Crimson and Golden Leaves

by Paridise

Years of suffering has led a young blond down the path of pain. Uzumaki Naruto, a citizen of Konoha, sadness and hate follows his every footstep. This changes however. A lost family member, Uzumaki Kotaro, cousin to Naruto comes and unites with him. Becoming brothers and enduring each other's hardships together, they will furfill their destinies and become Legends. AU/CD Story.

4. Chapter 4 - Stepladder

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto the anime or manga. This story is based off the world of Naruto. All rights go to Masashi Kishimoto.

Chapter 4 - Stepladder

"There you go Yūhi-san, your cut is all better!" Kotaro said with a friendly smile as helped an older woman off the ground.

"Thank you but you really didn't have to do this, I was stupid to just trip over like that!" the older woman said in a pleading tone.

"Well, how can I not help a lovely lady like yourself in a time of need?" Kotaro asked rhetorically with his usual grin. 'The older women love a young man with charm!' he thought.

The older woman got flustered by the unexpected comment, but a large smile crept up on her face. "Stop it, I don't need your flirting in the morning…" the older woman would've continued her little pseudo-rant for if not an ANBU appeared in front of the two.

"Sorry for interrupting your conversation Kotaro-san but Hokage-sama wants to see you as soon as possible," The ANBU unit told the redhead in an emotionless tone. The ANBU unit was a man and the only thing that was different about him to every other ANBU unit was his yellow-billed duck mask. This ANBU unit and the cat masked ANBU unit were Kotaro's favourites.

"Yeah cool! Just tell him I need to put the shopping away," Kotaro replied, still smiling.

The ANBU unit nodded its head and vanished. Kotaro turned around to see the older Yūhi woman. "Sorry Yūhi-san, I have to go now. Have a good day!" Kotaro said cheerfully, walking away with a wave. The older woman didn't say anything but just waved back with a happy face.

Kotaro walked through Konoha, basking in all the sunshine. It was early April and summer was approaching. Kotaro couldn't wait, he loved the heatwave that was known as the Land of Fire's summer. He was strolling above the crowds of people, today was a busy day in the markets.

Jewels and jewellery made from gold and silver have been coming in cheap in the past month and every villager wanted to get some of luxury for a cheap price.

Kotaro couldn't help it but wonder why the prices dropped so much and there was so many pieces, but he just played it off as a lucky break for the miners and craftsman from the other countries.

Kotaro made it back to his and Naruto's house and he opened the front door. He walks in and sighs a breath of relief he didn't know he had. The house was still clean and tidy. Naruto is a messy person by nature, most likely from living by yourself for ten years. However, Kotaro was, according to Naruto, a "Clean-freak" or "Neat-freak", and is "anal" about anything to do with the state of the house, even Naruto's room.

'I just like the house clean and organised damnit! IS that too much to ask!?' Kotaro defended himself internally with a huff.

He walked over to the kitchen counter and put down the shopping bags. He started putting away the food and kitchen items, putting them in their rightful place in the different cabinets and drawers. He got to the end of the bag and picked up the ramen cups his little brother loved so much. He sighed as he put them away.

'At least he doesn't leave them around the house anymore. I had to beat it out of him!' Kotaro reminisced. Thinking of Naruto, he put the plastic shopping bags into the bin and scanned for any sign of blonde hair. There wasn't any blonde hair or anything orange in the living room or kitchen.

"NARUTO!" Kotaro shouted as he went to look around.

"WHAT! I'M TRAINING!" Naruto shouted, his shout was muffled though, his voice was travelling through the walls and glass door to reach his older brother's ears. Kotaro should have known Naruto was training. He slides the glass door open to see Naruto slowly walking up and down the tallest tree in their premises.

"What is it Nii-chan, I'm trying to improve my control here dattebayo!" Naruto hissed out.

'He must be really into his training!' Kotaro thought proudly. "How long have you've been doing that?" he asked.

"Three hours, an hour of that was completely upside down, but I got a huge headache, so I stopped that ttebayo," Naruto replied and began his repeated descent of the tree.

"Wow Naruto! Considering how we sparred well on the trees last time, I'd say you're ready for water walking! Anyway, I'm here to say that the Hokage wants to see me, you want to come with?" Kotaro asked.

"Jiji? I haven't seen him in ages. I'll come yeah," Naruto happily answered.

"Well clean yourself up quick. We'll leave as soon as you're ready," Kotaro decided.

Kotaro was waiting by the front door in the hall, waiting for Naruto. The young boy, finally, ran down the stairs. He was wearing his usual outfit but instead of his black jacket with the orange stripes. He was wearing a very thin, baggy and loose orange cardigan, the cardigan only fitted his arms and shoulders. The Uzumaki symbol on its back like every piece of upper body clothing the Uzumaki brothers owned. Kotaro got it for Naruto so he can wear it even during the warm weather.

The Uzumaki brothers left their home and went off to the Hokage tower. They ran on the roof tops, the public still didn't have the greatest opinion of the boy but never dared to do anything against him, in fear of what his older brother and the Hokage would do to them if they heard even a whisper about it. The pair made it to the Hokage tower, doing the usual greetings to the ANBU guards and the secretary that were in their usual posts. They climbed the stairs and got to the Hokage's office.

"This is going to be my office one day! When I become Hokage dattebayo!" Naruto declared before Kotaro reached for the handle.

"Hm, I don't know if you have what it takes to be Hokage!" Kotaro teased. "OW!" he then shouted out as Naruto pinched his bum. "Naruto, what the hell!?" Kotaro demanded.

All Kotaro received was Naruto crossing his chest and sticking out his tongue. "You are so going to get it in our next spar. Midget!" Kotaro evilly said. Naruto paled at this and he then gulped despite the insult on his height. He was still sensitive on his height. Naruto only grew an inch so he's now four foot six inches. Not enough growth according to the young Uzumaki.

Kotaro opened the door to see the old man working behind his desk with a mountain of paper work beside him. "You wanted to see me Jiji, I brought Naruto with me if you don't mind?" Kotaro said as he opened the conversation.

"No, Naruto can stay, it's not a mission briefing but I do have good news!" The aged Hokage said out loud. Kotaro and Naruto walked up to the old man, on the way Naruto gave a happy wave to his surrogate grandfather.

"Well what's the good news?" Naruto asked.

"Myself, the council and the ninja body have decided to promote your big brother to Jōnin rank!" Hiruzen happily said.

Kotaro was shocked to the core when he heard this, he didn't expect to get promoted any time soon, he was expecting to get promoted after one year of service. "Thank you but I've only been here for six months, you trust me that much!?" he asked, surprise evident in his voice.

"I said that you would probably be promoted soon enough during your evaluation. It also helps that your mission record is outstanding. Thirty-Three C-rank missions, twenty B-rank missions and sixteen A-rank missions. And with that stupid bet you did with my son and Kakashi, a hundred D-rank missions. Not that I'm not impressed with the D-rank missions, but I had no missions for the Genin for those ten days!" Hiruzen said with a proud voice.

'And it helps he's already an A-rank nin in the bingo books,' the Hokage thought afterwards.

"Nii-chan, you did all of that?" Naruto asked. Receiving a nod, Naruto could only stare with awe as he looked at his older brother.

"Yeah, Jiji worked me like a horse like we promised. Hopefully the mission load lightens up a bit," Kotaro said as he was getting comfortable on the chair he pulled out and sat on.

"I don't know about that, but we'll see. Just to let you know we have a small ceremony for you to get your jacket and certificate, and you'll meet the rest of the Jōnin. All of this will take place tomorrow," Jiruzen said as he got out of his chair and then sat on the couch beside Naruto. "Naruto, I see you're getting stronger! How's training?" he asked in his standard grandfather voice.

"Gooooooooood! Kotaro-nii thinks I'm the strongest academy student in my class," Naruto exclaimed with a puffed-out chest.

"Really, can you tell me why Naruto?" Hiruzen asked, he was very interested in anything to do with Naruto.

"Well, I'm amazing at shurikenjutsu, my accuracy with my kunai and shuriken is deadly. I tried senbon needles, but they didn't feel right, so I completely ignored them. Kotaro-nii gave me crap for it Jiji, he kept going how they were great and stuff ttebayo.

My taijutsu has improved, I can do well in a fight now after I sucked at it for so long. My strength and speed are like super-strong and super-fast.

And my chakra control is so good now that I can spar with Nii-chan on the sides of trees without falling off dattebayo!" Naruto quickly blurted out, the two others were amazed at the rate of words that came out of Naruto's mouth.

"So, you think you could become Rookie of the year then?" the Hokage asked his little blonde friend.

"Even if I could, I don't wanna! I'll leave it to Sasuke!" Naruto giggled out. Kotaro also giggled at the nickname, and when he saw Sasuke for the first time, he couldn't help but laugh so hard, he made a scene of himself, everyone was staring at the random redhead laughing to no end on the streets of Konoha.

Hiruzen hummed with confusion. "Sasuke you say? I don't like the fact that one of my favourite little ninja doesn't want to be the best," he said.

