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.

6. Chapter 6 - Village Mysteries

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 6 - Village Mysteries

"Ninety-seven, ninety-eight, ninety-nine… and one hundred!" Naruto yelled out as he dropped from a tall branch deep inside one of Konoha's multiple interior forests. He sat down on his rear and breathed in and out raggedly. Naruto wiped off a puddle of sweat that accumulated all over his forehead. The weather wasn't warm, but the aspiring ninja was topless. The veins all over his upper body were showing, because off his intense workout he did, the veins were trying to transport oxygen to his tired muscles.

Naruto grinned as he drank his cool bottle of water, "That was my third set ttebayo… I'm getting much stronger. I'd say I'm the strongest academy student in the world hehe," Naruto said after he finished his set of pull-ups. He laid his back onto the bark of a nearby tree, he scrunched his face in slight discomfort, the bark of the tree had a rough exterior.

After ten minutes of a breather, Naruto stood up and dusted himself off. "Now let's practice some more," Naruto groaned out before he stretched his back and walked off to a nearby training post. The post was a log that was thick and straight.

Buried into the ground so it had a secure foundation. It was wrapped in thick rope to help the ninja training with them, so they won't break their bones from the hard wood. Naruto has been training with these logs ever since he broke the training dummies that were in the academy grounds months ago.

Naruto positioned himself in his clan's taijutsu style and started practising various kicks on the post. He realised himself in the past year that this was an area he struggled with, even with the guidance from his brother. Naruto decided that he needed to work alone to improve himself and he couldn't completely rely on Kotaro.

Ever since the events of his older brother's near-death situation, the assassination attempt in the Land of Stone, Naruto felt that it was his responsibility to stop being a burden and train himself to the best of his abilities. Naruto felt that he was holding Kotaro back in his own training and therefore making him more likely to die on missions.

Of course, the brothers still trained together when the older was home from missions, however Naruto's older brother has been on a huge string of missions since he rose to the rank of Jōnin, especially in the last few months.

Naruto used the time alone to improve his skills that he knew weren't up to standard. The only areas he couldn't work on was elemental jutsu. Since he was an academy student, therefore a civilian, he cannot access any library to gather the jutsu scrolls. He had asked his older brother but Kotaro just promised that he'll teach him some before he graduated.

This of course annoyed Naruto, he wanted to become stronger quicker and that was one way of doing it. Naruto just bit his lower lip at the time and just left it alone, he was going to be mature about it.

Naruto swung a high kick and hit the post. A satisfying crunch sound was heard. He stopped his kicking barrage and tried to look between the rope. Naruto pried it open and saw a slight crack on where he kicked the post. Naruto smiled and resumed his taijutsu training.

Usually Naruto's mind was blank was he was in the middle of his solo training. However, he was angry at his brother today. The one-time Kotaro had a day off, the two brothers couldn't spend some quality time together.

"Freaking poker night!" Naruto muttered under his breath as he continued his kicking practice. Even though Naruto was angry, it was only because he had so much love for his older brother.

Naruto spent twenty minutes on his taijutsu practice before he felt that his feet, ankles and shins were about to fall apart. He stopped and went over to the tree he was resting on before. He grabbed a second water bottle and unwrapped an energy protein bar. Naruto rested his body against the tree and let the sweat he had built up drip off his back.

After finishing the bar and water, Naruto grabbed a towel that he left on his white t-shirt and black jacket. He dried himself and then rubbed the towel thoroughly through his hair. He dropped the towel after he dried himself. Naruto dressed himself in his clothes and then zipped up his jacket all the way up to his chin. The temperature was getting chillier as time passed on.

Naruto had to go to the Nara's for a sleepover tonight but that was later in the day. He knew he still had a few hours until he needed to be there.

Naruto sealed up his towel and bottles into a storage seal that he made and then he put the scroll into his pouch. He rolled his shoulders to loosen them up before heading into the village.

Naruto walked slowly, his lower body was in pain, so he didn't want to injure himself by running around. The season was spring in Konoha. Naruto saw flowers growing from the ground and rising. However, they still not mature enough to blossom, much to Naruto's disappointment.

"Gotta get some new flowers for the garden this year. Some roses or something?" Naruto reminded himself, gardening was one of his favourite hobbies. Watching things grow, making them healthy and seeing all the hard work you put in come into fruition, in the form of fruits, vegetables, herbs and blossomed flowers made him feel at complete peace. Naruto didn't care if anyone thought it was girly, he thought it was manly.

Naruto felt his legs were moving faster unconsciously. He smiled and started to walk at his normal pace with no pains. Naruto was only walking for another ten minutes before he entered the outskirts of the built-up village of Konoha. There weren't many villagers, but he didn't want to deal with any sneers or snarls from the people, so he immediately jumped to the rooftops.

Naruto landed and looked ahead, he saw ninja running from and to the Hokage tower. He ticked his tongue in annoyance. Naruto wanted to be a ninja already, to him he wasn't growing up fast enough.

Naruto rubbed the temples with his fingers and sighed. "I need to think!" he admitted. Naruto looked up and saw the Hokage mountain. The great faces of the past Hokage all looking over the village they cherished. Naruto unconsciously moved to the mountain at a quick pace, his former pain from training was no longer affecting him in the slightest. Naruto jumped from rooftop to rooftop with efficiency.

Running on all these buildings were like second nature to him, seeing that he ran away from the Sandaime Hokage's personal ANBU with success using all the different buildings, streets and alleyways in Konoha. Naruto's pranking habits made him know Konoha as if it was drawn on the back of his hand. He knew all the secret spots on where to hide from angry villagers or the ANBU, not that was something that he was very proud of, but it made him a better ninja in the end.

Naruto jumped down from the rooftop and landed on the open dirt patch that was in front of the cliff-face. He looked up and saw the tall height, the chins of the Hokage were larger than some buildings he saw in the village. "Our guardian angels," he said quietly before he put his left foot on the rock wall and then his right.

Using chakra as a suction effect on the bottom of his feet, he climbed the cliff face with ease. The months of practice he dedicated to the chakra control exercises, and the insane challenges he thinks of to make the exercises more interesting has helped so much that he could do wall-walking in his sleep.

Naruto took his time when climbing up the cliff, he headed to one specific spot. Once he was close enough, he jumped up and grabbed the tip of a nose with his right hand. With his body secured, he used his body to swing up and launch himself into the air. Naruto went up and then landed on one of the long strands of hair on the Yondaime's face. He walked to the top of the rock Yondaime's head and sat down, cross-legged.

Naruto looked over at the village and sighed contently. He laid back and uncrossed his legs, now in a relaxed lying position. He looked to the clouds. "I can see why Shikamaru does this all the time. So peaceful," Naruto said.

Naruto played with his fingers, he wasn't much of the type to sort out his thoughts in his head, he needed to say them. "I'm strong," He stated. Naruto was quiet for only a few moments after then he laughed. "Jeez, I'm such an idiot," he said after with a soft smile.

"Only a few more months till graduation. Then I'll become a Genin. A ninja. I'll do super cool and hard missions ttebayo. Jiji will have to give me his hat, he'll see that I'm the best one for the job!" Naruto told himself.

"I hope Nii-chan gets a break soon. I've been bored stiff for a while. Academy sucks and there's nothing happening in the village. Shikamaru and Chōji seem to always want to stay at home. And I don't want to intrude on their families but still… what else am I supposed to do?" Naruto asked himself.

Naruto stayed there on the top of the Yondaime's head for a few minutes. He idly spent his time watching the villager's do their business. Since it was the weekend, Naruto didn't have any classes today. This meant he had too much free time right now.

Naruto looked to his left and saw the untouched part of Hokage mountain. "Which one will I be? Godaime? Rokudaime? Or maybe Nanadaime? Nah I'll be the Godaime. Jiji still has a good few years in him. He'll give me the hat and we'll have a big party about it!" Naruto cried out.

Naruto stayed there for what seemed like hours. He was enjoying the peace. This spot was one of his favourites in the village. When Naruto was a small child, he would climb to the top quite often to get away from his pain. Overtime since his older brother came into his life, he had visited the peak less and less. That still didn't change the fact that it was still one of his favourite places.

Naruto got sick of just lying on the Yondaime's head and stood up. He dusted his rear and jumped to the top of the cliff. When he landed, Naruto scanned the area. There were far less trees here than any other area of Konoha. "I actually never went beyond here," Naruto said as he walked forward.

He looked left and right with each passing step, familiarising himself with the new area. He kept walking until there was a fork in the road. "Hm, which way do I go. If I remember, there isn't any buildings beyond this mountain," Naruto said as he put his hand into an inside pocket of his jacket and took out a small frog wallet. "Hello Gama-chan my little friend. Give daddy a coin ttebayo!" Naruto gleefully said as he opened the wallet and dug his hand into it.

It didn't take long until he took out a thick and large silver coloured coin. "One hundred ryó. Heads goes left, tails go right," Naruto declared.

Naruto placed the coin on his hand with the tip of his thumb underneath the coin. Then he flicked his thumb up making the coin fly into the air. The coin went up and then straight back down. It hit the ground and rebounded back up with some extra flips. It settled down. Naruto leaned over it, "Heads huh? Looks like we're going to the left," Naruto said as he picked the coin up and placed it back into his wallet and returning the wallet back into his jacket.

Naruto went down the left path of the fork. He kept walking and noticed there were more trees appearing. As Naruto traversed, he entered a dense forest. Naruto suddenly stopped. He looked ahead and saw a drop-in altitude. He jogged ahead was shocked. There was a loose but visible cobblestone staircase. However, this was not what surprised him, there was a tall metal fence about ten-feet tall. Naruto looked and saw that it was very rusty. 'Must be very old,' Naruto pointed out in his mind.

Naruto found what was in front of him very strange. The part of the forest he was in was very deep. In this part of the village's territory, it is illegal to own any property, so he knew nobody could live here, well at least in a house. The fence was tall but wasn't wide. At both ends of the fence was tall rocks that were part of Hokage mountain. He peeked through the fence and saw that the cobblestone staircase was extremely narrow, a man would just about struggle to go through the stairs.

Naruto knew this whole area was suspicious. He then grinned like a madman. "I was just saying I was bored. At least this will keep me entertained," he said as he climbed up the rusty gate

He dropped down on the small landing and then descended the stairs. Naruto kept going and going. He was amazed on how long it was taking him to get to the bottom. It was a constant drop in altitude and he was walking down the steps for minutes. Naruto used his head and thought it was a genjutsu casted onto him either by some ninja or a trap. He formed a Ram hand seal and said "Genjutsu Kai!"

Nothing changed, and his body didn't feel any different compared to prior to his attempt. Naruto thought about and concluded that it wasn't a genjutsu. He then continued down the steps until he noticed that ahead that there will be rock above his head. "This leads to a cave?" Naruto questioned.

Naruto felt small butterflies flutter in his stomach, his mind was telling him to move back. However, his curiosity to find out what was at the bottom of the stairs was hungrier than his fear. Naruto gulped before going down. He only walked for another minute before he reached the last step. Naruto stopped and took out a flashlight from his pouch. The area ahead of him was pitch black.

Naruto turned on the switch and saw a wide and high corridor. His flashlight didn't reach the end of the dark corridor. "This is scary dattebayo… I hope there are no ghosts!" Naruto shivered out as a bit of cold sweat covered his body.

Shaking himself like a dog, he composed himself. Naruto looked ahead and walked forward. He was moving the flashlight around the stone corridor to see anything unusual. There were small stalactites forming from the ceiling of the corridor, with drops of water dripping from the tips. Some of the droplets hit his hair.

Naruto walked for about two minutes until he entered as circular room. He turned off his flashlight as somehow there was some form of light illuminating the room. Naruto saw not out of the ordinary apart from three things that was in the centre of the room. There was a large rock the size of two Narutos on a steel hatchet door that was locked up by an ancient looking padlock. Naruto walked forward to see them in closer detail.

Naruto crouched to the ground and tried to see what was underneath the steel, but it was tightly pushed onto the ground. Naruto stood up, he knew had to push the rock off to see what was underneath. Naruto gripped onto the small boulder and pushed with all his might. The boulder was stubborn as it only moved slightly from its original spot. Naruto groaned in annoyance.

Naruto dusted his hands and regripped the boulder, putting all his strength behind him. "Heave-Ho!" he shouted as he pushed the boulder, using his full body to push the rock off. The rock didn't move for only two seconds until it was pushed off in one quick motion. Naruto lost his balance after his mighty push and had to stabilise himself.

