"Hey look, an inn," Xander said cheerfully, "and totally not a trap."

The four nin turned to look at him.

"What? You don't find the fact that following their backtrail leads us past an inn at the exact point we could use a break is even slightly suspicious?"

"There is such a thing as too paranoid," Jiraiya pointed out.

"Ninja traps usually involve exploding tags or loads of mooks," Anko said, "not two story inns along well traveled routes."

"The amount of nature chakra in the background is a little high," Joan admitted, "but that's likely from a spiritual grove or something similar."

"I'll agree it's a trap, but I'm just sucking up," Tiamo offered.

"Can't exactly suck him off until we get a room so up will have to do," Anko said.

"Precisely," Tiamo agreed.

Xander leaned down and put his hand on the ground. "Green mana, nothing special," he said. "It just seems too convenient, but then again I am from Sunnydale, so I'll admit I'm probably a tad paranoid."

"Excellent, I am getting on in years so a bed would be nice," Jiraiya said with a leer at Joan.

"Hopefully not too old," she said, walking past him with a sway in her step that they all found themselves following.

Xander laughed, sensing that she was using green mana to get that response or at least enhance it.

"Coming, my Lord?" Tiamo asked as she copied Joan.

"Not yet, but he soon will be," Anko promised, joining her 'sister'.

Jiraiya laid a hand on Xander's shoulder. "They are a bigger trap than the inn could ever be, so let's go spring it."

"Wisdom of the sage," Xander said with a grin as they followed the three.

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"What do you mean, you're all filled up?" Joan asked in disbelief.

"We have half a caravan waiting for the other half to catch up and a minor lord in residence," the owner explained, "even the stable is packed."

"Ok, this I did not expect," Xander admitted.

"Looks like we're camping out," Jiraiya said, disappointed.

"Or I could… expand the inn," Xander said thoughtfully. "It'd leave me tapped out till morning, but provide some additional protection."

"Putting up a green crystal castle may draw a bit too much attention," Jiraiya pointed out.

"At least until I have enough blue to work on my illusionary terrain," Xander agreed, "but I was thinking of something a little easier. I'll cast Buttress on the building, that gives us a little added defense and should add at least one floor onto it."

"I'm guessing you've never done it before and do you really want your first test to be in an occupied building?" Jiraiya asked.

"A very good point," Xander agreed. "While I'm sure it's safe, it could cause some panic."

"How big does the building have to be anyway?" Jiraiya asked. "Could you cast it on a tent?"

"A tent would work," Xander said thoughtfully. "Not sure how much extra room we'll get from something that small though."

"We could raise a simple cottage in no time flat," Joan told Jiraiya. "You raise the walls and I'll handle the roof, doors, and furniture."

"A bit rough but better than a tent," Jiraiya agreed.

"We passed a nice sized clearing next to the river just a half mile away," Anko said. "It's far enough from the road that we should have some privacy."

"Sounds great," Xander said. "Let's go."

The five vanished out into the dusk, causing the 'noble' to curse and signal for the owner. "What was that about?" he demanded.

"Just some travelers, sir," the owner said politely, "but as you have taken the last two rooms, I had to send them away."

"Thank you," he said, "you may go."

The owner left to attend to his other guests.

"Well, my Lord," one of his guards said sarcastically, "Your plan was as foolproof as you claimed."

"How was I supposed to know he'd given us the last two rooms?!" the 'noble' demanded, "He always keeps a few open for important guests…"

"Like a minor noble," the guard agreed blandly.

"OK, new plan," the noble said, "We find their camp and rain exploding tags on it until it's a crater!"

"Finally, a sensible plan," the other guard said happily.

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"Ok, this is a bit more impressive than I expected," Xander admitted as he looked at the 'simple' cottage.

Joan had grown oak trees to brace the smooth granite walls Jiraiya had raised, and to serve as a roof. Rather than windows, there were arrow slits high up in the walls and a simple opening where the front door should be.

"Why were we even staying in inns?" Xander asked.

"Food, sake, and gossip," Jiraiya explained. "Ninja live and die by the information they receive."

"Plus we have released a lot of chakra," Joan added. "The higher than normal background levels of sage chakra will help disguise it, but in other areas it's like setting off fireworks."

Xander nodded and gathered two of his few remaining mana, one green and one white. "Buttress," he said, placing his hands on the granite wall in front of him.