"The one and only! Jiji, I got a plan for the future, and I don't want to mess it up. So what if I'm not rookie of the year? As if it would matter when I become Hokage" Naruto said loudly.

Hiruzen could only smile at this, "You know I hear he trains hard every day. He could be more of a challenge than you think Naruto?" the old man said. "He could become the Hokage."

"Sasuke become Hokage!? Hahaha, tell me a better joke Jiji. Anyway, he's strong for sure, but I'm even stronger. It's not always how hard you train Jiji, it's how smart you train! That was one of my first lessons from Nii-chan," Naruto replied with a wave of his fingers.

"How smart you train huh? I understand. You could spend beyond hours on one task where you could split it up and spend time concentrating on others, right?" the Hokage said.

"Sorta right Jiji, Nii-chan makes me do super duper training, so I'm getting stronger and faster whenever I do any task. It was hard, but the results are unbelievable."

"Now that you tell me you've been doing some super duper exercise... I can see your muscles from your cardigan. You're going to be a strong ninja for me, Naruto!" the Hokage said while patting Naruto's shoulder.

"Thanks Jiji, I would be stronger if Kotaro-nii didn't leave the house so much dattebayo!" Naruto jokingly yelled. Kotaro was brought out of his musing, staring at the pictures of the past Hokage.

"Sorry little man, but you knew I would have to do so many missions. We needed money to feed your black hole you call a stomach and to make me a more credible ninja. And I needed to do my own training, the world doesn't revolve around you Naru-chan!" Kotaro said with a cheeky grin.

"I thought I told not to call me that!" Naruto replied angrily to his big brother.

"I hope sensei's notes and jutsu are helping you Kotaro?" the Hokage asked his favourite red-haired ninja.

"Yeah, but he had way too many jutsu, there's still so many I have to learn. And the ones I picked to learn first I just mastered only recently! Ah it's such a pain in the hole, but I'm making progress," Kotaro replied with a hand rubbing his forehead, then moving it through his hair.

"I read from the report with the mission of delivering the classified documents with Kakashi and he wrote that you did the Water release: Water dragon bullet technique by drawing water from the ground when you encountered nasty bandits. Is this true?" the Hokage questioned. "Although it was stated to be moderate in size, he stated that the speed of its creation was impressive."

"Yeah, I'm trying to draw water from the air and ground, but it's beyond difficult. I could've made the dragon more scary and bigger I suppose, but that takes so much of my energy, I rather keep it ya hear. I don't know how the Nidaime did it so well. Must be from the years in the shinobi clan wars and his high-water affinity," Kotaro yawned out. "I'll catch up to him. He's sort of my role model now."

"There hasn't been a Water ninjutsu user like him ever since, let's hope you can become like Tobirama-sensei," Hiruzen said. He got off the couch and went back to his desk.

"The ceremony is at two in the afternoon tomorrow. Naruto can come but he can't go to the Jōnin longue afterwards. And I set up a photographer to take a new picture for your Jōnin files. That's all so you two can leave and let this old man do his paper work!" he lightly ordered.

Naruto and Kotaro said their departures and left the office then tower. They both walked to the Ichirku ramen stand to celebrate Kotaro's Jōnin promotion.

They took their places and waited to get served. "AH, Naruto-kun and Kotaro-kun, what can I do for you today?" Ayame asked as she saw the regular Uzumaki brothers.

"Ayame-neechan, today is a special occasion dattebayo! So, can we have five bowls of miso pork please!" Naruto asked, he did the ordering and Kotaro did the paying, much to his despair.

"Oh, what's the special occasion Naruto? Something in the academy?" she asked with a big smile.

"Pssh, as if! No, Kotaro-nii is being promoted to a Jōnin!" Naruto nearly shouted out.

"Really! Wow Kotaro-kun, you must be one of the strongest ninja in the village!" Ayame exclaimed.

"No, he is the strongest ninja in the village!" Naruto did shout out.

Eyes then fell on the quiet redhead as he let the two converse. "I'd say the Hokage is still stronger than me. We only had one light spar because he is so busy, but the amount of power he has is unbelievable. I would love to fight for real!" Kotaro said, talking more to himself rather than to Naruto or Ayame.

"Is Jiji really that strong?" Naruto asked.

"Well he wouldn't be Hokage for decades if he wasn't Naruto. He was probably a monster when he was in his prime. But the times are different. When he was around my age, he was in the beginning of the first great shinobi war, he'd have to get stronger to protect the Land of Fire and Konoha. Now we have peace so that pressure isn't there for us," Kotaro replied.

"Ah, your orders, I'll tell Tou-san you need food quick!" Ayame cried out before she ran off to the back of the stand.

Naruto and Kotaro sat there waiting for their noodles. Naruto was twirling his thumbs around each other and lightly tapping the wall of the stand. "Do you I can get as strong as Jiji?" Naruto asked, trying to pass the time by sating his curiosity.

"Stronger," was all Kotaro said, he didn't even look at Naruto.

"Really!?" Naruto gasped out.

"Of course, everyone can, for some it would be harder, and for some it could be easier. But that doesn't mean they will. You must train beyond insanity to reach his level. He isn't called the 'God of Shinobi' for nothing. Like I said, you have so much potential. The only thing you must do is train and gain experience. Have a goal or mindset in mind to guide you on your way."

"What's your goal or mindset?" Naruto asked.

Kotaro looked at his little brother, "Protecting you and my loved ones!" Kotaro said. Just as Kotaro finished his sentence, the first round of noodles came, courtesy from Ayame.

"There you go boys! Enjoy!" she said as she took care of the other customers.

Naruto was blushing a bit from the statement coming from his older brother. He loved receiving these heartfelt comments. "But I want to get strong enough to protect you!" Naruto declared.

"By the time you get strong enough to protect me, we can protect each other! Don't forget that. You can't burden everything alone, that's why we have family and friends," Kotaro said as he began to eat his bowl.

Naruto just stared at his big brother, then he went on to eat his own noodles. The silence didn't last long as when they finished their bowls, the two brothers talked until they finished their orders. With their bellies full of noodles, they went home to crash.

Kotaro was feeling sleepy and needed to lie down somewhere comfortable. They entered their home and Kotaro went straight for the couch after he took off his shinobi boots. "Ah, so comfy! Naru-chan, can you make me a cup of tea please!" Kotaro asked with puppy dog eyes.

Naruto wasn't amused one bit. "I'll make you a cup if you promise me you won't call me that anymore!" he offered with a stern look.

"A week?"

"No!"

"A month?"

Naruto thought about for a few seconds, "Fine, a month, jeez you're such a pain dattebayo!" Naruto spat out.

Naruto scurried to the kitchen to boil the kettle. He opened the cupboard and found the box of teabags. He then saw some special edition instant ramen cups beside the box. 'God, Nii-chan knows me too well!' Naruto thought. He put the bag in the cup and poured the water in. He brought the cup to Kotaro with a spoon and a small plate. "I still can't make the tea the way you like it, so you can do it yourself!" he said as he went upstairs.

"That takes a week off then!" Naruto heard his big brother shout from the living room. Naruto sighed and went to his room. He closed the door behind him and sat behind his desk. He stared at the pile of scrolls, tags and pieces of paper on his desk. He was introduced to storage seals and exploding tags when his handwriting was a suitable level, Kotaro was very stern when it came to fūinjutsu.

Over the time six months that they've been together, Naruto tried to quit fūinjutsu once. Pissed would be an understatement to describe Kotaro's anger that day. His usual calm expressions turned to outright fury. When Kotaro shouted "If you give up this, you're showing everyone that you have no dedication. If you give up this, you might as well give up in becoming Hokage!" to his face. Back then, Naruto felt so little and knew he made a mistake. He steeled himself and began practising again with a new determination.

With his handwriting now satisfactory, he truly began his fūinjutsu training. With the exploding tags, he was loving it. Making a tag with just ink, paper and stored chakra, seeing a big explosion come from it was nothing short of amazing. When Kotaro was home from missions, he gave more lessons in different seals and their purposes. Naruto learnt that seals can make hot water or seal fire away. Seals can even completely constrict someone of their movements. The he went to talk about the art of Juinjutsu or the art of cursed seals. Kotaro didn't like them at all, Naruto didn't either when he found out what they did to the people who had been sealed. They were practically slaves.

A knock was heard from the door. The sudden sound made Naruto jump in his seat, he was so concentrated on work he didn't realize the noise. Another knock was heard, obviously indicating the person wanted to come in. "Yeah," Naruto said loudly.

The door opened and Kotaro walked in, he then leaned on the wall and made himself comfortable. "How you doing?" he asked.

"Good, these seals are easy to make now ttebayo. I say it won't be long till I make more advanced ones," Naruto stated.

"Well, we'll see if you're good enough. Now I'm going to train. Keep up the good work Naruto!" Kotaro cheered out quietly.

"Sweet!" Naruto shouted as Kotaro left the room and went downstairs. He grabbed his equipment and left through the back of the house. He took a breath of fresh air, Naruto and Kotaro had so many different flowers in their garden as both loved to garden.

