Yondaime Gaiden

by MHS

Before becoming Hokage he was just a boy dreaming of being a ninja. Join Jiraiya, Katsu, Ryokumaru, and Minato in their misadventures that ultimately lead up to the showdown between the defender of the village and the cataclysmic demon that threatens all.

8. Sins of the Past

Edit: Here once stood the biggest damn author's note you've probably ever seen. Except it wasn't a note, it was bitching. Someone flamed me and then threatened to beat me up if I flamed him back. So I gave him my home address...and still haven't had him show up at my door. Whatever, it was stupid. It's fine if you don't like my story, but please, make it intelligent.

---

Three boys sat in a booth at a small-time diner. The good thing about small-time diners is that they can't pull in people with brilliant ads, so they have to use superior cooking and hospitality to get business. They also provided ample, well prepared food, a calm and relaxing atmosphere, and the familiar faces of other usual.

The well prepared food especially appealed to Chozo. He sat on the inside of the booth watching his two teammates dual in shogi. They had been going for over an hour and a half, and neither was gaining much of an advantage. Luckily, the cute and plump waitress kept him eating, and he slowly grew interested in their deadlock.

Shikaku rested his elbows on the table with his fingers together, evaluating the board in front of him. Across from him the blonde Inoichi, who sipped on iced-tea. Only a few pieces had been taken so far. Shikaku having lost two pawns and a knight, and Inoichi having lost three pawns and a bishop. Technically, Shikaku would be concidered winning, but Inoichi's rush to take his forward-knight disturbed him. The knight was Shikaku's favorite piece, as it had a powerful movement structure. Now the boy was trying to lock down Shikaku's remaining knight. If he did so, he would be in a bad position to secure his victory. Inoichi believed in using his queen to its fullest potential, and without any knights, he would surely push Shikaku into checkmate. The pawns and the bishop had all been sacrifices to take that single knight. That alone showed that Shikaku was playing into Inoichi's game. The blonde's pieces almost had Shikaku's knight cornered, until Shikaku carefully positioned a rook and bishop to safe guard it. It was risky, but all that he could do. Inoichi might even be willing to lose a piece or six as long as he could finish off the remaining knight. Shikaku definitely had to make sure that it would be too much trouble. Otherwise he was toast.

Chozo watched the game on the table, but knew that there was a whole other level below it. Shikaku was extremely bright, and Inoichi was the prodegy Yamanaka child of Konoha. Even though they agreed not to use any powers, Inoichi was constantly grazing the edges of Shikaku's mind to try and intercept his plans, while Shikaku created dozens of false ideas to keep on the surface while he slowly perfected his moves in the depths of his mind. With this constant mental battle raging, the two were almost perfectly matched. Normally Shikaku had a very slight edge, but this time it seemed that Inoichi had the advantage.

Chozo yawned. They did this everyday. The two of them would play shogi, and he would eat and watch them. Idle conversation always slipped into the meeting, and they would all have fun just passing innocent gossip to each other. They had all been best of friends ever since they became a team, and this unoffical daily meeting in the diner was just something they always did as a matter of habit as well as enjoyment. Missions and training took up most of their day, and by the end of it, they were all quite relieved to be back in the calm environment. Chozo would spend all day just slowly deciding what he was going to eat, as Inoichi would meditate whenever he had a chance for hopes of penetrating Shikaku's mental barrier, who spent the day thinking up new shogi strategies. It was truly spendid.

Yes, life was indeed good.

-Chapter 8: Sins of the Past-

Sarutobi walked the streets humming one morning. A sweet breeze was blowing that kept the air fresh, and the sun warmed the Hidden Village in the Leaves. The kind old man was greeted by every other person that he met, and he longed to shed his hat and relax in the park with his wife. Sadly, being Hokage meant responsibilities, one of them being disciplining those who deserved it. Many of the victims of the fraud three weeks ago pushed "death by fire" for the two boys. Sarutobi only got them off by making them sweat on the rock of the cliff, where the breeze doesn't touch and the sun is constantly blazing down. This way, all of the victims could see the boys suffer. They still wanted death by fire afterwards, but Sarutobi hoped that the time they finished the women would have forgotten about the whole thing; at least their rage. Carving his face would take a couple years.

The Hokage looked up to see Namikaze Minato and Rokku Ryokumaru supported by ropes and banging in the outlines of Sarutobi's face with assorted tools. The man took a puff of his pipe and looked at the row of faces that he would join. The Shodaime Hokage, followed by his teacher, the Nidaime Hokage, then by a semi-carved sculpture of Sarutobi's face, and lastly the near-finished depiction of Minato's face. Yup, everything was going just—

"What the hell are you carving in there MINATO!! You can't put your face in the mountain!!" Sarutobi suddenly yelled, hundreds of feet away from the two working boys. Most of Konoha probably heard him though, and Minato flinched. The Sandaime Hokage stormed his way to the bottom of the cliff.

"What's the big idea here!?" He yelled once he got there.

Minato and Ryokumaru reluctantly lowered themselves in decent talking distance, but purposely left themselves at least fifty feet above the angry man.

"But…I figured that I'd just get started on my face for when I become Hokage."

Ryokumaru started laughing as the deceptive blonde feigned innocence.

Sarutobi pointed a finger accusingly and still yelled at the top of his breath, "You're never going to be Hokage you little pervert!!"

Minato shrugged, "Every little pervert has to grow into a big pervert. You turned out fine, Hokage-sama."

The veins on the Hokage's forehead were now bulging. He was seriously considering and even liking the idea of death-by-fire.

-Katsu-

The boy was haunted. Day and night for the past three weeks, she was there. She was always there!

He sat in his bed, shivering. The voice was overpowering. It was sweet, kind. Girly.

And it was coming from inside of him.

"What's wrong, cutie, you know that you want to transform into me. Keeping that lil' old body of yours all to yourself is just plain selfish, don't ya' think?"

"No! I don't think so at all! It's my body so I can do what I want with it! Besides, I don't 'transform' into you, it's just a henge! You don't exist! You're only a figment of Minato-san's schemes!"

"Now that's just hurting my feelings there, cutie. You know I'm just as real as you are. Blaming it on your lil' friends isn't going to make me go away, y'know."

"BUT YOU AREN'T REAL!"

Katsu yelled this out loud without even thinking about it. It was only natural that Jiraiya would open the door to see if anything was wrong.

The dark-haired boy turned pale as he saw his house-mate.

Jiraiya looked around suspiciously. The walls were painted from their original white to a frizzy pink, the bed was decorated with sheets that were covered in little hearts, and boxes upon boxes of clothes and shoes left only a small walkway to the bed. Jiraiya entered cautiously.

"Um…Kat-chan, are you okay?"

"Yeah, I was just…talking to myself.

Jiraiya slowly approached, trying to avoid the women's clothing. Normally he would be pleased to see thongs and thin bras in his house…just not when he was living with another guy.

"So what, you're not real?"

"Huh?" Katsu looked confused until he realized how what he said had sounded, and how disfigured his reply made his statement. "Well…not in the metaphorical sense."

Jiraiya moved a plush bunny to the side so he could sit on the bed next to Katsu. He put one hand on the boy's shoulder.

"Is there something that we should talk about?" Jiraiya said in a sincere, older brother voice.

"Damnit, I'm not gay!!" He screamed.

"You've been saying that a lot lately, y'know?"

-The Next Day-

Team Ronin was in an academy school room, as they normally would for morning studies. Minato and Ryokumaru looked tired, and Katsu's eyes were dark. He seemed like he didn't get enough sleep. Jiraiya on the other hand was all too full of energy.

"Today I have a couple announcements." Jiraiya said as he took a seat at the front.

The three young ones raised eyebrows simultaiously.

"First, I think that it's almost time that Team Ronin started taking on C-Rank mission. We have plenty of D-Rank missions under our belt, and the group of you are above average as it is. Mostly because C-Rank missions pay better and I'm tired of chump-change." Jiraiya stuck out his tongue at this last bit.

"Yes!" Ryokumaru threw his fist in the air. "C-Rank! That's what I'm talking about!"

Even the tired Katsu managed a smile. "It would be more challenging."

Minato nodded. "I admit it sounds interesting."

"That's not all, Team," Jiraiya continued, "before we do that, I we need to fine tune several things. First of all, a team has to have different ways to work together, and most Genin can manage a C-Rank jutsu or two." He looked over at the brunette. "Ryo-chan, I'm confident that you can survive without anything higher then a D-Rank jutsu, so you're not gonna learn any."

"Damnit!" Ryokumaru crossed his arms in resentment.

"But Mina-chan and Kat-chan are a totally different story. From watching the three of you spare and fight, I've seen how you fight and how you all need to specialize to work as a good team. Ryo-chan, instead of ninjutsu and genjutsu, you're going to need to practice in more taijutsu and weaponry. The better you are with a fist and kunai, the better off the team's going to be."

Ryokumaru looked blankly at him.

"There are some pretty cool taijutsu moves, Ryo-chan."

The boy shrugged. "I've always sort of been more motivated to kick ass up close anyways.

"Right then," Jiraiya continued once more, "You're going to meet up with Akio in his class room when we're done with lessons today. I've already talked with him, and he's agreed to personally train you in the basics again, as well as taijutsu."

"I get to work with Akio-sensei! That's cool!" he paused. "But why do I have to relearn the basics?"

The Jonin sighed. "Basics are the foundation of being a ninja. Without them, anything you put on top will crumble. Your foundation is crap, Ryo-chan, and I don't want you to crumble in the middle of a battle. Got it?"

Ryokumaru looked down. "Yeah."

Jiraiya looked over to Katsu and Minato. "You two serve different purposes. Katsu, I know you already have a B-Rank taijutsu, but there is something else that would do you better. I chatted with the Hokage, and he approved that you learn another B-Rank technique, but this time ninjutsu. Another one of my friends is going to personally teach you how to use it."

Katsu nodded.

