Disclaimer: We do not own Naruto.

This chapter was brought to you by Razamataz22 and Kakarot Son.

…

Sleep did not come easily to Naruto, despite all of the partying that his friends and colleagues had subjected him to. He lay there for what seemed like hours, unmoving as his eyes stared at the ceiling, lost in the inky blackness. A blackness similar to what had surrounded him while he had lost control of the Kyuubi.

Sitting up, Naruto calmed himself as he closed his eyes, before opening them once more to find himself in the concrete sewers that housed the Kyuubi. Walking slowly, he made his way to where he knew the nine-tailed beast would be, and even when he came across the giant bars that kept the monster at bay, he didn't flinch as the Kyuubi's eyes set upon him.

"What is it that you want here, child?" the Kyuubi demanded to know of the boy.

"I just wanted to say… thank you," said Naruto slowly before looking up to see the Kyuubi perplexed for a moment before bursting into laughter. "What's so funny? I'm just thanking you for not killing my friends."

As the giant creature's laughter turned into chuckles, his eyes set upon the boy in front of him. It was clear that the boy didn't truly know what had happened. As far as the child knew, by fighting against the Kyuubi's will, he had been given back control. That had been what the Kyuubi had said, but in no manner was it true. Naruto had fought back to gain control, and had managed to do so successfully. It was something which had shocked the Kyuubi somewhat, to know that, if the brat so wanted, he could control a single tail's chakra with ease. The Kyuubi, in his attempt to slay Naruto's teammates, had successfully managed to strengthen Naruto's resolve.

Had another tail been involved, however, the Kyuubi knew that the result would have been much different.

"Your thanks is not wanted nor needed. Now get out of my sight, you flea-bitten rodent," commanded the Kyuubi. Instead of putting up some manner of an argument, Naruto heeded the Kyuubi's words and departed, leaving the creature with a lot on his mind.

...

"Y'know, sometimes, Sensei, I wonder if you've completely lost it," said Jiraiya, shaking his head slightly.

"Although I am but a foolish old man who has made many mistakes over the years," chuckled Sarutobi, "I think allowing Danzo to tutor Hiashi's eldest was a good idea."

"You do realise that he's going to break her… Into only two pieces if you're lucky," said the super-pervert as he frowned. The girl seemed pretty nice, a little timid if anything, and was a good friend of Naruto's.

"Not quite," said Sarutobi, his eyes glistening with wisdom that still eluded Jiraiya. "I know my old teammate. As much as he would love the possibility that someone as important as Hinata might one day be under his belt, he knows that trifling with the Hyuga is not something that should be taken lightly."

"Well, he probably thought that trifling with the Uchiha was not something that should be taken lightly, and look how that turned out," said Jiraiya, pointing at the flaw in Sarutobi's argument. While many seemed to respect the war-hawk, Jiraiya had never seen him in battle, so he didn't have any real indication of how powerful the man was, and he had always managed to rub the pervert in the wrong way.

"He's not so stupid as to let the Hyuga fade into borderline extinction as well," said Sarutobi calmly. Jiraiya, despite his age and status, would always be his student. "While he doesn't always look it, he's had Konoha's well-being at the center of his heart from the very beginning."

Jiraiya raised an eyebrow but understood the point his sensei was making. If Danzo was as patriotic as Sarutobi hoped, he would know that disunity between the Hyuga and the rest of Konoha so soon after a botched invasion plan could lead to a real invasion from a real superpower. Even though Konoha was normally the foremost example of a superpower, it was definitely not at its prime at the present moment. "I'm going to get Anko to work with me on her in her downtime," he stated, not even bothering to formally seek permission from his superior.

"You can do what you want with Hinata after a week, Danzo will be done by then," Sarutobi chuckled slightly. "Run a bit of damage control if necessary." The Hokage had complete faith in the war-hawk. At least to complete this task appropriately.

Jiraiya nodded.

What went unsaid between the aged duo but clear as day to each of them, was the fact that Jiraiya was still suspicious of the man and wanted to keep a close eye on his temporary "protege".

