Naruto: Jinchuuriki Chronicles

Author's Note: First off I would like to give a hearty thanks to Naruto Sakura Uzamaki who provided me the material which made this chapter much easier to write than the last. I would also like to thank all of you who read and subscribed last chapter. Once I finish the recreating all the chapters up to the point where Zero the Leech stopped making chapters please feel free to make suggestions on which direction the story should take.

Episode 2: The Meeting of the Jinchuuriki! The Real Test Has Only Begun!

Kakashi Hatake, the Fifth Hokage and legendary Copy-Nin, casually observed the training hall his single visible eye slowly shifting to observe its attendants. He took a quick head count of the young gathered genin who until a week ago were just trainees. In total there were shinobi from nine different villages, fourteen students from Kumo, ten from Iwa, eight from Kiri and Kusagakure , the Hidden Grass Village – six from Amegakure – the Hidden Rain Village – four from Konoha, two from Suna, and only one from Taki, the Hidden Waterfall Village, and Hoshi, the Hidden Star Village. Overall it was a much bigger turn out than anticipated. When Kakashi first heard of the Fouth Mizukage's plan to reignite his sensei's plan, he was all for it but he never imagined that he would be able to pull it off. 'I guess I shouldn't count my chickens before they hatch'.The job of gathering the shinobi was over but making sure ninja from different villages were able to work together and more importantly risk their lives for each other was a completely different story. Despite the odds he felt confident that this program would work. The one eyed sharingan wielder let out a silent yawn hidden by his mask. True he was confident but that did not equal interest in the boring parts. The masked shinobi stood in front of the Jonin, who like the Genin represented their own individual villages and nations stood proud and poised. Kakashi gave a small shake of his head in disappointment and sighed. Why was he the one giving the new students the orientation? The Mizukage's the one who single handedly suggested, restarted, and organized this year's international selection. He looked of the a certain crimson haired Genin who emitted such an aura of intimidation that the rest of the teens unconsciously keep a couple feet away from him at all time. 'Gaara of the desert' Kakashi thought feeling his right eye focus from behind his forehead protector. 'He might be one of the main reasons why the Mizukage wanted to have the International selection, but I doubt getting him to work with a team will be as easy as he made it seem. Despite the similarities they all shared.' He shifted his vision to the amber eyed Kunoichi from Taki. 'And Fu Nagare' Kakashi felt his mouth twitch upwards when he saw her smiling. 'Despite probably having a harder time than either Naruto or Gaara I can tell she turned out pretty good, maybe even as good as Naruto.' He could understand why the Mizukage wanted this team so bad. But still for right now the copy-nin only wanted to jump into bed and curl up with the lastest edition of Icha Icha paradise and one Anko Mitarashi. Of course he would have to wait until she was asleep to read or else she would start doing that thing with her leg…

"Excuse me, Lord Hokage?" Kakashi was broken out of his thoughts, and glanced to his side to see Iruka who had obviously guessed what the young Fire Shadow was thinking. "I don't mean to rush you sir, but could we please move on with the orientation of the genin. I'm sure that you're… duties can wait until you're done here."

"Right, right." The Hokage waved the young Ninja off nonchalantly, focusing on the young audience in front of him ignoring the analyzing eyes of some of the Kumo and Suna-nin who were privy to his reputation. "As I was saying before, I would like to be the first one to welcome to the second year of the International Selection. But before we start, would anyone like to get their questions out in the open." Much to the white haired Hokage's surprise, quite a number of hands shot into the air. "Alright… Pinky, from Konoha."

I'm Sakura Haruno, sir." Sakura said respectfully, but still pouting at the unflattering and unoriginal nickname. "I was, um, wondering what the Internation Selection is exactly?"