"And you Mina-chan, you're with me. I have faith in Ryo-chan's Earth-element, and Kat-chan somehow worked his Wind-element into his fighting style already. You on the other hand, are a zero. The two of us are going to practice your Lightning-element Chakra, and then we're going to make a jutsu out of it."

Minato raised an eyebrow. "You have Lightning-element Chakra too, Jiraiya-sensei?"

Jiraiya shook his head. "Nope, but an old friend of mine does. He actually invented the technique that we're going to teach you, so he'll take over halfway through." Jiraiya paused. "If I can convince him to help you, that is."

"So we're all going to be learning independently…" Katsu said in the open.

"That's right, you all will for a while. But don't remember, you're still Team Ronin, no matter what happens." Jiraiya gave the group a thumbs up. He got smiles all around.

"What's for today, Jiraiya-sensei?" Minato asked curiously.

"Last time you all got your ass beat, by a girl might I add, it was by one with Sharingan. I figured it was time that you learned more about it…so I called in another girl with Sharingan."

At this Jiraiya motioned towards the door and Kaori stepped in. The boy's mouths dropped. Her elegant black hair, full breasts, long legs, and perfect figure, but mostly the full breasts, was almost too much for the twelve year old boys to take in.

"This is my friend, Kaori-chan." Jiraiya said proudly.

Ryokumaru, mouth still wide open, talked first. "Is she your girlfriend Jiraiya-sensei?"

"NO!!" The two Jonin yelled. A million excuses about why they would never date or look or conceder or give the time of day to the other began to roll from their mouths. The twelve year old boys could take this in, and they all snickered. Minato a little more then Ryokumaru and Katsu.

The hysteria, awkwardness, and introductions shortly passed as Jiraiya announced it was time they got down to business. The snow-haired Jonin took a seat as Kaori took the stage. A mask covered the lower part of her face, even though the features could still somewhat be made out, and she wore sunglasses indoors.

"How much do the three of you boys know about the Sharingan?" She calmly asked them.

"It hurts…real bad." Was Ryokumaru's swift answer as his hand automatically went to cover his heart.

"Really badly' he should have said…" Minato thought.

"It's an upper level kekkei genkai dojutsu that turns the user's eyes red and bestows greater abilities." Katsu told Kaori.

She looked at Minato who had to think before he answered. "What Katsu-kun said, but also able to detect what someone is going to do before they do it, Kaori-sensei"

Kaori nodded. "You're all pretty much right, but it gets a little more complex then that. I'll start with the basics. Sharingan is indeed a kekkei genkai, but it isn't necessarily upper level. Actually, there are several levels of Sharingan, and the lowest isn't nearly as effective as some of the kekkei genkai out there.

"You also can not even call Sharingan 'powerful.' I've seen kekkei genkai that give the user the ability to manipulate metal to their own will, use their own flesh and bone as weapons, and even cheat death." She said the last bit with an incentive to scare. It worked. She now had their complete and undivided attention. Even Jiraiya had his ears open.

"What the Sharingan is, if anything, is versatile and useful. Even though it is a dojutsu, Sharingan's strength lies in the brain, not the eyes. With every level of Sharingan achieved, 'limiters' as you could call them, are broken. Breaking these limiters allows the brain to percieve things faster, which is the truth behind the Sharingan's speed. We'll get to this more later.

"Most will simply pass off the Sharingan as a deviation of the Byakugan, also a dojutsu. This isn't exactly true, but it's a lot easier to try and explain. What I'm about to tell the three of you is very old Uchiha history, so I'd appreciate it if you didn't go around spreading it, understand?"

Katsu and Minato nodded. Ryokumaru pointed at Jiraiya. "You only said 'three of us.' What about Jiraiya-sensei?"

Kaori casually passed it off. "He already knows. Jiraiya-chan has been involved with the Uchiha clan for a long time as it is."

Ryokumaru looked oddly at his teacher. "Jiraiya-sensei is accepted by the Uchiha clan?!"

Turning briefly to face him, Kaori's hand went to her hip. "Actually, quite the opposite. They just haven't been able to get rid of him." Jiraiya gave a big-eyed innocent look.

"As I was saying," she continued, "The Uchiha clan's origins actually predate them becoming part of Konoha. It is true that they were there for the founding, but in the earliest days of Shinobi history there weren't ninja villages, merely dozens of rival ninja clans. It wasn't until forty or fifty years ago that the old ways of doing things was abolished. Anyways, Sharingan was a genetic disorder at the time, and eventually, people learned how to mix it with Chakra to use the powers they can today. The original Uchiha clan you could say weren't even ninja, only Sharingan-users. Actually, most of the modern day ninja clans weren't ninja when they were formed.

"Once a gathering of all those with the 'Devil Eye' were gathered, there were disputes about how it would be lead. This lead to a rift in the Sharingan-users. Two rival clans emerged. One of them was the ancestors of the Uchiha clan, the other's name has been lost in history."

"What a second," Katsu interrupted, "Are you saying that there were Sharingan-users outside of the Uchiha clan?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying," Kaori said with a nod, "Sharingan was a genetic disorder, very different then what it is today with the mix of Chakra." She walked to the chalk board and sketched in the shape of a human eye. The iris and pupil were oddly shaped.

"This was the original 'Sharingan,' if you can even call it that. You'll notice that there weren't any tomoe, just the red eye. Those who developed it hyper-focused on everything around them. Over time, the inability to cope with the micromanagement drove them to lose touch with reality. That's why it was known as Devil Eye back then."

Minato raised his hand, and Kaori signaled that he could speak. "What caused the original genetic disorder?"

Kaori paused. "I actually don't know the answer to that question. All I know is over time, people with the disease were forced to come together to discover the secrets of it. Since it was genetic, their descendants would inherit it, and controlling it was vital. Once it was mixed with Chakra, the Sharingan-users turned their once illness into an advantage. It led to persecution from those without the gift. They formed their own society out of necessity. Like I said though, a rift between two rival brothers came about. The problem was that no one could decide who would rule as head of the family after their former leader grew old and died. The elder brother should have inherited the position, but he was cruel and many would not follow him. Instead, they nominated his younger brother, who was kind and gentle. Sadly, he was not nearly as gifted with his Sharingan than his elder brother was. Those who concerned themselves with power sided with the elder and those with fair-rule the younger. Two clans formed from this. They battled for a decade. Later on, this became known as the Sharingan War."

"But which brother won?" Ryokumaru asked, the story now consuming him. He had to know how it ended.

"I don't think either really did. The younger attacked his brother's estate directly at the end of the war. In a fierce battle, the elder killed his younger brother, and crushing the ranks of the opposing clan. However, he saw that in his victory he had lost. His brother was dead before him, by his own hand. They say that something happened to his Sharingan after that, and he lost control. The estate burned down in black fire that scorched for seven days and seven nights. Those who remained loyal to the younger brother used the confusion to eradicate the survivors of their enemy clan, and became the soul users of the Sharingan. They became the Uchiha clan."

There was a silence. Katsu was in awe by how much had happened to the clan, and how much there was that he had never learned about in Shinobi history. Ryokumaru on the other hand, could only think about the clash between the two brothers, and wondered if someday he would have to do battle in the same fashion. After minutes, Minato spoke.

"Why have you told us this?" He said firmly.

"Because," Kaori spoke, "The Sharingan eyes have seen blood time and time again. Some say that it has left them stained and tainted. In order for the three of you to understand the Sharingan, you have to know its origins. It was born in the pain of prejudice and raised in the fires of war. Don't think that the old Uchiha clan never came back for revenge on those who had banished them. That is the nature of the Sharingan. It's important to know if you ever intend to survive against it."

Katsu's head popped up at this statement. "You mean you're going to teach us how to combat the Sharingan?!"

Kaori nodded. "That's why I'm here. Jiraiya-chan learned a long time ago, and now he's asked me to teach the three of you. There are only five people outside of the Uchiha clan, including your sensei and the Hokage, who know how to effectively counter the Sharingan. It isn't perfect, but there is no sure way to battle a kekkei genkai."

"What about the Head of the Clan?" Katsu continued, eyes beaming with excitement, but not wanting to give his hopes up. Minato could barely believe it, and Ryokumaru was about to burst. "He's really okay with you teaching us, Kaori-sensei?"

She chuckled. "Hell no! He's going to have a shit-fit when he hears about this, but it isn't like he can do anything about it. I married out of his clan, so he doesn't have any jurisdiction. I changed my name back to Uchiha so he wouldn't have seizures about a non-Uchiha with Sharingan, and attend social events so I still look like part of the group, but when it comes down to it he can't do anything about it."

Minato started searching fingers for a wedding ring and didn't see one.

"Are there any questions?" She questioned her class.

All three boys raised their hands.

She pointed to Ryokumaru.

"Who's your husband!"

"Just some jerk, and we're legally separated as it is."

She pointed to Katsu.

"Why do you wear a mask and sunglasses?"

"Because I don't have dental incurrence, and I think the shades look cool."

She pointed to Minato.

The boy opened his mouth.

"No."

Minato slowly closed his mouth, and she removed her sunglasses, showing glowing red eyes, with what appeared to be slowly spinning black wheels and tomoe inside them.

"Now's about the time where we discuss the powers of Sharingan. First of all, there are three levels." She approached the chalk board, stepping over Jiraiya. Apparently he had fallen out of his chair at some point in the conversation.

She sketched in a circular shape around the Sharingan eye she had drawn earlier. After her few modifications, she made another pupil, smaller and part of the dashed-circular-ring. "This would be known as the most simple level of Sharingan. With one tomoe, the primary ability gained is to see through techniques. This can be used to quickly evaluate taijutsu to dodge easier, ninjutsu to find the true purpose behind the attack, and genjutsu to see through it, as well as many other more common uses. How this works is it releases the limits on the brain and allows sight perception to be done instantaneous. For the normal human, there is a very, very slight lag time that it takes for their brain to register things they are seeing. When that lag is completely removed though, the user's reflexes seem sharper and swifter to the normal eye. But increasing perception does other things. Since the eye is taking in more light, you could say more things will be noticed. Hyper-focusing becomes much easier, since the brain speed is accelerated. What this all means is that with but one tomoe, misleading the user with taijutsu, ninjutsu, and genjutsu becomes almost worthless. They will be able to keep up with extremely fast speeds, and hit targets with extreme accuracy.