…

"Imagine yourself to be a ninja from another village who has been sent to spy on 'Hyuuga Hinata' for the last six months," said Danzo with calmness as he addressed the heiress. "I am your superior who you are reporting to. What can you tell me about her?"

"L-Like what I'm g-good at?" questioned Hinata at a loss for words. This man seemed to be even more rigid and strict than her father.

Danzo scowled. "An appropriate report would first list all the basic information about the subject, their strengths, their weaknesses, and their common associates. Then it would perhaps go into depth about the subject's tendencies and interests."

"Uhh… I-I know ho-"

"The subject, not 'I'," corrected Danzo sternly as he cut the girl off with no remorse. She looked even weaker than his spies had indicated and seemed even less confident. It was no wonder that Sarutobi had resorted to asking for his help - something he was sure the Hokage always detested resorting to - since it looked like the girl couldn't get out of bed in the morning without being unsure about it.

"R-Right," said Hinata as she looked down to the floor, avoiding the stone gaze of the bandage-clad man. "The s-subject can use the B-Byakugan and is versed in the G-Gentle Fist Taijutsu style. She is s-still a Genin but par-participated in the recent Chunin Exams."

"Is that all?" Danzo asked, almost mockingly.

Hinata gulped. "I-I… The subject is n-not very good at Ninjutsu or Gen-Genjutsu. She is thirteen years-old and the h-heiress to the H-Hyuga Clan. Her teammates are I-Inuzuka Kiba and Aburame Shino, and her Jounin-sensei i-is Yuhi Kurenai."

The war-hawk frowned. "Regardless of the content of the report itself, the way in which it was presented is something that I would expect from a third-year academy student. Even after I explained to you what the task was clearly and suggested what should be covered, you chose to ignore multiple things and be vague with others. I also had to draw some of the most important information out of you."

Hinata blinked slightly. It was clear that the man was unimpressed, but his voice sounded monotonous and devoid of all emotion - a sound she was familiar with because many Hyuuga attempted to emulate such a thing - and the only audible undertone was perhaps that of arrogance. All in all, it sounded as though he was reading from a piece of paper which had words he'd spoken scribbled onto it. Unsure of what she was meant to do, the girl nodded.

"While your general skills are atrocious for a ninja who hopes to survive," said Danzo, his voice still unreadable, "they are slightly below that of the average Genin. As much as I would like to rectify those weaknesses of yours, that is not what Hiruzen has requested of me."

That made sense. The Hokage had mentioned that he had come along to help her control her emotions. Perhaps that was why he had been chosen, because he was so emotionless - like an empty canvas.

"From the professional reports I have read on you," continued Danzo, emphasising the word in reference to the girl's half-baked earlier attempt, "you have difficulty controlling your emotions. Normally for hormonal-driven teenagers, this would hardly be an issue, but now that you have Orochimaru's cursed seal - and all of Konoha knows about it too - you need to keep a lid on them."

"H-How do I start… Sensei?" she finished awkwardly, fishing for the right word to say.

"We will begin by fixing your speech patterns," said Danzo assertively. "Rectifying this will also aid you on later as a ninja, should you live that long, or even within your own clan."

"M-My speech patterns?" Hinata asked questioningly, regretting it slightly when he turned his powerful gaze back towards her.

"We shall target your stutter first," he explained in the calm yet intimidating manner that Hinata was sure he was renowned for. "It represents your emotional instability, your lack of confidence and constant fear of your surroundings. Know this, child: this is only the beginning."

…

"I thought the Hokage told you three to take the day off?" questioned Kakashi as he appeared at their normal team meeting spot, no less than three hours late.

"Then why'd you show up?" asked Naruto as he stuck out a tongue.

"Because I know my cute little Genin too well," Kakashi muttered as he flipped a page in his orange book. "Now I suggest you take the time - or at least a day or two - that the Hokage has granted you to relax. I'm aware that due to the training regime and the events in Suna, you guys have been constantly pushing your bodies to the limit, but now it's time to unwind for a bit."

