Toads, Gatos and Discussions, Oh My

Jiraiya got to the Fire Country side of the unfinished bridge and paused for a few minutes to catch his breath. 'I am getting too old to run like this. I should have ridden a toad here.' He saw several ships patrolling the water near the bridge. At least one of them was flying pirate colors. Two others boasting the flag of Gato Shipping were in the water nearby but left alone by the pirate. 'It looks like they are trying to discourage people from getting to the Wave more than anything else.' Jiraiya decided to wait until all the ships were moving away from the incomplete bridge to risk running across the water.

Sakura and Sasuke cautiously entered the warehouse on Kakashi's orders. Sasuke had his Sharingan active and scanned the open interior. There were no additional mercenaries in sight. They could hear some people in the building somewhere. Near the entrance a strange machine was humming and vibrating. It seemed to be giving off a high pitched whine that began to grate on their nerves. It took only a short examination to find the OFF switch and shut it down. The whine faded and the mild ringing in their ears stopped. In a minute, Kiba and Akamaru came running up to tell them the noise that had been bothering them had stopped. One less thing to worry about. The trio and dog ventured further into the warehouse.

"I don't know why we have to do all the work here," Sasuke complained. "The Hyuuga died, the Loser should just get over it."

Sakura glared at the dark haired emo. 'How dare he insult Hinata and Naruto like that.' The boy's callus treatment of the situation made her want to hurt Sasuke. "You are not one to be talking. You have not gotten over your loss and it was years ago. His was only just a few minutes ago."

"You know NOTHING, Haruno," Sasuke growled out. "I had my entire clan taken away. I swore revenge and I will have it one day."

Kiba got between the pair, "Enough, we have a job to get done in here. Akamaru says there are some more people in the building but they all smell dirty and sweaty."

The ninja just worked their way to the far end of the building and found a half dozen laborers loading carts with food. The workers gave up when the trio approached with weapons drawn.

Jiraiya finally was able to cross the narrow gap in the bridge and ran along the finished portion to the town at the Wave end. A squad of mercenaries was waiting when he arrived at land.

"Surrender, old man. We do not want to have to kill you. How did you get out onto the bridge?" one challenged.

"I walked," Jiraiya replied. "It seemed such a nice day for one. The fresh sea air is so inspirational for an author."

"Well, you need to come with us. Our boss does not want anyone going out onto the bridge for any reason."

Jiraiya paused for a moment before smiling broadly. "Of course. Might I inquire your boss' name?"

"Lord Gato. He will soon be ruling this land completely. Once the bridge is done, he will assume his rightful place as Lord of the Wave Country." The mercenary seemed proud of his proclamation as if he would benefit from the entire situation.

Jiraiya smirked and pulled out a copy of his latest book. "Well, do you think I could possibly meet him? I have a copy of my latest work and I would love to provide him with an autographed copy."

The mercenary saw the porn and stumbled out, "Certainly, Lord Gato would love to meet the author of the famous Icha Icha books."

Jiraiya smiled broadly again and followed the mercenary.

"na … ru … to"

Naruto opened his eyes and looked. He still held the girl in his arms but she was no longer pale or still. Her chest rose slowly and color had returned to her face. Hinata was alive! Her eyes were barely open and she looked up at him confused. The shock showed on his face as he just stared.

Hinata's voice was weak but clear, "Naruto, why are you crying? What happened?"

Tears once again formed in Naruto's eyes as he stammered out a reply, "I … I thought you were dead. You weren't breathing and I thought you left me."

Hinata lifted a hand to Naruto's cheek and gently brushed away tears. "You were crying for me? But I thought you did not like me like that?"

Naruto recalled the words that had started the problems a few days before. "No, you're my best friend in the world, Hinata. I said to Jiraiya-sensei that I don't have pervy thoughts about you. You're like a princess and I'm just … me."

Hinata was still weak but she wrapped her arms tight as she could around Naruto. Tears began to run down her face as the stress of the past few days drained away. He liked her. He called her his best friend.

After a minute, she relaxed and was getting light-headed. "I'm tired, Naruto-kun."

