Note: This chapter has yet been edited. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do NOT own Naruto!

Chapter 9: A Mother's Love

The sky was blue. It was clear as any day. The clouds were gone and the sun shone brightly, illuminating the vibrant red hair of a kunoichi. She was running through the field of grass that was still wet from the morning dew. Her hair floated behind her with every running step she took. The morning breeze caressed her hair and her gorgeous face looked vibrant with the sun's ray.

She turned her head to look back with a grin of satisfaction, wondering if she would win this race. She could almost hear a victory song in her head as she brushed past several willow trees. A smile came on her face as she let out a carefree laugh, gracefully jumped over some bushes.

"What's so funny?" A voice from behind called out, sounding relatively close. It sounded a little out of breath but it still gave her the chills down her spine as she heard her husband's voice so close to her ears.

"Catch me if you want to know." She beckoned teasingly, getting some more distance between them.

She heard a grunt and quickly felt two arms wrap themselves around her waist and pulled her to the ground. They tumbled a little until they came to a complete stop. She was lying on top of him and was secured in his strong arms around her petite frame.

"Does it mean I won?" She asked the blonde with a small smile. She ignored the grass and leaves that managed to attach themselves to hair and dress and stared at his sea blue eyes.

He chuckled. "Kushina, yes, you won the little race."

She beamed and gave him a light kiss on his soft lips. His grip on her waist tightened as he prolonged the kiss.

They both smile and broke apart. "I miss spending time like this with you Minato." Kushina placed her head on his heart and listened to his steady heartbeat. Unlike his calm heart, hers was beating frantically, making the kunoichi wonder how it can beat at such speed.

He sighed in agreement before he planted a kiss on her head. "I know. I miss spending time with you and our family."

"Remember when we first had Naruto?" Kushina asked softly, giggling at the memories.

"Oh yes. Wasn't he a handful? Barely starting off as parents and already testing us." Minato laughed, thinking about his son.

Flashback

9 Months after Naruto's Birth

Kushina was sitting of the soft beige carpet with her son on her lap. The blue-eyed blonde had a short attention span. It was clearly noted by Kushina as she watched her son quickly play with almost all of his toys in the span of 30 minutes, which said a lot in their case.

Unlike most toddlers, Naruto had an abundance of toys that was given from the on growing family. It came from his godfather Jiraiya, his godmother Mikoto, his dad's students Kakashi and Rin, Jiraiya's teammate Tsunade, villagers who were pretty insistence and most Leaf ninjas. It didn't help that the happy parent spoils him at time.

Now, Naruto was entertained with his mother's silky red hair. It fascinated him that it could go through his finger so easy. He tried to do the same thing with his hair but it was not the same. He got a bit upset but continued to slide through the unctuous locks, laughing as he did.

"Kushina, I'm home!" A man yelled as he entered the house. Minato entered his home engulfed with an enchanting smell. He knew what it was almost immediately once entering the house that his wife had made maguro sashimi. Minato also heard something wonder, the sound of his son laughing.

He walked to the family room and found his son entertain with his wife's hair. Kushina heard someone enter and saw her husband, giving him her warmest smile, reserved for him only.

I am the luckiest man in this world. I have a great wife who completes me emotionally and spiritually with adorable son, with more to come. What more can I ask for in life?

"How was he?" Minato asked as he sat next to his wife and wrapped his arm around her waist staring at his son.

"Tousan! Tousan!" Naruto yelled as he directed his attention to his dad. He instantly raised his arms to his, silently asking him to hold him. "I love you" Naruto flapped.

Minato laughed and grabbed him off Kushina's lap. Kushina smirked and lay down on her back as she began to tell how their day went.

While Kushina was describing how their day went, Naruto was occupied with the string of his white flamed coat. His small hands kept on tugging on the string until he managed to unhook it.

"Naruto then broke most of the pot of the inside house plants, not to mention that he almost broke the lamps too. I thought we baby proofed everything in the house but he's an exception to everything." Kushina trailed on.