"I feel fine," said Sasuke, but the small bags under his eyes and the lack of his active Sharingan betrayed the boy's bluff.

"I've seen better days," admitted Sakura. It didn't take a genius to figure out that she wasn't looking all that well, no doubt a side effect of her intense physical exertion during the past few days. It had affected her much more than Naruto, who was looking no worse for wear, but while the blond-haired boy looked better physically, it was clear that something was still hanging on his mind.

"I think training's out of the question since the training fields which weren't damaged are occupied by some of the more experienced ninja, probaby training to get stronger in honour of lost loved ones, at the moment," said Kakashi, not even bothering to make eye-contact with his team. "We could do a few D-ranked missions for the next couple of days, contrary to the Hokage's orders, or take it easy. Your choice."

"Do you know where Ero-sennin is?" asked Naruto, knowing that he'd probably be able to talk the man into showing him something. "I probably need to tell him about developments with you-know-what."

"That's probably a good idea," said Kakashi. "While I don't know where he is exactly, he shouldn't be that hard to find. Just try all of the usual places and you'll find him."

"So the hot springs it is then," said Naruto as he made a move to leave and find his other instructor.

"Well, that leaves us three," said Kakashi as he looked from Sakura to Sasuke. "How are those reports that the Sandaime asked you to write coming along?"

"I think I've finished mine," said Sakura, not mentioning that she had stayed up quite late pouring a lot of energy into the effort.

"Haven't started it but I know what I'm going to write about," stated Sasuke, stifling a slight yawn.

"Well, Naruto's probably going to treat it like a joke," said Kakashi knowingly. "We could work on a bit of stuff that's not so strenuous if you guys really don't want me to go home and read my little book."

"I don't really care," shrugged Sasuke indifferently. "I was hoping to spar with someone, but that's probably not gonna happen now."

"Ehh, there's more to being a ninja than throwing fists and unleashing Jutsu," said Kakashi, attempting to offer a little wisdom. "What about you, Sakura?"

"I was hoping that we'd be able to work a little more on my poisons and stuff," said Sakura, meeting his lone eye hopefully. "You told me you knew someone with a bit of expertise and that you might introduce me to them."

"Ah that's right," said Kakashi fondly. "Good old Anko. I'm sure the two of you will get along just fine."

Something about Kakashi's barely visible smile made Sakura nervous, but she didn't question it. "If you don't reckon she's too busy, I'd love to get a started as quick as possible. Suna would have gone down a lot smoother if I'd been using poisons to their full potentials."

"Sure, why not," agreed Kakashi. "Work on your report, Sasuke, and if you see Naruto tell him to do the same. Bring them to training tomorrow, we'll compare them. If you're really that eager to train, you can try and track down that kid that got promoted yesterday, Rock Lee. I'm sure he'll be willing to have a fight."

"I'll keep that in mind," muttered Sasuke as he quickly walked away, intent on staying as far away from the green-clad Chunin for as long as possible. He was most definitely not in the mood to deal with the annoying bundle of never-ceasing energy that was Lee.

…

Hinata held back the tears welling in her eyes as she sniffed. Pain flowed through her body like a potent drug thanks to the seal which the old man had placed on her. At first, Danzo had attempted to do things calmy, instructing her to speak without stuttering while he held conversation with her, but after around half an hour of no results, he had grown fed up and placed a seal on her tongue.

It didn't do much other than releasing a wave of pain that was akin to being punched firmly in the gut every time she so much as stuttered. Sometimes it would mistake one of her resulting sobs as a stutter and unleash another bout of pain.

"You seem to only respond to negative feedback," said Danzo calmly as though this was nothing new. 'I'll have to see if her cursed seal is triggered as a response to the emotions she experiences when hurt by the seal.'

"Neg...ative feedback?" questioned Hinata with a gulp, awkwardly managing to push out the rest of her word without stuttering.