"Then you rest a bit, Hinata-chan. We have a lot to do around here but I don't think you can do much right now." Naruto slowly lay her down on the ground and waved Shino over. "Hinata is ok, Shino. She is asleep now but she's alive," he told the bug user in an excited tone.

"That is good news, Naruto. I need to rest soon as well but I can watch over her if you can aid your sensei with the prisoners."

Naruto nodded and got up and went over toward Anko.

Anko noticed the motion from Naruto and heard him start to talk and saw Hinata move as well. 'She's alive!! Hmm, the breeze must be stirring up that damn insecticide. It is making my eyes water.' She rubbed the tears away before anyone else could notice. Minutes later, Naruto joined her and was babbling on about Hinata being alive somehow. She smiled at the boy and knew that whatever remaining problems the kids had would be solved soon enough.

Kakashi was busy checking over Zabuza and Haku. It looked like the swordsman would not be using his left arm again for a long time, if ever. The Chidori, 1000 Birds, he had used against the Mist ninja had shattered the man's shoulder joint and collarbone. Kakashi would have preferred to use the more powerful Raikiri, Lightning Blade for a guaranteed killing blow. Raikiri needed much more energy and focus to use. It also required he be standing still to gather the chakra while Chidori could be generated while in motion. Necessity made his decision for him. If he had taken the time for his preference, the swordsman would have beheaded Naruto.

The Copy Ninja stripped the Mist ninja of their weapons and moved the zanbato away to the rest of the weapons under Shino's guard. No sense in leaving a temptation in case either one awoke. He looked at Haku breathing raggedly next to his Master. The boy was lucky. The strike Naruto had come up with in a moment would have killed the boy outright if it had struck. No telling right now what being hit with that much demonic chakra would do to the boy but it did not bode well.

At least Naruto had listened. The Mist boy could not fight back and had been defeated. Leaf ninja did not execute captives unless a war or extreme situation demanded such an action. In a fight, enemies would die. Some of the mercenaries Naruto and Hinata had taken down might not survive their wounds. But Leaf ninja did not murder out of hand. That was one of the basic rules created in the foundation of Konoha. When possible, defeated enemies were turned in to daimyos and other leaders to let the legal system decide the fates. It was not a perfect rule but it set a Leaf ninja above the rest, at least in their opinion. It also made sleeping at night much easier as well.

Kiba, Sakura and Sasuke returned with the warehouse workers and noticed Naruto had set Hinata back down onto the ground but had moved to Anko and was smiling. Shino was now sitting next to Hinata when Kakashi called everyone together near the downed girl. The Konoha ninja gathered together while the summoned snakes guarded over the prisoners.

"Hinata's alive, Sakura!" Naruto called out.

Sakura smiled at the news and wanted to rush over to the other girl but Kakashi began talking.

"There are too many captives for us to watch by ourselves and Gato is not here. He will learn about his ninja losing soon enough and we do not have a lot of time to interrogate these mercenaries for information on where he is. Kiba, you will scout around and find out if there are any patrols of mercenaries nearby. Sasuke, you head to town and get the locals to come help us with these prisoners. We can use the warehouse as a temporary holding area until the local authorities decide what to do with them. Likely some of them have bounties on their heads so they will be facing a lot more than simple prison."

Sasuke nodded and ran off toward the main town a few miles away.

"Naruto, you secure the building. Make sure all the exits are sealed up tight so no one can escape or get in without us knowing."

Naruto nodded and slowly trotted off to do his assigned work.

"Sakura, you check over Hinata and Shino. She is weak from whatever that attack did to her. I have seen one similar where a person is put into a death-like state but it takes days before their chakra returns to normal. Shino appears to be slipping into a mild shock from his colony nearly being destroyed and the effects of that insecticide. After you check them over, look at some of the more wounded prisoners. Let Anko or myself know if any are not likely to survive."

Sakura nodded and walked over to Hinata and Shino.

"Anko, we need your summons to stand guard until the locals can take things over here. Could you go search the offices in the warehouse for any useful information?"

Anko nodded and went into the warehouse.

Kakashi then went to bring the fallen Demon Brothers to the prisoners and began searching them for hidden weapons.