The smell was intense but magnificent. Kotaro focused and ventured deep into the forest. He walked for fifteen minutes until he saw his training spot he used for his Water ninjutsu training. There was a small stream flowing through the ground. Kotaro had dug a hole and joined it to the spring so there was a constant large pool of water. There were many trees, all different types of deciduous trees. Their leaves were just beginning to grow.

Kotaro saw a large group of rocks together. The rocks were massive in size, twenty-foot high at least. He went up to the closest rock. There was an engraved Uzumaki symbol on it. He cut his finger and spread it vertically down the symbol. Then he did the hand seals Horse-Tiger-Snake and shouted "OPEN!", putting his right open hand on the blood covered Uzumaki symbol. A faint glow of blue was emitted from the spiral and then the light intensified.

The spiral did a full spin and there was a loud "CLICK" heard from within the rock.

A square shape of the rock, about seven-foot tall and three-foot wide slid down to the ground. The space revealed to be the start of a staircase. Kotaro walked down the stairs, torches on the wall lit up as he descended. He finally reached the bottom of the steps. In front of his eyes were rows of bookshelves, a six by six formation with spaces between each bookshelf and a large space in the middle of the formation, making two groups of eighteen bookshelves.

They were filling up with scrolls and books. In the end was a large armoury, that housed old Uzumaki samurai style armour and old Uzumaki blades. There was a humongous banner that was on the wall at the end of the large space. It had a large blue Uzumaki clan symbol on it.

Around the banner were stones that naturally emitted a turquoise light. What Kotaro has built, with the aid of hundreds of shadow clones over the last five months, was a Uzumaki armoury, library and bunker, safe housing everything that was taken by the clan when the destruction of Uzushiogakure happened.

It was mostly empty, the bookshelves were barely filled, the armoury only had a handful of weapons. The only impressive items was the old armour attire of his ancestors.

Truth be told, the man had only built a large square room in the space of five months in his spare time with the limited use of basic earth ninjutsu.

It wasn't his affinity, Kotaro could only grasp the basics and even then it took him months and a lot of focus to carve out this space. Some might even call it pathetic.

Kotaro thought sadly of his clan, but he didn't for long. He walked to the left and picked up a large box filled with the notes of the second Hokage. Kotaro picked up the large box and left his bunker. Going up the steps and finally reaching the surface again, the natural light blinded his eyes a bit.

'Happens every time!' he thought annoyingly. He walked to the open space and took out some of the jutsu scrolls.

Kotaro moved away from the river stream and the Uzumaki bunker entrance. He walked to a patch of land that was dried up, it had no plant life on the surface. Kotaro for the next three hours practiced his water ninjutsu. Kotaro throughout the training focused on his water affinity chakra. He was trying to be like the Nidaime, as he was able to pull the water molecules out of the air.

This was the training Kotaro has been doing in regard to ninjutsu since he received Senju Tobirama's jutsu and notes. Kotaro couldn't lose his focus, he could feel himself improving despite the slow progress. The three hours were up, and Kotaro was feeling very tired, he needed to improve so he wouldn't have to waste chakra trying to pull the water molecules from the air. Kotaro sighed and went back to the river stream, once he arrived, he sat at a nearby tree trunk.

Kotaro rested his eyes for a while, just breathing contently with the progress he made. Listening to the nature around him always made him feel at peace. After a few minutes, he stood up and walked away from the water, wanting to test his skills without a water supply after some rest. He flashed through the signs Tiger-Snake-Rat-Snake-Tiger, 'Water release: Water encampment wall,' he interally shouted.

Kotaro shot out water from his mouth, it gushed out at incredible speeds and formed a large wave that raised and got thicker every second. He stopped the jutsu and let the water splash down. He quickly looked around at the plant life, they only withered slightly from the jutsu.

Using the water that exists in the soil is the way to use water ninjutsu when there isn't a true water source close by, such as a pond or lake.

"Good grief! I'm getting better at this, but at a snail's pace. Maybe in a year or so with this training method, I can be like the Nidaime. His level is so close, yet so far away. But for the life of me, I'm exhausted. I want to try it one more time, but with one hand seal," he thought out loud.

Kotaro formed the tiger hand sign and let his chakra manipulate itself to form the jutsu. 'Water release: Water encampment wall,' Kotaro thought once again.

The same result happened but the water wasn't as powerful, and it was harder to concentrate on the jutsu. He let it drop and then fell on his rear, breathing raggedly. "What did I expect, it was never going to go perfect first-time round. I need to train more!" he told himself.

Kotaro got off the ground and put everything back in the box. He went down the stairs of the Uzumaki bunker and placed the box by the entrance to the large room. Kotaro climbed back up the stairs until he was outside again. He put his hand on the rock entrance and flowed his chakra into it. The square rock with the Uzumaki clan symbol rose up and went back to its original place. The blood line now vanished, it was if there wasn't anything strange about the rock at all.

"That does it for today. I better get home and make Naruto and I some dinner!" Kotaro said as he quickly dashed home.

---

The Next Day

SNAP!

"Lovely picture there you two! I'm sure you'll be proud to display it Kotaro-san," The old photographer said as he handed Kotaro two pictures. One of him kneeling beside Naruto, arms wrapping each other's shoulders and smiling at the camera. The other of Kotaro, the Hokage and Naruto all beside each other smiling at the camera.

"Thank you, Genzo-san these are perfect," Kotaro said as he was looking intently at the new pictures, a huge smile beaming off his face. "Here's a little extra for a job well done," Kotaro waved Genzo off after he threw a small pouch of ryó at the old photographer.

Kotaro went off and found the Hokage and Naruto at the top of the staircase that lead to the roof of the Hokage tower. He walked over to them and patted Naruto's shoulder. "We looked great. I have a mission for you Naruto," Kotaro said as he knelt to Naruto's level.

"A mission? What is it?" he asked, getting excited.

"You have to get these photos back home and put them into the picture frames we bought together. Then you have to go to Yoshino-san and have dinner with her and Shikamaru," Kotaro said in a stern voice.

Naruto just nodded "What's the reward Nii-chan?" he asked.

"After my next mission, all you can eat ramen!" Kotaro said happily. Naruto's smile grew tenfold. He took the photos carefully in their plastic sleeve. Naruto then jumped onto the railing and ran off towards their house. "Tch, he didn't even say goodbye. Why am I even taking care of a such ungrateful brat!" Kotaro practically yelled out with his arms swinging in the air.

The Hokage just laughed at the scene and put his hand on Kotaro's shoulder. "Come, we're going to meet the other Jōnin," the aged leader said.

Kotaro and the Hokage walked down the stairs and went to the Jōnin longue that was located at the back of the tower. As the pair entered the room, everyone's eyes fell on the redhead and the short man wearing the pointy hat. "Welcome your new Jōnin comrade, Uzumaki Kotaro!" The Hokage said in his chakra amplified voice.

Claps were heard to Kotaro's ears as he scanned the room for any familiar faces that he worked with. In the back, he saw Genma, who he worked on a couple of missions together with, chewing on his senbon and Hayate beside him. Both gave him acknowledgement by a nod. Kotaro returned the nod, he was going to continue scanning but was pulled into a headlock by one Sarutobi Asuma.

"You made it to the big boys Kotaro!" He proudly said as he began to give Kotaro a nuggie.

"Ah Asuma! This is not how you congratulate people. You usually buy sake or give them money, not harass them," Kotaro all but shouted as he got out of the headlock.

"Look sorry bro, but you're finally a Jōnin. Now Kakashi has to give me ten thousand ryó!" Asuma said rather happily.

Kakashi appeared out of nowhere and gave a stack of cash to the smoking Jōnin.

"You guys had a bet on me!?" Kotaro asked, completely surprised.

"Yeah I thought it would be another two months before you got promoted but Asuma said you'd be promoted around now. I don't know how this happened," Kakashi sulkily said as he sunk into his book of smut.

"Hm, I don't know how I feel about this," Kotaro said under his breath.

A series of crashes and eccentric noises were heard coming towards the trio. In a flash, a man with a bowl hair-cut, a large nose, wearing a green spandex suit with a green Jōnin jacket and orange leg warmer around his shins. Kotaro was a little freaked by the suit,

'I can see all his muscles, even the ones that should be completely covered.' Kotaro thought as he blocked his face with his arms, blinding his vision from looking at the groin area of Gai, intelligently using the rushed appearance of Gai as a guise of an attack. 'Now nobody would think I looked at his dick!' Kotaro internally screamed. Still not composed from seeing all the green.

"OHHH! MY ETERNAL RIVAL KAKASHI AND ASUMA TELL ME YOU ARE TRULY A SPLENDID NINJA. IF YOU IMPRESS ME I SHALL LET YOU BE ONE OF MY RIVALS. I AM KNOWN AS THE HANDSOME AND NOBLE GREEN BEAST OF KONOHA, MAITO GAI. PLEASE DO THE HONOR OF INTRODUCING YOURSELF!" the crazy spandex wearer shouted at the three. Kotaro was completely shocked to his core. He has never, ever seen something as strange as this.

"Gai, calm down, he isn't here five minutes and you're already making a bad impression for us Jōnin to Kotaro," Kakashi said lazily but with a bit steel in it.