With the boulder off the steel hatchet door, Naruto turned around and looked closely on where the rock was. "Something seems weird," Naruto said as he knelt to the ground and looked closely at the outline of where rock was.

"Seems like this rock was placed a long time ago but not as long as this door-thingy was created," Naruto deduced as he looked at the different dust levels and marks that the rock left compared to close by.

"Doesn't really say much. Just means someone entered this… whatever it is recently. But how recently?" Naruto questioned.

Naruto turned his attention to the ancient padlock that kept the steel door closed. He looked directly into the keyhole and all around the lock. Surprisingly, there was no damage or scuff marks on the lock despite the age. There was also no dust or dirt inside the lock hole.

"Now I'm really wondering what's down here," Naruto said with his tongue sticking out slightly. He pulled hard on the lock, but the mechanism wouldn't budge.

Naruto sighed and then looked in his pouches. "Now… Do I have anything to open this lock?" he asked himself while searching through his inventory.

"Kunai, shuriken, yadda-yadda and… Nothing! Damn. I'll need to get stuff from home to see what's down here," Naruto muttered under his breath.

Naruto stood up and wiped his face from tiredness, "Maybe it was a good thing. I have no idea what time it is, and I need to have dinner with Shikamaru and family soon. Shower is a priority. Can't be smelly in front of Yoshino-kaasan now can I!" Naruto said loudly before turning around and leaving the circular room through the corridor.

Now anxious because of the unknowns, Naruto scurried back through the corridor until he reached the staircase. He climbed up the staircases at a much faster pace than he did when he was going down. It took much less time for Naruto to reach his destination. He saw the light at the top and smiled, going faster now as he saw the finishing line.

Naruto jumped over the last few steps and landed on the small landing. Immediately, he hopped onto the fence and climbed it, jumping over and landing on the dirt ground once his foot touched the top rail.

Naruto saw that the sun was in its late afternoon position. He knew he had little time to go home and clean himself up. "And my house is so far away!" Naruto groaned out before he started to run.

Sprinting back along the path that he travelled down before, it took little time for Naruto to reach the faces of Hokage mountain. Not even considering his safety, he jumped off straight away and spreads out his body like a star. Naruto was approaching the ground a fast velocity, gliding somewhat with his body spread out so much.

For any observer, it would seem that Naruto would crash into the ground and kill himself. However, Naruto wasn't an aspiring ninja for nothing. Naruto gripped onto the horizontal bar of a streetlight and used chakra on his hands to slow his body down. As his body swung like a gymnast, he let go of the bar which propelled his body forward but at a much slower speed than the speed to when he was falling. Naruto did a back-flip in the air and then landed in a crouch. He took a second to admire his own skill, "You wouldn't see Shika doing any of that!" Naruto said happily.

Naruto hastily moved back to his house, using all the shortcuts he uses when he goes to class in the academy.

Naruto zoned out everything around him, his house was the only thing he could see and think. Naruto arrived at the front of his house and stopped. He didn't know how long he was running for, but it barely felt like any time passed for him. Naruto Looked at the front of the house and smiled contently. The brothers added a banner that was hanging over the door. It had a large red Uzumaki swirl on it with a black background. It was his idea to put it up as he thought it would make the house look ten times cooler, and in his opinion, it did.

Naruto moved to the front door and flowed chakra into the handle. He heard the "CLICK" and turned the handle. "I'm home," Naruto said loudly but received no response.

Naruto sighed, "Nii-chan must not be home yet," he said sadly.

Naruto walked through the small corridor to where the staircase was. He quickly went into his room and dropped his gear and picked up a fresh set of clothes. In a flash, he ran into the bathroom, locked the door, turned on the shower to max heat, undressed himself and hopped into the shower.

"HOLY CRAP! THAT'S HOT!" Naruto shouted to the top of his lungs. He quickly turned the temperature dial to minimum.

A second later, the freezing cold water escaped the shower head and rained onto his naked back. Naruto's whole body spasmed, then shivered. His teeth started chattering. "Too cold!" Naruto yelped as his tanned skin turned to a deathly white.

Moving the dial in between half and max, the water came out in a warm temperature. Naruto sighed a breath of relief when he finally got it right. Rushing through the shower was a terrible mistake. Feeling the two extremes was something he didn't want to go through again.

Naruto spent only five minutes in the shower. Using a soap bar to wash his body and shampoo to clean his hair simultaneously. He turned off the shower and stepped out. Steam rose from Naruto's body. Naruto quickly grabbed a warm towel and dried himself ruggedly, especially his hair.

Throwing his towel onto the towel rack, Naruto hastily put on his fresh set of clothes on, bandage straps and all. He quickly ran out of the house and legged it to the Nara compound.

Quickly arriving to Shikamaru's house, Naruto knocked on the door and waited still, hoping he wasn't late.

The door slid open to reveal a bored Shikamaru. "You're finally here Naruto," he said before he yawned and shuffled to the side.

Naruto nodded and walked through the gap. He knew his way around the house and walked into the main room where the dinner table was. Naruto saw Shikaku reading some mission reports. The elder Nara looked from the reports and gave Naruto a small smile before going back to his reading.

Naruto sat down at his usual place, he has been going to the Nara's for dinner quite often. "Something smells good dattebayo," he said as he made himself comfortable.

Shikamaru sat beside him. "Kaa-san wanted to make you a feast today. Sometimes I think she loves you more than me," he told Naruto as he rested his jaw on his palm.

Naruto giggled from the comment before he saw Yoshino bring in multiple trays of food and laying them on the table. She ran back to the kitchen and in a second brought out a pot of stew. "There we go boys!" Yoshino exclaimed as she put her hands on her hips.

"Thanks for the meal," the three males said as they took a plate and placed various foods on them.

Sometime in the meal, Shikamaru looked at Naruto, "Yo, Naruto?"

"Hm?" Naruto hummed as he looked at Shikamaru with a stuffed mouth of rice.

"Not that I don't like the idea of you staying over tonight, but why did Kotaro-aniki want you to sleep here tonight?" Shikamaru asked.

"Eh, I think something about a poker night with the Jōnin and it was his turn to host it," Naruto answered with a sigh.

"Poker night? Seriously? I would've liked to play."

"You? I thought you guys only played shogi," Naruto said.

"Yeah, we do. I want to play something different. You're too easy plus Aniki and Oyaji are too hard. It's annoying that there's no-one else to play with," Shikamaru groaned out.

"Hey! At least I try. I'm a lot better now compared to back then ttebayo!" Naruto screamed out at Shikamaru.

Yoshino was getting annoyed by the loud noises and smacked both boys in the head with her wooden spoon. "Will you two shut up. It's hard enough to enjoy my fabulous dinner with your loud yapping!" she cried out swinging her wooden spoon.

Both boys paled at the angry mother, "Sorry Kaa-san," they both said at the same time, submissively.

"Good! Now shut up and eat the good food!" Yoshino said as she sat back down.

"Troublesome woman," Shikamaru muttered under his breath.

Shikaku watched the whole scene with a small grin. "Naruto?"

Naruto spun his head to Shikaku. "Something wrong, Shikaku-ojisan?" he asked.

"What do you think of your brother's new nickname?" Shikaku asked.

"New nickname? What do you mean?" Naruto asked back.

Shikaku paled a little, he assumed Kotaro would've told his little brother about his new achievement.

"Ah doesn't matter. I'm sure he'll tell you himself when he gets the chance," Shikaku said.

Naruto just shrugged and dug into his rice. Shikamaru knew he will have to ask his dad later what he meant, and Yoshino had a sour face pointed at him.

'Should have just kept my damn mouth shut!' Shikaku thought as he rubbed his face with his hands. The four then talked about the final year in the academy, the village and other news that happened in and out of the village.

---

Later at the Uzumaki Residence

"What the? Where did all my money go?" Kotaro said as he looked at the small pile of chips beside him with tears falling down his eyes. Kotaro invited Asuma, Kakashi, Genma, Ibiki and Anko to play poker.

Ibiki smirked while looking at his on growing pile. "Looks like you aren't good at everything huh? Mr S-rank?" Ibiki quipped.

'Stupid hulk of a man and his tiny smirk!' Kotaro thought as he dealt the cards. "It's not like I wanted to be known as a S-rank threat!" Kotaro complained.

"At least you got a good nickname. "The Crimson leaf" is cool. You should be happy!" Asuma added to the conversation.

"Yeah, what a great nickname! Totally captures my hair," Kotaro said in a cynical voice.

"Mah-mah, Kotaro calm down. Play the game and enjoy life a little," Kakashi injected to the conversation while patting Kotaro's shoulder.

"Shut it Kakashi. If you weren't so lazy and read porn everywhere you go, you would be in the same boat as me!" Kotaro said with a hiss.

"Me Lazy!? Kotaro, I thought we were friends," Kakashi said as he dramatically fell backwards on his chair, covering his face with the back of his hand.

Anko and Genma laughed at the banter going on between Kakashi and Kotaro.

Kotaro didn't miss the quiet giggles and he turned his eyes onto both. "Stop the laughing there you two! Miss Hissy we'll have a sparring session if you don't stop, and I won't be holding back. And Genma, I'll find whatever the hell is stuck in your teeth with that senbon of yours!" he said in a slightly scary voice.

Both gulped at the threats and proceeded to look at their cards. Kotaro sat back down after his little outburst. "Sorry about that guys. I just feel a bit tense since I saw it in the bingo books. Anyway Anko? How's that seal holding up?" Kotaro asked the snake mistress.

The woman beamed at this, "It's great! I don't have any more pains and that other seal we casted on it hides the cursed seal completely," she told the group.

"I'm glad you're happy with it. I'm still sorry about not removing it. But like I told you before, I need that strange enzyme and the original formula for it. But as soon as we get that, we can remove it completely," Kotaro said in a sincere voice.

Anko just smiled and nodded. The others on the table also smiled. Since Kotaro sealed the cursed seal around six months ago, Anko has been much friendlier but still insane, especially if she wants to have fun. As a gift to Kotaro that shocked the village was a takeaway box of Dango still intact. This would be comparable to a gold bracelet according to Anko.

"Have you told Naruto yet about your rank and moniker?" Genma asked.

Kotaro stayed silent until he put on his bet. "No, he's at the Nara's for a sleepover. He'll find out tomorrow when he comes home," he answered.

"I thought he would be the first to know," Genma said.

"Yeah great conversation topic, 'Hey Naruto, guess what. Other villages and countries hate your big brother's guts and want to kill him. Isn't that great!?'. No Genma, it's hard enough telling him how I nearly died in missions imagine If I tell him this. He'll either go crazy happy and congratulate me or sulk so much that he might lose me. I'll find out tomorrow ether way," Kotaro said.

"Hahaha, you don't give that kid enough faith," Ibiki laughed out.

"Yeah Kotaro, give him some faith. He is your little brother after all," Asuma said as he folded his cards.

Kakashi perked up a bit as he remembered something. "Did you hear what happened to Gai?" he asked the group, getting a round of no's. "Well somehow he got terrible food poisoning and he's stuck in the hospital for a week. His digestive tract weakened so much that he needs to stay in bed. He tried escaping, while saying something about the power of youth but he fell down the stairs and broke his ankle, now he's there for longer. Funny story right!" Kakashi laughed out.

The others laughed out to. "Wait," Asuma butted in, "Doesn't he have a Genin team right now, who's going to take care of them?" he asked while lighting another cigarette.

Kakashi giggled like a schoolgirl and wrapped his right arm around Kotaro and pointed at him with his left. "This guy!" he cried out then proceeding to laugh.

The shock on Kotaro's face was evident and it made Kakashi laugh harder and the others laugh as well. "WHAT! Are you serious. I'm babysitting!" Kotaro screamed out.

The group excluding Kotaro laughed harder. This went on for a minute until they calmed down. "Yeah! Heard it from the Hokage himself. He wants you to have a trial run so when you get your own team in the future, you'll be able to handle it," Kakashi said covering his mouth with his hand, trying to stop the giggles from escaping.

"Hm, that's bullshit. Why don't you do it? You never passed a team. A functioning one might help you," Kotaro asked seriously.

"Nah, I know what's needed for my team. And I want one member to be on my team especially," Kakashi said while staring down at his cards.

"Who? The Uchiha boy? I heard stories from Kotaro about how stuck up he is," Anko said as she folded her cards.