Sasuke ran toward town but stopped about a mile outside. He went thru the hand signs he had seen Kakashi use for his Chidori jutsu. Sasuke frowned as nothing happened. He went through the hand seals and molded his chakra on the water bullet jutsu the Demon Brother had used. It was a strain but the jutsu worked. He shook his head. One worked but not the other. Focusing his chakra as much as he could, he tried a second time on the Chidori but only managed to generate a spark instead of the fistful of lightning that Kakashi had made. Something was different and his chakra would not mold like he had seen it done. He would have to go consult his clan library on why he could not simply use the jutsu.

Sasuke set out running again. He reached town a few minutes later and headed for the mayor's office.

Jiraiya was led onto a nicely apportioned yacht. Shortly, he was brought into a nice room where a short man sat behind a desk. "My men tell me you are the author of the Icha Icha series and have brought me a gift."

"Yes, I have. I am Jiraiya, the man known far and wide. I was passing through this lovely territory and felt that I should pay a visit to the people who hold power. It is always a good idea to cultivate good relations." Jiraiya was in full 'pervert' mode now. His gestures were wildly exaggerated and his grin could rival Gai's. "I have heard about the wealthy industrialist Gato and felt I should include you in my visits."

Gato smiled as his ego was stroked by Jiraiya. "I am just a simple businessman for now, Jiraiya. I hope that I could find a place that might need my services one day. The country here is poor and beset by hard times so I thought I could pay it a visit and see about locating a few of my business ventures here."

"Ah, so you are responsible for that fine bridge out there, Gato-sama?"

"Regrettably, no. The builder has been having some labor troubles and I have come to see if my influence can help solve things and perhaps provide some assistance in its completion."

'Geez, this guy is oily.' Jiraiya thought. 'No wonder he got so powerful if he can make things seem like he is saving people when he in fact is the one who causes the problems that allow him to step in. But he is smooth about it. I need to get out of here and get with Anko and Kakashi about this guy.'

Jiraiya produced the book that had been shown to the guards earlier and presented it to Gato. "A signed first edition of my latest book. I hope you enjoy the chapter with Michiru and Haruka. That one has received the most response from fans."

Gato took the book and set it to one side before smiling his greasy smile at Jiraiya and then dismissed the author.

Jiraiya was being led down the boarding ramp when he noticed a squad of mercenaries come running up to the yacht.

"We need to see the boss right away! Some Leaf ninja just took out the guys the boss hired to take out the bridge builder!" the leader told the guard at the foot of the ramp.

The ramp guard slapped the mercenary who had spoken. "Dammit, you know you are not supposed to come here and talk about that stuff in public. And in front of someone, too." The guard turned to Jiraiya and spoke, "Could you just go back on board for a few minutes, Jiraiya-sama? We are having a security issue and for your own safety we need you to remain here."

'Well, if that does not confirm the suspicions then nothing will. Let's see how far I can play this out.'

"There is no need to worry about me. I can take care of myself. No one wants to hurt the Gallant Jiraiya." Jiraiya went into his pose and grinned at the guard.

"I am afraid I must insist, Jiraiya-sama. It would not do for someone as esteemed as you to suffer an 'accident' while near our employer's yacht."

'Yup, that's a threat. Well, time to get theatrical on this mission.' "I really cannot stay any longer gentlemen, so I will be going now." Jiraiya back kicked the escort behind him before making an intentionally badly performed spinning to kick the guard speaking to him in the face. Both fell as Jiraiya ran past the mercenaries. "None can hold the Gallant Jiraiya!!" he cackled as the white haired Sannin ran into the nearby town.

The mercenaries looked at each other, "That is one crazy old man."

Sakura finished her follow up first aid on Hinata and Shino with little trouble. Hinata was suffering from minor exhaustion due to her chakra being stopped by the senbon attack. Shino had slipped into a minor shock as the loss of most of his kikai colony had an effect on him. He was able to function well enough to keep an eye on Hinata for the moment but she felt he should rest as soon as possible.