"He what?" Minato asked calmly. He was already amazed how his son already started walking, with Kushina or his help. He already showed signs to his growing independency. His intelligence was something that both parents haven't seen since Itachi was born. It reminded Kushina of her godson but then again, she has not had much time with him.

"He um… also got in your office when I quickly went to check on your lunch. He kind of… well, you can go see that for yourself." Kushina smiled secretly as she sat up and took Naruto, heading to the kitchen. Naruto looked at his dad and waved energetically, giggling. It almost seemed like the child knew what he had done, with a slight glimmer of mischievous in his eyes.

Confused, Minato got up and headed up the flight of stairs to his office. As he neared the doors, he saw that it was still a bit opened and his thoughts quickly went to his son. How? He asked.

He opened the door some more and stopped short. The ground was covered in scrolls he kept in a box with color drawing with crayons. He bent over to pick a scroll and found a drawing of a misshaped dinosaur in a forest.

Minato walked to his book case and saw some of his books on the ground with some pages torn out. He saw the familiar color of navy blue of his favorite book, Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Shinobi.

He glanced through the pages and saw more animals drawing of all sorts of color. Shocked, the Hokage turned to front page and groaned, noticing the signed pages was chewed on.

Naruto

End of Flashback

"He was sure hyperactive one. He still is." Kushina commented with her wandering thoughts. "We're lucky that Kiyomi is the moderately good one."

"Where's Kiyomi dear?"

"She's with Akihiko training. They are taking turns to show their new moves they have learned at the academy. Though, she was insistent, I taught her something now that Naruto is gone on a mission. I taught her a simple taijutsu move." Kushina yawned as she rolled off her husband and snuggled under his arms.

"Is Mikoto okay with her coming over? I mean, since Naruto left, she's been over more often." Minato questioned, wondering if she struggling with two kids who decided to take up after Naruto's pranks. A self-given role to entertain the village was what they described it as.

"Well, Sasuke is gone too so Akihiko feels lonely. He would have Itachi to be with but he has his missions and clan duties if any. They are just trying to adjust without their brothers."

"Don't worry. It is a simple mission. They'll be back soon and you won't have to worry about them. Kakashi will make sure nothing happens." He assured his wife who in returned grimaced.

"You know that I worry. How do we know that ninjas won't be after Naruto? We still have enemies from other villages and I don't know how Naruto will handle it. He already has to deal with being a jinchuriki. That was kept long enough. I don't want to overwhelm him so much." She confessed.

"Have faith in him. He is our son." Minato said solemnly.

They stayed in silence for a moment before he began to speak again. "I expected him to be enraged with us when he found out about the Kyuubi. I know that he is still mad at us for not telling him. He has been acting a bit distant, preferring to be with his teammates than train with us. He feels betrayed and self-loathing. He even passed on training with me on my day off. He just won't act on his anger because he's still confused. We just have to wait for him to come to a decision and get closure."

Kushina sighed, staring off in a distance. "I always question on whether or not we did the right thing. I know you might have to feel the worse that we have burden our son at such a young age. I just hope Naruto understands." Kushina suppressed another frown and looked down to her dress. She has been upset that Naruto seemed to be more distant than usually and it bother her that he was still hurt by their action 12 years ago. She just wondered if already knew subconsciously as he acted like a goof ball at times, with those who feared to get close with.

Minato lifted his hand, cupping her cheek softly. He stared at his wife welcoming eyes that had worry and anger and gave her hug, enveloping her onto him. He could feel her breakdown as she began to cry, finally wanting to talk to her husband. Minato rubbed her back and held her close as she muffled her cries.

Death.

A swift and deadly movement could eliminate anyone if they weren't too careful. Witnessing death could destroy someone mentally or physically depending on their relationship with the person, especially if the process was long and agonizing. Not anyone can be prepare for such emotional hardship. It took shinobi years to get accustom to killing as it was not a daily task given, though few got accustomed to it faster than others or either had special training. The most agonizing death to witness is the killing of kids, especially ones you knew.