The mana infused the structure, making visible changes to its very nature. Smooth granite changed to rough stone walls a good two feet thick. Thick prismatic glass grew in the small windows, preventing a clear view of the interior. The trees grew to keep pace with the expanding walls, thick thorny vines snaking along the exterior to deter any who thought to climb the outside walls. A massive stone door grew across the entryway.

"Damn," Jiraiya said in wonder at the massive keep that stood before them, suitable to house an entire squad of nin.

A bird landed on the wall only to have a thorny vine entangle and drag it off.

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Naruto settled down in his new bed and got ready to sleep. Life had become so much better lately! He was living with Kakashi, one of the few ANBU who he had a hard time pranking and he was teaching him a whole bunch of neat stuff.

Kakashi had shown him firework tags and introduced him to comic books, explaining that was the reason reading and writing were so important, because how else could you make your own fireworks and read comics?

Kakashi was awesome!

Inside the seal

A pair of shadow clones watched as inside a crystal a silver haired woman with nine furry tails went over a series of complex equations looking for ways to improve the efficiency of the food summoning technique and the passive healing aura.

"Of all the things I thought might trigger the failsafe and awaken us, this is not something I'd ever imagine occurring," the shadow clone of Minato Namikaze said.

"I'd be shocked if you had," the shadow clone of Kushina Uzumaki-Namikaze replied. "How much time do we have?"

"Without the chakra of the Nine Tail eating away at us?" he asked rhetorically. "Considering our current state… several years."

"And if the crystal eats us like it did Kurama?" she asked.

"Forever?" he asked/answered with a shrug.

"Well, we have a couple of years before we make that decision," Kushina said. "In the meantime let's visit Naruto's dreams and see how his life has been. While we can't speak to him in the real world, and he hasn't visited his mindscape yet, the dreamscape is still an option."

"Its ideas like that, that made me marry you," he said with a smile.

"I thought it was because you knocked me up."

"Nope, I knocked you up so you'd have to marry me!" he claimed with a grin.

Kushina laughed.

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"Where the hell did that come from?!"

The five nin stared at the building.

"There is no way they actually sealed an entire building inside a scroll," one of the identically clad Sound Nin said, "even if Jiraiya is a seal expert."

"Look at the way those trees are rooted and growing into the structure, it had to have been hidden under a genjutsu when we passed this way last time."

"Think the rising levels of nature chakra caused it to break?" one asked.

"I don't know, but make a note of it for Lord Orochimaru," another answered, "we are to report any suspected side effects of new jutsu."

"I don't think we can get in without actively using chakra," one of them said as they contemplated the situation.

"And we don't have enough explosive tags to handle this," another added.

"We'll have to report this as a failure," one said quietly.

"But not through our actions and we've gained additional intel."

"You're looking at it all wrong," one of them said, "we are not reporting a failure, we are falling back to report intel and gather additional forces to insure we don't fail."

The rising tension seemed to dissipate.

"An early morning attack once they're left a heavily fortified position is more likely to work," a relieved nin said, "especially if we have time to fortify our own position."

"Agreed, let's go."

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The sun rose and Xander awoke as a river of mana flooded through him. "Better than coffee," Xander said as his bedmates came instantly awake, eyes darting about for threats before relaxing once more.

"Your power is such magnificent bullshit," Anko said as she slid out of the silk sheets.

"Damn skippy," Xander said cheerfully.

"How about some breakfast?" Tiamo suggested.

"That sounds great," Anko said.

"Food sounds like a great idea," Xander agreed.

Jiraiya faded into sight with his sketch pad in hand. "What? No morning sex?"

Joan faded in as well with her own pad. "Have we been moving at too fast a pace for you kids?"

"No, we're good," Xander said as the two kunoichi chuckled, "but sex isn't the only thing we do, there is also blowing shit up!"

"And drinking," Tiamo added.

"Besides, if morning sex is all that important, what are you two doing here?" Anko asked with a smirk.

Jiraiya waved it off. "We've been up for hours."

"Now is the time for art!" Joan added. "Which rather proves your point I suppose."

"Yes, now is time for food, then explosions," Xander said, "unless anyone thinks we won't be ambushed as soon as we leave?"

The nin laughed gaily, genuinely amused at the thought that they wouldn't be attacked.

"That's a good one," Joan said, wiping tears of laughter from her eyes.