The enemy ninja were nearly as easy to deal with. Kakashi had given first aid to the Demon Brother with the missing hand. There was nothing else she could do for that. Zabuza had massive bruising and shattered bones in his shoulder from Kakashi's chidori attack but nothing life threatening at the moment. She merely immobilized the arm while the other had been almost cruelly bound up behind him. Sakura knew that even with a single working arm the man was dangerous so she did not touch Kakashi's bindings there.

The boy, Haku, was a different story. The boy remained unconscious. He had severe chakra burns on his stomach and broken bones in his forearms and shins. She stopped counting at a dozen fractures and just tried to splint the wounds as best as she could. This was something beyond her few first aid medical jutsu could handle. She was puzzled by multiple small chakra burns scattered around Haku's body near all the major pressure points and knew that they corresponded to several major tenketsu. She would have to get Hinata to look at the boy's chakra network after she recovered.

As far as the mercenaries were concerned, they had mostly taken care of themselves. The ones able to move had done first aid on the ones who could not. She was delighted to find that none were going to die any time soon unless something bad happened.

Kiba finished his sweep of the local area and saw signs that a patrol had been nearby recently but had quickly left. He began back to report to Kakashi that they might have more company soon if Gato had more men on the island.

As he was heading back to the warehouse, he saw a small group of men approaching along with Sasuke. He came out of concealment and went to the Uchiha. "This is all the men the town can spare?"

"Hn. No, this is all the ones that are not afraid to come. Cowards, the lot of them."

One man spoke up at Sasuke's remark, "It is not a matter of bravery or cowardice, boy. It is a matter of survival. All of us are workers on the bridge project. We already knew what we are in for if the project fails and Gato remains in power here. The rest are looking out for their wives and children. You ninja are only here for a short time. We have to be around for all the things that come after you leave. If Gato remains, any who go against him will have a lot of problems."

Sasuke had no good reply to that so he just made his normal dismissal and continued on with Kiba to the warehouse.

As soon as Sakura had looked over the wounded, Anko and Naruto began the process of moving the mercenaries to the warehouse jail. The captives that could aid them in this did so. Anko was mildly surprised that a few of the mercenaries took the time to be careful with their fellows. She figured that even if they had an evil employer, even some good might exist inside a handful of these men. The captive mercenaries were locked up by the time that the party led by Sasuke arrived. The 4 ninja were kept in a separate area.

With the mercenaries secure, Anko saw Naruto want to head over to the sleeping Hinata. She stopped him before the boy could get to his destination.

"You and Hinata did good with the troops, Naruto. I am glad that both of you remembered your training when the time came to use it. You both did your teachers proud." She smirked as the boy blushed lightly at the praise.

"Hinata did most of the close in stuff. My clones and weapons took down a lot, but I could have done a better when that last attack came."

"No, you couldn't have. We will discuss it at length during the debrief and when we can dissect the mission later, but what happened was something you could not have prevented. You did your job as assigned and did it well. You two handled a huge responsibility and the attack that hurt Hinata was something from outside of that."

"For now, I want you to police the area for weapons that you used as well as seeing if anything the mercenaries had is worth salvaging. Destroy what the Wave folks do not want. Kakashi is in charge of you after that. I'll take Hinata, Sakura and Shino back to Tazuna's house to rest." Naruto nodded with a frown but obeyed.

A few minutes later, Anko left carrying Hinata while Sakura helped along Shino. Tazuna and Tsunami followed behind. Naruto spent some time picking up shuriken and kunai before rummaging in the pile of weapons. He did not enjoy the busy work but it kept his mind occupied.

Kakashi was discussing the guard positions with the Wave men. The men from the town had vouched for the warehouse workers as being plain laborers and trustworthy. Kakashi accepted this when he sensed someone powerful in the immediate area. He smiled under his mask as he recognized the chakra signature. Jiraiya leapt into the open area where the battle had taken place and waved to Kakashi. Kakashi excused himself and walked over to Jiraiya.

"Hello Kakashi," Jiraiya nodded as the Copy Ninja came up to him. "I ran into the boss of these men your team took out. From what I saw, he has a few dozen mercenaries left but the big problem is it his boat sails out of here we will miss a chance at him. He could use his money and power to come back here at a later date."