All other hands instantly dropped, they all apparently had only one question that needed to be answered. The Hokage couldn't say he was surprised they weren't given much information other than the brief welcome he just gave. It was uncommon that a foreign shinobi enter the ninja village unless given permission the village's leader or Damiyo. But to have ninja from Kumo, Konoha, and Iwa, three of the biggest feuding factions since the founding of the Ninja Villages, well let's just saw this was a little beyond unusual. The Fire Shadow cast a glance to Iruka, silent asking him to take the lead on this one. Iruka nodded his face going into teacher mode. He stood back and let the scared Chunin take the floor.

"Excellent question, Sakura." At Iruka's praise, a small smile graced he lips. "As many of you have probably figured out the International Selection is a form of pact among the nine major ninja villages: Konoha, Kiri, Suna, Iwa, Kumo, Ame, Kusa, Taki, and the recently upcoming Hoshigakure. The International Selection was first proposed at the conclusion of the Third Shinobi World War , as the fouth Hokage's first act as leader of the village he proposed a plan that would hopefully prevent further bloodshed.

"The Fourth Hokage…" Naruto stared his interest piqued.

He wasn't the only one. Everyone from Iwa to Kumo had heard of the Fourth Hokage, revered as Konoha's Yellow Flash and the greatest of all Hokage. Whenever his name was spoken in foreign lands, it was whispered in fear and envy. Naruto knew this because the Fourth Hokage was his role model; it was the only subject he actually paid attention to in the Academy. Although there was some resentment in knowing that the greatest man in Konoha's history had sealed the Kyuubi within him. If Naruto ever had the chance, he would punch the Fourth Hokage in the gut for leaving him with this curse. But then again, the Kyuubi was attacking the village at the time and he willing sacrificed his own life to save them. If he were ever in a similar situation, Naruto would, grudgingly, admit that he would have done the same. But while Naruto wandered around his thoughts, Kakashi was staring at him intently from his place.

'The resemblance is almost uncanny.' Kakashi thought starting to feel a little nostalgic. 'Although from the reports I it seems he took after Kushina. I can tell he's grown up in an interesting way.'

"Settle down, settle down." Iruka called over the commotion that was caused by the mention of the Fourth Hokage. "Back to the topic at hand, the Fourth Hokage proposed a agree with the other Village leaders. His plan was to create teams from different nations in order to strengthen the bonds that the warring nations had lost during the Third Shinobi World War."

"I can't imagine that went well with Jiji-the old man." The Iwa Kunoichi snickered.

"Yes the Third Tsuchikage was against it at first." Iruka sighed, rubbing his chin wearily. "But the Fourth Hokage was charismatic and persuasive and with the help of the Fourth Raikage managed a temporary term of agreement. For security reasons, the Five Great Nations only allowed Genin teams of three from different nations to work together under a Jonin Instructor."

The aforementioned Taki Kunoichi suddenly raised her hand unknowingly smacking a Kiri Genin in the face. "Or is a special rules applied to us or something?"

"Each member still represents their own villages." Iruka explained. "Each teams is allowed access to each village and is allowed to accept any missions given to them by the village heads. Also while each team will be moving from village to village, every two teams will be assigned a village of residency. This village is where you will be staying for training and free time in between missions. After you are given your teams you will spend a week in Konoha before departing for your respective villages. Your personal Items have been relocated to your private apartments in each village. Everyone has a limited immunity in foreign nations, but each village is given permission to allow or deny anyone outside their village. Any punishments handed down in foreign nations are agreed about by that nation's leader and the representative. But there are…some cases…where that's not an option."

"Infiltration…" Everyone's gaze locked on the redheaded Suna-nin, who pointedly ignored their stares. "The possibility of rivaling countries given entrance beyond the borders provides opportunity for foreign nations to take a village's most prizes secrets. Jutsu, weapons, and battle strategies that were once withheld to one nation are open for other nations to take. Also relations with other nations could allow attempted strengthening bonds through marital relations giving other villages access to previously unavailable family techniques and Kekkei Genkai. The Five Great Nations are very protective of their secrets."