"Ah sorry, I just got very excited on the prospect of a new rival!" Gai said at a quieter volume.

"It's good, I'm Uzumaki Kotaro, pleasure to meet you Gai-san!" Kotaro said in his polite voice.

"SO YOUTHFUL! It seems our new brother knows manners. For your reward, I shall bestow a great gift to you. One of my custom made spandex suits, these babies help you train harder and won't let you feel your sweat! So, fighting is more exhilarating! Here!" Gai said after he whipped out a spandex suit from his poach. "Do not worry. It is fresh, unlike the rest."

The suit suddenly turned to shreds. Gai was visibly shocked on what happened, he went to the ground and picked up the scraps. Gai then looked up to see Kakashi with a kunai in his hand and Asuma with his trench knives. Both staring down at Gai, darkness shrouding their eyes.

"Sorry Gai, but we cannot allow you to give that suit to our new brother," Kakashi said in a scary tone.

"Yes, we cannot defile our newest member, now can we? Asuma said in an equally scary tone.

Kotaro was relieved he didn't have to wear that piece of crap. As the whole thing was going on he heard muttering of "Demon child's brother". He was infuriated from this small comment and stared at the two talking about Naruto. He sent all his anger at them. Both flinched as they sensed the darnkess emnating from him. The coldness was unreal. They looked at Kotaro, his face had a small snarl to it but his amethyst eyes staring coldly at them. One message behind them "speak one more word and I'll kill you."

They both put their heads down and had a cold sweat. 'What pressure,' they both thought.

The other Jōnin flinched when they sensed the murderous intent, now they clearly know that bad-mouthing Naruto near his big brother is a death sentence. Asuma, Kakashi, Genma, Hayate and the Hokage weren't surprised by this reaction, they knew how much Kotaro loved Naruto.

A kunai flew through the air and brushed across Kotaro's nose. He didn't move as he sensed it coming and he knew who threw it.

As it flew, he brought his index finger up and channelled wind chakra into the fingertip. The chakra manifested itself onto the tip of his finger, and forced the kunai to change direction.

The kunai dug deep into the wall. At the start it was aimed for his face, but now it was a fair distance away from Kotaro to even threathen him. Everyone was impressed, even the Hokage who made himself quiet after his son came over to congratulate Kotaro.

None were more impressed than the kunoichi that threw it. She slinked her way out of the crowd and moved her way to her new prey. Her trench coat flapping about as she waltzed over to Kotaro. The other men were moving away from the snake mistress. Kotaro only hearing stories but never having the pleasure of meeting her stood his ground.

She stood in front of him, she put her hands on her hips, pulling on her trench coat so it can reveal her outfit. It was a fishnet suit with a mini skirt. Kotaro kept his eyes on hers, knowing what she was playing at. If she was willing to reveal this much, he had no doubt she wasn't wearing any straps or a bra to cover her chest.

'Play her at her own game Kotaro!' he thought. "Yo," was all he said as he never broke eye contact with her, looking down at her because of the height difference.

"Yo," was all that was replied from the purple haired woman.

Kotaro was bored with her just standing there. "Who are you?" he asked.

"Anko, Mitarashi Anko," She answered.

"Cool," Kotaro said. Still not leaving eye contact.

"Am I not going to get your name?" she asked. She never broke eye contact either.

"You already know it, but fine I'll say it again. I'm Uzumaki Kotaro," he said blankly.

She just stared at him for what seemed like an eternity. The room was dead silent, everyone was staring at Anko and Kotaro. "Hm, you're different from every other guy. You haven't looked down yet. Why?" Anko asked as she truly wondered this, every man she met ogled her boobs.

The next response was something no one expected. "Eh, I've seen better," Kotaro said blankly, his face never leaking any emotion. Anko was stunned by the unorthodox response she would normally receive.

"You've seen better, maybe you would think differently if we were alone eh?" she said with a sly grin and an evil glint in her eyes.

"Whatever, you can flaunt them all you want. I've still seen better," Kotaro stated.

Anko fumed at this and stomped off. 'He hasn't seen the last of me yet!' she thought repeatedly, thinking of new ways to deceive the new red head.

Kakashi went up to Kotaro with one wide eye. "How did you do that? That has never happened before," He asked. Asuma and Gai had the same question in mind and were waiting for the answer to defeat the pestering snake mistress if they ever fell into her grasp. They shivered at the thought of getting tortured by her.

"What do you mean that has never happened before, did she tease all of you like that?" Kotaro asked them, they only nodded in response. "Well it's too late for you guys then. It's all about first impressions for those type of people!" He said with a shrug of his shoulders.

"What do you mean?" Gai said calmly, a total opposite for usual persona.

"If I broke and looked at her boobs or did something stupid. She'll grab that with both her hands and embarrass me to no end. Now, I didn't give her anything, I just talked to her like I wasn't looking for anything to do with her. From what I can tell from her reaction and from you guys said. It's the first time someone stood up to that crazy woman. Now, unfortunately, I wouldn't be surprised if she follows me like a beast following her prey!" Kotaro said blankly.

"I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing?" Asuma said.

"We'll see. It's not like she has anything to make fun of me with. If she wants a challenge, then she's going to get one," Kotaro replied to the trio of men beside him.

"You're insane, no one challenges Anko's games because she's insane. You're going to die!" Kakashi said with some sympathy for his friend.

"I don't know. Maybe she'll be the one to regret it," Kotaro said with a small grin.

"You interested in her at all Kotaro?" Asuma asked with a small grin.

Kotaro knew the hidden meaning behind those words. "To tell you the truth. Do I like her as a person? So far yes. Romantically? Not a chance. For now, she is a very interesting woman. She either wears that outfit because she has such confidence she doesn't care what people think of her. Or, she's using the outfit to get confidence because she was in much pain," Kotaro said out loud.

The three men were impressed by how much the redhead gathered what information he gathered from one talk with Anko. "She's still in a state of sorrow. She was Orochimaru's apprentice, and he gave her a cursed seal. And when Orochimaru deserted Konoha, she was ostracized by the village," Kakashi told Kotaro.

'Must have stopped when Naruto was born then!' Kotaro internally said. He twirled around to see Asuma, Gai and Kakashi standing beside each other. "A cursed seal you say? I was teaching Naruto about the history about Juinjutsu only a week and a half ago. Has it been sealed off or removed?" Kotaro asked.

"Neither," the Hokage said as he walked closer to the group of four Jōnin. "Perhaps you could have a look at it after your next mission Kotaro?" Hiruzen said.

Kotaro just stared at his leader with a blank face. "Sure I could. I would have to study it before I do anything about it though, Hokage-sama," Kotaro said as he looked at the doors where Anko left.

"Good, now Kotaro, let's go to my office. I need to tell you some things," The Hokage said as he patted Kotaro's shoulder.

Both the Hokage and Kotaro walked out of the office after Kotaro gave his usual fist bumps to both Kakashi and Asuma. He also gave one to Gai who gladly gave a fist bump back. He then proceeded to give his famous 'nice guy' pose that Kotaro was warned about. This was followed by a rant about youthfulness and the brilliance of the springtime of youth. Kotaro could only sweat drop at this. He then escaped by leaving with the Hokage.

The Hokage and Kotaro would have their usual rounds of conversation as they were walking to Hiruzen's office. The Hokage always liked Kotaro's perspective on things because he lived most of his life on the outside and only lived inside the village for about six months. Kotaro didn't have a biased view when it came to village matters or politics, so it was easy to bounce ideas off him. Kotaro also didn't belong to one of the council clans so and it seemed he didn't care for the council anyway, so there was no power-hungry desire behind his words or actions.

They finally made it to the Hokage's office and proceeded to enter. They both sat down in their chairs and looked at each other. "So, why're we here Jiji?" Kotaro asked.

"I'm sending you on your first mission as a Jōnin tomorrow, it'll be a B-rank mission, you have to deliver a new treaty of trade to the Land of Stone. I'm sending a squad with you. Izumo and Kotestu are going because you work well with them and I don't want them getting too comfortable with guard duty. And Yūhi Kurenai, she's our most skilled genjutsu user, and I'm confident she'll be promoted to Jōnin soon," Hiruzen said.

The conversation was making Kotaro feeling strange, 'Why the hell is he telling me the night before?' he thought. "Jiji, what gives? You never tell me big mission details before the actual day," Kotaro asked.

"I know! It's just I want to warn you," he said.

"Warn me? What for?" Kotaro had to ask.

"Jiraiya, one of my pupils, has a spy network that covers all the countries across the lands. He has written me a report about a certain redhead making certain countries notice him and want his head because of his skill. That Konoha didn't need another superb shinobi, especially one that is an Uzumaki," The Hokage said grimly.

"You have to be kidding? I do my job, I pay my taxes and I still get a hit on my head. Why?" Kotaro asked with his hands covering his face.

"You're last A-rank mission with Kakashi has caused a small rift in the lands and you're now in the bingo books as an A-level target. Here, look at page sixty-nine," Hiruzen said after throwing a green book with a small giggle at the page number.