"Yes, it is when one is conditioned to act a certain way through some form of pain or punishment," explained the older man as though he were reading from a textbook. "Positive feedback, the opposite, is when one is rewarded for acting a certain way. No need to fear though, most ninja only respond to the former."

"S-So," Hinata gasped suddenly, struggling to continue her sentence as Danzo's seal activated, "this will help me control Orochimaru's cursed seal… right?"

"If it did not I would not have placed it on you," Danzo said, his tone managing to betray his reassuring words. "Unless you posed a threat to Konoha, that is."

"Oh… okay," said Hinata somewhat understandingly. The Hokage thought that this was the right next step, and she felt inclined to respect the decision of the wisest man in the village. "S-So how do I stop myself from drawing on t..he seal's power i-in a fight or something?"

Danzo's lip curled upwards in the slightest hint of amusement as he watched the seal inflict further pain upon the girl. It was interesting how loose of a handle the girl had on her emotions. Even when being threatened with pain, she still continued to stutter with every second sentence or so. "That is something that I will need to train you to accomplish. If you allow the seal to control you, then you are no more than Orochimaru's will personified."

Hinata paled slightly at the man's description of her, but she couldn't come up with anything which provided a reasonable counter argument. In fact, she'd turned on her allies several times: Shino, Kiba, Akamaru, her own sister, and Gai-sensei.

"I will place you in a situation of peril similar to the ones you have experienced before, and you must fight Orochimaru's seal," said Danzo knowledgably. This wasn't the first time he'd dealt with something like the snake's mark. "Then I will push past your current threshold and put you in situations which induce a level of stress that you have certainly not yet experienced. This will draw out the seal and you will fight it until I am satisfied that you can control it."

"W-What if I can't?" the girl sniffed, knowing that she wasn't very strong when it came situations like these. This time when Danzo's seal struck, she didn't even try to fight against it and let it wash through her body with no opposition.

Danzo's answer consisted of words that he had said just moments prior, but the way in which he said it as his face darkened sent a chill down Hinata's spine. "You will."

…

"You can't be serious," said Sakura as she paled upon seeing the man in front of her.

"Unfortunately, I am," said Kakashi sheepishly as he ran a hand through his grey hair. "I see you've already become acquainted with Ibiki."

"Heh. Although I've tortured my fair share of Genin, I remember this one from the Chunin Exams," said the interrogation master. "She had that annoyingly loud teammate."

Sakura blushed a bit on Naruto's behalf. Kakashi had taken her to meet Anko - one of his friends, apparently - earlier on but the woman had muttered something about already being busy with a brat and had handballed her forward to Ibiki, the proctor for the first part of the Chunin exams.

"I look forward to studying underneath you then," said Sakura as she bowed formally, deciding that she did not want to get off on the wrong side of this man like Naruto appeared to have.

"Heh. Hopefully I can teach you a little while keeping the mental scarring to a minimal," said Ibiki optimistically as he clasped a hand on Kakashi's back. "Although they do say that's the best part of the job. So anyway, what were you looking at learning? You're a little young to be thinking of making moves in the interrogation game."

"I've been trying to study poisons and incorporate them into my arsenal properly," said Sakura before looking down in an embarrassed manner. "I've not managed to get very far though, and I didn't know anyone who could help me."

"That's when I came in and saved the day," added Kakashi cheerily as he ruffled Sakura's hair. "My cute little Genin here wants some bite to back up her bark."

"Hmm… Normally I would refer you to the Aburame as they're well versed in these kinds of things, but people who can't use their clan techniques normally struggle under their tutelage," said Ibiki thoughtfully. "I know a thing or two, being the head of the Torture and Interrogation Department does that to ya, probably enough to get you started at least."

Sakura gulped as she realised that she was in for it. "I hope so."

"Heh. So we'll have weekly sessions if that's alright with Kakashi?" asked Ibiki as he looked towards the aloof man. Upon receiving a nod, he continued. "Come find me this Thursday and we'll get you sorted out."

"Sakura's actually been very enthusiastic about learning how to utilise potions," said Kakashi calmly. "And I'm sure she's not going to sit still until Thursday, so if you're not too busy, could you perhaps show her a thing or two?"

