Chapter 1-36

"Yo, Kakashi-sensei," Naruto called, as his now almost spotlessly clean ramen bowl softly clattered on the counter.

"Mmh?" The grey-haired jonin replied while contently flipping to the next page. The glare of disgust from his pink-haired student next to him was just as easily ignored as the disapproval radiating from the waitress in front of him.

"Can you help me..."

Whatever the blonde was going to ask had to wait as an old academy friend burst through the little restaurant's curtains behind them.

"Naruto!" Kiba panted as he hurriedly took the empty seat next to the blonde and slapped a little black book on the counter.

"You remember my cousin?" he asked as his white ninken yipped loudly, seemingly caught in his partner's nervous energy.

"Which on..."

"The ANBU-cousin," he rolled on, barely missing a beat.

"He recently returned from a patrol mission, and since he wasn't there for my birthday, he gave me his present now," he explained and slapped the black book for emphasis.

"A bingo book?" Sasuke asked from Naruto's other side.

"Yeah, but this is super extensive!" Kiba answered and was about to carry on with a lengthy explanation when he shook his head.

"The book isn't important," he went on while unknownst to him, the jonin a few seats further quietly stopped reading.

"I told you how Hana is going absolutely ballistic, that she can't visit Daiki in the hospital, and no one will tell us what's going on."

Naruto nodded with a confused expression, having no clue where this whole thing was heading.

"And do you remember Shikamaru's Dad asking us all these questions?"

"Yeah, that was super weird," Naruto answered in agreement before he suddenly sat ramrod straight. "Do you think Daiki is in trouble?" he asked in alarm.

"I don't know," Kiba hissed and threw open the little book on an earmarked page. "But what the hell is this about?"

"Sanzo Yuk, hold on!" Naruto nearly jumped from his stool. "That's D.."

Just then, an arm reached between them, and quicker than they could follow, a rip sounded. The page having been neatly ripped out in one smooth but lightning-quick motion.

"That is Sanzo Yukimaru," Kakashi stated matter of factly as the page suddenly burst into flames between his fingertips. "And any questions or further discussions regarding the topic are way above your paygrade," he finished, an uncharacteristic warning tone present now.

All the genin gaped at him...except Sasuke, who stared at the spot where the page was just moments ago with an unreadable look on his face.

"You told me the guy who taught you was ANBU," he stated, eyes now on his blonde teammate, a hint of confusion and accusation in his voice.

"'Cause he was!" Naruto retorted, clearly offended by the notion of being called a liar.

"He looks like us," came the blunt reply.

"Yeah, well, he's 14..."

"15," Kiba helpfully cut in without thinking.

"He's 15 now and super strong. He finished the academy at like eight or nine and went straight into ANBU because he's a badass." Naruto exclaimed puffing up, clearly proud of his friend and mentor slash rival.

"How..." The Uchiha visibly rocked back, stunned, his mind racing behind wide eyes.

"He's like..."

"Those were different times." Kakashi cut in this time. 'And some kids used to be expendable.'

"I was Chunin at six, you know." He remarked offhandedly, trying to downplay the whole age issue while furiously thinking of ways to get his avenger back on a less 'unproductive' track.


The sun hit my face through the window and my hand!

Sitting on the edge of the hospital bed with a half-empty glass of water on the bedside table next to me was how the Third found me.

"That's quite a remarkable achievement," he sounded genuinely impressed, and I couldn't help but take note of his intense focus as he came around the bed to stand in front of the window I'd been gazing out.

"Almost," he continued, and I quirked my eyebrow in question, prompting him to elaborate. "There is still the faintest hint of chakra detectable for a sensor."

"It's tricky," I admitted. A smile didn't reach my face, but I felt content...to a degree. "But I'm making steady progress."

Orochimaru's cursed seal was reduced to a minuscule itch at the base of my neck and in the back of my mind. Like the scab over a tiny wound that was only irritating when you thought about it.

My body and chakra were restored, refreshed, and wholly my own again.

"I could do this all day," I said quietly, and now it was the Third who silently asked me to elaborate. "Tinkering, training, I think it's incredibly fascinating to explore what chakra, this body, is capable of, you know."

"I do, actually," I could hear the slight smile in his voice as I gazed back at, or through, my translucent hand.

"I had learned the Shunshin to run away," my hand appeared again, "I had learned the Mist technique to hide," faint green healing chakra coated my entire hand, "but those notions had slowly become untenable."

A quick glimpse revealed the Third observing me with a neutral expression on his face, unreadable.

The healing chakra took on a blue hue, the tell-tale signs of a chakra scalpel. My eyes flickered toward it for a heartbeat and instantly recognized it as useless for its intended purposes. However, superficial cuts and minor but very messy internal damage were very much doable.

"So I had decided to become quicker than my opponents, preferring to wield one quick kunai than a dozen kicks and punches," I said with a slight shrug. I watched as the blue hue lost some of its vibrancy but extended further over my fingertips. Without the threat of an S-class Nukenin and the stench of betrayal hanging over me, I was quite capable of producing a picture-perfect wind blade, it seemed.

I glanced back at the village leader.

"At some point, a kunai wasn't enough anymore, and I began to tinker."

"So," I felt thoughts and memories begin to slip through my fingers like sand, my mask slipping to reveal barely contained fury. A million decisions, a million what-ifs, a million regrets along the way, conscience and self-worth sacrificed, just to become the butt of a joke for that white misshapen creature.

This was not the seal, this was all me.

I was boiling under the skin but I met the Third's unblinking gaze with my own, willing, begging him to see what I was seeing before my mind's eye.

I, cut loose from every restraint I could imagine, mentally and physically, shoving my fist into the Sannin's torso, grabbing hold of guts and spine.

And rip him apart.

I didn't bother to count the tantos, that were currently pointed at my vitals by the various ANBU who had burst into the room. My eyes remained fixed on the Third.

"Let me tinker!" I bit out through gritted teeth, "And then let me destroy everything and everyone that belongs to Orochimaru."