Kotaro just scoffed as grabbed the book. It was the recent edition of the bingo book. He flipped through the pages and he found page sixty-nine. He saw a hand drawn picture of his description. They couldn't use a real photo of Kotaro because they were none. He had to admit, whoever drew this did a damn good job on him. He then began to read the skills and bounty list.

Ninjutsu, taijutsu, kenjutsu, and others were all supposed Jōnin level. Genjutsu was an unknown and his other stats like chakra capacity was also unknown. 'No surprise there eh!' he thought.

Kotaro looked at the bottom of the page and saw the countries that had a bounty on his head. There was only one major hidden village, and it was Iwagakure. It was twenty-five million ryó. "I wonder how Iwa knew Kakashi and I were the ones who stole the crates of Jewels to give to the Grass Daimyō and the Frost Daimyō?" Kotaro wondered out loud. "They must have a spy, there's no way they could have such a good grasp on my skills and appearance," he said to the Hokage.

"We did, and she's in prison. It was an Iwa kunoichi who snuck in as a jewellery merchant. She had forged papers from a guild of merchants and resided from the Land of Honey. They could pass off as authentic.

Somehow, she got information from our drunk shinobi by playing them and hearing your achievements from your latest missions. If we didn't detect her with her messenger hawk, she would have gotten away.

I'd say they are very annoyed, and the Earth Daimyō would be the angriest of the lot. Those crates of Jewels you stole from the caravan were meant for him, his wife and daughter. If I had to guess, he would have been the one to order the hit on you," Hiruzen said.

Kotaro just sighed "Then why are you putting me on this mission, wouldn't it be a danger?" he questioned.

"Yes, normally I wouldn't put you on it. But you're a good diplomat. We need this trade deal and I believe you're the only one who can make it possible. I'm warning you to be careful and come back safe," The Hokage said with worry in his voice.

"I'll do my best as always," Kotaro said with confidence.

Hiruzen just nodded and pulled out a small but thick scroll. "Here, read this, it'll give you info our spies have gathered on Iwa ninja. It's better to be informed," The Hokage told him.

"Thanks Jiji, I'm going home!" Kotaro exclaimed as he got off his feet and left the office.

As he was walking home, he kept having a sinking feeling deep within his gut. 'Damn old man. He jinxed me with that warning. How the hell did I get A-rank warning? This must be God having a pisstake on my life or some crazy ass bullshit!' Kotaro thought angrily.

He then remembered he had to pick up Naruto from the Nara compound when he was about to open the door. "Fuck my life!" he said quietly and grimly. Kotaro needed to exert some of his pent-up frustrations. 'How about a nice hard run to Yoshino's place!' he shouted in his head. He used his natural speed, his feet and body moved like blurs and he dashed to the Nara compound. As he was travelling at breakneck speeds, he was slowly calming down, he didn't need to show his anger to his little brother or the woman who has been so kind to him and Naruto, as if she was their own mother.

He arrived at the Nara compound, slowing down considerably and landing silently. Kotaro then went up to the front door and knocked lightly. There Shikamaru opened the door and saw Kotaro, "Yo Kotaro, heard you got promoted. Congrats!" Shikamaru said with a smile. He has been looking up to Kotaro for a while now. Kotaro beat him in shogi and has been telling him, Chōji and Naruto all about his missions from the last few months. He doesn't say it often, but he considers him and Naruto his bros.

"Thanks, is Naruto in? Shikamaru?" Kotaro asked.

"Yeah, he's just helping out Kaa-san with the cleaning," The Nara heir answered.

"Good kid! Am I welcome to come in?" Kotaro inquired.

"Is that even a question?" Shikaku asked rhetorically from inside the house.

Kotaro strolled in, patting Shikamaru on the head on the way. He saw Shikaku sweeping the floor with a small grin. "I'm glad you're finally promoted," Shikaku said sincerely.

"Finally? I'll be busier, so it'll keep you from hounding me to play Shogi with you," Kotaro replied with a smirk.

"I'm the Jōnin commander, I can make you my assistant and then we'll have to play all day!" Shikaku said with an evil grin.

"You are a sly bastard!" Kotaro said as he had a small smile and started scratching his forehead with his knuckle.

"That's no way to speak to your superior. Punishment is one round of Shogi after your next mission!" Shikaku declared then proceeding to laughing.

"Ah, ever since I beat your son, you never leave me alone. God why have you done this me?... But I prefer playing you than looking at Kakashi's smut and smelling Asuma's smoking addiction," Kotaro said to the two pineapple haired Naras in the room.

"Hm, I'm happy to have a competent ninja that's all. And the two you mention love their antics so much it's part of their image. Kakashi has been reading those books since he was a Jōnin, and he was twelve when he became one," Shikaku said.

"God, what a pervert!" Kotaro cried out.

At that moment Yoshino and Naruto entered the room. Both smiled at the redhead standing in the middle. "Kotaro-kun/Nii-chan!" they both shouted at the same time.

Kotaro just smiled at the reaction. "Yo Naruto, Yoshino," he said in his friendly tone.

The Nara family and the Uzumaki brothers talked for a bit before it was already ten o'clock. "Kotaro-nii, we should go home," Naruto said a bit tiredly as he looked at his older brother.

"Yeah, I have a mission tomorrow," Kotaro replied with an equally tired tone.

"Another one. The Hokage is running you ragged," Yoshino said with concern, as she cared for the Uzumaki brothers like they were her own family.

"I know but he says my diplomatic skills are needed. I don't know but I think people are freaked out by my eyes, so they'll agree to anything just to get me out of there," Kotaro yawned out with a chuckle.

Shikaku and Shikamaru stifled a small laugh but Yoshino was confused "Do you not like your eyes Kotaro-kun?" Yoshino asked.

"No, I do like my eyes, hell I love them. But amethyst eyes are so strange. I've never seen anyone with a shade of purple in their eyes my whole life. Neither of my parents had amethyst eyes. It's freaky when you think about," he said to the group.

"Well, I'm glad you like them, you shouldn't say something bad about the colour anyway. They're amazingly pretty and like you said they're unique," Yoshino said as she went face to face to Kotaro, her eyes only centimetres from his.

"Yoshino, thanks for the offer but I can't go out with a married woman. Goes against the rules. Bros before hoes, you know how it is," Kotaro jokingly said. Yoshino was completely thrown off by the direction of the conversation. Her face became all red and she scampered back to a worried looking Shikamaru and Shikaku mouthing the words "Save yourselves!"

Kotaro got the message, grabbed Naruto's shoulder and body-flickered out of the house. Shouts and screams could be heard from an angry Nara mother from all over Konoha. Kotaro huffed out, knowing he'll have to buy flowers for Yoshino and play shogi with both the head and heir to the clan when he comes back home.

"I can't believe she got so mad from that one comment!" Naruto said as he opened the door to their house.

"Naruto, you will understand one day. Women like Yoshino are extremely proud. My comment must have hit a nerve, the idea of her wanting to cheat on Shikaku with me. I can see why she got mad, but it's funny by how much," Kotaro said to his little brother as he closed the door. "I'm going to bed. I have to leave the village at eight in the morning for my mission. Don't expect me to wake you up like usual."

Naruto was still standing at the bottom of the stairs, wondering about his brother, 'There's something bothering Nii-chan. He's so sluggish compared to his usual self,' Naruto thought as he went up the stairs himself and went to bed.

---

The next morning

RING! RING! RING! SMASH!

"Stupid alarm clock, and Nii-chan isn't here dattebayo, now I have to make my own breakfast again," Naruto complained as he got out of his comfy double bed. He stretched his bones and cracked his knuckles.

He quickly ran to the bathroom and washed his tired face. Slapping his face with both his hands, the sudden pain shocked his system and his body woke up. He then yawned and rubbed where the stinging pain was on his face. He ran downstairs and quickly grabbed a rice bun and apple. He grabbed an instant ramen cup and started boiling the kettle. While he was waiting for the water to boil, he ate his rice bun and munched his apple.

The kettle rang its high pitch ring. Naruto opened the ramen pack and poured the water in and closed the top. He waited three long minutes. Finally, the small timer he set when he poured the water in dinged and he instantly gulped down his noodles. When he finished, he put the pack in the bin and ran back upstairs. He went in the bathroom again and grabbed a wet wipe and cleaned his greasy noodle juice covered face. He sprinted in his room and threw on his clothes. He wore his usual attire but instead of wearing his black jacket, by accident he wore his cardigan again. He strapped his single ninja pouch onto his right hip and then strapped his shuriken holster onto his right leg.

"That's everything. Ah that flavour is still in my mouth ttebayo! Thank you Nii-chan for buying the special editions! I gotta go to the academy before Iruka-sensei kills me," Naruto said as he ran out of the house. He dashed along the rooftops, a small blur to all the normal villagers. He made it to the academy with time to spare. He walked inside quickly and took his place beside Shikamaru's seat. Not even a minute later, both Chōji and Shikamaru entered the classroom and took their places beside the blonde. "Yo," Naruto said as they sat down.

"Yo Naruto!" Chōji said with a gleeful smile as he opened another bag of food.