"This is why the Uchiha clan always seems so good with shuriken, kunai, and other projectiles. They can also use senbon more effectively, since it is a weapon purely devoted to accuracy. None of this is really any sort of skill on the Uchiha's part though, since with Sharingan, noticing weaknesses, tracking high speeds, and reacting to danger is relatively easy."

"But, you said that the most basic levels of the Sharingan weren't very powerful. What you just described was wicked-awesome." Ryokumaru said, looking somewhat confused at how the Sharingan works.

"It's its own downfall. Like I said, none of that is really based on the Uchiha's own skill, so when they might seem better, they aren't much without Sharingan. A lot also get over confident and careless. Trust me, a punch in the face hurts just as much, with or without Sharingan, you just see it coming faster the second way. There are also ways of using their hyper-focusing against them. Sharingan will virtually pick out ways to avoid an attack with ease, but it isn't universal. I'll give an example.

"Imagine you're focusing on avoiding shuriken coming at you. Even if there was more then one or a thousand shuriken coming, a good enough Sharingan-user could render them all worthless. There could even be some kunai mixed in to try and mix them up, but it wouldn't help. Assaults from taijutsu would be just about the same. Whether it's one or a thousand people fighting them, they would be seeing the weaknesses in the taijutsu stance and targeting them. This is a bit of an exaggeration, but it's still the same point. An incoming ninjutsu would be analyzed, and the counter-move would be simple. But Sharingan users can only hyper-focus on one at a time, whether it's taijutsu, shuriken, or ninjutus. The Sharingan-user could avoid ten people attacking with taijutsu with ease, but be taken down by one simple shuriken to the back. When fighting a Sharingan-user, assume that whatever techniques you're using will be compromised. No quick taijutsu moves would fake them out, and ninjutsu with hidden agendas wouldn't work. It's only when you use something out of category that you'll hit their weak spot. Using ninjutsu on a Sharingan-user, and having an ally come to deliver a punch from behind is the perfect kind of assault. Said Sharingan-user is thinking about ninjutsu, not taijutsu."

She let this set in. Minato raised his hand, and she nodded for him to speak.

"Is this also how Sharingan-users see though genjutsu, Kaori-sensei?" It was an honest question, since he needed to know the limitations of Sharingan.

Kaori nodded. "It isn't super-anti-genjutsu-magic, but if the user is skilled enough to recognize the genjutsu, there is a high chance that they'll be able to get out of it easily."

Ryokumaru inserted a comment of his own. "So how is it that Sharingan copies techniques?"

"I was getting to that." Kaori replied, wishing that the kids could be just a bit more patient. She had plenty of time to tell them all they needed to know. She approached the chalk board again and rearranged the patterns on the eye. When she moved away, it showed two tomoe.

"This is the second power of the Sharingan, which it is probably known best for: mimicking jutsu. If you recall I said that Sharingan broke limiters in the brain. Well, when this level of Sharingan is used, most things seen can be burned into your mind; eidetic memory. It isn't just taijutsu stances, ninjutsu and genjutsu hand seals that can be copied, since almost anything that you would have to remember can be stored with the use of Sharingan. Once again, Sharingan can be very useful."

Ryokumaru mumbled something about memorizing books and lesson plans without work. Katsu saw the power of photographic memory a mighty strength, in combat, training, and everyday life. Minato wasn't very impressed, since if he spent time to focus, he could already burn things into his memory. He'd been doing it since he was young.

"But Kaori-sensei, how could you go up against something like that?" Katsu questioned.

"There are limitations to what can be copied. Jutsu that don't have hand seals obviously can't be copied, and if the user can't keep up with it, taijutsu won't be able to be tracked. If a jutsu requires proficiency in an element the Uchiha doesn't have, then they obviously can't use it. Hiden jutsu, which are extremely complicated, can't be copied, and neither can S-Rank jutsu, which surpass hiden jutsu in sophistication."

Ryokumaru smirked, which Kaori noticed quickly. "What's with that grin?" She said, raising an eyebrow.

"There aren't such things as S-Rank jutsu. Those are just myths that they tell academy students."

There was a pause. "S-Rank jutsu are very real, boy," was the statement fed to Ryokumaru.

"That can't be though, since there isn't any jutsu recorded as being stronger then A-Rank, besides the occasional kekkei genkai or hiden jutsu."

Minato was wondering about this as well. He had never heard of an S-Rank jutsu before.

"As you would imagine, S-Rank jutsu are very rare. They are the strongest techniques after all. And as for not hearing about any of them, I'm glad, since you hopefully will never have to witness one in action. Pretty much all S-Rank jutsu are horribly destructive, and most are ranked as forbidden jutsu. Not that you could see them, but the Forbidden Jutsu Records would list several S-Rank jutsu."

"You could learn an S-Rank jutsu from reading the Forbidden Jutsu Records!" Katsu suddenly stood up from his seat. S-Rank jutsu were sounding cooler and cooler.

Once again Kaori shook her head. "Nope. The Forbidden Jutsu Records only describe them, maybe name them, but you can't learn them. S-Rank jutsu can't be learned, they can only be made. To know an S-Rank jutsu is to have constructed it yourself. Don't waste your time looking for them."

Katsu took his seat again. Kaori put her finger on her chin as if pondering. "Now where was I…oh yes, two-tomoe Sharingan. Like I said, there are limitations to what it can copy. The way to get around losing your favorite ninjutsu to them is simply not to use it on them, or make sure they can't see you. Even if they do manage to copy a technique, they might not be able to use it in battle right away, since their skill with it wouldn't be the same as yours. Uchiha who copy jutsu still have to practice them like everyone else."

Katsu spoke. "I'm beginning to see how the Sharingan can be beaten. Even though it is impressive, it isn't without weaknesses. Tell me, who are the other three who know what you're telling us, that are outside of the Uchiha clan."

"Well, the head of the Hyuuga clan claims that he could defeat the Sharingan, but it's just a bluff. No one has taught him, and the Uchiha especially wouldn't let a Hyuuga learn how their Sharingan techniques work. One of those three is a Jonin who was formerly on your sensei's team. I'm not really sure how he learned it, but he happens to know a lot about Sharingan and defenses against it. Then there is my boss, who the Uchiha taught personally, like they did the Hokage."

"Who's your boss?" Ryokumaru asked. He was just in a mood to know everything today.

"I can't say his name, but he is currently the ANBU Director of Operations."

"And the last?" Minato was making a mental list of others who would know what he was learning.

"One of my students. I have another Uchiha on my Genin team, so between the two of us using our Sharingan, he somehow figured it out. The Uchiha clan petitioned to have the memories removed from him, but he assures all of us that he isn't going to tell anyone else. They still keep a close watch on him though, but he's kept his mouth shut."

"Who is the other Uchiha on your team, Kaori-sensei?" Minato asked his second question.

"I believe all of you know her." Kaori sort of smiled with her eyes. "Her name is Uchiha Masami, she's my cousin."

A look of horror shot through the eyes of all three boys. That one girl, also a Genin, single handedly destroyed Team Ronin, and she was trained by the woman in front of them, Uchiha Kaori.

Katsu gulped. "So, you taught Jiraiya, and the three of us, while the Hokage-sama and ANBU Director were taught directly by the Uchiha clan. One figured it out by studying it, and no one knows how the other learned. Out of the eight people known who are now going to know how to fight the Sharingan, that aren't part of the Uchiha clan, you've taught half of them?"

Kaori thought about it, before giving an answer in a rather girlish tone. "Yup! I'm just awesome like that!"

The three boys whispered a few words to each other before Kaori began speaking again. She approached the board again, and added more details to the Sharingan eye picture.

"This is the final level of Sharingan, three-tomoe, also the level I have. Moving up to this level is extremely difficult as compared to the other levels of Sharingan. The ability associated with this…is seeing the future.

"It's impossible to actually see the future, but this isn't the same thing. This level of Sharingan completely breaks restraints on the brain speed of processing. Brain waves move as fast as they possibly can. When moving in overdrive like that, things seem slower, and the Sharingan-user has much more time to predict their opponents next move. Whether it's hand steals, weaponry use, or even reading lips," she gave Minato a sly look, "with three tomoe, it will very much seem like the Sharingan-user is seeing into the future."

Jiraiya, face down one the desk, started to snore. Kaori grabbed his hair and gently pulled his head backwards. She took a black marker, uncapped it, and slowly and carefully started to color in the red lines on Jiraiya's face. The still sleeping white haired man had no idea of any of this. Kaori continued to talk.

"I doubt any of you could do it without a great deal of training, but there is a way to stop this. You see, three-tomoe Sharingan-users will predict the move most likely to be done. In order to fight against this, every move made must be rendered instinctual. Instead of fighting by style, the results of training, and planning, your combat capabilities must be reflex, so much that they just flow on their own. The Sharingan-user may try to track you, but chances are they'll be completely lost. It takes years to be able to fight like this, so I don't expect any of you to be able to do it, but now you know. The best the three of you could probably hope for when dealing with this is that the Uchiha gets a head ache from their brain waves moving so fast. Does anyone have any more questions about Sharingan?"

Katsu was the first to take her up on that. "Can't Sharingan be used for hypnosis? You didn't cover that."

Kaori answered, still coloring Jiraiya's face. "Yes it can, but it isn't tomoe based. When the wheel in the Sharingan eye spins, a highly proficient Sharingan-user can hypnotize someone looking into their eyes. It's about the same as swinging a watch in front of someone's face, but with less talking. Since the spinning of the wheels is a muscle movement, someone who really knows how to move their eyes can move them in just the right way. It's difficult, I can't even do it."

"Kaori-sensei, why do some Uchiha have different numbers of tomoe in each eye?" Minato inquired.

