempting to stabilize the chakra he was using. He had been taking the Rasengan and continuously, and quickly, compressing and expanding it to try and see how much stress it could take. He believed that this would allow him to understand how to better the technique and make it less noticeable in battle. However, at his father's declaration, he lost control and it exploded in his hand making him fly backward. Cursing he glared at his parents who were holding their sides laughing.

"You still need to work on your emotional and chakra control." Kushina laughed as she struggled to stop laughing. Pouting Naruto stuck his tongue out and exited his mind leaving the howling hyenas behind.

"Hey, Hinata," Naruto whispered startling her.

"Naruto-Kun, I didn't want to disturb you. Did I?"

"Nope." Smiling at her they both rolled their eyes as Kakashi and Kimiko both entered the clearing at the same time.

"So are you three ready for a mission?"

"Always, Kakashi-sensei." They chorused as the jonin smiled.

The next few weeks were filled with various, tedious C-class missions. Nothing really happened to them and the team felt as if the Sandaime was taunting them or punishing them for some reason. Each mission was really only labeled a C-rank because they took place outside of the village's walls and as such had a higher chance of combat. Unfortunately, the Sandaime was risking his own health as Kimiko seemed to grow bored with each successive mission. Kakashi knew that the vixen was going to break soon and hoped that the Sandaime wouldn't die as a result.

"Absolutely not." Kimiko snapped at the wizened old man as he attempted to assign another 'C-class' mission to the team. Hiruzen sighed. Somehow he had known that this was going to happen sooner or later and he knew that if he didn't pacify the vixen she would lash out at the villagers, if only with pranks. Sitting back he stared at the kunoichi and contemplated what to say as Kakashi cleared his throat.

"Sandaime-sama I have to agree with Kimiko on this one. I specifically tested them the way that I did so that their skills wouldn't go to waste on trivial tasks and the only thing that has changed is that you are sending them out of the village on trivial tasks." He stated with slight agitation. The whole point of the first mission had been to ensure that the team was ready to skip D-ranks and use their skills appropriately. Yet for some reason, the Sandaime saw fit to make the whole arrangement useless. Shaking his head Hiruzen sighed and picked up a different scroll. Looking at it he nodded hesitantly and then looked up at the team before him.

"Kumo has requested that Konoha participate on a co-op mission. Since you seem to have made friends with some of Kumo's shinobi this may be an easier task for you than another team." Hiruzen stated tossing the mission over to Kakashi who read through it quickly. Nodding in agreement he pocketed the scroll and turned heading towards the door with the team in tow. Unfortunately, they didn't make it far before a certain duck decided to make himself known.

"Leaving for another mission?" He snapped at the blonde he had started to hate.

"Yup. Still struggling with a cat?" Naruto replied making the raven-haired boy hiss in anger. It was true. They had been getting the same catch Tora mission over and over again. If it wasn't that he was being forced to clean some place or another. Unlike team eleven he wasn't being given the proper chance to prove himself at all. Yet somehow the Sandaime seemed to think that they were better than his team was. It wasn't fair.

"Bye duck-butt!" Naruto called out as the door slammed behind them. Once they were outside the whole team plus Kakashi began to snicker at the Uchiha's misfortune. They seemed to really like the nickname that the blonde had given him and they had every intention of using it. Heading straight through the gate Kakashi smiled to himself. He had the best team in the village and he knew it. He intended to prove it as well. When the chunin exams came around the spectators won't know what hit them.

Several days later...

It took the team several days to make it to the rendezvous point and when they did they were met with the sound of horrible rapping and Omoi being himself.

"...attacked on the way here and killed and then we get blamed for it and a war breaks out between our countries and then a lot of people die and it would be all our faults for suggesting this in the first place..."

"Omoi, you know how annoying that is?" Naruto chirped as they landed. All four Kumo nins spun around and tensed before realizing who was there.

"Oh hey, Naruto!" Karui chirped. She had actually found herself missing the loudmouthed kid. Despite not having any feelings for the boy he seemed almost like a brother to her.

"I take it that you are Bee," Naruto said quietly making the other jinchuriki nod in confirmation (on a side note do not expect me to rap out Bee's lines. I have no idea how and find it somewhat annoying. So just imagine it if you want to.).

"So I take it that you are the one that houses the nine tails. It is nice to meet you."

"Likewise, it is nice to meet the one who houses the hachibi," Naruto replied making the man nod. "Well, it's good to meet you." Naruto looked over at his team and laughed as he noticed Kimiko inspecting her nails.

"It would be most wise not to say what you are thinking, Bee. For all of our benefits." She said without looking up at the man who merely nodded. When Giyuki had said that something was off about the blonde jinchuriki he had not expected to find the bijuu outside of her vessel. The fact that the fox had known what he had been thinking had taken him by surprise.

"Well, then shall we get started? I haven't debriefed my team yet as I wanted to make sure that we were away from prying ears. Especially since there are some in the village that has yet to accept a possible alliance between our villages."

"That's fine. Raikage-sama didn't want many people to know about it either. Apparently, there are still those that are against the peace idea in the village as well." Samui finally spoke up. Nodding in understanding the copy-nin turned towards his team.

"We are to help the Kumo team in tracking down several shinobi that have recently abandoned the village, low chunin at best. They have taken several important scrolls with them and the Raikage wants them back. The bonus that made him call us in was the fact that there is the possibility of recovery of several clan scrolls of yours Naruto." Kakashi informed his team.

"Uzumaki clan scrolls?" Naruto asked in shock.

"Yes. Most likely the council will try to order you to hand them over but you don't have to." Kakashi informed the genin who nodded in understanding.