'So the reports were right…' Kakashi thought. "The Fourth Kazekage really did turn his youngest son into Suna's ultimate weapon." He glance at the unknowing Uzumaki Heir from the corner of his eye, who looked like he was analyzing he fellow demon container. 'I can only imagine what's going through his head.'

'Bah! Who does this guy think he is anyway, acting all cool.' Naruto sulked. 'I bet that gourd is just for show anyway.'

"Ok, I can't be the only one that notices it." The Taki girl thought with a serious expression. "He's got no eyebrows. Creepy…"

"Hmm…" The white-haired genin hummed.

"Yes, that is true."Iruka nodded with hesitantly to the young sand weilder. "Some nations use this as an opportunity to obtain information about and jutsu from rivaling nations, Konoha included. But the village leaders at that time attempted, to resolve most of the issues. The program did serve the purpose of strengthening individual skills and helped build relations with other nations. However, the program was discontinued shortly following the Fourth Hokage's…passing."

The older ninja bowed their heads in respect for the dead and a good number of Genin followed their example. The moment passed and Kakashi strood forward to stand by Iruka, effortlessly caturing their attention.

"We realized that the timing was poor when we first began the International Selection." Kakashi admitted. "Nations were still recovering from the Third Shinobi World War, and were left in a weak and vulnerable. But now the villages are running strong, we felt it was time to start the trail again after last year. Many of the previous teams have made significant leaps and bound in not only their training and the relations between the villages some teams even went on to performs missions much above the usual skill grade. After such a successful trail, the village leaders have agreed to continue again this year. So before you are all divided into your teams, I speak for all the villages heads when I say I have confidence that you will be the best and brightest we have to offer. Thank you."

Everyone in the training hall clapped after the Hokage's speech, with the exception of Sasuke and Gaara. Naruto then decided to now and forever more give people like Gaara and Sasuke Membership to the 'Didn't give a damn about anyone club'.

"Be patient and listen for your name as I assign you you're teams, Jonin instructor, and villages." Iruka said clipboard in hand.

The process was pretty much exactly the same a regular team assignment with the exception that we were given the name of our Jonin instructor as well. Naruto gazed upon the favorite sensei with a relaxed pose, listening for his name to be called. Twenty minutes and twelve teams later Naruto was starting to feel antsy. Finally a name Naruto recognized reached the ears of the young Uzamaki.

"Next team: Sakura of Konoha, Kurotsuchi of Iwa, and Hokuto of Hoshi." Iruka announced. "Your Jonin instructor will be Pakura of Suna. Your team will be stationed in Kirigakure"

'DAMN!' Sakura yelled in her head.

'CHA! WHOEVERS IN CHARGE OF THIS ASSIGNMENT BULLSHIT IS GOING TO HAVE THEIR THROAT RIPPED OUT! CHA!' Sakura's inner ego wailed predictably.

'So this is my new team I guess.' The Hoshi Kunoichi, Hokuto, thought nervously. 'Why do a have a horrible sense of foreboding.'

"Damn it the fan girl and the wimp, what rotten luck." The pink-eyed Kunoichi known as Kurotsuchi grumbled. "I can't believe gramps forced me to participate in this goddamn freak show when I get back I shoving my foot so far up his ass that it'll come out his mouth… actually that wouldn't be that far."

"Next team: Sasuke of Konoha, Karin of Kusa, and Kisei of Konoha." Iruka continued. "Your Jonin instructor is Rin of Konoha, you will be stationed in Kohonagakure."

'Karin and Kisei huh?' Sasuke scowled at the thought. 'They better not be a burden or else.'

'Yes! Sasuke's not on my team, thing are looking up!' Naruto thought a happy grin on his face.

'Rin really surprised me. After she came back to the village I thought she would want to lay low for a while.' Kakashi thought stealing a glance at his former teammate. She caught him and sent a motherly and kind smile back at him. 'I never expected her to volunteer to be an instructor, perhaps this will help her finally move on.'