"Naruto. Kaa-san expects an apology and a present from your brother next time he sees her!" Shikamaru shivered out from his mother's overreaction to last night's comment.

Naruto gulped. "I think he knows, I'd say he already ordered a batch of roses from Ino's dad's shop," he said as he got comfortable in his seat.

Naruto looked over his shoulder and saw that class was nearly full, all the people he remembers from the back of mind are here Shino, Kiba, Hinata, Ino, Sakura and Sasuke. Sasuke has been annoying Naruto lately, it seems he has gone even broodier. This made all the girls in the class even more irritating to the blond. He just wished class would start so the 'Sasuke-kun' shenanigans could stop. His wish was granted as his favourite and most hated teacher entered the room. "Good morning class!" both teachers said.

"Good morning Iruka-sensei, Mizuki-sensei," The class cried out in mixed voices.

---

Three hours later

"Ah it's finally break time, jeez my back is so stiff now. This academy business is so troublesome," Shikamaru groaned as he sat down beside the tree, the usual spot where the trio of friends sit.

Chōji was staring at Naruto's cardigan, as the blonde usually wore his black jacket. "That top new Naruto?" he asked.

"This?" Naruto asked. "Yeah Kotaro-nii got it for me when he was in the Capital. He said it screamed my name and he had to get it!" he explained explained.

"Now that I notice it, it fits you really well, you usually wore that baggy but slim jacket. I never realized you had so many muscles Naruto!" Shikamaru said, as he only saw it yesterday. Chōji nodded his head, agreeing with the Nara.

"Whatever, it must be from Kotaro-nii's training and the mountains of food he feeds me. I rather have a few inches then great biceps. I don't get it, I eat so much but I'm still the smallest guy here. I'm even shorter than Ino and Sakura," Naruto complained.

"Doesn't matter Naruto, you're one of the youngest guys here as well, you will have your growth spurts," Chōji reassuringly said to his friend.

"Yeah hope your right. I just want to get big and strong, so I can protect Nii-chan, you guys and Hokage-Jiji," Naruto declared.

"Kotaro? He's one of the strongest ninja in the village and he's recently promoted to Jōnin in less than a year of service. I don't think you need to worry about him Naruto," Shikamaru said.

"I hope you're right, I have a bad feeling about the mission he's on now," Naruto told them, speaking of his built-up worry.

"How come?" Chōji asked.

"Well he seemed out of it, like since he came back to me after the Jōnin ceremony, he was being followed by an unnatural force," Naruto said.

"Woah that's some deep stuff there. You sure he didn't take any drugs or something when he had his ceremony?" Shikamaru asked as he sat up. Naruto just blankly stared at him. "Yeah stupid question!" Shikamaru said as he fell back on his back and went back to cloud watching.

"Oi, Naruto. What were you talking about the Jōnin ceremony for?" Uchiha Sasuke asked Naruto. He walked over to where Naruto was sitting.

Naruto really didn't feel like talking to his rival right now. "Sasuke, why do you want to know?" Naruto asked as he looked into Sasuke's dark charcoal eyes.

Sasuke shrugged his shoulders and had a slight smirk. "Why not?" he answered.

Naruto grew annoyed from the answer and smirk, it annoyed him more that all the fan-girls were swooning how cool he was.

'Damn, I would love to bash him and his posse but that would be too annoying. And I need to keep my skills hidden,' Naruto thought internally. "Sorry Sasuke. I don't want to talk to you right now. And any way it's not like it involves you ttebayo," Naruto ended slowly.

Sasuke was getting irritated from Naruto's coldness, he was going to fight him but the bell rang. "Hn," he grunted as he walked to the academy with his hands dug deep into his pockets.

"Nicely handled Naruto. Too bad those girls haven't changed," Shikamaru sighed out.

"Yeah, Kotaro-nii said something about that a while back while he was training me at some of the waterfalls," Naruto said.

"What did Kotaro say Naruto?" Chōji asked, he and his father enjoy the redheads company as both parties have large appetites and Kotaro complimented their raw strength.

"It was really wise, Ah what was it again!" Naruto said while rubbing his temples. "It was like this generation, most of our generation don't understand the darkness that lurks over the world. The young today only bask in the light and when the dark horrors strike, this generation will be too weak to protect the next. Kotaro-nii told me some of his past to further his point. He told me of the things he saw and the things that happened to his loved ones. His story got me so on edge that I cried for him," Naruto said sadly.

"What story is that?" Chōji asked.

"I'll betray his trust if I told you the story, so I won't. But I will tell you three things, it involved the death of his lover, how she died. And if you ever ask Kotaro about that story, our friendship is over!" Naruto declared with ice-cold eyes, just thinking of the story made him want to cry.

Chōji and Shikamaru knew if Naruto said his brother's name without honorifics or didnt call him 'Nii-chan', it meant he was deadly serious. The love he had for his older brother was unbreakable.

"Ok, let's get to class, this has just gotten too grim for me," Shikamaru said as he tugged on Naruto's arm. The three boys went back to the classroom to finish their lessons. There was only one thought racing through Naruto's mind.

---

A couple hours before

Kotaro was waiting by the West gate of the Konoha perimeter, waiting for his team to arrive. He was getting impatient, he checked his equipment once more, he looked through all his pouches and checked his swords. 'About the fifth time I checked now!' Kotaro thought. He leaned against the gates and waited for his team. Kotaro was early but it was coming close to leave and there was no sign of anybody.

A young woman, with charcoal hair and strange red eyes appeared in front of the red head. She wore red pants that ended before her ankles, a red sleeveless shinobi shirt with a small turtleneck and her Chūnin vest over it. Her forehead protector was worn on her forehead.

"Yo, you must be Yūhi Kurenai. I'm Uzumaki Kotaro, lovely to meet ya!" Kotaro introduced himself while putting his hand out to be shaken.

Kurenai shook the hand, "You're right, and I've heard many things about you Uzumaki-san," she said in a polite and friendly voice.

"Alright Kurenai, drop the honorifics, just call me Kotaro. And what things have you heard?" Kotaro asked. 'Great more rumours!' he glumly thought.

"My mother told me about a handsome redhead that healed her leg after she fell on the street, and my roommate had a rant about a new Jōnin who annoyed her in less than a minute. You wouldn't happen to be the same person, Kotaro-san?" Kurenai said.

"Yeah, guilty as charged," Kotaro said as he put his hands up in a surrender gesture, "I couldn't leave that nasty gash on your mother, it could've got infected. And Anko tried to fluster me, I just didn't take it," Kotaro stated.

"Thank you for healing my mother, I truly appreciate it Kotaro-san," Kurenai happily said.

Izumo and Kotestu arrived, they looked at their captain and saw Kotaro. He was now wearing a green and grey Jōnin jacket instead of his usual Chūnin jacket. "Kotaro, when did you get promoted?" Izumo asked.

"Officially yesterday! Now that everyone is here, I'm going to go through the plan. We're travelling to the Land of Stone to open a new trade agreement for iron and other metals for our weapons. We're going to travel west, cross through the Land of Rivers and go through parts of the Land of Wind, we're allies so it'll be all good.

The Land of Earth and the Land of Stone are already trade partners so if we have any trouble it'll come from them. If this mission gets too dangerous, I'm calling it off and I'll tell Hokage-sama we have to try another time. Dying for this would be pointless. Now on the mission, call me Kotaro-taichō or simply Taichō. I have the official document sealed in my pouch. I'll be on point, Izumo and Kotestu will be on left and right. Kurenai, you'll be on rear. Got it?," he asked. He then recieved a nod from all of them. "Great now let's get this show on the road," Kotaro ordered.

The four ran out of the gates and got into their formation, they travelled at high speeds across the forests of the Land of Fire. After one day, they managed to get to the Land of rivers, they rested at the eastern border. They woke up at the crack of dawn and moved out, again moving at a high pace, they cross the western border of the Land of Rivers and enter the Land of Wind. They now travel Northwest to get to the Land of Stone. It would have saved the team some time if they could bypass through the Land of Rain, but any negotiations with the nation has been unsuccessful.

On the fourth day of travelling, they make it to the southern border of the Land of stone. Kotaro sighed a breath of relief as they made it to the Daimyō's palace and exchange documents. Now he and his team must bring the response back home. As they were travelling back, they took a quick break. Izumo and Kotestu were talking about random things and their imaginations were going wild. Kotaro was on a boulder, doing a short meditation session to calm his nerves. He didn't like the environment. It was rocky and there was little to none plant life, there were many caverns and cliffs. The southern wind coming from the Land of Wind made the air extremely dry.

'Can't use water techniques well here, I knew I should have started my Wind Elemantal training!' Kotaro begrudgingly thought.

"You alright Kotaro-taichō?" Kurenai asked as she walked up to her superior.

"I'm good, but I've had an uneasy feeling for a while now. Like we're being watched," Kotaro said until something shocked his body.

"Izumo, Kotestu, Kurenai! Jump back!" Kotaro shouted. The three Chūnin were spooked by the sudden orders, but they complied and jumped back and landed at the same spot. Kotaro jumped in front of them. "All thirty of you, it's rude not to say hello," Kotaro said loudly.