"He's not that stuck-up. Honeslty, I wouldn't mind him. In actual fact, I'm sure I would be the only one to help him. But I want Naruto on my team," Kakashi said shocking the table.

"Naruto? Why? Because he's Kotaro's little brother?" Ibiki asked.

"Yes, and other reasons," Kakashi replied. The group knew he was being vague, so they didn't press on. Kotaro was trying to connect the dots.

'There must be a connection between Kakashi and Naruto that I haven't discovered yet. I know Kakashi was on Naruto's guard duty before I came here. I thanked him greatly, but his answer held more… feeling in it. Must be something I haven't seen yet,' Kotaro deduced from Kakashi's statement.

"Well, I hope you get him. If it's you or Asuma then I'll be happy. I can trust you guys with my and Naruto's life!" Kotaro said aloud. Both smiled at this, the trust Kotaro had for them was comforting and they knew how much damage would come from the redhead if Naruto was mistreated by a Jōnin sensei because he's the Kyūbi's Jinchūriki.

"I read the report on Naruto's grades in the academy, he's doing average on everything. Exactly fifty out of one-hundred in every category. You wouldn't know why would you Kotaro?" Anko asked.

"Why were you looking at his reports?" Kotaro asked not angrily just curiously.

"After you sealed the cursed seal. I asked the Hokage more about you and your little brother and he let me see some of Naruto's files," she told him.

"Alright. The reason for Naruto for being just average is because Naruto and I want enemies to underestimate him. Also, we both know he doesn't need any extra attention. He's much better than what the reports say. We train together whenever I get a break,"

"Yeah I was wondering how he could perform so… mediocrely if you were around. It would be an embarrassment if he didn't get better if you're here,"

"Ah stop it Anko, you're flattering me. But to be honest who else is going to help him. The clan kids have peers and seniors and techniques to help them. Many ignore him, fearing him for what he burdens. If I wasn't here, Naruto would be as dumb as a stick, and he'd either be eating cup ramen or saying 'Dattebayo' every two seconds. I'm glad I'm here, he wouldn't have anyone to help him and he would've suffered more," Kotaro said as he made himself more comfortable.

The group shifted a little in discomfort, knowing what the redhead said was completely true. They put it to the back of their mind and played the game of poker until late in the night.

---

The Next Morning

Naruto was walking back home after his sleepover with the Naras. He was forced to stay for breakfast by Yoshino despite his protests that she didn't need to cook him anything. Walking on the village rooftops, Naruto looked at the clocktower in the centre of the village. "Half eight. Not too bad," he said before yawning.

Naruto kept his slow pace towards his way home. Eventually seeing the large house with the Uzumaki banner hanging proudly on the front. Naruto increased his speed and ran to the door. Flowing charka to the door handle and then turning it. He entered the house and closed the door behind him.

Naruto walked to the kitchen and saw his older brother reading some scroll on the table with his breakfast. "What's up Nii-chan?" Naruto asked as he went to the fridge and grabbed a carton of milk.

Kotaro looked up from the scroll, "Not too much little man. How were the Naras? Hopefully Yoshino made enough food for your massive appetite," he said with a soft smile.

Naruto drank some of his milk and wiped some that was left over on his lips with his hand, "Of course. She feeds me too much. Then she complains that Shika doesn't eat enough and he should follow my example," Naruto said with a chuckle.

Kotaro laughed as well, "Sounds like her alright. What are you going to do today?" he asked.

Naruto didn't know how to answer this. He didn't want to reveal this secret part of Konoha just yet. "Probably some training in one of the forests. Maybe a new one. Change of scenery you know ttebayo," Naruto replied smoothly.

Kotaro smiled and nodded, "Good man. Well I have to go now. And I'll probably be home late today. Alright?" he asked.

Naruto nodded and put his hand up ready for a fist-bump. Kotaro smiled and fist-bumped him and went off his way out of the door and house.

"Now I can get the stuff to see where that door leads me to," Naruto said with a small grin after he threw the empty carton of milk into the bin.

---

Hokage's Office

Kotaro walked into the office of the Hokage with a slight frown on his face, "I hope you're happy because I hate you Jiji!" he said as he walked to the centre of the office with his finger pointing at the old man.

Hiruzen just chuckled at the action, "Why would I be happy?" he asked with a grin.

"Grrr, why did I even get you that luxury Tobacco from the capital for your birthday if you were going to do this to me!" Kotaro complained to the old man.

Hiruzen laughed out, "Yes thanks for that again. This is some of the best stuff I smoked. And you got me a whole crate! It must have cost you a fortune."

"Well, I thought you were worth it but NOPE! You have to put me on babysitting duty while Gai pukes his brains out."

"Now, now, my boy. It'll be good for you. Ever since you became a Jōnin, you only worked with Chūnin and other Jōnin. You lead many missions and a lot were successful, even though the first one we thought you died. I think if you worked with a trio of Genin it'll be good for your leadership and them having the experience of working with a S-rank ninja."

"Jeez, you're never going to let that go are ya!?"

"Well if you think about. It's just you and me in the S-rank club. Everyone else are only A-rank to B-rank."

"That just means we're shit at hiding our faces Jiji!"

"Or it just means we're just that fantastic!"

"Sure, Sure. The only other S-rank ninja that came out of here recently are your students, the Yondaime Hokage and Uchiha Itachi. But from what you tell me one has perverted addictions, the other is a drunk and Orochimaru… well there's no point going into that mess. The point is, I'll be known all around the Mainland. I wanted a nice life here. Spend time with Naruto and pick up a nice, gorgeous woman to have children with. Not become like this in less than two years here."

"Nice, gorgeous woman?"

"Jiji, seriously? Come on that's not the point, like I said I didn't want to be known so quickly!"

"Ah, Kotaro it just means you are just amazing," Hiruzen said with wry smile.

"Shut it Jiji, you love this because it means you know I can do the hardest missions. Anyway, there's no point ranting about it anymore. What do I have to do?"

"The hospital has given a report on Gai's condition. He would only have stayed a week in there if he didn't break his ankle. So, you will be taking care of his team until he is fully recovered. Most likely two weeks, three weeks max."

"Why can't I help heal his broken bones? I can do that you know."

"I know. The hospital has nothing but good things to say about you. And the shadow clones help immensely. Your hours are unbelievable in that respect. But no. I want you to this. If you heal Gai's ankle when I'm not looking. I'll seal your chakra up for a month."

"Jiji!? What the hell!? You wouldn't actually do that"

"Yes, I would. I don't make threats often but when I do, they're for real."

The Hokage and Kotaro stared at each other for a full minute, neither blinking. The atmosphere in the room was getting heavy and intense. Both were exuding their chakra and there was power flowing all around the room. Kotaro just sighed and focused on the Hokage. "I'll do it on one condition," he said.

'Hehe, I win this round,' Hiruzen thought as he sucked on his pipe a bit. "And what is this request Kotaro?" he asked, he had an idea it was something about money or jutsu.

"I want to do one C-rank mission with them on the second week. A small delivery mission would be suitable. I don't want to stick around and do D-ranks. I've done enough after that second bet with Asuma and Kakashi," Kotaro said out loud to the old man.

Hiruzen just sighed at the comment. His son and Kakashi stupidly betted on Kotaro's D-rank mission marathon again before the new year and both lost as Kotaro completed yet another hundred D-rank missions in ten day. Hiruzen agreed to the fiasco if he got to keep half the total earnings.

Kotaro didn't care about the money, he just loved the satisfaction of when his "boys" lost their ends of the bet, so he agreed. By the end, Kotaro was so exhausted from the extreme use of shadow clones he needed a full day of rest to restore his chakra and to help his headaches.

'So worth it!' Kotaro thought as he reminisced about the two bets. The Hokage pouted a bit from the memory, he made a lot of money, but he had to find lots of jobs for the redhead and struggled to give any to the Genins, not that they cared.

Hiruzen thought over the request again. "Hm, I'll have to disagree. It would be good for them to go into the real world outside the village. But I think Gai would be disappointed, he's barely functioning at the moment. He would be broken if he missed out on that," he said.

"That bad, huh? Maybe I should have a look at him?" Kotaro said, he genuinely wanted to help his friend.

"Kotaro! No, you won't. The hospital staff can handle him. Now you must meet his team at training grounds three at nine, so you have half an hour. Now leave me to do some smoking… I mean work!"

"Whatever Jiji. I'm not going to rat you out. Have a good day you old bastard. And give me a better mission after this," Kotaro yawned out as he waved off his grandfather figure and ran out the office.

Kotaro then walked around the village, minding his own business. He didn't equip his swords today. He just had his pouches filled with tools and his handy hidden blade that he never leaves with. He strolled through the streets, looking at the stalls. He saw a mirror for sale. He didn't need it, but he couldn't help but look at himself.

Kotaro wore his usual outfit, but he did remodelling with his green and grey flak jackets, they have a lighter and stronger alloy only found in the Land of Earth laced inside. The result is more flexibility and stronger armour. Of course, he kept the Uzumaki symbol proudly on the back. The only problem was that the material was mad expensive. He only had the one jacket with the lacing.

Kotaro looked at his blue scaled necklace again and smiled, he has grown very attached to it. He looked at the stores clock and saw he only had three minutes to get to training grounds three.

'Goddamn threes,' Kotaro thought with a slight puff of the cheeks.

He went out of the store and flew to the rooftops and sprinted to the training grounds. Kotaro was a blur across the village. He raced over the buildings and ran through the forests. The sun was rising and Kotaro could feel bliss heat hitting his back. He made it to the training grounds with a minute to spare. He entered inside and suppressed his chakra. He then looked ahead and saw three young pre-teens doing katas and their morning training.

The first person he noticed was a boy with long brown hair with pupil-less clear eyes that were white in colour and had a lavender purple tint around the iris. He wore a white top and brown shorts and the standard blue shinobi sandals. He had bandages wrapping all the way up his right arm and leg and his forehead protector.

'Must be a Hyūga with those eyes,' Kotaro thought from the distance.

The next boy he saw seemed way too familiar for Kotaro's liking. It was then he saw why, he was a mini-Gai. The boy wore a green spandex suit and had orange leg warmers. His forehead protector was wrapped around his waist. He had his bandages running from both of his arms hands all the way to his elbow. What caught Kotaro's attention was the young boy's hairy features. 'This guy's eyebrows are exactly like Gai's. I wonder if they're related? And what is with the hair, so black and shiny, just like Gai's as well. Is this like a special at the barbers?' Kotaro thought with a sour face.

Then his eyes finally laid upon the last member of team Gai, a young kunoichi who was doing target practice. She wore the blue sandals, baggy dark blue pants and a pink chinsed style sleeveless fighting shirt that was trimmed in red. She wore her forehead protector on her forehead and her hairstyle was tied up hair with two buns on each side.

'She sorts of reminds me of that portrait of Great-Aunt Mito with the buns. She seems like a serious kunoichi. Thank God!' Kotaro happily thought.

It seemed like time to make his introduction to the group. Kotaro took a deep breath and flashed with pure speed.

All three Genin were spooked by the sudden appearance of the redhead.

"Yo. I'm your substitute for the next few days while Gai is sick. Pleasure to meet you all," Kotaro said politely.

The three Genin didn't know what to say to the Jōnin.

Kotaro sensed this and sighed deeply. "Alright guys follow me. We need to have a talk," he said while turning around and scanning the grounds. He saw a large boulder that had his name on it. 'Perfect!' he thought. '

Kotaro then walked over to the boulder, with the three Genin in pursuit. He sat on the boulder cross-legged and relaxed. The three Genin sat on the floor and faced him.

Kotaro couldn't take the silence anymore and thought how he was going to start this. 'God! I have to use something that Kakashi uses,' He internally groaned. "Ok guys. Why don't we introduce ourselves and say our likes, dislikes, hobbies and dreams. That sort of thing. You may think this is silly, but I only met you guys.

So, we'll start with myself. I'm Uzumaki Kotaro, currently I am a Jōnin of Konoha. I like my little brother, learning and training. My dislikes are liars and losing in anything, I actually get quite moody even if there are no stakes on the line. My hobbies are similar to my likes, but I also like gardening and cooking. And my dream… is an unknown, but I definitely want a woman in my life and kids messing about," Kotaro finished, then he pointed at the mini-Gai, "You're next," he said.