With fourteen teams out of the way, the orientation meeting was drawing to a close and Naruto still hadn't been called. At this point, he was almost worried that Iruka-Sensei had made a mistake and he wasn't going on any team. But he knew Iruka better than that; the scarred chunin would never let such a thing happen to his favorite student. Iruka had finished assigning the seventeenth team and was moving to the last set of names. The chunin instructor's eyes went wide and the three names selected and who they were assigned to. Naruto's name was the first on the list followed by two he didn't recognize. It was the name of their Jonin instructor that caught his attention. He had heard about this man when he was a little kid during the Third Shinobi World War and he had built a strong and unusual reputation. Iruka looked warily to the Hokage, who only urged him to continue. Iruka cleared his throat before calling out to the remaining genin.

"This is the final team: Naruto of Konoha, Gaara of Suna, and Fu of Taki. You Jonin sensei will be Killer Bee of Kumo, you will be stationed in Konohagakure.

"All right!" Naruto screamed loudly, sending a few people scattering and a few more to cover their ears. "Finally, now we get to see some actions! I'M gonna get to show you all how incredibly awesome I really am!"

"He's an idiot…not even worth killing." The blood thirsty Gaara mumbled completely uninterested.

"Aw man, I got the loudmouth and the eyebrow-less weirdo?" The copper toned Fu whined. "Ugh, Kami-sama must hate me."

"All right, now that's out of the way." Kakashi said with a one-eyed smile. "While the Jonin and I finish with some needed paperwork, please take this time to introduce yourselves and connect with your teammates. And with that, I'm off."

With a one-hand seal, the Fifth Hokage vanished in a cloud of smoke with the Jonin instructors following his example. The only one left behind was Iruka, who was watching the Orange-clad genin with a concerned stare. He could still hear Naruto boasting about how he was so awesome and could see a few of the other student ready to knock some sense into him. As much as it hurt him to say, he couldn't protect Naruto anymore; he was growing up into a fine ninja. A bit slow, but a fine ninja nonetheless. But his main concern was Killer Bee. Even those who lived in Konoha had heard of what he is capable of. He knew that the two were very much alike, but that didn't make Iruka any less bothered. Taking one last look at his former students, Iruka followed the Jonin in a puff of smoke. By the time he had departed, most of the new genin teams had gathered and went to different areas to connect. Gaara was standing at a distance from his new comrades, but making no effort to talk or even look at them. Unfortunately for the Suna-nin, Fu took the opposite approach. The mint-haired Kunoichi tried to put on the brightest smile she could muster as she ventured over to Gaara's area, waving cheerfully to the redhead.

"Hello my name's Fu."

"…" Gaara pointedly ignored her.

"S-since were on the on the same team we should get along okay?" Fu said slightly put off by his lack of response.

"…"

"So… what happened to your eyebrows anyway?" Fu said no longer able to keep the question off her lips. "Did they get burned off in the dessert or was it special ninja training or something?"

"…" A low growl vibrated from the Suna nin's throat and obvious warning.

"Okay… I'll just… be going… over there." Fu said nervously, and sensing her life was in danger slowly backed away from her imminent she was a safe enough distance from her possibly psychotic teammate. The Takin in sighed and hung her head in defeat.

'Well that's one way to blow a first impression.' She thought lamenting her lack of tack.

It didn't seem like she was going to be getting along with the red haired Suna ninja anytime soon, let alone become friends. Suppressing in a groan of agitation, the green haired kunoichi shuffled over to the aforementioned Uzumaki boy, who was currently making a fool of himself to a group of lingering cloud ninja, something about a stolen scroll and taking down a chunin, probably a major exaggeration. Fortunately, Naruto was able to tear himself away from his story telling and moved to greet his new teammate.

"Hey, you're on my team, right?" Naruto asked excitedly; Fu nodded. "Great! I'm Naruto Uzumaki, the next Hokage!"

"Yeah, so I heard." Fu chuckled with a sweatdrop. "Well, I'm Fu from Takigakure. I hope we get along well."

"Yeah…but…this is kinda weird." Naruto said softly, scratching his cheek.