"Ahh, I see someone caught on to something." Kaori answered, putting away the marker, and dropping Jiraiya's head back down on to the table. He fidgeted, and came to a slow awareness. When he rubbed his eyes, the black marker on his cheeks blurred. "What you just described to me is ASD, or Asymmetrical Sharingan Disorder. Usually, it's when an Uchiha has one tomoe in one eye, and two in the other. Even rarer is two in one eye, and three in the other."

Minato thought for a moment. "When I saw Uchiha Masami's Sharingan, she had one tomoe in an eye, and three in the other."

"It's…well, the rarest version of ASD. You see, when the number of tomoe isn't even, one eye has to strain harder then the other. More Chakra is required to keep the Sharingan active, and the advantages of the Sharingan can fluxuate. With one and two tomoe, the user may not be able to copy moves at times, and with two and three tomoe, they may not always be able to predict movements."

"And with one and three…the user may not be able to copy moves or predict movements when they try…" Minato finished.

"That's about right. It's also supposed to cause severe headaches when the Sharingan is deactivated, but I was lucky enough to never have ASD."

Ryokumaru was the last to ask a question. "Do all Uchiha have Sharingan?"

Kaori, who had been answering all their questions, decided she might as well answer this one as well. "No. Actually, most women of the Uchiha clan don't have Sharingan. It is mainly considered a coming of age sign for men, coming out at the beginning of puberty. Girls do not naturally get Sharingan. If a female member of the Uchiha clan happened to not be a ninja, they would never acquire Sharingan. The same is not true for the men."

"But why do you and Masami-sempai have Sharingan?"

"I said most Uchiha women don't have it, and they don't get it naturally. In order for a woman to achieve Sharingan, they have to force themselves to activate it, and constantly train it. The number of tomoe within the eye are usually constant, since Uchiha never have a lack of using Sharingan, but they can recede. For a man, it could be years before they start losing tomoe. For a woman, it could be a single month. I've actually completely lost my Sharingan at one point. When it comes to this kekkei genkai, men are just naturally better at it. Fortunately, women are better at everything else, so it's a small loss."

Kaori smirked at Jiraiya, who rolled his eyes. Ryokumaru chuckled, and Minato and Katsu snickered.

Jiraiya stood. "Alright, it's about time we rapped this up. Ryo-chan, go meet up with Akio. Mina-chan, you're with me. As for you Kat-chan you get to keep Kaori company." Jiraiya waltzed closer to Katsu before leaning in to whisper. "And I wouldn't try anything slick around her. She's very perceptive."

Katsu blankly stared at Jiraiya.

---

-Intermission-

Take a break, you just read a ton. Get some fresh air, hit the bathroom, grab a drink, whatever you have to do, but make sure you take a breather.

---

-Chapter 8.5: The Many Sins of the Past-

"This sucks! I can't believe I'm a Genin and doing this again!" Ryokumaru exclaimed, as he threw his next kunai at the target. He was at the training grounds with the laid back Akio throwing knives. He had already finished his shuriken throwing. This stuff was just boring to him.

"Since D-Rank missions don't have combat, practice is about all a Genin can do to stay in shape. I bet Minato-san and Katsu-san practice everyday. Don't tell me you sit at home and play video-games." Akio replied, looking into a mirror fixing his hair. He dressed as a usual Chunin did, but fixed his forehead protector to his arm as not to distract from his face. Ryokumaru got the idea from him when he had become a ninja.

The Chuunin may not have dressed unusual, but he was quite handsome. The Rokku still thought he spent a little too much time with cosmetics.

"Well, I don't play video games all the time…" Ryokumaru scratched the back of his head.

It only took a glance from Akio to let the boy know that he still had to throw shurikens.

He picked up the next knife, tossed it into the air and caught it again. He threw it violently at the target, hitting it close to perfectly. He smiled and praised himself.

"I'm well on my way. This may seem pointless now, but when I have to face him…I'll be powerful enough to bring him back. No matter what he says, he can't change who he is, no matter how many masks he wears."

Minato and Katsu sometimes seemed like they were light-years ahead of himself, but he knew that wasn't completely true. Like he always reminded himself, he had an advantage that they would never be able to obtain. Besides, when the time came, Ryokumaru hoped to be able to fight his brother without their help. Without anyone's help. He had been weak before, afraid even. There was nothing he could do. That would change next time.

"I'll defeat you, Rikimaru, and I'll make us a family again. No matter what." He whispered under his breath. When he looked up he realized he had already thrown all of his kunai. He turned to look at Akio.

The Chuunin put his mirror away and turned to the boy, and then looked at the target. "Not bad, Ryokumaru-san."

Ryokumaru gave a thumbs-up to show his gratification. This got a smile out of Akio.

"Y'know, I don't believe I ever told you my specialty, did I?" Akio said with the same smile on his face.

Ryokumaru shook his head. "Nah, since you've only been a Chuunin a couple years…I sort of figured you sucked at it and just tried to look pretty instead."

The smile melted off of Akio's face. There was a long pause. Akio decided he wouldn't acknowledge anything just said. Of course he didn't try to look pretty. He was pretty.

"Taijutsu. I'm good with hand-to-hand combat."

Ryokumaru's eyes shot open. "Taijutsu!? Really? That's awesome!" Ryokumaru almost yelled. As far as he could remember, taijutsu had always been what interested him. "Does that mean you could teach me super-moves!"

Akio crossed his arms and shook his head. "Nope, I can't say I know any 'super-moves.' I do happen to know a powerful technique. Ever heard of the Eight Gates?"

The Genin thought about this. "Umm…is that something you see before you die?"

"What? It's, wait, no…" Ryokumaru's answer even confused Akio. (He was super-pretty, not super-bright.) "The Eight Inner Gates are limiters placed inside the body that prevent it from going to the extremes, overworking, and killing itself. There is a way to release those gates though, and become more powerful. It's perfect for taijutsu users like me."

Reminds me of how Kaori-sensei explained Sharingan. This seems a little different though, if it releases limiters on the whole body and not just the brain.

"How do you know about something like that, Akio-sensei?" Ryokumaru asked. It sounded pretty powerful.

"Well, Jonin are required to know how to open the first gate. I on the other hand know how to open five of them."

"Do you think…you could show me how to open the first gate?"

Akio thought about it and smiled again. "Not right away, but I think I might be able to arrange something like that. Genin aren't allowed to learn higher then the second gate without the Hokage's permission, and even then it's extremely difficult and risky. Plus, I'm not teaching you anything until we've finished redoing all of the basics. Now, if you can show me that you've mastered your foundations before the one month that your sensei gave to us, I can spend the rest of the time teaching you how to open the first gate. Who knows, maybe even the second gate. Then again, this is only if you finish the traini—"

Ryokumaru was pounding his fists repetitively into a tree, but not mindlessly. He was following the taijutsu training method Akio had shown him earlier.

"That worked well." Akio mumbled to himself.

-Minato-

The blonde and his sensei walked into the training area. They had already had to leave three others that were occupied.

"There are two types of Lighning-element Chakra: Positive and Negative." Jiraiya explained while taking out a simple shuriken and giving it to Minato. "It doesn't make a difference in training purposes, from what I'm told, but in combat, being paired against the opposite Lightning-element is said to be worse then being paired with someone of the Wind-element. Where as Lightning attack will still work, even though not as well, someone with the opposite Lightning Chakra is unbeatable unless your raw power with it, measured in volts or something, is stronger.

"Basically, a skillful Lightning attack may be able to break through a Wind attack, but unless your Lightning attack is stronger, a polar opposite Lightning attack will crush yours. As I'm sure you know, opposites attract, so if your opponent has a larger Chakra capacity then you, an opponent highly trained in the Lightning-element can rip your Chakra out of you at the same expense for himself. Since they had more Chakra available in the beginning, they'd be left with minimal Chakra, while you'd be left with none."

Minato blinked as he absorbed all his Jonin sensei told him. "Are you sure you don't have the Lightning-element, Jiraiya-sensei? You seem to know an awful lot about it."

Jiraiya nodded. "Like I said, my old team mate had Lightning-element Chakra. I learned stuff from him. I thought I already told you, I have Water-element Chakra."

Minato was a little surprised at this. He hadn't imagined Jiraiya being the type to have Water-element Chakra.

"It seems like Lightning-element Chakra is way more complicated then Water-element Chakra…" Minato mumbled.

Jiraiya sighed. "You'd be surprised at how many different kinds of water there is in the world, Mina-chan."

"So what is this shuirken for, Jiraiya-sensei?"

"That's your training. The Chakra that runs through you is Lightning-element. Right now it doesn't matter if it's positive or negative. We're going to pull out your element by conducting it into this shuriken. This training is a three step process, and this is just step one. The ultimate goal is for you to learn a B-Rank Lightning Jutsu. It was invented by that friend I told you about, but he didn't have the Chakra control to use it to its fullest extent. I think you might."

Minato nodded. "I'm ready, Jiraiya-sensei."

"Good. Hold the shuriken in your palm. You need to channel Chakra into your hand, and slowly let it leak out. What your aiming to do is slowly magnetize the shuriken."

"How do I know when the shuriken is magnetized?"

Jiraiya shrugged. "I have no idea, you just should. Anyways, once it's magnetized, you need to move the Chakra under your hand. Since it'll be either Positive-Positive or Negative-Negative, it should repel. The shuriken will float in your hand. As you can see, this is going to be extremely difficult to get just the right amount of Chakra to keep it under control. Go ahead and begin."

With this, Jiraiya found a tree to rest against and closed his eyes. It left Minato alone to mess with his Chakra. In slow pulses he pushed it into his palm and let it dissipate. So far as he saw, it wasn't working.

The shuriken in his hand was still as ever, and after an hour of holding his arm in that position, it was aching so bad he had to put it down. Thirty seconds later he placed the shuriken in his left hand and continued the process. He made even less progress since he wasn't used to this hand. His lazy sensei had fallen asleep within a quarter of an hour, but the silence did help Minato make mental notes of his mistakes.