The boy got super excited and stood from his spot, "YOSH! MY NAME IS ROCK LEE. I LOVE TO TRAIN AND BEING A SPLENDID NINJA. MY DISLIKES IS NOT TRAINING AND NOT BEING A SPLENDID NINJA. MY HOBBIES ARE TRAINING AND BEING A SPLENDID NINJA. MY DREAM IS TO PROVE YOU CAN STILL BE A SPLENDID NINJA EVEN WITH TAIJUTSU!" Lee shouted out with fire coming out of his eyes.

'He loves being a splendid ninja, that's for sure. Only taijutsu huh? This must be the dead-last of this year's graduates Jiji told me. Good for him!' Kotaro thought with a bit of 'oomph'.

"I love the determination Lee!" Kotaro said with a smile. "I'm sure you will be a splendid ninja but keep your voice down a little ok? Now let's get to you next," he said pointing at the Hyūga on his right hand-side.

The Hyūga just sighed after hearing his loud team-mate and then looked at Kotaro, "My name is Hyūga Neji from the Hyūga clan. My likes are training. My dislikes are something I wouldn't like to share. My hobbies are training as well. My dream isn't needed to be known," he said in a blank voice.

'Fuck me! This guy is uptight. So, we have an over-energetic Genin and one who has a pole stuck up his ass. Let's hope the girl is better,' Kotaro thought.

"Fair enough. Ok last, but not least, the pretty lady in the middle," Kotaro said out happily, nodding in the girl's direction.

The girl blushed at the compliment and tried to look at the Jōnin's eyes. "I'm Tenten. I like training and learning new things. My dislikes are people who think kunoichi can't be strong. My hobbies are fortune-telling and looking at new weapons at my Father's shop and my dream is to become a famous kunoichi like Tsunade-sama," she said with gusto at the end.

Kotaro's face grew in happiness and he fist pumped the air shouting "YES!" and then pointed at Tenten, "I thought I was going to get a stuck-up girl, but thank the lord of the seas and stars. I got a serious kunoichi!" he said with joy.

The three Genin were a bit surprised by the reaction, but could understand where the Jōnin was coming from.

Kotaro sat back down, "Is there anything you guys want to know about specifically before we do training and do a mission today?" he asked the Genin.

Lee was the first one to put up his hand, "Kotaro-sensei, what taijutsu style do you use?" Lee asked in a calmer but still loud voice.

'Sensei? That's a new one. I'm more of a senpai, but who cares. Shit, I should answer the question,' Kotaro thought.

"You follow Gai's 'Strong Fist' fighting style right? I use the Whirl-fist which is a different style where I mainly focus on hard hits with elbow and knee-strikes and grappling. A very brutal style. Ok that's your question, who's next?" Kotaro asked.

Tenten was the next one to ask, "Kotaro-sensei, what's your specialty?" she asked.

Kotaro just looked at her with a soft smile. "I have no specialty, I try and focus on many fields, so I can have an advantage on the battlefield. But I say my best areas are Kenjutsu, Water ninjutsu and fuinjutsu," he said coolly.

Tenten went wide-eyed from what he said. "Kenjutsu? Fūinjutsu? I'm learning both in my spare time. Where are your swords? Can I see them?" She asked with puppy dog eyes.

Kotaro just laughed at her, "Haha sorry, I didn't bring them. I'll show you them tomorrow or some other time. And good for you for learning fūinjutsu. It's a lost art. And Neji do you have a question?" he asked.

"How strong are you?" he asked with the Hyūga blank face.

"What do you mean? Compared to your sensei and the other Jōnin? I can't give you a straight answer. Anyway, a ninja never reveals his or her true strength," Kotaro replied with a cheeky grin, deflecting the question. Neji was a little annoyed with the answer but he didn't expect a true answer anyway.

Kotaro clapped his hands. "Alright, it seems you warmed up already. We will do a quick spar with each other and then we'll do a mission. Then I can do more focused based training for you guys when I learn more about you," Kotaro said to his new team.

'Even though you're a taijutsu focused team, there is good potential. What the hell was Jiji smoking when he formed this team? What if they encountered a long-range enemy? They'd be screwed over backwards,' Kotaro thought.

The group went to the centre of the grounds and they all stood in a square. "You guys decide, it can one on one with me or all three of you against me at the same time. Taijutsu and ninja tools only," Kotaro called out.

The three Genin looked at each other and nodded. "By ourselves!" they said.

'Do they communicate with their brains or something? God, Naruto and I need to learn that shit!' Kotaro thought.

"Sweet! Lee you're first and give me everything you got!" Kotaro stood his ground and got into his stance. Neji and Tenten watched from the side-lines as Lee got into his own stance.

When it became just Kotaro and Lee, Lee shot at Kotaro and launched a flurry of hard and fast punches and kicks. Kotaro was dodging them with ease and lightly tapping at various places on Lee's legs and arms. After a few minutes of Lee trying to hit Kotaro he was slowing down while Kotaro looked fresh as ever.

'Better end this now!' Kotaro thought as he focused chakra in his index fingertip and hit the nerve points that ran along Lee's legs and right arm. Lee collapsed on the floor and couldn't move three out of four of his limbs.

Neji and Tenten were shocked, 'Gentle fist!' both thought.

Neji spoke out. "How do you know that?" he asked with a slight snarl.

Kotaro was confused by the question. "What do you mean? I use this when I'm treating patients at the hospital to help ease pain. I hit his nerve points not his tenketsu. I would need your eyes for that Neji," he answered Neji's unanswered question. Neji's face lost its snarl and nodded at Kotaro.

Lee tried to sit up but had to completely rely on his left arm. Kotaro knelt down and hit the nerve points once again in blinding speed. Lee suddenly had the use of his arm and legs. "Well done Lee. Your taijutsu is great for a Genin. Work on your speed and stamina, you already pack power behind those strikes," Kotaro complimented Lee with a smile.

Lee was helped up and wrote what Kotaro said in a small notebook. "YES! I will take this youthful advice to heart and become a splendid ninja!" Lee shouted with a salute.

'I can't help but love this kid!' Kotaro thought with a soft smile. "Ok Neji you're up!" Kotaro shouted. Neji came to Kotaro as Lee limped slightly to Tenten.

Both Neji and Kotaro got into their stances, Neji activated the byakugan and started the spar. It was the same story with the last spar, Kotaro was dodging with ease but instead of hard and direct punches and kicks, Neji's style was mainly chakra wrapped finger strikes and palm strikes.

After a few minutes of direct sparring on Neji's end, Kotaro was now happy with the tired Hyūga and gave him a hard kick to the stomach. Neji flew back to Lee and Tenten which was some distance away. 'What the hell was that?' Neji thought as he struggled to get up with his sore torso.

Kotaro walked to the group and knelt beside Neji and let his hands flow healing chakra to Neji's mid-section using the Mystic palm technique. "Good fight Neji. Just like I'm going to say to Lee. Work on your speed and stamina and you will be a very tough opponent," Kotaro said sincerely.

Neji slightly scoffed at the compliment, his pride damaged because of how easily he was handled. After Kotaro was done with the quick first-aid, he stood up and patted Tenten's shoulder. "Your turn. Let's go!" he said as he body-flickered them to where the fights were taking place.

Tenten was surprised by the jutsu but got ready for her fight. She immediately threw shuriken at the redhead. Kotaro smiled at the change and dodged them gracefully. Tenten followed this by throwing senbon needles at Kotaro. Kotaro smirked, he nabbed the first needle in the air and deflected the rest with said needle. Tenten was amazed by the skill, it would have been so much easier to dodge them, 'Show-off!' she thought.

Tenten proceeded to unseal a katana and launched herself at Kotaro. She kept her slicing up.

'She's good so far. However, she's full of holes and needs more time to get used to her blade. Hayate or Yūgao could give a hand. Anyway, she'll become quite the kunoichi!' Kotaro thought happily.

Kotaro had seen enough and stopped her blade with his kunai that he quickly took out, too fast for Tenten to see. "You're good Tenten, like the others you just need more training," He flicked the kunai which made Tenten stumble back. "Now Tsunade is your role model yeah? Well let me show you strength that you would expect from the woman!" he said with a sweet smile.

Kotaro amassed a large quantity of chakra into his right arm and fist, using the chakra to increase the tension of his contracted muscles.

Neji saw all this with his byakugan. 'What an enormous amount of chakra, who is this guy?' he thought.

"Fissure fist," Kotaro shouted as he smacked his fist into the ground. Like last time with his fight with Kakashi, the ground shook as if there was an earthquake.

All the Genin lost their footing and Tenten had to jump back to dodge the incoming rocks. The ground around Kotaro was crumbling up, several rocks uprooted from the ground and spider-web like fissure cracks appeared all around the scene. The trees that were in the distance seemed to shake like crazy. The shaking slowed down and the force was dissipating.

There was a large dust cloud around the Jōnin and Genin. Kotaro flashed through the signs Tiger-Ox-Dog-Hare-Snake and used his Wind release: Great breakthrough. Kotaro then blew a huge wind blast from his mouth at the dust cloud and aimed it away from himself and Tenten. The cloud disappeared and Kotaro helped Tenten get to her feet. He then grabbed her shoulder and body-flickered them to Neji and Lee.

Tenten, Lee and Neji were lost for words, the strength they saw made them fear the smiling Jōnin a little.

"Alright you lot! I'm impressed with all of you. You have only been Genin for like a couple of months? You guys are good for now. But you can always improve, hell I need to improve. We're going to take a twenty-minute break and head to the Hokage to get us a mission," Kotaro ordered.

Lee did a nice-guy pose with a thumbs-up and a shining huge smile. Neji and Tenten just nodded. Kotaro went back to the rock where he sat at the beginning and lied down on it. He had some shut-eye.

Before he even knew it, his little timer he set dinged. 'What the? No way that could have been twenty minutes. Damn you God for screwing time with me!' he cursed God once more in his mind and hopped off the boulder.

"Guys let's go. These missions aren't going to complete themselves," Kotaro said loudly so they can all hear.

They all gathered and headed off to the tower. The village was bustling with people as always. The snow had melted recently, and the weather was picking up again. The stalls were filled with goods and produce. 'Seems like there's nothing wrong in the world around here,' Kotaro thought glumly as he knew this is peace only reserved to villagers not shinobi.

Team Gai entered the Hokage tower. Kotaro looked out of the corner of his eye and saw Neji by himself. The other two were chatting away. 'Needs to socialise more. Something must have made him this way. But hey, I'm not going to find out. Too troublesome,' Kotaro thought just before entering the mission admissions room.

Kotaro and co walked to the centre of the room and waited for the team ahead of him to get their C-rank mission, 'So lucky!' Kotaro thought with a pout. Kotaro saw the space in front of him and walked forward, "Team Gai here to ask for one D-rank mission Hokage-sama," Kotaro stated.

The Hokage looked up and saw his favourite redhead with a slight frown and Gai's Genin behind him. "Going for mission two hundred and one with the D-ranks Kotaro? Good. Also, I heard that training grounds three had a small earthquake. Would you know anything about it?" the Hokage asked with a grin.

'Damn you Jiji! Always making me feel bad whenever I use this strength,' Kotaro thought. "Yes. That was my punch Hokage-sama," Kotaro said. His attitude suggested that he was like an academy student in trouble.

"And what did I say about using that strength?" the Hokage asked. The end of his lip was curled up.

"Only use it outside the village," Kotaro answered, with his eyebrow twitching in irritation.

The Hokage was enjoying this too much and wanted to continue but he needed to send them on a mission, "Very good. Now, let's see, oh the Inuzuka clan wants a team to help clean up their kennels. A big job. You think you can handle it?" the Hokage asked, trying to hold in his laughter.

Kotaro scoffed and caught the scroll the Hokage threw at him. "I really do hate you sometimes Hokage-sama. Team, let's get the hell out of here!" Kotaro barked out.

As they left, the team could hear the Hokage's hard laughing. Kotaro grew annoyed at this, 'You won this time! I'll get you next time Jiji!' he thought as well of plans to do with Naruto to prank the old man.

"Do you and the Hokage not like each other?" Lee asked as he tried to grasp what was going on.

Kotaro was completely thrown off by the question. "What? No! I love that old man. We're like family. He just knows how to push my buttons. That usually happens when I do something… destructive!" Kotaro admitted while scratching the back of his head looking like a guilty dog.