One good sized breakfast later

"Remind me to have you cast this on my house," Jiraiya said. "That kitchen is far better than the one I have at home."

"Weren't you planning on moving into the castle?" Anko asked.

"Yeah, but imagine what it'll do for the resale price," he said with a grin.

Xander laughed. "Not a problem, I need the practice anyway."

"Are we ready to go or do we want to frustrate our ambushers some more?" Tiamo asked.

"The pantry has some very nice black tea," Anko pointed out.

"I like tea," Joan said, "let's have a cup while they get impatient."

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Kakashi woke with a start as Naruto rushed into his room, avoiding the reflexive stab with a kunai to jump on his stomach.

"What are we going to do today? Is it going to be the leaf thing again? That was boring. Can't we learn any fun jutsu or maybe a spar? Yeah! A spar would be great!" Naruto rattled off.

"You are just full of energy, aren't you?" Kakashi asked in disbelief.

"I had a dream about my parents," Naruto said. "My mom had red hair, which was a surprise, and my father said you were to teach me how to make a Rasengan, whatever that is."

Kakashi was suddenly wide awake. "He did? Maybe you should tell me about this dream over breakfast."

"You wanna hear about my dream?" he asked excitedly. It was rare that anyone other than the old man wanted to spend much time talking to him.

"While I make us some breakfast," Kakashi agreed.

"I get breakfast?" the little boy asked in wonder.

"Of course," Kakashi said, making a mental note to take a much closer look at what Naruto's life had been like until recently. The caretaker that checked on Naruto's well being was supposed to make sure the kid was eating right and from the looks of things he hadn't. "Let me get a quick shower then I'll make us some eggs."

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"What is taking them so long?!" a nin demanded from the tree he was hiding in.

"They are probably making plans," another suggested.

"No, they're having sex," a nin with a spyglass said, as he watched the building.

"Again?!"

The ROOT operatives remained silent, simply noting their targets were likely to be more relaxed, making for smoother movements but less overall strength, with a good chance of reduced situational awareness as well.

"I say we attack them," one Sound Nin said. "We can catch them with their pants down!"

A squirrel wandered to close to the building and a thorny vine lashed out to ensnare the poor animal, dragging its screeching form off as it clawed at the ground.

Even the ROOT operatives turned to stare at the nin who had suggested attacking.

"Nevermind," he said, settling in for a long wait.

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Naruto went to get some ramen while Kakashi talked to the old man. Breakfast had been great for a non-ramen meal but that had been hours ago!

Sure it was only two hours, but that still counted.

He was halfway there when he spotted Sasuke carrying flowers and slinking through a back alley. Naruto froze for a second before chasing after him to make sure he wasn't taking them to Sakura.

It quickly became apparent Sasuke wasn't heading towards Sakura's place but was instead heading to the Uchiha sector. Curious, he followed, taking care not to be seen.

Naruto paused when Sasuke entered his family cemetery, knowing that following Sasuke in there would be wrong, but his curiosity prodded at him so he reluctantly entered.

Sasuke stopped at his parent's graves. "Father," he said respectfully, giving a slight bow before turning to his mother's grave and laying the flowers on them. "Hi, Mom," he said, remaining quiet for so long that Naruto almost left before Sasuke started speaking once more, telling her about his life and the problems he'd been having and how much he missed her.

Naruto's eyes began to tear up as he realized Sasuke was alone too. He felt a brief surge of envy that Sasuke had at least gotten to know his mother, but a small part of him wondered if it wasn't better that way. It was harder to miss what you'd never known. Regardless, he hated to see Sasuke this way, beaten, defeated, hurting.

Responding to Naruto's desires, the crystal began to glow brightly, surrounding Naruto in an aura of power.

In the seal

"That's a lot of power," Kushina said as the nine tailed woman began to manipulate multiple screens that floated in the air around her, looking for the solution to Naruto's problem.

"Mikoto," Minato noted as a transparent image of her floated in front of the woman in the crystal.

"What's it doing?" Kushina asked.

"I think… its resurrecting Mikoto," he said after a minute.

"What?!"

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Naruto fell limply to the ground and Sasuke cautiously approached him when a groan from behind him caught his attention. "Mom?!" he asked in disbelief as he stared at the unconscious woman laying on top of his mother's grave.

Typing By: Abyssal Angel