As time flew by, that's all Minato did. Make mistakes. However, he never made the same one twice. With constantly switching between arms, they didn't ache very much, but even though he was using small amounts, his Chakra slowly dwindled. He had succeeded in making the shuriken levitate several times, but only briefly and out of sheer luck. He dropped it once when he pushed his Chakra down into his hand and it toppled the shuriken over. After that he learned he needed to exert an even amount of Chakra fully around his palm. He practiced until he knew that he could perform the art without flaw and every time, which coincidentally was when he was too exhausted to mold any more Chakra.

-Katsu-

"So do you have the hang of the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu? (Shadow Clone Technique)

Uchiha Kaori and Otonashi Katsu were in an indoor training area. It was already dark outside, so it was important for it to be well lit while they trained, since that was going to be a while.

"I think I'm about there. It's very similar Chakra molding to the normal Bunshin, but the handseals are completely different." Katsu responded, starting to make the handseals again.

"That's because your Chakra is still copying, but it's doing it in a very different manner. There's a reason why one is a D-Rank jutsu and one is a B-Rank.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Katsu called out as four clones appeared. They all sort of wandered around. Since they were all based off of Katsu's previous memories, he was exploring what it was like to be a Chakra clone. It was different moving then it normally would be, since instead of flesh and blood they were physically manifested Chakra, or at least something close to it.

"Kaori-sensei, can clones use jutsu?" Katsu asked, the real one that is.

The raven-haired Jonin answered back. "Yes they can, but it's harder for clones to use them then it normally would be. You'd also have to make clones that had enough Chakra."

Two of the clones started to body flicker around the room, just to see how jutsu would differ. "I think I get it now." Katsu said, a slight smile touching his face. Using shadow clones was starting to make sense. The two clones that had almost no Chakra faded, leaving two left that were now just standing around. "And I assimilate memories of the clones too. Is that supposed to happen?"

Kaori nodded for what seemed like the thousandth time that day. "Yeah, it's supposed to do that."

"Could you use it for training!" Was the first thing that came to Katsu's mind.

Kaori shook her head now. "Nope. The most clones I think anyone could summon at one time would be about one hundred. That may be a lot, but not enough to make a huge difference in training speed. Besides, those clones only last a minute or two, which really isn't enough time to get anything accomplished. You can use clones to get battle experience on an opponent though, by sending them in to fight before you. It's a common Jonin technique, which is why we watch out for the 'first wave' of enemy attacks, using different styles to throw off what our opponent learned. That's advanced ninja tactics though, and we're just trying to teach you the move for now."

Katsu eyed her wakizashi for a moment, before looking her in the eyes again. He thought about what she had just said, and then turned around and threw a shuriken straight at one of his clones. The clone took the shuriken right into the heart and exploded in a puff of air. The remaining cloned looked confused.

"Kat-chan, did you just kill yourself?" Even the Jonin looked confused. Unfortunately for Katsu, the 'Kat-chan' nickname rubbed off. He really hoped he wasn't going to be called that for the rest of his ninja career.

"Yes I did. Strangely, I don't remember the pain, unlike how I remember things from the other clones. Probably because death occurs before the body can realize it. Then again, if the death of a Kage Bunshin really did cause you pain, it wouldn't be much of a B-Rank jutsu, now would it?"

Katsu dissipated his remaining clone, and then reached up, gripping the handle of his sword, but not taking it off his back, just thinking and staring off into blank space. "Kaori-sensei, I've noticed that my Kage Bunshins have the same sword on their backs. Does it have the same properties? Lets say my sword is special. Are all the swords special too?"

Kaori raised an eyebrow, but decided it would be better not to ask. "No. Kage Bunshins are solid clones, but they aren't flesh and blood the same as people are. Their bodies are chakra. Anything they carry is about the same. I'll give you an example." She closed her eyes and opened them again with her Sharingan active. "My kekkei genkai is limited to me. My body alone possesses the ability to use it, so any Kage Bunshins of mine wouldn't have its advantage. They might have red eyes that look like Sharingan, but the eyes themselves aren't any better. I suppose if I shoved huge amounts of chakra into a clone, they may be able to mimic the ability, but the method on a whole is flawed. They aren't real clones after all, just solid ones."

Katsu nodded, and then turned to face his teacher again. This time he looked pretty serious.

"It's better to break the ice and just ask…"

"Kaori-sensei, can you teach me how to fight with a sword?"

The Uchiha blinked a few times. "Well, I coul—"

"—She will not!"

It was the sound of a man's voice. The door to the training center was open, and standing in the doorway was Jiraiya, with Ryokumaru and Minato right behind him. The Jonin little-less-then stormed into the room, annoyed for some reason. Ryokumaru and Minato looked at each other, and both shrugged at Katsu.

"Jiraiya-chan?" Kaori said with a questioned look. What was up with him.

"A sword is not the weapon of a ninja. Ninja fight with kunai, shuriken, jutsu, and their heads. There is no place for a hulking weapon like a sword for a shinobi. It's best that you just forget about it." The white haired man spoke with acrimony in his voice, the idea already bitter to him

Katsu's eyes narrowed. "What would you know about it?!" The boy made fists and his sharpened eyes turned angry, directed towards his sensei.

"Katsu!!" Kaori called, foregoing the nickname. "He's your sensei, and senior shinobi!"

"Even if Katsu has a reason to be annoyed, he's still a child and a Genin. Learning to bite your tongue, sadly, is extremely important to being a ninja. But Jiraiya-chan, why do you have to take this out on the kids?" Kaori rubbed her temples with her thumb and forefinger.

Katsu looked down and took a deep breath. "Excuse me, Jiraiya-sensei."

Jiraiya turned his back. "Training is concluded today, I have someone who I need to speak with. Minato, we'll meet tomorrow on the same field. You and Ryokumaru should have plenty of time for your…morning chores." He was referring to them having to constantly spend their mornings carving into the cliff to make a third face. "And Kaori…" He looked back at her, then sighed and left.

There was a pause, where the stillness of the night could be felt.

"What the hell is his problem!" Katsu suddenly burst. "He's acting like he has a stick shoved up his ass!"

Ryokumaru crossed his arms and nodded. "Yeah, he was a bit off today…"

Minato was thinking a bit more. "Why was he angry at the mention of swords? Kaori-sensei is a ninja and carries them, just like all of ANBU has wakizashi."

The only remaining Jonin in the room sighed and walked to lean against a wall. Maybe they should know…

"It's because Jiraiya has a bad history with swords. Some of that is actually my fault."

Team Ronin looked at her, not really understanding. She then leaned off the wall and drew her white stone wakizashi. "But Jiraiya was right about one thing. Swords aren't the weapon of ninja. There are other things to learn before them, like kunai and shuriken. Statistics show that against an unarmed target, a kunai is about six times as deadly as a sword would be, and most swordsmen die due to projectiles, not another blade. What a sword really is for…is defense. Or so I've been trained anyways."

She then walked out to the center of the room, back to them, and sharply turned around, wakizashi held backwards-style out in front of her, her other hand on guard behind her, not far from the saya of her weapon.

"I want all three of you to come at me with kunai, fists, whatever, as long as it is close-range."

Team Ronin all looked at each other. There was sort of a pause. A Jonin? A Jonin was going to show off their skills?

"Awesome!" Ryokumaru shouted. He dropped into his loose stance he had practiced with Akio earlier that day.

Katsu snickered and pulled on the heavy sword behind him, the straps holding it to his back coming undone at the pull and falling to the floor. He held it out in front of himself in a basic katana fighting style.

Minato on the other hand, wasn't too excited. He was devastatingly low on Chakra after spending it so carelessly today. He drew a single kunai from his ninja pouch and took a step back instead, looking up to measure the distance to the ceiling, and then too his sides to memorize the dimensions of the room. Just in case.

"Let's go!" Katsu said, being out in front, being the unofficial and unspoken leader of this little attack. He swung at Kaori, and her arm shifted to block his strike at lightning speeds. With two hands he wasn't even able to make her budge. Ryokumaru jumped forward now.

"Time to show you real skill!!"

He dived at her with his foot out in front. She more or less slapped him with her off hand and he fell on his face behind her.

Minato had moved in so Katsu was obscuring himself from the Jonin's vision. Once he was close he jumped over her and slashed with the kunai.

She whipped her wakizashi up and parried Minato's attack, the boy landing behind her. Katsu recovered from her first guard, and slashed at her again. She blocked with ease.

Minato thrust, she parried again. Ryokumaru slowly got up and saw her being assaulted from both angles, and neither boy attacking getting anywhere close.

Five minutes later they were both sweating and panting. Ryokumaru had a moment of intelligence and had decided not to partake in their pathetic attack.

Kaori put the sword away. "Do you both see now? Defense is primary, and offense consists of attacking during counters. That's how I learned to fight."

"Who…taught you…how to use a…sword like that!" Katsu said between pants. He collapse on the floor, shortly after Minato did. Ryokumaru took a seat. His face was still in pain.

"Jiraiya-chan."

How much farther to the ground could three sitting boys get? It was like gravity increased tenfold on them.

"JIRAIYA!"

The shout was so huge; it was hard to tell who said it. Actually, they probably all did.

Kaori nodded. "There is a lot about Jiraiya that none of you know."

"You said Jiraiya-sensei had bad experiences with swords, Kaori-sensei. What did you mean by that?" Minato asked, looking up at her.

"…and, that you were partly to blame?" Katsu continued.

Kaori sighed. "Jiraiya probably doesn't want me telling any of you this, but I think you all have the right to know." Her voice was very serious, unlike its usual cheery and playful, maybe seductive tone. "Jiraiya was born from a corpse, or at least they say. His father was a Konoha ninja, and his mother was a supposed to be a civilian."

Minato and Katsu easily picked out the words "supposed to" from that sentence.

"He fell in love at her rather quickly, though I wouldn't be able to tell you the circumstances, not knowing them myself. They were married within six months, and they always seemed like a perfect couple from what I've heard, though he seemed to do much more for her then she did for him. She stayed home while he did all the shopping, working, cleaning, and from what Jiraiya tells me, cooking. I don't know what he saw in her, but it must have been grand."