The three sweat-dropped at this. The team left the tower and made their way to the Inuzuka compound. Kotaro noted that it was quite a distance from the tower, being near the outskirts of the village, near the massive walls. They finally made it to the entrance and to Kotaro's surprise, Inuzuka Tsume was waiting for them. "Wow, who knew we'd get such an entrance from the head of the clan," Kotaro teased as he walked up to the matriarch.

Tsume smirked and laid her eyes on the redhead. "Shut it pup! You should be honoured I even came out," She barked out lightly, crossing her arms over her chest.

Kotaro then just smiled softly. "It's good to see you Tsume," he said also crossing his arms.

Tsume changed her smirk to a smile. "Yeah it's good to see you too pup. You never told me you were a Jōnin sensei!" she said while looking at the Genin.

"I didn't because I'm not. Hokage-sama thought it would be good for me to substitute for Gai. He's very ill and is hospitalised. Our gracious leader says it would be a good learning experience," Kotaro droned out.

Tsume barked out laughing and slapped the back of Kotaro. "I never knew you complained so much. Stop being such a little bitch and let's do the jobs!" she said after her laughing.

They all walked to the kennels, Tsume and Kotaro were having a more serious chat as they walked along. The trio of Genin were following a few steps behind. "It seems like Kotaro-sensei is on really good terms with the clan head," Tenten pointed out.

"It must be his flames of youth that makes Kotaro-sensei so popular," Lee added to the conversation.

Neji just sighed. "I believe that he is on good terms with all the clan heads and the Hokage. Especially the Nara clan head. I wonder how important he is?" Neji injected.

They all wondered about the redhead, he was becoming more interesting by the moment.

Tsume stopped in her tracks and turned around to face the Genin. "You guys will clean up the puppy kennels and then you will help move the food supply to the back sheds over there," Tsume said while pointing to a building in the distance. The Genin grimaced at the thought of cleaning up dog faeces. Tsume saw their faces of disgust and was about to say something about but Kotaro beat her to the punch.

"Guys stop looking like that. Would you rather do this or kill someone huh? I rather see the cute puppies. Now let's go and get cleaning," Kotaro ordered. The group paled at the words used but got to their jobs inside the kennels.

They all entered and grabbed shovels and gloves. They put on the gloves and shovelled the dog faeces off the ground and put it in the bin. All the Genin's faces were soured as the nasty smell hit their nostrils. This continued for a good hour. Kotaro was helping as well but was taking his sweet time, hoping the Genin would do most of the work already being sick of these types of missions.

Kotaro finished his section and saw that the whole kennel floor was clean. "Thank God that's over. Now let's go move those food supplies guys and report back, unless Tsume has something else for us," Kotaro said to the group.

The group groaned apart from Lee who saw this as a worthy challenge, saying if they couldn't finish the job in less than five minutes then he would do five hundred push-ups. They all exited the building and went over to the crates filled with dog food. There were four huge boxes filled with the stuff. 'And this only lasts a week!? Tsume, how much do you guys feed these dogs!?' Kotaro thought with wonder.

"Perfect, one box for each. Now let's finish this," Kotaro enthusiastically ordered.

The Genin and Jōnin each grabbed bags, and brought to the shed and piled them on top of each other. They kept this up until the boxes were empty as the sun was beginning to set for evening. Kotaro went off to say their job was complete to Tsume and to say his goodbyes to her. He came back to the group five minutes later, "Good work guys. Now let's go to the Hokage, he'll want to see me… I mean us. Let's go!" Kotaro cheered out to his Genin. Then he began to run to the Hokage tower.

The Genin groaned and ran as fast as they can to catch up to Kotaro. They caught up to him and kept up their running and ran through the village, jumping from building to building. They made it to the tower in good time, Kotaro and team entered inside and immediately went up the stairs to the Hokage's office. Kotaro knocked and waited for the routine "Enter," from the Hokage, Kotaro walked in and his team followed.

"Reporting for mission success of helping the Inuzuka clan with team Gai, Hokage-sama," Kotaro said with no emotion as he was still a bit peeved being put on babysitting duty.

The Hokage had a slight smile on his face, "Good work team. The pay will be in your accounts and the success on your report cards. Come back in a few days for another mission," Hiruzen said to the team. They all bowed and were about to leave, "Kotaro. Stay back for a moment," he said after.

The Genin looked at the redhead, Kotaro just gave them a quick thumbs-up to indicate that they can leave. Neji, Tenten and Lee left the office. "Jiji, what's the matter?" Kotaro asked.

"Nothing, I was just wondering how was your first day as a sensei?" Hiruzen asked while he activated privacy and silencing seals.

"Ah, it wasn't too bad. Lee is a handful, but his spirit is refreshing. Tenten is a serious kunoichi and your drunk pupil is her idol, I'm happy she's taking her role seriously. And Neji… has his issues."

"Well that's to be expected."

"Why, because he's a branch member of the Hyūga."

"How did you know that?"

"Naruto told me about the Hyūga girl in his class… Hinata I think her name was. I know the girl is Hiashi's daughter."

"Oh, if you know that much already there's not much to say. But Neji is like that because of the death of his father. Hizashi is the younger twin brother of Hiashi. He blames the main family for his death."

"Doesn't help with their cursed seal. I would be pissed if I had that on my forehead."

"Yes… It's unsettling about your knowledge about their cursed seal."

"Well, sealing is in my blood. And the Hyūga's case is a good example. Why wouldn't I know about it."

"True Kotaro, I was just thinking I would have to give you a history lesson. That's all. Anyway, about eight years ago, Hyūga Hinata was kidnapped by Kumo shinobi after they came over to Konoha as representatives to sign a non-aggression pact. Hyūga Hiashi killed the ninja and saved his daughter but Kumogakure said they never ordered their ninja to do that and we broke the treaty already. So, they demanded the dead body of Hyūga Hiashi for his Byakugan."

"God! That's grim… and all that village wants is bloodline limits. So, what happened next?"

"Well, the Hyūga clan thought it was outrageous and didn't want to send the head's head to Kumo. Therefore, Hizashi decided to sacrifice himself as they looked identical. Not for the main family but for his brother. Neji doesn't know this to the best of my knowledge and Hiashi has closed off his emotions since his wife and brother have died. That explains why Neji has a 'pole stuck up his ass,' like you say. I was hoping by putting him with Gai to cheer him up and also because of his taijutsu skill. The boy is clearly talented."

"I can understand the pain. My Tou-chan died, sacrificing himself for my Kaa-chan and I. I don't know how much he is hurting but he's going to get worse unless something big happens to him. It's the same with the Uchiha, Sasuke, in Naruto's class, all he does is brood about. Yes, I know his clan was murdered by his brother, however he acts if his pain is the only pain around. Hell, Naruto suffered just as much for about a decade before I found him and according to you he was acting all smiley and happy. Even though it was fake, it's a lot better than being mean or broody. We should try to help the kid out Jiji, I don't know, maybe there is a sweet side hiddin in Sasuke."

"Haha, maybe there is. About Neji, I know. Neji is on a path that detests the main house and I fear that Sasuke is power-hungry."

"To kill Uchiha Itachi? No offensive to Sasuke, the kid is a good ninja, like really good! However, I don't think he'll catch up to Itachi in skill anytime soon. Itachi was an ANBU captain at thirteen. Sasuke is still at the academy and he's like what, eleven? I bet nearly twelve."

"That's why I'm afraid if they ever meet, Sasuke will lose his head and get himself killed."

"Well stop pampering the damn boy. All everybody does is wank the boy off. Funny that you said people didn't like the clan until after the massacre and Sasuke was the last survivor. How the times change huh?"

"Kotaro! Language! As crudely as you said it though, you're right. He has the belief that he's better than everyone else."

"Hm, it's a problem for the future. Anyway! I'm happy with the team so far. But I want a solo mission by the end of this. It's almost like a holiday break!"

"I see what I can do. It'll most likely be a A-rank, maybe a S-rank. That's it for you today Kotaro. Go home and say hi to Naruto for me!"

"Will do Jiji! See ya later," Kotaro said sincerely. He left the office with a wave to the old man and exited the Hokage tower. He then looked at the time at the clocktower nearby, it read six o'clock.

"Naruto will be home already, I should go see him," Kotaro said. He flew to the rooftops and blurred across the village to his house. He didn't take in any of the scenery, he jumped and sprinted home with blinding speeds. He landed in front of his door and proceeded to open it.

Kotaro walked inside and closed the front door behind him. He entered the kitchen to see Naruto eating a cup ramen. "I thought you said you ate fruit and veg when I go out for missions," Kotaro said with a raised eyebrow

Naruto gulped and turned his head to his older brother, who wore a smirk. "Shut up Nii-chan! I need a yummy evening snack ttebayo!" Naruto yelled out.

"Oh? Academy hard today then? Too much for your little brain?" Kotaro teased while poking Naruto's forehead.

"No! I just get hungry after the academy! We didnt do any training as usual!"

"Hm, that's ok. You'll just be better than your classmates when you graduate while they will stagnate with these academy lessons."

"Still though, I rather be training with you!"

"I know, you say it every time you complain about the academy. How's Shikamaru and Chōji? They doing alright?"

"Yeah they're alright as always but Shika cloud watches and Chōji never stops eating. They don't train as much as me. They'll graduate though. But I would like a training partner when you go out on missions!"

"Yeah well I have to take care of a Genin team for two weeks Naruto, so we can do training after academy yeah! But I have some things to tell you."

"Something to tell me? Like what?" Naruto asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Now don't freak out. And look at page sixty-nine of this book," Kotaro said as he threw the bingo book to Naruto. Naruto flipped through the book and saw Kotaro's picture with filled out information beside and underneath it.

Naruto read through the information and description of his big brother and his eyes widened, "S-rank threat!? Avoid fighting unless with a large squad of skilled ninja. Kotaro, what the hell did you do to piss off… Iwagakure."

"I'm in their books because of that mission with the Jōnin squad months ago where you thought I died, finally caught up and now they consider me a big threat," Kotaro explained to his little brother.

Naruto stayed quiet and reread the page, repeatedly. He then looked up to his brother's eyes, "That's so cool dattebayo! But does this mean you'll be targeted more?" he asked.

"Hm, I have no idea. I know my friend Kakashi is in Kirigakure's bingo book and is considered a A-level threat. But Kiri is in shambles, so he isn't targeted. It says stay away so let's hope I don't get much of a paparazzi when I move about," Kotaro said taking out a glass and filling it with cold water.

"Eh… I don't know Nii-chan. At least they know they shouldn't fight you," Naruto pointed out.

The two brothers chatted more about their days, training and then to random things. Kotaro asked Naruto if they wanted to train right now and Naruto happily agreed, jumping out his seat and ran to the back. Kotaro just chuckled and followed suit. "Naruto, let's do some simple sparring and work on your taijutsu alright?" Kotaro said while stretching his joints.

"Yeah! Let's go for it!" Naruto shouted out.

Naruto and Kotaro got into the Uzuken stances and Naruto initiated the spar. As with all their spars, it was mainly Kotaro dodging and guiding the blond when he was going through his motions. Naruto really enjoyed using the style as it allowed a lot of freedom when fighting. There was no restrictive way to fight, Naruto using his unpredictable nature with the brutal fighting style was a deadly weapon. Naruto had improved immensely.

The blond hasn't grown much in height-wise, but he has gained quite a lot of muscle for a boy his age. His strength and speed have improved over the last eight months. Kotaro was impressed with the progression, he knew it was because of Naruto's determination and the Kyūbi's healing factor. Kotaro knew that Naruto was pushing himself to the limits whenever they trained together, it must be an awful strain to train with him. Having the Kyūbi's healing factor must help Naruto out a ton.

Kotaro would shout to the village of how proud he is of his little brother. Naruto has exceeded his expectations, with how little he would have liked to spend training with the blond. His shurikenjutsu is practically perfect, hitting the bullseyes every time on a standing target and close to centre on moving targets, with both kunai and shuriken.

Naruto's chakra control has improved steadily, even with the Kyūbi's interference, he can now water-walk, the brothers even sparred on water to improve his control and stamina, unfortunately for Kotaro, Naruto had too much chakra for any eleven-year old boy. So much in fact that they stayed on the water for hours, improving his taijutsu and Kotaro showing him more advanced combos. Kotaro still hasn't thought Naruto any elemental jutsu, but he wants to teach Naruto one before he becomes a Genin, so he can have a trump card.