Ibiki eyed the girl and her sensei carefully before letting out a powerful chuckle. "Sure why not? We can at least have a chat and I can tell her what to brush up on."

Kakashi smiled as he pulled an orange book out of his pocket. He turned to leave but not before saying, "I owe you one."

Sakura moved closer to the proctor of the first exam as Kakashi left, presumably to go find either Sasuke or Naruto. As she looked up at her new poison tutor, she couldn't help but shiver from the twisted smile he gave her.

…

"There you are!" exclaimed Naruto as he finally caught sight of Jiraiya. Immediately, the pervert shushed him in annoyance as he ducked below the bushes that were overlooking the natural hot springs down below.

"Are you trying to ruin my research or something, brat?" Jiraiya asked with a scowl upon his face as he gestured to the notepad lying on top of the bushes.

"You can write porn later," said the blond dismissively. "I want to train."

"From the sounds of it, your team came back from a suicide mission in Suna," said Jiraiya, his voice a low whisper in an effort to encourage Naruto to mirror it. The pervert didn't intend to get caught by the kunoichi again, who were currently unaware of his presence. "I think you could do with a break."

"Why's everyone saying that?" Naruto whined as he ran his hand through his gold locks. "First Kakashi-sensei, now you. Sitting at home is just so boring."

"You don't have to sit at home to take a break, you idiot," Jiraiya shook his head. Just his luck that the brat didn't inherit his father's intelligence.

"Yeah, well, I'd go to the hot springs, but I'm worried that you might end up peeping on me," said Naruto cheekily as he earned himself a swat to the back of his head from Jiraiya.

"You must have some kind of hobbies," said Jiraiya as he deadpanned. The kid acted like a goofball, so surely he did something for fun.

"Well, I used to prank people, but jiji made me put a stop to that once I became a ninja," said Naruto as he rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "I guess I like eating ramen too."

Jiraiya smiled as he recognised the traits that Naruto described as ones that had once been visible within his parents. Thirteen years and he was still struggling to come to grips with the fact that he'd never see that couple again. "Well, I guess you've been busy being a ninja and all that. Being a Genin is a very hard job," said Jiraiya sarcastically, causing Naruto poke out his tongue at the older man. "But I reckon it's time that you find a creative outlet for your time."

Naruto looked up in confusion. Jiraiya was a lot more loose than the old man, but he knew that the pervert would never suggest he take up his old pranking ways again. Not when he'd without doubt be one of the blond's main targets.

"So take a seat," Jiraiya pat a spot in front of the bushes as he gestured to the hotsprings below, "and enjoy the view."

"Uhh… no thanks," said Naruto with a frown. He didn't want to end up becoming like Jiraiya, and besides, it wouldn't do him any good to develop a weakness to his own Sexy Jutsu. "I also wanted to tell you that I talked to the fox once or twice."

That caught Jiraiya's interest pretty quickly. "I suppose we can find you a hobby that isn't being an orange eyesore later. What did it say to you?"

"I think it ran out of ways to call me a pathetic mortal," Naruto shrugged. "It also said it wanted to eat me at one stage."

"Hmm, I'm not too surprised," admitted Jiraiya. "I recall hearing of a powerful Jinchuuriki who had a great relationship with its tailed beast but that's a one-in-a-million situation. The Kyuubi's bound to be a pretty proud creature since it is the most powerful of the tailed beasts."

"Yeah, it didn't seem like all that nice a guy," said Naruto in agreement. "I want you to train me to use the bastard fox's chakra properly though, I had to use it's power a few times and it was pretty easy to lose control."

"Well brat, I don't know what went down in Suna but I will say that sometimes it's good to be able to lose control - to have a trump card in which no holds are barred," stated Jiraiya knowing that if he had been able to push himself to go all out and beyond in a few regrettable situations during his life, they would have turned out differently. "But it is also important to be able to control it. How many people did you kill?"