She realized she was getting off track. "Anyways, the two were together and she became pregnant. Anyone who remembers her in this village will vouch that after Jiraiya's father announced she was going to have their child, she started acting extremely different, paranoid and stressed. She stopped leaving the house and avoided the few friends that she had. Tragedy struck when she was barely seven months. Apparently she was a Kuri nin under the orders of the Mizukage to assassinate Jiraiya's father specifically, but even stricter orders to do it only when the time was absolutely right, and that the murder should be in public."

The boys all looked at the ground. Ryokumaru was the first to break the silence with a mumble.

"He was betrayed by someone he loved…"

"That isn't it. Because she got her chance. You see, Jiraiya's dad was a high ranking ninja, very high. So he—"

"—who was he?" Katsu interrupted. Come on, it was a story, he just had to ask.

Kaori paused. "He was the creator and the current leader of ANBU."

The boys all looked at each other. Jiraiya's father was the maker of ANBU? Their sensei was the prodigy of someone like that! And, not to mention he was trained by the Sandaime! They were literally learning from the best. So why was he perverted? Only Minato could answer this question, and that he kept to himself.

She let that fact set in on the boys before continuing. "So he was standing next to the Hokage during the festival celebrating Konohagakure's tenth anniversary. She decided to make her move then, pregnant as she was. She wounded her faux-lover's sword arm. ANBU was around...but they didn't know how to fight someone like her, a woman so far along. I doubt I would have been able to raise a hand to her either."

Kaori let out a sigh. "From what I hear, Jiraiya's father tried only to restrain her, and in front of the entire village no one could bring themselves to raise a hand against her. Or, more likely, Jiraiya's father wouldn't let them. She became psychotic, as Jiraiya's father only weakened. Eventually, the Shodaime Hokage saw that Jiraiya's father, also his best friend, was motionless as she threw shuriken towards him. He shielded his friend with his own body, and then used his kekkei genkai, control over wood, and pinned her. She attempted to cut herself, or more so, cut the unborn Jiraiya with a kunai before she was completely trapped by the roots. They say the Shodaime Hokage's last words were directed at the ANBU founder. He told him...to forgive him, and he snapped Jiraiya's mother's neck." Kaori looked down. She had been told this story by Jiraiya's father first hand...and now she was passing it on to the next generation.

Even all of the boys looked a bit depressed. All of this happened to Jiraiya? How could he deal with it?

"The Shodaime Hokage didn't think of one thing through, which is the time it took to cut her body out of the wood. Though she may have died, Jiraiya was barely able to survive. He was born small and underdeveloped. Though...his father wouldn't let him go. He told the medical ninja that attempted to check the Shodaime for life signs, as well as those who wanted to tend to his arm, that if that child died, Konoha would have no future, and not to spend time with those who didn't deserve it. He, the founder of ANBU, as well as the Hokage, just didn't seem to matter as much as Jiraiya surviving. And somehow he did, to grow to the man he is today."

"His father's sword arm never fully healed, but it didn't stop him from training Jiraiya. Actually, he has had offers to join ANBU more times then, well, never mind. ANBU has never requested anyone except Jiraiya. It's a joke that they already have a paper awaiting his signature and a custom mask ready for him, and he need only walk in to get a position that would take any other shinobi decades to earn."

Ryokumaru hesitated to talk. "But...I thought Jiraiya hasn't been a Jonin that long?"

Kaori nodded. "No officially, but he's been on Jonin level tasks ever since he was fifteen or sixteen. With a sword, he's easily a Hi-Jonin."

Katsu raised an eyebrow. "Hi-Jonin?"

"It's unofficial for a Jonin who's just better then the rest. Let me give you a hint. I've been a Jonin for ten years, and I'm still average."

Team Ronin had a unison blink.

The self proclaimed average Jonin started towards the exit. "I think it's about time I got some beauty sleep. All of you boys look old enough to find your own ways home."

"Wait!" called Minato. "Tell me again, who's your husband!"

Katsu and Ryokumaru looked at their friend oddly, wondering what relevance that question could possibly hold.

Kaori turned and smiled a sort of smile done with the eyes. "Oh, just some bum, y'know, we're separated and everything."

She turned her back and took a few more steps. "But..." she spoke with a slightly dreamy tone. "...I'm hoping that'll change."

-Minato-

Seven days had come and gone without as much as a goodbye. But such was the way that days worked. They would arrive, and leave before you even realized they left. Much had happened in this past week though, or at least, Namikaze Minato was noticing more then he had previously.

For starters, Katsu's thirteenth birthday came. It was spent at Jiraiya's house, where Katsu now lived, with all of the Ronins and even Kaori. They made him a cake, gave him presents, and played games. For once, Minato felt like a perfectly normal child. It actually made him feel good inside. What was odd about it was how they all interacted. From Minato's point of view, he, Katsu, and Ryokumaru were like brothers, with Kaori and Jiraiya as the mother and father. They must have noticed it seemed like that as well, because there were an awful lot of blushing going on when they exchanged glances. But it didn't stop it from being fun. Katsu said it was the first real birthday of his life.

Though Minato had remained slim, all of the heavy labor of un-carving Minato's face in the cliff, however that was done, and finishing the Sandaime's impression had made Ryokumaru considerably buff. His body seemed to take to muscles much better then Minato's or Katsu's.

Ryokumaru had told them all that he was finished relearning his basics, so soon he would start learning a new technique of his own. Minato himself had a new teacher, who he called Orochi-sensei. The man had the Lightning Element like Minato, but he said it didn't suit how he normally fought, so he didn't use it much. When he was younger, he did practice basic manipulation skills, and thoroughly repeated them to Minato. Orochimaru didn't seem very friendly at first, but upon noticing that Minato was a quiet child and avid listener, he tolerated him with ease. He would simply impart the knowledge, and watch as Minato proceeded to master it. Though it was merely Minato being a good student, Orochimaru must have thought that he was a good sensei. And he wasn't completely horrible either. Though lacking lesion plans and helpful advice, Minato had to say that he definitely knew what he was doing. Kaori constantly mentioned that she didn't like him, but had to admit that he had well earned his respected status as a Hi-Jonin. Katsu had made some progress with the Kage Bunshin, but Kaori had secretly started imparting sword knowledge onto him as well.

Jiraiya had told them the day before that he had to leave on an A-Rank mission. Orochimaru apparently had conditions for his lesions to Minato, which was having Jiraiya take the mission. None of the boys complained, but instead, just wished him luck. Mysteriously, Kaori left Katsu instructions to practice the Kage Bunshin on his own. They didn't confirm where she went, but the boys had an idea who she had followed.

And lastly, the boys had made plans for this very day. This one had been in the works for a while. Though it was Minato's idea, it wasn't perverted. It was sort of a revenge scheme. Genin teams frequently challenged and battled each other, as they had learned, to see who was stronger, as well as a practice for the Chuunin examinations. The requirements were that no deadly force could be used, the other team must accept, and there must be a Chuunin who knew some medical jutsu to referee the battle; to make sure no one is seriously hurt.

The boys walked along the streets, all prepared and smiling to some extent. Behind them followed their Chuunin referee: Jiro-sensei. When looking for someone they could get to referee for their first match, Ryokumaru had remembered Jiro knew medical jutsu from when he was hit in the Genin test. After persuading him with, well, maybe it's best left unmentioned how Minato persuaded him.

The streets weren't overly filled with people when they caught sight of their target. He was a tall boy who was definitely older then them. He had dirty blonde hair, and wore reflective sunglasses. He had sneakers and faded jeans, not like a ninja would, and wore a green button down shirt with white flowers, leaving it open and showing off his chest. Though he was slim, he had tight muscles on him. The belt on his jeans held his only weapons: a single kunai and a green katana sheath. He was holding a soda and taking sips from a bendy straw.

Katsu walked forward and spoke. "You, you're Nemar, of Team Shade, right?"

The boy took another sip and tossed the cup behind him, then looked down at Katsu. "So…what if I am?" He asked, raising a blonde eyebrow and looking over at Minato, Ryokumaru, and Jiro.

Uchiha Masami and Hyuuga Hiroko, the other two members of Team Shade approached. "What's going on here, Nemar-kun?" Masami asked when she recognized Team Ronin.

"Perfect timing." Ryokumaru said with a smile.

"We, Team Ronin, want to challenge you, Team Shade, to a fight, with Jiro-sensei here to oversee us." Katsu said loud enough for all of them to here.

"Oh boy…" Hiroko mumbled.

Nemar started to laugh. "Wait, you three are going to challenge us? Team Shade? You do know that we're the strongest Genin team in all of Konoha, right?"

"You were the strongest. We're going to prove here today that you aren't." Ryokumaru said with a grin.

Masami crossed her arms over her kimono. "We're undefeated when it comes to these team matches, and I've never heard of you fighting any other teams. Maybe none of you know what you're getting into."

"Yeah, and I heard Masami-chan knocked all of you out a while back. The three of us? Do you boys really want to hurt that bad?" Hiroko finished off.

Minato saw the gleam of the sun in all of their glasses.

Nemar made the final choice. "I'll fight 'em. Even though I know they won't be able to beat us, they deserve a chance, right? I mean, all the other Genin teams of their age group lost to us already, why don't we just go for completion?"

People passing by saw the six ninja standing off each other, and started to leave them plenty of space in the streets. Jiro now interrupted.

"Team Ronin, you've been explained the rules. Team Shade?"

They all nodded. Jiro continued. "Okay, all of you have to be careful not to serious injure each other. Also, any involvement of bystanders, or failing to follow the rules can result in your ninja license being taken away."

They all nodded again. "Fine…begin."

At the signal, many things happened. For one, most of them drew weapons of a sort. Hiroku activated her Byakugan; Minato drew a kunai and jumped into the air; Masami jumped into the air after Minato, drawing her own kunai; Nemar ripped the kunai off of his belt; Ryokumaru charged forward; and Katsu pulled the bulky sword off of his back.