Naruto has mastered the substitute, transformation and the body-flicker techniques but not the normal clone technique. Naruto was getting extremely frustrated from it. Kotaro knew he expended too much chakra for such a low chakra requirement technique. Yet Kotaro hadn't told Naruto because Naruto's demise was too entertaining for Kotaro. The older brother had to plan to help Naruto but he wanted Naruto to suffer a little for the laughs.

Naruto's taijutsu was great for someone a year and a bit ago had no form, Kotaro thought of Lee in that moment thinking of how good the fresh Genin was at taijutsu.

The one thing that was clear about Naruto's skills was that he had absolutely no talent in genjutsu. He couldn't cast one for his life. Over the months Kotaro learnt some low-level genjutsu for his ever-growing arsenal but he found the art of illusions very difficult. Kurenai was helpful in teaching him but he knew he couldn't do any better, he was terrible at it as well as Naruto. He tried teaching what little he knew to Naruto, but Naruto just couldn't do it. However, it was a completely different story for Naruto breaking out of genjutsu.

Another problem occurred when they practiced trying to break them, Naruto couldn't tell the difference between night and day if he was under a genjutsu. Kotaro in the past would cast him in a low-level genjutsu and Naruto would scream out in horror of some fake event happening in front of his eyes or walk into the wall falling over. Kotaro found great joy in his little brother's misfortunes but he knew this was a serious problem.

When they did their genjutsu training, Kotaro had Naruto know he was under the genjutsu and try to point out where the fluxes and changes in his chakra pathway and his senses were. Naruto had difficulty and was saddened by the fact he wasn't good at it.

One thing was clear, genjutsu was a skill neither of the Uzumaki brothers will excel at.

Kotaro was a bit heart broken when he discovered that Naruto will never have near perfect chakra control unless he spent years and years on it. Unless his tailed beast inside his seal co-operated with him he could have brilliant control much sooner, but becoming friends with a giant nine-tailed fox seemed like an impossible task, but if anyone can do it, he believed that Naruto could.

Kotaro also thought about the last fourteen months he has been in Konoha and how intense it has been for him. Between missions, training himself, training Naruto and socialising with the clan heads, their clans and the other Jōnin, he never has time just to sit down and do nothing. He decided early on to be on good terms with all the clans in Konoha, so it would help support Naruto in his dream of becoming Hokage in the future.

After his insane training regimen in everything to do with Water ninjutsu and anything to do with the element, he would say without a doubt that he is the strongest Water user in the hidden village, despite there were very few of them to begin with. With his already high-water affinity and intense training over the first year and a bit stay in Konoha, he can now pull large volumes of water from all the air around him.

Kotaro learnt most of the Nidaime's techniques that the Hokage had gave him and has created some of his own with the aid of the Nidaime's notes and clan scrolls, one of his pride and joys is Uzumaki Hidden-jutsu, Water release: Water table riser, the hand seals were reduced from ten to six, going from Tiger-Snake-Hare-Bird-Rat-Snake then clapping and smacking your hands to the ground pumping the chakra to the ground.

The water chakra being pumped expands the water in the ground and makes it surface to the top of the ground. The more chakra you pump, the more the water rises. Even in areas with dry ground and the water table is low, the chakra will find any source of water, expand it and make it rise. Kotaro got the idea from the lack of water from his large battle back in the Land of Stone, he found the lack of water and moisture a huge disadvantage for him.

He also developed other Water jutsu that weren't environmental and more destructive such as Uzumaki Hidden-jutsu, Water release: Violent whirlpool. This jutsu has nine hand seals going from Ram-Tiger-Horse-Snake-Bird-Snake-Boar-Monkey-Bird, the jutsu either creates a deadly and powerful whirlpool where the caster wants in a large body of water. Or if they're skilled enough, cast the deadly whirlpool where the target is on the ground and let them get caught in it, getting cut and feeling intense pressure from the swirling water.

Both techniques were chakra exhaustive, so he listed them A-rank for their chakra requirements and the control needed for the jutsu. One thing he knew was that they weren't perfected. They took a huge strain of concentration and chakra to perform.

Kotaro was pleased with the level of his Water ninjutsu and focused on Wind release. He already knew how to manipulate the shape of the chakra type, which made learning the techniques much easier. Himself and Asuma would often train together since they were the only wind users in Konoha. The training really gave Kotaro an advantage when it came to learn the techniques, since Asuma knew most of them, he only needed his guidance to get them right. Kotaro's Wind release training took much less time, since he could create a large volume of wind chakra in his body or control the air around him.

Since Kotaro's level in Water and Wind ninjutsu were at a satisfactory level, he decided to immerse himself in his medical ninjutsu and fuinjutsu. Kotaro's medical seal that he had been working on for months had been prototyped and worked well, but the flow of medical cakra was extremely slow. But it was better than nothing. Kotaro and Naruto theorised that because it was a different form of chakra, it won't behave like normal chakra so Kotaro must change the seal slightly to allow the medical chakra to flow better. Only problem was he didn't know what part of the seal impeded the chakra flow. Naruto and he knew more alterations and prototypes needed to be created.

Naruto did a high kick aimed for Kotaro's head. The older Uzumaki chuckled and grabbed Naruto's ankle and threw him away like a ragdoll. Naruto landed on the ground was about to stand up straight but Kotaro then tripped Naruto off his feet by sweeping his ankles. Naruto fell onto his rear and looked up, his throat was nearly in contact with a kunai, "Good work today Naruto, you really have improved in your taijutsu," Kotaro said with a smile filled with pride.

Naruto smiled at the compliment as the kunai was taken away, he was helped up by Kotaro and he dusted off his clothes. Both brothers went inside the house and prepared dinner together. Kotaro boiled rice and got his soup ready for them. Naruto was on the grill, grilling fish for their main protein. The Uzumaki brothers have become a good tag-team when it comes to the kitchen. The pair got all the cold food out of the fridge and threw it softly on the table while they finished up the hot food. The kitchen was filling up with the intense smells coming off the foods.

Kotaro poured the soup into two bowls and scooped rice in two large bowls. He placed them on the table after he turned off the cooker. Naruto dished out the grilled mackerel fish on a large plate for them to share, tons of the oily fish meat looking delicious on the ceramic tray. Both Uzumakis sat down and dug in. After a few short minutes, all the food was clear, and they began to clean up. This was the usual routine, cook, eat, talk and clean-up.

"So, the team I had to take care of today were pretty interesting," Kotaro said breaking the silence.

"Interesting how? Were they strong?" Naruto asked.

"They will be, that's for sure. Two of them you would like. Lee and Tenten. The third member is named Neji. He's a tad cold, but I'm sure Gai can warm him up. He reminded me of your Sasuke."

"Oh? Another one!? One is enough to deal with."

"Well he's a year older than you. You might not have to deal with him for a few years."

"Pssh, somehow we'll bud heads. Things like this always happens to me!"

"Still?"

"Yep, Sasuke had been pestering me ever since he heard me talk about the Jōnin until three months ago ttebayo. Every time he talked to me, his fangirls gave me the stink eye and said 'I didn't appreciate him for talking to me'. I don't want to deal with that with someone else, ya know!?"

"Well, to be honest, I don't think Neji is like Sasuke in that respect. It's because Sasuke is an emo according to you that he gets all the girls. Sometimes I think you're just jealous of him."

"Me! Jealous! No way I'm jealous of him Kotaro-nii. I rather leave the village then have a million fangirls!"

"So, what if there's a million and one?"

"Ah shut up! You know what I mean! So, what are you going to do about it?"

"Hm, nothing. It's Gai's team so I'll let him take care of Neji. So how was your day at the academy?"

"Oh! It was really good actually ttebayo! We learnt more about the Yondaime Hokage!"

"Really? He's quite the famous man."

"No duh! He's the Yellow flash and he killed the Kyūbi, he's my hero!" Naruto said loudly.

Kotaro didn't know how to respond to this, knowing that the man didn't kill the tailed beast but sealed it in Naruto. "Oh… I thought I was your hero?" he sulked out with a pout.

Naruto giggled at the reaction, "Nii-chan, you are! It's not like I can't have more than one role model dattebayo. I look up to Jiji as well."

"Thanks Naruto. You know I have sensitive feelings," Kotaro said with a chuckle. The banter continued until the plates and cutlery were cleaned up and put away. Both Uzumakis had showers, Naruto in the main bathroom and Kotaro in his bedroom's bathroom's shower.

The bathroom in Kotaro's room was surprisingly just smaller than the main bathroom, very spacious and had everything that the main bathroom had, the only difference is that it had a large circular skylight above the large bath tub. 'This place really is too big for just the two of us,' Kotaro thought as he looked around the bathroom and house, seeing that there was a ton of space still unoccupied.

Naruto and Kotaro dried themselves off at the same time and got into their comfortable clothes, clothes they could wear to bed but can pass off as normal clothing. Both went down to the main room and sat on the couch, enjoying each other's company they started talking again. "Nii-chan?" Naruto asked.

"Hm?"

"I noticed something today in class," Naruto stated glumly.

Kotaro noticed the change in expression, "What happened?" he asked as he moved himself closer to Naruto.

Naruto shuffled slightly, twiddling his thumbs and kept his head down, "When Iruka-sensei was talking about the Kyūbi attack. He had a depressed face. And Mizuki-sensei had… a snarl. I'm convinced he was staring at me with it," Naruto said with a confused expression.

Kotaro stayed silent. 'Damnit! Naruto is too observant. He shouldn't find out he's the Jinchūriki when he's still in the academy. Iruka won't do anything, I heard from Jiji that they get on really well. But this Mizuki… if he tries anything, I won't hesitate to kill him!' Kotaro thought with some killing intent leaking out.

Naruto noticed that the air around them seemed to chill to freezing point and his older brother had a very angry face. "Nii-chan? What's wrong?" Naruto asked with an innocent face.

Naruto's question broke Kotaro out of his stupor. He then smiled and hugged Naruto. "Don't worry about them. They must have lost family during the attack," Kotaro said as he pulled back slightly to look into Naruto's eyes. "But if what you said is true about Mizuki, if he tries anything with you. Don't hesitate to tell me!" he said with intent.

Naruto was slightly confused with the statement but nodded, knowing he had his big brother's support in anything was a wonderful feeling to the small blond. "Thanks Nii-chan," he said quietly.

Kotaro smiled and pulled back but stayed close to Naruto. "So, you're still the smallest in the class?" he asked with a cheeky grin.

Naruto turned from quiet to loud in less than a second. "Shut up Nii-chan! I don't know why I won't grow dattebayo! I eat all those stupid vegetables! I exercise every day and I sleep like a log. It's not my fault I barely grow!" Naruto complained after he punched Kotaro's left arm.

'He's getting stronger!' Kotaro thought with a smile. Rubbing the spot where he was punched. He felt some discomfort. "Don't worry you'll grow like the rest of us," he said. His smile didn't fade.

"You can't talk much! You're already six foot tall. That's taller than most in the village!" Naruto complained

"Hm, it's good genetics. Don't be surprised if you get this tall when you get to my age. I am seven years older than you, ya know!"

"You say that every time. It sucks getting picked on for my height and love for the colour orange."

"But you barely wear orange on the outside anymore," Kotaro said with a confused look on his face. "You have the strips and the inside of the jacket is all orange."

"I know but that doesn't stop my classmates from saying it's a bad colour for a ninja."

"God, kids are assholes these days. Don't mind them Naruto. You're one of the strongest in your class so you have the right to wear whatever the hell you want, and a ninja who wears orange and survives is a ninja I respect," Kotaro said while he stood up from the couch and stretched, "I'm going to bed now, I'm so tired. Goodnight Naruto," Kotaro yawned out then departed the room.

"Goodnight Nii-chan!" Naruto said with a wave.

---

Two weeks later

"Thank God that's over. I was getting bored stiff," Naruto said as he cracked his back. He was walking away from the academy grounds and towards Hokage mountain.

When the bell did eventually ring, he ran out like a bullet, he needed as much time as possible. He had gone to the mysterious steel hatch door every day since he found it. Naruto struggled to open it, so he has done a bit of training.

Naruto quickly climbed to the top of the mountain as soon he was in front of the cliff-face. Jumping over the Hokage's faces and landing on the top, he ran through to get to the old rusty fence. Naruto vaulted over and ran down the stairs until he reached the start of the cave. He pulled out his flashlight and turned it on, so he could see better.

Naruto reached the bottom of the steps and turned to the corridor. Briskly walking through the corridor with the aid of his flash light, Naruto entered the circular room with the steel hatchet door and the strange lock that just wouldn't open for him.