Kakashi could almost sense that his students wouldn't make it. There was no point to witness death once again. He already lost his teammate and best friend; he wasn't willing to let his students die, especially if he had to stay imprisoned. The darkness and loneliness that came along with a departure was one of the most horrendous feelings to experience, especially when facing it alone. He wasn't going to let himself fall into that darkness but he needed to escape. He already felt the determination of Sasuke lower along with his chakra and Naruto was on the ground injured, incapable of motivating them to continuing.

Sakura wouldn't leave her teammates alone and he knew that she did take what he said about teammate to heart. It was evident as she hurried to her teammates' side though he shouted at her to leave with them.

He saw Sakura bent over to help Naruto. Naruto leaned in and whispered something to Sakura and she nodded head. She waivered a little as she walked in front of her teammates but continued to protect her friends regardless as she stood firmly and straight. She had a look of terror and conflict as she fiddled with her hands. "Gladly." She choked out.

Kakashi instantly felt guilt wash all over him as he stared at her. Sakura was here trying to help protect her teammates when virtually, she has learned little no jutsu that was in her repertoire. She knew the standard ninjutsu from the academy with little taijutsu. He knew that he should have done a better job training them, especially Sakura that had no other ninja help. He just wished he could fix it.

Sakura quickly began to sign boar, ox and snake "Doton: Retsudotenshō!" Sakura yelled out, surprising Kakashi and her teammates.

An earth jutsu? Kakashi pondered. Although he could breathe in the sphere he was in, he didn't want to test his environment and how much longer it would allow him to leave. Kakashi stayed on one knee as he was itching to stand up straight and stretch his legs. As he was about to make a comment, he heard movement underground.

The ground began to quake sudden with such force. Large cracks appeared with a crackling sound. With the ground breaking to chunk of pieces, it began to rise, heading to where Zabuza stood. It began to spiral around him, continuing to move inwards in a blur as Zabuza lifted his arm defensively. In the instant it took to spin around the Demon's Mist, the pieces of land collided together with Sakura controlling it with her palm. It made a shattering sound as the ground around them began sink.

Sasuke and Naruto quickly went to her side as the saw the impact of her jutsu. They both wondered how she learned that jutsu and who taught her. They would both ask her if they made it out alive.

As they waited for Zabuza to drop to the ground, he yelled out. "Suiton: Suijinheki." The pieces of the earth that went to attack him flew away from him and scattered around him, hitting his surroundings. His jutsu was a defensive wall of water that sent the piece of dirt around and above him, making it rain as it fell from the sky.

The genin quickly covered their faces as they waited for the worse to stop. Sakura dropped to her knee from exhaustion and looked at her male teammates, smiling as her part of the plan was done. She smiled and sighed as Naruto began to charge forward a distracted Zabuza.

He quickly made several shadow clones that each had weapons ready to be hurled at him. What Sakura thought was the real Naruto, took out a demon wind shuriken and threw it to Sasuke. Sasuke jumped to retrieved it and turn around to catch it at such speed. As Sasuke turned forward, he jumped up, swirling the demon wind shuriken and flung it towards the real Zabuza.

"Aa. Tired of my clone?" He mused with a chuckle as he caught the shuriken with his right hand. Under the older shuriken's shadow, a second demon wind shuriken went to attack Zabuza. With little time to react, he jumped as high as he could, with his hand still in Kakashi's imprisonment.

Sasuke smirked and went to help Sakura. "What happened?" She whispered as he placed his arms around her tiny body and lifted her up. "Watch" He mumbled as he shifted her weight to him.

The demon wind shuriken stopped and turned into Naruto. Naruto quickly hurled a volley of shuriken and kunai at Zabuza. With his reflex, Zabuza freed his hand and reach for his Kubikiribōchō, tossing the other weapon in hand. With a simple swipe, he deflected the weapons and attempted to hit Kakashi who was released from the hydro prison.