"The International Selection?" Fu blinked curiously.

"No. It's just…I've never seen a guy in a skirt before." Naruto answered, failing to notice the vain in his teammate's forehead. "Is it normal for boys in your village to dress like that? Or are you some kind of cross-dresser?"

The few teams that were still in the training hall greeting their new teammates were suddenly drawn by a furious scream and a booming crash. Naruto's body was smacked against the floorboard, which had cracked slightly under the weight of the impact, and Fu standing over him with her fist raised. The mint-haired Kunoichi had her jaw clenched and her eyes burning with rage beneath the number of throbbing veins on her hand and skull. Any man who valued their lives dived out of the hall immediately – Gaara remained still and watched with mild interest.

"Ow…" Naruto moaned, lifting his head up. "What was that for?"

"I'm a girl, you dumbass!" Fu snarled.

"Huh? Really?" Naruto blinked in realization. "But your chest is so flat."

A moment later, he was six feet beneath the floorboard.

As a token of friendship to her new comrades Sakura had decided to bring her teammates to lunch at the most popular dango shop in the Konoha market. She sent a silent thank you prayer to Kami that they hadn't met up with the infamous sadist, Anko Mitarashi. If they had they would either end up with their bodies and minds scarred for life or simply scared s*#tless, really the chances were fifty-fifty either way. The pink haired kunoichi still had nightmare from her firsthand experience with the woman. While the new all-female kunoichi team waited for their orders to arrive, Sakura took the opportunity to subtly study the two young teens. Sakura could clearly see that Kurotsuchi was the strongest of all of them simply based by her appearance alone. She was lean, fit, and had a strong frame from years of physical training, her black hair was short and cut short which gave her a tomboyish sort of charm, and her pupils-less eyes shone with complete certainty in her abilities. Her attire consisted a ruby-red, long-sleeved, kimono-shirt with a fishnet undershirt, a pair of black shorts that touched to her knees, a small satchel at her right hip, black sandals, and the red Iwa band around her forehead.

Looking to the Iwa kunoichi's right, Sakura took note that her Hoshi teammate Hokuto was much more shy in comparison, but still leagues more confident than the Hyuuga heiress. She inches shorter than them with brunette hair that framed her face which was dotted with freckles and spiky ponytail in the back. Her clothing was formed from a red and blue dress that stopped short at her knees with a zipper down the middle, a plain-white undershirt, a bright-yellow obi, plain-white stockings, blue sandals, white wristbands, and a blue headband with the Hoshi star on the metal plate. When the food had arrived, Sakura and Hokuto politely thanks their waitress, but Kurotsuchi quickly snatched the nearest stick, gesturing to the other girls.

"All right, first off now that we're a team, we need to establish and order." Kurotsuchi stated, taking the first dumpling off her stick and popping it in her mouth.

"Order?" Hokuto asked naively.

"First off, I think it's safe to say that I'm the leader." The Iwa nin stated not leaving any room for argument, even with her mouth full.

"What makes you the leader?" Sakura challenged with narrowed eyes as the pink eyed kunoichi in question swallowed.

"Because I can beat the crap out of the both of you." Kurotsuchi stated plainly, popping another dango into her mouth. "Unless you would like to prove me wrong? I wouldn't mind check how Konoha's genin stack up."

"No…" Sakura grumbled.

'WHO THE HELL DOES THIS BITCH THINK SHE IS!' Inner Sakura shrieked.

"But…" Hokuto said obviously afraid of getting threatened too. "I thought Pakura-sensei was our leader."

"Bah! She's from Suna." Kurotsuchi added arrogantly. "And every know Suna-nin are pushovers."

The Kunoichi genin stiffed, but it was Kurotsuchi that was sweating the most. Faster than she could blink, the empty dango stick had disappeared from her hand and was pressed against her jugular vein. Sakura fell backwards on the floor and Hokuto skittered sideways. The one threatening their teammate was an older woman with carmal-brown eyes, green hair tied into a bun, and two orange locks framing her face. Her clothing consisted of a rich-purple, sleeveless, backless top with two lapels on the front and the back, lavender-shaded shorts with matching arm-warmers, a pure-white obi, and blue sandals with bandages around her ankles. Based on the Suna band prominent around her forehead, it was safe to assume that she was their Jonin teacher.