In the air, Minato and Masami collided and pushed each other away, until they were standing on opposite roof tops. Below, Katsu yelled and ran right at Nemar with a violent slash, knocking Nemar backwards as he dodged the aggressive blows from the blunt weapon. Ryokumaru threw a strong punch at Hiroko, but it was pushed out of the way with ease.

On the roofs, Masami was the first to act, drawing three shuriken from the holder on her leg, and hurling them at Minato. The boy jumped over them all at her, and made sure to bend his knees in and hold the kunai in front of him when he made for his attack-landing. Masami held out her own kunai and took the hit that had the force of gravity behind it, making her bend her knees with the pressure.

Still in the air, Minato swung a fist past the locked kunai, but it was avoided when Masami broke the hold and stepped backwards.

Minato smiled. Right as she did so he hurled his kunai at her, while snapping his hand back to grab a trio of shuriken. She jumped in the air to avoid the flying dagger, and when she saw the kunai coming at her, twisted fast.

The spinning blades barely missed her. One flew by the bridge of her nose and broke the ridge of her glasses. When she landed, they cracked and fell off. Now Minato could clearly see her red eyes.

"Sharingan…" He mumbled. Now his training would be put to the test.

"Yeah, the pride of the Uchiha clan. You'd best give up, Minato-san. You can't defeat it."

"I'm sorry to disappoint you, Masami-sempai, but I'm going to have to try."

Minato dashed forward while keeping low to the ground. She aimed a stab at his body, but he high kicked up in the air, hitting her wrist and knocking the weapon out of her hand. What followed was a brawl. Masami responded by punching Minato in the face. He was unable to avoid it and staggered back. She balanced on one foot and bent to the side for a round kick aimed at Minato's ribs. It contacted in full. He recovered though, and when she jumped for another kick, and flipped over it and behind her, where he quickly span around and elbowed her in the back. She fell and got back to her feet with a roll. Minato moved at her again, this time with a series of punches that were all blocked. Besides the Sharingan, the Uchiha taijutsu style proved to be effective. On a faulty punch, Masami ducked down low and smashed a fist straight into Minato's gut. He got the wind knocked out of him, and fell back wards from the follow up bicycle kick. He landed on his back, looking up at her, smiling with crossed arms, red eyes beaming.

"Not bad, you've definitely improved. But I have more battle experience then you do, and the Sharingan cannot be defeated by one like yourself."

Minato didn't say anything. His hand crept over to where the kunai he had knocked out of her hand fell, and he gripped it tightly, before getting to his feet and jumping high over the next roof top, starting to flee.

"My plan should work. I'm injured enough that she believes she has the advantage, which she very well might. At least I know her ego is starting to take control."

When he landed, it was in an alley a few buildings away. She hadn't yet followed him down. Quickly, Minato made calculations, looked down and slashed the kunai on the ground, leaving a mark. He then hurled the weapon as hard as he could, but with precise force, into the air directly above him. He jumped ten feet back, and saw Masami round the corner exactly where he thought she would.

"Running, Minato-san? I thought more of you."

He turned his back and did as she said; ran. Minato's mental timer was ticking. She moved to run after him. Then suddenly the boy span around and started doing the handseals to the most basic Lightning nature jutsu there was, the prelude to just about any jutsu in that element.

He saw Masami grin as she was still running forward. He knew she had seen through all of his moves, and might even be copying his jutsu right now. She stepped forward, her foot on the stretch in the ground, and there was a splatter.

She was frozen in pain. The kunai that Minato had thrown had come down exactly as he timed, and impaled her foot to the ground. She looked down at her foot and saw blood gushing around her sandal, and the kunai that had sunk deep into her foot.

Minato did two more handseals. "Raiton! Bakuha!!"

He held his hand out in front of himself and the yellow electricity that marked him as a Positive Lightning user erupted from him, shooting out at her like a violent river current. She seemed as if she was trying to dodge it reflexively, but her foot was stuck where it was, and the blast hit her right in the chest, and quickly flowed to the rest of her body. She collapsed on the ground. Minato watched as her eyes dimmed until they were merely black: the Sharingan gone.

She was shivering, as he was sure the shock had caused her heart to skip a beat.

He stood over her, victorious in front of the eyes of the Sharingan, and the elite Uchiha clan.

But something inside of Minato moved. Something deep in his core, which he wasn't used to acting.

He reached down and pulled the kunai from her bloody foot and tossed it to the side, then picked the girl up bridal style. Minato wasn't the strongest boy there was, definitely not as strong as Ryokumaru, but he did gain a fair amount of muscle from his manual labor.

"What…what are you doing!" She let out wearily; tears of humiliation in her eyes.

"I'm taking you down to the hospital."

"You…should get back to help your team mates." She argued, looking to the side.

"The defeated shouldn't be giving orders." Minato countered.

With that, Minato jumped onto the roof of another building and made his way across town to get her looked at.

Meanwhile, things weren't going as good for Ryokumaru and Katsu. The Rokku had been battling the Hyuuga for some time, his power style against her finesse. Ultimately, she had more experience, and was winning. Ryokumaru wasn't bad at dodging, but primarily blocked. It wasn't long before he felt the burning sensation inside of his arms when he took the hits.

"I've scorched your Chakra pathways, your jutsu will be ineffective. Though I must admit, you endured quite a bit." Hiroko said with a laugh.

Ryokumaru looked down at his arms, blisters and burn marks having formed. They felt like shit on the inside as well. "Damn you…" He muttered, before his feet were kicked out from under him and he was palm-struck in the stomach.

"Crap…I yield." He groaned, defeated.

"I thought you'd say that. Now leave here while I go to help out Nemar-kun." With that she turned around and headed for the other battle.

Katsu was dripping with sweat, and Nemar barely seemed to be trying. He was still only holding the single kunai.

"Draw your sword!" Katsu shouted at him.

"I don't see the need. You haven't drawn your either."

"Damn it…" Katsu thought. He couldn't draw his weapon. There was a reason why. But Nemar…he was just playing with him!

Katsu jumped in the air and prepared for a strong aerial sweep, but Nemar took his kunai with two hands and parried the blow, sliding Katsu's attack to the side and watching as the blunt sword smashed into the ground, cracking the surface. Nemar aimed a blow at Katsu's neck with his fist, but Katsu caught the attack and jumped away, leaving his sword where it was.

Nemar relaxed his stance. "Go ahead and pick up your weapon, you weakling."

Katsu freaked, jumped at his weapon, grabbing it with a roll, and then felt the rush of Chakra through his body. A green mist erupted around the enclosed sword in his hands, and instantly his thrust, though terribly off, shot out with a new blade made of wind. All Nemar could do to avoid it was block with the kunai and roll backwards.

Katsu now stood up and resumed his fighting stance. He dropped low to the ground, one leg far in front of the other, with an arm bent over his head, the blade above him. It now had a thick green glow to it, a true blade.

The older boy looked at his kunai, and seemed surprised when he saw it break in half. He closed his eyes and chuckled. "It looks like you really are worthy to see this."

With that he drew his sword. It had a straight blade for a katana, only barely curving towards the tip, so much as it was little more than a single edged long sword. Though Katsu had never seen his katana blade in full, he knew it was curved more then his was. Actually, all katana Katsu had seen were bent more then Nemar's.

As Katsu ran forward Nemar seemed to lift his left hand up and grab the air itself. "Hien!" Katsu yelled out, as he brought down his sword which was now a massive weapon of green wind, ready to cut into Nemar's flesh.

Nemar pulled his arm down quickly, and as he did so, a similar green blade of wind seemed to manifest around his hand and into a mass of green Chakra like Katsu's. "Kaze no Yaiba!" (Blade of Wind)

Nemar's jutsu flew at Katsu, who almost fell over himself trying to slow down and block it. The pressure between the two Chakra blades smashing into each other was enormous, so much that Katsu couldn't move.

He felt a cut along his ribs, and then both blades of wind dissolved. Nemar was standing behind Katsu, having taken him down with one simple slash of his weapon.

"I…I lost…" Katsu mumbled, before his blood dropped to the ground and he to his knees.

"They are both B-Rank jutsu. The difference is that though yours may last for more then one cut, I can throw mine. Apparently, that was all that it took."

Nemar sheathed his weapon before kneeling before Katsu. "I want you to remember this battle. I want you to remember how easily I defeated you."

He stood, with one final word to his beaten enemy, "Remember the name Uzumaki Nemar, and don't think to challenge me again."

-Hospital Room-

Team Ronin found themselves in a hospital again. Jiro had done some spot treatments on Katsu, and delivered both of them here. Oddly enough, Minato was waiting for them. Now they were sitting together. Minato wasn't hurt for the most part, just some bruises. Ryokumaru had his arms wrapped, and his stomach as well, and had ointment applied for the burns of the Chakra. He was standing and looking out the window at the night sky. Katsu was the only one in a bed with an IV. His wrist was broken from the blunt force of the two wind blades colliding. In addition, his chest was bandaged up from the deep cut that Nemar had imparted on him. Jiro had warned Nemar before he left for how serious that wound could have been if it were a few inches deeper. Katsu didn't care. He was too angry to care right now.

"We lost." Ryokumaru finally stated.

"Shut up!" Katsu yelled, his white in a brace. He was annoyed at having been in the worst condition out of everyone.

"Even if he stopped saying it, it wouldn't change anything." Minato pointed out. Katsu looked angry, but had nothing to say against cold logic. "It appears all of us still have training to continue."

"Easy for you to say, you defeated Masami-sempai." Ryokumaru said, turning to face his peers.

"But we had also learned about fighting Sharingan last weekend. You were blind against the Byakugan, as I would have been. And Katsu had to face Nemar. They say he's the strongest Genin in our village. He should definitely be a Chuunin." Minato answered.

"We lost because we were weak!" Katsu bolted, using words as an outlet for anger.