"Shadow Shuriken Technique." Sakura said is wonder. Even in this situation, they managed to think of a solid plan. Such great teamwork.

Freed, Kakashi used his fist to stop the blade from piercing through him, a special metal placed on his glove that helped him against weapons. Zabuza's clone dissolved and left the battle in Team 7 favor. Not liking the numbers in his favor, Zabuza jumped back to have space to retaliate.

"You brats are lucky that you got me distracted with such stupid plan. Don't think I will go easy on you Kakashi. Your brats brought no entertainment." Zabuza brushed off violently, cautiously watching his foe.

"Don't be angry that you go outsmarted by these genin. They are the best of their class. Sasuke from the Uchiha clan, a prodigy in the making, Naruto, son of the Yellow Flash and Red Hot Habanero of Konoha and Sakura, the glue that bond these boys together." Kakashi explained, eying him with his visible eyes.

Both jonin stared at each other in silence, nerving the genin once again. The young ninja didn't know what was going on and wondered who would make the next move. Naruto, who was in the body of water, quickly swam to shore, attempting not to be seen as he swam deep in the water.

With little patience, Zabuza felt his eye twitch. He grunted and leaped back in air, Kakashi doing the exact same thing. In the air, Zabuza began signing before landing softly on the water as if it were the ground. Kakashi widened his eyes and felt the tomoe of the sharingan spin.

"Ushi, Saru, U, Ne, I, Tori, Ushi, Uma, Tori, Ne, Tora, Inu, Tora, Mi, Ushi, Hitsuji, Mi, I, Hitsuji, Ne, Jin, Saru, Tori, Tatsu, Tori, Ushi, Uma, Hitsuji, Tora, Mi, Ne, Saru, U, I, Tatsu, Hitsuji, Ne, Ushi, Saru, Tori, Jin, Ne, I, Tori!" Zabuza and Kakashi signed, yelling the last sign of bird. "Suiton: Suiryūdan no Jutsu!"

The water began crashing against each as large waves began to take form. A large dragonhead molded with long body not far behind with the construction. They both began to rise up in the air, intertwining their bodies until they were a good thirty feet in the air. The dragons stopped to look at one another and before jumping onward to attack.

Zabuza's dragon lashed forward to bite the body as Kakashi's maneuvered away and managed to bite the head. The dragons began to hit one another with their heads and strike around the neck, attempting to Zabuza's jutsu dispersed and caused a rise in the ocean's water level. Kakashi's jutsu undid itself, adding to already high sea level.

Naruto began to struggle in the water. He should have given in account to Kakashi and Zabuza's jutsu were going to dissipate soon and gone to shore faster. Instead, Naruto decided to explore. It wasn't his fault but now he had to use his chakra for his arms; he added chakra to his arms and began to go with the current. He got to the shore and quickly got to his feet, running towards his teammates.

"Let's get in formation and protect Tazuna. We can't let our guard down." Naruto explained as he went to stand in front of Tazuna.

"We have to protect Sakura too. She's tired with little chakra." Sasuke added as he walked both Sakura and himself over to where Naruto and Tazuna stood.

"Are you okay Sakura-chan?" Naruto widened his eyes and made his way to his female teammate.

"I'm fine." She brushed it off and took her arm off around Sasuke's shoulder. "I'm just a bit tired." She smiled at the concern of her teammate and went to stand in manji formation with them. "Our mission was to protect Tazuna-san, so let's not let our guard down."

Naruto and Sasuke shared a look before taking out their weapons, returning their gaze to the ongoing battle.

Zabuza again took no time to let Kakashi rest and he lurched towards him. He raised he blade again but was stopped with Kakashi's kunai. The jonin began to have an intense battle to move each other's weapon. Their blades only managed to move the other a few inches before being pushed back to their original place, remaining in a stalemate.

Kakashi wasn't going to give up and his determination was high and evident as his sharingan was psyching Zabuza.