Naruto discovered on his daily visits to this strange location that he was the only one who entered this place, not that it surprised him. He was tempted to ask his older brother or the Hokage to come and have a look. Then he remembered that he most likely would be banned from entering this place if he told the old man and he didn't want to disturb his older brother since he has gotten more free time lately since taking over a Genin team.

Naruto sat down near the lock and took off one of his pouches on his hip. He then opened it and laid out all the items that were stored in it. A notebook, a small guidebook about lockpicking and lock mechanisms, bobby pins and senbon needles. All these items were from his older brother's study room, but Naruto knew the latter wouldn't mind too much that if he took them.

Since Naruto discovered this lock, the first day when he tried to open it, all his attempts were futile. Naruto didn't really know what he was doing so he decided that this will be a new project for him. He knew that ninja had to have certain discrete skills to help them infiltrate buildings and areas. He had heard stories from his older brother on how he lockpicked doors, boxes, crates and safes so he knew it was an invaluable skill. It truly made Naruto wonder why the academy hasn't taught him or his classmates this skill. "Probably don't want us to steal from others ttebayo," Naruto said under his breath.

When Kotaro was training Gai's team, Naruto would be trying to break open this lock. He would read up on the lock-picking book and try to figure out the theory behind the contraptions however, Naruto was never one to learn well from just books. He needed to practice. Naruto was smart enough to use a transformation and buy multiple locks in all shapes and sizes from a hardware shop in the village. There, he practiced trying to open them with the tools he had.

Naruto practiced at home, the academy and sometimes even on the go. The lock that he desperately tries to open has made him so curious on what was underneath that he was focusing on lock-picking with nearly every waking moment. If there was nothing valuable or worthwhile underneath, Naruto swore that he would kill someone.

This however was beneficial, as Naruto had a knack for the skill. It was if his fingers worked like magic. After practicing with all the different locks and getting the hang of the different tools, he quickly figured out how to work with the lock to make it open. Spending hours to improve on it, he could open locks in a matter of minutes, some in a few seconds.

Naruto was quite proud of himself, this was something he did all by himself with no outside help. This did not translate to any successful attempts to the strange ancient lock that sometimes enters his dreams and turned them into nightmares. "Day fourteen… Let's hope I get it today dattebayo," Naruto said. He got his bobby pin and Senbon needle in hand.

He first put in the bobby pin in and then his senbon needle. Naruto stuck out his tongue as he moved the pin left and right, to feel out the lock pins that he needs to push up. Naruto thought he put the bobby pin in a good position, so he turned the senbon needle to the left. The bobby pin broke off. Naruto cursed under his breath and then hits the back of the lock to get the broken tip out.

Naruto composed himself before he went on a cursing streak with his mouth, he didn't want to pick up his older brother's bad habit of swearing too much. Kotaro had quite the vulgar mouth. Naruto got into a comfortable position and went back to work.

Naruto spent thirty minutes on the lock before he heard the infamous 'CLICK'. Naruto gasped as he saw the actual lock disengage. "Sweet! I finally did it! Freaking hell man, I spent way too much time on this! This better be treasure or some crazy jutsu!" Naruto excitedly yelled out.

Naruto pulled the lock off and placed it near the wall. He then grabbed the end of the steel hatchet door, he pulled it up with a struggle and then pushed it forward. The door moved and slammed into the ground, its hinges making sure it didn't move completely off the floor. There was a loud ringing sound that radiated off the door when it crashed into the ground.

Naruto dusted his hands with a smile. He took out his flashlight and looked what the door hid from him, "A hole with a ladder? Ah come on," He complained while he stomped his right foot on the ground.

Naruto sighed, "Looks like I'll need to find out what's down here then," he said before putting his equipment back into his pouch and then attaching his pouch onto his hip. Naruto walked around the hole, so he was above the ladder, he then gripped onto the first step and descended.

---

With Team Gai

It's been two weeks since Kotaro has taken the reins for team Gai and he has been bored out of his mind. His training with the three Genin was intense, but not on the level that he puts Naruto through. He mainly did running and physical training as Tenten skills in weapons was superb, Lee's learning his taijutsu from Gai and Neji has his clan to learn from. He didn't want to interfere with their specialties, so he just improved their already impressive fitness. The weather was picking up nicely and the days were getting longer, Kotaro was grateful for this as he hated the long nights of winter.

Currently they finished up their sparring sessions and were resting underneath a tree, sitting under the cool shade. Kotaro and team were drinking iced water that Kotaro brought and some onigiri that he prepared at home. This was their last day together and they had done only two D-rank missions over the two weeks. Kotaro wanted more but the Hokage insisted that he wanted Gai to do the missions with his team and only allowed the bare minimum for Kotaro.

Kotaro was waiting for the training session to be over. It's not like he didn't like the Genin, no far from it. He just had an itch for some real action. Kotaro needed a good mission after this just to feed his hunger. He opened his eyes from his day-dreaming and saw Lee doing extra push-ups, Neji meditating and Tenten was staring intently at his katana that were holstered on his back. Kotaro forgot that he brought his swords to show to the weapons fanatic.

"Tenten, come with me," Kotaro said as he stood up and moved a small distance away from the tree.

The three Genin stopped what they were doing and looked at the Jōnin, wondering what was going on. Tenten, being asked, got off her bum and ran over to Kotaro. Kotaro saw that she was beside him now on the grassy plain. 'I wonder how she will react when she sees them,' he thought. Kotaro unsheathed Sapphire and Ruby.

"These are my two Katana. They are very precious to me. They belonged to my great-grandmother. Their names are Sapphire and Ruby. They're twin sister swords. Both are made from metal that allow chakra to be infused and flow easily into," Kotaro told the young girl who was now starry-eyed.

"Wow… they're amazing. Can I hold one?" she asked with puppy dog eyes.

Kotaro was a bit hesitant, but allowed the girl to hold Sapphire. She gasped as she held it and studied it with a hawk's eye. Seeing from the tip of the blade to the bottom of the hilt. "Can I swing it around?" she asked.

Kotaro nodded and allowed her to do some sword swings. He couldn't help but notice that she was struggling compared when to the time when he helped go through the same motions with her own sword. After a minute or so of wielding Sapphire, Tenten came back over to Kotaro. "Sensei, I don't know why but it was much harder practising with your blade then mine. I felt some unknown resistance whenever I swung it. And there's this power that just radiates from it," she said with a sad face.

"Makes sense," Kotaro said blankly.

"How?" Tenten asked.

"It's an old story. When my great-grandmother received these swords. She was told how they were made. When they were forging the blades, they took as long as possible and infused it with our family's chakra throughout the whole process. And to add, all my clan at the time donated their blood and they used the blood to mix in with the metal and to forge and cool the blades. You could say the swords are alive with the blood and chakra of my ancestors. Because you aren't related, it gave you a harder time. To me, Ruby and Sapphire are as light as air," Kotaro told the story as he sheathed his swords.

"Wow. That's amazing. And the swords are in amazing condition for how old they are!"

"Well anything could last forever if it's taken cared properly. But yes, you're right. These blades are close to a hundred years old,"

Tenten could only stare with awe at the swords. Kotaro then called over Neji and Lee to gather them around. "That's it for me training you guys. Thankfully Gai is being discharged from the hospital this afternoon and he's itching to do some training with you guys. I hope I wasn't that bad of a sensei,"

Lee raised his fist and fire came out of his eyes, "WE DIDN'T LEARN MUCH, BUT WE HAD INTENSE TRAINING. I'M SURE THIS WILL HELP ME BECOME A SPLENDID NINJA WHO WILL SPREAD THE SPRINGTIME OF YOUTH!" Lee shouted out.

With their ears ringing, Neji looked at the Jōnin, "Lee is right. You didn't teach us much, but you helped us polish our skills," he said with little emotion.

"Thanks for the training sensei and showing me your swords," Tenten happily cried out.

"Alright guys. Thanks for being good kids. I have to go now and do some work. I'm sure Gai will be here soon," Kotaro said. He then body-flickered away and left the trio of Genin at the training grounds. Kotaro blurred through the village and ran to the Hokage tower. Instead going through the door and up the stairs he saw the window open and cannoned himself inside.

Hiruzen was scared for his life and was ready for combat, but relaxed when he saw the red hair and dark Jōnin flak jacket. "Kotaro!? What the hell are you thinking. Go through the door like a normal person!" he shouted.

Kotaro laughed and scratched the back of his head. Then something caught his attention. "A powerful shinobi was here. I sense… his chakra residue is around the place. This guy is strong!" Kotaro pointed out.

Hiruzen was impressed, Kotaro's sensing skills were improving. "Yes, my pupil Jiraiya was here an hour ago."

"What was he doing? It's like he pumped it out his body for fun."

"I don't know, maybe he wanted you to sense him?"

"I don't know. I never met the man and he's never in the village since he's always spying for us. Seems like a silly reason Jiji, doesn't it?"

"Hm. I wouldn't be so sure Kotaro. He saw that you're an S-rank threat to Iwagakure in the bingo books now. He must be interested in you."

"Well why doesn't he just meet me face-to-face. All I get about him is the stories from you on how he was turned into a bloody pulp by the woman in the hot springs."

"There's so many. You could write novels about them. Hehe… brings back good memories. Anyway, you're here for a solo S-rank mission."

"Solo? An assassination mission?"

"Yes, and to retrieve a specific item. You must infiltrate one of the Fire Daimyō's councillors and assassinate him. Aso Tāro is the name. Then retrieve a silver ring with a ruby with the symbol of a lion engraved on it. The ring should be on his left hand."

"Why isn't this gone to ANBU? I'm sure they would have been more suited for the job."

Hiruzen laughed. He blew out some smoke from his pipe. "I want you to do it. Just let this old man have his way. The Daimyō wants it done in two days at night as he suspects the councillor is trying to usurp him soon!"

"What!? How the hell am I supposed to get there on time?"

"I think you know how," Hiruzen said with a grin.

Kotaro's face soured. "How fast do you think I can run? I'm not a superhuman," he asked.

"I believe you can do it. Sure all you have to do is move your legs really fast," Hiruzen answered.

Kotaro rubbed his face. "I wasn't lying that I really hate you sometimes Jiji," he admitted.

"Now, now Kotaro, don't say such things. It'll be bad for my heart."

"Shut it Jiji, you're still stronger than nearly all of the ninja in the village, our spars show it."

"I know, punching you in the face and smoking this sweet tobacco are some of the best stress relievers I have ever experienced," Hiruzen said.

"You know what? I'm going to go now you old coot. Hopefully I'll be back in two days," Kotaro said as he jumped out of the window with speed and flew to the main gates. He body-flickered his way to the guard post and signed off his name. Kotestu and Izumo only saw a blur but knew it was the redhead.

---

Hokage Mountain, Secret Passage

"Jeez, how long does this ladder go for?" Naruto complained as he took another step down the ladder down through the mysterious hole he found. Naruto has been descending for a few minutes but for him, it felt like an eternity.

Naruto moved his left foot to take the next step down but then his foot felt solid ground, "What the hell? Oh, I'm at the bottom. Yippee, I was getting sick of all that ttebayo," Naruto said as he took out his flashlight and turned it on as he turned around away from the ladder.

"What? Another corridor? What the hell is this place?" Naruto questioned in irritation as the lack of anything substantial was annoying him. "Well, might as well move forward," he said after a tick of the tongue.

Naruto was walking through the corridor, flashing his flashlight in every direction. "Damn, this place is boring," He groaned out before he heard a faint sound behind him. Naruto turned around and then heard wire snap sounds in quick succession. He didn't know what was happening, so he rolled forward some distance and hugged his body to the wall. Naruto heard many whistling sounds and then thud sounds in quick succession for about five seconds until the noise completely disappeared.

Naruto breathed a sigh of relief and flashed his flashlight at where he was. There was what looked like hundreds of kunai in the ground. Naruto gulped and then lit the roof with his flashlight. There he saw many box contraptions used for traps inside buildings, designed to kill intruders. "Hehe, spoke too soon," Naruto chuckled out while scratching the back of his head.

'If they are traps in here, that means this place has something that wants to be kept hidden. If it was an emergency tunnel, no way in hell would Jiji put traps in here, that would kill civilians,' Naruto thought as he licked his lips. "Seems like all the trouble I went through will be worth it!" he said with a grin.