"Hmmm. Judging by the force he had here he has not been too carefree with his money. The men he had here outside of the team Zabuza had were just jutsu fodder and your genin took them down easily enough."

An explosion rocked the warehouse. Zabuza and one Demon Brother leapt out from a hole in the side. The pair fled toward the town and Gato's boat. The Sannin and jonin both ran to the warehouse and found the boy Haku and the second Demon Brother still unconscious and bound as before. "Zabuza must have used a one handed seal with his left hand. The shoulder and upper arm were shattered but we had not bound the hand since the good arm was tied. The boy lying there had used them against Anko so it stands to reason his master would know them as well."

Jiraiya nodded. "One handed seals are very difficult to control. He must have used an escape jutsu on the other one who escaped then been untied. Kakashi, get your team together and we will go after them." Within minutes, Kiba and Akamaru joined the elder ninja from the patrol they had been on. Sasuke came from the other side of the warehouse and Naruto arrived from destroying weapons.

"I know this will be a team that has not trained together, but that is not important now. Naruto, do you know standard formations?" Kakashi asked.

"Yes, for all 3 standard positions," Naruto responded

Kakashi nodded, "Good, you take up Shino's normal place in the backup role. Sasuke, Kiba, we are in a pursuit of the 2 that escaped. They had no weapons but should be considered highly dangerous because they are desperate. Jiraiya, could you follow behind as backup?"

Jiraiya nodded and waited a minute after Kakashi and team ran off before following.

Zabuza's head was foggy as he ran toward the bridge town and Gato's boat. How had things gone wrong so fast? Those genin from Konoha had been a lot tougher than he had expected. The entire bunch he faced could have made chunin in the Mist already. The two short ones had taken down close to 100 mercenaries and the jonin had fought Haku to a standstill. Without the boy's blood limit he would have been easily defeated. The Aburame went down as planned but then that pink haired one turned out to be a medic of some kind. Then the dark haired one that should have fallen before the Demon Brothers turned out to be a blasted UCHIHA with a working Sharingan. This was not how this job should have gone. The price Gato had offered was too tempting and he needed the money to fund his attempt to force a coup in the Mist village.

The boat that served as Gato's floating headquarters was just ahead. Zabuza and his minion were quickly brought before Gato.

"You failed me, Momochi. You only had to kill a simple bridge builder and you could not do that right. If he had died, I could have swooped in and taken control of the bridge and owned it outright along with this stinking hole of a country. Now I have only 1 recourse to keep the Konoha ninja off my case."

Zabuza heard a gurgle behind him. He turned to see the Demon Brother sagging with the point of a katana extending out from his chest. The guard pulled the sword free and the corpse fell to the ground. The guard swung at Zabuza but the Mist ninja proved why he was one of the Seven Swordsman. He sidestepped the blow and kicked the wrist of the guard to make the man drop the katana. Before the weapon could hit the ground, Zabuza had caught it and swung. The guard and his separated head fell beside the Demon Brother and Zabuza turned to face Gato.

His broken left shoulder was exploding in pain as he was forced to keep his arm still as he moved. The Mist ninja frowned as Gato began to beg for his life. Zabuza's head swam as the pain brought him close to passing out. Zabuza swung his captured weapon.

Kakashi and his team closed in on the town and harbor. The patrols of mercenaries slowed them down slightly as they were alerted by Zabuza's passing through. The mercenaries fell before Sasuke and Kiba before Naruto could even engage. Even so, it was time lost in their pursuit. If Gato set sail before the team arrived, all would be lost.

The team arrived at the harbor and found several bodies littering the ground. Sitting on the gangway to the boat sat Momochi Zabuza holding a bloody katana.

"That is close enough, Kakashi. I know what you intend to do with me. I will be sent back to the Mist village to satisfy the price on my head. I refuse to go back there wounded and in shackles. I only ask one thing from you. The boy, Haku, is not a missing ninja. I found him as an orphan and took him in to use as my weapon. He has a bloodline that allows him to create and control ice. Sending him to the Mist village would be a death warrant for the boy because they kill anyone with a bloodline. Take him with you."