"If this were Suna…" The Scorch release-nin said with a deadly tone. "You'd be dead before you could even reach the border." Pakura removed the wooden weapon from the genin's throat, shoving her between the other two. "I would suggest that you not take Sunagakure lightly it could be the death of you. As of this moment I am your teacher, Pakura of the white sands. I should warn you, I have no intention of going easy on you. I will work you three to the bone, and push your bodies to the limit. Your only options from this point are becoming excellent shinobi or to die trying. I hope I have made myself clear."

"Crystal clear, Pakura-Sensei." Sakura giggled nervously while thinking something else. 'Save me, Sasuke-Kun!'

The last of the Uchiha could only wonder how he had arrived at this point of his life. He had only one desire: to grow powerful and kill the one man that had plagued his thoughts since childhood. But everyone seemed to be going out of their way to hold him back. First it was pathetic teachings of the Ninja Academy, then it was the dead-last dropout, and now it was these fools that were assigned to his team. His new teacher and the boy called Kisei had yet to show up, leaving him with the Karin girl. Sasuke sighed out of irritation. Since their first meeting, the Kusa kunoichi had been staring at him like the other girls in the Academy. It had come to his attention that the female gender only had one thing on their minds. Leaning against the railing of the Academy roof, Sasuke spared one glance to his new teammate, who instantly turned away in embarrassment.

Karin was a scrawny girl with unusual apple-red eyes behind her dark-rimmed glances, matching her unique hair color. The hair itself was unusual: one side short, pointy, and unkempt, while the other is long, pin-straight and combed. Her clothes consisted of a tan jacket with a fishnet undershirt, a dark-brown skirt, fishnet stockings, and black sandals. The black band around her forehead was marked with a wave-like pattern on the metal plate, symbolizing her allegiance with Kusagakure. Karin, still shy under Sasuke's gaze, chanced another look at the raven-haired genin. Her eyes meeting Sasuke's, the Kusa Kunoichi resisted the temptation to faint on the spot.

"What?" Sasuke questioned without tact.

"S-sorry." Karin giggled timidly. "I couldn't help… noticing. But it's very intense and powerful."

"Huh?" Sasuke said his curiosity overriding his irritation.

"Your chakra." Karin Karin explained with a shy smile. "I can feel that your chakra is very powerful for someone of your age. Normally you don't see that kind of strength from a genin."

"So you can see chakra?" Sasuke questioned; Karin's face ignited in a blush then nodded. "Interesting"

"That's a useful skill I'm sure it'll come in handy." Karin let out a sqeak as their third teammate, Kisei, literally appeared out of nowhere. "Hey guys my name is Kisei. I'm sure that we will all grow strong together."

Looking over the newcomer, Sasuke didn't think that was a possibility. Kisei was a short genin closer to Naruto's size with snow-white hair that was tied in the back and light-red eyes. His uniform was silver-white, over-sized, high-collared coat wrapped with three black, leather straps at the neck, torso, and waist. With his skill eyes, Sasuke took notice that the boy was completely bandaged from his mouth to his toes, giving him the appearance of an incomplete mummy. One could only image if it's just for appearance or if they were scars from some unspoken torture. Chuckling under Sasuke's examination, Kisei held out a hand to his new teammate as a gesture of friendship. Of course, Sasuke was too cool to accept.

"Just try not to get in my way." Sasuke said rudely.

Wouldn't dream of it." Kisei laughed.

'This…this can't be right.' Karin thought seriously. Though Sasuke could see nothing wrong, Karin's unique chakra vision picked up something unusual with Kisei's body. 'One, two – no, wait, three – four…five. Five! Five different charka colors are coursing through various portions of his body. But…that can't be right. Unless they were…'

"Sorry I'm late everyone!"