Then thirty Iwa ninja and kunoichi made themselves known and one particular Iwa Jōnin jumped to the ground where the Konoha nin were. He was huge man, with a massive noise and wore a red Iwagakure forehead protector bandanna. Kotaro knew who he was from the bingo books and the scroll the Hokage gave him. "Kitsuchi, son of the Sandaime Tsuchikage, what do I owe the pleasure?" Kotaro said blankly.

Kitsuchi was already angry. "Shut it Konoha-nin, we already failed the first part of our mission to stop this trade deal. But we won't fail our next objective. To kill you!" he said with a hiss.

Kotaro internally was thinking of ways to kill the Hokage once he gets back home, but first he needs to deal with the current problem. "Kill me? But what did I do to you?" Kotaro teased.

"Don't play games, you know you stole our Daimyō's jewels. He wants your head or he'll cut our funding. We only just recovered from the last war. No way in hell you're getting away from us!" Kitsuchi gritted out.

Kotaro analysed the situation, and there was a high possibility that they would all die. However, the Iwa shinobi only wanted his head. "Kurenai, you're the leader now. Report back to Hokage-sama about what happened. I'm staying back to save you guys time. They only want me dead. They don't need to kill you!" Kotaro ordered as he threw the sealed scroll over his shoulder, Kurenai nabbed it from the air with ease.

"But Taichō!" She said, not wanting to leave a comrade to die.

"Don't worry, I have too much to live for. I won't die. NOW GO!" Kotaro ordered out, his voice full of authority.

Kurenai, Izumo and Kotestu hesitated before flying off, leaving their superior behind. Kotaro never left his eyes off Kitsuchi. He sensed that none of the other Iwa nin followed his team. 'Good, they must want me to be really dead if they're not even pursuing them!' Kotaro thought. He looked at all the nin in his visage, there were only twenty showing themselves completely and ten further back, behind some foliage.

Kotaro knew that they would hunt him down if he ran away, the Iwa ninja are known for their tenacity when it comes to missions.

'No way I'm letting them get the first move. There's only enough moisture here to do one large water jutsu. Fuck my life!' Kotaro thought as he jumped back a couple feet.

Kotaro then flashed through the hand seals from Tiger to Bird, weaving through fifteen hand seals in between in a blur. 'Water release: Giant waterfall,' Kotaro thought as he pulled on all the moisture in the air and soil surrounding him. The water pooled up around his body. Warping in a deadly fashion.

Kotaro then shot out a huge volume of water, that was moving like a vortex towards the Iwa Ninja. The water was moving at incredible speeds. It crashed onto the cliff where some of the Iwa nin resided. It did major damage to the landscape but all the Iwa ninja came out of it unharmed.

A male Iwa ninja came flying through the air and had his kunai in hand, ready to stab the redheaded Uzumaki. Unlucky for him, Kotaro took out Sapphire, channelled wind chakra to his blade and sliced the man in half from head to toe. The corpse travelled far behind Kotaro, blood and internal organs spread across the ground.

"You monster!" one of the kunoichi screamed at Kotaro and ran at him.

Kotaro saw an opening and stabbed her in the gut with his hidden blade. "Sorry, but this is the world we live in. Kill or be killed," he said quietly as her consciousness began to fade away.

Kotaro was scanning for his next enemy, but an Iwa ninja came at him with fists covered in rock armour. Kotaro dodged the heavy strikes with grace, staying at the same speed as his opponent. He then saw an opening on the left side of ninja, he flashed and put him in an arm bar lock. He then proceeded to break the arm. The man screamed as Kotaro quickly regained his stance and stabbed him through the ribcage with his hidden blade, piercing the enemy's heart.

Kotaro sensed a chakra influx behind him. He saw two Iwa kunoichi slamming their hands to the ground "Earth release: Earthen stone shoots," they said. Eight large spear shaped rocks jutted at Kotaro.

Kotaro quickly bent backwards. His shoulders touched the ground and his body was body was perfectly flat horizontally apart from Kotaro bending his knees and feet, using chakra to control his position. The eight rock shoots collided with each other with impressive force.

'They were aiming for my gut. If I didn't dodge I would have died right there!' Kotaro thought quickly as he was looking for a way to get rid of the pesky Iwa girls.

Kotaro saw that he was standing on the water from his last jutsu and now he knew what to do. He did the hand seal of tiger 'Water release: Water fang bullet,' he thought. Kotaro shot out two large water projectiles from his mouth with the aid of the water on the ground, that had a piercing end at the two kunoichi's chests. Both water bullets hit their targets and large holes can be found in the chest of the kunoichi. The kunoichi collapsed on the ground lifelessly and blood gushing out of their chests.

Three Iwa ninja appeared a distance away from Kotaro. They flashed through the seals Horse-Dog-Bird-Ox-Snake and used Earth release: Earth and stone dragon. Three large mud and stone dragons came out of the ground and launched themselves at Kotaro. Kotaro feeling worried jumped back, the three dragons missed him.

The dragons on the left and right threw themselves at Kotaro at incredible speeds. Kotaro didn't know what he could do, he didn't have any lighting jutsu or knew how to even use the element. He knew he could always rely on his two katana, he unsheathed Rubí and Sapphire and channelled his wind chakra through them. As the dragons were too close for comfort, Kotaro swung his blades at them, destroying them. Mud and gravel flying everywhere.

Kotaro breathed a sigh of relief but it was too early for that. He saw the third dragon approach him, and the Iwa ninja going through the hand seals Ram-Horse-Dragon and used Earth release: Earth dragon bullet. The dragon opened its mouth and shot tens of mud bullets at Kotaro.

Kotaro was surprised by the turn of events but experience brought him back into the flow. He began dodging the projectiles, however he lost focus when one grazed his right elbow. Then a mud bullet hit his upper chest and left shoulder. The force made Kotaro fly back towards the wall. He readjusted mid-air and landed on the wall with his feet. He looked at the corner of his eye and saw that the flak jacket took most of the damage but there was bleeding on his shoulder.

'Fuck, these guys are really good! I could die at any moment. I have to unlock my seals now,' Kotaro internally shouted

He formed a one-handed ram seal and shouted "Kai."

The Iwa ninja thought there was explosive tags around them, so they jumped back, however, there were no explosions. They saw the red-haired Jōnin on the wall with a strange pattern on his skin glowing a faint blue colour then dissipating.

Kotaro gripped his Katana and dashed in a blur towards the three ninja that caused him so much trouble. As Kotaro got close enough, he dragged his foot into the ground and swept it up at the enemies. A dust cloud came and obstructed the enemie's vision. Kotaro then danced around them with his swords. Large slit marks appeared on their throats and they became blood fountains. Kotaro didn't want to get any blood on him, flashed a distance away from the scene with a body-flicker.

The enemies were getting infuriated by this. A kunoichi and male ninja lost their composure and jumped on Kotaro, attacking from behind. Kotaro waited for the last moment, they were now only two feet away from his back. He channelled wind chakra down his blades and then did swung his katanas around, turning in a 180 degree turn and swinging his swords in a large arc. His swords picked up the air while they were coming to their targets. Kotaro sliced through their guts, nearly splitting them in half. The wind that was picked up pushed the flying dead corpses across the battleground. Spreading the red metallic liquid across the scene.

Four more ninja made their way to the Uzumaki. All with kunai and shuriken in hand. They threw the shuriken at the same time, trying to make an opening on Kotaro so they can kill him once and for all.

Kotaro tightened his grip on his Katana, trusting his blades, he twirled on his feet and deflected the shuriken. A Iwa nin used a small earth jutsu to disrupt Kotaro's footing. Kotaro jumped directly towards one of the four, the one farthest from the main pack. He stabs him in the gut with Sapphire and then slices out, exiting through the body near the hip. He then threw the body into the middle of the three remaining nin to distract them. He quickly threw his swords in the air, only above his head.

He reached then in his right pouch to grab senbon needles. Kotaro swiftly fires them at their necks to disable their movement. He got two out of three as the farthest ninja had time to react and deflect it. Kotaro sprinted back to the three, grabbing his swords from the air.

Kotaro speedily slit the throats of the two disabled, and put pressure on the remaining nin with his 'Swirling Blade' sword style. The ninja had difficulty dealing with two fast swords, when he tried to get a second kunai to help protect himself with, he was stabbed in the shoulder and received a large cut on his left thigh. The Iwa nin screamed in pain, Kotaro had the mercy to end his pain by stabbing his sword into the man's heart.

Kotaro flicked the blood off his blades and looked at the remaining ninja. There was sixteen left, which included Kitsuchi, who would be much more difficult than the other ninja he's been dealing with so far.

'Halfway now. I'm still good on chakra. God, I hope they get the message and leave me the hell alone, they already lost half their men, there's no need for more pointless death,' Kotaro thought with sorrow.

Kitsuchi was furious that half of his ninja squad died the way they did. 'How the fuck does Konoha keep getting these ninja!?' he thought angrily as he bit his lip.