"You do not have to do this, Zabuza. There has to be another way."

"I lost, Kakashi. I killed Gato because he betrayed me when I returned to him. No one will hire me after this. The Mist hunters will be on my trail within days smelling my blood in the water. I am done for whether I surrender to you or try to escape the hunters. But I will be done on my own terms. I hope you understand that much given your own family history."

Kakashi nodded grimly, "I do understand. Team, do not look away. Give the Demon of the Mist one last honor by bearing witness."

The genin all agreed and Zabuza fell forward onto the katana.

Naruto sat on the dock outside of Tazuna's house watching the sunset and lost in the events of the past week. The bridge was nearly complete now. The teams had waited for the daimyo of the Land of Waves to deal with the mercenaries. Several dozen had rewards and bounties on their heads. Kakashi, Anko and Jiraiya agreed that half the reward money be awarded to the village. The rest were sentenced to work prisons for their actions. Gato's assets in Wave were seized by the daimyo until an investigation in their purchase was completed. It appeared at the present that most would be returned to the people that had been forced to sell under pressure for the return of the purchase price.

Shino recovered from his shock within days. Shino's colony was growing again as the queen made more children to replace the killed insects. Hinata remained weak for a week and had only been allowed out of bed this morning.

The boy Haku awakened after a few days. He grieved for the loss of his master and tried to kill himself through an ice jutsu but when it failed to work at all, he just sat there. Hinata managed to activate her Byakugan this morning and noted that a good portion of Haku's chakra network was burnt and would be useless for months at a minimum. After a long talk with Kakashi, the boy agreed to accompany the teams to Konoha when they departed.

Kakashi incinerated the body of Momochi Zabuza and presented the ashes to Haku, as the boy was the only resembling a family the missing ninja had. Kakashi had not wanted to turn in the body for any of the rewards posted for the swordsman. The sword would be returned eventually through diplomatic channels.

Kiba and Naruto had both vomited after seeing the death of Zabuza. Sasuke just looked at the other boys and muttered, "Weak."

When construction resumed on the bridge; Kiba, Sasuke, Sakura and Naruto each took time on guard duty in pairs. There were no incidents in the week they have been guarding Tazuna and the bridge neared completion. Naruto spent his evenings before sleeping out on the dock where he sat now.

"Naruto-kun, do you mind if I sit with you for a little while?" Hinata had come up to Naruto as the boy was lost in thought.

"Sure, Hinata-chan. I was just watching the sunset and thinking." The pair sat in silence as darkness settled around them.

"Naruto-kun, I want to apologize for how I reacted that day on the river. I did not hear everything that was said and made the wrong conclusion about it," Hinata said in a quiet voice. "I care about you. You have been special to me ever since I met you back at the fire. When I thought you did not care for me, it hurt and I reacted from that."

"You're special to me too, Hinata-chan. You're the first person my own age to be my friend. When I thought I lost that, it hurt me too. I felt … empty inside. I don't understand why but I did. I didn't like it."

They sat in silence a few more minutes. Both were nervous about being so open with someone else. "Naruto, I think you can only feel like that if you care about someone. All those men we hurt last week, I felt nothing for them even after seeing them on the ground."

"Maybe, I did not feel anything from that either. But, when I thought you were dead, I … I lost control. I wanted to hurt them so badly." Naruto looked up at the stars and Hinata could see tears on his face. "I was so angry. It was like there was a voice in my head telling me to make them pay. I thought I would have you back then they were taking you away from me again. I hurt that boy Haku. I was going to kill him when Anko-sensei yelled out. Then I saw his face. He … He was afraid of me, Hinata-chan. He was looking at me like I was a monster. Maybe Mizuki was right. That I am a monster."

"You're not a monster, Naruto-kun. You keep us safe from one." Naruto looked wide-eyed at Hinata. "Yes, I know about your secret. I was outside your room that night when you told the Hokage and he told you the rest. I know I should not have listened but I wanted to see you then. I wanted to know why someone risked his life for me."

"You knew? All this time, you have known and you still like me?"

"Yes, Naruto-kun. I like you very much." 'And maybe more someday,' ran through Hinata's mind.