Naruto stood up away from the wall and dusted himself off. He turned on his flashlight once again and then turned to the unexplored part of the tunnel corridor. Naruto ran his free hand through his hair and then slapped his face lightly, "Show time," he said quietly and then moved forward.

Naruto took his time as he traversed through the tunnel. He kept his flashlight low to make sure he didn't activate any obvious traps. "They most likely put down seal traps. It would be hard to avoid those if done by a seal master. But a super ninja like me can't fall for a simple trap with a tripwire. No, I would be the laughing stock of Konoha then," Naruto said. He kept his eyes peeled for any obvious traps.

Naruto noticed after walking for five minutes that the tunnel went on and on. The flashlight didn't reach the end of the tunnel. "How long does this thing go on for? I wouldn't be surprised if this went of the village after all the crap I went through just to get down here," Naruto said as he kept walking.

Naruto get annoyed with the lack of anything new, so he upped his walking pace, throwing away his cautious approach out of the window earlier.

He travelled for ten more minutes. "What the hell is this?" Naruto shouted out in rage once he reached a dead-end. "All this time I spent just trying to figure out was down this damn tunnel after spending two weeks on some stupid lock… Damn it!" Naruto complained before he punched the tunnel wall with his furious fist.

Naruto's fist contacted the wall and some of the wall pushed in. "What the?" Naruto said in a confused manner as he looked closely on where his fist was. Not understanding what was happening, Naruto pushed his fist a little further. The bit of tunnel wall pushed further in until it stopped and there was three 'CLICK' sounds heard inside the wall.

Naruto was confused until he saw a large square, the size of a door, was pushed a little inside the tunnel wall. Going over and placing his hand on the cold and damp rock, he pushed it forward. The door opened, and Naruto walked forward. Just as Naruto walked inside, touches on the wall automatically lit up to illuminate the room.

Naruto turned off his flashlight and walked further into the room. He stopped and scanned it. He smiled, "Look what we have here," Naruto said as he saw many things inside this underground room. Weapons, scrolls, boxes and shelves packed with books.

Naruto went over to the only but huge desk that was inside the room. There were many scrolls and piles of paper neatly packed and placed in a neat manner. "If I didn't know better, I would say this is Nii-chan's work," Naruto joked.

Naruto didn't stay long at the desk, he'll go back later to see if anything in the scrolls or papers were worth reading.

Naruto was looking at the weapons that were organised in a corner. The section of walls in the corner were used to hang and display weapons when they weren't in use. Naruto saw many weapons such as swords, short-swords, axes, hatchets, staffs and many more. There was one weapon that truly caught Naruto's eyes. A damaged gunbai was hanging on the wall with a chain on the end of its handle. It was orange and brown in colour and had red three tomoe marks in a circle on each side.

"I've never seen anything like this before," Naruto said as he looked at the ancient weapon in greater detail.

Naruto didn't dare touch the gunbai. He had no clue how to wield such a weapon, so he felt he would only disrespect it if he took it off the wall.

Naruto turned away from the gunbai and looked at the other wall. There was a large mirror, much larger than the size of Naruto, resting against the wall. Naruto's body walked to see its reflection in the mirror by itself. He didn't see anything unusual apart from one thing. His eyes.

They had red irises. Naruto didn't believe at what he was looking at, so he leaned closer. "What the hell?" he said under his breath.

Naruto tilted his head to the left and right, but the eyes didn't change. Naruto didn't understand why this was happening. Suddenly, the pupils turned into black slits. A red aura covered the Naruto in the mirror. Naruto wanted to look away, but his body wouldn't respond.

A large beastly head formed in the red aura of the mirrored Naruto and had a feral grin. It opened its huge mouth and displayed all its teeth. Naruto was freaking out. The beast chuckled darkly loudly before crunching down its jaw.

Naruto stumbled back and fell over. He breathed heavily, a cold sweat formed all over his body from fear. A few large breathes later, he stood up. Naruto gulped before he looked in the mirror again.

This time, it was the image of the normal Naruto. His eyes were clearly cerulean blue in colour.

"Crazy ass mirror playing tricks on me!" Naruto grumbled as he turned away from the mirror.

Naruto walked over to the table that he avoided at first and looked at some of the papers that was on it. "Let's see here…This seems interesting. Wow this stuff goes back years ago. Let's read this…

Hashirama and I have the same desire. Peace. Peace by talking and sucking up is wrong way to do it. He doesn't understand true peace. I can lead the village and the world to peace. The only way to true peace is through power. Power will show all those lesser than us that we are to guide them. It's traitorous that my own clan won't support me in this even though I carried their backs during the wars and battles. I read the tablet. I know the way to the world's salvation. One fight will decide it all. I know my way, the only way of peace will come to fruition. Now or eventually, it will not escape the fate of this world…

What was that all about? Why was this guy talking about fighting the Shodai Hokage?" Naruto questioned after he read the aged piece of paper.

Naruto puts the piece of paper back to onto the table and sighs. "Guys dead anyway. Who in their right mind goes against the 'God of shinobi' to try and beat him?" he said before a puff of his cheeks.

Naruto looked and saw another corridor inside the rather bare room. He shrugged his shoulders and went to investigate it. He didn't need his flashlight this time as there the corridor was lit enough so he could see down it. Naruto travelled through the stone corridor with cautious awareness. He certainly didn't want to fall into a trap at time like this.

Naruto walked until he saw a dead end, however this dead-end looked strange to Naruto. He saw that it was square faced, as if it was artificially made. He walked up to it and saw that it had a worn down blue paint on it. Naruto pushed on the wall in the centre, but the wall didn't do anything. Naruto bit his lower lip and then pushed the wall on the right hand-side.

To Naruto's surprise, it moved. Naruto pushed more and saw that the whole square moved in a rotational manner. He pushed it, so he could fit through the gap that he created. Naruto was at slightly higher ground, so he jumped down and landed softly onto the floor.

Naruto turned around and saw the piece of wall he pushed out. He gasped as it returned to its original position. Naruto tried to quickly re-open it by pushing on it, but his attempts were futile. "Damn. It seems this is a one-way door thing. Now, where am I?" Naruto said quietly.

Naruto took out his flashlight once again and brought light to the room. Naruto saw a stone close to the largest wall in the room he was in. The tablet was in the centre. Naruto crouched so he could have a better look at the tablet. "This just looks like a bunch of scribbles to me. I can't even read one lick of it," Naruto admitted.

He stood back up and flashed his light around the room. He stopped when his flashlight shone light above the stone tablet. "Why is that there?" Naruto gasped out as he saw a symbol of a fan, the top part red and the bottom white. "That's on Sasuke-teme's back. That's the Uchiha's clan symbol!" Naruto whispered out.

Naruto felt that his whole being didn't belong here. Naruto had to look for the exit. He shined his light around the room wildly until he found a staircase. "Bingo," Naruto said as he hastily moved and climbed said stairs.

It didn't take him long until he reached the top. Naruto took his last step off the stairs and moved onto a wooden floor. He didn't stay long to see what was around him. 'If someone sees me here. I'll get into deep shit with Jiji!' Naruto thought with a shiver. The Hokage warned him never to go to the Uchiha compound.

Naruto exited the building he was in and quickly turned around. "Damn, I had to go into their temple!" Naruto hissed out before running. Naruto quickly jumped onto the rooftops and tried to get to the clan compound walls as soon as possible. Naruto used to vandalise the Uchiha clan compound quite often when he was younger, and he got a lot of flak from the Uchihas as a result.

Naruto saw the large fans that were decorating the boundary walls. He smiled and jumped over without hesitation. He stopped at the first tree he saw. "Thank God. Now I better get home. If Nii-chan is there before I am. I'll have to tell what I was up to… and I don't want that. This will be my little secret!" Naruto said before dashing off to his house with the evening sun setting down.

---

Days later at Evening

Kotaro saw the Hokage looking tired and finishing up the last bit of the paper work as he entered the office. "Jeez, you look fantastic!" Kotaro said with a sarcastic tone.

Hiruzen laughed and raised his head sluggishly. "I feel fantastic. Now tell me the mission report," he said, relaxing back into his chair.

"Mission complete. Councillor Aso Tāro is dead. Cause of death is broken neck from a drop at a large height. I poisoned him to completely restrict his body movement. Before that, I searched his rooms and in the study, I found documents of plans to kill the Daimyō and his family. The plan was to kill them on a convoy where the Fire Daimyō is supposed to meet the Lightning Daimyō, which will take place in four months time. The silver ring is also taken. I had to kill four of his archer guards. I disguised myself as a stereotypical ninja clad in black. My face wasn't shown. I had no complications in the mission Jiji," Kotaro reported with a tired face.

"Very good. But poison? I knew you are skilled in medicine, but I didn't know you liked poisons," Hiruzen asked.

"They're handy, and thank your student Tsunade. I found some of her old notes on an antidote for one of the poisons Chiyo of the sand used in one of the wars. I used it to make some of my poison. Made my life so much easier on the mission," Kotaro explained.

"Well I doubt I'll see her again. She won't come near the village. But anyway, well done Kotaro. The money from the job will go to your account. Now please hand over the ring and documents," Hiruzen said.

Kotaro took out a seal and unsealed the objective items. He gave them to the Hokage. "There you go. I have to go to bed Jiji. You should too," he said to old man with concern in his voice.

"I know but I can't too much paperwork. I'll be done in a bit anyway. Goodnight Kotaro."

"Yeah goodnight Jiji," Kotaro said as he turned around and went for the door. Every time he left the office, he always stared at the portraits of the Hokage. Especially the Nidaime and the Yondaime.

'Jiji tells me I'm the second coming of his sensei. Let's hope for that, that guy was a monster. Hm, the Yondiame...' Kotaro thought while he left the office. He strolled out of the tower and jumped to Hokage's rock to see the faces of the previous Hokage and the stars behind them.

"It sure is a pretty night," Kotaro said with a tired smile. He took a deep breath and sighed.

Kotaro saw that it was just past midnight on the clocktower, he sighed again and body-flickered his way home. He arrived at the house and opened the door. He was surprised to see Naruto waiting for him. "Where were you?" Naruto asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Oh, I didn't tell you I was on a mission today, did I? Sorry Naruto," Kotaro apologised.

Naruto's face softened, "It's ok. I was just worried since I haven't seen you since yesterday morning," he said.

"Well Gai's team weren't training up to our standards and Jiji had a very important mission for me."

"Really? What was it like?" Naruto asked with full interest.

"It's classified but I will tell you that it was an S-rank mission."

"S-rank… they're dangerous, aren't they?" Naruto asked.

"Yes and no. These missions can affect world politics. The mission itself might be as hard as a B-rank or an A-rank but the repercussions are huge if handled badly. If I failed the mission today, we could have a war or a broken alliance. But you can have an S-rank mission that's extremely dangerous and the risk of death is extremely high. It all depends on the circumstances," Kotaro answered.

"Oh… will I do any soon? You know when I become a Genin ttebayo?" Naruto asked innocently.

Kotaro laughed hard at Naruto's question and gave him a tight hug. The hug confused Naruto, but he didn't care and hugged back. "No. You won't be doing them until you become a Jōnin. When you graduate, you will only be doing D-rank missions and the occasional C-rank mission. Don't worry Naruto, you'll do plenty of missions in the future. And we'll definitely do some together."

"I would love to see you on a mission Nii-chan. I bet you're super cool and strong and fast…" Naruto continued on for a minute.

Kotaro blushed slightly at his brother's gushing. He slapped Naruto's head, "Stop that! You shouldn't compliment me or anyone so much!" he said with a slight stern look.

Naruto just kept his mouth then and just stared at his big brother. "So how was your day?" Kotaro asked.

Naruto swallowed some built up saliva, "It was alright. I did some training after the academy and then walked around the forests of Konoha," Naruto replied smoothly, not revealing anything from his explorations.

Kotaro smiled and messed Naruto's hair, "I'm proud of you!" he said with a smile.

"I'm proud of you too!" Naruto said with his own big smile.

Kotaro had to force himself not to tear up at his little brother's words. 'God damn Naruto! My only weakness!' he thought with a smile.

"You know. I love you so much and nothing is ever going to change that," Kotaro said while ruffling Naruto's hair some more. "Now, we should get to bed. We need our sleep for the day of training ahead of us!" Kotaro cheered out.

"YEAH!" Naruto also cheered as the two Uzumaki brothers went up the stairs.

---

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