Kitsuchi then gathered his chakra and clapped his hands together and thrusted them to the ground. 'Earth release: Mobile core,' Kitsuchi thought as his hands dug into the ground. A large square appeared around Kotaro and began to sink down. Kotaro was going to jump up but the remaining group of Iwa ninja did multiple earth jutsu where stones pelted down to Kotaro, the walls closing in on him and spears jutting out of the closing walls. Kotaro was certain there was no out. He was going to die.

CRACK!

Kotaro looked around to hear multiple cracks coming from all different directions. The walls were collapsing in on each other and the ground he was standing on completely gave way.

'Shit, the ground is collapsing in on itself,' Kotaro screamed internally.

Next thing he knew he was falling down. Faster and faster until he plunged into icy cold water. His body was shocked from the turn of events, but he needed air. He struggled to swim up, his head popped out of the water and he gasped for air. He looked over to his shoulder that was hit by a mud bullet not so long ago, has now dislocated and had a huge gash on it. Blood was seeping into the crystal-clear water. He stayed there for a few seconds until he realized that the pain was becoming unbearable and he was soaking wet to the bone.

He swam out to the end of the under-water lake. There were faint lights all over the cavern. Similar stones he used in the Uzumaki bunker, were part of the rock. He breathed deeply as he got onto the rough ground. He picked himself up and grunted with every step. He travelled to the rock wall, rested his back on it and slid down. He took out a scroll from one of his pouches and unsealed it. A new dry uniform appeared in a puff of smoke.

"So hard to see down here, I need my medical supply scroll," Kotaro whispered to himself. He found a thick scroll with his functioning hand and pulled it out. It had a green back and the Kanji for medicine was written on the side. Sighing in relief, he opened the scroll and unsealed the supplies. A tray filled with medical equipment such as scalpels and other metal tools appeared. As well a box with a big red plus sign on it filled with bandages and anti-infectants. He cut the part of his left sleeve that covered his left shoulder and put the dirty fabric in a small plastic bag that came with the supplies.

He took out a wipe to clean off the blood. "FUCK!" Kotaro hissed quietly, the stinging pain was a bit too much for him. He then put his right hand up to his shoulder and green chakra glowed from his hand. The muscles were stitching themselves back to together and the skin was closing around the wound once the sides was close enough to each other. He then wrapped bandages around the closed wound, better safe than sorry in these situations.

Kotaro then popped back his shoulder, the pain was manageable as he only grunted at that. He used a diagnostic chakra scan over his shoulder to check for any broken bone fragments or broken veins. Surprisingly, he was all good. Kotaro changed his upper body clothing with the spare set. He put the torn and bloody flak jacket, black shinobi shirt and his red and black Uzumaki thin sleeve-less jacket back onto the storage seal and sealed it away. Kotaro then cleaned up his medical supplies and proceeded to seal it as well.

Now Kotaro had to get the hell out of this unknown cavern with a huge lake. He knew his enemies would have fallen as well. He sensed for any chakra signatures, he was struggling for a bit until he found a cluster of about eight, and the familiar signature of Kitsuchi.

'Seemed eight of their own died in that crazy jutsu storm they did, and the ground collapsing didn't help either. Why are they so far away though?' Kotaro thought.

Kotaro was going to go and finish the job of eliminating his assassins but he needed a plan on the best course of action. He got into his meditating pose and cleared his mind. 'Hope I can do something good quick! Naruto will kill me if I die here! I really can die here at any moment…' he thought as he began formulating his plan.

---

A few days later

Sarutobi Hiruzen was doing some late-night paperwork, in his office. The mountain of paper work has now only turned to a few sheets of paper. He was feeling good all day. He was smoking on his pipe, he noticed it was getting empty. As he was going to refill it, there was a knock on the door. 'Every time!' the old man thought as he put the pipe down. "Enter," he said a bit begrudgingly.

Kurenai, Izumo and Kotestu entered the room. The Hokage noticed the worried faces of his ninja and the lack of his favourite redhead. "What happened?" he demanded in a quiet but powerful voice.

"Mission was successful, Hokage-sama. We got the trade deal and on our way back," Kurenai glumly said as she put the Daimyō's letter on the desk. "We were ambushed by Iwa ninja," She said as she got back in line with the other Chūnin.

The Hokage was annoyed now, he filled his pipe and began smoking again to calm his nerves. "What happened to Kotaro?" he asked, clearly he wanted the answer straight away.

"He ordered us to go to Konoha. He said if we stayed we would die and they were only targeting him, so he made us go back. I didn't want to leave but he said there were thirty in the group. The main leader, Kitsuchi, the son of the Tsuchikage, was talking about Kotaro's mission where he stole those prized jewels and the Earth Daimyō being mad at this and ordered his head or the village would have their funding cut. I think he assumed they were a full Jōnin and chūnin squad," Kurenai reported.

Hiruzen was now regretting sending Kotaro on that mission. He was naïve to think something like this wouldn't happen. "Do you think Kotaro would survive?" he asked, beginning to believe he lost a good ninja and friend, he even considered the redhead like a grandson since he was Naruto's brother and they spend so much time talking to each other.

Izumo then spoke up, "He said before we left that he had too much to live for. And he's the strongest guy Kotestu and I know. I believe he'll come back!" he said, brimming with confidence. Kotestu just nodded, agreeing with his best friend.

"What about you Kurenai?" Hiruzen asked her. She seemed to be the most level-headed out of the bunch in front of him.

She stayed silent for a while before speaking up. "Asuma and Kakashi wouldn't stop talking about how great he is. I hope he comes back," Kurenai said, she wouldn't declare her belief like the two others did.

Hiruzen just nodded, having doubts of his own. He then sighed and stood up from his chair. "Dismissed and I want a full report tomorrow. The council will want to hear about this!" He said as he walked to the door and left with the three Chūnin.

Locking the door behind him, he left the tower, instead of going home he went to Kotaro and Naruto's residence. After a few minutes of waling he made it to the front door. He then proceeded to knock on it three times. He waited for a little while and was going to knock it again, but the door opened, revealing Naruto.

"Jiji? What are you doing here?" Naruto asked, as the Hokage hasn't visited Naruto since he moved out of his run-downed apartment.

"Can I come in?" the Hokage asked.

"Of course Jiji! Go in the living room, I was just making tea," Naruto said as he ran back to the kitchen. The Hokage closed the front door and walked into the spectacular house that the Uzumaki brothers lived in. He went into the living room and sat on one end of the couch. He saw on the coffee table some fūinjutsu textbooks and some intermediate level seals.

Naruto brought over two cups of tea, one for each. Hiruzen smiled and gladly accepted the steamy hot beverage.

"I see you're working on fūinjutsu Naruto, I'm glad that you're working on a lost art!" Hiruzen said.

Naruto beamed at the comment, "Nii-chan said I improved astronomically recently and gave me some advanced stuff to learn. He said he was so proud of me ttebayo!" Naruto said with a huge smile.

The Hokage looked crestfallen from the comment, what he was going to say next was going to break Naruto's heart. He was contemplating on not telling Naruto yet, but he couldn't lie to the boy anymore. "Naruto, I got some bad news," Hiruzen said in a serious voice.

Naruto looked at the Hokage with a questioning look. "What's wrong Jiji? I haven't done a prank in like a month dattebayo! What happened?" Naruto asked in his own serious voice.

"Something bad happened on Kotaro's latest mission," Hiruzen confessed.

Naruto's whole demeanour tensed up. His eyes widened at the mention of his older brother. "What happened to Nii-chan?" Naruto demanded quietly.

Hiruzen didn't want to say the next words, but he had to. For Naruto's sake. "Kotaro's team were ambushed by thirty assumed Jōnin and Chūnin from Iwagakure, and he ordered his team to return to Konoha without him. He hasn't returned himself," Hiruzen said sadly.

"Are you saying Nii-chan is dead?" Naruto asked in a whisper, not believing the words that left the Hokage's mouth.

"No, I'm not. Kotaro is one of the village's strongest ninja already. It would take a lot to take him down. But thirty ninja is a big force. My sensei, the Nidaime died by numbers similar to that, however they were all well-reknowned shinobi. Let's just hope he returns," Hiruzen said as he finished his tea. He then looked at Naruto, he was truly troubled by the appearance of Naruto. Naruto looked like all his spirit was sucked out of him.

"They helped destroy my ancestral home and now they're trying to kill the one good thing that happened to my life," Naruto said lifelessly.

"Naruto, he could still be alive. You know better than anyone how strong he is. And the love he has for you, it will keep his own will in check as he tries to get home!" Hiruzen reassuringly to Naruto, trying to believe his own words.

Naruto wiped his face, his sleeve soaked from his own tears. "He'll come back. Nii-chan won't die!" Naruto said confidently, only doing this to mask his doubt.

The Hokage smiled but knew Naruto was putting up an act. "Good. I should take my leave. I've had a busy day and we both ned a good-nights rest," The old man said as he got up and left the house, leaving Naruto alone.

Naruto ran up this room and jumped on his bed, his body sunk into the mattress and his head dug itself into his pillow. He cried to sleep, having difficulty accepting the fact that his older brother was most likely dead. 'Why?' was all he thought throughout the night.

---

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