"Hinata-chan, please stay my friend. I am not sure what I feel about you but I know that being without you makes my heart hurt."

Hinata slid a bit closer and leaned on Naruto. He tentatively put his arm around the girl as she snuggled in close to him against the chill of the deepening night. "I plan to be your friend for a long time, Naruto-kun." She smiled as she closed her eyes and just sat after that.

"Naruto-kun, do you really think I am like a princess?" The boy and girl talked well into the night.

Next Chapter: Training towards the Chunin Exams

End Notes: Another hard chapter to write. I had way more loose ends to tie up than I had planned on when I began my version of the Wave Arc. I know I am straying further off canon than many like but I see it as a natural progression as the events in Konoha have an effect on the wider world. The changing point in my story is of course the attack on the school in Chapter 1. The effects become greater as the mood toward Naruto changes and his prank series cause the missing ninja and spies I mentioned to be captured. In turn those people being absent make others react differently, hire different people and make missions become different from canon.

The largest positive in story change would be attributed to Naruto and his team and teachers. On the other side, the largest negative change would be Sasuke. Sasuke was going to be simply an angsty emo hanging out in the background but in the course of writing he has morphed into the main villain of the current part of the story. All this goes back to the change. With no Naruto as his 'friendly rival' the final year of the Academy and the attitudes of people becoming increasingly negative towards him, he is sliding to darkness faster than he did in canon. Yes, I consider him a villain in the true story. Naruto, and to a smaller extent Sakura, was what kept Sasuke on the path of light much longer in canon. Those efforts being missing in my story mean he was without those positive influences. His fall will become much harder as the story continues. Sasuke lovers should realize I am not intentionally writing a Sasuke bash but he is a villain and no story is worth anything without the villain. Proof of his canon villainy is in his putting a Chidori through the chest of his 'best friend' not once but twice in the Valley of the End.

Review Notes: There are 2 versions of Kakashi's original jutsu. Raikiri, the Lightning Blade, is the more powerful version that Kakashi uses in canon; both manga and anime. It requires hand seals and shows those seals in the manga. Refer to Volume 4, page 49. It uses lightning element chakra and if I read the manga correctly several seconds at least to generate.

Chidori, 1000 Birds, is the lower power version taught to Sasuke by Kakashi in canon. Sasuke is shown making it in Volume 13 page 91 using hand signs. This took him several seconds as well. My idea, which I used in this chapter, is that since Kakashi developed it and is of jonin level he could do a Chidori on the move. Sasuke could see the hand signs preformed with his Sharingan active and see how it is done.

This does not give him the ABILITY to do it, just the KNOWLEDGE of how to do it. To make a Chidori, he must use lightning element chakra, which he cannot do at this time. His month of training in canon with Kakashi is when he learned to harness elemental chakra. Much like reading all about how to fly a plane and playing flight simulators will give you the knowledge to fly a plane, it will not give you the skill to do so. You must develop the skill separately.

An anonymous reader mentioned that I ruined the story for him by having Naruto think of Hinata as beautiful in his first meeting with her in chapter 1. My rebuttal to this is that Naruto does see Hinata in the filler and considers her an 'ultra pretty girl' by looks alone when he does not know it was Hinata even as he views the person he knows based on personality.

Jiraiya was camping out on his way to the Wave. I did not want him to simply arrive.

Haku is a guy. Deal with it. He lives too but is a non-issue due to his injury and may never return. Deal with it.

The 'Rookie 9' genin are all VERY strong for their age and experience. They are all exceptional ninja in canon and anime. This shows in their ability to deal with high-level ninja from other villages. I am trying not to over power them but I would estimate in the current point of my story that the Team Apprentice genin are at a point of equivalent training at near the end of the anime filler. Naruto is still emotionally stunted but physically capable. Hinata is confident and developing well under Anko and her 'Arms of the Dancing Asp' would be my equivalent of her Protection of the 64 Palms in filler. Sakura is trained for 4 to 5 months both physically and in medical jutsu by this time making her able to use first aid jutsu easily.

Michiru and Haruka are Sailors Uranus and Neptune. That is as close to a same sex couple as I am going to get.