Once again, Karin jumped and landed on her behind while her male teammates remained unfazed. With a soft laugh, the newcomer bended down and held a helping hand to the embarrassed genin. The hand belonged to a kind-looking woman with chocolate-brown hair that touched to her shoulder and warm brown eyes. She wore a long-sleeved black top, a high waist, lavender skirt apron over a pair of black shorts, dark stockings that reached to her thighs, and blue sandals. The woman's most unique feature was the two purple rectangle markings on each of her cheeks. In her mind's eye, Karin could see this woman's chakra was sensationally warm – the girl knew she could trust her. Heaving Karin back to her feet, the woman used a quick moment to brush of the dust clinging to the student's cloth; almost in a motherly manner.

"There you go." The woman smiled warmly. "Aren't you a pretty little lady?"

"Th-thank you." Karin stammered; her cheeks warm with embarrassment at the compliment.

"Now that everyone's here." The woman greeted kindly. "My name's Rin and I'll be your Jonin instructor. I hope we can all get along."

"Tch." Sasuke scoffed.

"Agreed, Rin-Sensei." Kisei nodded.

Walking through one of the many parks that covered Konoha, the genin trio from Kumo was following the dirt path with their minds on today's events. Samui, who was clearly the leader of the o, was a fair-skinned woman with straight, golden-blond hair that faired her face and ocean-blue eyes that concealed all emotion. In comparison to the other Kunoichi, Samui was the most developed having already showing a curvaceous figure and sizable breast – A fact Karui was visibly jealous of. Her outfit consisted of a very low-cut, steel-grey shirt that exposed a good portion of her cleavage with white cloud prints on the shoulders and back; a snow-white girdle with silver laces around her stomach, a short-black skirt, and knee-length boots.

Karui, the second female of the team, listened intently to their leader – her mind was still raging why Samui was so well-endowed. Karui was pretty in her own way due to her dark skin, blazing-amber eyes, and unique blood-red hair that reached down her back in a choppy pattern. Her clothes were a short-sleeved, snow-white shirt with the kanji of "light" stitch over her heart, a pair of dark track pants wrapped around the ankles, black sandals, and a standard katana strapped to her back with the strap reaching across her right shoulder to her left hip. The Kumo headband was modified into a bandanna that wrapped around her head.

The only male named Omoi seemed to be lost in his own thoughts, which earned a sharp knuckle over his head from his fiery partner. Omoi was a dark-skinned man with spiky, shocking-white hair and pitch-black eyes that had thought line around the edges. His cloths were made from a black hoodie with the kanji of "thought" on the right sleeve, black pants similar to Karui's, black sandals, red wristbands, and the Kumo forehead protector around his head on white cloth. As far as she could remember, Karui had never seen her teammate with the lollipop in his mouth, which constantly irritated her to no end.

"Hey, you two heard what they said about the last team?" Samui asked impassively.

"Yeah! What the hell!" Karui exclaimed with unexpected fury. "This is the first time Bee-Sama has left Kumo in years and he's gonna be spendin' with a loudmouth loser and two amateurs! If anything, he should be trainin' me!"

"What if Bee-Sama like training them?" Omoi rambled. "What if he likes spending time in the other villages? What he leaves the village? What if he finds a girl and starts a family in an enemy village? What if he tells other nations about or secret techniques?"

"Stop being so pessimistic!" Karui sneered, landing another blow over her teammates head.

"Bee-Sama is loyal to Kumogakure and Lord Raikage." Samui said with certainty. "But Karui does have a point."

"She does/I do?" Karui and Omoi asked simultaneously.

"Darui-Sensei said that Bee-Sama has never left the village since the Third Shinobi World War." Samui explained, leaning her head back to stare into the sky. "I wonder what changed Lord Raikage's mind."