The sharingan is supposed to be doujutsu that memorizes an opponent's technique and copies it. I didn't perform my jutsu and he already performed it at the same time I did. Did he…does he… can he…Zabuza thought as he replayed what just happened.

Zabuza pulled back and Kakashi followed in suit. Zabuza ran a quarter around a circle before he stopped, noticing Kakashi did the same thing. He brought his right hand to his mouth with a seal and his left arm was up in the air.

The Demon of the Hidden Mist stood scared and gazed at the gray-haired jonin. He felt tiredness in his eyes and his body was getting sore from the intensity of the battle. He dropped his arms and watched in fear as Kakashi began to copy his exact movement.

Shit! He actually knows what I am doing. How? Can he-

"Read my mind." Kakashi finished his sentence. Zabuza stayed silence and felt his blood rushing to areas where he was hit. He was beginning to feel the toll on his body that didn't want to appear tired. It would only give an opening to the jonin.

"All you're doing is copying. Nothing original." Zabuza began. "You can't beat me monkey!" Both men yelled. Zabuza groaned and widened his eyes. He felt like rubbing them but knew that it would pose as a distraction. He already knew he looked wild and bit insane but that wasn't going to stop him.

"I'll end this now before you continue to piss me off." Zabuza roared as he began to do the seals of his jutsu, making a mistake to look at Kakashi's in his eyes.

He cursed as he saw Kakashi began to do the same hand seals though in a faster rate. All that was visible was a silver blur from the metal plate from his blue glove. His stare drifted to the left as he saw a dark form behind Kakashi.

Is that supposed to me? He could make out the shape as it began to be more discernible. Zabuza felt his head become light headed and began to spin. He could feel his body beginning to react to his surrounding as the dizziness worsen. The dark shadow as became more palpable.

"Suiton: Daibakufu no Jutsu!" The water began to rise several meters and it began to take form of a large hallow spiral. It spun around in an increasing speed around Kakashi before turning to a large sphere with a strong centripetal force. The cascade of water took resemblance of a waterfall in a form of a large circular wave, flying towards a disoriented Zabuza. He got enveloped into the water that turned into a whirlpool as it drove to the ground. The wave current's strength held Zabuza despite him struggling.

Not finished with the technique, Kakashi observed as the water appeared as a bullet that drove to the trees. It pierced through everything, breaking through before stopping to a larger tree where the water flared out and stopped.

The missing nin got stuck on the tree and sat there in excoriating pain, waiting for the end. With a swift movement, the perverted jonin threw several kunai at his arms and legs, keeping the nin from moving. He jumped on the tree branch and looked down to view his work. He gave a smile small and landed on the ground as the water around them began to disappear into the earth.

"How did you do it?" Coughed Zabuza. "Can you see the future?" He inquired, trying to prologue his death.

"Yes." He answered in a gruff voice. "In your future I see your death." The young jonin pulled out another kunai and prepared to slit his throat when he felt a weapon coming towards them. He swerved to the left and missed two-senbon needles going to Zabuza's neck.

Kakashi quickly turned around as Zabuza fell to side, already dead. The genin gasped from surprised as a young boy appeared to Kakashi's feet, bowing.

"You were quite true about his eminent death." The boy said.

He had long black hair, pale skin and large, dark-brown eyes. He was quite short but it did not matter as he made a large leap to Zabuza's body with little effort.

He wore normal shinobi outfit that consisted of the standard Kirigakure pinstriped outfit. Over the pinstriped outfit, he wore a green haori with white trimmings. Around his waist, a brown sash with a fringed trail was wrapped around his waist twice. His face was obscured with a Mist Hunter mask that kept his identity hidden.

They were left in silence as the Konoha's ninja thought about what just happened. Kakashi appeared by the lifeless body and checked for a pulse, finding none. He sighed and looked at his team to see how they would react.

Both Sasuke and Sakura were on edge and ready to attack if needed like Naruto but the blonde shinobi couldn't handle it. Naruto had a noticeable annoyed look as he took a step towards the hunter.