Ryokumaru shook his head. "No, we lost because we weren't a team. We were fighting as three overconfident Genin, not the Ronin brothers we are. Well, should be." He looked over at Minato. "What Minato just said made me sure of that. We all split up as soon as the battle started. If we had stuck together, I'm sure we could have won. Nemar may be strong…but I'm sure he doesn't work together with Masami-sempai and Hiroko-sempai as well as we do."

Minato nodded.

Katsu then sighed. "You're right, Ryokumaru-san."

The Rokku shook his head. "See? There it is again. We aren't just three Genin on the same team! We're Ronin now, and we need to act as brothers. Minato, you call me Ryo-kun! Katsu, you call me Ryokumaru-san! We need to stop that! Between the three of us, there is no need for those titles!"

There was a pause, and Minato smiled. "Ryo…Katsu…I think I can get used to that."

"You're right again…Ryo." Katsu said this time.

"But not only that…we…we don't know enough about each other as a group. We need to be a team, a team without any secrets, and a team that's bonds are stronger then any enemy they through at us."

"What are you implying, Ryo?" Minato questioned.

"I'm…I'm implying I have something to confess." He looked each of them in the eyes. "My clan, the Rokku clan, is originally from Iwa. Years ago, there was a revolt against my clan because of the kekkei genkai we possessed, and we fled to Konoha. The Hokage…he was nice enough to accept us. However, no one who was an Iwa nin would be allowed to continue their work. It just wouldn't be safe. So in exchange for putting down their weapons forever, Konoha fought off Iwa's hunter ninja. My mother and father were both Chuunin before they came to Konoha. I was too young to be a ninja when I left Iwa, which is why I'm allowed to be one here in Konoha. I'm also the first Rokku to become a ninja here. That's why I have to be strong, and that's why I want to prove myself to the ninja of this village." Tears were starting in his eyes as he looked down.

"But…but I also have to prove myself to my brother. His name was Rikimaru. He's older then I was, and was in Iwa's ANBU. Instead of running away with me and the rest of us, he stayed behind and renounced his name, his clan, and his family."

Ryokumaru looked up with a passion in his face, as tears dropped without a sob or shudder. "And when I see him next, I want to be strong enough to force him to come to Konoha and apologize for all the pain that he's given us!"

There was silence in the room for a few moments, then Minato stood out of his seat.

"I was born to an actress and politician, neither of which loved their son more then their work. However, the circumstances of my birth were complex, and I never developed emotions as a child. Over time I put on…what my sister Sora likes to call a mask, which is the personality I show. I feel as if that is who I am as a person…but when necessary…that mask comes off all too easily. Too easily for a normal human. Suddenly, inhuman things seem simple for me, my fears melt into nothingness, and evil doesn't seem as wrong as it did before. I fight all the time to keep my self the way I am, and not to be devoured by the emptiness that is my core. I'd be a liar to say I haven't had trouble knowing my true self at times."

Ryokumaru and Katsu looked at Minato for a long time, but didn't comment, then Katsu knew it was his turn to talk.

"My mother was a ninja named Otonashi Yuri. She was a Jonin of this village who was a member of a stealth unit that was sent to investigate Kurigakure years ago. Along the way, she came across a shinobi part of the Swordsmen of the Mist. He slaughtered all of her life long comrades in front of her and then beat her nearly to death." Katsu almost chocked about here, but forced himself to keep talking. He had to say this.

"He kept her for himself, and raped her many times a day, every day. They say the Swordsmen were so feared, that he could do whatever he wanted with her, even in public, and no one would even raise a finger to try and help her, for f ear of what he would do. Not only that, but his specialty besides sword fighting was genjutsu. He put illusions into her mind that tortured her very soul. They say that in many of them he had made it seem as she escaped, as if years passed and everything was fine, and then he'd rip her out of her happy world only back into her nightmare. This lasted a long time…and eventually she became pregnant with me. He kept her the whole time." Katsu realized he was shaking, and made a fist with the hand that didn't have a broken wrist.

"Ninja from Kumo intercepted him. They say he killed a dozen of them before they drove him off. But they didn't kill him. Instead they used my mother as a hostage, thinking she was valuable to him. That wasn't correct…it was what was inside her that he didn't want harmed.

"Once they separated him from his weapon he fled. They returned her to Konoha, along with my father's sword." He motioned towards the ugly saya that didn't match the handle one bit. "Once here, they did everything they could to try and bring her around…but it was too late. She had experienced too many scenarios of being rescued. She would no longer believe anything as reality. She was retired as a ninja and given a home here."

Katsu took a breath. "And the reason I chain that sword up in that slab of metal is because it's dangerous. My father's sword…can grant many powers, but every time it is drawn, it draw someone's lifeblood, by plunging it into the heart. I make sure that it doesn't accidentally fall out."

"I feel sorry for your mother…" Ryokumaru sympathized.

"You shouldn't be. She was a vile woman to me, horrible you could say. The only thing that I had was this sword, a weapon that had tasted her flesh many times, but had never killed her. She's afraid of it, and it drives her to hate me even more. My goal…is to find my father. Not because I hate him, or because I want to kill him though. I won't decide either until I've met him. What I want to know is…why. Why did he create me? Why was I necessary?"

Minato sat back down, and even Ryokumaru took a seat. Katsu lay farther back in his bed.

"We're going to be Team Ronin until the end." Ryokumaru said quietly.

Katsu nodded, but Minato shook his head.

"I don't know…I'm not fond of the end. How about longer?"

-Three Weeks Later-

All of the boys trained as hard as they could after they healed. When Jiraiya returned, he mopped around depressed for a week or so, but then returned to his normal self. Oddly enough, he avoided all comments and questions about his mission. He simply wouldn't talk about it.

But that wasn't mattering at the moment. Ryokumaru had finished learning the first three gates, Katsu mastered Kage Bunshin, and Minato was proficient with his own new jutsu. Team Ronin was waiting outside the Hokage Tower for Jiraiya to return with their first C-Rank mission.

When he did so, the three boys practically jumped him.

"What are we doing! Are we fighting pirates!"

"Yeah, ninja are definitely better then pirates!"

"We could take a horde of pirates if they tossed them at us!"

Jiraiya got up and cleared his voice, then looked down at the paper. "Actually, they're robo-cyborg-pirates with railguns, whatever that is. The village gave us fifty ryou to go and buy some body armor, but I figured it would be better spent on some booze before we leave."

"Yes!" Ryokumaru shouted. "Greatest mission EVER!"

Minato blinked. "What's a cyborg?"

"I dunno." Katsu interrupted. "I'm more interested in this 'railgun' business. Can I have one?"

Jiraiya shrugged. "Sure, as soon as we get that mission. What we're doing is escorting anarcheologist named Heine to a mountain range in the Country of Earth. There's a specific place called the Shattered Mountain where he wants to do some digging. We're there to make sure he doesn't get mugged."

"Oohhh.." Ryokumaru said. "Everything makes sense now…we're there to make sure he isn't mugged by the pirates, right?"

Jiraiya sighed. "Yup, Ryokumaru, we're there to make sure he isn't mugged by pirates."

The boys all looked at each other and laughed. Ryokumaru put his arms around the shoulders of both Minato, who looked surprised, and Katsu, who looked uncomfortable.

"So, when do we leave?"

Jiraiya smiled, putting a hand on his hip. "We leave tomorrow. You Ronin get ready, because I don't intend on messing up our first C-Rank mission!"

But the last bit he just said to himself. "…that normally happens on the second or third."

---

-End Chapter Eight-

And there you have it. I'm currently working on a Side Story section for the Yondaime Gaiden, and making sure I plan out the second book. Yes, there is going to be a second book. It will be completed before I die, which I hope is after hell freezes over.

Preview – Chapter Nine: Shattered Mountain

-Jutsu Library-

-Kaze no Yaiba-

(Sword of Wind)

B-Rank. Ninjutsu. Offensive. This jutsu is canon, but they only use it once, and I don't remember it very well, so I'll just use it in my own way.

-Raiton: Bakuha-

(Lightning Release: Blast)

D-Rank. Ninjutsu. Offensive. Piece of crap technique that's the most basic Lightning nature attack you can muster. The chances of hitting someone with it are impossible, but it's just a stepping stone.

-Team Shade-

Uchiha Kaori – Age: 24. Gender: female. Rank: Jonin. Element: fire. Kaori has changed a lot over the years, from the traditional Uchiha girl, to a proud kunoichi who doesn't listen to anyone, probably even people she should be listening to. She is a former ANBU ninja who left after receiving an injury, and decided to train a Genin team at the time. She's considered on temporary leave however, and as soon as her Genin become Chuunin, she'll be put back into the ranks. Kaori and Jiraiya's love story is an odd one, but they both feel strongly for each other.

Uchiha Masami – Age: 14. Gender: female. Rank: Genin. Element: fire. She's is the daughter of Kaori's aunt on her mother's side, making Masami and Kaori cousins. The two don't show it, but instead act as student and teacher. Masami suffers from serious ASD, significantly hampering her ability to use Sharingan. Her best friend, Hiroko, used to be her arch nemesis, before they put their clan disputes behind them. She has a hopeless crush on Nemar.

Hyuuga Hiroko – Age: 14. Gender: female. Rank: Genin. Element: none. This Hyuuga isn't as arrogant as the rest, but not because she has anything against behaving that way, but merely because she's too lazy to run around hot headed all the time. Lazy actually describles Hiroko very well. That's also why this tomboy seems to be the weakest of all the members of Team Shade, even though she is easily equal to Masami in combat skill.

Uzumaki Nemar – Age 15. Gender: male. Rank: Genin. Element: wind. Nemar comes from far away, and where exactly that is, no one is certain. What is known is that he's next to being a master swordsman even at his young age, and a genius when it comes to the ninja arts. Despite being the only male on Team Shade, Nemar has survived quite well, probably because he's extremely handsome. Being highly proficient with the sword and Wind nature, Nemar is stronger then Hiroko and Masami combine. His only weakness is madly in love with a certain waitress who doesn't even know who he is.