Kirigakure lived up to its name as the Hidden Mist Village. The cylindrical structures and mossy fields were covered in a soft mist, bordered by a thicker mist that guarded it from the outside. In the heart of the village, as the widest and most elaborate building, was the Mizukage's mansion. The leader of the Kiri ninja was seated comfortably along the couch in the den, gazing peacefully into the evening mist after a long day of paperwork. The Mizukage reached over to the side table, pouring a fresh glass of wine, when someone started knocking outside the door.

"Enter." The Mizukage called.

The doorway opened to allow a middle-aged man entrance before shutting it behind him. The man had foggy-blue hair that seemed to stick upwards with a black patch over his right eyes. Beneath his aqua-green kimono, he wore brown-striped shirt and pants, blue Shinobi sandals, and the Kiri headband prominent around his forehead. Strangely enough, he wore a talisman on each ear that bared the symbols meaning "to hear". The one-eyed shinobi bowed to his leader's back, carrying a thin sheet of paper under his arm.

"What is it Ao?" The Mizukage questioned irritably, the only thing he was in the mood for now was curling up in bed with his wife. "It had better be something important. I was just about to go to bed after a long day of endless piles of paperwork."

"Forgive me, Lord Mizukage." Ao apologized. "But I've received word that the International Selection is over."

"And…?" The Mizukage responded.

"As you requested," Ao reported, handing the sheet to his leader. "Naruto of Konoha, Gaara of Suna, and Fu of Taki have all been assigned to the same team with Killer Bee of Kumo at the head."

"So the Raikage finally came to his senses." The Mizukage smirked. "That man can be very infuriating when he doesn't get what he wants."

"Understand his reasoning, Lord Mizukage." Ao interrupted. "Given Killer Bee's history and the similar the backgrounds of those three children, you can't blame the Raikage for being hesitant to comply. After all…you know better than anyone what they are."

"And that is exactly why I wanted Killer Bee to train them." The Mizukage stated, setting the paper aside. "Because he is the only one that can train them. Despite his…unusual tendencies, that man is the only capable of training them and keeping their power in check. I am speaking particularly of Kyuubi's Jinchuriki. Remember what happened to the last one." The Mizukage took a quick sip of his wine. "Has Konoha found the cause of the incident?"

"Nothing so far." Ao shook his head. "All that was left behind from that incident was the mask given to you by the Fifth Hokage."

"It is a mystery that will one day come to light." The Mizukage murmured. "In the meantime, send a letter to Gari of Iwa. I want a full report on his student and make sure that the last of Kiri's treasures are still safe."

"Yes, Yagura-Sama." Ao bowed.

Whatever caused the Kyuubi to run rampant could not happen again. Not to him, he owed his father too much to let him die. Yagura continued to watch the misty pattern running across his window after Ao had left to perform his task. I'd only been two months since he was almost killed by the mysteries masked man, it was only thanks to Isobu that he was able to survive. Whether he consciously knew it or not a storm was coming and he had to prepare for it. Having the sudden urge of interest, the Mizukage set down his wine glass and walked over to the bookcase on the far wall. Nestled in the middle of rows of books was a small glass class containing only one item – the sole clue to a daunting mystery. Yagura never relinquished his gaze from the mask pattern into a red swirl – a whirlpool.

Next Time on Naruto: Jinchuuriki Chronicles

"You should show respect to your superiors."

"That's some harsh tunes, little lady."

"Failure is impossible."

"You're about to face the Killer Bee Sting!"

Next time: Survival Test Sting of the Killer Bee

"I'm going to be Hokage! Believe it!"

Closing Author's Note: Alright sorry I not the fastest updater but I hope the chapter was worth it. Feel free to comment or not. Both flames and compliments are welcome. Also I have a question for you guys. Once I finish re-writing all thirty-seven chapters I get to start creating new material, so my question is who should I pair Gaara up with? It could be anyone his age. It could be someone predictable like Matsuri or someone completely out their like Tenten. Heck you could even vote for Shion from the first shippiden movie. Feel free to pick whoever. Thank you for reading.