"Thank you very much. I have been traveling from afar to find a perfect opening to kill him."

"If my memory is correct, that mask that you wear is from the hunter ninjas from the Hidden Village of the Mist." Kakashi mused as he cautiously eyed the new ninja.

"You are well informed." The masked ninja almost praised.

Kakashi narrowed his eyes and return to look at his students and Tazuna.

"How could you just kill him with two senbon needles?!He was a human being! He was troubled and doing the best he could alone! What kind of ninja are you if you weren't able to fight him one on one!" Naruto roared as he peered at the dead body.

"I am a member of the pursing ninja unit that hunts exiled ninja. I worked from afar to see if he had any associate whom he can relay the village's secrets. My job was not to end him until I had enough information to report to my village. What happens after this does not concern you." The missing nin dismissed, appearing by the body. He put a limp arm around his neck and disappeared in an instant.

"Hey!" Naruto called out, looking around frantically. Hunter nin usually dispose of the body in the instant! He finished the rest in his head, wondering how corrupt the Village of the Mist must be if they did not follow the correct protocol.

Kakashi sighed went to Naruto, placing his hand on his head. "It's okay Naruto. You father has hunter nins that go after exiled ninja from the Leaf. There's no difference among villages. Those who are hunter ninja must be incredibly strong to restrain anyone who decided to fight back, which most do."

"I know that! But-but how can he be a hunter nin so young! I mean, he's like our age! You can't deny that Kakashi-sensei." Naruto vented in frustration. "We've gone to the academy and trained and trained to the point we master our jutsus. We've spent hours training and it was on simple chakra training exercises and for what? To learn a stupid jutsu? I didn't learn anything! "

Naruto ran to the tree and began to punch it. His punches were direct hits to the bark that intensified until the tree began to chip and dent. He gave a simple kick and leaves began to fall from the branches, falling on the blonde.

Kakashi saw the worried look on the other two teammates and placed his hand on Naruto's shoulder in a reassuring manner. "Each village is different Naruto. If you want to be stronger than them, then you have to continue to train and trust me with your teaching. You guys were selected to be a team for a certain reason and it seems it's time to get you guys on track."

"Dobe, let's go. We can spare when we arrive at Tazuna-san's house." Sasuke offered, receiving a small from the Namikaze heir.

"I could later show you my new jutsu that I learned." Sakura offered softly. Naruto gave a true smile and laughed a little.

"Come on. My house is not far from here and the least I can do is allow you to stay at my house." Tazuna enthusiastically offered. Witnessing the battle from before, he was beginning to think that doubting the team was one of the stupidest things he has done. He was now starting to believe living by the mountainside and ocean side was a wise choice.

"Good, cause I'm starving! I am glad that I saved that ramen from Mikoto-oba. I am craving some ramen!" Naruto cheered, looking at his sensei. He hid his conflicted thoughts and worries, and walked with his teammates.

Kakashi nodded and began walking behind Tazuna who led the way to his home.

That's no ordinary missing nin that we just encountered, Thought the male ninja of the group.

All we can do now is train and prepare for an attack. Naruto though solemnly.

Once the everyone began walking after Tazuna, Kakashi stopped for a second. He performed the summoning jutsu, drawing blood from his thumb and slammed his palm to the floor. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"

From the smoke, a small pug appeared. He has brown fur and a dark brown snout and ears. His right paw is covered with a bandage. He wore a blue vest with the heno-heno-moheji seal with a match blue Konoha forehead protector.

"Hey Kakashi" The dog said in a gruff voice.

"Hey Pakkun, I have a mission for you." The gray-haired summoner grunted, feeling a worn-out.

"Are you okay Kakashi? You seem a little out of it. Did you spar again with Rin?" Pakkun smirked.

"Read the scroll and head out to Konoha. I need you to deliver this Kushina-san or Minato-sensei. Hurry." He ordered, placing a scroll on Pakkun's jacket.

Pakkun barked and left.