"The nin we are tracking are a team that just recently screwed up on a mission and got several of their comrades killed. They didn't take the reprimand real well and made off with several scrolls that are important to the village while they were being moved to a safer location. None of them are above your skill range so I'm sure that we will be fine." Samui filled in. Bee nodded in confirmation as he looked at the copy-nin questioningly.

"Just what do you intend to do with your squad? They seem far over the level of genin that the village was producing during the war with the exception of a few exceptional individuals."

"Make them the best that they can be and make the rest of the jonin jealous that they didn't get them. Perhaps make them the next sannin." Kakashi replied making the group before him gape.

"Seems like quite the ambition. Perhaps I should train my team to match yours." Kakashi laughed in amusement.

"Good luck with that." With that, the two teams took off in pursuit of the missing Kumo nins.

Several hours later...

As the team left the trees they had been moving through for cover, Kakashi held his hand out and motioned for them to stop. Coming to a complete halt next to their jonin, Naruto looked up at his sensei in curiosity.

"Up ahead. I think your missing-nin are just over that ledge." He whispered. The teams moved closer and peered over the ledge to see a campfire going and four shinobi attempting to force open a scroll.

"Yeah, that's them," Bee whispered. Shifting slightly he tilted his head and smirked.

"I am getting the feeling that I know what you are thinking and for some reason, I approve even though it is foolhardy," Kakashi whispered and then motioned for his team to attack. Naruto and Hinata hesitated for a second on the unusual order before they joined Kimiko who had jumped at the first chance at a fight. The Kumo genin was not far behind them. Unfortunately, the battle wasn't as long as it could have been and somewhat boring as well. The ambushed nins had little time to react and as a result, were subdued quite quickly.

"Okay then, where's the rest of the scroll?" Karui demanded looking through their packs.

"We'll never tell you where it is."

"Really, I'm sure that my big brother might have an issue with that," Bee said stepping out of the foliage making the nin pale.

"We sold them. Along with all the other ones. For some reason, the buyer didn't want that one." He stammered motioning towards the one that Naruto was inspecting. Snorting he looked over at the clueless ninja.

"That is because it is locked with a blood and chakra seal. You couldn't get in unless you were the owner of the scroll or a member of the owner's family. What would they want with a scroll that they couldn't access?"

"Well don't you feel stupid? Who was the buyer?" Karui demanded. When the prisoners refused to speak, Kimiko gave a feral grin.

"Leave me alone with them for about two minutes. I'll get them to talk." After a moment's hesitation, the jonin nodded and led the genin away from the area. Within seconds shrill screams of horror and agony could be heard and less than two minutes later Kimiko came out looking more relaxed.

"They are in this scroll. I decided that since you probably wanted them alive that you might want to keep them in here until you get them to a med nin. That way they won't bleed to death." She said tossing the scroll at the baffled eight tailed jinchuriki.

"By the way, we need to move fast. The man that they sold the scrolls to is something of an information broker. He will take whatever he finds from those scrolls and sell it to the highest bidder. Specifically whoever wanted to have an upper hand in dealing with Kumo." She said off offhandedly. Nodding in confirmation they headed towards the last known location that the information broker had been in, hoping that the deed had not already been done.

Back in Konoha...

"I still don't think that it was a good idea to send them on the mission or any out of the village mission that you have sent them on," Koharu replied sharply at her old friend. She had been one of the most vocal about the fox demon leaving the village ever since the decision had been made. Once she found out that they ran into Kumo nins she had been even more unbearable.

"While I don't think that letting the fox out of our sight was a good idea, it is an absolutely terrible idea to let it near the Kumo nin!" Homura snapped. Hiruzen sighed and rubbed his temples. He had been avoiding this conversation for a while now but he had been unable to avoid it. For some reason, it seemed that ever since the nine tails got free he was trying to backtrack and make amends for things and that only dug up more things that needed to be fixed. His old teammates were not making it easy.

"I understand your concern but nothing is going to happen. They will not try to kidnap Kimiko nor will they get their hands on Naruto. So please drop the issue. Unless of course, you want the pranking to continue. It seems that the fox has gotten quite bored being in the village and doing tame C-ranks. Perhaps this will let it burn off some of its energy."

"Speaking of that, why hasn't Sasuke been allowed to do a C-rank mission yet? Surely the brat isn't that far ahead of him." Koharu asked sitting down.

"I have no need to explain myself to you Koharu. Obviously, if he hasn't been assigned to a C-class mission it is because he isn't ready for a C-rank mission." He snapped rubbing his forehead. He knew that this wasn't going to end well. The two former teammates had been pressuring him to try and fast track Sasuke through the ranks. Something about ensuring his loyalty though Hiruzen doubted that was the reason behind it. Perhaps they were being promised something in return for their loyalty. He had no idea but it was giving him a headache.

"Koharu, Homura why do you want to push Sasuke through the program that fast anyway? Do you want a repeat of what happened to Itachi?"

"We all know what happened with Itachi and helping Sasuke advance his career does not carry the same risk." Koharu fired back.

"Really? So you are saying speeding a genin through the ranks and giving him the responsibilities of a higher level shinobi while he still can't manage to handle genin level responsibility will not end in bloodshed? Have you struck your head more times than you can count lately? Doing something like that would be suicide!" Hiruzen countered. After a few intense moments, the two elder advisers left the room in a huff and Hiruzen slumped in his chair.

'I'm much too old for this. That "talk" with Minato proved that much.'

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

A/N: Not quite as long as I had hoped but it's here! Anyways, as always if you see any spelling or grammar errors that I have missed feel free to let me know! Until next time! Ja ne!