Naruto was shocked at first that Jiraiya was so easily able to read what had happened before his face fell slightly. "About thirty of them, injured a bunch more."

"How many of them would you say you consciously killed?" asked Jiraiya knowing that Naruto would not have been able to bring himself to take so many lives had he been in the correct state of mind. It wasn't that he had any delusions about Naruto being innocent, no, he was a ninja and was as innocent as anyone else who wore a headband, rather that he was a Genin and Jiraiya was of a rank that transcended even the most elite Jounin. Except for very special cases, Genin would view having to kill fifty people as one of their worst nightmares while someone of Jiraiya's rank would do it without even batting an eye.

"Three, maybe four, on purpose," he said, his voice wavering slightly as he thought about it. The boy still hadn't quite come to grips with what he had done. "There were some that I just wanted to hurt really bad, so I did, and they… y'know."

Naruto was unable to finish his sentence.

"Then the rest was probably more or less the fox's doing," said Jiraiya with a nod. "Twenty-ish isn't exactly a killing rampage but it's not some insignificant number either. Just be thankful you were surrounded by enemies rather than allies."

"I hurt Kakashi-sensei and then killed these other two guys, jiji said they were from the Sound Five or something, but the girl escaped. Then I almost attacked Sakura but I fought against the Kyuubi's power with all my strenght and he decided to let go for some reason since he was impressed," said Naruto but quickly added to his sentence as he saw Jiraiya's look of shock. "He called me a flea-bitten mortal when I tried to thank him though."

"Ah well," Jiraiya said with a shake of his head. "Anyway, you were saying that you killed one half of the Sound Four eh?"

"Yeah," said Naruto, although he wasn't as upset about killing them as he was the Suna nin. "I tore through them easily with the Kyuubi's strenght."

"You'll never guess what happened to the other member, the one member of the four who didn't show up to your battle," said Jiraiya with a smug grin.

"What?" asked Naruto in confusion. The old man had said they were called the Sound Five or the Sound Four or something and Naruto had wondered where there missing member was.

"I killed him, preventing the Sound Four from enacting whatever plan Orochimaru had for Sarutobi-sensei," said Jiraiya as he struck a victory pose. "And I indirectly saved all your asses too, so you can thank me by teaching me that wonderful Sexy Jutsu of yours."

"Shouldn't we be worried that that other Sound Four girl's going to go back to Orochimaru and spill some major secrets or something?" asked Naruto, being surprisingly clear headed on the topic.

"No," said Jiraiya bluntly. "The one thing Orochimaru hates more than anything is failure. That girl knows that if she goes back to him, she's either going to be experimented on or killed. Chances are she's hightailing it in the direction furthest away from where any of Orochimaru's little hold ups are. Anyways enough about that. You've got a jutsu I want to learn, so get teaching."

…

Tayuya continued running, branches she passed scratching at her face and arms, but she didn't pay it any attention. The small cuts upon her skin were nothing more than mosquito bites in comparison to what that blond brat could do to her. She didn't care that the failed ambush attempt had happened over a day earlier, the further away from Konoha she was, the better.

Using the tattered remains of her sleeve to wipe the sweat from her brow, Tayuya accidentally tripped over a root that had been sticking out of the ground and fell into a clearing. "Fuck!" she cursed as she punched the ground in frustration. "Why did everything go to fucking shit? That little fucker was dead, dead for fuck's sake!"

Lifting her head up, she expected to find herself staring at the empty path ahead of her, but it was not the case, as right in front of her stood a man who was looking at her with a mixture of confusion and admiration upon his face. "The fuck you looking at?" swore Tayuya, not liking the attention given to her.

"The fucking girl of my dreams."

...

For those who are interested, we are a group of collaborative writers who combine our efforts to bring you stories such as this one. We're an open group, meaning that anyone can apply to join. Feel free to check out our forums, our Facebook page, and perhaps apply to join the group, via the link on our profile. It's a great opportunity for those who would like to better their own writing abilities and exchange skills of the trade with fellow authors, or to simply be more a part of a writing community.